John Done (c. 1747 – October 9, 1831) was a justice of the

Maryland Court of Appeals The Supreme Court of Maryland (previously the Maryland Court of Appeals) is the highest court of the U.S. state of Maryland. The court, which is composed of one chief justice and six associate justices, meets in the Robert C. Murphy Courts of ...

from 1812 to 1814. Born in

Somerset County, Maryland Somerset County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 24,620, making it the second-least populous county in Maryland. The county seat is Princess Anne. The county is p ...

to John Done (d. 1772) and Sarah Waters Done (d. 1781), Done was admitted to the practice of law before the Somerset County court and the Worcester County court 1769. He served as sheriff of Worcester County from 1773 to 1775. During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

he was commissioned as a colonel in the Princess Anne Battalion in 1781, and in 1788 served on the Constitution Ratification Convention for Worcester County. When the town of

Princess Anne, Maryland Princess Anne is a town in Somerset County, Maryland, United States, that also serves as its county seat. Its population was 3,290 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Salisbury, Maryland–Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is hom ...

was platted, Done bought one of the allotted properties and built a large house there some time before the Revolutionary War. Later, a local named Zadok Long rented the property from Done and conducted it as a tavern, eventually buying the property on June 17, 1797, and converting it into the Washington Hotel, a local landmark frequented by famous residents of the state. Done was an unsuccessful candidate for the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

in the 1789 United States House of Representatives elections in Maryland, garnering about 24% of the vote in a loss to George Gale. In 1796, he was a presidential elector for

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

. Done held various judicial offices between 1791 and 1814, culminating in his appointment to the Maryland Court of Appeals on December 14, 1812, to a seat vacated by the death of Judge William Polk.

John Thomas Scharf John Thomas Scharf (May 1, 1843 – February 28, 1898) was an American historian, author, journalist, antiquarian, politician, lawyer and Confederate States of America soldier and sailor. He is best known for his published historical works. ...

,
Judges of the Court of Appeals
, ''History of Maryland from the Earliest Period to the Present Day'' (1879), p. 773. He served until his resignation in 1814. Done was married twice, first to Sarah Rigley, and then to Patience Bayly. Between them, he had eighteen children. He died at

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

References

1740s births 1831 deaths People from Somerset County, Maryland Maryland lawyers 1796 United States presidential electors Judges of the Supreme Court of Maryland Candidates in the 1788–1789 United States elections {{Maryland-state-judge-stub