Nathan Cushing (1742 – November 4, 1812) was a justice of the

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the distinction of being the oldest continuously fu ...

from 1790 to 1800. He was appointed by Governor

John Hancock John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot of the American Revolution. He was the longest-serving Presi ...

to the seat vacated by the elevation of Nathaniel Sargent to chief justice. Born in

Scituate, Massachusetts Scituate () is a seacoast town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on the South Shore, midway between Boston and Plymouth. The population was 19,063 at the 2020 census. History The Wampanoag and their neighbors inhabited the ar ...

, Cushing received his law degree from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

in 1763. Cushing supported independence during the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

, and served as a delegate to the Plymouth County Congress in 1774, which issued a document condemning British violations of the right of colonists. He was an

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

Judge in 1776, and in 1788 was a delegate to the Massachusetts Ratifying Convention which, with Cushing, voted to adopt the

Constitution of the United States The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

. Cushing was appointed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in 1790, and served until his resignation in 1800.
Massachusetts Law Quarterly
', Volume 6 (November 1920), p. 7. Cushing married Abigail Tilden, with whom he had several children, three of whom survived him. He died at his home in Scituate at the age of 70.

References

Justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court 1742 births 1812 deaths Harvard College alumni {{Massachusetts-state-judge-stub