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BUSHROD WASHINGTON
was born on June 5, 1762, in Westmoreland County, Virginia.
He was a nephew of the first President of the United States,
George Washington. He was graduated from the College of
William and Mary in 1778 and attended a course of law
lectures conducted by George Wythe at the same time as
did John Marshall, who later became Chief Justice of the
United States. Washington enlisted in the Continental
Army near the end of the Revolution and as present at
the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. After the War,
he resumed his law studies in the Philadelphia office
of James Wilson, who preceded him on the Supreme Court.
Washington began a private law in Westmoreland County,
Virginia, and then moved to Alexandria, Virginia. In 1787,
he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, and
in 1788 he served as a delegate to the Virginia Convention
which ratified the Constitution. In 1790, Washington moved
to Richmond, Virginia, where he continued his law practice.
He served as a reporter for the Court of Appeals and also
instructed many law students, including Henry Clay. President
John Adams nominated Washington to the Supreme Court of
the United States on December 19, 1798. The Senate confirmed
the appointment the following day. Washington served on
the Supreme Court for thirty years. He died on November
26, 1829, at the age of sixty-seven. |
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