Simon Greenleaf

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Simon Greenleaf.
Simon Greenleaf.

Simon Greenleaf (December 5, 1783 – October 6, 1853), American jurist, was born at Newburyport, Massachusetts.

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[edit] Early life and legal career

Greenleaf's family traces its ancestry back to Edmund Greenleaf who lived in Ipswich, Suffolk in England and then emigrated and settled in Newburyport, Massachusetts. The Greenleaf family flourished in this part of Massachusetts for almost one hundred fifty years prior to Simon's birth in 1783. His father was Moses Greenleaf and he married Lydia Parsons the daughter of Rev. Jonathan Parsons of Newburyport. His older brother, Moses Greenleaf (1777-1834), became a distinguished surveyor and map-maker in the state of Maine.

In 1790 Simon's parents moved to New Gloucester in Maine but left him in the care of his grandfather, the Hon. Jonathan Greenleaf, in Newburyport where he was educated at the Latin school and studied the Greco-Roman classics. When he turned sixteen years old he then rejoined his parents in New Gloucester. In 1801 he joined the law office of Ezekiel Whitman (the later Chief Justice of Maine) and in 1806 was admitted to the Cumberland County bar as a legal practitioner. On September 18, 1806 he married Hannah Kingman.

He then opened a legal practice at Standish, but six months afterwards relocated to Gray, where he practised for twelve years, and in 1818 removed to Portland. Greenleaf's political preferences were aligned with the Federalist party, and in 1816 he was an unsuccessful candidate for that party in Cumberland County for the Senate. He was reporter of the Supreme Court of Maine from 1820 to 1832, and published nine volumes of Reports of Cases in the Supreme Court of Maine (1820-1832).

He was awarded the honorary Doctor of Laws degree by Harvard in 1834, received the same honor from Amherst in 1845, and again from the University of Alabama in 1852.

[edit] Professorships

In 1833, Greenleaf was named to the Royall professorship, and in 1846 succeeded Judge Joseph Story as Dane professor of law at Harvard University. Greenleaf contributed extensively to the development of Harvard Law School, including expansion of the Harvard Law Library. He was retained as chief counsel by the Warren Bridge group in the US Supreme Court case Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge 36 U.S. 420 (1837)[1], where the case laid down the rule that public contracts must be construed in favor of states.

In 1848, Greenleaf retired from his active duties, and became professor emeritus. After being for many years president of the Massachusetts Bible Society, he died at Cambridge, Mass. Greenleaf's well-known work, a Treatise on the Law of Evidence, is considered a classic of American jurisprudence. Greenleaf prepared the original constitution of the Colony of Liberia.

[edit] Contributions to Christian Apologetics

Greenleaf is an important figure in the development of that Christian school of thought known as legal or juridical apologetics. This school of thought is typified by legally trained scholars applying the canons of proof and argument to the defence of Christian belief. Greenleaf's book The Testimony of the Evangelists set the model for many subsequent works by legal apologists. He is distinguished as one who applied the canons of the ancient document rule to establish the authenticity of the gospel accounts, as well as cross-examination principles in assessing the testimony of those who bore witness to the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. His style of reasoning is reflected in the apologetic works by John Warwick Montgomery, Josh McDowell and Ross Clifford.


[edit] Other Writings

Greenleaf's principal work of legal scholarship is a Treatise on the Law of Evidence (3 vols., 1842-1853), and which remained a standard textbook in American law throughout the Nineteenth century. He also published A Full Collection of Cases Overruled, Denied, Doubted, or Limited in their Application, taken from American and English Reports (1821). He prepared and published Reports of Cases Argued and Determined by the Supreme Judicial Court of the State of Maine in nine volumes (1820-1832). He revised for the American courts William Cruise's Digest of Laws respecting Real Property (3 vols., 1849-1850). Greenleaf was also the author of A Brief Inquiry into the Origin and Principles of Free Masonry (1820), and wrote a memoir of the life of his colleague Joseph Story - A Discourse Commemorative of the Life and Character of the Hon. Joseph Story (1845).

Mentioned by actor Corbin Bernsen, playing Mitch Kendrick, in Judgment (a.k.a. Apocalypse IV)(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0257408/).

[edit] The Simon Greenleaf School of Law

In 1980 a law school opened in Anaheim, California that was named in his honor, The Simon Greenleaf School of Law. This school was founded by the Evangelical theologian-lawyer John Warwick Montgomery. From 1980-88 the law school published a journal named The Simon Greenleaf Law Review. In 1997 the law school became part of Trinity International University.


[edit] Bibliography

[edit] See also

[edit] Topics

[edit] Apologists

[edit] References

  1. ^ 36 U.S. 420 (1837) Full text of Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge
  • "Professor Simon Greenleaf" in Ross Clifford, Leading Lawyers ' Case for the Resurrection, (Edmonton: Canadian Institute for Law, theology and Public Policy, 1996), pp. 41-55 ISBN 1-896363-02-4
  • John Warwick Montgomery, "Simon Greenleaf," Eternity magazine, November 1986, p. 21.
  • "Simon Greenleaf," in Dictionary of American Biography, Vol. 4, Allen Johnson and Dumas Malone, eds. New York: Charles Scribners, pp 583-584.
  • Summary of Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge from OYEZ

[edit] External links

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