Gabriel Duvall

Gabriel Duvall
Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court
In office
November 23, 1811 – January 12, 1835
Nominated by James Madison
Preceded by Samuel Chase
Succeeded by Philip Pendleton Barbour
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Maryland's 2nd district
In office
November 11, 1794 – March 28, 1796
Preceded by John Francis Mercer
Succeeded by Richard Sprigg, Jr.
Personal details
Born December 6, 1752(1752-12-06)
Prince Georges County, Maryland
Died March 6, 1844(1844-03-06) (aged 91)
Glenn Dale, Maryland
Political party Whig
Spouse(s) Florence "Ellen" Adams Washburne Duvall
Religion Reformed

Gabriel Duvall (December 6, 1752 – March 6, 1844) was an American politician and jurist.

Contents

Career

Born in Prince George's County, Maryland, Duvall read law to enter the Bar in 1778. He married Florence (Ellen) Adams Washburne (1754-1853), the daughter of General Henry Gilman Washburne and Florence Adams Washburne, on 1778. He was a clerk for the Maryland Council of Safety from 1775 to 1777, and for the Maryland House of Delegates from 1777 to 1781. He participated in the American Revolutionary War, first as a Mustermaster and commissary of stores in 1776, then as a private in the Maryland militia, where he fought in the battles of Brandywine and Morristown. He was a Commissioner to preserve confiscated British property from 1781 to 1782, then a member, Maryland Governor's Council from 1782 to 1785. He was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates, serving there from 1787 to 1794. He served one term as a U.S. Representative from the second district of Maryland, from November 11, 1794, to March 28, 1796. He was then Chief Justice of the Maryland General Court from 1796 to 1802, and was the first U.S. Comptroller of the Treasury from 1802 to 1811.

On November 15, 1811, Duvall was nominated by President James Madison to an Associate Justice seat on the Supreme Court of the United States vacated by fellow Marylander Samuel Chase. Duvall was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 18, 1811, and received his commission the same day.

In the twenty-three years he sat on the Supreme Court, Duvall penned an opinion in only seventeen cases. For all of Duvall’s tenure, John Marshall presided as Chief Justice. In only two cases, does the record show the two men holding different opinions. In Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward,[1] Duvall offered only a brief note calling attention to French law on the irrevocability of royal charters. In Mima Queen v. Hepburn,[2] Duvall would have authorized the Circuit Court for the District of Columbia to accept hearsay evidence proving the emancipation of a slave by her owner, but the rest of the Court, per the Chief Justice, decided against it. He served until January 12, 1835, when he resigned due to old age.

Death and legacy

Duvall lived for nine years after he retired, and died in Prince George's County, Maryland. Justice Duvall's home, Marietta House Museum, is open to the public and is operated as an historic house museum by M-NCPPC.

See also

References

  1. ^ 17 U.S. (4 Wheaton) 518 (1819).
  2. ^ 11 U.S. (7 Cranch) 290 (1834).

Further reading

External links

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
John Francis Mercer
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Maryland's 2nd congressional district

1794 – 1796
Succeeded by
Richard Sprigg, Jr.
Legal offices
Preceded by
Samuel Chase
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
November 18, 1811 – January 12, 1835
Succeeded by
Philip Pendleton Barbour