| Henry Billings Brown | |
|---|---|
| Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court | |
| In office December 29, 1890[1] – May 28, 1906 |
|
| Nominated by | Benjamin Harrison |
| Preceded by | Samuel Freeman Miller |
| Succeeded by | William Henry Moody |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 2, 1836 Lee, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | September 4, 1913 (aged 77) Bronxville, New York, U.S. |
| Religion | Congregationalist |
Henry Billings Brown (March 2, 1836 – September 4, 1913) was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from January 5, 1891, to May 28, 1906. He was the author of the opinion for the Court in Plessy v. Ferguson, a decision that upheld the legality of racial segregation in public transportation.
Brown grew up in a New England merchant family. He graduated from Yale in 1856, and received basic legal training at Yale and at Harvard, although he did not earn a law degree. His early law practice was in Detroit, where he specialized in admiralty law (shipping law on the Great Lakes). Brown hired a substitute to take his place in the Union Army during the Civil War, and served as United States Attorney.
In 1864, Brown married Caroline Pitts, the daughter of a wealthy Detroit lumberman; they had no children.
Brown kept diaries from his college days until his appointment as a federal judge in 1875. Now held in the Burton Historical Collection of the Detroit Public Library, they suggest that Brown was personally likeable (if ambitious), depressed and often full of doubt about himself.
On March 17, 1875, Brown was nominated by President Ulysses Grant to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan vacated by John Wesley Longyear. Brown was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 19, 1875, and received his commission the same day. He edited a collection of rulings and orders in important admiralty cases from inland waters,[2] which is still used as a reference in Black's Law Dictionary.
He compiled a case book on admiralty law for his lectures at Georgetown University.[3] Brown taught admiralty law classes at the University of Michigan.
President Benjamin Harrison appointed Brown, a Republican, to the U.S. Supreme Court on December 23, 1890, to a seat vacated by Samuel F. Miller. Brown was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 29, 1890, and received his commission the same day. His service to the Eastern District of Michigan officially ended on December 30, 1890.
In 1891, he paid $25,000 for land at 1720 16th Street, NW, in Washington, D.C., to the Riggs family,[4] hired architect William Henry Miller, and built a five-story, 18-room mansion for $40,000.[5] He would lived in this house, today known as the Toutorsky Mansion, until his death.
As a jurist, Brown was against government intervention in business, and concurred with the majority opinion in Lochner v. New York striking down a limitation on maximum working hours. He did support the federal income tax in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. (1895).
Brown is perhaps best known for the 1896 decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, in which he wrote the majority opinion - upholding the principle and legitimacy of "separate but equal" facilities for American blacks and whites.
Caroline died in 1901; three years later, Brown married a close friend of hers, the widow Josephine E. Tyler.
Near the end of his years on the Court he largely lost his eyesight. Brown retired from the Court May 28, 1906.
He died of heart failure. Brown is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit.
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Samuel Freeman Miller |
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States December 29, 1890 – May 28, 1906 |
Succeeded by William Henry Moody |