Ellsworth, Oliver

Born April 29, 1745, in Windsor, CT
Died November 26, 1807, in Windsor, CT

Federal Judicial Service:
Chief Justice, Supreme Court of the United States
Nominated by George Washington on March 3, 1796, to a seat vacated by John Rutledge. Confirmed by the Senate on March 4, 1796, and received commission on March 4, 1796. Service terminated on December 15, 1800, due to resignation.

Supreme Court Oath:
March 8, 1796

Allotment as Circuit Justice:

Southern Circuit, Spring 1796, Spring 1799
Eastern Circuit, Spring 1797, Spring 1798-Fall 1798, Fall 1799

Education:
College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), B.A., 1766
Read law, 1771

Professional Career:

Private practice, Windsor, Connecticut, 1771-1775
State representative, Connecticut, 1773-1775
Private practice, Hartford, Connecticut, 1775-1784
State's attorney, Hartford, Connecticut, 1777-1785
Delegate, Continental Congress, 1778-1783
Member, Connecticut Council of Safety, 1779
Member, Connecticut Governor's Council, 1784-1785, 1801-1807
Judge, Connecticut Superior Court, 1784-1789
Delegate, Federal Constitutional Convention, 1787
U.S. senator from Connecticut, 1789-1796
Minister plenipotentiary to France, U.S. Department of State, 1799-1800

Bibliography

Brown, William Garrott. The Life of Oliver Ellsworth. New York: MacMillon, 1905.

________. “A Continental Congressman: Oliver Ellsworth, 1777-1783.” American Historical Review, vol. 10, no. 4 (Jul. 1905): 751-81.

________. “The Early Life of Oliver Ellsworth.” American Historical Review, vol. 10, no. 3 (Apr. 1905): 534-64.

Casto, William R. “Oliver Ellsworth’s Calvinism: A Biographical Essay on Religion and Political Psychology in the Early Republic.” Journal of Church and State, vol. 36, no. 3 (Summer 1994): 507-26.

________. The Supreme Court in the Early Republic: The Chief Justiceships of John Jay and Oliver Ellsworth. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2012.

Cooper, James W. “Biographies of Connecticut Judges, XVI: Oliver Ellsworth (1745-1807).” Connecticut Bar Journal, vol. 53, no. 4 (1979): 494-515.

Gerber, Scott Douglas. Seriatim: The Supreme Court before John Marshall. New York: NYU Press, 1998.

Harrington, Matthew P. Jay and Ellsworth, the First Courts: Justices Rulings and Legacy. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2008.

Jones, Francis R. “Oliver Ellsworth.” Green Bag, vol. 13, no. 11 (Nov. 1901): 503-7.

Kelland, Clarence B. “Oliver Ellsworth: Father of the Federal Judiciary.” Law Student’s Helper, vol. 17, no. 5 (May 2009): 139-40.

Lettieri, Ronald J. “Connecticut’s ‘Publius’: Oliver Ellsworth, the Landholder Series, and the Fabric of Connecticut Republicanism.” Connecticut History Review, vol. 23 (Apr. 1982): 24-45.

Shepard, Henry M. “Oliver Ellsworth.” Chicago Law Times, vol. 2, no. 2 (Apr. 1888): 109-28.

Toth, Micahel C. Founding Federalist: The Life of Oliver Ellsworth. Wilmington, DE: ISI Books, 2011.

Wexler, Natalie. “In the Beginning: The First Three Chief Justices.” University of Pennsylvania Law Review, vol. 154, no. 6 (Jun 2006): 1373-419.

“Biographical Sketch of Chief Justice Ellsworth.” American Law Magazine, vol. 3, no. 2 (Jul. 1844): 249-72.

“Oliver Ellsworth.” Current Comment and Legal Miscellany, vol. 2, no. 2 (Feb. 15 1890): 65-76.

Manuscript Collections

Connecticut Historical Society
Hartford, Conn.
Ellsworth family papers, 1779-1890.
0.5 linear ft.; includes letters from Oliver Ellsworth to his wife, Abigail (Nabby) Ellsworth.

Oliver Ellsworth papers, 1764-1816.
1 linear ft.; primarily financial and legal records of Oliver Ellsworth.

Oliver Ellsworth papers, 1783-1800.
6 items; letters written by Oliver Ellsworth from Philadelphia and Paris.

Cornell University
Ithaca, N.Y.
Oliver Ellsworth letters, 1776-ca. 1800.
2 items; letter to William Vans Murray regarding Ellsworth's idea of selecting jurists for his board of commissioners; letter fragment regarding a bill from Dr. Philip Turner for hospital services for the troops.

Harvard Law School
Cambridge, Mass.
Oliver Ellsworth letters to Rufus King, 1800-1801.
2 items; letters Ellsworth wrote from England after serving as commissioner to France.

Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
Oliver Ellsworth family papers, 1762-1907.
3.4 linear ft. (900 items); finding aid; correspondence, estate, family, financial, and legal papers; and printed matter relating to Ellsworth's legal and judicial careers.

New York Public Library
New York, N.Y.
Oliver Ellsworth papers.
1 vol.; transcripts of letters, 1783-1801.

Princeton University
Princeton, N.J.
Oliver Ellsworth collection, 1775-1883.
0.2 linear ft.; finding aid; correspondence, engravings, documents, and printed material relating to Oliver Ellsworth.

Federal Judicial Center

You are here

Ellsworth, Oliver