Jay, John

Born December 12, 1745, in New York, NY
Died May 17, 1829, in Bedford, NY

Federal Judicial Service:
Chief Justice, Supreme Court of the United States
Nominated by George Washington on September 24, 1789, to a new seat authorized by 1 Stat. 73. Confirmed by the Senate on September 26, 1789, and received commission on September 26, 1789. Service terminated on June 29, 1795, due to resignation.

Supreme Court Oath:
October 19, 1789

Allotment as Circuit Justice:

Eastern Circuit, Spring 1790-Spring 1792
Middle Circuit, Spring 1793, Spring 1794

Education:
King's College (now Columbia University), B.A., 1764
King's College (now Columbia University), M.A., 1767
Read law, 1768

Professional Career:

Private practice, New York City, 1768-1774
Delegate, Continental Congress, 1774-1778
Chief justice, Supreme Court of Judicature of New York, 1777-1778
President, Second Continental Congress, 1778-1779
U.S. minister plenipotentiary to Spain, 1779-1782
Negotiator of Treaty of Paris with Great Britain, 1782-1783
Secretary of foreign affairs under Articles of Confederation, 1784-1790
Negotiator of Jay Treaty with Great Britain, 1794-1795
Governor, New York, 1795-1801

Other Nominations/Recess Appointments:

Nominated to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, December 18, 1800; confirmed, December 19, 1800; declined appointment

Bibliography

Blackmun, Harry A. “John Jay and the Federalist Papers.” Pace Law Review, vol. 8 (1988): 237-248.

Burns, Richard Dean and Yerby, Richard D. “John Jay: Political Jurist.” Journal of Public Law, vol. 13, no. 1 (1964): 222-31.

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

Durham, G. Homer. “John Jay and the Judicial Power.” Brigham Young University Series, vol. 16, no. 3 (Spring 1976): 349-361.

Ellis, Joseph J. The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789. New York: Vintage, 2015.

Ferguson, Robert A. “The Forgotten Publius: John Jay and the Aesthetics of Ratification.” Early American Literature, vol. 34, no. 3 (1999): 223-40.

Gruver, Rebecca Brooks. “The Diplomacy of John Jay.” Ph.D. Diss., University of California, Berkley, 1964.

Hartog, Jonathon Den. “John Jay and Religious Liberty.” Faulkner Law Review, vol. 7, no. 1 (Fall 2015): 63-78.

Jay, William. The Life of John Jay: With Selections from his Correspondence and Miscellaneous Papers. New York: J. Harper, 1833.

Johnson, Herbert Alan. “John Jay and the Supreme Court.” New York History, vol. 81, no. 1 (Jan. 2000), 59-90.

________. John Jay, Colonial Lawyer. New York: Garland Publishing, 1989.

________. “John Jay: Lawyer in a Time of Transition, 1764-1775.” University of Pennsylvania Law Review, vol. 124, no. 5 (May 1976): 1260-92.

Jones, Francis R., “John Jay.” Green Bag, vol. 13, no. 1 (Jan. 1901): 1-4.

Klein, Milton M. “John Jay and the Revolution.” New York History, vol. 81, no. 1 (Jan. 2000): 19-30.

Littlefield, Daniel C. “John Jay, the Revolutionary Generation, and Slavery.” New York History, vol. 81, no. 1 (Jan. 2000): 91-132.

Morris, Richard B. “John Jay and the New England Connection.” Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, vol. 80 (1968): 16-37.

________. John Jay, the Nation, and the Court. Boston: Boston University Press, 1967.

Proctor, L.B. “John Jay and Other Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States.” Michigan Law Journal, vol. 5, no. 5 (May 1896): 153-65.

Scott, James Brown. “John Jay, First Chief Justice of the United States.” Columbia Law Review, vol. 6, no. 5 (May 1906): 289-325.

Stahr, Walter. John Jay: Founding Father. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2006.

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

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

Whitelock, William. The Life and Times of John Jay: Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Confederation and First Chief Justice of the United States. New York: Dodd Mead, 1887.

“John Jay.” Chicago Law Times, vol. 1, no. 3 (Jul. 1887): 215-23.

Manuscript Collections

Columbia University
New York, N.Y.
John Jay papers, 1668-ca. 1862.
ca. 10,500 items; finding aid; restricted; collection contains Jay's letters, manuscripts, documents, and letter books.

Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
John Jay correspondence, 1776-1794.
1 container (55 items); miscellaneous correspondence concerning American politics and diplomacy.

John Jay papers, 1776-1809.
1 container (350 items); a letter book (1779-1782), and miscellaneous other letters and documents. The letter book is a facsimile of the original held by the Huntington Library.

Museum of the City of New York
New York, N.Y.
Jay family papers, 1779-1828.
1 cubic ft.; finding aid; correspondence.

New-York Historical Society
New York, N.Y.
John Jay papers, 1770-1794.
8 boxes; collection contains material related to Jay's public career.

Federal Judicial Center

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Jay, John