List of federal judges appointed by Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson.

William Johnson was Jefferson's longest serving Supreme Court appointee, and had a fiercely independent judicial philosophy.

William Cranch, initially appointed to the District of Columbia Circuit by John Adams, was elevated by Thomas Jefferson to be Chief Judge of that court, and became one of the longest-serving federal judges in U.S. history.

Following is a list of all United States federal judges appointed by President Thomas Jefferson during his presidency.^[1] In total Jefferson appointed nineteen federal judges, including three Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States, seven judges to the United States circuit courts, and nine judges to the United States district courts. Three of Jefferson's circuit court appointments were to seats that had been created by the Midnight Judges Act, signed by John Adams to allow the appointment of many of his supporters in the closing days of his administration. The service of these judges, including those appointed by Jefferson, terminated on July 1, 1802, due to the repeal of the Act and the accompanying abolition of the court.

Two of Jefferson's appointees, William Cranch (whom Jefferson elevated to Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia) and Henry Potter (appointed first to the Fifth Circuit, and then to the District of North Carolina) served into the 1850s. Potter's 55 years on the latter court remains the longest period of active service in United States federal court history.

United States Supreme Court Justices

Justice	Seat	State	Began active service	Ended active service
Johnson, WilliamWilliam Johnson	Seat 5	South Carolina	March 26, 1804	August 4, 1834
Livingston, Henry BrockholstHenry Brockholst Livingston	Seat 4	New York	November 10, 1806[2]	March 18, 1823
Todd, ThomasThomas Todd	Seat 6	Virginia	March 3, 1807	February 7, 1826

Circuit Courts

Judge	Circuit	Began active service	Ended active service
Cranch, WilliamWilliam Cranch	D.C.	February 24, 1806	September 1, 1855[3]
Duckett, Allen BowieAllen Bowie Duckett	D.C.	March 17, 1806	July 19, 1809
Fitzhugh, Nicholas BattalleNicholas Battalle Fitzhugh	D.C.	November 25, 1803	December 31, 1814
Hall, Dominic AugustinDominic Augustin Hall	Fifth	July 1, 1801[4]	July 1, 1802[5]
Harris, EdwardEdward Harris	Fifth	May 3, 1802	July 1, 1802[5]
Kilty, WilliamWilliam Kilty	D.C.	March 23, 1801[4]	January 27, 1806
Potter, HenryHenry Potter	Fifth	May 9, 1801[6]	April 7, 1802

District courts

Judge	Court [Note 1]	Began active service	Ended active service
Barnes, David LeonardDavid Leonard Barnes	D.R.I.	April 30, 1801[4]	November 3, 1812
Byrd, Charles WillingCharles Willing Byrd	D. Ohio.	March 3, 1803	August 25, 1828
Edwards, PierpontPierpont Edwards	D. Conn.	February 24, 1806	April 5, 1826
Hall, Dominic AugustinDominic Augustin Hall	D. Orleans	December 11, 1804	April 30, 1812
Houston, JamesJames Houston	D. Md.	April 21, 1806	June 8, 1819
Potter, HenryHenry Potter	D.N.C.	April 7, 1802	December 20, 1857 [7]
Sherburne, John SamuelJohn Samuel Sherburne	D.N.H.	March 26, 1804	August 2, 1830
Stephens, WilliamWilliam Stephens	D. Ga.	October 22, 1801[6]	October 13, 1818
Tallmadge, Matthias BurnettMatthias Burnett Tallmadge	D.N.Y.	June 12, 1805[8]	July 1, 1819[9]

See also

• Marbury v. Madison (1803)
• Stuart v. Laird (1803)
• United States v. More (1805)

Notes

1. See List of United States district and territorial courts

References

General

• "Judges of the United States Courts". Biographical Directory of Federal Judges. Federal Judicial Center. Retrieved 2009-04-03.

Specific

1. All information on the names, terms of service, and details of appointment of federal judges is derived from the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public-domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
2. Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 15, 1806, confirmed by the United States Senate on December 17, 1806, and received commission on January 16, 1807.
3. Because of the unique structure of the United States Circuit Court for the District of Columbia, Thomas Jefferson's elevation of William Cranch to chief judge of the Court is considered a separate appointment.
4. Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 6, 1802, confirmed by the United States Senate on January 26, 1802, and received commission on January 26, 1802.
5. Appointed to a seat created by the Midnight Judges Act, abolished with the repeal of that act on July 1, 1802.
6. Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 6, 1802, confirmed by the United States Senate on January 26, 1802, and received commission on January 26, 1802.
7. Longest period of active service in United States federal court history.
8. Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 20, 1805, confirmed by the United States Senate on December 23, 1805, and received commission on January 17, 1806.
9. On April 9, 1814, the District of New York was subdivided, and Tallmadge was reassigned by operation of law to the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, where he remained until his resignation.

Sources

• Federal Judicial Center