April 29, 1745 – Birth of Oliver Ellsworth, Third Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court

Oliver Ellsworth is another “Founding Father” about whom few Americans are aware. Born in 1745 in Windsor, Connecticut, he was a lawyer, judge, politician and diplomat. He helped draft the U.S. Constitution, and was instrumental – along with Roger Sherman, also representing Connecticut – in fashioning the “Connecticut Compromise” between more populous states and less populous states. [This compromise blended the earlier Virginia (large-state) and New Jersey (small-state) proposals regarding apportionment for delegates in both Congress and the Senate.]

Engraving of Oliver Ellsworth

Ellsworth became one of the two original pair of Senators in the new United States government, and was the chief author of the Judiciary Act of 1789, which defined the contours of the federal judiciary of the United States.

Among other provisions, the Act set the number of Supreme Court justices at six: one Chief Justice and five Associate Justices. It also defined their jurisdiction, and created 13 judicial districts with both circuit courts and district courts within the 11 states that had then ratified the Constitution.

Ellsworth, aligned with the Federalist Party, served as a key Senate ally to Alexander Hamilton. He led the Senate passage of Hamiltonian proposals such as the Funding Act of 1790 and the Bank Bill of 1791. He also helped ratify the United States Bill of Rights and the Jay Treaty.

As the first U.S. President, George Washington was responsible for appointing the entire Supreme Court; he appointed a record ten justices. In 1789, Washington offered John Jay the new opportunity of becoming the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, which Jay accepted. He was unanimously confirmed on September 26, 1789 and remained on the bench until his retirement in 1795. Washington next appointed John Rutledge, the senior Associate Justice to the position, on a temporary basis because the Senate was in recess. But Rutledge publicly spoke out against the Jay Treaty in 1795, angering Federalists, including Washington. His appointment to the Supreme Court was then unanimously rejected by the Senate when it reconvened. As a Senate website reports:

Rutledge thus became the first rejected Supreme Court nominee and the only one among the fifteen who would gain their offices through recess appointments not to be subsequently confirmed. In turning down Rutledge, the Senate made it clear that an examination of a nominee’s qualifications would include his political views. Those who differed substantively from the majority of senators could expect rough going.”

President Washington satisfied dissent in the Senate by nominating Oliver Ellsworth, who was favored not only by virtue of being a member of that body, but because he had authored the Judiciary Act. Ellsworth was unanimously confirmed and served until 1800, but the Ellsworth Court handled few influential cases.

Oliver Ellsworth

Ellsworth simultaneously served as an envoy to France from 1799 to 1800, signing the Convention of 1800 to settle the hostilities of the Quasi-War. In the 1796 presidential election, Ellsworth received several electoral votes. Poor health caused him to retire from the Court in 1800, and he was succeeded by John Marshall. Ellsworth then served on the Connecticut Governor’s Council until his death in 1807.