Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-04-14

III EI En Eagi sixty years the Sem
N.| ttH " !. ate of the United
NlNlIA-Np States, from 1901,
= when the government
was moved from Philadelphia to Wash
ton, until 1861 when the Senate took up its
quarters in the present chamber.
The United States Supreme Court, or
ganized in 1889, sat in New York and Phil
adelphia until 1901, when it opened its ses-
sions in the room Immediately below its
present abode, in what has been since used
as the law library, and remained there un-
til the Senate moved to it's new chamber,
made room for it in 1861. 1t is a notable
circumstance that the old court room was
the only part of the Capitol which was not
injured materially in the firing OF the build
ing by the British in 1914, and justice still
held sway therein, not hindered by that dis
astrous incident in our early history. Here
John Marshall of Virginia, at the opening
of the court at the new Capitol in 1901, took
the oa tn of office chief justice, and for
| thirty-five years presided over as gifted and
| great bench as ever expounded laws in
any coutry in Christendom, his own great
| fame growing steadily with his years of SER
vice, shadowing, but not dimming, the fame
1 of his illustrious associates. Marshall was
succeeded by Roger fancy of Maryland
VINO in This room prior to and in the early
days of the war, through a period of
| twenty-five of his twenty-eight years Of
| service as chief justice, rendered decisions
notably in the famous "Dred Scott" case
which intensified the passions of the two
great sections and emphasized the differ
ences which led TO the war of the rebel
! lion.
Senator White when he assumed the robe
Iof
ciate justice commissioned since the organ
ization of the court in the year 1889 Dur
ing the same period there have been eight
chief justices, one OF whom. however
John Rutledge of South Carolina, appointed
by President Washington to succeed Jay
| presided over the court during the August
term only, his nomination being rejected by
the Senate in December, owing to his fail
| ing mental condition.
The states of New York, Connecticut
South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and IL
| linois have furnished one chief justice each,
while Ohio has twice been honored by the
| distinction. The associate justices have
| been distributed among twenty-one states,
Pennsylvania and Ohio leading, with five
each, New York, Virginia, Maryland and
| Massachusetts four each, Kentucky three
| New Jersey, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee
North and South Carolina two each and
Maine, New Hampshire, Mississippi, Michi-
gan, Illinois, Iowa. Kansas, California and
| Louisiana one each.
Justices of Long Service.
During the first eleven years of the court
from 1850 to 1901, there were three chief
justices-Jay Of New York. Rutledge of
South Carolina and Ellsworth of Connecti-
cut, while during the following siXty-three
years but two men filled the position-Mar-
| shall OF Virginia and fancy of Maryland
| In the succeeding thirty years down to the
| present time there have been three chief
! justices-Chase and Waite of Ohio, and the
| present occupant, Melville W. Fuller of
| Illinois.
Including Chief Justices Marshall and
| fancy, twenty-four justices have covered a
! period on the Supreme Court bench Of hf-
! teen years service and over Associate JUS
tees Chase of Maryland and Davis of Hi
nois having served fifteen years each: Bald
win of Pennsylvania and Livingston of New
York sixteen and seventeen years respec-
| lively; Todd of Kentucky nineteen years,
while Justice Harlan of the same state is
row in his seventeenth year of service.
| Thompson of New York, Daniel of Virginia
and Swayne of Ohio served twenty years
each. Clifford of Maine and Bradley of New
| Jersey twenty-three years each, Grier of
Pennsylvania twenty-four years, Duval OF
, Maryland twenty-five years, Nelson of New
York tWenty-seven years, Catron Of Ten
neSsee sad Miller of Iowa tweuty-eight
years, johnson of South Carolina thirty
years, Bushrod Washington, nephew of
Gen Washington. and Justice Field of
California, thlrty-one years; Mclean of
! Ohio and Wayne of Georgia thirty-two
years, and Joseph Story OF Massachusetts
next to Marshall In longevity of service,
| thirty-fOur years
Justice Field, The Father OF the Court"
has the honor of having sat with a larger
number of associates than any other man
who has been on the bench of the Supreme
TIa 1,a.1s 81 al.
of four chief justices and twenty-five asso-
state justices. Justices Clifford and Miller
nearly equaled this record in having sat
with three chief justices and twenty-one as
Sociate justices.
Attaches Who Have Served Long.
The old apothegm, Few die and none re-
sign" seems to find apt illustration in the
Supreme Court and it's attaches. There are
several men employed in different capaci-
ties about the court who have seen over
third of a century of service. Archie Lewis,
the colored man on duty in the robing
room, has adjusted the black slken robes
upon the shoulders of more than half of the
members of the Supreme Court bench, hav-
ing been in that service for nearly forty
years, While James Welsh, the venerable
anu Seda te-iCOking colored man whose face
is so familiar to members of the bar and to
the thousands who visit the Supreme Court
room, where he sits at the outer main door
When the court Is in session, has spent thir-
ty-iive years and over in attendance upon
the court In the law library Mr.. j. F. y.
Wilkinson, the well-known colored man. has
during period of thirty-seven years aided
chief justices, associate justices, members
of the bar and all who have sought for
legal lore to find it in any one or more of
the thousands of volumes in this wonderful
storehouse of judicial learning
Sitting in the present Supreme Court room
at high noon, as the justices, following in
dtgnited manner the chief justice on the
march from the robing room to the bench
take their seats after gravely inclining the
head to the assembled members of the bar
and spectators, all of whom are standing as
mark of respect to the court, one is
struck Withohe comfortable physical large
ness and satisfying appearance as to men,
tai soidity of the highest court in the land
With life positon-ten thousand dollars
per year salary-a knowledge that after ten
years service and the age of seventy is
reached that salary can be drawn annually
If they wish by retiring to private life
with Independent fortunes in most cases
with everything congenial in their official
and personal surroundings, both in their
duties and life at the national capital and
in their work on the circuit, it is easy to
see why our Supreme Court judges are such
genial, merry men to meet out of court
while still retaining that severe judicial
mien and habit on the bench.
In a quiet way, and, of course IN a man.
ner entirely compatible with the lightly of
the court, the justices of the great tribunal