Philip Clayton Pendleton

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American judge (1779–1863)

Philip Clayton Pendleton (November 24, 1779 – April 3, 1863) was a Virginia attorney , planter, politician and jurist. He briefly served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia . He previously served in the Virginia House of Delegates and as a Virginia state judge.

Education and career

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Born on November 24, 1779, in Berkeley County , Virginia (now West Virginia ), Pendleton attended Dickinson College and the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University ), then read law c. 1800. Pendleton was admitted to the Virginia bar around 1800, and had a private practice in what became the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia at various times when he was not a judge. He also farmed using enslaved labor. In the 1820 United States census , he owned 3 slaves, which number grew to 23 slaves in the 1840 United States census . In the 1860 United States census , Pendleton owned 16 slaves in Berkeley County, Virginia. His firstborn son, also Philip C. Pendleton (1814–1899) farmed across the Potomac River in Oakland , Allegheny County , Maryland before the Civil War with the assistance of 13 enslaved people, then possibly served as a Union major and paymaster during the war.

Meanwhile, Berkeley County voters elected Pendleton as one of their representatives in the Virginia House of Delegates (a part-time position) in 1805 and re-elected him the following year. Although he was not one of the two top vote-getters in 1807, one of the two men elected (Philip P. Wilson) died before the session began and Pendleton succeeded him, then was replaced by George Porterfield for one term, before he and Magnus Tate served together for a term, then Porterfield again replaced Pendleton. Reportedly, his tenure in the Virginia General Assembly led to Pendleton's later aversion to further political involvement. The Virginia General Assembly elected Pendleton as a member of the Board of Commissioners who met at the tavern at Rockfish Gap in 1818 and decided to locate the University of Virginia at Charlottesville .[_citation needed
] The group also included Thomas Jefferson , James Madison , James Monroe , John Marshall and among others, John G. Jackson , another future judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia .[citation needed
] (Pendleton's vote was for Lexington ).[citation needed
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Military service

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Pendleton served in the War of 1812 , enlisting as a private in the militia company raised by fellow lawyer and planter Elisha Boyd in Martinsburg , Virginia (now West Virginia).[_citation needed
] He became the unit's paymaster.[citation needed
] Their troop of Berkeley County militia defended Norfolk and Portsmouth Virginia against a British naval and land attack.[citation needed
] Another Berkeley County militia troop would be the first to reach Washington, D.C. after the British burned the new nation's capitol.[citation needed
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Federal judicial service

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Pendleton received a recess appointment from President John Quincy Adams on May 6, 1825, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia vacated by Judge John G. Jackson . His service terminated on July 29, 1825, due to his resignation. His resignation was due to his unwillingness to undertake the rigors of constantly riding between courthouses in his district.[_citation needed
_] Due to the briefness of his tenure, his nomination was never submitted to the United States Senate .

Later career

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In 1829, voters from Berkeley County as well as from nearby Hampshire, Hardy and Morgan Counties voters elected Pendleton one of their representatives to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-1830 (together with his father in law Elisha Boyd, William Naylor and William Donaldson).

The [Virginia General Assembly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_General_Assembly

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