Samuel Chase

Founding Father of the United States (1741–1811)

For other uses, see Samuel Chase (disambiguation) .

Not to be confused with Salmon P. Chase .

Samuel Chase (April 17, 1741 – June 19, 1811) was a Founding Father of the United States , signer of the Continental Association and United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland , and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court . In 1804, Chase was impeached by the House of Representatives on grounds of letting his partisan leanings affect his court decisions, but was acquitted the following year by the Senate and remained in office. He is the only United States Supreme Court Justice to have ever been impeached.

Born near Princess Anne, Maryland , Chase established a legal practice in Annapolis, Maryland . He served in the Maryland General Assembly for several years and favored independence during the American Revolution . He won election to the Continental Congress before serving on the Baltimore District Criminal Court and the Maryland General Court. In 1796, President George Washington appointed Chase to the United States Supreme Court.

After the 1800 elections , President Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans sought to weaken Federalist influence on the federal courts . Chase's actions on the court had been accused of demonstrating bias, and Jefferson believed that Chase should be removed from office, a process that required a vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. The House passed eight articles of impeachment , all centering on Chase's alleged political bias. The Senate voted to acquit Chase on all counts, and Chase served on the Supreme Court until his death in 1811. Some historians have argued that Chase's acquittal set an important precedent regarding the independence of the federal judiciary.

Early life

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Coat of Arms of Samuel Chase

Samuel Chase was the son of the Reverend Thomas Chase (c. 1703–1779) and his wife, Matilda Walker (1705–1741), born near Princess Anne, Maryland . His father was a clergyman who immigrated to Somerset County to become a priest in a new church. Samuel was educated at home. He was eighteen when he left for Annapolis where he studied law under attorney John Hall. He was admitted to the bar in 1761 and started a law practice in Annapolis. It was during his time as a member of the bar that his colleagues gave him the nickname of "Old Bacon Face", either due to his proneness for a facial flush when angered or excited or due to his general ruddy complexion in general, or both.

In May 1762, Chase married Anne Baldwin, daughter of Thomas and Agnes Baldwin. Samuel and Anne had three sons and four daughters, with only four surviving to adulthood. Anne died in 1776. In 1784, Chase traveled to England to deal with Maryland's Bank of England stock, where he met Hannah Kilty, daughter of Samuel Giles, a Berkshire physician. They were married later that year and had two daughters, Hannah and Elisa.

Anne Baldwin Chase and her daughters Anne and Matilda Chase

Political career

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In 1764, Chase was elected to the Maryland General Assembly where he served for 20 years.

In 1766, he became embroiled in a war of words with a number of loyalist members of the Maryland political establishment. In an open letter dated July 18, 1766, Chase attacked Walter Dulany, George Steuart (1700–1784), John Brice (1705–1766), and others for publishing an article in the _Maryland Gazette Extraordinary _ of June 19, 1766, in which Chase was accused of being: "a busy, reckless incendiary, a ringleader of mobs, a foul-mouthed and inflaming son of discord and faction, a common disturber of the public tranquility". In his response, Chase accused Steuart and the others of "vanity...pride and arrogance", and of being brought to power by "proprietary influence, court favour, and the wealth and influence of the tools and favourites who infest this city."

In 1769, he started construction of the mansion that would become known as the Chase–Lloyd House , which he sold unfinished in 1771. The house is now a National Historic Landmark . He co-founded Anne Arundel County's Sons of Liberty chapter with his close friend William Paca , as well as leading opposition to the 1765 Stamp Act .

From 1774 to 1776, Chase was a member of the Annapolis Convention . He served on Maryland 's Council of Safety in 1775. He represented Maryland at the Continental Congress, was re-elected in 1776 and signed the United States Declaration of Independence . He remained in the Continental Congress until 1778. Chase was elected to the 1788 Maryland Ratifying Convention to rati

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