John Rutledge

John Rutledge (September 1739-July 18, 1800) was Governor of South Carolina, delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and served on the U.S. Supreme Court (Chief Justice from August to December 1795). He was the elder brother of Edward Rutledge, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Service to the new country

The new government under the Constitution soon lured Rutledge. He was a Presidential elector in 1789, and George Washington then appointed him as Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court, but he served for only two years. In 1791 he became chief justice of the South Carolina supreme court. Four years later, Washington again appointed him to the U.S. Supreme Court, this time as Chief Justice of the United States to replace John Jay. But Rutledge's outspoken opposition to Jay's Treaty (1794), and the intermittent mental illness he had suffered since the death of his wife in 1792, caused the Federalist-dominated Senate to reject his appointment and end his public career. Meantime, however, he had presided over one term of the Court.

Related Topics:
Elector - 1789 - George Washington - Associate Justice - US Supreme Court - 1791 - Chief Justice of the United States - John Jay - Jay's Treaty - 1794 - Mental illness - 1792 - Federalist - Senate

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Rutledge died in 1800 at the age of 60 and was interred at St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Charleston. One of his houses, said to have been built in 1763 and definitely sold in 1790, was renovated in 1989 and opened to the public as the John Rutledge House Inn.

Related Topics:
St. Michael's Episcopal Church - 1763 - 1790 - 1989 - John Rutledge House Inn

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