Joseph Story in the United States
Life and Work of Joseph Story
The following is an old definition of Joseph Story [1]: Was born September 18, 1779, at Marblehead, and died September 10, 1845, at Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was graduated from Harvard college in 1798, standing second in his class; and in 1801 he was admitted to the bar at Salem. From 1805 to 1808 he was a representative in the legislature; in 1808 he was sent to the lower house of Congress from the Essex district; and in 1810, having declined a re-election to Congress, he was returned to the legislature, of which, in January, 1811, he became speaker. November 18, 1811, without solicitation, he was appointed a justice of the United States Supreme Court, which position he filled, with distinction, to the day of his death, thirty -four years later. From the death of Marshall in July, 1835, to the appointment of Taney in March, 1836, he acted as chief justice. His decisions as judge of the circuit court for, the first district are contained in two volumes of reports by Gallison, five by Mason, three by Sumner (Charles), and three by his son William Wetmore Story.
His decisions in the Supreme Court are found among the decisions of that Court comprised in volumes seven, eight, and nine of Cranch’s reports, the twelve volumes of Wheaton, the sixteen of Peters, and the first three of Howard. In 1829 he became law professor at Harvard University on a foundation specially established for him by Nathan Dane for the delivery of lectures on general law and equity. The lectures prepared in discharge of the duties of this position were delivered extemporaneously, and so were not preserved. But there is scarcely a branch of the law that he did not illustrate and enlarge — constitutional, admiralty, prize, patent, copyright, insurance, real estate, commercial law so-called, and equity. In 1833 he published a Commentary, in two volumes, 8vo, on the “Constitution of the United States.” Four editions of this work have been issued up to 1889, the original text being preserved intact. In 1834 appeared his “Conflict of Laws,” eight editions of which have been issued, the third being the last edition under his supervision. In 1835 he published his “Equity Jurisprudence,” a work of which there have been thirteen authorized editions, the fifth being the last revised by the author Was born September 18, 1779, at Marblehead, and died September 10, 1845, at Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was graduated from Harvard college in 1798, standing second in his class; and in 1801 he was admitted to the bar at Salem. From 1805 to 1808 he was a representative in the legislature; in 1808 he was sent to the lower house of Congress from the Essex district; and in 1810, having declined a re-election to Congress, he was returned to the legislature, of which, in January, 1811, he became speaker. November 18, 1811, without solicitation, he was appointed a justice of the United States Supreme Court, which position he filled, with distinction, to the day of his death, thirty -four years later.
From the death of Marshall in July, 1835, to the appointment of Taney in March, 1836, he acted as chief justice. His decisions as judge of the circuit court for, the first district are contained in two volumes of reports by Gallison, five by Mason, three by Sumner (Charles), and three by his son William Wetmore Story. His decisions in the Supreme Court are found among the decisions of that Court comprised in volumes seven, eight, and nine of Cranch’s reports, the twelve volumes of Wheaton, the sixteen of Peters, and the first three of Howard. In 1829 he became law professor at Harvard university on a foundation specially established for him by Nathan Dane for the delivery of lectures on general law and equity. The lectures prepared in discharge of the duties of this position were delivered extemporaneously, and so were not preserved. But there is scarcely a branch of the law that he did not illustrate and enlarge — constitutional, admiralty, prize, patent, copyright, insurance, real estate, commercial law so-called, and equity.
In 1833 he published a Commentary, in two volumes, on the “Constitution of the United States.” Four editions of this work have been issued up to 1889, the original text being preserved intact. In 1834 appeared his “Conflict of Laws,” eight editions of which have been issued, the third being the last edition under his supervision. In 1835 he published his “Equity Jurisprudence,” a work of which there have been thirteen authorized editions, the fifth being the last revised by the author himself; and in 1833 he published his “Equity Pleadings,” of which there have been nine editions, the third, issued in 1844, by Story himself, the fourth, by Charles Sumner, containing notes left by Story. In 1839 he published his ” Agency.” The original text is preserved in the ninth, the last edition.
His “Bailments” seems to have been prepared next. The fourth edition of this work, now in its ninth edition, was issued in 1846, the revised matter consisting chiefly of notes to the original text left by Story. la 1841 he published his work on “Partnership.” Of this there have been seven editions, the second, issued in 1847, being the last edition embodying changes made by the author, In 1843 appeared his “Bills of Exchange.” The original text is retained in the four editions. la 1845 came his “Promissory Notes.” Of this treatise there have been seven editions, the second, issued in 1847, containing the latest notes prepared by the author. The popular treatises known as Story on “Contracts” and on “Sales of Personal Property” were published by his son, W. W. Story, the former in 1844, the latter in 1847. The son also published, in 1851, a life of his father, (2 vols.), and in 1854, a collection of his ” Miscellaneous Writings.” The style of Joseph Story is characterized less by strength than by variety and fullness, his wide learning tending to make him somewhat diffuse. His experience at the bar was of too short duration to demonstrate his ability as an advocate.
Contributions
According to the Encyclopedia of the American Constitution, about its article titled STORY, JOSEPH (1779_1845) Joseph Story’s contributions to American nationalism were as great as those of any other figure in American judicial history.” He was thirty-four years as an associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and he produced hundreds of opinions delivered.
Outline of Joseph Story
Joseph Story (1779-1845), American jurist, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. He was responsible for the idea that the decisions reached by the Court have supremacy over the highest court of any individual state.
Story was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts, and educated at Harvard University. He began to practice law in Salem in 1801 and served in the Massachusetts state legislature during 1805-7. He became a leader of the Jeffersonian Republican Party and in 1808-9 was a member of the U.S. Congress. Reelected to the Massachusetts legislature in 1810, he was speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1811.
At 32, Story was nominated by President James Madison to be associate justice of the Supreme Court, a position he held until his death. In 1829 he became professor of law at Harvard University and helped to establish the reputation of Harvard Law School. On the bench, Story worked closely with Chief Justice John Marshall. He did much to bring order out of the chaos of admiralty law and equity law. Of his many works the most valuable are Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (3 volumes, 1833), The Conflict of Laws (1834), and Equity Jurisprudence (2 volumes, 1835-36). In 1900 Story was elected to the Hall of Fame for Great Americans.” (1)
Resources
Notes and References
- Concept of Joseph Story provided by the Anderson Dictionary of Law (1889) (Dictionary of Law consisting of Judicial Definitions and Explanations of Words, Phrases and Maxims and an Exposition of the Principles of Law: Comprising a Dictionary and Compendium of American and English Jurisprudence; William C. Anderson; T. H. Flood and Company, Law Publishers, Chicago, United States)
- Information about Joseph Story in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia
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