ResearchGuides: U.S. Supreme Court Justices Selective Bibliography: The Civil War & Reconstruction 1861-1877

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United States. Supreme Court -- Biography

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Broader Biographies

Centennial Crisis : the disputed election of 1876 by William H. Rehnquist
Call Number: E680 .R44 2004
ISBN: 0375413871
Publication Date: 2004-03-02
William Rehnquist describes the lives of the five Supreme Court Justices that were on the Electoral Commission and involved in the election crisis of 1876 between presidential candidates Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tildan. Includes biographical information on Nathan Clifford, Stephen Johnson Field, Joseph P. Bradley, Samuel Freeman Miller and William Strong.

Samuel Freeman Miller

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

July 16, 1862 - October 13, 1890

Justice of Shattered Dreams : Samuel Freeman Miller and the Supreme Court during the Civil War era by Michael A. Ross
Call Number: KF8745.M54 R67 2003
ISBN: 0807128686
Publication Date: 2004-03-01
This work looks at the life, career and legacy of one of the most influential Supreme court Justices. This work explains how Justice Miller's ideology evolved and he became a champion of African Americans' economic and political rights and challenges the previous idea that Justice Miller has often been considered by historians as a misguided opponent of Reconstruction and racial equality.
Mr. Justice Miller and the Supreme Court, 1862-1890 by Charles Fairman
Call Number: KF8745.M54 F34 1966
Publication Date: 1966
A biography of Samuel Freeman Miller, an active abolitionist and author of the majority opinion in the Slaughter-House Cases, who helped shaped the court interpretation on the Civil War Amendments and the fourteenth amendment.
Samuel Freeman Miller, justice of the Supreme Court of the United States by Charles Noble Gregory
Call Number: KF8745.M5 G74 1908
Publication Date: 1908
An early biography on the life and career of Samuel Freeman Miller. Available on microfiche and also available through Gale Databases' The Making of Modern Law (connect from catalog record).

David Davis

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

October 17, 1862 - March 4, 1877

David Davis : address before the Bar Association of the State of Illinois by Leonard Swett
Publication Date: 1886
An address given by Leonard Swett on the life and career of David Davis to the Bar Association of Illinois in 1886. Available through Gale Databases' The Making of Modern Law (connect from catalog record).

Stephen J. Field

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

March 10, 1863 - December 1, 1897

Justice Stephen Field : shaping liberty from the gold rush to the gilded age by Paul Kens
Call Number: KF8745.F54 K46 1997
ISBN: 0700608176
Publication Date: 1997-04-25
This work looks at the life of the longest-sitting Supreme Court Justice until this time. It focuses on the influence his early life, and how current political, economic, and social struggles had on Justice Field's jurisprudence in terms of liberty and individualism.
Some account of the work of Stephen J. Field : as a legislator, state judge, and justice of the Supreme Court of the United States by John Norton Pomeroy
Call Number: KF8745.F54 S65 1881a
Publication Date: 1881
A biography on Stephen J. Field. Available on microform and through Gale Databases' The Making of Modern Law (connect from catalog record).
Stephen J. Field; craftsman of the law by Carl Brent Swisher
Call Number: KF8745.F54 S95
Publication Date: 1930
This work looks at Justice Field's involvement with the implementation of the Fourteenth Amendment and the rights of former slaves.
The story of the attempted assassination of Justice Field by a former associate on the Supreme Bench of California by George C. Gorham
Publication Date: 1890s
This work describes the events surrounding the 1889 attempted assassination of Justice Field by a former Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, David S. Terry. Available through Gale Databases' The Making of Modern Law (connect from catalog record).

Salmon Portland Chase

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

December 6, 1864 - May 7, 1873

An account of the private life and public services of Salmon Portland Chase by Robert B. Warden
Call Number: E415.9.C4 W3 1874a
Publication Date: 1874
A biography on the life, career and legacy of Salmon P. Chase. Available on microfiche and through Gale Databases' The Making of Modern Law (connect from catalog record).
Address at Music Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio, on the occasion of the removal of the remains of Salmon P. Chase, to Spring Grove Cemetery: Thursday, October 14, 1886 by George Hoadly
Publication Date: 1887
An address given on October 14, 1886 by George Hoadly commemorating the life and career of Salmon P. Chase. Available through Gale Databases' The Making of Modern Law (connect from catalog record).
Chief Justice Chase by James S. Pike
Call Number: KF8745.C53 P55 1873a
Publication Date: 1873
A biography on the life, career and legacy of Salmon P. Chase. Available on microfiche and through Gale Databases' The Making of Modern Law (connect from catalog record).
Eulogy on Chief-Justice Chase by William M. Evarts
Call Number: E415.9.C4 E93 1874a
Publication Date: 1874
The eulogy of Salmon P. Chase, delivered before the alumni of Dartmouth College, at Hanover, June 24, 1874. Available on microfiche and through Gale Databases' The Making of Modern Law (connect from catalog record).
Life and Public Services of Salmon Portland Chase by J. W. Schuckers
Call Number: E415.9.C43 S3 1970
ISBN: 0306719347
Publication Date: 1970-08-01
A look at the life and career of Salmon P. Chase. Also available on microfiche and through Gale Databases' The Making of Modern Law (connect from catalog record).
Ohio and the antislavery activities of attorney Salmon Portland Chase, 1830-1849 by Stephen Middleton
Call Number: E 450 .M63 1990
Publication Date: 1990
This work was presented as author Stephen Middleton's original Ph. D. Thesis to the University of Miami in Ohio. It discusses Salmon P. Chase's pre-Supreme Court involvement in anti-slavery activities as an attorney in Ohio.
The Reconstruction Justice of Salmon P. Chase : In Re Turner and Texas v. White by Harold M. Hyman
Call Number: KF8745.C43 H95 1997
ISBN: 0700608346
Publication Date: 2004-01-01
This work looks at two cases, Re Turner (1867) and Texas v. White (1869), and how Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase combined his abolitionist philosophy with an activist jurisprudence to help dismantle the remains of slavery and the confederacy.
Salmon P. Chase : a biography by John Niven
Call Number: KF 8745.C43 N5 1995
ISBN: 0195046536
Publication Date: 1995-03-09
An intimate look into the life of Salmon P. Chase from his childhood years, to his careers as a lawyer, governor and senator, and finally, his life on the bench.
Salmon P. Chase : a life in politics by Frederick J. Blue
Call Number: E415.9.C4 B58 1987
ISBN: 0873383400
Publication Date: 1987-01-01
A look at the career of Salmon P. Chase from his start as a lawyer through his struggle with abolition and antislavery. This work examines his personal correspondence to uncover a man who was not as concerned with his personal advancement as previously thought by historians.
So fell the angels by Thomas Graham Belden and Marva Robins Belden
Call Number: E415.9.C4 B38
Publication Date: 1956
A look at the lives of Salmon P. Chase, who was once Abraham Lincoln's secretary, his ambitious daughter Kate and her husband, Senator William Sprague.

Joseph P. Bradley

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

March 21, 1870 - January 22, 1892

Miscellaneous writings of the late Hon. Joseph P. Bradley, associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States [electronic resource] : with a sketch of his life by his son, Charles Bradley, and a review of his "judicial record" by William Draper L by edited and compiled by Charles Bradley
Publication Date: 1901
A look at the life and career of Joseph P. Bradley through his writings and a biographical sketch by his son. Available through HeinOnline and through Gale Databases' The Making of Modern Law (connect from catalog record).

Morrison R. Waite

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

March 4, 1874 - March 23, 1888

Chief-Justice Waite, born November 29, 1816, died March 23, 1888 : memorial before the Association of the Bar of the City of New-York : proceedings at the meeting of the Bar of the City of New-York, held March 31, 1888 by Association of the Bar of the City of New York
Call Number: KF8745.W34 C55 1890a
Publication Date: 1888-3-31
An address given on March 31, 1888 to the Association of the Bar of the City of New York concerning the life and career of Morrison Waite. Available on microfiche and through Gale Databases' The Making of Modern Law (connect from catalog record).
Chief Justice Waite, defender of the public interest by Bruce R. Trimble
Call Number: KF8745.W34 T74 1938
Publication Date: 1938
A biography on the life and career of Morrison R. Waite. A man who was thought to balance the court between liberal and conservative yet voted in the interests of business and the railroad.
Morrison R. Waite; the triumph of character by C. Peter Magrath
Call Number: KF8745.W27 M3
Publication Date: 1963
A look at some of the events surrounding Morrison R. Waite's childhood and early career. This work focuses mainly in regards to Chief Justice Waite's crucial decisions regarding the interpretation of the Civil War Amendments.
Proceedings of the bench and bar of the Supreme Court of the United States in memoriam Morrison R. Waite by United States Supreme Court
Call Number: KF8742 .P765 1888a
Publication Date: 1888
A eulogy presented to the Supreme Court in 1888 concerning the life and career of Morrison R. Waite. Available on microfiche and through Gale Databases' The Making of Modern Law (connect from catalog record).

John Marshall Harlan

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

November 29, 1877 - October 14, 1911

Dinner given by the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States to Mr. Justice John Marshall Harlan : in recognition of the completion of twenty-five years of distinguished service on the bench : December ninth, nineteen hundred and two by United States Supreme Court
Publication Date: 1902
A dinner address given to commemorate the life and career of John Marshall Harlan up to 1902. Available on microfiche and through Gale Databases' The Making of Modern Law (connect from catalog record).
John Marshall Harlan : the last Whig justice by Loren P. Beth
Call Number: KF8745.H37 B47 1992
ISBN: 081311778X
Publication Date: 1992-04-08
This work looks at the life of John Marshall Harlan, a Supreme Court Justice who started his career as a member of the Kentucky Whig slavocracy and eventually sided with the Union and shifted to a stance of antislavery. He was known as the "Great Dissenter" and often challenged the opinions of many of his colleges.
Judicial Enigma : the first justice Harlan by Tinsley E. Yarbrough
Call Number: KF8745.H37 Y37 1995
ISBN: 0195074645
Publication Date: 1995-06-08
A biography that discusses the life and career of John Marshall Harlan, who advocated civil rights in a court that was passing laws in favor of Jim Crow.
Proceedings of the bar and officers of the Supreme Court of the United States in memory of John Marshall Harlan, December 16, 1911 by United States Supreme Court
Call Number: KF8745.H3 U51 1912
Publication Date: 1911-12-16
An address given to the Supreme Court following the death of John Marshall Harlan concerning his life and career. Available on microfiche and through HeinOnline (connect from catalog record).
The Republic According to John Marshall Harlan by Linda Przybyszewski
Call Number: KF8745.H37 P79 1999
ISBN: 0807824933
Publication Date: 1999-09-27
This work looks at the personal writings of John Marshall Harlan and his wife to better understand his life, career and the events behind important decisions that he made.