John Marshall

In 1782, he married Mary Willis Ambler and the couple had ten children together. Two of their children died before they reached adulthood.

He spent most part of his life in his home in Richmond, Virginia that he constructed in 1790.

He was operated for the removal of bladder stones at the age of 76.

John Marshall was born in Germantown, Virginia, to Thomas Marshall, soldier and politician and Mary Randolph Keith. He was the eldest of eight sisters and six brothers.

He was mostly home-schooled by his father and later attended the Campbell Academy for a period of one year.

During his teenage years, he was completely enamoured by George Washington, whose influence also inspired him to join the military during the American Revolutionary War.

From 1775 to 1776, he served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War as a Lieutenant in the ‘Culpeper Minutemen’ and later served as a Lieutenant and then as a Captain in the Eleventh Virginia Continental Regiment.

After his military service, he studied law under Chancellor George Wythe in Williamsburg, Virginia, at the College of William and Mary.

From 1782 to 1789, he served in the Virginia House of Delegates after which he was elected again and served there for the second term. He was also elected to serve on the Council of State in The Virginia General Assembly.

In 1788, as a delegate at the Virginia Convention, he was assigned the task to ratify or reject pointers in the United States Constitution - he led the fight for ratification.

In 1786, he successfully represented the heirs of Lord Fairfax in ‘Hite v. Fairfax’, which was an important case involving a large tract of land. He was also involved in the ‘Ware v. Hylton’ case.

In 1799, he served at the U.S. House of Representatives for a brief period after being appointed the secretary of state under President, John Adams.

The appointment of John Marshall as the chief justice was confirmed by the Senate on January 27, 1801, and he received his commission on January 31, 1801.

This American lawyer and Chief Justice enjoyed running races while he served in the American military and was nicknamed ‘silver heels’ because his mother had sewn white heels into his stockings.

This Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court was a great admirer of George Washington and wrote a biography of his revered role model.