History - The First Generation of United States Marshals
General Portrait of the First Sixteen Marshals
Building a nation depends not only on the laws that define the
government, but also on the quality of the individuals who serve it.
President George Washington,
as he filled the various offices of the new federal government
throughout 1789, fully understood the importance of selecting able men.
He brought into his Cabinet some of the brightest minds in the country,
including the champion of the rights of man, Thomas Jefferson, as
Secretary of State, and the apostle of a strong central government,
Alexander Hamilton, as Secretary of the Treasury. For other offices of
the government, Washington sought men with strong local ties and a deep
commitment to the new nation. Edmond Randolph, for example, the first
Attorney General, was a prominent Virginian who served the new country
by fighting in the Revolutionary War and representing Virginia in the
Second Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention. By
drafting such men as Randolph, Jefferson, and Hamilton, Washington tried
to balance
the need for a powerful national government against the jealously
protected rights of the states. "Impressed with a conviction that the due
administration of justice is the firmest pillar of good
Government, I have considered the . . . Judicial department
as essential to the happiness of our Country, and to the
stability of it's political system."
-- GEORGE WASHINGTON
Washington considered the several offices created by the
Judiciary Act
of 1789 of premier importance to the new nation. "Impressed with a
conviction that the due administration of justice is the firmest pillar
of good Government," he wrote Randolph on September 28, four days after
signing the Act into law, "I have considered the first arrangement of
the Judicial department as essential to the happiness of our Country,
and to the stability of its political system; hence the selection of the
fittest characters to expound the laws, and dispense justice, has been
an invariable object of my anxious concern." The Supreme Court Justices,
the Attorney General, the district court judges and attorneys, the court
clerks,
and the United States Marshals would define, administer, and enforce the
growing body of federal laws. By their actions, these men would
determine the
boundary between federal authority and local autonomy.
The President carefully considered whom to appoint to the judiciary
offices.
Long before the bill reached his desk, he consulted with his advisors
and reviewed the credentials of the various candidates. Many of them he
knew personally. By the time the bill was ready for his signature,
Washington had made most of his selections.
On September 26, 1789, he
signed the commissions of thirteen Marshals. He spent most of Thursday,
October 1, dispatching "many of the Commissions of the Judiciary Judges,
Marshals, and Attorneys." This work also occupied most of the
President's time the next day. Ever conscious of the importance of each
office, Washington chose men on whom he could depend to
support the federal government without endangering the rights of the
states.
The first generation of United States Marshals appointed by Washington
proved their commitment to the new nation in time of war, yet their
strong ties to their local communities ensured their respect for the
individual states.
According to one historian, Washington's Marshals were "an able group of
men. . .representing on the whole a type that was politically active."
During
Washington's first administration, Congress created sixteen judicial
Districts.
The first Marshal in each of these Districts provides a good sample from
which to draw generalizations about Washington's appointees. Each state
constituted one judicial District, except Massachusetts which was
divided into the Districts of
Massachusetts and Maine. (Maine did not become a state until 1820.) In
addition, the territory of Kentucky, which did not enter the union as a
state
until 1792, was one of the original judicial Districts. By 1791,
Washington had appointed the first Marshal for each of the original
sixteen Districts.
The sixteen men who composed the first generation of United States
Marshals set a number of precedents that have been followed with
relative consistency down to the present day. They were loyal, dedicated
men who had served their
country in the past and were prepared to serve it again. Most were
prominent in
their communities and had strong political connections. Most were
members of the president's political party, loyal and sympathetic to his
programs, and opposed to his political opponents. Consequently, most
lost their job as Marshal when another party came to power.
In general, Washington chose men who were well-respected and active in
the
affairs of their local communities and states. Most had spent many
years, if
not their entire lives, in their Districts and had established strong
connections
within the local political structures. Washington expected them to
support
the courts and the federal government within their Districts, but to do
so in
such a way that the community chauvinism would not be offended. Because
they were products of these communities and sympathetic to local pride,
the
first generation of Marshals was generally successful in carrying out
this dual
assignment.
In addition to their local ties, the first Marshals shared a national
commitment.
Fourteen served in the military during the Revolutionary War. By the end
of the war, one, the youngest, was a private; one briefly served as a
Captain; two were Majors; three were Lieutenant Colonels; five were
Colonels; one was a Brigadier General; and one, too young to serve, was
a general's aide. Of the two who did not see military service, one
turned his trading ships into privateers and represented his state in
the Continental Congress, and the other worked as a counselor to his
governor and sat in his state's legislature.
At least seven of the sixteen lived their entire lives in the Districts
they served as Marshal. Most of the remainder spent several decades in
their Districts, although one lived in his District only four years
before his appointment as Marshal. Their average age at the time of
their appointment was 42. The youngest was 25, the oldest 57. They
remained in office an average of approximately six years, though this
ranged from a tenure of one year to twenty years. After leaving office,
five
transferred to more lucrative posts within the federal government, such
as
collector or customs or supervisor or inspector of revenue. One became
Secretary of War under Thomas Jefferson, and three represented their
communities in Congress. One was killed in the line of duty and one died
of
disease while in office. The remainder retired to their private affairs.
The
descendants of the first sixteen Marshals included a Supreme Court
Justice, a Civil War general, and a Secretary of State.
At least two had some law enforcement experience, one as a sheriff and
one as a marshal of the Admiralty Courts established by the Second
Continental
Congress shortly after the outbreak of the Revolution. One was a trained
physician, though he had little time to practice that profession. The
others made their livings as farmers, merchants, businessmen, lawyers,
and politicians.
Regardless of their careers, the Revolutionary War disrupted their
lives and ruined the fortunes of several. Although most recouped their
losses to
become wealthy men by the 1790s, a few never fully recovered and one
died
in or near poverty. All but a few regularly corresponded with George
Washington, and many called him friend. Most owed their appointments to
their previous associations with the President, including their service
under his command during the war. At least five joined the Society of
the Cincinnati (one was a founding member), an honorary association of
veterans named for Washington's resemblance to Cincinnatus, the famous
Roman farmer turned soldier. The few who did not know Washington
personally depended on references from friends for their appointments.
They were, in sum, patriots. One would fight again during the War of
1812 as the commanding general of the largest American army operating
during the war. The first Marshals helped establish the new judicial
system and the new federal government on a firm foundation based on
local ties and affiliations. Since the Marshal was not a stranger to the
people of his District, the exercise of federal power at the local level
was made slightly more palatable to the American people.
Brief biographies of the first generation of U.S. Marshals, giving some
detail of their lives, follow in their generally accepted order of
appointment, though 13 were commissioned on September 26, 1789.
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