ABC#055: Robert Cooper Grier, George Sharswood, James Tyndale Mitchell, & William Irwin Schaffer - The Supremes - Justices at Laurel Hill

• Robert Cooper Grier was selected for the United States Supreme Court in 1846 to replace another justice who had died 841 days before – the longest gap in the history of the court.  He served for nearly a quarter century and voted in many key decisions, including Dred Scott v. Sandford.
• George Sharswood was the first dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.  While serving as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, he made a decision which probably delayed women’s rights to vote in Pennsylvania by more than 40 years.
• James Tyndale Mitchell was also a Chief Justice.  He was a superb lawyer and judge but may be remembered more for his giant collections of autographs and portraits of famous people, considered the finest of his day.
• William Irwin Schaffer spent two years as state attorney general before he became an Associate Judge on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.  One of his decisions delayed Sunday baseball in Philadelphia by several years. 

 

Grier and Schaffer are buried at Laurel Hill West, Sharswood and Mitchell at Laurel Hill East.  They are the topics for All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #055 for October 2023 – The Supremes.