Nursery of a supreme court justice: The library of James Harlan of Kentucky, father of John Marshall Harlan

Law Library Journal

Volumn 100, Issue 4, 2008, Pages 639-674

  Metzmeier, Kurt X ^a   Campbell, Peter Scott ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 58149295757     PISSN: 00239283     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (71)

1. M.C. JOHNSON, JAMES HARLAN & J. W. STEVENSON, CODE OF PRACTICE IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL CASES FOR THE STATE OF KENTUCKY (1854).
2. TINSLEY E. YARBROUGH, JUDICIAL ENIGMA: THE FIRST JUSTICE HARLAN 229 (1995).
3. Andrew Conte, A Slave In The Family: DNA Might Link Justice Harlan, Cincinnatian, CINCINNATI POST, Feb. 24, 2000, at 1K.
4. DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN NEGRO BIOGRAPHY 287-88 (Rayford W Logan & Michael R. Winston eds., 1982);
5. WILLIAM J. SIMMONS, MEN OF MARK 613-14 (photo, reprint 1968) (1887).
6. See Marianne Kunnen-Jones, Current Research: DNA Tests Might Solve Harlan Family Mystery (Feb. 4, 2000), http://www.uc.edu/info-services/ dna.htm;
7. Michael Collins, DNA Puts Rumor to Rest CINCINNATI POST, Sept. 1, 2001, at 1K.
8. ALPHEUS H. HARLAN, HISTORY AND GENEALOGY OF THE HARLAN FAMILY 106, 274 (1914)
9. The bare details of James Harlan's life can be found in the following short biographical sketches none of which is more than a page in length: James Harlan, in BIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS 1774-2005, at 1197 (2005);
10. James Harlan, in THE BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF KENTUCKY 26 0878);
11. James Harlan, in THE KENTUCKY ENCYCLOPEDIA 406 (John E. Kleber ed 1992);
12. James Harlan in 4 DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY 267 (1960);
13. and James Harlan in THE LAWYERS AND LAWMAKERS OF KENTUCKY 120 (H. Levin ed., 1897).
14. The attorney general was appointed by the governor until the ratification of the 1850 Kentucky constitution put the selection before the electorate. Attorney General, Office of, in THE KENTUCKY ENCYCLOPEDIA, supra note 7, at 39.
15. MALVINA SHANKLIN HARLAN, SOME MEMORIES OF A LONG LIFE, 1854-1911, at 14 (2002).
16. Id.
17. THOMAS Z. MORROW, RECOLLECTIONS OF AN OLD TIME DEMOCRATIC MASS MEETING 21-22 (1911).
18. Id. at 22
19. Peter Scott Campbell, ed., The Civil War Reminiscences of John Marshall Harlan, 32 J. SUP. CT. HIST. 249, 250-51 (2007).
20. Id. at 254-55. His stubborn stand in the Kentucky caucus was ultimately irrelevant because a militantly antislavery faction within the Massachusetts delegation quickly scuppered the bid to make the general's nomination unanimous.
21. K. JACK BAUER, ZACHARY TAYLOR: SOLDER, PLANTER, STATESMAN OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST 236 (1985). Kentucky Whigs were particularly distressed by Taylor's administration and were dismayed by his cold treatment of Clay.
22. Id at 248-49, 265-67 (1985).
23. See also William O. Lynch, Zachary Taylor as President, 4 J. SOUTHERN HIST. 279, 283-34 (1938).
24. Campbell, supra note 13, at 254-55.
25. The rise of Kentucky book culture is well documented. The spread of literacy, book publishing, and libraries are surveyed in W.H. VENABLE, BEGINNINGS OF LITERARY CULTURE IN THE OHIO VALLEY (1891)
26. and Howard H. Peckham, Books and Reading on the Ohio Valley Frontier, 44 MISS. VALLEY HIST. REV. 649 (1958).
27. The nascent publishing industry is treated generally in WILLIAM HENRY PERRIN, THE PIONEER PRESS OF KENTUCKY (1888);
28. WILLARD ROUSE JILLSON, THE FIRST PRINTING IN KENTUCKY (1936);
29. and DOUGLAS C. MCMURTRIE, JOHN BRADFORD, PIONEER PRINTER OF KENTUCKY (1931).
30. A keen eyewitness to the birth of the book business in Lexington was William A. Leavy, whose father moved the family's mercantile business to Lexington from Philadelphia in the 1780s. JOHN D. WRIGHT, LEXINGTON: HEART OF THE BLUEGRASS 22 (1994). Leavy, a wealthy merchant in his own right, wrote a private memoir that was much later published in several parts in the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. It vividly captures the commercial life of the young state and pays particular attention to the establishment of the book trade and its ties to Philadelphia.
31. William Leavy, Memoir of Lexington and Its Vicinity: With Some Notice of Many Prominent Citizens and Its Institutions of Education and Religion, 41 REG. KY. HIST. SOC. 310, 319-22 (1943). Leavy was a patron of libraries and he recounts how in the early nineteenth century Lexington librarians frequently went to Philadelphia to buy books not yet available in Kentucky.
32. William Leavy, Memoir of Lexington and Its Vicinity: With Some Notice of Many Prominent Citizens and Its Institutions of Education and Religion, 41 REG. KY. HIST. SOC. 107, 131 (1943).
33. LOUISVILLE DIRECTORY AND BUSINESS ADVERTISER FOR 1859-60, at 259-60, 297 (1859).
34. See WALTER SUTTON, THE WESTERN BOOK TRADE: CINCINNATI AS A NINETEENTH- CENTURY PUBLISHING AND BOOK-TRADE CENTER 67 (1961).
35. Michael H. Harris, The Frontier Lawyer's Library: Southern Indiana, 1800-1850, as a Test Case, 16 AM. J. LEGAL HIST. 239, 244-49 (1972).
36. Law Library - Thirty-Five Volumes: At Three Dollars a Volume Bound, 4 AMER. L. MAG. i (Jan. 1845).
37. For more on the Law Library, see the entry in the inventory, infra.
38. LOREN P. BETH, JOHN MARSHALL HARLAN: THE LAST WHIG JUSTICE 68 (1992).
39. Inventory of James Harlan's Estate (Mar. 30, 1888), in PAPERS OF JOHN MARSHALL HARLAN, MANUSCRIPT DIVISION, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, microformed on Reel 32, Frames 279-88.
40. According to http://www.measuringworth.com/uscompare, $5030.21 would be worth about $71,000 today. The inventory did not list James Harlan's house in Frankfort. The 1850 census set the value of real property owned by James Harlan at $7,000. KENTUCKY, FRANKLIN COUNTY, 1850 U.S. CENSUS, microformed on M432, roll 200, page 54. In 1860, the census taker valued the property at $14,000. KENTUCKY, FRANKLIN COUNTY, 1860 U.S. CENSUS, microformed on M653, roll 367, page 82.
41. Inventory of James Harlan's Estate, supra note 23, at Frame 287. Andrew Jackson James, who valued the collection, was a member of the Democratic Party who followed the Whig James Harlan and preceded Republican John Marshall Harlan as attorney general of Kentucky, and can be presumed to have been an honest broker.
42. See L. FRANK JOHNSON, HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY BAR 1786-1932 at 55-56 (1932).
43. Letter from Shackelford Miller to Augustus] Willson, Mar. 30, 1888, PAPERS OF JOHN MARSHALL HARLAN, supra note 23, at Reel 5, Frame 121.
44. See "Law Library" in the inventory, infra.
45. The bright culture of London under the regency of the future George IV (1811-20) is best captured by VENETIA MURRAY, AN ELEGANT MADNESS: HIGH SOCIETY IN REGENCY ENGLAND 1-23 (1998).
46. Thomas Chandler Haliburton was a Scottish-born Canadian judge with a jaundiced eye on transatlantic political affairs. His lead character was a backcountry Nova Scotian engaged as an attaché in early Victorian England, whose plain-speaking observations on politics and society served as the device for satire. See generally, V. L. O. CHITTICK, THOMAS CHANDLER HALIBURTON ("SAM SLICK") A STUDY IN PROVINCIAL TORYISM (1924).
47. Seba Smith's character, the rustic Yankee Jack Downing, played the same role as Sam Slick with regard to American politics. See MILTON & PATRICIA RICKELS, SEBA SMITH 19 (1977).
48. PHILIP DORMER STANHOPE CHESTERFIELD, THE AMERICAN CHESTERFIELD, OR WAY TO WEALTH, HONOUR, AND DISTINCTION (1852).
49. See SAMUEL SHELLABARGER, LORD CHESTERFIELD AND HIS WORLD 3-7, 379-80 (1951);
50. Kenneth Forward, Manners for Americans, 2 AM. SPEECH 182 (1927).
51. HUGO GROTIUS, THE LAW OF WAR AND PEACE: DE JURE BELLI AC PACIS (Francis Willey Kelsey tr., 1962).
52. Michael H. Harris, The Availability of Books and the Nature of Book Ownership on the Southern Indiana Frontier, 1800-1850, at 120-40 (Apr. 12, 1971) (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University) (on file with author).
53. Alexander A. Meek was a distinguished member of the Washington County bench and bar serving first as a state circuit court judge and later as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Indiana. 3 LEANDER J. MONKS, ET AL., COURTS AND LAWYERS OF INDIANA 1030 (1916);
54. EXECUTIVE PROCEEDINGS OF THE STATE OF INDIANA 90-91 (Dorothy Riker ed., 1947). He was also a general in the state militia and grand master of the Indiana Grand Masonic Lodge.
55. JACOB PIATT DUNN, 1 INDIANA AND INDIANANS 333 (1919);
56. WILLIAM WESLEY WOOLLEN, BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF EARLY INDIANA 491-92 (photo, reprint 1975) (1883).
57. Erasmus Harvey McJunkin was a pioneer member of the Daviess County bar and served as prosecuting attorney for the Seventh Judicial Circuit. EXECUTIVE PROCEEDINGS OF THE STATE OF INDIANA, supra note 35, at 308 (1947);
58. MONKS, supra note 35, at 1069. He also represented Daviess County in the Indiana legislature. HISTORY OF KNOX AND DAVIESS COUNTY, INDIANA 628 (1886).
59. Andrew Jackson Malott, whose legal career was cut short at age twenty-seven, held no major office but attracted attention as a solid member of the Washington County bar. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY INDIANA 749 (photo, reprint 1965) (1884).
60. Asa C. Mills had a long legal career in his Gibson County home, serving as justice of the peace, county attorney, and coroner. C.W. CADY, THE INDIANA ANNUAL REGISTER AND POCKET MANUAL FOR THE YEAR 1845, at 62, 108 (1844);
61. EXECUTIVE PROCEEDINGS OF THE STATE OF INDIANA, supra note 35, at 443.
62. Harris, supra note 34, app. 5, at 249-59.
63. Id.
64. R. KENT NEWMYER, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE JOSEPH STORY: STATESMAN OF THE OLD REPUBLIC 272-304 (1985).
65. MICHAEL H. HOEFLICH & KAREN S. BECK, THE 1846 AUCTION CATALOGUE OF JOSEPH STORY'S LIBRARY (2004).
66. Id. The thirty-page catalogue has 290 titles marked "autograph" and 109 described as presentation copies.
67. The Old Court-New Court crisis was an early nineteenth-century controversy in Kentucky in which the state legislature abolished the existing appellate court and replaced it with a new appellate court. In a populist reaction to a decision that struck down an act relieving debtors, in late 1824 the legislature abolished the soon to be called "old" court and, with the assistance of Governor Joseph Desha, created a sympathetic "new" court which promptly validated the relief act. For a while there were two sitting courts in Kentucky claiming to be the legitimate high court of the commonwealth. However, the 1826 elections swept the New Court forces out of power, and the legislature restored the Old Court and invalidated the decisions of the pretender court. The leading monograph on this colorful episode in Kentucky court history is ARNDT M. STICKLES, THE CRITICAL COURT STRUGGLE IN KENTUCKY, 1819-1829 (1929).
68. Critical Notices: The Law Library, published by T & J. W. Johnson, Law Booksellers, Philadelphia, 5 AM. L. MAG. 246 (1845);
69. EDWIN T. FREEDLEY. PHILADELPHIA AND ITS MANUFACTURES 160 (1859).
70. The titles of treatises printed in the Law Library through 1843 are listed in an appendix to JOHN BOUVIER, A LAW DICTIONARY (2d ed. 1843).
71. Law Library, supra note 21, at i.