1. John Catron was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1837 to 1865, during the Taney Court.
17 Facts About John Catron
1. 2.
John Catron was a second cousin of Thomas Benton Catron, one of New Mexico's first US Senators.
3.
John Catron was sent south to participate in the Natchez Expedition and served under General Andrew Jackson in the Alabama campaigns during the Creek War.
4.
John Catron saw action in notable engagements, including the Battle of Talladega, the Battle of Tallushatchee, and Fort Strother.
5.
John Catron began practicing law in the Cumberland Mountains of Sparta and later established a land-law practice in Nashville in 1818.
6.
John Catron was appointed prosecuting attorney for Sparta and, from 1824 to 1834, served on the Tennessee Supreme Court of Errors and Appeals, eventually becoming its Chief Justice in 1831.
7.
John Catron retired in 1834 after the Tennessee state legislature abolished the chief-justice position.
8.
John Catron took the judicial oath on May 1,1837, and served for 28 years, until his death in May 1865.
9.
Just as Jackson opposed the idea of the national bank, John Catron became an outspoken critic of the national bank.
10.
John Catron made the stance that political power was not only sovereign but that it was not to be overruled by a contract, especially a corporate charter.
11.
Essentially John Catron argued that in this case, corporate power exceeded federal power.
12.
John Catron argued that because of this ruling, corporations could overrule the government as long as a contract was present.
13.
However, when John Catron attempted to return to Nashville to perform his circuit duties, he was told that his very life could be in danger due to his views.
14.
John Catron was forced to flee the state of Tennessee and reside permanently in Louisville, Kentucky, away from his wife and friends, who sympathized with the Confederacy.
15.
John Catron was an outspoken critic of the national bank, an advocate for federal power over corporate power, and a pro-Union, pro-slavery supporter.
16.
John Catron fought against corporations of accumulated wealth and privilege and for the rights of citizens.
17.
John Catron remained true to his pro-slavery stance in the most important case the Supreme Court had ever seen until that point, Dred Scott v Sandford.