25 Facts About Samuel Chase

Samuel Chase was a Founding Father of the United States, signer of the Continental Association and United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland, and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

In 1804, Chase was impeached by the House of Representatives on grounds of letting his partisan leanings affect his court decisions, but was acquitted the following year by the Senate and remained in office.

Samuel Chase is the only United States Supreme Court Justice to have ever been impeached.

Samuel Chase served in the Maryland General Assembly for several years and favored independence during the American Revolution.

Samuel Chase won election to the Continental Congress before serving on the Baltimore District Criminal Court and the Maryland General Court.

The House passed eight articles of impeachment, all centering on Samuel Chase's alleged political bias.

Some historians have argued that Samuel Chase's acquittal set an important precedent regarding the independence of the federal judiciary.

Samuel Chase's father was a clergyman who immigrated to Somerset County to become a priest in a new church.

Samuel Chase was eighteen when he left for Annapolis where he studied law under attorney John Hall.

Samuel Chase was admitted to the bar in 1761 and started a law practice in Annapolis.

Samuel Chase was a slaver who owned 15 enslaved people at his death.

In 1762, Samuel Chase was expelled from the Forensic Club, an Annapolis debating society, for "extremely irregular and indecent" behavior.

In 1764, Samuel Chase was elected to the Maryland General Assembly where he served for 20 years.

Samuel Chase co-founded Anne Arundel County's Sons of Liberty chapter with his close friend William Paca, as well as leading opposition to the 1765 Stamp Act.

From 1774 to 1776, Samuel Chase was a member of the Annapolis Convention.

Samuel Chase served on Maryland's Council of Safety in 1775.

Samuel Chase represented Maryland at the Continental Congress, was re-elected in 1776 and signed the United States Declaration of Independence.

Samuel Chase was elected to the 1788 Maryland Ratifying Convention to ratify the proposed 1787 Constitution.

In 1786, Samuel Chase moved to Baltimore, which remained his home for the rest of his life.

Samuel Chase was sworn into office on February 4,1796, and served on the Court until his death on June 19,1811.

Also in 1800, when a grand jury in New Castle, Delaware declined to indict a local printer, Samuel Chase refused to discharge them, saying he was aware of one specific printer whom he wished them to indict for seditious behavior.

The House of Representatives voted on December 4,1804 to adopt eight articles of impeachment, one of which involved Samuel Chase's handling of the trial of John Fries.

Samuel Chase is the only US Supreme Court justice to have been impeached.

All impeachments of federal judges since Samuel Chase have been based on allegations of legal or ethical misconduct, not on judicial performance.

Samuel Chase was interred in what is Baltimore's Old Saint Paul's Cemetery.