# Henry Billings Brown *Associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1891–1906* Henry Billings Brown (March 2, 1836 – September 4, 1913) was an American jurist who sat as an associate justice of the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] from 1891 to 1906.[^1] Before joining the Court he practiced admiralty law in Detroit.[^2] He then served as a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan.[^3] Brown wrote the majority opinion in *Plessy v. Ferguson*, which upheld the legality of racial segregation in public transportation. The Wikipedia account of his career describes three effects of the decision. It gave legitimacy to state segregation laws already in force. It gave impetus to later segregation statutes. Through its "separate but equal" doctrine, it erased legislative gains of the Reconstruction Era.[^1] On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court decided *Brown v. Board of Education*, 347 U.S. 483. By a 9–0 vote, the Court struck down "separate but equal" under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.[^4][^5] ## Early career ### Family and education Brown's parents were Mary Tyler and Billings Brown. He was born into a New England merchant family in South Lee, Massachusetts, and spent his youth in Massachusetts and Connecticut.[^2] After attending Monson Academy, he enrolled at Yale College at age 16. There he joined Alpha Delta Phi and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He took a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1856.[^2] His Yale classmates included Chauncey Depew, later a U.S. Senator from New York, and David Josiah Brewer, later his colleague on the Supreme Court.[^2] After a year touring Europe, Brown read law with Judge John H. Brockway in Ellington, Connecticut. He left Ellington after declining to take part in a local religious revival. He then continued his legal studies with a year at Yale Law School and a semester at Harvard Law School.[^2] ### Legal activities in Detroit Brown was admitted to the Michigan Bar in 1860 and set up practice in Detroit, where he concentrated on admiralty law governing Great Lakes shipping.[^2] At intervals between 1861 and 1868, he also served as Deputy U.S. Marshal and as Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. During the same years he was appointed to fill an opening as a judge of the Wayne County Circuit Court.[^2] ## Federal judicial service ### District court service The death of Brown's father-in-law left Brown and his wife financially independent. That made him willing to accept the comparatively low salary of a federal judge.[^3] On March 17, 1875, President Ulysses Grant nominated him to the Eastern District of Michigan seat left vacant by the death of John Wesley Longyear. The [[United States Senate]] confirmed the nomination two days later, and Brown received his commission at once.[^3] ### Publishing and teaching Brown edited a collection of admiralty rulings and orders from inland-waters cases. He later compiled an admiralty case book for lectures at Georgetown University.[^3] He taught admiralty at the University of Michigan Law School from 1860 to 1875. He also taught medical jurisprudence at the Detroit Medical College from 1868 to 1871. The University of Michigan awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1887, and Yale University did so in 1891.[^3] ### Supreme Court President Benjamin Harrison had first considered Brown for the Court after the death of [[Stanley Matthews (judge)]]. On December 23, 1890, Harrison nominated him to succeed [[Samuel Freeman Miller]] and lobbied senators on his behalf.[^3] The Senate confirmed Brown by voice vote on December 29, 1890. He was sworn in on January 5, 1891, and served until 1906.[^3][^1] ## Women's suffrage In April 1910, after retiring from the Court, Brown gave a talk titled *Woman Suffrage* to The Ladies' Congressional Club of Washington, D.C.[^6] In the talk he opposed extending the vote to women. He argued that no person, male or female, holds a natural right to vote, and he gave a list of reasons why women should not be legally able to take part in elections.[^6] ## Death Brown died of heart disease on September 4, 1913, at a hotel in Bronxville, New York. He was buried beside his first wife in Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit.[^7] ## Legacy ### Decisions concerning minority groups Outside *Plessy*, Brown's votes did not always go against minority litigants.[^8] - *Ward v. Race Horse*: Brown was the lone dissenter when the Court held that Bannock hunting rights secured by an 1869 treaty must give way to a state law prohibiting them.[^8] - *United States v. Wong Kim Ark*: he joined the majority holding that a child born in the United States to Chinese parents was a citizen under the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.[^8] - *Wong Wing v. United States*: he joined the majority holding that Chinese persons allegedly in the country illegally could not be imprisoned at hard labor without trial while awaiting deportation.[^8] - *Giles v. Harris*: he joined Justice David Brewer's dissent, which argued that Black Americans could challenge voter suppression in federal court.[^8] ### Assessment The Wikipedia account records that Brown was widely praised as a fair and honest judge. It quotes his own written reference to "that respect for the law inherent in the Anglo‐Saxon race."[^8] It also quotes a description of him as "a capable and solid, if unimaginative, legal technician."[^8] The same account sets out two positions on *Plessy*. One holds that Brown bears personal guilt for what the decision made possible. The other holds that the de jure discrimination that followed reflected the outlook of his era.[^8] ## In the Minnesota record The record assembled for this entry documents no act by Brown in or concerning [[Minnesota]]. The project's time table connects him to the record only through the "separate but equal" doctrine and the Court's later rejection of it in the *Brown v. Board of Education* cases.[^4] ### When - 1952, December 9: *Brown v. Board of Education* is argued for the first time before the Supreme Court.[^4] - 1953, December 8: the case is reargued before the Warren Court.[^9] - 1954, May 17: the Court strikes down "separate but equal," 9–0.[^4][^5] - 1955, May 31: in *Brown II*, 349 U.S. 294, the Court orders desegregation "with all deliberate speed."[^10] ### Where - Washington, D.C., where the *Brown* arguments were heard and the decisions issued.[^4][^10] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Henry Billings Brown* (revision 1373893204, retrieved 2026-10-26) — lead: dates of life and service; *Plessy v. Ferguson* majority opinion and its effects. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Billings_Brown [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *Henry Billings Brown*, "Early career" (retrieved 2026-10-26) — birth, family, education, Michigan Bar admission, Detroit practice and offices held, 1861–1868. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Billings_Brown [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *Henry Billings Brown*, "Federal judicial service" (retrieved 2026-10-26) — 1875 district court nomination and confirmation; teaching and honorary degrees; 1890 Supreme Court nomination, voice-vote confirmation, and January 5, 1891 swearing-in. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Billings_Brown [^4]: Supreme Court of the United States, *Brown v. Board of Education*, 347 U.S. 483 (May 17, 1954) — first argued December 9, 1952; "separate but equal" struck down under Equal Protection, 9–0. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/347/483/ [^5]: National Archives, *Brown v. Board* (n.d.) — National Archives record of the 1954 decision. https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/brown-v-board [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *Henry Billings Brown*, "Women's suffrage" (retrieved 2026-10-26) — April 1910 talk to The Ladies' Congressional Club opposing votes for women. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Billings_Brown [^7]: Wikipedia contributors, *Henry Billings Brown*, "Death" (retrieved 2026-10-26) — death on September 4, 1913, in Bronxville, New York; burial in Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Billings_Brown [^8]: Wikipedia contributors, *Henry Billings Brown*, "Legacy" (retrieved 2026-10-26) — votes in *Ward v. Race Horse*, *Wong Kim Ark*, *Wong Wing* and *Giles v. Harris*; quoted assessments. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Billings_Brown [^9]: Wikipedia contributors, *Brown v. Board of Education* (n.d.) — reargument before the Warren Court, December 8, 1953. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education [^10]: Supreme Court of the United States, *Brown v. Board of Education* (II), 349 U.S. 294 (May 31, 1955) — order to desegregate "with all deliberate speed." https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/349/294/