# John Catron *American jurist; associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1837–1865* John Catron (January 7, 1786 – May 30, 1865) was a Tennessee lawyer and judge. He sat as an associate justice of the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] for 28 years, from 1837 until he died in 1865, a period within the Taney Court.[^1] Before joining the federal bench he served on the Tennessee Supreme Court of Errors and Appeals from 1824 to 1834, and was its Chief Justice from 1831.[^4] In 1837 the Eighth and Ninth Circuits Act enlarged the Court from seven to nine members. President Andrew Jackson named Catron to one of the two new seats, and the Senate confirmed him 28–15.[^5] Catron held slaves throughout his life and joined the majority in *Dred Scott v. Sandford*. He opposed secession and urged Tennessee to stay in the Union.[^4][^5] After his death Congress abolished his seat under the Judicial Circuits Act of 1866. According to the Wikipedia article, he is the only justice of the Court who neither succeeded anyone nor was succeeded.[^6] ## Early and family life Records of Catron's early years are sparse.[^2] Each of his grandparents came to Virginia from Germany. They were among the many Swiss and German emigrants who left Hesse and the Palatinate because of war and economic and religious insecurity.[^2] His father, Peter (Catron) Kettering, arrived as a child with his own parents from Mittelbrun in the Palatinate. The family settled in Montgomery County, Virginia, which later became Wythe County.[^2] During the Revolutionary War his father served in Captain William Doack's Montgomery County militia company.[^2] His mother, Maria Elizabetha Houck, was the daughter of Palatine immigrants who reached Virginia by way of Pennsylvania.[^2] In the early 19th century the family moved to Kentucky.[^2] Mary, Catron's only sibling, married Thomas Swift and later lived in Missouri and then Oregon.[^2] Thomas Benton Catron, one of New Mexico's first U.S. senators, was his second cousin.[^2] ## Military service Catron joined the United States Army at the outbreak of the War of 1812 and was dispatched south for the Natchez Expedition.[^3] In the Creek War he served under General Andrew Jackson in the Alabama campaigns. He fought at Talladega, Tallushatchee and Fort Strother, and some accounts add the Battle of New Orleans.[^3] Illness led to his release from the Army.[^3] The Wikipedia article states that his service earned him the regard of Jackson and of Attorney General Isaac Thomas.[^3] ## Law career and personal life Catron returned to Sparta, Tennessee, where he read law. He was admitted to the Tennessee bar in 1815.[^4] He practiced first in the Cumberland Mountains around Sparta, and from 1818 he ran a land-law practice in Nashville.[^4] He was also appointed prosecuting attorney for Sparta.[^4] From 1824 to 1834 he sat on the Tennessee Supreme Court of Errors and Appeals, and he became its Chief Justice in 1831.[^4] He left the court in 1834, when the Tennessee state [[Legislature]] abolished the chief-justice post, and went back to private practice in Nashville.[^4] In the 1836 presidential election he ran Martin Van Buren's campaign in Tennessee. Van Buren's opponent there was the Tennessean Hugh Lawson White.[^4] Catron's wife, Matilda Childress, was a daughter of John Childress, U.S. Marshal for western Tennessee.[^4] She was also a sister of George C. Childress, who chaired the committee that drafted the Constitution of the Republic of Texas. The couple had no children.[^4] Catron held slaves throughout his life.[^4] He had a relationship with Sally Thomas, an enslaved woman who ran a laundry in Nashville. He was the father of her third son, James P. Thomas, who was born into slavery and is Catron's only known child.[^4] According to the Wikipedia article, Catron gave the son 25 cents over his lifetime. Sally Thomas effectively secured James's freedom when he was six.[^4] James Thomas became a barber in Nashville. In 1851 he obtained permission from the Tennessee legislature to remain in the state, and he later owned property in St. Louis valued at $250,000.[^4] ## Supreme Court tenure The Eighth and Ninth Circuits Act of 1837 raised the Court's membership from seven seats to nine.[^5] Jackson filled both new seats on March 3, 1837, the last full day of his presidency.[^5] Five days later the newly seated Senate of the 25th Congress approved Catron's nomination by a vote of 28–15.[^5] William Smith, chosen for the other new seat, was also confirmed but did not take it.[^5] Catron was sworn in on May 1, 1837, and remained on the Court until his death in May 1865.[^5] Catron supported slavery, and he voted with the majority in *Dred Scott v. Sandford*. In February 1857 he corresponded with James Buchanan, who was then president-elect.[^5] He opposed secession and pressed Tennessee to stay in the Union.[^5] After Tennessee seceded, and before Federal troops occupied Nashville, he left his Nashville home and lived for a time in [[Louisville]], Kentucky.[^5] Catron wrote few opinions.[^5] The Wikipedia article describes his political views as largely matching those of Jackson, a fellow Tennessean. Like Jackson, he became an outspoken critic of the national bank.[^5] The article also says he came to believe that corporate power could threaten citizens' livelihoods, but that this was not his view from the start. Early in his tenure, in *Bank of Augusta v. Earle* (1839), he concurred with the majority on what corporations were able to do.[^5] ## Death Catron died on May 30, 1865, aged 79. He was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville.[^6] Congress then abolished his seat in the Judicial Circuits Act of 1866. The Wikipedia article describes that Act as a way to prevent President Andrew Johnson from appointing any justices.[^6] Catron entered the Court through its enlargement, and his seat ended with him. For that reason the article identifies him as the only Supreme Court justice who neither replaced a predecessor nor was replaced.[^6] ## Legacy and honors A Liberty ship built in Brunswick, Georgia, during World War II was named SS *John Catron* in his honor.[^7] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *John Catron* (revision 1370820219, retrieved 2026-10-26), lead section — establishes his life dates and his service as associate justice from 1837 to 1865 during the Taney Court. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Catron [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *John Catron* (revision 1370820219, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Early and family life" — establishes his ancestry, parents, sibling, cousin and the family's move to Kentucky. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Catron [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *John Catron* (revision 1370820219, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Military service" — establishes his War of 1812 and Creek War service and his release for illness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Catron [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *John Catron* (revision 1370820219, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Law career and personal life" — establishes his bar admission, Tennessee judicial service, the 1836 campaign, his marriage, his slaveholding and his son James P. Thomas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Catron [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *John Catron* (revision 1370820219, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Supreme Court tenure" — establishes the 1837 expansion, his nomination, the 28–15 vote and May 1, 1837 oath, *Dred Scott*, his opposition to secession and his views on the bank and corporations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Catron [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *John Catron* (revision 1370820219, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Death" — establishes his death and burial, the Judicial Circuits Act of 1866, and his status as the only justice who neither replaced nor was replaced. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Catron [^7]: Wikipedia contributors, *John Catron* (revision 1370820219, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Legacy and honors" — establishes the naming of the Liberty ship SS *John Catron*. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Catron