# Noah Haynes Swayne *American jurist and politician; justice of the United States Supreme Court* Noah Haynes Swayne (December 7, 1804 – June 8, 1884) was a lawyer, Ohio officeholder and justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. When he joined the Court in 1862, he became the first member of the Republican Party appointed to it.[^1] Swayne was born in Virginia and moved to Ohio in 1824. There he served as county attorney, state legislator, city councilman and U.S. Attorney before succeeding [[John McLean]] on the Court.[^2] Riding circuit in 1867, he upheld the Civil Rights Act of 1866 under the Thirteenth Amendment in *United States v. Rhodes*.[^3] He retired under pressure from President Rutherford B. Hayes, on the condition that [[Stanley Matthews (judge)]] succeed him.[^4] ## Early life Swayne was born in Frederick County, Virginia, in the upper Shenandoah Valley, about 100 miles (160 km) northwest of Washington, D.C. Joshua Swayne and Rebecca (Smith) Swayne had nine children, and he was the last. He descended from Francis Swayne, an English emigrant who settled near Philadelphia in 1710.[^5] His father died in 1809. Swayne was schooled locally and then attended Jacob Mendendhall's Academy, a Quaker school in Waterford, Virginia, in 1817–18.[^5] He took up medical study in Alexandria, Virginia, and gave it up when his teacher, Dr. George Thornton, died in 1819. His family had no money for further schooling. He studied law with John Scott and Francis Brooks in Warrenton, Virginia, and joined the Virginia Bar in 1823.[^5] Swayne was a Quaker. The Wikipedia article describes him as the only Quaker to have served on the Supreme Court as of its writing. He opposed slavery, and the article attributes his 1824 move from Virginia to the free state of Ohio to his abolitionist views.[^6] In Ohio he opened a law practice in Coshocton and in 1825 won election as Coshocton [[county attorney]]. Four years later he won a seat in the state [[Legislature]].[^7] President Andrew Jackson named him U.S. Attorney for Ohio in 1830, and he relocated to Columbus for the post. While still U.S. Attorney, he won election to the Columbus City Council in 1834 and to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1836.[^7] During his time as U.S. Attorney he formed a close friendship with Justice McLean, who by the end of his career was a strong Republican. When the Republican Party was organized in 1855, Swayne was among its early members and organizers.[^8] ## Supreme Court service McLean was one of the two dissenting justices in the *Dred Scott* case. He lost the 1860 Republican presidential nomination to [[Abraham Lincoln]]. He nonetheless urged Lincoln more than once to name Swayne as his successor on the Court. McLean died in April 1861, soon after Lincoln took office.[^9] As the Civil War began, Swayne sought the vacant seat and asked several members of Congress from Ohio to back him.[^9] The Wikipedia article quotes the Oyez Project: "Swayne satisfied Lincoln's criteria for appointment: commitment to the Union, slavery opponent, geographically correct."[^10] The same article states that Swayne is believed to have represented fugitive slaves in court.[^9] Swayne was nominated on January 21, 1862, nine months after McLean's death. The [[United States Senate]] confirmed the nomination on January 24, 1862, and he received his [[Commission]] that day. He took the judicial oath on January 27, 1862, becoming the 35th justice of the Supreme Court.[^11] Sitting on circuit in *United States v. Rhodes*, 1 Abb. U.S. 28 (C.C.D.Ky. 1867), Swayne held the Civil Rights Act of 1866 constitutional under the authority of the Thirteenth Amendment.[^12] His opinion stated that the race "had strong claims upon the justice and generosity of the nation." It also stated that slavery "still subsisted in thirteen states." Abolition alone, with the states' laws and their exclusive power over the emancipated left in force, "would have been a phantom of delusion."[^12] ## Retirement, death and legacy The Wikipedia article assesses Swayne as not an especially distinguished justice. By its account, he authored few opinions and generally joined those of colleagues. He also stayed on the Court after his health declined and was very infirm when he retired.[^13] He agreed to retire under pressure from President Rutherford B. Hayes, on condition that his friend Stanley Matthews, also an Ohio attorney, take his seat.[^13] His son Wager Swayne served in the Civil War and reached the rank of major general. After the war he was military [[governor]] of Alabama, and he later founded law firms in Toledo, Ohio, and New York City.[^14] Another son, Noah Swayne, practiced law in Toledo and gave the land for Swayne Field, once the home field of the Toledo Mud Hens baseball team.[^14] Swayne died in 1884 and is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Chief Justice [[Edward Douglass White]] is also buried there. So is Edwin M. Stanton, whom the Senate confirmed on President Ulysses S. Grant's nomination but who died before he could be sworn in.[^15] The Ohio Historical Society holds a collection of Swayne's legal papers from before his service on the Court. Correspondence with him is held at other repositories.[^15] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *Noah Haynes Swayne* (rev. 1342206405, retrieved 2026-10-26) — birth and death dates; first Republican appointed to the Supreme Court. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Haynes_Swayne [^2]: Wikipedia, *Noah Haynes Swayne*, "Early life" and "Supreme Court service" (retrieved 2026-10-26) — Virginia birth, 1824 move to Ohio, Ohio offices, succession to McLean. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Haynes_Swayne [^3]: Wikipedia, *Noah Haynes Swayne*, "Supreme Court service" (retrieved 2026-10-26) — *United States v. Rhodes* (1867) circuit holding. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Haynes_Swayne [^4]: Wikipedia, *Noah Haynes Swayne*, "Retirement, death and legacy" (retrieved 2026-10-26) — retirement under pressure from Hayes, conditioned on Matthews's appointment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Haynes_Swayne [^5]: Wikipedia, *Noah Haynes Swayne*, "Early life" (retrieved 2026-10-26) — birthplace, parents, ancestry, schooling, medical study, legal training, 1823 bar admission. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Haynes_Swayne [^6]: Wikipedia, *Noah Haynes Swayne*, "Early life" (retrieved 2026-10-26) — Quaker faith, opposition to slavery, 1824 move to Ohio. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Haynes_Swayne [^7]: Wikipedia, *Noah Haynes Swayne*, "Early life" (retrieved 2026-10-26) — Coshocton practice, 1825 county attorney election, legislature, 1830 U.S. Attorney appointment, 1834 and 1836 elections. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Haynes_Swayne [^8]: Wikipedia, *Noah Haynes Swayne*, "Early life" (retrieved 2026-10-26) — friendship with McLean; early Republican membership and organizing, 1855. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Haynes_Swayne [^9]: Wikipedia, *Noah Haynes Swayne*, "Supreme Court service" (retrieved 2026-10-26) — McLean's *Dred Scott* dissent, 1860 nomination contest, recommendations, April 1861 death; Swayne's lobbying; fugitive-slave representation as believed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Haynes_Swayne [^10]: Oyez Project, as quoted in Wikipedia, *Noah Haynes Swayne*, "Supreme Court service" (retrieved 2026-10-26) — assessment of Swayne against Lincoln's appointment criteria. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Haynes_Swayne [^11]: Wikipedia, *Noah Haynes Swayne*, "Supreme Court service" (retrieved 2026-10-26) — nomination January 21, 1862; Senate confirmation and commission January 24, 1862; oath January 27, 1862; 35th justice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Haynes_Swayne [^12]: Wikipedia, *Noah Haynes Swayne*, "Supreme Court service", quoting *United States v. Rhodes*, 1 Abb. U.S. 28 (C.C.D.Ky. 1867) (retrieved 2026-10-26) — holding and opinion text. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Haynes_Swayne [^13]: Wikipedia, *Noah Haynes Swayne*, "Retirement, death and legacy" (retrieved 2026-10-26) — assessment of tenure; conditions of retirement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Haynes_Swayne [^14]: Wikipedia, *Noah Haynes Swayne*, "Retirement, death and legacy" (retrieved 2026-10-26) — sons Wager Swayne and Noah Swayne. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Haynes_Swayne [^15]: Wikipedia, *Noah Haynes Swayne*, "Retirement, death and legacy" (retrieved 2026-10-26) — burial at Oak Hill Cemetery; papers at the Ohio Historical Society. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Haynes_Swayne