# Oliver Ellsworth *American Founding Father, jurist, senator and third Chief Justice of the United States* Oliver Ellsworth (April 29, 1745 – November 26, 1807) was a Connecticut lawyer, judge, legislator and diplomat. He helped frame the United States Constitution, sat in the first [[United States Senate]] as one of Connecticut's two members, and became the third Chief Justice of the United States.[^1] His public career ran from the Continental Congress during the Revolutionary War through the 1787 Philadelphia Convention, the early Senate, the Supreme Court and a diplomatic mission to France.[^1][^3] At the Philadelphia Convention, Ellsworth helped broker the Connecticut Compromise between the larger and smaller states. He was a member of the Committee of Detail, the body that produced the Constitution's first draft, yet he departed before the signing and his name does not appear on the document. His influence afterward helped secure Connecticut's ratification.[^4] In the Senate, Ellsworth was the principal drafter of the Judiciary Act of 1789. That statute organized the federal courts and gave the Supreme Court authority to reverse state supreme court decisions found contrary to the Constitution.[^2] Aligned with the Federalist Party and with Alexander Hamilton, he steered the Funding Act of 1790 and the Bank Bill of 1791 through the Senate, and he supported the Bill of Rights and the Jay Treaty.[^2] President George Washington named him Chief Justice in 1796 after the Senate had rejected [[John Rutledge]]. Ellsworth held the office until he resigned in 1800, citing poor health. During 1799–1800 he was also envoy to France, where he signed the Convention of 1800 ending the hostilities of the Quasi-War.[^3] ## Youth and family life Ellsworth's parents were Capt. David Ellsworth and Jemima Ellsworth (née Leavitt), and he was born in Windsor, Connecticut.[^5] The family had been settled in Windsor since the mid-1600s. His great-grandfather Josiah Ellsworth, born about 1629 in Cambridgeshire, England, came to Connecticut in 1646.[^5] Ellsworth began at Yale in 1762. After two years he moved to the College of New Jersey, later Princeton.[^6] There, with [[William Paterson (judge)]] and Luther Martin, both later fellow delegates at the 1787 Convention, he founded the "Well Meaning Club." That club became the Cliosophic Society, now part of Whig-Clio.[^6] He took his A.B. in 1766.[^6] He then read law for four years and was admitted to the bar in 1771. In 1772 he married Abigail Wolcott.[^7] ## Revolutionary War In 1773 Ellsworth received a captain's [[Commission|commission]] in the 3rd Connecticut Regiment of the state militia, and in 1774 he rose to lieutenant colonel. In the summer of 1776 he led three regiments of light cavalry in support of the Continental Army in New York.[^8] In 1777 he was appointed Connecticut's state attorney for Hartford County. In the same year he was chosen as a Connecticut delegate to the Continental Congress.[^9] He sat in Congress in 1777–80 and again in 1781–83. His committee work there included the Marine Committee, the Board of Treasury and the Committee of Appeals.[^9] At home, he was a member of the Committee of the Pay Table, which oversaw Connecticut's war spending.[^9] The Committee of Appeals, which he joined in 1777, has been described as a forerunner of the federal Supreme Court. Ellsworth took part in its handling of the Olmstead case, a dispute that set state and federal authority against each other.[^10] In 1779 he joined the Council of Safety, which shared control of the state's military measures with the [[governor]].[^10] Ellsworth's first judicial post was on Connecticut's Supreme Court of Errors, created in 1785. He moved soon afterward to the Connecticut Superior Court and sat on that bench for four years.[^11] ## Constitutional Convention Connecticut sent Ellsworth to the 1787 Convention in Philadelphia together with Roger Sherman and William Samuel Johnson.[^12] Lawyers made up more than half of the 55 delegates. Eight of them, Ellsworth and Sherman among them, had served as judges.[^12] On May 30, 1787, Edmund Randolph of Virginia had moved for a "national government" with supreme legislative, executive and judicial branches.[^13] On June 20, Ellsworth accepted the three-part structure but moved to strike the phrase "national government." In its place he proposed "the United States," the wording already used in the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. His aim was to keep the emphasis on a federation rather than a single national entity.[^13] From then on the convention used "United States" as the official name for the government. The fuller form, "the United States of America," entered the Constitution through Gouverneur Morris's final editorial changes.[^13] The convention had reached a deadlock on representation in Congress. The large states sought proportional representation, while the small states insisted on equal representation for each state. Ellsworth had a major part in the adoption of the Connecticut Compromise, working alongside fellow Connecticut delegate Roger Sherman.[^14] ## United States Senate Ellsworth and William Samuel Johnson were Connecticut's first two senators under the new federal government.[^15] Ellsworth identified with the emerging Federalist Party. His role in Senate business has been likened to that of later Senate Majority Leaders. John Adams called him "the firmest pillar of [Washington's] whole administration in the Senate."[^15] Pennsylvania Republican William Maclay was more critical, and his objection centered on Ellsworth's reliance on private negotiation and tacit agreement rather than open debate.[^15] For its first five years the Senate kept no official record of its proceedings and made no room for spectators. The House of Representatives, by contrast, met in open session.[^16] Ellsworth's first Senate project was the Judiciary Act, designated Senate Bill No. 1. It supplemented Article III of the Constitution by setting up a hierarchy linking state and federal courts.[^17] James Madison later wrote, "It may be taken for certain that the bill organizing the judicial department originated in his [Ellsworth's] draft, and that it was not materially changed in its passage into law."[^17] ## Supreme Court and later life ### Ellsworth Court The Chief Justice's seat had been left vacant by [[John Jay]]. Jay's replacement, John Rutledge, had been rejected by the Senate the previous December. In February, Washington's next nominee, [[William Cushing]], had declined the office.[^18] Washington nominated Ellsworth on March 3, 1796. The Senate confirmed him by a vote of 21–1, and he took the judicial oath on March 8, 1796.[^18] According to the source, no major cases reached the Court during Ellsworth's short tenure. The same source's lead says that few cases came before it.[^19] Four of the Court's rulings in this period proved lasting:[^19] - *Hylton v. United States* (1796) upheld a federal carriage tax and implicitly addressed judicial review. - *Hollingsworth v. Virginia* (1798) held that the president has no official role in amending the Constitution. - *Calder v. Bull* (1798) confined the Ex post facto clause to criminal cases. - *New York v. Connecticut* (1799) was the Court's first exercise of its Article III original jurisdiction over a dispute between two states. Ellsworth moved the Court away from seriatim opinions, in which each justice wrote and read a separate opinion. Instead, he encouraged a single written opinion stating the Court's consensus, and that practice continues today.[^20] In the 1796 presidential election, Ellsworth received 11 electoral votes from three states. Those votes came at the expense of Thomas Pinckney.[^21] ## Legacy In 1847, John Calhoun named Ellsworth first among three Founding Fathers, with Roger Sherman and William Paterson, whom he credited with giving the United States "the best government instead of the worst and most intolerable on the earth."[^22] The town of Ellsworth, Maine, was named for him in 1800. John F. Kennedy wrote the *Encyclopædia Britannica* article on Ellsworth, which was Kennedy's only contribution to that encyclopedia.[^23] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539, retrieved 2026-10-26), lead — birth and death dates; framer, senator from Connecticut, third Chief Justice; Continental Congress service. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539), lead — chief author of the Judiciary Act of 1789; Hamilton ally; Funding Act of 1790, Bank Bill of 1791; Bill of Rights and Jay Treaty. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539), lead — 1796 nomination after Rutledge's rejection; resignation in 1800; envoy to France 1799–1800; Convention of 1800. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539), lead — Connecticut Compromise; Committee of Detail; did not sign; role in Connecticut ratification. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539), "Youth and family life" — birthplace, parents, ancestry, Josiah Ellsworth's 1646 immigration. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539), "Youth and family life" — Yale 1762, transfer to the College of New Jersey, Well Meaning Club, A.B. 1766. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth [^7]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539), "Youth and family life" — bar admission 1771; marriage to Abigail Wolcott 1772. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth [^8]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539), "Revolutionary War" — 1773 commission, 1774 promotion, 1776 cavalry command in New York. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth [^9]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539), "Revolutionary War" — Hartford County state attorney 1777; Continental Congress 1777–80, 1781–83; committees; Committee of the Pay Table. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth [^10]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539), "Revolutionary War" — Committee of Appeals 1777, Olmstead case, Council of Safety 1779. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth [^11]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539), "Revolutionary War" — Supreme Court of Errors 1785; four years on the Connecticut Superior Court. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth [^12]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539), "Constitutional Convention" — Connecticut delegation; lawyers and former judges among the 55 delegates. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth [^13]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539), "Constitutional Convention" — Randolph motion of May 30, 1787; June 20 proposal; Morris's final wording. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth [^14]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539), "Constitutional Convention" — representation deadlock and Connecticut Compromise. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth [^15]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539), "United States Senate" — first Connecticut senators; Federalist alignment; Adams and Maclay assessments. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth [^16]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539), "United States Senate" — no official record of Senate proceedings for its first five years; no provision for spectators. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth [^17]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539), "United States Senate" — Judiciary Act as Senate Bill No. 1; Madison's statement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth [^18]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539), "Supreme Court and later life" — nomination March 3, 1796; Rutledge and Cushing; 21–1 confirmation; oath March 8, 1796. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth [^19]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539), "Supreme Court and later life" and lead — caseload; four rulings of lasting importance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth [^20]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539), "Supreme Court and later life" — discouragement of seriatim opinions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth [^21]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539), "Supreme Court and later life" — 11 electoral votes from three states in 1796; effect on Thomas Pinckney. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth [^22]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539), "Legacy" — Calhoun's 1847 praise. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth [^23]: Wikipedia contributors, *Oliver Ellsworth* (rev. 1369268539), "Legacy" — Ellsworth, Maine, named 1800; Kennedy's *Britannica* article. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Ellsworth