# Salmon P. Chase *American politician and jurist; sixth Chief Justice of the United States (1864–1873)* Salmon Portland Chase (January 13, 1808 – May 7, 1873) was the sixth chief justice of the United States, holding the office from 1864 until he died in 1873. Before that he was the 25th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President [[Abraham Lincoln]], from 1861 to 1864.[^1] Earlier still he was the 23rd [[governor]] of Ohio, from 1856 to 1860. He represented Ohio in the [[United States Senate]] from 1849 to 1855 and again in 1861. The Wikipedia account counts him among the few American politicians to have held constitutional office in all three branches of the federal government.[^1] The cited account traces his career through anti-slavery legal work in Cincinnati and a sequence of party affiliations: Whig, Liberty, Free Soil and Republican. It then covers his wartime management of federal finance and his years on the Supreme Court, where he presided over the 1868 impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson. From the 1850s onward, including while he was Chief Justice, he sought a presidential nomination without success.[^2] The project's record holds no primary records, filings or statute texts for Chase. Every statement below rests on a single secondary source, the Wikipedia article, and has not been verified against primary documents.[^1] ## Early life and family Chase was born in Cornish, New Hampshire, on January 13, 1808, to Janette Ralston and Ithamar Chase. His father died in 1817, when Chase was nine. His mother was left with ten children and few resources.[^3] From 1820 to 1824 he lived in Ohio with his uncle, Bishop Philander Chase, who founded Kenyon College.[^3] He attended common schools in Windsor, Vermont, and Worthington, Ohio, and studied at Cincinnati College. He then entered Dartmouth College, graduating with distinction in 1826.[^3] He moved to the District of Columbia, where he ran a classical school while reading law under U.S. Attorney General William Wirt. He was admitted to the bar in 1829.[^3] Chase married three times. His first wife, Katherine Jane Garniss, whom he married on March 4, 1834, died the following year after giving birth to a daughter. His second wife, Eliza Ann Smith, whom he married on September 26, 1839, was the mother of Kate Chase, born in 1840. Eliza and his third wife, Sarah Bella Dunlop Ludlow, both died of consumption, and he did not marry again.[^3] ## Legal and political career From 1830 Chase practiced law in Cincinnati. He compiled the state's statutes, and the account says the compilation long remained the standard work on the subject.[^4] He represented people who had escaped slavery and people tried for helping them, including in the Matilda Case of 1837.[^4] His defense of people arrested in Ohio under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 earned him the name "Attorney General for Fugitive Slaves."[^4] Before the U.S. Supreme Court in *Jones v. Van Zandt*, he argued that slavery was a local institution, not a national one, sustained only by positive state law.[^4] In 1841 Chase left the Whig Party and took up leadership of Ohio's Liberty Party.[^5] In 1848 he helped found the Free Soil Party and recruited former President Martin Van Buren to be its presidential nominee.[^5] He was elected to the Senate in 1849 and opposed both the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas–Nebraska Act. After the Kansas–Nebraska Act he helped found the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], which opposed extending slavery into the territories.[^5] On leaving the Senate, he became Ohio's first Republican governor, serving from 1856 to 1860.[^5] At its 1860 National Convention the Republican Party chose Lincoln over Chase for the presidential nomination. After winning the election, Lincoln asked Chase to head the Treasury.[^5] ## Secretary of the Treasury Chase was Secretary of the Treasury from 1861 to 1864.[^6] The account credits him with proposing two wartime changes in federal financial policy, working out their principles and details, and persuading Congress to adopt them. These were a national banking system and the issue of paper currency.[^6] Working with Jay Cooke & Company, he oversaw the 1862 sale of $500 million in government war bonds, known as 5/20s.[^6] The first U.S. federal currency, the greenback demand note, was printed in 1861–1862 while Chase was in office, and he was responsible for designing the notes.[^7] His own likeness appeared on a variety of U.S. paper currency, beginning with the $1 bill, which was engraved by Joseph Prosper Ourdan.[^7] On May 5, 1862, Chase traveled with Lincoln, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton and Brigadier General Egbert Ludovicus Viele aboard the Treasury cutter *Miami* from the Washington Navy Yard to Fort Monroe. The *Miami* arrived on the night of May 6.[^7] ## Chief Justice In June 1864 Lincoln accepted Chase's fourth offer to resign from the Treasury.[^8] Chase kept his support among the Radical Republicans and sought the 1864 presidential nomination without success.[^2] After Chief Justice [[Roger B. Taney]] died in October 1864, Lincoln named Chase to succeed him. The account says the choice was made partly to placate the party's Radical wing.[^8] Chase was nominated on December 6, 1864, and the Senate confirmed him that same day. He took the oath on December 15, 1864, and served until his death on May 7, 1873.[^8] One of his first acts as Chief Justice was to admit John Rock to the Supreme Court bar.[^8] The account lists the following among his significant decisions:[^9] - *Texas v. White*, 74 U.S. 700 (1869), on the permanence of the Union. - *Veazie Bank v. Fenno*, 75 U.S. 533 (1869), which upheld a Civil War banking statute imposing a 10% tax on state banknotes. - *Hepburn v. Griswold*, 75 U.S. 603 (1870), which held parts of the legal tender acts unconstitutional. After new justices were appointed, the Court reversed the legal tender ruling in the *Legal Tender Cases*, 79 U.S. 457 (1871 and 1872), and Chase dissented.[^9] In 1868 he presided over the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson in the Senate.[^9] ## Death Chase died of a stroke in New York City on May 7, 1873.[^10] He was buried first in Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C. In October 1886 his remains were moved to Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati.[^10] His New Hampshire birthplace was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1975.[^10] ## Legacy After Chase's death, the Supreme Court began a practice for each newly deceased Justice. The Justice's chair and the bench in front of it are draped in black wool crêpe, and black crêpe is hung over the Court's entrance.[^11] In May 1865 he was elected a 3rd class companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, with insignia number 46.[^11] The Chase National Bank, a predecessor of JPMorgan Chase, took his name, though he had no affiliation with it.[^11] Chase's portrait appears on the $10,000 bill, the largest U.S. denomination to circulate publicly. The bill was last printed in 1945.[^12] The [[Federal Reserve]] began withdrawing high-denomination bills in 1969. As of 2009, 336 of the $10,000 bills had not been returned for destruction.[^12] Chase County, Kansas, and Chase City, Virginia, are named for him. So are Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio, and Chase Hall at the United States Coast Guard Academy.[^12] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Salmon P. Chase*, lead section, rev. 1380703793 (retrieved 2026-10-26) — dates of life, offices held and their terms, three-branch observation; sole source in the pack. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_P._Chase [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *Salmon P. Chase*, lead section, rev. 1380703793 (retrieved 2026-10-26) — summary of career, Johnson impeachment trial, unsuccessful presidential bids including 1864. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_P._Chase [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *Salmon P. Chase*, "Early life and family," rev. 1380703793 (retrieved 2026-10-26) — birth, parents, schooling, bar admission, marriages. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_P._Chase [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *Salmon P. Chase*, "Legal and political career," rev. 1380703793 (retrieved 2026-10-26) — Cincinnati practice, statute compilation, fugitive-slave defenses, *Jones v. Van Zandt* argument. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_P._Chase [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *Salmon P. Chase*, lead section, rev. 1380703793 (retrieved 2026-10-26) — Liberty, Free Soil and Republican roles; Senate election; Ohio governorship; 1860 nomination and Treasury appointment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_P._Chase [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *Salmon P. Chase*, "Secretary of the Treasury," rev. 1380703793 (retrieved 2026-10-26) — tenure, national banking and paper currency, 1862 bond sale of $500 million. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_P._Chase [^7]: Wikipedia contributors, *Salmon P. Chase*, "Secretary of the Treasury," rev. 1380703793 (retrieved 2026-10-26) — demand notes, portrait on currency, May 1862 trip to Fort Monroe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_P._Chase [^8]: Wikipedia contributors, *Salmon P. Chase*, "Chief Justice," rev. 1380703793 (retrieved 2026-10-26) — resignation, nomination, confirmation and swearing-in dates; admission of John Rock. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_P._Chase [^9]: Wikipedia contributors, *Salmon P. Chase*, "Chief Justice," rev. 1380703793 (retrieved 2026-10-26) — decisions with reporter citations, *Legal Tender Cases* dissent, 1868 impeachment trial. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_P._Chase [^10]: Wikipedia contributors, *Salmon P. Chase*, "Death," rev. 1380703793 (retrieved 2026-10-26) — date, place and cause of death; burials; 1975 landmark designation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_P._Chase [^11]: Wikipedia contributors, *Salmon P. Chase*, "Legacy," rev. 1380703793 (retrieved 2026-10-26) — Court draping practice, MOLLUS election, Chase National Bank naming. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_P._Chase [^12]: Wikipedia contributors, *Salmon P. Chase*, "Legacy," rev. 1380703793 (retrieved 2026-10-26) — $10,000 bill, 1969 withdrawal, 2009 count, place names. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_P._Chase