John McKinley

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

John McKinley (May 1, 1780 – July 19, 1852) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge who served as a U.S. Senator from Alabama and as an associate justice of the Supreme Court.

Born in Culpeper County, Virginia, he moved with his family to Kentucky in 1783. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1800, and practiced in Frankfort and Louisville. During the War of 1812, he was active in military affairs and wrote to President James Madison seeking a major’s commission, though he did not receive one.

In 1818 he moved to Alabama, where he practiced law in Huntsville and became involved in land speculation. He was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1820. He later moved his family to Florence, which made him ineligible for re-election that year. In 1822 he lost a special election for the U.S. Senate by one vote.

McKinley was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1826 as a Jacksonian to finish the term of Henry Chambers. He sought re-election in 1830 but lost to Gabriel Moore. He also served in the Alabama House again in 1831 and 1836, and he spent a term in the U.S. House of Representatives (1833–1835), supporting President Andrew Jackson’s policies. He was a Presidential Elector in 1836, casting his vote for Martin Van Buren.

In 1836 McKinley won a seat in the U.S. Senate again. He resigned in April 1837 to become an associate justice of the Supreme Court after the Court’s size was increased to nine seats. He received a recess appointment on April 22, 1837, was formally nominated September 18, 1837, and confirmed by the Senate on September 25, 1837. He served on the Court’s Ninth Circuit, which included Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas, and wrote 22 opinions, including notable cases like Bank of Augusta v. Earle and Groves v. Slaughter.

McKinley was married twice: first to Juliana Bryan, with whom he had three children, and then to Elizabeth Armistead, who survived him. He helped found the University of Alabama’s board of trustees and was an early leader in the First Presbyterian Church of Florence.

He owned twelve slaves at the 1850 census. After his appointment to the Supreme Court, he moved his family to Louisville, Kentucky, where he died on July 19, 1852, at age 72. He is buried at Cave Hill Cemetery. The community of McKinley, Alabama, and the World War II Liberty ship SS John McKinley were named in his honor.