ROGER B. TANEY
The twenty-two year old Maryland attorney writes out and signs legal deposition stating that his client is owed 150 pounds, almost sixty years before his infamous Dred Scott decision while Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
Autograph manuscript signed: "R.B. Taney/ Ptffs Atty" and docketed "R.B. Taney" in faded black ink. 2 pages, 7½x12½. Frederick County, Maryland. October 12, 1799. A legal plea regarding Taney's client Henry Darnell who claims a Mr. Richard Colegate and Mr. Richard Cromwell owe him 150 pounds current money. Taney (1777-1864, born in Calvert County, Maryland) was educated privately before attending Dickinson College, where he graduated first in his class. Taney apprenticed with an Annapolis lawyer for three years and was admitted to the bar in 1799 when he was 22. After two years as a Federalist member of the Maryland House of Delegates, he began his legal career in earnest in Frederick, Maryland. There, he met Anne Phoebe Charlton Key, the sister of Francis Scott Key, whom he married in January of 1806. Taney, who became one of Maryland's leading lawyers, became an avid supporter of Andrew Jackson after the Federalist Party faded away. In 1831, Jackson appointed Taney as both Attorney General (1831-1833) and acting Secretary of War before naming him Secretary of the Treasury on Sept. 23, 1833. Taney served until June 24, 1834, when his appointment was rejected by the United States Senate. In 1836, after a political change in the makeup of the Senate, Jackson appointed Taney as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Taney served until his death in 1864. He is chiefly remembered for his decision in the Dred Scott case (1857), which stated that slaves were not citizens and that Congress had no power to prohibit slavery in territories. Normal mailing folds. Very toned throughout. Stained throughout. Ink spots and corrections throughout. Edges slightly frayed with a few small tears. Otherwise, fine condition.