17 United States federal judges appointed by John Adams

List of federal judges appointed by John Adams

Following is a list of all Article III United States federal judges appointed by President John Adams. In total, John Adams appointed 22 Article III United States federal judges during his tenure (1797–1801) as President of the United States. Of these, 3 were appointments to the Supreme Court of the United States, 15 were to the United States circuit courts, and 4 to the United States district courts. Thirteen of the fifteen circuit court judges appointed by Adams were to positions created at the end of his tenure in office, in the Judiciary Act of 1801, 2 Stat. 89, which became known as the Midnight Judges Act. All of these offices were abolished by the repeal of this Act on July 1, 1802, by 2 Stat. 132. The remaining two were to judgeships for the District of Columbia, authorized under a different Act of Congress, not the Judiciary Act.

Richard Bassett was a Delaware attorney and politician, veteran of the American Revolutionary War, delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, signer of the United States Constitution, United States Senator from Delaware, Chief Justice of the Delaware Court of Common Pleas, Governor of Delaware and a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Third Circuit. He holds the overall seniority position of #1 in the history of the United States Senate.

Egbert Benson was a lawyer, jurist, politician, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States who represented New York State in the Continental Congress, Annapolis Convention, and the United States House of Representatives. He served as a member of the New York State constitutional convention in 1788 which ratified the United States Constitution. He also served as the first Attorney General of the State of New York, Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court, and as the Chief United States Circuit Judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Second Circuit.

Benjamin Bourne was a United States Representative from Rhode Island, a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island and a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Circuit Court for the First Circuit.

William Cranch was a United States Circuit Judge and Chief United States Circuit Judge of the United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia; the 2nd Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States; a Professor of law for Columbian College; and a city land commissioner for Washington, D.C.

John Davis was a delegate to the Massachusetts convention to ratify the United States Constitution, Comptroller for the United States Department of the Treasury, United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts and a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Samuel Hitchcock was the 1st Attorney General of Vermont, a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont and a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Second Circuit. He was the son-in-law of Ethan Allen and the father of Ethan A. Hitchcock.

John Sloss Hobart was a United States Senator from New York and a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New York.

Philip Barton Key, was an American Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War and later was a United States Circuit Judge and Chief United States Circuit Judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Fourth Circuit and a United States Representative from Maryland.

John Lowell was a delegate to the Congress of the Confederation, a Judge of the Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture under the Articles of Confederation, a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts and a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Circuit Court for the First Circuit.

John Marshall was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 to 1835. Marshall remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longest serving justice in Supreme Court history, and he is widely regarded as one of the most influential justices to ever sit on the Supreme Court. Prior to joining the Supreme Court, Marshall served as the United States Secretary of State under President John Adams.

Alfred Moore was a North Carolina judge who became an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Moore Square, a park located in the Moore Square Historic District in Raleigh, North Carolina was named in his honor, as was Moore County, established in 1784, also in the state of North Carolina.

Elijah Paine was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Vermont, a United States Senator from Vermont and a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont.

Jeremiah Smith was a United States Representative for New Hampshire, United States Attorney for New Hampshire, a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Circuit Court for the First Circuit, the 6th Governor of New Hampshire and Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court of Judicature and the New Hampshire Supreme Judicial Court.

William Tilghman was the Chief United States Circuit Judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Third Circuit and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Bushrod Washington was an attorney and politician who served as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1798 to 1829. On the Supreme Court, he was a staunch ally of Chief Justice John Marshall.

Oliver Wolcott Jr. was the second United States Secretary of the Treasury, a judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Second Circuit, and the 24th Governor of Connecticut.