William Cranch


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

Education and career

Born on July 17, 1769, in Weymouth, Massachusetts, Cranch graduated from Harvard University in 1787 and read law with Thomas Dawes, a relative by marriage. He entered private practice in Braintree, Massachusetts in 1790. He continued private practice in Haverhill, Massachusetts from 1790 to 1791. He was Justice of the Peace for Essex County, Massachusetts. He resumed private practice in the area ceded by Maryland that would eventually become Washington, D.C. from 1791 to 1800. He was a city land commissioner for Washington, D.C. from 1800 to 1801.

Federal judicial service

Cranch was nominated by President John Adams on February 28, 1801, to the United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, to a new seat authorized by 2 Stat. 103. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 3, 1801, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on February 24, 1806, due to his elevation to serve as Chief Judge of the same court.
Cranch was nominated by President Thomas Jefferson on February 21, 1806, to the Chief Judge seat on the United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia vacated by Chief Judge William Kilty. He was confirmed by the Senate on February 24, 1806, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on September 1, 1855, due to his death in Washington, D.C. He was interred in Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Cranch was a member of the Federalist Party, which died out in the mid-1820s. He was the last holder of a United States government office who had been a Federalist.

Notable decisions

Cranch is known for several decisions that set a precedent for jury nullification, including:
Cranch also handed down important precedent in a variety of topics, for example in a criminal law case regarding the mens rea of intoxication, Cranch wrote:

Other service

Concurrent with his service on the federal bench, Cranch served as the 2nd Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1802 to 1815. He also edited his own volume of reports on civil and criminal cases from the District of Columbia. In 1805, Cranch became a member of the first Board of Trustees for Public Schools and served on that board for 7 years. On February 3, 1826, the Columbian College board of trustees elected Cranch and William Thomas Carroll, Esq., as the first law professors. On June 13 of the same year, with President John Quincy Adams in attendance, Professor Cranch delivered the first law lecture in the court room of the City Hall.

Legacy and honors

Cranch was the son of Richard Cranch, a cabinetmaker, and Mary Smith, the sister of Abigail Adams. Cranch married Nancy Greenleaf. They had four sons; of these, three: Christopher Pearse Cranch, Edward P. Cranch, and John Cranch, all became painters. Their daughter Abigail Adams Cranch married William Greenleaf Eliot. They were the parents of Henry Ware Eliot and the grandparents of poet T. S. Eliot.