Rash's Surname Index
Notes for John Marshall HARLAN
John Marshall Harlan (June 1, 1833–October 14, 1911) was an American Supreme Court associate justice. He is most notable for being the only dissenter in the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson.
Harlan started his career when he joined his father's law practice in 1852. He was a Whig like his father, but when the party dissolved over the issue of slavery he began switching between many parties, such as the Know Nothings. Harlan was elected county judge of Franklin County, Kentucky in 1858. He enlisted in the Union Army in 1861 when the Civil War broke out, rising to the rank of colonel.
Harlan firmly supported slavery but fought to preserve the Union. He said he would resign if President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. He did not resign when Lincoln did sign it, but did leave
the army a few months later to care for his family following the death of his father.
He resumed his career and was elected Kentucky Attorney General in 1863. Harlan joined the Republican party in 1868 and remained a Republican for the rest of his life. He ran for governor in 1871 and 1875, losing both times. He was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1877 by President
Rutherford B. Hayes, whom he had helped win the 1876 Republican party presidential nomination.
Harlan died on October 14, 1911 after 34 years with the Supreme Court.
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes called his colleague John Marshall Harlan the last "tobacco chomping justice."
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