Bushrod Washington

Bushrod Washington (June 5, 1762 – November 26, 1829) was an American attorney and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1798 until his death in 1829. He was a member of the Washington family through his relation to President George Washington, being his nephew. Washington inherited his uncle's papers and the Mount Vernon estate in 1802 following the death of Martha Washington, George Washington's widow.

Born at Bushfield Manor, a plantation located at Mount Holly in Westmoreland County, Virginia, Bushrod Washington was the son of John Augustine Washington, the brother of George Washington, and Hannah Bushrod. He had two older sisters and a younger brother, with his family being part of the First Families of Virginia. His early education was provided by a private tutor, and he subsequently attended the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, graduating in 1778 at the age of 16. During the American Revolutionary War, he served as a private in Colonel John Francis Mercer’s cavalry within the Continental Army, participating in the Battle of Green Spring and witnessing the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.

Washington studied law initially under George Wythe in Williamsburg and was admitted as the 41st member of Phi Beta Kappa. He furthered his legal education in Philadelphia under James Wilson, with financial support from his uncle, the President. In 1784, Washington returned to Westmoreland County to establish a private legal practice, which he maintained until 1798.

In addition to his legal career, Washington was involved in politics. He served as a delegate for Westmoreland County in the Virginia House of Delegates, beginning in 1787. He participated in the Virginia Ratifying Convention of 1788, voting in favor of ratification of the U.S. Constitution. He published legal reports, including "Reports of the Virginia Court of Appeals, 1790-96," and later collaborated on publishing decisions of the U.S. Court for the Third Circuit.

On September 29, 1798, President John Adams appointed Washington as an associate justice of the Supreme Court; he was sworn in on November 9, 1798, and confirmed by the Senate on December 20, 1798. Washington served on the court for over three decades, aligning frequently with Chief Justice John Marshall on legal matters and authoring opinions such as in Corfield v. Coryell (1823), where he outlined fundamental rights as privileges and immunities of citizens.

Washington married Julia Anne Blackburn, daughter of Col. Thomas Blackburn of Prince William County, Virginia. The marriage took place at Rippon Lodge. The couple had no children; Julia Anne Blackburn died days after Washington’s own death while accompanying relatives to Virginia.

He owned land and enslaved individuals in Virginia and Berkeley County, West Virginia, as documented in census records and estate inventories. Notably, he inherited the Mount Vernon estate and George Washington’s papers in 1802 and was appointed an executor of George Washington’s will. Martha Washington had freed some enslaved people in her will, but Bushrod Washington brought others to Mount Vernon after her death.

He served as president of the American Colonization Society, an organization that promoted the emigration of formerly enslaved people to Africa. His position regarding slavery reflected the complex attitudes of the period, including the manumission of specific individuals by his family. Washington died in 1829, in Washington, D.C., and was interred at Mount Vernon.