, was born in Glasgow. James
Buchanan (b. 1839) of Scottish descent, was Member from New Jersey to
49th, 50th, 51st and 52nd Congress. David Bremner Henderson
(1840-1906), born at Old Deer, Aberdeenshire, served in the Civil War
and lost a leg at Corinth, was Member from Iowa (1880-99), and Speaker
of the House of Representatives (1899-1906). William Grant Laidlaw,
born near Jedburgh, Scotland, in 1840, served in the Civil War and was
Member of Congress from 1887 to 1891. John Edgar Reyburn (b. 1845),
Member State Senate of Pennsylvania, Member of Congress 1890-1907; and
James Fleming Stewart (1851-1904), were both of Scottish descent.
SCOTS IN THE JUDICIARY
As with the medical and theological professions the legal has shared
the dominating influence of Scotland, and indeed it is perhaps not too
much to say that much of the distinctive character of American
jurisprudence is due to the influence of men of Scottish blood at the
bench and bar. The second Chief Justice of the United States Supreme
Court (John Rutledge) and two of the four original Associate Justices,
Blair and Wilson, were of Scottish origin. The mother of John
Marshall, the great Chief Justice, was of Scottish origin (Keith). Of
fifty judges of the United States Supreme Court from 1789 to 1882, at
least fifteen were of Scottish birth or descent. We have space here to
deal with only a selection of the most prominent names.
Andrew Kirkpatrick (1756-1831), Chief Justice of New Jersey for
twenty-one years, whose "decisions especially those on realty matters,
show a depth of research, a power of discrimination, and a justness of
reasoning which entitle him to rank among the first American jurists,"
was of Scottish parentage, descended from the Kirkpatricks of
Dumfriesshire.
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