John McLean had been a recent candidate for president, had sat on the Supreme Court since 1829, and was the last living member of either the Monroe or the Quincy Adams cabinets. He was also a strong Methodist and a trustee of Dickinson College, the third member of the Court with such ties, and perhaps most famous for his strong dissent in the Dred Scott Case. His death provided Abraham Lincoln with his second vacancy on the Court. Lincoln replaced him with Illinois friend and colleague David Davis. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
Timothy L. Hall, Supreme Court Justices: A Biographical Dictionary (New York: Facts on File, 2001), 79-81.
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
Lawmaking/Litigating
