Chase, Samuel

CHASE, SAMUEL. (1741–1811). Signer. Maryland. Born 17 April 1741, in Somerset County, Maryland, Samuel Chase was admitted to the bar in 1761. He became a prominent lawyer and sat in the colonial and then state legislature from 1764 to 1788, where he earned a reputation for extreme independence. He even supported the regulation of ministerial salaries, which reduced his father's income by half. Chase resisted the Stamp Act and, as a member of the Sons of Liberty, publicly affirmed his own participation in the looting of public offices, destroying stamps and burning the collector in effigy. In the Continental Congress of 1774 to 1778, he was also a member of the Maryland committee of safety, the first Maryland convention, and the Committee of Correspondence. He advocated a total trade embargo of England, favored confederation, and supported George Washington in the face of congressional intrigues. Chase was sent on the unsuccessful Canadian mission. In 1778 he attempted, with others, to corner the flour market, using congressional information about the arrival of the French fleet. Alexander Hamilton exposed this corruption, temporarily ending Chase's political career. In 1783 the governor of Maryland sent Chase to England to recover state funds invested in the Bank of England before the war. He failed in this mission. In 1786 he moved from Annapolis to Baltimore and, in 1788, he became chief judge of the new criminal court. A member of the state convention that adopted the Federal Constitution in 1788, he opposed its ratification. After serving as chief of the Maryland general court, he was named to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1796. In 1804, he was impeached by the House of Representatives but was acquitted by the Senate. He continued on the bench until his death on 19 June 1811.

SEE ALSO Canada, Congressional Committee to.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Samuel Chase's papers. Maryland Historical Society. Baltimore, Maryland.

Haw, James, et al. Stormy Patriot: The Life of Samuel Chase. Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1980.

                           revised by Michael Bellesiles