Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Horace BINNEY
BINNEY, Horace, lawyer, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 4, 1780, son of Dr. Barnabas and Mary (Woodrow) Binney. He was of Scotch and English descent. His first American ancestor, John Binney, emigrated from Hull, Boston Bay, England, to America, settling in Hull, Mass. The grandfather of Horace was Barnabas Binney, a shipmaster and merchant of Boston, and his father was one of the first thirty graduates of Brown university, and later was a surgeon in the revolutionary army, attached to the Massachusetts line, whence he was transferred to the Pennsylvania line, and settled in Philadelphia. In 1786 Horace was sent to the Friends' almshouse school in Philadelphia, and shortly afterwards entered the grammar school of the University of Pennsylvania. He was graduated at Harvard in 1797, at the head of his class. His first intention was to follow the profession of his father and step-father, but he finally decided to become a lawyer, and in the fall of 1797 was received as a student into the office of Mr. Jared Ingersoll, in Philadelphia. On March 31, 1800, he was admitted to the bar of the court of common pleas, and in 1802 was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of the state. He was elected a member of the state legislature in 1806. His private practice soon became very large, and he was obliged to decline all political honors. Between the years 1807 and 1817 he prepared six volumes of reports, condensing the decisions of the supreme court of Pennsylvania from 1799 to 1814. This valuable work greatly enhanced and widened his reputation. In 1808 he was chosen a director of the first United States bank, and continued to act as a director and as a trustee for many years, arguing in its interest his first case in the supreme court of the United States. Before he was fifty years old he was twice offered a seat on the bench of the supreme court of the state, and was tendered a judgeship in the U.S. supreme court. These honors he declined, preferring active law practice. About the year 1832 [p.299] President Jackson removed from the United States bank the deposits of the treasury, and vetoed the bill for its recharter. This aroused indignation in the friends and officials of the bank, and led Mr. Binney to accept a seat as representative in the 23d Congress, where he vigorously opposed the acts of the administration. His last appearance in the courts was in 1844, when he was appointed by the city council to argue the Girard will-case in the supreme court of the United States. In this case an attempt was made to invalidate the will of Stephen Girard, who had left his fortune for the establishment and maintenance of a college for orphans. In the argument Mr. Binney was matched against Mr. Webster, and, while the latter brought all his eloquence to defend the Christian religion, the only plea advanced against the validity of the will, Mr. Binney confined himself to a lucid exposition of the law of charitable bequests, and its application to the case. In 1850 he withdrew entirely from professional labor and devoted his time to study, keeping in touch with modern thought, and making occasional contributions to current literature. During the civil war he sustained all the acts of President Lincoln, and when that official suspended the writ of habeas corpus by proclamation, without the consent of Congress, Mr. Binney published three pamphlets supporting the president's action. He received the honorary degree of A.B. from Brown university in 1797, and that of LL.D. from Harvard in 1827. He was a member of the American philosophical society, of the Massachusetts historical society, and a fellow of the American academy. Among his publications are: "An Eulogium upon the Hon. William Tilghman, late chief justice of Pennsylvania" (1827); "An Eulogy on the Life and Character of John Marshall" (1835); "Remarks to the Bar of Philadelphia on the Occasion of the Deaths of Charles Chauncy and John Sergeant" (1853); "Inquiry into the Formation of Washington's Farewell Address" (1859); and "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus under the Constitution" (1862-'65). He died Aug. 12, 1875.
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