Individual Details
Hon. James Iredell
(5 Oct 1751 - 20 Oct 1799)
James Iredell was a young man when he came to the bar. When he married in 1773 he had recently succeeded to the Collector's office in the port of Roanoke, in place of H.E. McCulloh. Though coming from England, he was an outspoken Whig and ardent on patriot causes.
He was appointed Attorney-General in 1779, which he served until resigning in 1782.
James Iredell of Chowan received a federal appointment to become an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1790. He rode the Southern Circuit in his stick gig between Philadelphia and Savannah. He was considered a profound and luminous jurist.
James Iredell, born 1750, died 1799, one of the associate justices of the supreme court of the United States, resided in Edenton. He was a native of England.
His father was a prosperous merchant at Bristol, eldest son of Francis Iredell, born at Lewes, in Sussex County, on October 5th, 1751.
He came to North Carolina in the fall of 1768, when only seventeen years old, and held the office of deputy of the port of Edenton under his relative Henry Eustace McCullock. He was afterwards appointed collector, February 17th, 1774, by the Crown. He studied law, under Governor Samuel Johnston, whose sister, Hannah, he married July 10th, 1773.
He was licensed December 14th, 1770, and soon rose to eminence in his profession. In 1777, he was elected one of the judges of the superior courts, which he resigned in 1777. In July following he was made attorney general by Governor Caswell. In 1788, he was a member of the convention that met at Hillsboro to deliberate on the Constitution of the United States, and was the able, but unsuccessful, advocate of its adoption.
In February, 1790, he was appointed by General Washington, one of the justices of the supreme court of the United States.
Full of years and honors he died at Edenton, October 20th, 1799.
His name has been indelibly written on the history of the state, by calling after his name one of the most lovely counties of the state.
Judge Iredell was, as expressed by Chief Justice Marshall in a letter to Judge Murphy, (October, 1827,) a man of talents, and of great professional worth.
He left two daughters and one son: his death was hastened by his severe labors in riding the southern circuit.
"Repeatedly," says McCree in his biography, "did this devoted public servant, in his stick gig, traverse the wide and weary distances between Philadelphia and Savannah." "The life and correspondence of Judge Iredell, by Griffith J. McCree," gives a full and accurate account of his character and services. This is the best work extract on North Carolina biography.
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/pathfinders/american-revolution/
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
An Overview of the Manuscript Sources in the Rare Book,
Manuscript, and Special Collections Library
Duke University
James Iredell, Sr., and James Iredell, Jr., Papers, 1724-1890. 1,046 items and 6 vols. Edenton (Chowan County), N. C.
Family, personal, political, public, and legal papers of James Iredell, Sr. (1751-1799), statesman and associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; of his wife, Hannah (Johnston) Iredell; and of their son, James Iredell, Jr. (1788-1853), governor of North Carolina, 1827, U.S. senator, 1828-1831, and attorney. The papers of James Iredell, Sr., concern the Revolutionary War, state and national politics, his duties as Supreme Court justice, and family matters. Included are letters discussing independence versus loyalty to Great Britain; British colonial policy; the operation of the war, both militarily and politically; state financial difficulties; peace treaty with Great Britain; various political pamphlets published 1783-1784; North Carolina politics; formulation and ratification of the Constitution; Federalists versus AntiFederalists in North Carolina; amendments to the Constitution; funding of the national debt and assumption of the state debt; cession of western lands to the Federal government; relations between Great Britain and the United States; the regulation of the slave trade; the establishment of the University of North Carolina; Iredell's duties as Supreme Court Justice and his assignment to the Southern circuit; U.S. negotiations with the Creek Indians; the Whiskey Rebellion; yellow fever epidemics in Philadelphia, 1793 and 1797-1798; the presidential campaign of 1796; and disunionist sentiment in Virginia, 1799. There is also correspondence from friends and relatives in England and Ireland, especially from his cousin Margaret Macartney giving accounts of her travels in England and Ireland in the 1770s, and from Henry Eustace McCulloh, a relative of Iredell and large landholder in North Carolina, concerning people and events in North Carolina, and on McCulloh's efforts to obtain titles to his North Carolina lands and the unfair character of the Confiscation Act.
Other papers include bills and receipts; legal notes and reports of James Iredell, Sr., and James Iredell, Jr. land deeds and indentures; commissions of office; drafts of political pamphlets of James Iredell, Sr., including an address to George III giving reasons why Iredell and other British-born Americans feel compelled to renounce their allegiance to the crown, and a letter "To The Public" upholding the right of judicial review.
He was appointed Attorney-General in 1779, which he served until resigning in 1782.
James Iredell of Chowan received a federal appointment to become an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1790. He rode the Southern Circuit in his stick gig between Philadelphia and Savannah. He was considered a profound and luminous jurist.
James Iredell, born 1750, died 1799, one of the associate justices of the supreme court of the United States, resided in Edenton. He was a native of England.
His father was a prosperous merchant at Bristol, eldest son of Francis Iredell, born at Lewes, in Sussex County, on October 5th, 1751.
He came to North Carolina in the fall of 1768, when only seventeen years old, and held the office of deputy of the port of Edenton under his relative Henry Eustace McCullock. He was afterwards appointed collector, February 17th, 1774, by the Crown. He studied law, under Governor Samuel Johnston, whose sister, Hannah, he married July 10th, 1773.
He was licensed December 14th, 1770, and soon rose to eminence in his profession. In 1777, he was elected one of the judges of the superior courts, which he resigned in 1777. In July following he was made attorney general by Governor Caswell. In 1788, he was a member of the convention that met at Hillsboro to deliberate on the Constitution of the United States, and was the able, but unsuccessful, advocate of its adoption.
In February, 1790, he was appointed by General Washington, one of the justices of the supreme court of the United States.
Full of years and honors he died at Edenton, October 20th, 1799.
His name has been indelibly written on the history of the state, by calling after his name one of the most lovely counties of the state.
Judge Iredell was, as expressed by Chief Justice Marshall in a letter to Judge Murphy, (October, 1827,) a man of talents, and of great professional worth.
He left two daughters and one son: his death was hastened by his severe labors in riding the southern circuit.
"Repeatedly," says McCree in his biography, "did this devoted public servant, in his stick gig, traverse the wide and weary distances between Philadelphia and Savannah." "The life and correspondence of Judge Iredell, by Griffith J. McCree," gives a full and accurate account of his character and services. This is the best work extract on North Carolina biography.
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/pathfinders/american-revolution/
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
An Overview of the Manuscript Sources in the Rare Book,
Manuscript, and Special Collections Library
Duke University
James Iredell, Sr., and James Iredell, Jr., Papers, 1724-1890. 1,046 items and 6 vols. Edenton (Chowan County), N. C.
Family, personal, political, public, and legal papers of James Iredell, Sr. (1751-1799), statesman and associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; of his wife, Hannah (Johnston) Iredell; and of their son, James Iredell, Jr. (1788-1853), governor of North Carolina, 1827, U.S. senator, 1828-1831, and attorney. The papers of James Iredell, Sr., concern the Revolutionary War, state and national politics, his duties as Supreme Court justice, and family matters. Included are letters discussing independence versus loyalty to Great Britain; British colonial policy; the operation of the war, both militarily and politically; state financial difficulties; peace treaty with Great Britain; various political pamphlets published 1783-1784; North Carolina politics; formulation and ratification of the Constitution; Federalists versus AntiFederalists in North Carolina; amendments to the Constitution; funding of the national debt and assumption of the state debt; cession of western lands to the Federal government; relations between Great Britain and the United States; the regulation of the slave trade; the establishment of the University of North Carolina; Iredell's duties as Supreme Court Justice and his assignment to the Southern circuit; U.S. negotiations with the Creek Indians; the Whiskey Rebellion; yellow fever epidemics in Philadelphia, 1793 and 1797-1798; the presidential campaign of 1796; and disunionist sentiment in Virginia, 1799. There is also correspondence from friends and relatives in England and Ireland, especially from his cousin Margaret Macartney giving accounts of her travels in England and Ireland in the 1770s, and from Henry Eustace McCulloh, a relative of Iredell and large landholder in North Carolina, concerning people and events in North Carolina, and on McCulloh's efforts to obtain titles to his North Carolina lands and the unfair character of the Confiscation Act.
Other papers include bills and receipts; legal notes and reports of James Iredell, Sr., and James Iredell, Jr. land deeds and indentures; commissions of office; drafts of political pamphlets of James Iredell, Sr., including an address to George III giving reasons why Iredell and other British-born Americans feel compelled to renounce their allegiance to the crown, and a letter "To The Public" upholding the right of judicial review.
Events
| Birth | 5 Oct 1751 | Lewes, Sussex, England, United Kingdom |  | ||
| Marriage | 19 Jul 1773 | Hannah Johnston | | ||
| Will | 27 Apr 1790 | Chowan, North Carolina, United States |  | | |
| Death | 20 Oct 1799 | Edenton, Chowan, North Carolina, United States | |
Families
| Spouse | Hannah Johnston (1748 - 1826) |
| Child | James Iredell Jr. (1788 - 1853) |
| Child | Helen S. Iredell ( - ) |
| Father | William Francis Iredell of Bristol (1725 - ) |
| Mother | Margaret McCulloh (1729 - ) |
| Sibling | Francis Iredell (1752 - ) |
| Sibling | Thomas Iredell (1754 - 1760) |
| Sibling | Charles Iredell (1756 - ) |
| Sibling | Arthur Iredell (1758 - ) |
| Sibling | Mary Iredell (1759 - 1773) |
| Sibling | Thomas Iredell (1760 - ) |
| Sibling | William Iredell (1763 - 1771) |
| Sibling | Henry Iredell (1765 - 1771) |
Notes
Will
Iredell, James (Chowan), April 27th, 1790; July 22nd 1794. Wife, my relative Miss Margaret Macartney, dec'd. of Great Britain, Henry Eustace McCulloch, my wife and her brother Samuel Johnston, son James, daughters Anne, Isabella and Helen. S. Iredell; my mother; brother Arthur, Samuel Johnston Exr. Test, A. Hodge, Sam Tredwell.Endnotes
1. Letter written by James Iredell, N. Carolina: June 1773, titled Genealogy of my Mother's Family. Copy mailed to Nancy Prouty from: Nicholas McCullough. Held by Duke University Library, James Iredell papers..
2. James Robert Bent Hathaway, The North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register (: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1971), Vol 2, p 163.
3. Moore, John W., History of North Carolina : from the earliest discoveries to the present time (Raleigh: A. Williams & Co., 1880, 1048 pgs.), p 159.
4. James Robert Bent Hathaway, The North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register (: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1971), Vol 2, p 3.
5. Moore, John W., History of North Carolina : from the earliest discoveries to the present time (Raleigh: A. Williams & Co., 1880, 1048 pgs.), p 430.