John Jay

Born December 23, 1745, into a wealthy merchant family of French Huguenot and Dutch descent in New York, Jay became a lawyer and joined the resistance to British rule, serving in both Continental Congresses and signing the Continental Association. From 1779 to 1782 he was ambassador to Spain, coaxing financial aid from a skeptical crown, then helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris that won recognition of independence. He directed foreign policy under the Articles of Confederation and co-wrote five of The Federalist Papers to push ratification of the Constitution. Washington appointed him the first Chief Justice in 1789; the court decided four cases in six years. In 1794, still on the bench, he negotiated the Jay Treaty with Britain - a deal so hated it sparked riots and torched his effigy in the streets. He left the court in 1795 to serve as governor of New York until 1801, passing gradual emancipation laws while still holding five slaves himself in 1800. Offered the chief justiceship again in 1801, he declined and withdrew to his Westchester farm, where he died May 17, 1829.