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Notable people · Justice · Senator

Stanley Matthews

Born in Cincinnati, Matthews was a lawyer, U.S. senator (1877-79) and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from 1881 until his death in 1889.

Stanley Matthews
Mathew Benjamin Brady / Levin Corbin Handy, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born
1824-07-21
Died
1889-03-22
Education
Kenyon College, Gambier, OH, to 1840, graduate
Known as
Justice, Senator

Life story

Stanley Matthews was born in Cincinnati in 1824, eldest of eleven children, and graduated from Kenyon College in 1840, where he knew future president Rutherford B. Hayes.

He married Minnie Black in 1843. Four of their children died in an 1859 scarlet fever outbreak. He worked as a clerk in the Ohio House, served in the Ohio Senate, and was U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.

In the Civil War he commanded Ohio regiments, then became a Cincinnati judge in 1863. He was seated in the U.S. Senate in 1877 by special election.

President Hayes nominated him to the Supreme Court in 1881 and the Senate confirmed him by one vote. He wrote the Court's opinion in Yick Wo v. Hopkins and died in 1889. He is buried at Spring Grove in Cincinnati.

Timeline

  • 1840: Graduates Kenyon College (Gambier, OH) source
  • 1843: Marries Mary Ann 'Minnie' Black (Ohio) source
  • 1848: Clerk of Ohio House (Columbus, OH) source
  • 1856: Ohio Senate (to 1858) (Columbus, OH) source
  • 1858: U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Ohio (to 1861) (Cincinnati, OH) source
  • 1861: Commands 23rd then 51st Ohio regiments (Ohio) source
  • 1863: Elected Superior Court judge (Cincinnati, OH) source
  • 1877: Special election to U.S. Senate (Washington, D.C.) source
  • 1881-05-12: Senate confirms him to Supreme Court, 24-23 (Washington, D.C.) source
  • 1889-03-22: Dies (Washington, D.C.) source

What Stanley is known for

  • U.S. Senator from Ohio 1877-1879
  • Associate Justice 1881-1889

Honors and things named for them

  • Ohio Department of Veteran Services Hall of Fame, 1994

Family

  • wife: Mary Ann Black
  • second wife: Mary Frances Theaker
  • son: Paul Matthews (Episcopal bishop)

Places in Ohio to see

Ohio places

Where Stanley Matthews was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Myths and corrections

  • Wikipedia's text dates Yick Wo v. Hopkins to 1884, but the decision came in 1886.

Further reading

Sources

Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.

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