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State Judges. There have been a great many state judges 
of outstanding importance. We shall give short accounts of 
only Kent, Cooley, Shaw, Dillon, Mitchell, and Cardozo. There 
are many others who have many claims for recognition but 
the nature of this treatise will not permit of it herein. 
Kent (1763-1847). 84 James Kent was one of the greatest 
United States lawyers. He was born in Fredericksburg, 
N.Y. He graduated from Yale in 1781, and was one of the 
founders of Phi Beta Kappa. He began practice in 
Poughkeepsie in 1785 ; had two terms in the New York legisla- 
ture; was professor of law in Columbia from 1793 to 1797; 
was recorder of New York for one year; became judge of the 
state Supreme Court in 1798; was made chief justice in 1804; 
was chancellor of the state from 1814 to 1823; and then 
terminated his judicial career and again became professor 
of law and continued as such until his death. He published 
his Commentaries on American Law between 1826 and 1830. 
If he had remained on the bench these commentaries would 
probably never have been written. It is interesting to note that 
most of the great law textbooks have been written by law 
teachers. William Wirt urged Monroe to appoint Kent upon 
the Supreme Court, and in spite of the fact that Kent differed 
from Monroe in politics Monroe might have appointed him had 
not Smith Thompson finally accepted an appointment already 
tendered to him. It is too bad that politics were not dis- 
regarded in the first place, because Kent was singularly fitted 
for the supreme bench and was entitled to the honor. 
Shaw (178 1-186 1). 85 Lemuel Shaw was born in Barnstable, 
Mass.; graduated from Harvard; was first admitted to the 
New Hampshire bar and later to the Massachusetts; was a 
member of the Massachusetts legislature and state senator for 
years; and was chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme 
Court from 1830 to 1860. He opposed the passage of the 
Fugitive Slave Law but upheld its constitutionality. He de- 
feated the attempt to lower the salaries and to abolish life 
tenure for judges in Massachusetts. Many notable opinions 
are credited to him, and he helped to settle many of the prin- 
ciples of law. This is especially true with reference to equity, 
water rights, and carriers. He was one of our greatest state 
judges. 
84 17 Yale L. Jour. 311, 553; 7 Am. Bar Assn. Jour. 662. 
85 1 Green Bag 89. 
