Henry Marchant

Born on April 9, 1741, in Martha's Vineyard, Province of Massachusetts Bay, British America,^[1] Marchant received an Artium Magister degree in 1762 from the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania) and read law in 1776.^{[Note 1][1]} He entered private practice in Newport from 1767 to 1777.^[1] He was attorney general of Rhode Island from 1771 to 1777.^[1] He was a delegate to the Second Continental Congress from 1777 to 1779.^[1] He was one of the signers of the Articles of Confederation.^[2] He resumed private practice in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, from 1780 to 1784, also engaging in farming.^[1] He was a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives from 1784 to 1790.^[1] He was a member of the Rhode Island convention to adopt the United States Constitution, which ultimately was adopted by a separate convention in 1790.^[2]

Marchant was nominated by President George Washington on July 2, 1790, to the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island, to a new seat authorized by 1 Stat. 128.^[1] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 3, 1790, and received his commission the same day.^[1] His service terminated when he died on August 30, 1796, in Newport.^[1] He was interred in the Common Burial Ground in Newport.^[2]

Marchant presided over West v. Barnes (1791), which was the first case appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Marchant was a member of Second Congregational Church of Newport.^[3] His farm, the Henry Marchant Farm, is located in South Kingstown.

• United States Congress. "Henry Marchant (id: M000125)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Henry Marchant at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.