 | BIOGRAPHY
Jeremiah Sullivan Black
Secretary of State,
Term of Appointment:
12/17/1860 to
03/05/1861
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- Born near Stony Creek, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, January 10, 1810;
- Attended public schools; admitted to the bar in 1830 and began the practice of law;
- Appointed deputy attorney general of Somerset County in 1831;
- Married Mary Forward in 1836;
- Served as President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the 16th judicial district, 1842-1851;
- Elected to the State Supreme Court in 1851 and was reelected in 1854, serving the first three years as Chief Justice;
- Served as Attorney General in President Buchanan's Cabinet, 1857-1860;
- Commissioned Secretary of State December 17, 1860 and served until March 5, 1861;
- As Secretary of State, instructed the principal United States representatives in Europe to use their best efforts to prevent recognition of the Confederate States;
- Appointed United States Supreme Court reporter in 1861 and prepared Black's Reports;
- Moved to York, Pennsylvania, and resumed the practice of law with outstanding success;
- Member of the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention of 1872-1873;
- Counsel for William Belknap in his impeachment trial in 1876 and for Samuel J. Tilden before the Electoral Commission in 1877;
- Died in York August 19, 1883.
Released on July 15, 2003
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