Story, Joseph

Joseph (1779-1845), an eminent American jurist. He was a native of Marblehead, Massachusetts. He received his degree at Harvard in 1798 and began soon afterward to practice law. He held various public positions. In 1808 he was sent to Congress. In 1811 he was speaker of the Massachusetts House. The latter year he was appointed associate justice of the United States supreme court. In this capacity he was an associate of Chief Justice Marshall, with whose views his own coincided. He also held a professorship of law in Harvard from 1829 until the time of his death. His lectures, published in book form, are authoritative. They have a wide use in schools of law. The title of chief interest to the ordinary reader is the Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States. Others are The Conflict of Laws, Equity Pleadings, Equity Jurisprudence, Law of Partnership, Law of Promissory Notes, etc.