Capitol Portraits

In contrast to the Supreme Court courtrooms in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the walls of the Harrisburg courtroom in the historic Capitol Building are adorned with Violet Oakley's paintings and offer no opportunity to display the Court's portraits of former Justices. As a result, the hallway leading to the courtroom, the court's conference room, and historic Prothonotary's Office offer the only opportunity to view these portraits.

George Bryan

Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist: Albert Rosenthal

The second President of Pennsylvania, Bryan began his public service as a member of the colony's General Assembly. Governor John Penn later appointed Bryan as a Justice of the Peace in Philadelphia. After the revolution and after his presidency, Bryan was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1779 where he wrote The Gradual Abolition Act of 1780, the first law abolishing slavery in the entire country. While a rather conservative law, it served as a model for the other Northern colonies and Bryan decisions as Justice on the Supreme Court further strengthened Pennsylvania's lead in abolishing slavery. He was appointed a Justice in 1780 and died in office in 1791.

Thomas McKean

Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unknown

Thomas McKean practiced law in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania and held a number of governmental positions in all three states before the Revolution. McKean was elected as a delegate from Delaware to the First and Second Continental Congress. He voted to declare independence and immediately went to command a militia against Britain, only later coming back to Philadelphia to sign the Declaration, becoming the last signer to do so.

McKean was appointed as the Chief Justice of Pennsylvania in 1777 and his most important decision established judicial review as precedent in Pennsylvania ten years before being established on the federal level by United States Chief Justice John Marshall in Marbury v. Madison. He was elected Governor in 1799 and finished his public service in that position before retiring to private life in Philadelphia.

John Bannister Gibson

Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unknown

John Bannister Gibson is the Court's longest serving Justice. While he was studying law at Dickinson College, Justice Hugh Brackenridge gave Gibson the use of his private library. First beginning his legal practice in Cumberland County, he was later elected to the Pennsylvania House in 1809 and while serving, represented an enslaved four-year-old boy arguing he should be freed under the Act for Gradual Abolition of Slavery written by George Bryan. The Supreme Court ruled against Gibson and sided with the boy's enslaver.

After Brackenridge's death, in 1816, Governor Simon Snyder appointed Gibson to fill his seat at only 36 years old. He became Chief Justice in 1827 and served in that position until 1851. Pennsylvania amended its Constitution in 1850 to require the election of judges and in the first ever judicial election, Gibson was the only Justice to win their seat back. The Justices drew lots to determine seniority, and he served as an Associate Justice until his death in 1853.

Gibson authored over twelve hundred opinions, but his most famous was his dissent in Eakin v. Raub, 12 Sergeant & Rawle 330 (Pa. 1825), in which he questioned the concept of judicial review and, as rumored, may have cost himself a seat on the United States Supreme Court. In addition to a number of portraits on display, Gibson is also honored with a marble bust in the Philadelphia courtroom.

Jeremiah S. Black

Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unknown

Another of the first elected Justices, Jeremiah S. Black, began his legal practice in Somerset County and Governor David Porter appointed Black judge of the 16th Judicial District in 1842. He was elected to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1851 and drew the shortest lot, meaning his term was only three years, but he would serve those as the Chief Justice. In 1854, he was re-elected to fill his vacant seat and served as an Associate Justice until 1857 when he left to serve as the US Attorney General under President Buchanan. Buchanan later nominated Black to the US Supreme Court, but his confirmation was not considered by the Senate.

After his public service, Black went back to private practice where he drafted President Andrew Johnson's message vetoing the Reconstruction Act and later defended him at his impeachment trial. In the 1876 Presidential Election, Samuel Tilden received 250,00 votes more than his opponent, Rutherford B. Hayes. But, based on 20 disputed electoral voters, Tilden fell one electoral vote shy of the majority and there was no clear winner. To settle the dispute Congress established an Electoral Commission, consisting of five Senators, five Representatives, and five Supreme Court Justices. Jeremiah Black represented Tilden before a joint session of Congress where the Commission, voting 8-7 along party lines, awarded the disputed votes to Hayes and the presidency. Black died in York, Pennsylvania in 1883.

Thomas G. Saylor

Oil Painting - 2022 - Artist: Joseph Routon

After receiving his law degree from Columbia University School of Law, Thomas Saylor entered private practice in 1972, before beginning his public service as an Assistant District Attorney in Somerset County in 1973. After serving in a number of positions in government, he returned to private practice before running for the Superior Court in 1993. He was elected to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1997, becoming the Chief Justice in 2015.

During his tenure on the court, Saylor authored more than four hundred majority opinions, and in March 2021, he resigned his position as Chief Justice serving out the remainder of the year as an Associate Justice before his retirement. Due to his service, the court bestowed upon him the honorary title of Chief Justice Emeritus for only the third time in the its history.

James Wilson

Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unknown

James Wilson never served on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Born in Scotland, Wilson immigrated to Philadelphia in 1766 where he studied law under John Dickinson. In 1768, Wilson penned the first cogent argument against the authority of the Crown and was eventually elected to the Continental Congress. After signing the Declaration of Independence, he served the revolution as a Brigadier General in the Pennsylvania State Militia.

After the war, Wilson was one of the principal drafters of the Constitution, speaking 168 times before the Constitutional Convention and he is credited with adding "We" to the famous phrase "We the people...." He is one of only six people to have signed both the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

After the Constitution was ratified, George Washington nominated Wilson as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. During his time as a Justice, he taught law at the University of Pennsylvania, was imprisoned in debtor's prison in New Jersey, and while riding circuit, contracted malaria and died in North Carolina in 1798. James Wilson's portrait hangs outside the Harrisburg courtroom where he is also represented in one of Violet Oakley's murals.

Edward Shippen

Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unknown

Born in England, Shippen was persecuted for being a Quaker and immigrated to Boston where he started a merchant business. William Penn invited Shippen to move to Philadelphia and later appointed him the Mayor of Philadelphia in 1701. In 1702, he was elected to another one-year term, becoming the first elected Mayor in the city's history.

Shippen served as Chief Justice on Pennsylvania's Provincial Court a number of times and his business made his family one of the wealthiest and most powerful in Pennsylvania's history.

Edward Shippen IV

Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist: Albert Rosenthal

Chief Justice Shippen's portrait hangs outside of the Harrisburg courtroom next to his great grandfather. The son of Shippensburg's namesake, he began studying the law under Pennsylvania's Attorney General before moving to London to finishing his studies. He moved back to Philadelphia and was appointed a judge on the Admiralty Court and later the Prothonotary for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, a position he held until the Revolution.

Opposed to the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776, Shippen remained neutral during the war hoping that both sides would reconcile. While he was neutral, his daughter, Peggy, was Britain's highest-paid spy and the wife of Benedict Arnold.

Shippen was appointed the Chief Justice of Pennsylvania in 1791 and served until 1805, retiring shortly after a being acquitted of a politically-motivated impeachment the prior year.

George Sharswood

Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unknown

Educated by his grandfather, Sharswood entered the Sophomore class of the University of Pennsylvania at the age of 15. After graduation, he studied law under Joseph R. Ingersoll and was admitted to the Philadelphia Bar in 1831. He began his public service in the Pennsylvania House and in 1845 was appointed a judge on the District Court of Philadelphia. While a judge, Sharswood reorganized the University of Pennsylvania’s law school as a full-time program providing a broad university-based education in multiple fields of study and helped to establish the foundations of the modern university-based law school. Sharswood served as Dean of the law school until he was elected to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1867, only winning by 922 votes.

A prolific writer, Sharswood penned a number of books and essays, and could read Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. He became Chief Justice in 1879 and retired in 1882, dying only a few months later. A well respected member of the Philadelphia Bar, he was honored with a bronze plaque in the Court's Philadelphia courtroom.

Isaac G. Gordon

Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unknown

After injuring his foot with molten metal in an iron foundry, Isaac Gordon turned to the study of law under James F. Linn. He was first admitted to practice in Union County and practiced privately for nearly two decades before being elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1860. A leader in the temperance movement, he was appointed the President Judge of the 28th Judicial District by Governor Hartranft.

Gordon was elected to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1873 and became Chief Justice in 1887, owing to the death of Ulysses Mercur. He served out the remaining two years of his term before retiring to Jefferson County to practice law with his son, Cadmus.

Ulysses Mercur

Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unknown

Ulysses Mercur's portrait hangs next to his successor's, Isaac Gordon. A native of Bradford County, Mercur studied law under Judge William McKennan and was admitted to practice in 1843. Mercur’s legal prowess led to his appointment as the President Judge of the Thirteenth Judicial District in 1861, the same year he voted for Abraham Lincoln at the 1861 electoral college. After only serving as judge for three years, his friends convinced him to run for Congress in 1864 where he served nearly four terms before resigning to take his seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court after being elected in 1872.

Mercur became Chief Justice in 1883 and he died in office in 1887. Several Justices served as pall bearers at his funeral and the Supreme Court courtroom was draped in black for three months.

Henry Green

Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unknown

Chief Justice Henry Green was born in New Jersey and studied at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. He began his career after being admitted to the Northampton County Bar and built a lucrative practice in Easton. He was appointed directly from the bar to the Supreme Court in 1879, becoming only the second Justice to serve without any prior judicial experience. Green became Chief Justice in 1900, but only served in that position for a few months before his unexpected death at an Atlantic City Hotel in August.

John M. Read

Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unknown

Admitted to the Philadelphia Bar in 1818, Read began his public service in the Pennsylvania House in 1822. In 1845, President John Tyler nominated Read to the United States Supreme Cout, but his stance against slavery resulted in his nomination being withdrawn.

Read was an early organizer for the Republican party and was the keynote speaker at its first national convention in 1856. He was elected to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1858, becoming the first Republican elected to the Court. Two years later, at the Republican Convention supporters of Abraham Lincoln planned to nominate Read as its presidential candidate with Lincoln as his running mate. However, hoping to be the presidential nominee himself, Pennsylvania's Senator Simon Cameron defeated that effort. Abraham Lincoln was nominated to be the Republican's presidential candidate on the third ballot and, after Lincoln was elected, Simon Cameron became his Secretary of War. Read finished his career in Pennsylvania becoming Chief Justice in December 1872 and retiring just over a month later, in January.

David Newlin Fell

Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unknown

David Newlin Fell was a veteran of the Civil War serving with the Pennsylvania Volunteers and, after the war, he later studied the law with his brother, William. He was admitted to the Philadelphia Bar in 1866 and entered private practice before being elected to the Court of Common Pleas. Fell was elected to the Supreme Court in 1893 before becoming Chief Justice in 1910. During his time as a judge, Justice and Chief Justice, Fell took part in over 45,000 cases

John W. Kephart

Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unknown

After his father died when Kephart was three years old, he was placed in the state-maintained Soldiers' Orphan School in McAllistersville. He graduated at 16 and eventually worked his way through Dickinson Law. Kephart was admitted to practice in Cumberland County in 1894 and he practiced privately until his election to the Superior Court in 1913, in a surprise victory after running a campaign in which he sent every registered voter a postcard with his picture and judicial philosophy.

Kephart and Alexander Simpson, Jr. were both elected to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1919, with Kephart winning seniority after drawing lots. He became Chief Justice in 1936 and retired in 1940. During his time on the Court, he heard over 10,000 cases and wrote more than 1,200 opinions. His opinions touched on a number of workers' rights issues emerging at the time, and upon his retirement he joked that there should be a union for Supreme Court Justices.

John C. Bell, Jr.

Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist: Conrad Dickel

Pennsylvania's shortest-serving Governor, John Bell, Jr. graduated from the University of Pennsylvania's Law School in 1917 and was admitted to the Philadelphia Bar that same year. After serving as an Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia, Bell became the Secretary of Banking, and later was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1942. Bell served as the Lieutenant Governor for four years during which time his older brother, Bert, the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, began his long tenure as commissioner of the NFL. After Governor Edward Martin was elected to the US Senate, he left a 19-day vacancy in his term which was filled by Bell. While Governor Bell was Pennsylvania’s shortest-serving Governor, he had much more impact on Pennsylvania as a Justice after his appointment in 1950.

Bell became Chief Justice in 1961 and was a frequent critic lenient sentences and the expansion of defendants' rights. Upon his retirement in 1972, controversially, he worked as a paid consultant to Philadelphia's District Attorney, Arlen Specter.

Robert S. Frazer

Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist Unknown

Robert Frazer was first admitted to practice in 1873 and was elected to the Pennsylvania House in 1877. After his term expired, Frazer left to work for the Auditor General before being elected to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas in 1896.

Elected to the Supreme Court in 1915, and becoming Chief Justice in 1930, Frazer retired in 1936 at the expiration of his term and died that same year at the age of 86. His legal career spanned 62 years with 40 of those serving as a judge.

Horace Stern

Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist: Conrad Dickel

Pennsylvania's first Jewish Justice, Horace Stern, was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He was admitted to the Philadelphia Bar in 1902 and pursued private practice for nearly twenty years – only to be interrupted for service as a Major in the Army. After serving as a Court of Common Pleas Judge of Philadelphia, Stern ran successfully for a seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1935. In 1952 Stern became Chief Justice and was sworn in in the Philadelphia courtroom, with one speaker, former US Supreme Court Justice Owen Roberts remarking that Stern “shared the qualities of two other great judges of the common law, Oliver Wendell Holmes and Benjamin Cardozo.” Stern served as Chief Justice until his retirement in 1956.

George W. Maxey

Oil Painting on Linen - Undated - Artist: Harry S. Moskovitz

George Maxey was the first Chief Justice from Lackawanna County and his career path was very much like the second, Chief Justice Eagan. Admitted to the Lackawanna County Bar in 1906, he was elected District Attorney, then as a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas.

Maxey was elected to the Supreme Court in 1930, becoming the Pennsylvania Chief Justice in 1943. He died on March 20, 1950 in the Pittsburgh conference room before calling the first argument of that session and after delivering a eulogy for his colleague, Justice Marion D. Patterson, who died in the Philadelphia conference room after hearing arguments on January 6.

Maxey's opinions helped shaped labor law and were often times lengthy to the dismay of his successor, Chief Justice James B. Drew, whose opinions rarely exceeded three pages.

James B. Drew

Oil Painting on Linen - 1953 - Artist: F.C. Von Halisen

Plagued by poor eyesight throughout his life and advised by his doctors to quit law school due to the effect reading was having on his vision, James Drew graduated from Columbia University School of Law and was admitted to the New York Bar in 1900. Two years later he was admitted to the Allegheny County Bar and was elected judge of the Common Pleas in 1911. Drew's time as a judge was interrupted for service in the Judge Advocates General Corp during World War I. After the war, Drew returned to the Common Pleas and was later elected to the Superior Court in 1930. Governor Gifford Pinchot appointed him to the Supreme Court the following year and after winning both parties nominations, Drew was easily elected for a full term.

His work in handling judicial matters in the western part of the state, led him to be dubbed "The Chief Justice of Western Pennsylvania." One notable instance arose in 1951 from a trial of trespass in which Defendant's counsel, Hymen Schlesinger, was questioned by the judge about his ties to the Communist Party. After not receiving an answer, Judge Michael Musmanno found Schlesinger in contempt. In response to a Petition for Writ of Prohibition, Chief Justice Drew wrote:

What the Judge has done, in his zeal against communism, is to adopt the detestable method employed by communists themselves in arbitrary and unjudicial proceedings contrary to all our cherished traditions of law and legal procedure.

Chief Justice Drew vacated the order finding Schlesinger in contempt. Musmanno was elected to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in November and, in poor health, Drew retired the following year.