Jay, John

(December 12, 1745—May 17, 1829), Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was born in New York City, of Huguenot descent. He graduated at King’s (Columbia) College in 1766, and in the Revolutionary period was prominent on the patriotic side as a member of the Committee of Correspondence. As delegate to the first Continental Congre of 1774 he was an author of the ‘‘ Addre to the People of Great; Britain.” He was a member of the Second Congre , and as delegate to the New York Convention he helped in drafting the State Constitu-, tion. In 1777 he was Chief Justice of the State. In 1780 he became Minister to Spain, and was soon a ociated with Adams and Franklin | in negotiating the peace; Jay’s services in this treaty were conspicuous. During the years 1784-1789 he was Secretary of Foreign Affairs. With | Hamilton and Madison he wrote the Federalist, of which five e ays are indisputably by Jay. He was a member of the New York Conven- | tion of 1788, which ratified the Constitution, and in 1789 Washington | appointed him first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In 1792 he was the unsucceasful Federalist candidate for Governor of New York. In 1794 Jay was sent as special envoy to England to negotiate the treaty which, under the name of the ‘‘ Jay Treaty,”” became an object of such fierce abuse. His last public service was as Governor of New York, 1795-1801. 366