Famous Masons

Many men throughout history have been members of our fraternity.

In these pages we will present you with them and try to impress upon you the great men that have been Masons.

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Supreme Court Justices

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States. Its membership consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight associate justices. The justices are nominated by the President of the United States and appointed after confirmation by the United States Senate. Justices of the Supreme Court have life tenure and receive a salary which is set at $255,500 per year for the chief justice and at $244,400 per year for each associate justice as of 2014. On August 7, 2010, Justice Elena Kagan became the 112th justice to serve on the Court.

The Supreme Court was created in 1789 by Article III of the United States Constitution, which stipulates that the “judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court” together with any lower courts Congress may establish. Congress organized the Court that year with the passage of the Judiciary Act of 1789. It specified the Court’s original and appellate jurisdiction, created thirteen judicial districts, and fixed the number of justices at six (one chief justice and five associate justices).

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T V W Y Z
Photo of Henry Baldwin Henry Baldwin Supreme Court Justice

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from January 18, 1830, to April 21, 1844.

Photo of Hugo Lafayette Black Hugo Black Supreme Court Justice

American politician and jurist. A member of the Democratic Party, Black represented Alabama in the United States Senate from 1927 to 1937, and served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1937 to 1971.
Black was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Black is widely regarded as one of the most influential Supreme Court justices in the 20th century.

Photo of John Blair Jr John Blair Supreme Court Justice

Blair was one of the best-trained jurists of his day. A famous legal scholar, he avoided the tumult of state politics, preferring to work behind the scenes. But he was devoted to the idea of a permanent union of the newly independent states and loyally supported fellow Virginians James Madison and George Washington at the Constitutional Convention.…

Photo of Samuel Blatchford Samuel Blatchford Supreme Court Justice

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from April 3, 1882 until his death.

Photo of James Francis Byrnes James Byrnes Supreme Court Justice

American politician from the state of South Carolina. During his career, Byrnes served as a U.S. Representative (1911?1925), a U.S. Senator (1931?1941), a Justice of the Supreme Court (1941?1942), Secretary of State (1945?1947), and 104th governor of South Carolina (1951?1955). He is one of very few politicians to serve in all three branches of the American federal government while also being active in state government.…

Photo of John Hessin Clarke John Clarke Supreme Court Justice

American lawyer and judge who served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1916 to 1922. Born in New Lisbon, Ohio, Clarke was the third child and only son of John Clarke, a lawyer and judge, and his wife Melissa Hessin. He attended New Lisbon High School and Western Reserve College, where he became a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity.

Photo of William Cushing William Cushing Supreme Court Justice

Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, from its inception to his death. He was the longest-serving of the Court?s original members, sitting on the bench for 21 years. Had he accepted George Washington?s appointment, he would have become the third Chief Justice of the United States.

Photo of Willis Van Devanter Willis Devanter Supreme Court Justice

Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, January 3, 1911 to June 2, 1937. On February 4, 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt nominated Van Devanter to a seat on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals created by 32 Stat. 791. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 18, 1903, and received his commission the same day.

Photo of William Orville Douglas William Douglas Supreme Court Justice

Served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Douglas was confirmed at the age of 40, one of the youngest justices appointed to the court. His term, lasting 36 years and 209 days (1939?75), is the longest term in the history of the Supreme Court.…

Photo of Oliver Ellsworth Oliver Ellsworth Supreme Court Justice

American lawyer and politician, a revolutionary against British rule, a drafter of the United States Constitution, United States Senator from Connecticut, and the third Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. While at the Federal Convention, Ellsworth moved to strike the word National from the motion made by Edmund Randolph of Virginia. Randolph had moved successfully to call the government the National Government of United States.…

Photo of Stephen Johnson Field Stephen Field Supreme Court Justice

American jurist. He was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from March 10, 1863, to December 1, 1897. Prior to this, he was the 5th Chief Justice of California.

Photo of John Marshall Harlan John Harlan Supreme Court Justice

American lawyer and politician from Kentucky who served as an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. He is best known for his role as the lone dissenter in the Civil Rights Cases (1883), and Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which, respectively, struck down as unconstitutional federal anti-discrimination legislation and upheld southern segregation statutes. These dissents, among others, led to his nickname of ?The Great Dissenter?.…

Photo of Robert Houghwout Jackson Robert Jackson Supreme Court Justice

United States Solicitor General (1938-1940), United States Attorney General (1940?1941) and an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (1941?1954). He is the only person in United States history to have held all three of those offices. He was also the chief United States prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials.

Photo of Joseph Rucker Lamar Joseph Lamar Supreme Court Justice

Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court appointed by President William Howard Taft. A cousin of former associate justice Lucius Lamar, he served from 1911 until his death in 1916.

Photo of John Marshall John Marshall Supreme Court Justice

Fourth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1801?1835). His court opinions helped lay the basis for United States constitutional law and made the Supreme Court of the United States a coequal branch of government along with the legislative and executive branches. Previously, Marshall had been a leader of the Federalist Party in Virginia and served in the United States House of Representatives from 1799 to 1800.…

Photo of Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall Supreme Court Justice

Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from October 1967 until October 1991. Marshall was the Court?s 96th justice and its first African-American justice.

Photo of Thomas Stanley Matthews Thomas Matthews Supreme Court Justice

Stanley Matthews, was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from May 1881 to his death in 1889. Matthews was the Court?s 46th justice. Before his appointment to the Court by President James A. Garfield, Matthews served as a senator from his home state of Ohio.

Photo of Sherman Minton Sherman Minton Supreme Court Justice

Democratic United States Senator from Indiana and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Photo of William Henry Moody William Moody Supreme Court Justice

American politician and jurist, who held positions in all three branches of the Government of the United States.

Photo of Samuel Nelson Samuel Nelson Supreme Court Justice

American attorney and a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Photo of Mahlon Pitney Mahlon Pitney Supreme Court Justice

American jurist and Republican Party politician from New Jersey, who served in the United States Congress and as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Photo of Stanley Forman Reed Stanley Reed Supreme Court Justice

American attorney who served as United States Solicitor General from 1935 to 1938 and as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1938 to 1957. He was the last Supreme Court Justice who did not graduate from law school (though Justice Robert H. Jackson, who served from 1941 to 1954, was the last such justice appointed to the Supreme Court).

Photo of Wiley Blount Rutledge Jr Wiley Rutledge Supreme Court Justice

American educator, lawyer, and justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1943?1949).

Photo of Potter Stewart Potter Stewart Supreme Court Justice

Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. During his tenure, he made, among other areas, major contributions to criminal justice reform, civil rights, access to the courts, and Fourth Amendment jurisprudence.

Photo of Noah Haynes Swayne Noah Swayne Supreme Court Justice

American jurist and politician. He was the first Republican appointed as a justice to the United States Supreme Court.

Photo of Thomas Todd Thomas Todd Supreme Court Justice

American attorney and Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Raised in the Colony of Virginia, he studied law and later participated in the founding of Kentucky, where he served as a clerk, judge, and justice. He was married twice and had a total of eight children. Todd joined the U.S. Supreme Court in 1807 and his handful of legal opinions there mostly concerned land claims.

Photo of Robert Trimble Robert Trimble Supreme Court Justice

Attorney, judge, and a justice of the United States Supreme Court. In 1803, Trimble was elected to represent Bourbon County in the Kentucky House of Representatives. During his single term in the legislature, he found that he disliked the life of a politician, and thereafter refused election to any public office, including two nominations to the U.S.…

Photo of Frederick Moore Vinson Frederick Vinson Supreme Court Justice

American politician who served the United States in all three branches of government and was the most prominent member of the Vinson political family. In the legislative branch, he was an elected member of the United States House of Representatives from Louisa, Kentucky, for twelve years. In the executive branch, he was the Secretary of Treasury under President Harry S.…

Photo of Earl Warren Earl Warren Supreme Court Justice

American jurist and politician, who served as the 30th Governor of California (1943?1953) and later the 14th Chief Justice of the United States (1953?1969).

Photo of Levi Woodbury Levi Woodbury Supreme Court Justice

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, a U.S. Senator, Governor of New Hampshire and cabinet member in three administrations. He was the first Justice to have attended law school.

Photo of William Burnham Woods William Woods Supreme Court Justice

Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court as well as an Ohio politician and soldier in the Civil War.