Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Chase, Salmon Portland

CHASE, SALMON PORTLAND, an American jurist, born in Cornish, N. H., Jan. 13, 1808; educated at Windsor, Vt., in his uncle's family at Columbus, O., and in Dartmouth College; taught school in Washington, while studying law with William Wirt; opened law practice in Cincinnati, where he edited the &ldquo;Ohio Statutes,&rdquo; and came to public notice. In 1846 he argued the Fugitive Slave Law with William H. Seward, in a celebrated case, and his support of the anti-slavery cause soon made him the leader of the

Liberty party, and a leading spirit in the Free-Soil and Republican parties. In 1849 he was elected to the United States Senate; in 1855 Governor of Ohio; in 1860 was a prominent candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination; appointed Secretary of the Treasury by President Lincoln, in 1861, and in 1864 became Chief Justice, in which office he presided at the impeachment trial of President Johnson. He died in New York City, May 7, 1873.