Did you know…
President Abraham Lincoln’s first Supreme Court appointee attended school in Waterford?
Noah Haynes Swayne (1804-1884) a Frederick County, Virginia, Quaker, was sent to Jacob Mendenhall’s Academy in Waterford in 1817 because of the school reputation for excellence.
Swayne left Virginia in 1824 for the free state of Ohio because of his deep opposition to slavery. Supreme Court records indicate Swayne’s appointment “satisfied Lincoln’s criteria for appointment: commitment to the Union, slavery opponent, geographically correct.”
Courtesy of the Waterford Foundation Archives and Local history collection.
Learn more about Justice Swayne at Wikipedia: Noah_Haynes_Swayne
