Simon Greenleaf (December 5, 1783 – October 6, 1853), was an Americanlawyer andjurist. He was born atNewburyport, Massachusetts before moving toNew Gloucester where he wasadmitted to the Cumberland County bar.
Greenleaf's family traces its ancestry back to Edmund Greenleaf, who lived inIpswich,Suffolk inEngland before emigrating and settling in Newburyport, Massachusetts. The Greenleaf family flourished in this part of Massachusetts for almost 150 years prior to Simon's birth in 1783. Simon's father, Moses Greenleaf, married Lydia Parsons, daughter of Rev.Jonathan Parsons of Newburyport. Their son Moses Greenleaf (1777–1834), Simon's older brother, became a distinguished surveyor and mapmaker inMaine.
In the 1790s, Simon's parents moved to New Gloucester inMaine, leaving him in Newburyport under the care of his grandfather Jonathan Greenleaf. There Simon was educated at the Latin school and studied the Greco-Roman classics. When he turned 16 years old, he rejoined his parents in New Gloucester. In 1801 he joined the law office ofEzekiel Whitman (later the Chief Justice of Maine) and in 1806 was admitted to the Cumberland County bar as a legal practitioner. On 22 Mar 1806, in New Gloucester, he married Hannah Kingman.[1]
He then opened a legal practice atStandish, but six months later relocated toGray, where he practised for twelve years, and in 1818 moved toPortland. Greenleaf'spolitical preferences were aligned with theFederalist Party, and in 1816 he was an unsuccessful candidate for that party inCumberland County for the Senate. He was reporter of theSupreme Court of Maine from 1820 to 1832, and published nine volumes ofReports of Cases in the Supreme Court of Maine (1820–1832).
Greenleaf was elected a member of theAmerican Antiquarian Society in 1820.[2]
He was awarded the honoraryDoctor of Laws degree by Harvard in 1834. He received the same honor from Amherst in 1845, and again from theUniversity of Alabama in 1852. In 1848, he was elected as a member of theAmerican Philosophical Society.[3]
In 1833, Greenleaf was named to theRoyallprofessorship, and in 1846 succeededJudge Joseph Story asDaneprofessor of law atHarvard University. Greenleaf contributed extensively to the development ofHarvard Law School, including expansion of the Harvard Law Library. He was retained as chiefcounsel by the Warren Bridge group in theUS Supreme CourtcaseCharles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge36 U.S. 420 (1837),[4] where the case laid down the rule that publiccontracts must be construed in favor ofstates.
In 1848, Greenleaf retired from his active duties, and became professor emeritus. After being for many years president of theMassachusetts Bible Society, he died atCambridge. Greenleaf's well-known work, aTreatise on the Law of Evidence, is considered a classic of American jurisprudence.
Greenleaf is an important figure in the development of thatChristian school of thought known as legal or juridicalapologetics. This school of thought is typified by legally trained scholars applying the canons of legal proof and judicial argument to the defense of Christian belief. Greenleaf'sTestimony of the Evangelists (1846) set the model for many subsequent works by legal apologists. He is distinguished{{by whom|date=December 2021} 'His work is charcterised by...' is what the author of this article is stating.} as one who applied the canons of theancient document rule to establish the authenticity of the gospel accounts, as well ascross-examination principles in assessing the testimony of those who bore witness to thecrucifixion andresurrection ofChrist. His style of reasoning is reflected in theapologetic works byJohn Warwick Montgomery (1931-2024),Josh McDowell (1939- ), andRoss Clifford (1951- ).
Several evangelical books and websites portray Greenleaf as an atheist who set out to disprove the Gospels, and claim that instead the evidence for Jesus' resurrection convinced him to become a Christian. Greenleaf was a devout evangelicalEpiscopalian, and no evidence exists that he ever doubted the truth of the Gospels.[5]
Greenleaf's principal work of legal scholarship is aTreatise on the Law of Evidence (3 vols., 1842–1853), and which remained a standard textbook in American law throughout the Nineteenth century. He also publishedA Full Collection of Cases Overruled, Denied, Doubted, or Limited in their Application, taken from American and English Reports (1821). He prepared and publishedReports of Cases Argued and Determined by the Supreme Judicial Court of the State of Maine in nine volumes (1820–1832). He revised for the American courtsWilliam Cruise'sDigest of Laws respectingReal Property (3 vols., 1849–1850). Greenleaf was also the author ofA Brief Inquiry into the Origin and Principles of Free Masonry (1820), and wrote a memoir of the life of his colleague Joseph Story -A Discourse Commemorative of the Life and Character of the Hon. Joseph Story (1845).
Mentioned by actressMarium Carvell, playing Selma Davis, inJudgment (a.k.a. Apocalypse IV)[6]
In 1980 it[clarification needed] opened its doors at Trinity Lutheran Church, 4101 Nohl Ranch Rd, Anaheim, CA 92807. In August 1982, it was relocated to 3855 E. La Palma Ave,Anaheim, California 92807 that was named in his honor, TheSimon Greenleaf School of Law. This school was founded by the Lutheran theologian-lawyerJohn Warwick Montgomery. From 1980-88 the law school published a journal namedThe Simon Greenleaf Law Review. In 1997 the law school became part ofTrinity International University.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Greenleaf, Simon".Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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