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Kensey Johns, Jr.


Gender:
Male
Born:
December 10, 1791
Died:
March 28, 1857
Home Town:
New Castle, DE
Later Residences:
New York, NY
DE
Marriage(s):
Maria McCallmont Johns (1824)
Biographical Notes:
Kensey Johns, Jr. was the son of Kensey Johns, the Chief Justice of Delaware for thirty years, and his wife Ann Van Dyke, the daughter of Governor Nicholas Van Dyke. After his graduation from Princeton in 1810, Johns studied law for some time with his uncle Nicholas VanDyke. After attending the Litchfield Law School, he was admitted to the bar in Delaware in 1813.

Johns was elected to the 20th Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the appointment of Louis McLane to the U.S. Senate and consequent resignation. He was reelected to the 21st Congress and served from October 2, 1827 to March 3, 1831. After the death of his father, Kensey Johns, the son was appointed to take his place as Chancellor of Delaware in 1832. He served in this capacity for 25 years, until his death. He also served ...
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Education
Years at LLS:
1812
Other Education:
Graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1810.

Profession / Service
Profession:
Lawyer; Political Office
Admitted To Bar:
1813
Training with Other Lawyers:
Prior to studying at the Litchfield Law School he read the law with his uncle Nicholas VanDyke.
Political Party:
Adams; Anti-Jacksonian
Federal Posts:
U.S. Representative (DE) 1827-1831
State Posts:
Chancellor (DE) 1832-1857

help The Citation of Attendance provides primary source documentation of the student’s attendance at the Litchfield Female Academy and/or the Litchfield Law School. If a citation is absent, the student is thought to have attended but currently lacks primary source confirmation.

Records for the schools were sporadic, especially in the formative years of both institutions. If instructors kept comprehensive records for the Litchfield Female Academy or the Litchfield Law School, they do not survive. Researchers and staff have identified students through letters, diaries, family histories and genealogies, and town histories as well as catalogues of students printed in various years. Art and needlework have provided further identification of Female Academy Students, and Litchfield County Bar records document a number of Law School students. The history of both schools and the identification of the students who attended them owe credit to the early 20th century research and documentation efforts of Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Samuel Fisher, and the late 20th century research and documentation efforts of Lynne Templeton Brickley and the Litchfield Historical Society staff.
CITATION OF ATTENDANCE:
Baldwin, Roger Sherman. Notes on law taken from the lectures of the Honble. Tapping Reeve and James Gould, esquire … at the Litchfield Law School, 1812-1813. Rare Book Collection, Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale University.

Litchfield County Bar Association Records, 1812, Helga J. Ingraham Memorial Library, Litchfield Historical Society.

Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School, Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Tiffany and Company, 1849.
Secondary Sources:
Conrad, Henry C., History of the State of Delaware, 1908

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