SHARSWOOD, George, jurist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 7 July, 1810 ; died there, 28 May, 1883. He was a descendant in the sixth generation of George Sharswood, of England, who settled at New London, Connecticut, before 1665. His grandfather, James (b. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 4 April, 1747; died there, 14 September, 1836), was a lumber merchant, served in the Revolutionary war, and was an original member of the Democratic party, and served in the general assembly of Philadelphia, and also in the select council. He was actively interested in founding the Farmers' and Mechanics' bank, and in 1817 wrote numerous articles against the Bank of the United States. His father died at the age of twenty-two, and before the son's birth, and his early training devolved entirely on his widowed mother. He was educated by his grandfather, Captain James Sharswood, a wealthy citizen of Philadelphia, was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1828 with the highest honors of his class, and, after studying law under Joseph R. Ingersoll, was admitted to the bar, 5 September, 1831. He did not meet with marked success in the early years of his practice, and devoted himself to study. In 1837-'8 and 1842-'3 he served in the legislature, and in 1845 the governor commissioned him as judge of the district court of Philadelphia. In 1848 he became its president, which post he continued to hold until 1867, when he was elected a justice of the supreme court of Pennsylvania. In 1878 he became chief justice, and he retired from the bench in 1882, at the expiration of his term of office. In 1850 he revived the law department of the University of Pennsylvania, which had been established in 1790 by James Wilson, but whose operations had been suspended, and he was the senior professor of law there until 1867, when he resigned his chair. He was a frequent contributor to the literature of the law, beginning in 1834 with an article in the "American Law Review" on "The Revised Code of Pennsylvania." He is the author of "Professional Ethics, a Compound of Lectures on the Aims and Duties of the Profession of the Law" (Philadelphia, 1854); and "Popular Lectures on Common Law" (1856). The work which for a generation has made his name familiar is "Sharswood's Blackstone's Commentaries" (1859). In 1853 he undertook the work of editing the several volumes of English common-law reports, republished for the use of the American bar. His editions of English text-writers were numerous. "Adams on Equity, ' Russell on Crimes, Byles on Bills, "Leigh's Nisi Prius," and "Starkie on Evidence" are a few of the works that received his attention. In 1856 he published his "Lectures on Commercial Law." While he was a judge of the district court his written opinions numbered more than 5,000. His opinions in the supreme court are to be found in the" Pennsylvania State Reports" from volumes lvii. to cii., inclusive. His judicial career won for him the reputation of being one of the most eminent jurists that had ever sat on the bench in Pennsylvania, and his urbanity toward the bar gave him a popularity that has never been surpassed in the life of any jurist. These were in part made manifest by a dinner which was tendered him by the bar of Philadelphia, in the Academy of music, on his retirement from the bench, by the attendance of more than 500 lawyers at the meeting of the bar, held a few days after his death, and by a memorial tablet that they caused to be placed in the supreme court-room. He was elected vice-provost of the Law academy of Philadelphia in 1835, and served in this office until 1853, when he was elected provost, which post he continued to fill until a short time before his death. He was chosen a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania in 1872, and was a member of the Philosophical society. The University of the city of New York and Columbia college, in 1856, conferred on him the degree of LL.D. See an address by George W. Biddle on the "Professional and Judicial Character of Chief-Justice Sharswood."--His cousin, William, author, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1836, was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1856, and then Studied at Jena, Germany, where he received the degree of Ph.D. in 1859. He has published "Studia Physica," a series of monographs (Vienna) ; "Elenore, a Drama" (Philadelphia, 1862; reissued as "The Betrothed," 1865); and " The Miscellaneous Writings of William Sharswood" (vol. i., 1862), besides contributions to scientific journals.