The John McLean papers contain 8 items related to the Supreme Court justice. The earliest items date to December 1858 and concern the McLean family's social engagements. These include 2 notes accepting invitations to a dinner at the McLean home, one signed by Colonel Nathan Towson, and an invitation to tea from "Mrs. Porter." In a letter dated April 24, 1844, David Gwynne referred to recent disciplinary action taken against his son Nathaniel at West Point, expressing his belief that it would prove helpful for the boy. A series of four letters from George Hildt, John McLean's brother-in-law, document their efforts to secure a place at West Point for Hildt's son, John McLean Hildt. On May 21, 1850, Hildt revealed his son's desire to attend West Point and requested assistance. Though a place was not immediately forthcoming (April 15, 1852), Secretary of War Charles Magill Conrad later informed McLean that his nephew could be admitted to the academy (July 20, 1852). The final item is a letter from Hildt to McLean confirming his son's intention to take his place at West Point and anticipating the costs of sending him there. The letter also concerns presidential politics and the possibility of McLean's nomination for president.
John McLean was born in Morris County, New Jersey, on March 3, 1785, and received little formal education in his youth. During the early 1800s, he studied law under Arthur St. Clair, Jr., and in 1807 he began a legal practice in Lebanon, Ohio. McLean won a seat in Congress in 1812 and was elected to the Ohio Supreme Court in 1816; he served until 1822, when James Monroe appointed him commissioner of the Public Land Office and postmaster general. Andrew Jackson named McLean to the United States Supreme Court in 1829, and he served concurrently as a justice on the Seventh Circuit. McLean's most famous published decision is his dissent for Dred Scott v. Sanford. He remained politically prominent throughout his time on the Supreme Court and the Whig, Free Soil, and Republican parties all considered him for presidential nominations. McLean married his first wife, Rebecca Edwards, on March 20, 1807, and his second wife, Sarah Bella Garrard, on March 2, 1843, and had seven children. John Mclean died on April 3, 1861.
