Lemuel Shaw (1781-1861) was one of America's leading judges during the time the common law was being developed.

Lemuel Shaw was born on Jan. 9, 1781, in Barnstable, Mass. Educated mostly at home by his father, he entered Harvard and graduated in 1800. After 3 years of legal study he was admitted to the New Hampshire bar in 1804. After his fiancée died, Shaw did not marry until 1818, when he wed Elizabeth Knapp. She died in 1822, leaving a son and daughter. In 1827 Shaw married Hope Savage; they had two sons.

Returning to Boston, Shaw was admitted to the bar in 1804 and began his slow but certain climb to the top of the profession in Massachusetts. Shaw's legal training was supplemented by political activities. In politics he consistently followed Daniel Webster and was first a Federalist and then a Whig. Shaw served in the General Court as a representative (1811-1814, 1820) and as...