Edmund Pendleton

Edmund Pendleton
An 1872 engraving of Pendleton by H.B. Hall
1st Chief Justice of Virginia
In office December 24, 1788 – October 23, 1803
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Peter Lyons
Governor of Virginia
Acting August 16, 1775 – July 5, 1776
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Patrick Henry
Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates
In office 1776–1777
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	George Wythe
Personal details
Born	(1721-09-09)September 9, 1721 Caroline County, Colony of Virginia, British America
Died	October 23, 1803(1803-10-23) (aged 82) Edmundsbury, Caroline County, Virginia, U.S.
Resting place	Bruton Parish Episcopal Church Cemetery (Williamsburg, Virginia, U.S.)
Nationality	American
Political party	Federalist (informally)
Spouse(s)	1st, Elizabeth Roy, 2nd, Sarah Pollard
Occupation	Lawyer, judge, delegate to First Continental Congress

Edmund Pendleton (September 9, 1721 – October 23, 1803) was an American planter, politician, lawyer, and judge. He served in the Virginia legislature before and during the American Revolutionary War, becoming the first speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates (which succeeded the House of Burgesses terminated by Virginia's last colonial Governor, Lord Dunmore). Pendleton attended the First Continental Congress as one of Virginia's delegates alongside George Washington and Patrick Henry, signed the Continental Association, and led the conventions both wherein Virginia declared independence (1776) and adopted the United States Constitution (1788).

Unlike his sometime political rival Henry, Pendleton was a moderate who initially hoped for reconciliation rather than revolt. With Thomas Jefferson and George Wythe, Pendleton revised Virginia's legal code after the break with Britain. To contemporaries, Pendleton may have distinguished himself most as a judge, particularly in the appellate roles in which he spent his final 25 years, including leadership of what is now known as the Supreme Court of Virginia.

On hearing of his death, Congress agreed to wear badges of mourning for 30 days and expressed "their regret that another star is fallen from the splendid constellation of virtue and talents which guided the people of the United States, in their struggle for independence".^[1]