Only a very few names of Members of Congress of Scottish birth of descent can be dealt with here.  Some additional names will be found in other sections of this work.  William Houston (b. about 1755), son of Sir Patrick Houston, was a Member of the Continental Congress.  John Morin Scott (1730-84), grandson of the second son of Sir John Scott of Ancrum was Brigadier-General of New York State troops at the Battle of Long Island and Member of Congress from 1779 to 1783.  William Burnet (1730-91), of Scottish parentage, physician and Member of Congress.  Among his sons the following are worthy of notice:  Dr. William Burnet of New Jersey, Major Ichabod Burnet of Georgia, Jacob Burnet, pioneer of Ohio, and David G. Burnet, Provisional President of the Republic of Texas.  William Crawford (1760-1823), Member of Congress from 1809 to 1817, was born in Paisley.  William Fitzhugh Gordon (1787-1858), Member from Virginia (1829-35), of Scottish descent, is said to have been the originator of the Sub-Treasury system.  The town of Gordonsville, Virginia, was named after him or after his family.  Leonidas Felix Livingston (b. 1832), grandson of Adam Livingston from Scotland, who served in the Revolutionary War, was a Member of the Georgia Legislature and Member of Congress.  John Louis Macdonald (b. 1838), newspaper editor, State Senator, etc., was born in Glasgow.  James Buchanan (b. 1839) of Scottish descent, was Member from New Jersey to 49th, 50th, 51st and 52nd Congress.  David Bremner Henderson (1840-1906), born at Old Deer, Aberdeenshire, served in the Civil War and lost a leg at Corinth, was Member from Iowa (1880-99), and Speaker of the House of Representatives (1899-1906).  William Grant Laidlaw, born near Jedburgh, Scotland, in 1840, served in the Civil War and was Member of Congress from 1887 to 1891.  John Edgar Reyburn (b. 1845), Member State Senate of Pennsylvania, Member of Congress 1890-1907; and James Fleming Stewart (1851-1904), were both of Scottish descent.

SCOTS IN THE JUDICIARY

As with the medical and theological professions the legal has shared the dominating influence of Scotland, and indeed it is perhaps not too much to say that much of the distinctive character of American jurisprudence is due to the influence of men of Scottish blood at the bench and bar.  The second Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (John Rutledge) and two of the four original Associate Justices, Blair and Wilson, were of Scottish origin.  The mother of John Marshall, the great Chief Justice, was of Scottish origin (Keith).  Of fifty judges of the United States Supreme Court from 1789 to 1882, at least fifteen were of Scottish birth or descent.  We have space here to deal with only a selection of the most prominent names.