George Shiras, Jr., 1892-1903

GEORGE SHIRAS, JR., was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on January 26, 1832. He began his college education at Ohio University, and after two years transferred to Yale, where he received his undergraduate degree in 1853. Shiras enrolled in Yale Law School but soon left New Haven to read law in Pittsburgh. Shiras was admitted to the bar in 1855 and entered practice with his brother in Dubuque, Iowa. He returned to Pittsburgh three years later and joined the law firm, where he specialized in railroad and corporate law. Shiras practice law for thirty-seven years. In 1881, he refused an offer of election to the United States Senate from the Pennsylvania State Legislature. He served as a Presidential elector in 1888. President Benjamin Harrison nominated Shiras to the Supreme Court of the United States on July 19, 1892. The Senate confirmed the appointment on July 26, 1892. Upon receiving the nomination, Shiras declared his intention to retire after ten years on the Supreme Court, and he did so on February 23, 1903. He died on August 2, 1924, at the age of ninety-two.