The first Chief Justice was John Jay, appointed September 26, 1789. He soon resigned to accept the position of Envoy Extraordinary to England, where, after the Revolutionary War, the adjustment of our affairs demanded a person of great learning and skill. The country was fortunate in having John Adams, John Jay, and, later, John Quincy Adams as its representatives in this delicate and important service. John Rutledge, of South Carolina, was a later appointment to the Chief Justiceship, but the Senate refused to confirm the nomination. Then William Cushing, of Massachusetts, one of the Associate Justices, was nominated and confirmed, but declined to serve. Oliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut, was then appointed, and was confirmed by the Senate March 4, 1796. He served till 1799, when he resigned to go as the Special Envoy and the Minister to England. John Jay was again nominated and confirmed by the Senate, but refused to serve. John Marshall, of Virginia, was appointed Chief Justice by President John Adams in 1801. He died in 1835. His term and that of Chief Justice Taney cover over sixty important years in the history of our government. John Marshall had served on the personal staff of Washington in the Revolutionary War, and had suffered the miseries and trials of the camp at Valley Forge. At the time of his appointment he was Secretary of State in Adams's Cabinet. He served in both capacities till the close of Adams's administration. The Supreme Court, when Marshall was called to preside over it, was held in a low-vaulted room in the basement of the Capitol, and remained there until the new wings were finished, about 1857. Mr. Ellis, in "Sights and Secrets of Washington," tells this story of Marshall: "Upon one occasion Marshall was standing in the market in Richmond, Va., with his basket containing his purchases on his arm, when he was accosted by a fashionable young gentleman who had just purchased a turkey. The young man's foolish pride would not allow him to carry the fowl through the streets, and, taking the Judge for a countryman, he asked him to carry it home for him. The request was promptly granted, and when the young man's home was reached he offered the supposed countryman a shilling for his trouble. The money was courteously refused, and upon asking the name of the person who had rendered him the service, the young man was not a little astonished and chagrined to learn that his thanks were due to the Chief Justice of the United States."