Federal Judicial Center Operational Status:

Due to a lapse in appropriations, the Federal Judicial Center (Center) has ceased all non-excepted activities until funding is restored.

The Center will post any changes in operational status on this web page. Please check back for updates.

Sullivan, John

Born February 17, 1740, in Somersworth, NH
Died January 23, 1795, in Durham, NH

Federal Judicial Service:
Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire
Nominated by George Washington on September 24, 1789, to a new seat authorized by 1 Stat. 73. Confirmed by the Senate on September 26, 1789, and received commission on September 26, 1789. Service terminated on January 23, 1795, due to death.

Education:
Read law, 1760

Professional Career:

Private practice, Durham, New Hampshire, 1760-1789
Continental Army major general, 1772-1779
Delegate, Continental Congress, 1774, 1775, 1780-1781
Attorney general, State of New Hampshire, 1782-1786
State representative, New Hampshire; speaker, 1785, 1788
President (governor), New Hampshire, 1786-1787, 1789
Chairman, New Hampshire convention to ratify U.S. Constitution, 1788

Bibliography

Murray, Thomas Hamilton. Gen. John Sullivan and the Battle of Rhode Island: A Sketch of the Former and a Description of the Latter. Providence: The American-Irish Historical Society, 1902.

Sullivan, John. Letters and Papers of Major General John Sullivan, Continental Army. 3 vols. Edited by Otis G. Hammond. Concord, N.H.: New Hampshire Society, 1930-1939.

Whittemore, Charles Park. "New Hampshire's John Sullivan." Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 1957.

Manuscript Collections

Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
John Sullivan collection, 1774-1789.
900 items; collection contains military correspondence, orders, intelligence, and accounts and payrolls of companies under Sullivan's command; collection is a part of the Peter Force papers.

John Sullivan papers, 1775-1781.
99 items; finding aid; correspondence, accounts, intelligence reports, orders, payrolls, and returns relating to Sullivan's Revolutionary War commands at Winter Hill, Medford, and Cambridge, Mass.; collection is a part of the Peter Force papers.

Massachusetts Historical Society
Boston, Mass.
Sullivan family papers, 1735-1857.
1 box, 1 case, and 1 container; papers documenting John Sullivan's career as a lawyer and judge, including notes on cases.

John Sullivan orderly book, 1775-1776.
1 large vol. in a case; finding aid. General, division, and brigade-level orders for General John Sullivan’s Brigade of the Continental Army kept at Winter Hill (Cambridge) from 18 July 1775 - 27 Mar. 1776 during the Siege of Boston. The identity of the recordkeeper is unknown. Sullivan’s orders cover the housing, drilling, and disposition of his regiments including reports of the officer of the day and Capt. of the Main Guard. The book also contains a ranked list of field officers in the American army, a list of field officers in Canada, daily returns for each regiment, and detailed charges of the activities and status of officers and non-commissioned soldiers through June 1776.

John Sullivan Transcripts, 1774-1876.
13 volumes. Primarily transcripts of John Sullivan’s Revolutionary War letters whose originals lie in various repositories. Also, genealogy and history of the Sullivan family and its various branches presumably gathered by Thomas C. Amory for his “Materials for a history of the family of John Sullivan of Berwick, New England...” (Boston: 1893), and a memorial sketch of John Sullivan delivered by Thomas Amory in Boston in 1876. Also included is a transcript of a journal kept by James Norris, 18 June - 25 October 1779. James Norris served in the 2nd New Hampshire Regiment of the Continental Army and his journal entries describe his participation in John Sullivan’s campaign against Indian and Loyalist forces in Western New York in 1779. James Norris describes the march from Easton, Pennsylvania, into New York, skirmishes with Indians en route, and troop movements.

New Hampshire Historical Society
Concord, Mass.
John Sullivan papers, 1769-1792.
465 items; collection contains correspondence (1775-1779), documenting Sullivan's service in the Continental Army and as governor of Massachusetts (1786-1787, 1789).

Portraits

General Sullivan; printed for T. Robson; Engraving; 1778; Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., ref. #: LC-USZ62-45305. No known restrictions on publication in the United States.

Additional images:

Major general John Sullivan, a distinguish'd officer in the Continential [sic] Army; published by Thos. Hart; Mezzotint; August 22, 1776; Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., ref. #: LC-DIG-ppmsca-15710.

John Sullivan; attributed to Henry Pelham; Miniature watercolor on ivory; ca. 1770-1780; New Hampshire Historical Society, Concord, ref. #: 1972.30.

John Sullivan; by Robert Pollard; Engraving on paper; ca. 1782; National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., ref. #: S/NPG.75.28.2.e.

John Sullivan, Maj Gen (1740-95); by John Trumbull; Miniature oil; n.d.; Privately owned, N.H.; Reproduced in Theodore Sizer, The Works of Colonel John Trumbull, Artist of the American Revolution, Rev. ed., (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1967).

You are here

Sullivan, John