Note 31 — Chapter VIII

James Ross was one of the most eminent of Pittsburg’s early lawyers. Born in 1761, he was admitted to the bar in 1791, and three years later chosen to fill out Gallatin’s term in the United States Senate, wherein by re-election he served until 1803. Ross was a staunch Federalist, and ran three times unsuccessfully upon that ticket for governor of Pennsylvania, twice (1799 and 1802) against McKean. Although a Federalist, he had sufficiently imbibed Western views to advocate, while a senator, the forcible seizure of New Orleans from the Spaniards. After retiring from politics (1803), he practiced law until his death in 1847, being considered the leader of the Pittsburg bar.—Ed.