Edward Shippen

Edward Shippen (February 16, 1729 – April 15, 1806) was an American lawyer, judge, government official, and prominent figure in colonial and post-revolutionary Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His fourth daughter, Margaret Shippen, was the second wife of Benedict Arnold.

Early life

Shippen was born in Philadelphia, the son of merchant Edward Shippen III and, his first wife, Sarah Plumley. He learned law from Tench Francis, Pennsylvania's attorney general. He married his mentor's daughter Margaret Francis in 1753, with whom he had nine children. In 1748 he went to London to complete his law studies at the Middle Temple, and, after returning to Philadelphia, was admitted to the bar.

Career

He was appointed judge of the admiralty court in 1755. Three years later, he was elected to the city's common council. In 1762, he was appointed prothonotary of the supreme court, a post retained till the Revolution. He became a member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Council in 1770.

Shippen attempted to stay neutral in the American Revolution, hoping that the colonies and the mother country would be reconciled. He did not support the extension of royal authority and was therefore not a Loyalist, but he also opposed the radically democratic Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776, which sought to reduce the hold on government by powerful families like the Shippens.

He received in 1790 an honorary LL.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania, of which he was a trustee from 1791 until his death. He was also a member of the American Philosophical Society.