Benjamin Chew - Early Life and Education

Early Life and Education

Benjamin Chew was the son of Samuel Chew, a physician and first Chief Justice of Delaware, and Mary Galloway Chew (1697–1734). He was born in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, at his father's plantation of Maidstone. The Chews are descendants of "de Cheux," who accompanied William the Conqueror in the Battle of Hastings (1066), and as a reward for his military service, received land grants in Somersetshire, England. Generations later, Benjamin Chew's great-great-grandfather, John Chew (1587–1668), a successful merchant, arrived in Jamestown in 1622 on the ship Charitie; he was granted 1,600 acres (6.5 km2) of land in Charles River (York) County, Virginia.

The young Chew took an interest in the field of law at an early age. In 1736, when he was 15 years old, he began to read law in the Philadelphia offices of the former Attorney General of Pennsylvania, Andrew Hamilton, then the speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The year before, Hamilton had won a landmark case in American jurisprudence by his eloquent pro bono defense of the publisher Peter Zenger. It established the precedent of truth as an absolute defense against charges of libel.

Chew was strongly influenced by Hamilton’s ideas about a free press, and also the reading materials which his mentor provided him, especially Sir Francis Bacon's Lawtracts. His understanding of English legal history, and especially the Charter of Liberties, enhanced by his later studies at London’s Middle Temple, fostered Chew’s enduring commitment to the civil liberties that are guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, especially the right to free speech.

After Hamilton's death in August 1741, Chew sailed to London to study law at the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, one of the four Inns of Court. He began to attend London theatre and read what friends recommended; his journal during these years shows his process of adopting aspects of English refinement expected of gentlemen, which he continued after returning to the colonies. His friend John Dickinson was already studying in London, a frequent destination for aspiring generations of young men from North America. Following his father's death, Chew returned to Pennsylvania in 1744. He began to practice law in Dover, Delaware, while supporting his siblings and stepmother.

Although Chew was raised in a Quaker family, he had first broken with Quaker tradition in 1741, when he agreed with his father, who had instructed a grand jury in Newcastle on the lawfulness of resistance to an armed force. In 1747, at age 25, Chew also went against Quaker tradition when he took the Oath of Attorney in Pennsylvania.

Chew moved to Philadelphia in 1754. He continued his legal responsibilities in both Delaware and Pennsylvania for the rest of his life. After early appointments in the Quaker-dominated government, following his second marriage he went into private practice in 1757; the following year joined the Anglican Church. He was taking a separate path to influence outside the Quaker elite.