Early Life
Born in Prince George's County, Maryland, Duvall read law to enter the Bar in 1778.
There is some uncertainty over the spelling of Duvall's name. As Prof. Currie notes:
- In the teeth of annual flyleaf notations by Reporters Cranch, Wheaton, and Peters uniformly employing the form "Duvall," Marshall's biographer, Albert Beveridge, stubbornly insisted, without citation of authority, on spelling the name with a single "l." Mr. Dilliard, however, who for some unaccountable reason actually traced the family history, concluded persuasively that the original "DuVal" or "Duval" employed in earlier generations had become "Duvall" before the future Justice was born. I therefore am inclined to dismiss Mr. Beveridge's contrary view as the effort of a partisan observer unable to resist making his favorite appear more forgotten than he actually was.
Read more about this topic: Gabriel Duvall
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