John Rowan (Kentucky) - Legislative Interim and Service On The Court of Appeals

Legislative Interim and Service On The Court of Appeals

Rowan often found himself in demand as an orator and host. In February 1818, he was chosen to eulogize his close friend, George Rogers Clark. In June 1819, the citizens of Louisville chose him as their official host for a visiting party that included James Monroe and Andrew Jackson. In May 1825, he was one of thirteen men chosen by the citizens of Louisville to organize a reception for a visit by the Marquis de Lafayette.

Rowan was appointed as a judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 1819. During his time as a justice, he delivered a notable opinion opposing the constitutionality of chartering of the Second Bank of the United States. He also opined that the General Assembly was within its rightful powers to enact a tax on the Bank. In the case of McCulloch v. Maryland, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a contradictory opinion. Dissatisfied with the confinement of service on the bench, Rowan resigned from the court in 1821. Though his service was brief, he was referred to as "Judge Rowan" for the rest of his life.

While Rowan was still a justice of the Court of Appeals, the General Assembly chose him and John J. Crittenden as commissioners to resolve a border dispute with Tennessee. The dispute had arisen from an erroneous survey of the border line conducted by Dr. Thomas Walker years earlier. Walker's line deviated northward from the intended line (36 degrees, 30 minutes north latitude) by some twelve miles by the time it reached the Tennessee River. The Tennessee commissioners, Felix Grundy and William L. Brown, proposed that, because it had been accepted for so long, the Walker line be observed as far west as the Tennessee River, with Kentucky being compensated with a more southerly line between the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers. Crittenden was inclined to accept this proposal with some minor adjustments, but Rowan insisted that Tennessee honor the statutory border of 36 degrees, 30 minutes north. The Tennessee commissioners refused to submit to arbitration in the matter, and Rowan and Crittenden delivered separate reports to the Kentucky legislature. The legislature adopted Crittenden's report; Rowan then resigned as commissioner and was replaced by Robert Trimble. Thereafter, the commissioners quickly agreed to a slightly modified version of the Tennessee proposal.

In 1823, the state legislature chose Rowan and Henry Clay to represent the defendant in a second rehearing of Green v. Biddle before the U.S. Supreme Court. The case, which involved the constitutionality of laws passed by the General Assembly relating to land titles granted in Kentucky when the state was still a part of Virginia, was of interest to the legislature. The Supreme Court, however, refused the second rehearing, letting stand their previous opinion that Kentucky's laws were in violation of the compact of separation from Virginia.