chapter VI
from 1851 to 1867

S has been remarked, none of the judges
who formed the older Court of Appeals
just before the change in 1851 became
candidates for seats on the court under the new
constitution. In the new first district, that to
the north of a line drawn east and west through
Baltimore City, John Thomson Mason, the sec-
ond of that name, of Washington County, was
elected over F. A. Schley; in the second district,
to the south of Baltimore City, William H. Tuck,
of Anne Arundel County, won over John John-
son, the Chancellor, whose office was now to be
abolished; in Baltimore City, the third district,
John Carroll LeGrand, on the Democratic ticket,
was elected without opposition, the Whigs hav-
ing nominated no candidate; and on the Eastern
Shore, the fourth district, two former associate
judges, John B. Eccleston, of Kent County, and
William Tingle, of Somerset County, were con-
testants, and Judge Eccleston was elected. No
distinction was now made in the dates of com-
missions issued to the judges; all were dated on
November 22, 1851, except that of Judge Tuck,
which was dated a week later. To Judge Le-
Grand's commission there was added: "and you
are hereby appointed Chief Justice of the said
Court." And on December 1, 1851, the four new
judges met at Annapolis, filed their commissions,
and took the qualifying oaths. They then ap-