John Pickering

Who was John Pickering?

John Pickering served as Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court of Judicature and as Judge for the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire. He was the first federal official to have been removed from office upon conviction by impeachment.

Born in Newington, New Hampshire, Pickering studied law at Harvard College and was admitted to the bar after graduating in 1761. He was in private practice in Greenland, New Hampshire and Portsmouth, New Hampshire until, then served as a member of the New Hampshire State Legislature from 1783 to 1787. In 1787 he was elected to be a member of the New Hampshire delegation to the Constitutional Convention, but he declined to serve, instead returning to private practice of law in Portsmouth from 1788 to 1790. He was appointed in 1790 to the New Hampshire Superior Court where he eventually served as Chief Justice. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1791.