Nathaniel Pendleton

Who was Nathaniel Pendleton?

Nathaniel Pendleton was a lawyer and judge in the United States at the time of the American Revolutionary War and afterward.

Born in New Kent County, Virginia, Pendleton, whose uncle was Edmund Pendleton, read law to become a lawyer. He was a soldier in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, and later entered private practice in Savannah, Georgia until 1789. He was also the Attorney General of Georgia in 1785-1786. Pendleton was elected to both the Philadelphia Convention of 1787, and the Confederation Congress in 1789, but attended neither.

He was nominated by President George Washington on September 24, 1789, to a new seat created by 1 Stat. 73, as Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Georgia. Pendleton was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 26, 1789, and received his commission that day. He resigned on September 1, 1796, and returned to private practice in Dutchess County, New York. At some point thereafter, he became a county judge for Dutchess County, and held that position until his death in Hyde Park, New York. In 1804, he served as a "second" to Alexander Hamilton in Hamilton’s duel with Aaron Burr.