(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
This book was originally published prior to 1923, and represents a reproduction of an important historical work, maintaining the same format as the original work. While some publishers have opted to apply OCR (optical character recognition) technology to the process, we believe this leads to sub-optimal results (frequent typographical errors, strange characters and confusing formatting) and does not adequately preserve the historical character of the original artifact. We believe this work is culturally important in its original archival form. While we strive to adequately clean and digitally enhance the original work, there are occasionally instances where imperfections such as blurred or missing pages, poor pictures or errant marks may have been introduced due to either the quality of the original work or the scanning process itself. Despite these occasional imperfections, we have brought it back into print as part of our ongoing global book preservation commitment, providing customers with access to the best possible historical reprints. We appreciate your understanding of these occasional imperfections, and sincerely hope you enjoy seeing the book in a format as close as possible to that intended by the original publisher.
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John Van Lear McMahon was born on October 18, 1800 in Cumberland, Maryland. His father, William McMahon, a popular Irish-Presbyterian farmer of Allegany County, was repeatedly elected a member of the Maryland House of Delegates. His mother was a daughter of John Van Lear, a prominent pioneer of Western Maryland.
McMahon was graduated with highest honors, at the age of seventeen, from the College of New Jersey (Princeton). He studied law in his native county, was admitted to the bar in 1819, and began practising in Baltimore the same year. His uncouth manners, unbridled temper, and proud spirit yielded him difficulties with both bench and bar, and in less than two years he closed his office, returned to Cumberland, and took up, in turn, the study of medicine and theology.
Resuming the practice of law in Cumberland, McMahon soon won distinction as a public speaker and was elected a representative of Allegany County in the Maryland House of Delegates. He entered this body in 1823 dressed as a mountain huntsman, advocated state aid to the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, made an effective speech in favor of the removal of the political disabilities of the Jews, was made chairman of the committee on the judiciary, and, before the session closed, won recognition as the House leader. During a second term he supported a measure to allow Baltimore a representation equal to that of a county. Returning, in 1825, to the practice of law in Baltimore he rose rapidly to leadership of the Maryland bar. He represented Baltimore in the House of Delegates for two terms, 1827-28, and subsequently refused to be a candidate for public office. At a meeting in Baltimore in February 1827, he was appointed a member of a committee to consider a project for the construction of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and he subsequently drafted the charter which contributed largely to the success of the undertaking and served as a model for other railroad corporations. McMahon was a leader of the Jackson Democrats of Maryland in the presidential campaign of 1829 but early in Jackson's first administration he affiliated with the National Republicans, alleging dissatisfaction with Jackson's financial and commercial policy. In June 1829, he declined a nomination by his party for a seat in Congress. In November 1837, he could not be persuaded by appeals from every quarter of the state to become a candidate for a seat in the United States Senate. He was rewarded with the offer of a seat in President Harrison's cabinet. This he declined. When Tyler had become president he was urged to accept the post of attorney-general, but again he declined, alleging that he had not the courage to perform duties while the eyes of the whole country were upon him. At the beginning of his service in the Maryland legislature McMahon undertook the compilation of an elementary treatise on the laws and institutions of the state. The project was revised and expanded. When, about 1857, McMahon was at the height of his career as a trial lawyer before the Maryland court of appeals he was stricken with partial loss of eyesight. He gradually withdrew from the bar and in 1863 removed to Cumberland where he remained with two sisters until his death, except for an interval with a third sister at Dayton, Ohio.
McMahon established a reputation as a forceful and gifted, though occasionally abrasive, speaker. In 1831 he published his Historical View of the Government of Maryland, a constitutional history reliable in statement, illuminating in interpretation, and written with some literary merit. After a lapse of more than a hundred years it ranks as one of the most substantial contributions to the historical literature of the state.
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
During the 1820s, McMahon was an active supporter of the "Jew Bill, " the law to remove the requirement that all elected officials in Maryland swear to "a belief in the Christian religion. " He also advocated for increasing Baltimore's representation in the House of Delegates, where even sparsely-populated counties had four representatives, while Baltimore City had only two, even though it had many more people. Although he was criticized at home in Allegany County one of the sparsely-populated areas McMahon defended his actions as being for the greater good of Maryland.
McMahon possessed an exceptionally retentive memory and a faculty for close observation, and a strong deep voice enhanced his power as a speaker. A mixture of vanity and humility were manifest in his eccentricities.
McMahon was known to his friends as a bachelor but he had a son, John A. McMahon (1833 - 1923), a distinguished lawyer of Ohio, who stated that his mother was Elizabeth (Gouger) McMahon.
