William Strong (May 6, 1808 – August 19, 1895) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1870 to 1880, writing majority opinions in landmark cases like Strauder v. West Virginia. Strong previously served as a U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania from 1847 to 1851 and as a justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1857 to 1868. He also served on the Commission that adjudicated the disputed presidential election of 1876.
William Strong
Supreme Court of the United States
Born 1808 in Somers, CT
Died 1895 in Lake Minnewassa, NY
FJC ID: 2307
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 6/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 86/year
Supreme Court of the United States · 1870–1880
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- White
Prior employment
- Private practice, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania1868–1870
- Supreme Court of PennsylvaniaJustice · 1857–1868
- Private practice, Reading, Pennsylvania1832–1857
- U.S. representative from Pennsylvania1847–1851
Appointments
1870–1880 · Appointed by Ulysses Grant (Republican)Term ended: Retirement
Education
- Yale University
- Read law1832
- Yale CollegeM.A. · 1831
- Yale CollegeB.A. · 1828