{{Short description|American judge}} {{use mdy dates|date=November 2023}} {{Infobox judge |name = Mark Delahay |image = Mark W. Delahay.jpg |office = Judge of the [[United States District Court for the District of Kansas]] |appointer = [[Abraham Lincoln]] |term_start = October 6, 1863 |term_end = December 12, 1873 |predecessor = [[Archibald Williams (judge)|Archibald Williams]] |successor = [[Cassius Gaius Foster]] |birth_name = Mark William Delahay |birth_date = {{birth year|1817}} |birth_place = [[Talbot County, Maryland|Talbot County]], [[Maryland]], U.S. |death_date = {{death date and age|1879|5|8|1817}} |death_place = [[Kansas City, Kansas|Kansas City]], [[Kansas]], U.S. |party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] }} '''Mark William Delahay''' (1817 – May 8, 1879) was a [[United States federal judge|United States district judge]] of the [[United States District Court for the District of Kansas]]. He resigned after being [[Federal impeachment in the United States|impeached]] by the [[United States House of Representatives]] due to allegations of [[alcoholism]].
==Career==
Born in 1817,<ref>{{cite web |title=Delahay Portraits |url=https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/delahay-portraits/10152 |website=Kansapedia |publisher=Kansas Historical Society |language=en}}</ref> in [[Talbot County, Maryland|Talbot County]], [[Maryland]],<ref name=fjc>{{FJC Bio|598|nid=1379946|name=Mark W. Delahay<!--(1828–1879)-->}}</ref> Delahay entered private practice in [[Illinois]] until 1853. He was the editor of the ''Virginia Observer'' located in [[Virginia, Illinois|Virginia]], Illinois. He resumed private practice in [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]], [[Alabama]] from 1853 to 1855, then in [[Leavenworth, Kansas|Leavenworth]], [[Kansas Territory]] from 1855 to 1857. He was owner and editor of ''The Territorial Register'' in the Kansas Territory starting in 1857. He was chief clerk of the Kansas Territorial House of Representatives from 1860 to 1861. He was Surveyor General of the Kansas Territory (State of [[Kansas]] from January 29, 1861) and the [[Nebraska Territory]] from 1861 to 1863.<ref name=fjc/>
==Relationship with Abraham Lincoln==
Delahey had a personal friendship with Abraham Lincoln originating with their mutual cause in establishing the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]].<ref name=Weik>Jesse William Weik, ''The Real Lincoln: A Portrait'' (1922).</ref> In 1859, Delahay sought the Republican nomination for a United States Senate seat for Kansas.
{{quote|He evidently wanted Lincoln to intercede with General James H. Lane in his behalf. Instead of approaching Lane directly, as Delahay asked, Lincoln sought to accomplish the desired end by a somewhat circuitous, but equally effective route. He wrote Delahay a letter in which he committed himself to his candidacy, at the same time telling him he might show the letter to General Lane and thus gain the latter's support — a suggestive specimen of Lincoln's subtlety as a politician. In April, 1861, Lincoln appointed Delahay Surveyor-General of Kansas and Nebraska, which office he seems to have filled till October 5, 1863, when Lincoln appointed him United States District Judge for Kansas. His daughter, Mary E. Delahay, is authority for the statement that Lincoln offered to appoint him Minister to Chile, which post he declined.<ref name=Weik/>}}
==Federal judicial service==
Delahay received a [[recess appointment]] from President [[Abraham Lincoln]] on October 6, 1863, to a seat on the [[United States District Court for the District of Kansas]] vacated by Judge [[Archibald Williams (judge)|Archibald Williams]]. He was nominated to the same position by President Lincoln on December 14, 1863. He was confirmed by the [[United States Senate]] on March 15, 1864, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on December 12, 1873, due to his resignation.<ref name=fjc/>
===Impeachment and resignation===
Delahay was [[Federal impeachment in the United States|impeached]] by the [[United States House of Representatives]] on February 28, 1873. The [[United States House Committee on the Judiciary|investigating committee]] reported to the House of Representatives that Delahay’s "personal habits unfitted him for the judicial office . . . and that his sobriety would be the exception and not the rule."<ref name="fjc.gov">{{cite web|url=https://www.fjc.gov/content/why-judges-resign-influences-federal-judicial-service-1789-1992-0|title=Why Judges Resign: Influences on Federal Judicial Service, 1789 to 1992 - Federal Judicial Center|website=www.fjc.gov}}</ref> According to one source, Delahay was "[[Substance intoxication|intoxicated]] off the bench as well as on the bench."<ref>Emily Field Van Tassel, Paul Finkelman, ''Impeachable Offenses: A Documentary History from 1787 to the Present'' (1999), p. 120.</ref> While Delahay was impeached, the United States House of Representatives never drew up specific articles of impeachment against him and his resignation ended impeachment proceedings before they ever reached the [[United States Senate]].<ref name="fjc.gov"/>
==Death==
Delahay died on May 8, 1879, in [[Kansas City, Kansas|Kansas City]], Kansas.<ref name=fjc/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Sources== * {{FJC Bio|598|nid=1379946|name=Mark W. Delahay<!--(1828–1879)-->}}
==External links== * [http://www.kshs.org/cool2/delahay.htm Biography of Mark W. Delahay] from the Kansas State Historical Society
{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=[[Archibald Williams (judge)|Archibald Williams]]}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the [[United States District Court for the District of Kansas]]}}|years=1863–1873}} {{s-aft|after=[[Cassius Gaius Foster]]}} {{s-end}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delahay, Mark W.}} [[Category:1828 births]] [[Category:1879 deaths]] [[Category:19th-century American politicians]] [[Category:Impeached United States federal judges]] [[Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas]] [[Category:Kansas Republicans]] [[Category:People from Talbot County, Maryland]] [[Category:United States federal judges appointed by Abraham Lincoln]]