Noah Haynes Swayne (December 7, 1804 - June 8, 1884) was an American jurist and politician.

Swayne was born in Frederick County, Virginia. He studied medicine as a young man, but eventually abandoned it to study law, and was appointed to the bar in 1823. A devout Quaker (and to date the only Quaker to serve on the Supreme Court), Swayne was deeply opposed to slavery, and in 1824 he left Virginia for the free state of Ohio.

He began a private practice in Coshocton and, in 1825, was elected Coshocton County Attorney. Four years later he was elected to the Ohio state legislature. In 1830 he was made the U.S. Attorney for Ohio by Andrew Jackson, and moved to Columbus to take up the new position.

While serving as U.S. Attorney, Swayne was elected in 1834 to the Columbus city council, and in 1836 to the state legislature. As U.S. Attorney, Swayne became close friends with Supreme Court justice John McLean. McLean, by the end of his career, was a strong Republican, and when the party was formed in 1855 Swayne had become an early member and political organizer.

McLean sought the Republican nomination for President in 1860, losing to Abraham Lincoln. However, he recommended to Lincoln on a number of occasions that Swayne be nominated to replace him on the court. This proved timely; McLean died shortly after Lincoln's inauguration, in April of 1861, and Lincoln nominated Swayne after Swayne lobbied several Ohio members of Congress to support him. Swayne remained on the court until 1881, twice lobbying to be elevated to the position of Chief Justice, though he never was. After his retirement, Swayne returned to Ohio.

Swayne is not regarded as a particularly distinguished justice. He wrote few opinions, usually signing on to opinions written by others, and remained on the court well past his physical prime, being quite infirm at his retirement, which he finally agreed to on the condition that his friend and fellow Ohio attorney Stanley Matthews replace him. His son, Wager Swayne, served in the Civil War, rising to the rank of Major General, and founded a law firm in Ohio.

References

• Data drawn in part from the Supreme Court Historical Society (http://www.supremecourthistory.org|) and Oyez (http://www.oyez.org|).