John Beale Bordley (403)

John Beale Bordley (11 February 1727–26 January 1804) was an attorney, planter, slaveholder, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1783. Born in Annapolis, Maryland, Bordley studied law under his half brother, gained admittance to the Maryland bar, and began working as an attorney in 1750. He became Judge of the Provincial Court of Baltimore (1766), and Judge of the British Admiralty Court (1767), before his wife inherited a large tract of land on the Chesapeake Bay (1700). From then on he developed a passion for agricultural experimentation and innovation on his newfound property. He became an expert in crop rotation and his wheat yields were exceptional. After the death of his first wife, Bordley married a widowed Philadelphia socialite (1776), and began frequenting the city. He became involved with the APS, joining the effort alongside his fellow members to establish the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture (1785), where he served as vice president until 1791. Though only trained in law, Bordley’s agricultural knowledge was vast, and he published regularly on his findings from his experimental farm. He died in Philadelphia.