Luther Martin was born in New Jersey around 1748 and graduated from the College of New Jersey (Princeton) in 1766. He studied law, settled in Maryland, and became one of the foremost trial lawyers of his generation, serving for decades as the state’s attorney general.
A delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Martin was a leading Antifederalist who left the convention early and campaigned against ratification, fearing the new national government would overwhelm the states and individual liberty. He later defended Justice Samuel Chase at his impeachment trial and Aaron Burr at his treason trial. He died in 1826.