On this day in 1790, the Supreme Court of the United States meets for the first time. John Jay, appointed by George Washington, was the first Chief Justice. Jay was a Patriot, a Founding Father, a statesman, and a diplomat. As such, he was one of the signers of the Treaty of Paris.

He wrote this, in part to his eldest son, Peter, in 1784:
The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts.

Additionally, Jay also served as President of the Continental Congress and the Governor of New York. In fact, he was the only Founding Father that was also a native New Yorker.

Finally, on June 29, 1826, about three years before his death, he wrote this to the Committee of the Corporation of the City of New York:

“I recommend a general and public return of praise and thanksgiving to Him from whose goodness these blessings descend. The most effectual means of securing the continuance of our civil and religious liberties is always to remember with reverence and gratitude the source from which they flow.”