John Jay Fact Sheet: Who was John Jay? The following short biography and fact sheet provides interesting facts about the life, times and history of John Jay, the famous American statesman and Founding Father of the United States.

John Jay Fact File Biography: Lifespan: 1745 – 1829 *** Full Name: John Jay *** Date of Birth (Birthday): He was born on December 12, 1745 *** Place of Birth: John Jay was born in New York City *** Family background: His father was a wealthy trader called Peter Jay *** Early life and childhood: John Jay grew up and spent the majority of his life in Rye, New York *** Education: John Jay began his early education at home with his mother *** John Jay died on May 14, 1829 *** 

John Jay Fact 1: John Jay was born into a wealthy family on December 12, 1745 in New York City, United States.

John Jay Fact 2: He was notable for many important achievements including being an American statesman and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was also a writer of the Federalist Papers, a signer of the Treaty of Paris, and he became the United States' first chief justice.

John Jay Fact 3: His family were rich and worked mainly as government officials and merchants. His parents were called Peter Jay and Mary Van Cortlandt. His father was a trader of timber, wheat and furs. John Jay was raised on a farm acquired by his father in Rye, New York. The family moved there when he was three months old. He had nine brothers and sisters, unfortunately three of them didn't survive childhood.

John Jay Fact 4: He received most of his primary and secondary education at home where he was educated by his mother. From the age of eight, he was taught by an Anglican priest called Pierre Stoupe for a period of three years in New Rochelle.

John Jay Fact 5: He was educated at King's College from 1760. The college is now known as Columbia College. It was during these years that he became great friends with Robert Livingston who later became a lawyer and politician.

John Jay Fact 6: He graduated from King's College in 1764 and began working as a law clerk for a prominent lawyer and politician called Benjamin Kissam. He remained in his employment until 1768.

John Jay Fact 7: John Jay was admitted to the bar of New York in 1768. He was able to form a legal practice with the financial help from the government. In 1771, he established his own law office. His first public position in the revolution came in 1774 when he took on the role of secretary to the New York Committee of Correspondence.

John Jay Fact 8: In 1774, he represented New York at the First Continental Congress in 1774. He feared mob rules and strongly believed in protecting human rights and property rights, and that the people of America had every right to resist British violations of American rights.

John Jay Fact 9: John Jay wanted to defend his country and bring independence. He felt that the efforts made by the colonies to reconcile with Britain were ineffective and thus, the American Revolution was inescapable.

John Jay Fact 10: He married on April 28, 1774 to a 17 year old woman called Sarah Van Brugh Livingston. The couple had six children together called Peter, Susan, Maria, Ann, William and Sarah Louisa.

John Jay Fact 11: John Jay, together with his wife and family, stayed in Spain for a while before moving to France where they stayed with Benjamin Franklin, the lawyer and politician whom John Jay had worked for after graduating from college.

John Jay Fact 12: He moved into a respectable position in 1778 when he became the President of the Continental Congress. Although the position was honorable, it didn’t provide him with a great deal of power or authority. It was the United States' first national government during the American Revolutionary War.

John Jay Fact 13: John Jay, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens, and John Adams represented the United States in peace negotiations to end the American Revolutionary War. They signed the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783 bringing the American Revolution to an end.

John Jay Fact 14: One of his most major achievements was his ability to negotiate trade terms with Great Britain. The Treaty of London became known as the 'Jay Treaty'. The agreement removed issues which had continued following the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783. John Jay was a chief negotiator of the Treaty of London. It was signed on November 19, 1794.

John Jay Fact 15: He began working towards a New Constitution in order to set improved and new precedents and establish fundamental principles.

John Jay Fact 16: Together with American authors, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, John Jay wrote five of The Federalist Papers. The Federalist Papers can be described as a collection of 85 articles based on the United States Constitution.

John Jay Fact 17: He served as the United States' chief Justice from 1789 to 1795, making him the first head of the United States federal court system and the country's highest judicial officer.

John Jay Fact 18: He was the Governor of the State of New York from 1795 to 1801. Although he had previously been a slaveholder, as were many rich people in New York at the time, he now opposed slavery and attempted to bring it to an end.

John Jay Fact 19: His previous attempts to abolish slavery in the United States failed. However, he persisted with a gradual emancipation he signed into law, and the abolishment of slavery began when the emancipation act was passed in 1799.

John Jay Fact 20: He died on May 14, 1829 following a severe case of palsy which most likely occurred as a result of a stroke. He died at the age of 83 in Bedford, New York, United States. He was buried in Rye where he was raised as a child. The Jay Cemetery is situated next to the Jay Estate, it is maintained by descendants of the Jay family.

Influence & Legacy: John Jay was an American Statesman and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He supported his country and fought hard for human rights. He resisted British violations of American rights and became deeply involved in the American Revolutionary War.