Editing Simon Greenleaf (section)

==Early life and legal career==
Greenleaf's family traces its ancestry back to Edmund Greenleaf, who lived in [[Ipswich]], [[Suffolk]] in [[England]] before emigrating and settling in Newburyport, Massachusetts. The Greenleaf family flourished in this part of Massachusetts for almost 150 years prior to Simon's birth in 1783. Simon's father, Moses Greenleaf, married Lydia Parsons, daughter of Rev. [[Jonathan Parsons]] of Newburyport. Their son Moses Greenleaf (1777–1834), Simon's older brother, became a distinguished surveyor and mapmaker in [[Maine]].

In the 1790s, Simon's parents moved to New Gloucester in [[Maine]], leaving him in Newburyport under the care of his grandfather Jonathan Greenleaf. There Simon was educated at the Latin school and studied the Greco-Roman classics. When he turned 16 years old, he rejoined his parents in New Gloucester. In 1801 he joined the law office of [[Ezekiel Whitman]] (later the Chief Justice of Maine) and in 1806 was admitted to the Cumberland County bar as a legal practitioner. On 22 Mar 1806, in New Gloucester, he married Hannah Kingman.<ref>"Maine, Marriages, 1771-1907," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F463-V4H : accessed 22 Oct 2014), Simon Greenleaf and Hannah Kingmon, 22 Mar 1806; citing New Gloucester, Maine, reference; FHL microfilm 9795.</ref>

He then opened a legal practice at [[Standish, Maine|Standish]], but six months later relocated to [[Gray, Maine|Gray]], where he practised for twelve years, and in 1818 moved to [[Portland, Maine|Portland]]. Greenleaf's [[political ideology|political preferences]] were aligned with the [[Federalist Party]], and in 1816 he was an unsuccessful candidate for that party in [[Cumberland County, Maine|Cumberland County]] for the Senate. He was reporter of the [[Maine Supreme Judicial Court|Supreme Court of Maine]] from 1820 to 1832, and published nine volumes of ''Reports of Cases in the Supreme Court of Maine'' (1820–1832).

Greenleaf was elected a member of the [[American Antiquarian Society]] in 1820.<ref>[http://www.americanantiquarian.org/memberlist American Antiquarian Society Members Directory]</ref>

He was awarded the honorary [[Doctor of Laws]] degree by Harvard in 1834. He received the same honor from Amherst in 1845, and again from the [[University of Alabama]] in 1852. In 1848, he was elected as a member of the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=1848&year-max=1848&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-04-14|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>