author
Luther Stearns Cushing
1803–1856
Best remembered for the parliamentary guide later known as Cushing’s Manual, this Massachusetts jurist helped shape how American deliberative bodies conduct debate and business. His writing brought legal clarity to meetings, legislatures, and civic procedure in the 19th century.
1 Audiobook
Manual of Parliamentary Practice Rules of Proceeding and Debate in Deliberative Assemblies
by Luther Stearns Cushing
About the author
Born in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, on June 22, 1803, he became a lawyer, legal editor, lecturer, and judge whose career centered on the workings of law and public institutions. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1826 and went on to edit The American Jurist and Law Magazine, serve as clerk of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and later sit as a judge in Boston.
His lasting reputation comes from his writing on parliamentary law. Rules of Proceeding and Debate in Deliberative Assemblies became widely known as Cushing’s Manual, one of the earliest and most influential American guides to parliamentary procedure. He also wrote other legal and legislative works, including reports on contested election cases, showing the same interest in orderly public decision-making.
He died in Boston on June 22, 1856, his fifty-third birthday. Though not widely known outside legal and legislative history, his work continued to influence assemblies, civic organizations, and governing bodies long after his death.