Book 3 — LAWYERS AND JURISTS.

Frank Swett Black.

Frank Swett Black was born at Limington, Maine, March 8, 1853. He graduated from Dartmouth, 1875. He entered professional life as the editor of the Johnstown, New York, Journal. Later he became reporter of the Troy Whig, New York. He was a clerk in the registry department of the Troy postoffice, during which time he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1879. He was a member of congress in 1895 to 1897, and in 1897 was elected by the republicans as governor of New York state. He also won distinction as a trial lawyer and has defended a number of notable cases, among which was the celebrated case of Rollin B. Molineaux.

Frederick René Coudert.

The young man who wishes to succeed in the profession of law would do well to study the life of the lawyer, Frederick René Coudert, whose every act has been marked by fairness and courtesy. He was born of French parentage in the city of New York in 1832, receiving his early education at his father’s school in that city. At the age of fourteen he entered Columbia college, graduating with highest honors in 1850, his address on that occasion calling forth much comment from the press. During the next few years he busied himself with newspaper work, teaching and translations, besides studying law; and at the age of twenty-one was admitted to the New York bar. His brothers, Lewis and Charles Coudert, Jr., joining him in the practice of law, they formed the firm of Coudert Brothers, one of the oldest and largest law firms of New York city, and of which Frederick R. Coudert is the recognized head. He has achieved quite a reputation as a speaker and lecturer; and among his most notable addresses might be mentioned one at the centennial celebration of Columbia college, 1887; an eloquent speech in favor of the Democratic union during the campaign of Tilden in 1879, and his public addresses on the arrival of Bartholdi’s statue of liberty and the statues of Lafayette and Bolivar. He has been quite active in the political work of the democratic party, but avoiding, rather than asking, public functions, several times having declined nominations which signified election to the bench of the Supreme Court. Mr. Coudert played a prominent part in the election of President Cleveland in 1884. Mr. Coudert’s abilities have been of great service in other fields. He was the first president of the United States Catholic Historical Society, holding the office several terms; for years president of the Columbia college alumni association; for years government director of the Union Pacific railroad; for a long time trustee of Columbia and Barnard colleges and of Seton Hall College, New Jersey, besides being the director in numerous social and charitable organizations. In 1880 Seton college awarded him the degree of LL.D., which degree was also given by Fordham college in 1884, and, in 1887, he received from Columbia college the degree of J. U. D. As a mark of recognition the French government presented him with the Cross of the Legion of Honor, which decoration he has also received from the governments of Italy and Bolivia.

James Brooks Dill.

A sturdy Scotch ancestry has given to the lawyer, James Brooks Dill, that pertinacity and determination which successfully overcomes all obstacles. He was born in Spencerport, New York, July 25, 1854, the oldest child of the Rev. James Horton and Catherine (Brooks) Dill. Four years after his birth his parents removed to Chicago, but upon the death of his father, in 1863, he removed with his mother to New Haven, Connecticut, continuing his studies in the elementary branches. After studying at Oberlin, Ohio, from 1868 to 1872, he entered Yale, graduating in the class of 1876. He now taught school and studied law, and in 1877 came to New York, where he obtained a position as instructor in Stevens’ Institute, Hoboken. Mr. Dill was graduated with the degree of LL.D. from the University law school in 1878, as salutatorian, and was then admitted to the bar of New York. Corporation law was made one of his special studies, and, in 1879, he won an important corporation case which soon established his reputation as a corporation lawyer and an authority on this particular subject. His marked business ability, combined with a clear legal mind, made his services sought by the many large and influential corporate interests. He was married in 1880 to Miss Mary W. Hansell, daughter of a Philadelphia merchant, thereupon removing to Orange, New Jersey. He became an active worker in the municipal and social improvement of the Oranges, organizing a People’s Bank, of which he has always been a director and counsel. He also assisted in establishing the Savings Investment and Trust Co., becoming director and vice-president. He is now director in the Seventh National Bank of New York City, the Corporation Trust Company of New Jersey, the American School of Architecture at Rome, the New England State Railway Company of Boston, the Central Teresa Sugar Company and others.

Melville Weston Fuller.

The most notable figure of the judiciary of this country is undoubtedly Chief Justice Melville Weston Fuller, of the Supreme Court of the United States. He is in every way the ideal dignitary of the bench, impressive as to appearance, forceful in forensic oratory, learned in the law and unblemished as to reputation, personal and professional. He was born February 11, 1833, at Augusta, Maine, coming of sterling New England stock. Graduating from Bowdoin college in 1853, and later educated at Harvard law school, he, in 1855, was admitted to the bar. Forming a law partnership in the town of his birth, he later established there a Democratic paper known as The Age, of which he became assistant editor. The venture was successful and The Age became a power in political circles in Maine. Young Fuller was also elected president of the common council, and city attorney for the town. But Augusta was too small a sphere for the rising young lawyer, so in 1859 he went to Chicago, where he opened a law office. Simultaneously he took an active part in Illinois politics. It was not long before he became a recognized political leader locally. In 1863 he became a member of the Illinois legislature, in which capacity he confirmed the beliefs of those who regarded him as a coming man. He was delegate to a number of Democratic national conventions, in each of which he was a prominent figure. President Cleveland appointed him chief justice on April 30, 1888, and he was confirmed and seated the year following.

John William Griggs.

John William Griggs was born at Newton, New Jersey, July 10, 1849. He was graduated from Lafayette college in 1868, and, after studying law, was admitted to the bar in 1871. He practiced law at Paterson until 1876, in which year he was elected a member of the New Jersey general assembly. In 1886 he was president of the New Jersey senate. He was elected governor of New Jersey in 1896, which office he resigned to accept the office of attorney-general of the United States. He resigned the attorney-generalship in 1901.

Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, the son of Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, the poet and essayist, was born at Boston, March 8, 1841. He graduated from Harvard in 1861, and from the Harvard law school in 1866. During the Civil war he served three years with the Massachusetts volunteers, and was wounded in the breast in the battle of Balls Bluff, and again wounded at the battle of Antietam. At the close of the war he engaged in the practice of law in Boston, and was editor of the Law Review from 1870 to 1873. In 1882 he became professor at the Harvard law school. In the same year he was made assistant justice in the Supreme judicial court, Massachusetts, and on August 2, 1899, he was made chief justice of the same court.

William Travers Jerome.

William Travers Jerome, who, by reason of being the district attorney of the metropolis, his power of pungent political oratory and his strenuous work as a municipal reformer, is one of the best known and decidedly one of the most interesting figures in the current history of New York, is still a young man. He was born April 18, 1859, in Lawrence, Massachusetts, receiving his initial education at the local public school and from private tutors; he took a classical course at Amherst college, and next was a student at the Columbia university law school of New York city. He was admitted to the bar in 1884 and became connected with a New York law firm. From the first he gave evidence of being the possessor of those qualities which later made him famous. As a lawyer his learnedly aggressive methods brought him popularity and many fees. As a justice of the court of special sessions, he lived up to the reputation that he had established on the bench. When, a few years since, he threw himself into the political whirlpool, he gave the country-at-large an excellent example of the man who has waited for his opportunity, recognizes it when he sees it and grasps it forthwith. It is not too much to say that Mr. Jerome did more than any one man, or, for that matter, any one group of men to free New York from certain evil influences which had fastened themselves upon it and its citizens. Here is what he says relative to his political success, but his remarks apply equally to success of all kinds: “A young man must have strong convictions of the right kind, hold to them through thick and thin, be willing to accept defeats smilingly, if necessary begin his work all over again, but still stick to it—and victory is assured.”

Joseph McKenna.

Another of the numerous successful jurists whose ancestry is Irish. He was the son of John and Mary McKenna, his father being from Ireland and his mother from England. He was born at Philadelphia, August 10, 1843, and was educated in the public schools and at St. Joseph college until 1855, when the family removed to Benicia, California, where he entered St. Augustine college and took up the study of law. Directly afterward he graduated and was admitted to the bar. In 1865 he was elected district attorney of Solano county. He served in this capacity for two terms. In 1873 he was elected to the legislature, and one year later the republicans nominated him for congress, but he was defeated, and not only on this occasion but again in 1878. In 1884, however, he was elected, and a year later entered congress, where he remained, by re-election, until 1891. As a member of the ways and means committee he had a great deal to do with important tariff legislation. In 1892 President Harrison appointed him circuit judge. In 1897 he entered McKinley’s cabinet as attorney-general, but in December of the same year was appointed judge of the Supreme Court of the United States to succeed Justice Field. He was married in San Francisco, 1869, to Amanda Borneman.

Alton Brooks Parker.

Alton Brooks Parker comes from good old New England stock. He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, May 14, 1851. Later his family moved to Cortland, New York, in which place he was educated, graduating from the normal school at that place. He spent three years in teaching, and then entered a law school at Kingston, New York, and afterward took a course at the Albany law school, where he was graduated in 1872. After being admitted to the bar, he formed a partnership with W. S. Kenyon at Kingston, New York. In 1877 Mr. Parker was elected surrogate of Ulster county, and was again re-elected in 1883. Two years later he was appointed, by Governor Hill, justice of the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Hon. Theodoric R. Westbrook. At the end of the year he was elected justice for the full term. In January, 1889, the second division of the Court of Appeals was created, and Judge Parker was appointed to it, he being the youngest member who ever sat in the Court of Appeals in New York city. The second division court was dissolved in 1892, and at that time Governor Hill appointed him member of the general term of the first department, where he continued until 1895. He has always been active in politics and has been a delegate to nearly every state convention, and also to the national convention in 1884 which nominated Grover Cleveland. In 1895 he was chairman of the Democratic state executive committee. In 1897 he was elected by a majority of over sixty thousand to the office of chief justice of the Court of Appeals, the highest judicial office in the state of New York. He has often been mentioned as a possible candidate for president by the Democratic party. He was married October 16, 1873, to Mary L. Schoonmaker.