Clayton Riley Lusk (December 21, 1872 in Lisle, Broome County, New York – February 1959) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He is now mostly remembered as chairman of the "

Lusk Committee The Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate Seditious Activities, popularly known as the Lusk Committee, was formed in 1919 by the New York State Legislature to investigate individuals and organizations in New York State suspected of sedition. ...

", and was Acting Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1922.

Biography

Lusk was the son of Samuel Lusk and Clara Root Lusk. He graduated from Cortland

Normal School A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

in 1895, graduated

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from Cornell Law School, was admitted to the bar in 1902, and practiced law in partnership with

Rowland L. Davis Rowland L. Davis (July 11, 1871 - February 2, 1954) was a New York State Supreme Court Justice. Early life Davis, of Cortland, New York, was born in Dryden, Tompkins County, New York, on July 11, 1871. He was the son of Lucius Davis (1835-1912 ...

in Cortland. Lusk entered politics as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, and was City Judge of Cortland from 1904 to 1909. He was a member of the New York State Senate (40th D.) from 1919 to 1924, sitting in the 142nd, 143rd, 144th, 145th, 146th and

147th New York State Legislature The 147th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 2 to April 11, 1924, during the second year of Al Smith's second tenure as Governor of New York, in Albany. Backgro ...

s. From 1919 to 1920, he chaired the Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate Seditious Activities, which consisted of four senators and five assemblymen and was known popularly as the "

." Lusk was Temporary President of the State Senate from 1921 to 1922. On September 26, 1922, upon the resignation of Lt. Gov.

Jeremiah Wood Jeremiah Wood (September 27, 1876 – January 16, 1962) was an American lawyer and politician. He was Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1921 to 1922. Life He was admitted to the bar in 1900, and practiced in New York City. He was a member of ...

, who was appointed a judge of the

New York Court of Claims The New York State Court of Claims is the court of the New York State Unified Court System which handles all claims against the State of New York and certain state agencies. Judges Judges of the Court of Claims are appointed by the Governor of ...

, Lusk became Acting Lieutenant Governor until the end of the year serving under Governor

Nathan Lewis Miller Nathan Lewis Miller (October 10, 1868 – June 26, 1953) was an American lawyer and politician who was Governor of New York from 1921 to 1922. Early life and education Nathan Miller was born on October 10, 1868, the son of Samuel Miller, a te ...

. He was Minority Leader from 1923 to 1924. At the end of his third term, he came under scrutiny for allegedly having accepted gifts from various companies to support or oppose legislation. A stadium at the

State University of New York at Cortland State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

is named in his honor. He was a member of the Young Men's Debating Club (today the

Delphic Fraternity The Delphic Fraternity, Inc., also known as Delphic of Gamma Sigma Tau (), is a historic multicultural fraternity originally founded in New York State in 1871 and re-established in 1987. The fraternity can trace its origin back to the ''Delphic ...

) at the Cortland Normal School. Clayton R. Lusk was also a member of the Cortland County Bar Association, the

Masonic Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

Cortlandville Lodge, and the First

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Church of Cortland.

Sources

*"Clayton R. Lusk, legislator, dies: Former Republican leader of State Senate acted as Governor in 1922" in NYT on February 15, 1959, p. 85.
''Mencken's America''
by

Henry Louis Mencken Henry Louis Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956) was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians, ...

and S. T. Joshi (Ohio University Press, 2004, , ; page 221.) *The Cortland Normal News, Volume 16, No. 4, December 1893, page 21.
''Family Tree Maker's Genealogy''
Descendants of Daniel Meekes. *The Cortland Standard, February 16 & 19, 1959.
The Delphic Fraternity, Inc.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lusk, Clayton Riley 1872 births 1959 deaths Lieutenant Governors of New York (state) Republican Party New York (state) state senators People from Lisle, New York People from Cortland County, New York Cornell Law School alumni Majority leaders of the New York State Senate