Matthew Linn Bruce (October 1, 1860 – February 26, 1936) was an American lawyer and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

from New York.

Early life and education

Bruce was born October 1, 1860, in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Dr. James Bruce and Mary (Linn) Bruce ( – 1907). He was educated at

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

Academy, and graduated

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from

Rutgers College Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

of the class of 1884. Then he studied law in the office of Cassius M. Shaw at Andes, N.Y., and was admitted to the bar in 1889.

Career

In 1890 moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

where he resided in the Twenty-first Assembly District. He was managing clerk in the office of Hector M. Hitchings until 1892, and then opened his own law office. In 1894, he married Lillian (Ballantine) Knapp, and they had four children. In 1903, he was president of the New York County Republican Committee, and conducted the unsuccessful campaign of Mayor

Seth Low Seth Low (January 18, 1850 – September 17, 1916) was an American educator and political figure who served as the mayor of Brooklyn from 1881 to 1885, the president of Columbia University from 1890 to 1901, a diplomatic representative of t ...

for re-election. He was the lieutenant governor of New York from 1905 to 1906, elected in

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library syst ...

, but defeated for re-election in November 1906 although his running mate

Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...

was elected governor. All other Republican candidates were defeated by the nominees of the Democratic/

Independence League The Independence Party, established as the Independence League, was a short-lived minor American political party sponsored by newspaper publisher and politician William Randolph Hearst in 1906. The organization was the successor to the Munici ...

fusion ticket. On December 5, 1906, he resigned and was appointed by Governor Frank W. Higgins a justice of the New York Supreme Court to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Justice Morgan J. O'Brien, and remained on the bench until the end of 1907. In 1908, he resumed the practice of law, but on October 13 of the same year he was reappointed to the Supreme Court by Gov. Hughes to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Justice David Leventritt, and remained on the bench until the end of the year. In November 1908, he ran for the Supreme Court on the Republican ticket to succeed himself, but was defeated by the Democratic candidate

Irving Lehman Irving Lehman (January 28, 1876 – September 22, 1945) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals from 1940 until his death in 1945. Biography He was born on January 28, 1876, in New ...

Sources

The Rep. nominees, in NYT on September 16, 1904

Bruce resigned and appointed justice, in NYT on December 6, 1906

Political Graveyard

His mother's obit, transcribed from ''Brooklyn Standard Union'' of at RootsWeb

Bios of ''Men of 1914'', transcribed from ''Builders of Our Nation'' (American Publishers' Association, 1915)

External links

Picture postcard of his residence at Andes, N.Y. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Matthew Linn 1860 births 1936 deaths Lieutenant Governors of New York (state) New York Supreme Court Justices Lawyers from New York City People from Andes, New York Rutgers University alumni People from Mercersburg, Pennsylvania New York (state) Republicans Politicians from New York City