Algernon Sydney Biddle (October 11, 1847 – April 8, 1891) was an American lawyer and law professor at the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and olde ...

. An

endowed chair A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of Financial instrument, financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to Donor intent, the will of its fou ...

was established at the University of Pennsylvania Law School in his name.

Biography

Biddle was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

, to George Washington Biddle (a lawyer) and Maria (McMurtie) Biddle, their second child. His siblings were

George Biddle George Biddle (January 24, 1885 – November 6, 1973) was an American painter, muralist and lithographer, best known for his social realism and combat art. A childhood friend of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, he played a major role in establi ...

and Arthur Biddle. His great-grandfather, Colonel Clement Biddle, was quartermaster in the army of George Washington during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of ...

. He graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in 1868. Biddle then studied at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (german: link=no, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick Will ...

. He was admitted to the

Pennsylvania Bar The Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in Pennsylvania, United States. The association offers membership benefits, including publications, practice support, networking, and continuin ...

in 1872. Biddle was a law professor at the

from 1887 until his death, teaching Evidence and Torts. In 1887 to 1888 he was one of the editors of the ''

American Law Register The ''University of Pennsylvania Law Review'' is a law review published by an organization of second and third year J.D. students at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. It is the oldest law journal in the United States, having been publishe ...

''. He was also a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communi ...

. The George Biddle and Algernon Sydney Biddle Memorial Library was established at the University of Pennsylvania Law School via a gift by George W. Biddle in his memory and in the memory of George Biddle. In 1900 it had 23,000 books. The law school contains a portrait of him by society portraitist

Cecilia Beaux Eliza Cecilia Beaux (May 1, 1855 – September 17, 1942) was an American society portraitist, whose subjects included First Lady Edith Roosevelt, Admiral Sir David Beatty and Georges Clemenceau. Trained in Philadelphia, she went on to study in ...

. An endowed chair was established at the University of Pennsylvania Law School in his name. Among the law professors who have held that chair are

George Wharton Pepper George Wharton Pepper (March 16, 1867May 24, 1961) was an American lawyer, law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Christian activist, and Republican politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He represented Pennsylvania ...

Francis Bohlen Francis Hermann Bohlen (July 31, 1868 – December 9, 1942) was an American legal scholar from Pennsylvania who specialized in tort law and served as the Algernon Sydney Biddle professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Bio ...

Paul Bruton Paul Wesley Bruton (August 1, 1903 – July 16, 1988) was the Ferdinand Wakeman Hubbell Professor of Law and the Algernon Sydney Biddle Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Biography Bruton received his A.B. and his LL. ...

, George Haskins, and Curtis Reitz. Biddle married Frances Brown. His children were Moncure (an investment banker), George (a muralist), Francis (who became both a corporate and public attorney, and was the primary US judge at the

Nuremberg trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany invaded ...

), and Sydney Geoffrey. Biddle died in Philadelphia.

References

External links

Biddle family papers
at the

Historical Society of Pennsylvania The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a long-established research facility, based in Philadelphia. It is a repository for millions of historic items ranging across rare books, scholarly monographs, family chronicles, maps, press reports and v ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biddle, Algernon Sydney 1847 births 1891 deaths 19th-century American lawyers Yale University alumni Lawyers from Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania Law School faculty Scholars of evidence law Scholars of tort law Biddle family