Charles Senff Colden (June 3, 1885 – September 14, 1960) was an American lawyer and judge from New York.

Life

Colden was born on June 3, 1885, in

Whitestone, New York Whitestone is a residential neighborhood in the northernmost part of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood proper is located between the East River to the north; College Point and Whitestone Expressway to the west; Flushing and ...

, the son of David Colden and Harriet Brian. His father was a farmer who owned a prosperous ice, hay, and grain business. He was a direct descent of New York colonial governor Cadwallader Colden and a great-nephew of

New York City mayor The mayor of New York City, officially mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, ...

Cadwallader D. Colden. Colden graduated from the Whitestone public school in 1900 and from

Flushing High School Flushing High School is a four-year public high school in Flushing, in the New York City borough of Queens. The school is operated by the New York City Department of Education. As of the 2020–21 school year, the school had an enrollment of ...

in 1904. In 1906, he graduated from Jamaica Normal School for Teachers and worked as a teacher until 1913. He attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

while teaching, and in 1913 he received a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree. He later received a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

degree from there. He began practicing law in 1913 in Whitestone independently. In 1920, he formed a partnership with Martin P. O'Leary under the firm name Colden & O'Leary, with central offices in

Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places Netherlands * Flushing, Netherlands, an English name for the city of Vlissingen, Netherlands United Kingdom * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in Cornwall, England * The Flushing, a building in Suffolk, England ...

and branch offices in Whitestone and

Manhasset Manhasset is an affluent hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is considered the anchor community of the Greater Manhasset area. The population was 8,176 ...

. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was chairman of the local Legal Advisory Board. He served as the assistant district attorney of Queens County from 1918 to 1921. In February 1932, after Queens County District Attorney James T. Hallinan was appointed to the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the superior court in the Judiciary of New York. It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil ju ...

, Governor

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

appointed Colden to be the new

Queens County District Attorney The District Attorney of Queens County is the elected district attorney for Queens County in New York State, coterminous with the New York City borough of Queens. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state laws. ...

. He was elected for a full term of the position in November 1932. In January 1935, when Queens County Judge Thomas S. Kadien was appointed to the New York Supreme Court, Governor Herbert H. Lehman appointed Colden Queens County Judge in his place. Colden served as County Judge until 1943, when he was elected to the

. He was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, but he was endorsed by the

Republicans 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 ...

. He served as Justice on the Court until 1956, when he became the official referee of the Court. Furthermore, he was still refereeing when he died. Colden was called the father of

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...

. In 1935, he was the organizer of the Queens College Association, which advocated for a college in the county. He was president of the association until his death. The college named its Center for Music and Speech after him, and he served as president of the Speech and Hearing Service Center until his resignation in 1949. In 1956, the college presented him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree for his leadership in founding the college. Colden was chairman of the board of trustees of the Flushing Savings Bank, a trustee of the Bowne House Historical Society and the New York State Volunteer Fireman Home, and president of the St. David Society and the Queens County Bar Association, and a director of the Greater New York Chapter of the

National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

. He was a member of

Phi Delta Phi Phi Delta Phi (), commonly known as Phid or PDP, is an international legal honor society and the oldest legal organization in continuous existence in the United States. Founded in 1869 at the University of Michigan as a professional fraternity, ...

, the

New York State Bar Association The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of New York. The mission of the association is to cultivate the science of jurisprudence; promote reform in the law; facilitate the administration of justice ...

, the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...

, the

Long Island Historical Society The Center for Brooklyn History (CBH, formerly known as the Brooklyn Historical Society) is a museum, library, and educational center founded in 1863 that preserves and encourages the study of Brooklyn's 400-year history. The center's Romanesque ...

, the New York State Historical Society, the

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, the

Odd Fellows Odd Fellows (or Oddfellows when referencing the Grand United Order of Oddfellows or some British-based fraternities; also Odd Fellowship or Oddfellowship) is an international fraternity consisting of lodges first documented in 1730 in 18th-cen ...

, the

Elks The Embeddable Linux Kernel Subset (ELKS), formerly known as Linux-8086, is a Linux-like operating system kernel. It is a subset of the Linux kernel, intended for 16-bit computers with limited processor and memory resources such as machines pow ...

, the Flushing Bar Association, the Chamber of Commerce, and the

Royal Arcanum The Supreme Council of the Royal Arcanum, commonly known simply as the Royal Arcanum, is a fraternal benefit society founded in 1877 in Boston, Massachusetts by John A. Cummings and Darius Wilson, who had previously been among the founders of the ...

. He was also president of the Whitestone Improvers' Association and a trustee of

Flushing Hospital Flushing Hospital Medical Center (also known as Flushing Hospital) is one of the oldest hospitals in New York City. It survived a 1999 bankruptcy and subsequently affiliated first with the New York Presbyterian Hospital and then with the Medi ...

. He belonged to the Grace Episcopal Church of Whitestone. In 1909, he married Gunhild E. Dose. Their children were Helen and Charles Cadwallader. Colden died in

on September 14, 1960. He was buried in

Flushing Cemetery Flushing Cemetery is a cemetery in Flushing in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. History Flushing Cemetery has several predecessors. In 1789 (64 years before the cemetery was founded), George Washington had crossed the East Ri ...

References

External links

*
The Political Graveyard
'
Charles S. Colden
at '' Find a Grave''
Charles S. Colden Papers
at the ''

Queens Public Library The Queens Public Library (QPL), also known as the Queens Borough Public Library and Queens Library (QL), is the public library for the borough of Queens, and one of three public library systems serving New York City. It is one of the largest li ...

''
Charles S. Colden Papers
at ''

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Colden, Charles S. 1885 births 1960 deaths People from Whitestone, Queens Lawyers from Queens, New York People from Flushing, Queens Flushing High School alumni Queens County (New York) district attorneys New York University School of Law alumni 20th-century American lawyers New York Supreme Court justices 20th-century New York state court judges County judges in the United States New York (state) Democrats 20th-century American Episcopalians American Freemasons Burials at Flushing Cemetery