Elijah Adlow (August 15, 1896 - November 4, 1982) was an American lawyer, politician, jurist, author and the Chief Justice of the Municipal Court of the City of Boston, now known as the Boston Municipal Court Department, serving in that capacity from 1954 to 1973. Prior to that he was a Special Justice and

Associate Justice Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some sta ...

of the court, starting in 1928.

Early life and education

Adlow was born in the

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

, Massachusetts to Jewish immigrant parents. His father, Nathan Adlow, emigrated as a youth from Kazarez,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, His mother, Bessie (Bravman) Adlow, was born in Dauge, Lithuania. The family moved from the West End to

East Boston East Boston, nicknamed Eastie, is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts annexed by the city of Boston in 1637. Neighboring communities include Winthrop, Revere, and Chelsea. It is separated from the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown and dow ...

, and afterwards settled in the

Roxbury Roxbury may refer to: Places ;Canada * Roxbury, Nova Scotia * Roxbury, Prince Edward Island ;United States * Roxbury, Connecticut * Roxbury, Kansas * Roxbury, Maine * Roxbury, Boston, a municipality that was later integrated into the city of Bosto ...

neighborhood of Boston a year after Nathan opened a furniture store there. Due to changes in rules and policies made both by Adlow's elementary school and the

Boston Public Schools Boston Public Schools (BPS) is a school district serving the city of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest public school district in the state of Massachusetts. Leadership The district is led by a Superintendent, hired by the ...

, he completed grammar school in 1908 at age 11. He entered English High School the following school year, graduating in 1912 at 16 years old. Later that year, Adlow attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, which he went through in three years, graduating

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

in 1915. Two years later, he was graduated from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

, and after passing his bar exam, he served in the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It include ...

until the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

."JUDGE ELIJAH ADLOW, 45 YEARS ON THE BENCH" ''The Boston Globe'', page 1, November 6, 1982.

Career

A Republican, Adlow was a member of the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

from the 16th

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include L ...

District from 1921 through 1926, in addition to his private law practice. From 1927 until he was appointed a judge in 1928, he served as special counsel for the City of Boston. He was a member of the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. N ...

from 1924 until 1954, when he retired with the rank of

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed t ...

. From 1930 to 1942, he was judge advocate of the 26th Yankee Division and entered federal service with the division in 1941. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he was a member of the adjutant general's staff. Adlow's judicial career began in October 1928 when he was appointed Special Justice of the Municipal Court by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Alvan T. Fuller Alvan Tufts Fuller (February 27, 1878 – April 30, 1958) was an American businessman, politician, art collector, and philanthropist from Massachusetts. He opened one of the first automobile dealerships in Massachusetts, which in 1920 was recogni ...

. His position with the court was made permanent one year later when Governor

Frank G. Allen Frank Gilman Allen (October 6, 1874October 9, 1950) was an American businessman and politician from Massachusetts. He was president of a successful leathergoods business in Norwood, Massachusetts, and active in local and state politics. A Repu ...

named him associate justice. When Chief Justice Davis B. Keniston died in 1954, Governor

Christian Herter Christian Archibald Herter (March 28, 1895December 30, 1966) was an American diplomat and Republican politician who was the 59th Governor of Massachusetts from 1953 to 1957 and United States Secretary of State from 1959 to 1961. His moderate ...

appointed Adlow to replace him as Chief Justice on April 22, 1954. In his role as Chief Justice, he presided over 8 Associate Justices and 5 Special Justices in the busiest court in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian province ...

and one of the 10 busiest courts in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. After a mandatory retirement age of 70 for judges was passed by the voters, Adlow was forced to retire at the age of 76 in January 1973.

Works

* Policeman and People (1947) * Napoleon in Italy, 1796-1797 (1948) * The Genius of

Lemuel Shaw Lemuel Shaw (January 9, 1781 – March 30, 1861) was an American jurist who served as chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (1830–1860). Prior to his appointment he also served for several years in the Massachusetts House ...

: Expounder of the Common Law (1962) * Threshold of Justice: A Judge's Life Story (1973)

Personal

Adlow was married for 55 years to Jessie (Sugerman) Adlow (1901 - 1996) and had two daughters. His sister Dorothy Adlow was nationally known art critic for ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...

''."Dorothy Adlow, Noted Art Critic" ''The Boston Globe'', page 65, January 12, 1964. He died at

New England Deaconess Hospital Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston, Massachusetts is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. It was formed out of the 1996 merger of Beth Israel Hospital (founded in 1916) and New England Deaconess Hospital (founded ...

after an illness on November 4, 1982, aged 86.

References

;General source '' - ;Specific

External links