John Knight (April 29, 1871 – June 15, 1955) was an American lawyer and politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He was President pro tempore of the New York State Senate from 1925 to 1931, and a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the Western District of New York The United States District Court for the Western District of New York (in case citations, W.D.N.Y.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the western parts of Upstate New York. Appeals are taken to the Second Circuit (excep ...

from 1931 to 1955 and its Chief Judge from 1948 to 1955.

Education and career

Born on April 29, 1871, in

Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

, Knight received an

Artium Baccalaureus 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 years ...

degree in 1893 from the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants Undergraduate education, undergraduate and graduate degrees, including Doctorate, do ...

and

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under th ...

in 1896. He was the town clerk for Arcade from 1892 to 1896. He was in private practice in Arcade from 1896 to 1900. He was a

Referee in Bankruptcy A Referee in Bankruptcy or Bankruptcy Referee was a federal official with quasi-judicial powers, appointed by a United States district court to administer bankruptcy proceedings, prior to 1979. The office was first created by the Bankruptcy Act ...

for the Western District of New York from 1899 to 1904. He was the district attorney for Wyoming County, New York from 1904 to 1913. He was a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

from 1913 to 1917. He was a member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

from 1917 to 1931, serving as President Pro Tem from 1924 to 1931.

State legislative and political service

Knight was a member of the

from Wyoming County in

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not venture for the rest of the ...

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It also saw the first airline to provide schedule ...

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January *January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 ...

and

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * ...

, and was Chairman of the Committee on Codes in 1915, and Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary in 1916. He was a member of the

from the 44th Senate District from 1917 to 1931, sitting in the 140th, 141st, 142nd, 143rd, 144th, 145th, 146th, 147th, 148th, 149th, 150th, 151st, 152nd, 153rd and 154th New York State Legislatures, and was President pro tempore from 1925 to 1931. Knight was an alternate delegate to the

1924 Republican National Convention Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Musi ...

and a delegate to the

1928 Republican National Convention The 1928 Republican National Convention was held at Convention Hall in Kansas City, Missouri, from June 12 to June 15, 1928. Because President Coolidge had announced unexpectedly he would not run for re-election in 1928, Commerce Secretary ...

Federal judicial service

Knight received a

recess appointment In the United States, a recess appointment is an appointment by the president of a federal official when the U.S. Senate is in recess. Under the U.S. Constitution's Appointments Clause, the President is empowered to nominate, and with the a ...

from President

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, holding o ...

on March 18, 1931, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge John R. Hazel.''HOOVER PUTS KNIGHT ON FEDERAL BENCH''
in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' on March 31, 1931 (subscription required) He was nominated to the same position by President Hoover on December 15, 1931. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and ...

on January 6, 1932, and received his commission on January 9, 1932. He served as Chief Judge from 1948 to 1955. His service terminated on June 15, 1955, due to his death.

References

Sources

*
Appointed to federal bench, in New York Times on March 31, 1931
(subscription required)

(subscription required)
''Fenner-Broughton Family History: The Family of James Elory Fenner, 1844-1912, and Hester Adamantha (Broughton) Fenner, 1847-1922, of Crawford County, Pennsylvania''
by Jim Fenner (Closson Press, 1995) {{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, John 1871 births 1955 deaths People from Arcade, New York Majority leaders of the New York State Senate Republican Party New York (state) state senators Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York United States district court judges appointed by Herbert Hoover 20th-century American judges