Sydney Francis Foster (March 23, 1893 Cazenovia, Madison County, New York - November 21, 1973) was an American lawyer and politician.

Life

He graduated from

Cazenovia Seminary Cazenovia College is a private college in Cazenovia, New York. Founded as the Genesee Seminary in 1824 and sponsored by the Methodist Church, in 1894 the college adopted the name of Cazenovia Seminary. It was reorganized in 1942 after church spon ...

in 1911, and LL.B. from Syracuse University College of Law in 1915. In 1916, he became a special deputy county clerk of Madison County, and was admitted to the bar in 1917. In 1918, he went overseas, serving for two years in the Department of the Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Army, and left the Army with the rank of

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

. Afterwards he practiced law in Liberty, and was elected District Attorney of Sullivan County, New York, in 1925. In 1928, he was elected to the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

(3rd District). He sat on the Appellate Division (3rd Dept.) from 1939 to 1942, and from 1944 on. He was Presiding Justice from 1949 on. In 1950, Syracuse University conferred an honorary degree of LL.D. on him. In

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

, he ran on the Republican ticket for the

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six Associate Judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by t ...

, but was defeated by Democrat/Liberal

Adrian P. Burke Adrian Paul Burke (October 2, 1904 in The Bronx, New York City – September 3, 2000 in Lauderhill, Broward County, Florida) was an American lawyer and politician. Life He was the son of Thomas F. Burke and Rose Mary (Daw) Burke. He graduated from ...

. On January 1, 1960, Foster was appointed to the Court of Appeals by Governor

Nelson A. Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...

to fill the vacancy caused by the election of

Charles S. Desmond Charles Stewart Desmond (December 2, 1896 – February 9, 1987), was an American lawyer and politician from New York (state), New York. He was Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals from 1960 to 1966. Life Desmond was born and died in Bu ...

Chief Judge A chief judge (also known as presiding judge, president judge or principal judge) is the highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. According to the Federal judiciary of the United States, th ...

. In

November 1960 The following events occurred in November 1960: November 1, 1960 (Tuesday) *The Goddard Space Flight Center computing and communications center became operational. Goddard's mission was to serve as a communications center, and two IBM 709 ...

, Foster he ran on the Republican and Liberal tickets to succeed himself, and was elected. He retired from the Court of Appeals at the end of 1963 when he reached the constitutional age limit of 70 years, and returned to the Supreme Court as a certificated trial justice until 1967. He died from a heart attack.

Sources

''The History of the New York Court of Appeals, 1932-2003''
by

Bernard S. Meyer Bernard Stern Meyer (June 7, 1916 Baltimore, Maryland – September 3, 2005 Valley Stream, Nassau County, New York) was an American lawyer and politician. Life He graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1936, and from University of Maryland S ...

, Burton C. Agata & Seth H. Agata (pages 24f)

Court of Appeals judges
''SYDNEY F. FOSTER, A RETIRED JUDGE; Member of the State Court of Appeals Dead at 80''
in NYT on November 23, 1973 (subscription required)

History of the Third Department, with portrait (page 26)

Bio at Court History {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Sydney F. 1893 births 1973 deaths Judges of the New York Court of Appeals Cazenovia College alumni Syracuse University College of Law alumni People from Cazenovia, New York People from Sullivan County, New York New York Supreme Court Justices Sullivan County district attorneys New York (state) Republicans 20th-century American judges