Townsend Scudder (July 26, 1865 – February 22, 1960) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician from New York. A Democrat, he served two non-consecutive terms as a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

(1899–1901, 1903–1905).

Biography

Born in Northport, Scudder was a nephew of

Henry Joel Scudder Henry Joel Scudder (September 18, 1825 – February 10, 1886) was a United States Representative from New York. Early life Born in Northport. He was the son of Henry Scudder (1778–1863) and Elizabeth (née Hewlett) Scudder (1792–1870). ...

, also a U.S. Representative from New York. Townsend attended preparatory schools in Europe and graduated from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

in 1888. He was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

in 1889 and commenced practice in New York City. Scudder served as the Grand Master of the

Grand Lodge of New York The Grand Lodge of New York, officially the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York, is the largest and oldest of several organizations of Freemasons that are based in the U.S. state of New York. The offices of the Grand L ...

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 ...

from 1906-1907.

Congress

Scudder was

corporation counsel The corporation counsel is the title given to the chief legal officer who handles civil claims against the city in some U.S. municipal and county jurisdictions, including negotiating settlements and defending the city when it is sued. Most corp ...

for Queens County from 1893 to 1899, and was elected as 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 ...

to the

56th United States Congress The 56th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 189 ...

, holding office from March 4, 1899, to March 3, 1901. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1900 and resumed the practice of law. He was elected to the

58th United States Congress The 58th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC, from March 4, 1903, to ...

, holding office from March 4, 1903, to March 3, 1905.

Judicial career

Scudder was a justice of 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 ...

(2nd District) from 1907 to 1920, and afterwards again resumed the practice of law in New York City. In

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

, he was defeated for the

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the supreme court, highest court in the Judiciary of New York (state), Unified Court System of the New York (state), State of New York. It consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeal ...

by Republican William S. Andrews. He was State park commissioner and vice president of the

Long Island State Park Commission The Long Island State Park Commission, also known as LISPC, is a government agency on Long Island, in the state of New York, headquartered at Belmont Lake State Park in North Babylon. Originally a standalone agency, it is now a regional subdivi ...

from 1924 to 1927. He was appointed to the

by Governor Alfred E. Smith in February 1927 and was subsequently nominated by the two major political parties to succeed himself for the full term of fourteen years. In his first year on the bench, Scudder presided of the highly publicized murder trial of

Ruth Snyder May Ruth Snyder (née Brown; March 27, 1895 – January 12, 1928) was an American murderer. Her execution in the electric chair at New York (state), New York's Sing Sing Prison in 1928 for the murder of her husband, Albert Snyder, was recorded in ...

and her lover Henry Judd Gray, for the murder of Ruth's husband Albert Snyder. Both were convicted and sentenced to death, though Scudder personally opposed capital punishment and would trade criminal cases with other judges to avoid having to pass such sentences. Scudder was active in the world of dogs. In 1932, he was the BIS (best in show) judge at the WKC (Westminster Kennel Club) dog show.Retrieved on January 27, 2015 from http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/shop/dvd.html. Scudder remained on the bench until the end of 1936, when he reached the constitutional retirement age of 70 years.

Death

Scudder died in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...

in 1960; interment was in Putnam Cemetery.

References

Bibliography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scudder, Townsend 1865 births 1960 deaths People from Northport, New York Columbia Law School alumni New York Supreme Court justices Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) Burials at Putnam Cemetery 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives