Charles Fraser MacLean (November 21, 1841 – March 20, 1924)
was an American jurist.
Born in
New Hartford, New York
New Hartford is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Oneida County, New York, United States. As of the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census, the town population was 22,166. The name of New Hartford was provided by a settler fam ...
, he began attending
Yale University as a junior in 1862. He graduated in 1864 and was a member of
Skull and Bones.
In 1866, he was the first person to be awarded a
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in
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
from an American institution.
His
dissertation was ''A Critique of
John Stuart Mill's Examination of
Hamilton's Philosophy''.
In 1869 he earned his
JUD
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at the
University of Berlin.
His dissertation was ''De Jure Emigrandi''.
During the
Franco-Prussian War, MacLean was a war correspondent for the ''
New York World''.
He accompanied U.S. military observer General
Philip Sheridan and acted as his interpreter. He was one of the first non-combatants to enter
Paris following the surrender of the French
and witnessed the signing of the
Treaty of Versailles.
He recounted the
Battle of Sedan and the capture of
Napoleon III in his "The Surrender of an Emperor", published in ''The Second Book of the Authors Club: Liber Scriptorum'' (1921). He also interviewed
Otto von Bismarck
Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...
,
,
Adolphe Thiers
Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers ( , ; 15 April 17973 September 1877) was a French statesman and historian. He was the second elected President of France and first President of the French Third Republic.
Thiers was a key figure in the July Rev ...
, and
Léon Gambetta.
After a brief stint in
St. Petersburg for ''
The Times'', he returned to the US to practice law. He entered the law office of
Samuel J. Tilden
Samuel Jones Tilden (February 9, 1814 – August 4, 1886) was an American politician who served as the 25th Governor of New York and was the Democratic candidate for president in the disputed 1876 United States presidential election. Tilden was ...
,
who was related to his mother, and would practice law in
New York City most of the rest of his life.
He lectured on law at
Columbia University (1873–4) and
New York University (1885–97).
He served on the
Board of Police Commissioners variously as counsel, a member, and president and served in various other city office and boards.
He was elected to be a judge on 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 ...
and served for fourteen years (1895–1909).
In 1887, he married Marie Mott (1854?–1946), daughter of industrialist
Jordan L. Mott
Jordan Lawrence Mott (1799 — 1866) was an American inventor and industrialist. He established the J. L. Mott Iron Works in New York City.
His father was Jacob Mott, an alderman of New York in 1804-1810 and at one time acting mayor of the city, a ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maclean, Charles Fraser
1841 births
1924 deaths
People from New Hartford, New York
People of the Franco-Prussian War
Yale University alumni
Humboldt University of Berlin
Columbia Law School faculty
New York Supreme Court Justices
American philosophy academics
American male journalists
Journalists from New York City
New York University faculty
Writers from New York City
Members of Skull and Bones