Frederic Palen Schoonmaker (March 11, 1870 – September 5, 1945) was 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 Pennsylvania The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, W.D. Pa.) is a federal trial court that sits in Pittsburgh, Erie, and Johnstown, Pennsylvania. It is composed of ten judges as authorized by federal ...

Education and career

Born in

Limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

, New York, Schoonmaker received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

in 1891 and read law to enter the bar in 1894. He was in private practice in Bradford,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

from 1894 to 1913. He was a captain in the

Pennsylvania National Guard The Pennsylvania National Guard is one of the oldest and largest National Guards in the United States Department of Defense. It traces its roots to 1747 when Benjamin Franklin established the Associators in Philadelphia. With more than 18,000 pe ...

from 1912 to 1917, and was a lieutenant colonel in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

from 1917 to 1919. He returned to private practice in Bradford from 1919 to 1923.

Federal judicial service

On December 20, 1922, Schoonmaker was nominated by President

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...

to a new seat on the

created by 42 Stat. 837. 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 pow ...

on December 22, 1922, and received his commission the same day. Schoonmaker served in that capacity until his death on September 5, 1945.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schoonmaker, Frederic Palen 1870 births 1945 deaths Cornell University alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania United States district court judges appointed by Warren G. Harding 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers United States Army colonels United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law Pennsylvania National Guard personnel United States Army personnel of World War I People from Cattaraugus County, New York Pennsylvania lawyers