George E. Brower was an American jurist who was a justice of 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 ...

, Kings County District Attorney, and a member of the New York State Athletic Commission.

Early life

Brower was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. His father, George V. Brower was president of the Brooklyn parks commission before Brooklyn was consolidated into New York City. He graduated from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

in 1898 and

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

in 1901. After he was admitted to the bar, Brower joined his father and brother at the firm of Brower, Brower, & Brower.

New York State Athletic Commission

In 1923, Brower was appointed to the New York State Athletic Commission by Governor

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928. The son of an Irish-American mother and a C ...

. In 1924 he was elected chairman of the board. That year, Brower planned two tournaments - one for the featherweight title vacated by Johnny Dundee and another to determine the number one contender for

Benny Leonard Benny Leonard (born Benjamin Leiner; April 7, 1896 – April 18, 1947) was a Jewish American professional boxer who held the world lightweight championship for eight years, from 1917 to 1925. Widely considered one of the all-time greats, he was r ...

's lightweight championship. He was succeeded as chairman by James Farley in 1925, but chose to remain on the commission. The first major act of the Farley-led commission was to demand that world heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey defend his title against African-American

Harry Wills Harry may refer to: TV shows *Harry (American TV series), ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin *Harry (British TV series), ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons *Harry ...

. Brower publicly supported Wills and stated that he would vote in favor of stripping Dempsey of his title, but in 1926 he and

William Muldoon William A. Muldoon (May 25, 1845 – June 3, 1933) was the Greco-Roman Wrestling Champion, a physical culturist and the first chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission. He once wrestled a match that lasted over seven hours. Nicknamed "Th ...

voted to allow Dempsey to fight Gene Tunney instead of Wills.

District attorney

On December 30, 1929, Brower was appointed Kings County District Attorney by Governor

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. He succeeded

Charles J. Dodd Charles John Dodd ( – July 24, 1947) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge from New York. Life Dodd was born circa 1873 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the son of James Dodd, a sea captain and Elizabeth Hughes, an Irish immigrant from Du ...

, who had been appointed to the New York Supreme Court. Brower's appointment was backed by

John H. McCooey John Henry McCooey (June 18, 1864 – January 21, 1934) was an American politician who was a political boss in the Democratic Party political machine of Brooklyn. McCooey served as chair of the Kings County Democratic Party from 1910 until hi ...

political boss of the Democratic political machine in Brooklyn. During his tenure as Brooklyn's District Attorney, Brower's office investigated an alleged Protection racket perpetrated against laundry owners and the disappearance of wealthy boarding housekeeper Eugenie Cedarholm. In August 1930, McCooey and the Brooklyn Democratic executive committee selected Brower's chief deputy William F. X. Geoghan as the party's nominee for district attorney. McCooey wanted Brower to instead challenge 14 term Republican

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for his seat on the state supreme court. However, that September Cropsey won the Democratic nomination unopposed, with Brower delivering a speech for the judge at the party convention.

Supreme Court

In 1931, the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...

created twelve new Supreme Court seats and as part of a bipartisan agreement, Brower was appointed to one of the five new judgeships in Kings County. During his first years on the bench, Brower's principal duty was to oversee the liquidation, rehabilitation, and reorganization of bankrupt mortgage companies. He also ruled on mortgage reorganization proposals for 19 Rector Street and the

Hotel Bossert The Hotel Bossert is a historic hotel in Brooklyn, New York. Opened in 1909, it was bought by the Jehovah's Witnesses in 1983 and used by them until 2012, when it was sold for conversion back to a hotel. The conversion work has stalled multiple tim ...

, presided over the guardianship hearing of

Edwin Markham Edwin Markham (born Charles Edward Anson Markham; April 23, 1852 – March 7, 1940) was an American poet. From 1923 to 1931 he was Poet Laureate of Oregon. Life Edwin Markham was born in Oregon City, Oregon, and was the youngest of 10 children; ...

, and served as a witness to the execution of

Lepke Buchalter Louis Buchalter, known as Louis Lepke or Lepke Buchalter, (February 6, 1897March 4, 1944) was an American mobster and head of the Mafia hit squad Murder, Inc., during the 1930s. Buchalter was one of the premier labor racketeers in New York Cit ...

. He left the bench in 1945 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.

Personal life

On October 9, 1936, Brower married Marian Willetts Brower, his brother's widow. They had two children and Brower was the stepfather to a son from Willetts' first marriage. Brower died on August 25, 1961, at his home in Roslyn, New York. He was 87 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brower, George E. 1961 deaths Kings County District Attorneys Lawyers from Brooklyn New York (state) Democrats New York State Athletic Commissioners New York Supreme Court Justices People from Roslyn, New York Princeton University alumni Yale Law School alumni