Henry Joel Scudder (September 18, 1825 – February 10, 1886) was a

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from New York.

Early life

Born in Northport. He was the son of Henry Scudder (1778–1863) and Elizabeth ( née Hewlett) Scudder (1792–1870). His paternal grandparents were Henry Scudder (1743–1822), of Crab Meadow in Long Island, and Phebe Carll Scudder (1743–1821). His nephew,

Townsend Scudder Townsend Scudder (July 26, 1865 – February 22, 1960) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served two non-consecutive terms as a United States representative from New York around the turn of the 20th century Biography Born in ...

(July–1960), was a judge and also a U.S. Representative from New York. His maternal grandfather was Divine Hewlett. Scudder was descended from Thomas Scudder, who immigrated to

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

, from

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

in 1630, and was related to fellow U.S. Congressmen

Tredwell Scudder Tredwell Scudder (January 1, 1778 – October 31, 1834) was a U.S. Representative from New York. Career Town supervisor of Islip in 1795, 1796, and 1804–1815. He served as member of the State assembly in 1802, 1810, 1811, 1814, and 1815. Scu ...

. He attended the district school and Huntington Academy. He graduated from

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1846.

Career

Following his graduation from Trinity, he studied law, was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1848 and practiced in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. In 1854, he founded the law firm of Scudder & Carter, which is now known as Carter Ledyard & Milburn. He was commissioned captain in the Thirty-seventh Regiment of the New York National Guard in 1862 and served throughout the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. Scudder was elected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the Forty-third Congress, holding office from March 4, 1873, to March 3, 1875. While in Congress, he was assigned to the

Committee on War Claims A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1874 and was a trustee of Trinity College for over twenty years. He resumed the practice of law in New York City, where he was principal counsel for the Standard Oil Company. In 1876, he was a candidate for Judge of the Superior Court of New York. In 1884, the Republicans of Suffolk County again tried to persuade Scudder to accept the nomination for Judge.

Personal life

On June 21, 1853, Scudder was married to Louisa Henrietta Davies (1834–1864), the daughter of Prof. Charles Davies of the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

. Together, they were the parents of: * Henry Townsend Scudder (1854–1937), a Reverend who was married to Margaret Mott Weeks (1863–1933), the daughter of Jacob Mott Weeks. * Charles Davies Scudder (1856–1892), a physician in New York City who married Louisa Wardner Evarts (1861–1937), the daughter of former Senator

William M. Evarts William Maxwell Evarts (February 6, 1818February 28, 1901) was an American lawyer and statesman from New York who served as U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Senator from New York. He was renowned for his skills as a li ...

, in 1883. * Edward Mansfield Scudder (1858–1944), a Trinity graduate who was also a lawyer and died unmarried. * Mary English Scudder (1859–1882), who died unmarried at age 22. * Elizabeth Scudder (1861–1865), who died young. After his first wife's death, he remarried to Emma Willard (1835–1893) in 1866. Emma was the daughter of John Hart Willard (1810–1883) and a granddaughter of

Emma Willard Emma Hart Willard (February 23, 1787 – April 15, 1870) was an American woman's education activist who dedicated her life to education. She worked in several schools and founded the first school for women's higher education, the Emma Willard S ...

, who founded the

Emma Willard School The Emma Willard School, originally called Troy Female Seminary and often referred to simply as Emma, is an independent university-preparatory day and boarding school for young women, located in Troy, New York, on Mount Ida, offering grades 9– ...

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany ...

. Together, they were the parents of six children, including: * Willard Scudder (1868–1936), a teacher at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. * Louisa H. Scudder (c. 1868), who died young. * Heyward Scudder (1870–1917), a

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

graduate in Medicine who died unmarried. * Emma Willard Scudder (1871–1944), who attended the N.Y. School of Applied Design for Women and married Dr. Edward Loughborough Keyes (1873–1948), the son of Dr. Edward Lawrence Keyes and grandson of Gen. Erasmus D. Keyes, in 1898. * Hewlett Scudder (1875–1942), a

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

graduate who studied technical engineering at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. Scudder died at his residence on East 22nd Street on February 10, 1886, in New York City. He was buried in the family cemetery at Northport. His funeral, held at Calvary Church in New York, was attended by

Joseph Hodges Choate Joseph Hodges Choate (January 24, 1832 – May 14, 1917) was an American lawyer and diplomat. Choate was associated with many of the most famous litigations in American legal history, including the Kansas prohibition cases, the Chinese exclusi ...

, Sen.

, Mayor Grace, ex- Chief Justice Charles P. Daly, William Allen Butler,

James C. Carter James Coolidge Carter (October 14, 1827 – February 14, 1905) was a New York City lawyer, a partner in the firm that eventually became Carter Ledyard & Milburn, which he helped found in 1854. Early life Carter was born on October 14, 1827 in La ...

, Aaron J. Vanderpoel, Elihu Root,

Elbridge Thomas Gerry Elbridge Thomas Gerry (December 25, 1837 – February 18, 1927), usually called "Commodore" Gerry due to the office he held with the New York Yacht Club from 1886 to 1892, was an American lawyer and reformer who was the grandson of U.S. Vice P ...

, Col. George Bliss, Benjamin H. Bristow, and

Clarence A. Seward Clarence may refer to: Places Australia * Clarence County, New South Wales, a Cadastral division * Clarence, New South Wales, a place near Lithgow * Clarence River (New South Wales) * Clarence Strait (Northern Territory) * City of Clarence, a loca ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scudder, Henry 1825 births 1886 deaths Politicians from Suffolk County, New York New York (state) lawyers Union Army officers Trinity College (Connecticut) alumni Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) People from Northport, New York 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American lawyers