James Levi Bennett (April 8, 1849 – January 30, 1918) was an American lawyer from New York.

Life

Bennett was born on April 8, 1849, in

Durhamville, New York Durhamville is a hamlet located in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 584 as of the 2010 census. The Hamlet of Durhamville is in the southern part of the county and is approximately 1.75 miles north of Oneida on Route 46 ...

, the son of William H. Bennett and Elizabeth A. Thompson. Bennett attended Oneida Academy. He graduated from Hamilton College in 1871, and received an LL.B. from there in 1872. He was also admitted to the bar that year. In 1873, he was appointed Assistant District Attorney of Onondaga County. He studied law in the law office of M. J. Shoecraft of

Oneida Oneida may refer to: Native American/First Nations * Oneida people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy * Oneida language * Oneida Indian Nation, based in New York * Oneida Na ...

and Irving G. Vann. In 1874, he became a member of the Oneida law firm Shoecraft, Bennett & Tuttle. In 1882, he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, followed by

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 ...

shortly afterwards. An active member of the Democratic Party, Bennett served as chairman of several State conventions. In 1894, President Cleveland appointed him

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York is the chief federal law enforcement officer in five New York (state), New York counties: Kings County, New York, Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, Richmond County, New York, Richmond (State ...

. After he retired from the office, he resumed his law practice. His law office was at 100 Broadway. In 1885, Bennett married Emma M. Wilson of Frankfort. They had a son, Dwight H. He was a member of the

New York County Lawyers' Association The New York County Lawyers Association (NYCLA) is a bar association located in New York City. The New York County Lawyers Association was founded in 1908 because the existing bar association excluded some lawyers from membership due to their ra ...

, the Union League, and

Alpha Delta Phi Alpha Delta Phi (), commonly known as Alpha Delt, ADPhi, A-Delt, or ADP, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. Alpha Delta Phi was originally founded as a literary society by Samuel Eells in 1832 at Hamilton College in Cli ...

. He was a Unitarian. Bennett died of heart trouble on the 181st Street station platform while on his way to see a client in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

on January 30, 1918. He was buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Oneida.

References

External links

*
The Political Graveyard
'
James L. Bennett
at ''

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'' 1849 births 1918 deaths People from Oneida County, New York Hamilton College (New York) alumni People from Onondaga County, New York People from Oneida, New York Lawyers from Brooklyn 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century American lawyers United States Attorneys for the Eastern District of New York New York (state) Democrats American Unitarians {{US-law-bio-stub