Josiah Cohen (29 November 1840 – 11 June 1930) was an American lawyer and judge.

Biography

Josiah Cohen was born in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family long settled in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, and immigrated to the United States in 1857. In 1860 he entered upon the duties of teacher in the school of the

Rodef Shalom Congregation Rodef Shalom Congregation is a National Register of Historic Places landmark in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, designed by architect Henry Hornbostel. Located on Fifth Avenue on the border of the Oakland and Shadyside neighborhoods, it houses Cong ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, and continued that vocation until 1866, when he was admitted to the bar of

Allegheny County Allegheny County () is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's seco ...

. He was chairman of the Allegheny County Republican executive committee, and, in 1884, one of the members of the presidential election board for Pennsylvania. In 1901 he was appointed judge of the county's

orphans' court A probate court (sometimes called a surrogate court) is a court that has competence in a jurisdiction to deal with matters of probate and the administration of estates. In some jurisdictions, such courts may be referred to as Orphans' Courts o ...

. Cohen was affiliated with most of the local and national Jewish organizations, being a founder and member of the executive committee of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, and president of District Lodge No. 3, Independent Order B'nai B'rith, and of its court of appeals. He was elected as vice-president of B'nai B'rith in the United States in 1884. Cohen was also a life-member of the board of trustees of the

Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh are four museums that are operated by the Carnegie Institute headquartered in the Carnegie Institute complex in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Carnegie Institute complex, which includes th ...

. At the time of his death in 1930 he was the second oldest active jurist in the country, after Oliver Wendell Holmes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Josiah 1840 births 1930 deaths 20th-century American judges English emigrants to the United States Jewish American attorneys Lawyers from Pittsburgh