William Edward Werner (April 19, 1855 in Buffalo,

Erie County, New York Erie County is a county along the shore of Lake Erie in western New York State. As of the 2020 census, the population was 954,236. The county seat is Buffalo, which makes up about 28% of the county's population. Both the county and Lake Erie w ...

– March 1, 1916 in

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Monroe County, New York Monroe County is a county in the Finger Lakes region of the State of New York. The county is along Lake Ontario's southern shore. At the 2020 census, Monroe County's population was 759,443, an increase since the 2010 census. Its county seat an ...

) was an American lawyer and politician from

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Biography

He was the son of Peter Werner and Margaret Werner, who had come to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In 1877, he removed to Rochester, and studied law in the offices of William H. Bowman, and later Dennis C. Feely. He was admitted to the bar in 1880. He was elected on the Republican ticket Special County Judge of Monroe County in 1884, was re-elected in 1887, and in 1889 was elected County Judge. He 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 ...

(7th District) from 1895 to 1904, elected on the Republican and Democratic tickets. In 1900, he was one of the first three additional judges designatedA "designation" is an appointment by the Governor which does not require confirmation by the State Senate. to the

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six Associate Judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by t ...

under the constitutional amendment of 1899. In

1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world's f ...

, he ran on the

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 ...

ticket for a regular seat on the

but was defeated by the incumbent Democrat

John Clinton Gray John Clinton Gray (December 4, 1843 – June 28, 1915) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. Early life Gray was born on December 4, 1843 in New York City. He was the son of wholesale dry goods dealer John Alexander Clinton G ...

. In

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...

, he ran again, this time in a cross-endorsement deal alongside Democrat Edgar M. Cullen on both the Republican and the Democratic tickets, and was elected. In

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos (1913), Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not ven ...

, he ran on the Republican ticket for

Chief Judge A chief judge (also known as presiding judge, president judge or principal judge) is the highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. According to the Federal judiciary of the United States, th ...

, but was defeated by Democrat

Willard Bartlett Willard Bartlett (October 14, 1846 – January 17, 1925) was an American jurist. He was Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals. Biography Bartlett was born in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, the son of William Osborne Bartlett and Agnes E. H. Wil ...

. Werner remained on the bench as an associate judge and died in office. He suffered from

pernicious anaemia Pernicious anemia is a type of Vitamin B12 deficiency, vitamin B12 deficiency anemia, a disease in which not enough red blood cells are produced due to the malabsorption of Vitamin B12, vitamin B12. Malabsorption in pernicious anemia results fr ...

, and on February 9, 1916, had his

spleen The spleen is an organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The word spleen comes .

removed. He died a few weeks later at the General Hospital in Rochester after

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...

developed. He was buried at the

Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, Monroe County, New York, founded in 1838, is the first municipal cemetery in the United States. It is the burial site of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass. Situated on of land adjacent to the University of ...

Notes

Sources

Court of Appeals judges
at New York Court History
''GOVERNOR NAMES JUDGES''
in NYT on January 2, 1900
''The William E. Werner Collection''
with Bio, at Rochester Library
''JUDGE WERNER DIES AFTER AN OPERATION''
in NYT on March 2, 1916
''FUNERAL OF JUDGE WERNER''
in NYT on March 4, 1916 {{DEFAULTSORT:Werner, William Edward 1855 births 1916 deaths Politicians from Rochester, New York Politicians from Buffalo, New York Judges of the New York Court of Appeals New York Supreme Court Justices New York (state) Republicans Lawyers from Buffalo, New York Lawyers from Rochester, New York 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers