Cuthbert Winfred Pound (June 20, 1864 – February 3, 1935,

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

Tompkins County, New York Tompkins County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 105,740. The county seat is Ithaca. The name is in honor of Daniel D. Tompkins, who served as Governor of New York and Vice President ...

) was an American lawyer and politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He was Chief Judge of 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 ...

from 1932 to 1934.

Life

He was born on June 20, 1864, in Lockport,

Niagara County, New York Niagara County is in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 212,666. The county seat is Lockport. The county name is from the Iroquois word ''Onguiaahra''; meaning ''the strait'' or ''thunder of waters''. Niag ...

, the son of Alexander Pound and Almina (Whipple) Pound. He was educated at Lockport High School; and graduated from

Cornell Law School Cornell Law School is the law school of Cornell University, a private Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. One of the five Ivy League law schools, it offers four law degree programs, JD, LLM, MSLS and JSD, along with several dual-deg ...

in 1887. While a student, Pound was a member of the

Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active colonies across North America. It was founded at Yale College in 1844 by fifteen ...

fraternity. He studied law in the office of his brother John Pound (died 1904), was admitted to the bar in 1886, and practiced law in Lockport in partnership with his brother. Headstone of Cuthbert Pound Jun 09

Pound was 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 ...

member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

(29th D.) in 1894 and 1895. Afterwards he moved to

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...

and became a Law Professor at Cornell from 1895 to 1904. In June 1900, he was appointed by Governor

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

to the New York State Civil Service Commission, and remained in office until 1904. In 1903, his 11-year-old son Cuthbert W. Pound Jr. shot himself dead accidentally with a Flobert rifle. Governor

Frank W. Higgins Frank Wayland Higgins (August 18, 1856February 12, 1907) was an American politician who served as the 35th Governor of New York. Early life Higgins was born in Rushford, New York on August 18, 1856. He was the son of Orrin Thrall Higgins (1826 ...

chose Pound as Legal Adviser to the Governor, to take office on January 1, 1905, and in May 1906, appointed him to 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 ...

, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Henry A. Childs. In November 1906, Pound was elected to a 14-year term to succeed himself. On August 3, 1915, he was designated a judge of the

under the Amendment of 1899 to replace

Nathan Lewis Miller Nathan Lewis Miller (October 10, 1868 – June 26, 1953) was an American lawyer and politician who was Governor of New York from 1921 to 1922. Early life and education Nathan Miller was born on October 10, 1868, the son of Samuel Miller, a te ...

who had resigned. In November 1916, he was elected on the Republican and Progressive tickets to a 14-year term on the Court of Appeals, and was re-elected in

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

. On March 8, 1932, he was appointed 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 ...

as Chief Judge to succeed

Benjamin N. Cardozo Benjamin Nathan Cardozo (May 24, 1870 – July 9, 1938) was an American lawyer and jurist who served on the New York Court of Appeals from 1914 to 1932 and as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1932 until his dea ...

who had been appointed to the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. In

November 1932 The following events occurred in November 1932: November 1, 1932 (Tuesday) *The Liberal Party won mid-term parliamentary elections in Cuba. *Police in London clashed with National Hunger Marchers trying to present a petition to parliament aga ...

, he was elected to succeed himself, and retired from the bench at the end of 1934 when he reached the constitutional age limit of 70 years. He was member of the

Board of Trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

from 1913 until his death. He died on February 3, 1935, in Ithaca; and was buried at the Cold Springs Cemetery in Lockport.

References

Sources

Appointed to the Civil Service Commission, in NYT on June 12, 1900

His son's death, in NYT on June 5, 1903

Appointed Counsel to the Governor, in NYT on December 22, 1904

Appointed to NY Supreme Court, in NYT on May 29, 1906

Appointed to the Court of Appeals, in NYT on August 4, 1915 (Note: "Designation" is an appointment which does not require confirmation by the State Senate)

Election result in NYT on November 9, 1916

Appointed Chief Judge, in NYT on March 9, 1932

Listing of Court of Appeals judges, with portrait

Portrait with link to biography
''10,000 Famous Freemasons from K to Z''
by William R. Denslow & Harry S. Truman, Kessinger Publishing, 2004, , ; page 360)
''Great American Judges: An Encyclopedia''
by John R. Vile (ABC-CLIO, 2003, , ; page 630) , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Pound, Cuthbert W. 1864 births 1935 deaths Chief Judges of the New York Court of Appeals Cornell University alumni New York (state) Progressives (1912) 20th-century American politicians Republican Party New York (state) state senators New York Supreme Court Justices Politicians from Ithaca, New York Politicians from Lockport, New York