Samuel Seabury (February 22, 1873 – May 7, 1958) was an American lawyer and politician from

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

. Seabury is famous for dedicating himself to a campaign against the corrupt

Tammany Tamanend ("the Affable"; ), historically also known as Taminent, Tammany, Saint Tammany or King Tammany, was the Chief of Chiefs and Chief of the Turtle Clan of the Lenape, Lenni-Lenape nation in the Delaware Valley signing the founding peace t ...

dominance of New York City politics. He later presided over the extensive 1930–32 investigations of corruption in the New York City municipal government, which became known as the 'Seabury Hearings'. Seabury became a

Georgist Georgism, in modern times also called Geoism, and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that people should own the value that they produce themselves, while the economic rent derived from land—includ ...

after reading ''

Progress and Poverty ''Progress and Poverty: An Inquiry into the Cause of Industrial Depressions and of Increase of Want with Increase of Wealth: The Remedy'' is an 1879 book by social theorist and economist Henry George. It is a treatise on the questions of why pov ...

''.

Family

The Seabury family contained multiple Episcopal ministers including Samuel's great-great-grandfather,

Samuel Seabury Samuel Seabury (November 30, 1729February 25, 1796) was the first American Episcopal bishop, the second Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, and the first Bishop of Connecticut. He was a leading Loyalis ...

, who he was named after. This Samuel Seabury was the son of

William Jones Seabury William Jones Seabury (January 25, 1837 – August 30, 1916) was an American Episcopal priest, canon lawyer, and author. Biography William Jones Seabury was born in New York City on January 25, 1837, the son of Samuel Seabury (1801–1 ...

, professor of

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

(and himself the son of theologian

), and Alice Van Wyck Beare. On June 6, 1900, this Sam Seabury married Maud Richey (d. 1950), daughter of Episcopal priest and seminary professor Thomas Richey. They had no children.

Legal and judicial career

Seabury graduated from

New York Law School New York Law School (NYLS) is a private, American law school in the Tribeca neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City. The third oldest law school in New York City, its history predates its official founding in 1891 by Theodore William Dwight, T ...

in 1893, and was admitted to the bar in 1894. In 1899, he ran on the Independent Labor, Republican, and other minor parties', tickets for the New York City Court but was defeated by the

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...

candidate. In 1901, Seabury ran again for the City Court, this time on the

Citizens Union Citizens Union is a New York City-based good government group founded in 1897 to combat the influences of the Tammany Hall political machine. J. Pierpont Morgan, Benjamin Altman, Elihu Root, and Carl Schurz numbered among its 165 founders. In 1 ...

ticket, and was elected to a ten-year term. Seabury initially ran for a seat on the

New York City Board of Aldermen The New York City Board of Aldermen was a body that was the upper house of New York City's Common Council from 1824 to 1875, the lower house of its Municipal Assembly upon consolidation in 1898 until the charter was amended in 1901 to abolish ...

during the 1897 election, but withdrew in order to focus on supporting

Henry George Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist, Social philosophy, social philosopher and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of ...

's mayoral campaign. Seabury was elected to the

city court A city court or municipal court is a court of law with jurisdiction limited to a city or other municipality. It typically addresses "violations of city ordinances and may also have jurisdiction over minor criminal cases...and over certain civil cas ...

in 1901, being the youngest judge at age 28. In 1905, Seabury ran for the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the superior court in the Judiciary of New York. It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil ju ...

(actually a trial court) on the Municipal Ownership League ticket headed by

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...

for Mayor, but was defeated. In 1906, he ran again, this time on the Democratic and

Independence League The Independence Party, established as the Independence League, was a short-lived minor United States, American political party sponsored by newspaper publisher and politician William Randolph Hearst in 1906. The organization was the successor ...

fusion ticket headed by Hearst for Governor, and was elected to a fourteen-year term. In

1913 Events January * January – Joseph Stalin travels to Vienna to research his ''Marxism and the National Question''. This means that, during this month, Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito are all living in the city. * January 3 &ndash ...

, Seabury ran on the Progressive ticket for the

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the supreme court, highest court in the Judiciary of New York (state), Unified Court System of the New York (state), State of New York. It consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeal ...

, the state's highest court, but was defeated. The following year, he ran again, this time on the Democratic, Progressive,

, and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

tickets, and was elected to a fourteen-year term, becoming the only Democrat elected that year. On December 8, 1914, Seabury was appointed to the Court of Appeals three weeks before his elective term would begin, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of William B. Hornblower.

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

opposed incumbent Governor Charles S. Whitman and convinced Seabury to run in the 1916 gubernatorial election.

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

supported Seabury and helped him win the Democratic nomination. However, Theodore did not obtain the Progressive nomination for him, causing Seabury to state that "Mr. President, you are a blaitherskite". He also failed to receive the support of Tammany Hall. Whitman defeated Seabury in the election. TIME Magazine August 17 1931

Seabury then resumed his private law practice. Active in the

New York City Bar Association The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, commonly referred to as the New York City Bar Association (City Bar), founded in 1870, is a voluntary association of lawyers and law students. Since 1896, the organization has been headquartere ...

with

William Nelson Cromwell William Nelson Cromwell (January 17, 1854 – July 19, 1948) was an American attorney active in promotion of the Panama Canal and other major ventures especially in cooperation with Philippe Bunau-Varilla. Life and career He was born and rai ...

, Seabury succeeded Cromwell as that organization's president from 1939 to 1941. In 1930–1932, Seabury became lead investigator of the Hofstadter Committee (sometimes called the Seabury Investigations), a joint legislative committee which investigated corruption in New York's municipal courts and police department and called over a thousand witnesses. Those investigations forced

Jimmy Walker James John Walker (June 19, 1881November 18, 1946), known colloquially as Jimmy Walker and Beau James, was an American attorney, lyricist, and Democratic Party politician who served as the 97th mayor of New York City from 1926 until his resign ...

out of the office of

Mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The Mayoralty in the United States, mayor's office administers all ...

. In 1950, Seabury published ''The New Federalism'', expressing doubts about increasing governmental power.

Investigative technique

Seabury's chief counsel, Isidore Kresel, pioneered the innovative investigative technique that Seabury used in his investigations of Tammany Hall during the Seabury Commission. This technique has since become standard. Prior to this technique, an investigative commission or committee relied on interviews and public testimony from confessors to inform on decisions and outcomes of investigations. Kresel's method relied, instead, on gathering incredible amounts of facts pertaining to the investigation, including bank account documents, brokerage accounts, leases, title records, and income tax returns, and then using these documents to confront a witness during questioning.

Death and legacy

An invalid for several years, Seabury died at Hand's Nursing Home in East Hampton. In 1932, Seabury received

The Hundred Year Association of New York The Hundred Year Association of New York, founded in 1927, is a non-profit organization in New York City that recognizes and rewards dedication and service to the City of New York by businesses and organizations that have been in operation in the ...

's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York." A park was named to honor Judge Seabury. On the corner of 96th street and

Lexington Avenue Lexington Avenue, often colloquially abbreviated as "Lex", is an avenue on the East Side (Manhattan), East Side of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue carries southbound one-way traffic from East 131st Street (Manhattan), 131st Street to Gra ...

, it was renovated in 2005–2006.

References

Works cited

External links

Court of Appeals judges
at New York Court History
''Great American Judges''
by John R. Vile, Kermit Hall & John R. Vile (ABC-CLIO, 2003, , ; pages 683ff) ith portraitbr>ownership and operation of public utilities in New York City''
at the Internet Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Seabury, Samuel 1873 births 1958 deaths Politicians from New York City Judges of the New York Court of Appeals New York Supreme Court justices New York Law School alumni New York (state) Democrats New York (state) Progressives (1912) 20th-century American politicians American Party (1914) politicians Georgists Presidents of the New York City Bar Association Lawyers from New York City