Addison Brown was born on February 21, 1830 at West Newbury, Massachusetts and came of Puritan stock. His father, Addison Brown, tracing his descent from the earliest settlers in Massachusetts, and his mother, Catharine Babson (Griffin) Brown, having among her ancestors Rev. John Rogers, president of Harvard in 1682, and Thomas Dudley, second governor of Massachusetts.
His early education having been obtained privately at Bradford, Massachussets, Addison entered Amherst College in 1848, but proceeded to Harvard in 1849, where he graduated in 1852, being placed second in his class, which included Joseph H. Choate. The following year he entered the Harvard Law School, graduated LL. B. in 1854, and was admitted to the New York bar in 1855.
Addison Brown practised law in New York City for twenty-six years, acquiring a good connection, though he was never identified with any outstanding litigation. He was appointed United States district judge for the southern district of New York by President Garfield June 2, 1881, during a recess of the Senate, and the appointment was repeated by President Arthur the same year.
Remaining on the bench for over twenty years, he acquired a high reputation as a judge in the particular class of cases which chiefly came before him, i. e. , those involving bankruptcy and admiralty law, and in professional circles was considered as perhaps the finest admiralty lawyer who ever occupied the position. Most of his opinions are reported in 8-115 Federal Reporter.
The outstanding incident of his judicial career was his refusal in 1895 to issue an extradition order in the case of Charles A. Dana, whom it was sought to have removed from New York to Washington for trial on a charge of libeling the United States government. Prompted by failing health he retired from the bench September 3, 1901.
In 1902 he prepared and published Index Digest of Decisions of Hon. Addison Brown, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York, 1881-1901. Thenceforward he lived a somewhat retired life till his death, which occurred in New York City. He died in New York, New York. He is interred in a grandiose sarcophagus at Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, New York.
(Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)
( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
Throughout his life he was deeply interested in scientific investigation, and an address delivered by him in 1891 before the New York Scientific Alliance on "The Need of Endowments for Scientific Research and Publication" was published by the Smithsonian Institution.
Brown was a member of the Torrey Botanical Club of New York and was an active member for many years, serving as president from 1893 - 1905.
Addison Brown was an enthusiastic student of botany, on which subject he was widely recognized as an authority.
Addison Brown was married twice: in 1856 to Mary C. Barrett, who died in 1887, and in 1893 to Helen Carpenter Gaskin.
