Background

Charles Patrick Daly was born on October 31, 1816 in New York City, New York, United States. He was of pure Irish descent, his parents emigrated from Galway in 1814 and settled in New York City.

Education

His family was poor and his early education was scanty, when his father died he had to leave school and earn his own living

Career

Daly obtained a clerkship in Savannah, Georgia, but ran away and shipped as cabin boy on a trading vessel. He spent three years at sea before the mast, being present at Algiers in 1830 when the French captured that town.

He then returned to New York City and was apprenticed to a master carpenter. He joined a literary society, where his abilities attracted attention and subsequently led to his entering a law office in 1836. In 1839 he was admitted to the bar, the seven-year term of studentship being waived in his case on account of his brilliant showing, and he at once commenced practise in New York City. He had already interested himself in politics as an adherent of the Democratic party, was known as an effective platform speaker, and in a short time acquired a reputation as a successful advocate and sound lawyer.

In 1843 he was elected to the New York Assembly and here distinguished himself by his able handling of the legislation dealing with the escheat of the Leake and Watts asylum trust. He was then offered the party nomination for Congress but declined, preferring law to politics.

Immediately afterward, he was appointed a judge of the court of common pleas of the City of New York, and took his seat on the bench May 4, 1844, being then twenty-eight years old. Though his appointment did not please Tammany Hall, he remained a member of the court for nearly forty-two years, being chosen for four consecutive terms after the position was made elective. For the last twenty- seven years of this period he was chief justice. A notable instance of his characteristics occurred in 1849, after the Astor Place Riots, when seven persons were indicted for complicity in the rioting.

Public sentiment was strong in their favor, the prevailing opinion being that occasional riots were safety valves and that a conviction for rioting was impossible. Daly presided at the trial, laid down the law applicable to riots in firm, unmistakable language, and upon the jury rendering a verdict of guilty, imposed heavy sentences, totally oblivious to popular clamor and hostile demonstrations.

Two important decisions taken in the course of the war were directly due to his advice. In 1861, when members of the crew of the Confederate privateer Jefferson Davis were tried, convicted and sentenced to be hanged as pirates, he pointed out the inadvisability of such a course in view of inevitable retaliation, and urged that they be treated as prisoners of war—which was subsequently done. His intervention in the case of Mason and Slidell was, from the international standpoint, of outstanding importance. He advised Secretary Seward that in view of a decision of Chief Justice Marshall’s, the seizure of the Confederate envoys could not possibly be justified, and recommended their surrender. William M. Evarts did not agree with him, but the government followed his advice. His opinions are contained in Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of Common Pleas for the City and County of New York (16 vols. , 1866 - 92), covering the period 1859-91, which were prepared by him and are generally known as “Daly’s Cases. ”

He retired from the bench by reason of the age limitation, on December 31, 1885, and though he subsequently opened a law office in New York City, did little afterward except in the capacity of advising counsel. His last years were spent principally in study and writing. After his elevation to the bench he seldom participated in public affairs, the principal exception being in 1867 when he was a delegate to the New York constitutional convention of that year. However, he did not take a very prominent part in the discussions.

Achievements

• Daly was a member of the New York State Assembly, Chief Justice of the New York Court of Common Pleas, president of the American Geographical Society, and an author of several books.

Works

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  • The Settlement of the Jews in North America

    (The Settlement of the Jews in North America (this pre-192...)

  • First Theater in America: When Was the Drama First Introduced in America?

    (Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

  • Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of Common Pleas for the City and County of New York, Volume 5

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of Common Pleas for the City and County of New York, Volume 15

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • Daly's Common Pleas Reports, Volume 2

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • Magazine Publishing Industry, The: (Part of the Allyn & Bacon Series in Mass Communication)

    (A complete, insider's guide to the magazine industry, for...)

  • Daly's Common Pleas Reports, Volume 16

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • Gulian C. Verplanck; His Ancestry, Life, and Character: Delivered Before the Century Club, April 9, 1870 (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Gulian C. Verplanck; His Ancestry, Life, and...)

  • A Commoner's Judge: The Life And Times Of Charles Patrick Daly
  • Barratry: Its Origin, History and Meaning, in the Maritime Laws (Classic Reprint)

Politics

During the Civil War, though a Democrat, he supported the administration whole-heartedly, and was consulted on a number of occasions by President Lincoln and his cabinet.

Personality

Daly exhibited sanity and detachment from predilection or prejudice throughout his judicial career, his opinions were invariably developed with the utmost care and based upon exhaustive study of the ultimate sources of the law and displayed an erudition which was astonishing in view of his early lack of education.

As a judge he was distinguished by one peculiar failing. When presiding at trials or hearing motions he was a most patient and attentive listener, saying little, but in the appellate branch of the court it was impossible to make a continuous and connected argument before him because of his talkativeness. On appeal he apparently believed “that the colloquial style of argument was the most effective”.

Interests

• From his seafaring days lie had evinced intense interest in the science of geography and for more than thirty-five years was president of the American Geographical Society, contributing to its Proceedings valuable papers.
  
  In addition, he was an enthusiastic student of the drama, and his library contained a remarkable collection of works on Shakespeare and other dramatic literature. He wrote voluminously, more particularly on the historical aspects of law and judicial institutions, wherein his extensive research and powers of exposition were displayed to great advantage.