David Murray Hoffman

Background

David Murray Hoffman was born on September 29, 1791 in New York City, New York, United States. He was the second son of Martin and Beulah (Murray) Hoffman. His first ancestor in America was another Martin Hoffman, born at Revel, on the Gulf of Finland, who emigrated to New York in 1657. His father was a prominent New York merchant and auctioneer, and a brother of Josiah Ogden Hoffman.

Education

Murray Hoffman, as he came to be known, attended Columbia College, where he was graduated in 1809.

Career

In 1811 Hoffman was admitted to the bar. His first work, The Office and Duties of Masters in Chancery and Practice in the Master's Office, which appeared in 1824, received the enthusiastic indorsement of Chancellor Kent and Thomas Addis Emmet, and revealed an extensive knowledge of English legal history. This work was supplemented ten years later by A Treatise upon the Practice of the Court of Chancery, in which the author, confessing his admiration for the work of Lord Redesdale, aimed to produce a volume, more extensive than a mere digest, and founded upon current judicial practice. Therein Hoffman emphasized the obligation of resorting to the English chancery authorities in cases not provided for by statute or by the written rules of the court. This inclusive interpretation of the "common law of England" was to have a profound influence upon the course of chancery practice in New York. While looking to the English system for precedents, Hoffman nevertheless favored judicial reforms which would eliminate many attendant evils. In his Provisional Remedies of the Code of Procedure (1862), and The Law and Practice as to References, and the Powers and Duties of Referees (1875), he contributed pioneer commentaries on the New York code revision.

Hoffman's appointment in 1839 as assistant vice-chancellor, which office he held until 1843, was well merited. Ten years later he was made judge of the superior court of New York City, remaining on that bench until 1861.

One of the most important decisions which he rendered in that capacity was in People vs. Hoym, where, reviewing colonial and state legislation in relation to Sabbath observance, he ruled that the statutory Sabbath restrictions rested "upon the principle of the preservation of good order and the public morality and peace. "

In 1853, supplementing the work of Kent in this field, Hoffman published A Treatise upon the Estate and Rights of the Corporation of the City of New York as Proprietors, which he prefaced with a careful account of the historical origin of the municipal institutions, including a defense of the validity of the Montgomerie Charter of 1732. He devoted much time to a study and analysis of the Protestant Episcopal Church law, which bore fruit in a Treatise on the Law of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States (1850), containing a valuable survey of the problem of the Anglican episcopate in the American colonies; Ecclesiastical Law in the State of New York (1868); and The Ritual Law of the Church (1872).

Hoffman died in 1878 in Flushing, Queens, New York.

Achievements

• While the state reports testify to the extent of his practice and his breadth of scholarship, it was not as a lawyer but as a jurist and legal commentator that he attained greatest distinction. In the fields of equity, municipal law, and canon law Hoffman produced a large number of scholarly treatises, including texts, commentaries on practice, and digests which were regarded as standard authorities. His efforts, both as jurist and commentator, in the field of chancery procedure and practice in New York, were especially successful.

Works

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  • The Provisional Remedies of the Code of Procedure

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

  • A Treatise Upon the Estate and Rights of the Corporation of the City of New York, as Proprietors

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

  • Ecclesiastical Law in the State of New York by Murray Hoffman

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

Religion

Hoffman was an active layman of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

Connections

Hoffman was twice married and was the father of nine children. His first wife, Frances Amelia Burrall, whom he married on December 16, 1817, was the mother of Wickham Hoffman. She died in 1833, and on April 18, 1837, he was married to Mary Murray Ogden.

Father:

Martin Hoffman

Mother:

Beulah (Murray) Hoffman

Spouse:

Frances Amelia (Burrall) Hoffman

Spouse:

Mary Murray (Ogden) Hoffman

Brother:

Lindley Murray Hoffman

Brother:

Martin Hoffman Jr.

Sister:

Anna Maria (Hoffman) Livingston

Son:

Burrall Hoffman

Son:

Wickham Hoffman