George Sherman Batcheller

Background

He was born on July 25, 1837 in Batchellerville, Saratoga County, New York. His father was well-known in the county as a citizen and politician, and the family was related to Roger Sherman and to Daniel Webster.

Education

He took the degree of LL. B. at the Harvard Law School in 1857.

Career

He was admitted to the bar the following year, and began at once the practise of law in Saratoga Springs. At the unusually early age of twenty-one he was elected to the Assembly, and in the session of 1859 he was assigned to the important judiciary committee.

Enlisting in the war in the 115th New York Regiment, he rose to the rank of its lieutenant-colonel, having served in several engagements, having been taken prisoner at Harper's Ferry in 1862 and, after his exchange, having been present at the siege of Charleston. During 1863-64 he was deputy provost-marshal-general in the South. After the war he held the office of inspector-general of the New York militia in 1865-68, and in that capacity he reorganized the National Guard of the state.

One of his military duties was acting as escort to the funeral cortège as the body of Lincoln was conducted across the state of New York on the way to Illinois. He resumed the practise of law, and also his political activities, being a presidential elector for Grant in 1868, and a member of the Assembly in 1873 and 1874. In the former year he was chairman of the committee on canals and a member of the committee on militia. In the following year he retained his membership on the militia committee, and received the chairmanship of the all-important committee on ways and means.

It was undoubtedly his prominence as a politician and lawyer which led President Grant to appoint him as United States judge in the newly created International Tribunal for the legal administration of Egypt. These "Mixed Tribunals, " composed of both foreigners and natives, had jurisdiction in cases between foreigners of different nationalities (in certain contingencies also, when foreigners of the same nationality were involved), and in cases between foreigners and natives. They commenced to function in 1876, and Batcheller was soon chosen by his colleagues as the presiding justice.

He resigned the position in 1885 and in the year following was again a member of the New York Assembly, serving on the important committees of ways and means, general laws, and military affairs. President Harrison appointed him assistant secretary of the treasury in 1889 and minister to Portugal in 1891. From 1893 he acted as manager of the European interests of various American companies, and in 1897 he was called to preside over the Universal Postal Congress. He was returned to the International Tribunal (his last office) in 1898, at the request of the Egyptian government. President Roosevelt promoted him in 1902 to the Tribunal's court of appeals, and ultimately he became president of that body. His acquaintance with Mohammedan law was evinced in two articles on the subject which he contributed to the North American Review for July 1906 and August 1907. The regard in which he was held in Egypt was shown at the time of Mrs. Batcheller's death by unusual courtesies on the part of the Khedive. His death occurred in Paris.

Achievements

• He was Grand Officer of the Order of The Medjidie, and was decorated with the cross and insignia of the Order of the Crown of Italy.

Connections

On October 8, 1860, he was married to Catherine Phillips Cook.

Father:

Sherman Batcheller

Mother:

Mary (Noyes) Batcheller

Wife:

Catherine Phillips Cook

References

• Who's Who in America 1908-1909