Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of Appeals of the State of New York Volume 16
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This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923....)
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections
such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact,
or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections,
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Commentaries On American Law, Volume 1; American Constitutional And Legal History Series; Commentaries On American Law; James Kent; Era Of The American Revolution
11, reprint
James Kent, George Franklin Comstock
Da Capo Press, 1867
Law; General; Law; Law - United States; Law / General; Law / Jurisprudence; Law / Legal History
Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of Appeals of the State of New York Volume 28
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This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for kindle devices. We have endeavoured to create this version as close to the original artefact as possible. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we believe they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
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such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact,
or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections,
have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works
worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
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Commentaries On American Law, Volume 2; Commentaries On American Law; James Kent
11
James Kent, George Franklin Comstock
Little, Brown, and company, 1866
Law; General; Law; Law / General; Law / Jurisprudence; Law / Legal History
Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of Appeals of the State of New York Volume 15
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George Franklin Comstock was an American jurist. He served as a Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals from 1855 to 1861.
Background
George Franklin Comstock was the son of Scrajah Comstock, a native of Litchfield, Connecticut, who, after serving through the Revolutionary War, settled on a farm near Williamstown, Oswego County, New York, United States. Here George Franklin was born on August 24, 1811.
Education
Comstock's education at the district school was scanty and at the age of fourteen when his father died, he had to earn his own living. He taught school, attended Ellisburg Academy in Jefferson County for a short time, and by heroic measures saved sufficient money to enter Union College, Schenectady, April 28, 1832, where he graduated with high honors in 1834. He then obtained a position as classical instructor in a private school at Utica, studying law at the same time, but shortly after moved to Syracuse, New York, where he entered the law office of Noxon and Leavenworth, also engaging in private tuition in order to pay his way. He was admitted to the bar in 1837. In 1856, Union College conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws on him.
Career
In 1847 Comstock was appointed reporter of the New York court of appeals—being the first to occupy that position—and acted as such for three years, publishing Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of Appeals of the State of New York. In 1850 President Fillmore nominated him solicitor for the treasury, but he held the position only a few months, retiring with the change of administration. He had always been a consistent Whig and was nominated by that party and elected a judge of the state court of appeals, November 6, 1855. He held office till December 31, 1861, being chief justice during the last two years of his term, but on seeking reelection lost in the Republican sweep of that time. His professional contemporaries pronounced him a great judge and posterity has confirmed the verdict. He was not “safe” in the sense of adhering to formula and he was original inasmuch as he evinced no reverence for precedent, but his judgments were always luminous, framed with a logical precision which carried conviction, constructed with the utmost care, and distinguished on occasion by an unusual research. It is said that he devoted an entire vacation to preparing his masterly opinion in Bissell vs. Michigan.
He resumed active practise at Syracuse, where for the ensuing thirty years he had an undisputed monopoly of the important legal business. Such was his reputation that, though he never had an office in New York, he was frequently retained in that city in cases involving big interests in vital issues. Not an advocate in the popular sense, he did not show to great advantage in jury causes, perhaps because, as he said, “as a general thing I have no faith in juries. ”
He was a delegate-at-large to the state constitutional convention of 1868 and took an outstanding part in the proceedings, being largely responsible, with Folger and Andrews, for the new judiciary article as it subsists to-day. Always intensely interested in educational matters, in 1869 he initiated the movement which resulted in the removal of Genesee College to Syracuse and its re-organization as Syracuse University. He contributed munificently to its endowment and was a member of the Board of Trustees for over twenty years, he also actively cooperated in many commercial enterprises in Syracuse, the ill success of some causing him serious embarrassment in his later years.
He died at Syracuse, September 27, 1892. His only excursion into the realm of letters was an edition of Kent’s Commentaries on American Law (1867), undertaken at the request of the Chancellor’s heirs.
Achievements
During his tenure for six years as a Chief Judge, George Franklin Comstock “left an indelible impress upon the jurisprudence of the State. ” He was also distinguished as a profound equity lawyer, particularly on the subject of trusts and was retained in all the big testamentary litigation of the period, including the contest involving Commodore Vanderbilt’s will. Perhaps the most spectacular of his legal triumphs was in connection with William M. Tweed, whose cumulative sentence to the penitentiary for one year on each of twelve counts of the indictment was reduced on habeas corpus to one year only with a corresponding diminution of the fine which had accompanied the sentence.