Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of Chancery And, On Appeal, in the Court of Errors and Appeals of the State of New Jersey, Volume 2
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
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Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of Chancery 1858-1861
(This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)
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Mercer Beasley was an American jurist and Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court.
Background
Mercer Beasley was born on March 27, 1815, in Philadelphia, the son of Frederick and Maria (Williamson) Beasley. His father, an Episcopal minister, was then serving as provost of the University of Pennsylvania. In 1830 the family moved to Trenton, New Jersey, where Beasley was destined to spend the greater part of his life.
Education
After studying with his father Mercer entered in 1833 the junior class of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), but remained only a year. In 1834 he was studying law under Senator Samuel V. L. Southard of Trenton, later continuing his studies under his kinsman, former Chancellor Isaac H. Williamson at Elizabeth.
Career
Beasley was admitted to the bar in September 1838, and settled in Trenton. For some years thereafter he was more noted as a billiard player and wing shot than for legal acumen. Gradually, the law, especially trial work, absorbed more and more of his interest, and his personal charm and real ability brought him success. His name first appears in the records of the higher state courts in 1849 in a case which he won against the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company. Thereafter he acted with increasing frequency as counsel in important cases before the appellate courts.
He interested himself in local politics as a Whig, served on the Common Council of Trenton, and was defeated as a candidate for mayor in 1850. When the Whig Party expired he became a Democrat. On the death of Chief Justice Whelpley, Gov. Joel Parker appointed Beasley chief justice of New Jersey, March 8, 1864. The term of office was seven years, but he was reappointed four successive times by different governors, some of them of the opposite political party from his own, and thus served continuously until his death, a period just short of thirty-three years.
To review his work on the bench would be to outline the development of law in New Jersey for a generation. His decisions in three political cases show his impartiality and courage. In 1866 the Republicans in the legislature passed a bill which put the police of Jersey City under control of a state commission. The city authorities, being Democrats, refused to recognize the act and two mutually hostile police forces preserved disorder in the city. The Chief Justice settled the strife by sustaining the Republican contention in an opinion since followed by the courts of other states because of its clear legal reasoning. A few years later he upheld the State's claim to its riparian lands against strong pressure from railroads and land speculators.
In 1890 New Jersey was afflicted with two Senates. A quorum of Democratic "holdovers" had organized against the newly elected Republican senators, who thereupon went into separate session. Violence was imminent when the aged Chief Justice, again deciding against his own party, restored the reign of law. He remained in office with his mental powers unimpaired until his death from pneumonia, February 19, 1897.
(This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)
Personality
In appearance Mercer Beasley was strikingly handsome with bold, clear-cut features and a mobile mouth.
Connections
Mercer Beasley was married to Frances Higbee of Trenton. His second wife, whom he married October 16, 1854, was Catherine Ann, daughter of Charles Haven of Trenton.