FORMER PRESIDING
JUSTICES OF THE
FOURTH JUDICIAL
DEPARTMENT
George A. Hardin was born in the Town of
Winfield, Herkimer
County, on August 17, 1832.
He graduated from Union
College in 1852 and was
admitted to practice in
1854. From 1858 to 1861,
he served as the Herkimer
County District Attorney.
He was elected to
Supreme Court in 1871 and in 1881 he was assigned by
Governor Cornell to the General Term of the Fourth
Judicial District. In 1884 he was named Presiding
Justice of the General Term by Governor Cleveland
and in 1895 was designated the first Presiding Justice
of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, by
Governor Morton. He retired from the bench in 1899
and died on April 16, 1901.
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William II. Adams was
born in the Village of
Lyons, Wayne County, on
March 27, 1841. He studied
law in a law office and was
admitted to practice in
1864. He practiced law in
Canandaigua until his
election to Supreme Court
in 1888. In 1896 Justice
Adams was designated to
the Appellate Division, Fourth Department. He was
appointed Presiding Justice in 1899 and held that position until his death on October 12, 1903.
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Peter Baillie MeLennan
was born in the Town
of Lyndon, Cattaraugus
County, in 1850. He
graduated from Alfred
University in 1873, was
admitted to the bar in
1876 and practiced law in
Syracuse. He was elected
to Supreme Court in 1892
and was designated to this
Court in 1898. He was appointed Presiding Justice by
Governor Odell in 1903, serving in that capacity until
his death on May 8, 1913.
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Frederick W. Kruse was
born in Merklenberg-Schwerin, Germany, on
June 25, 1852. He was
educated in Springville,
New York, and was admitted to practice in 1877. He
practiced law in Arcade
and Olean, New York and
served as a member of the
New York State Assembly
from 1884 to 1887. He was elected County Judge of
Cattaraugus County in 1897. He was appointed to
Supreme Court by Governor Roosevelt in 1900 and was
elected to that position in the next general election.
He was designated to this Court in 1906. In 1913 he
became the Presiding Justice and served in that
capacity until 1922, when his term expired. He died on
March 18, 1938.
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Irving G. Hubbs was
born in Sandy Creek,
Oswego County, in 1870.
He graduated from
Cornell University in 1891
and practiced law in
Parish and Pulaski. He
was elected to Supreme
Court in 1918 and was
designated an Associate
Justice of this Court in the
same year. He was appointed Presiding Justice in 1923.
In 1928 he was elected an Associate Justice of the
Court of Appeals. He resigned from that Court in 1939
and died on July 22, 1952.
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Charles Brown Sears
was born in Brooklyn
in 1870. He received his
law degree from Harvard
University and was admitted to practice in 1895. He
practiced law in Buffalo
until 1917, when he was
appointed to Supreme
Court. He was designated
an Associate Justice of
this Court in 1922. On January 1, 1929, Justice Sears
became Presiding Justice and on January 3, 1940 was
appointed an Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals
by Governor Lehman. Upon retiring on December 31,
1940, he was appointed an Official Referee of the
Court of Appeals. In 1946 he sat as a Judge on the
International Military Tribunal at Nuremburg, serving
as the Presiding Judge for one trial, He returned to
Buffalo in 1947 and died on December 17, 1950.
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