Samuel Seabury (judge)

Samuel Seabury
Seabury c. 1913
Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals
In office December 8, 1914 – January 15, 1917
Preceded by	William B. Hornblower
Succeeded by	Benjamin N. Cardozo
Justice of the New York Supreme Court
In office January 1, 1907 – December 8, 1914
Judge of the New York City Court
In office January 1, 1902 – December 31, 1906
Personal details
Born	(1873-02-22)February 22, 1873 Independence (1906–1916) Progressive (1913–1916) American (1916) Republican (1934) City Fusion (1933–1941)
Spouse	Maud Richey ​ ​ (m. 1900; died 1950)​
Relatives	Seabury Commission

Samuel Seabury (February 22, 1873 – May 7, 1958) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.^[1] Seabury is famous for dedicating himself to a campaign against the corrupt Tammany dominance of New York City politics. He later presided over the extensive 1930–32 investigations of corruption in the New York City municipal government, which became known as the 'Seabury Hearings'. Seabury became a Georgist after reading Progress and Poverty.^[2]

The Seabury family contained multiple Episcopal ministers including Samuel's great-great-grandfather, Samuel Seabury, who he was named after.^[3][4] This Samuel Seabury was the son of William Jones Seabury, professor of canon law (and himself the son of theologian Samuel Seabury), and Alice Van Wyck Beare. On June 6, 1900, this Sam Seabury married Maud Richey (d. 1950), daughter of Episcopal priest and seminary professor Thomas Richey. They had no children.

Seabury graduated from New York Law School in 1893, and was admitted to the bar in 1894. In 1899, he ran on the Independent Labor, Republican, and other minor parties', tickets for the New York City Court but was defeated by the Tammany Hall candidate. In 1901, Seabury ran again for the City Court, this time on the Citizens Union ticket, and was elected to a ten-year term.

Seabury initially ran for a seat on the New York City Board of Aldermen during the 1897 election, but withdrew in order to focus on supporting Henry George's mayoral campaign. Seabury was elected to the city court in 1901, being the youngest judge at age 28.^[3]

In 1905, Seabury ran for the

In

Seabury then resumed his private law practice. Active in the New York City Bar Association with William Nelson Cromwell, Seabury succeeded Cromwell as that organization's president from 1939 to 1941.

In 1930–1932, Seabury became lead investigator of the Hofstadter Committee (sometimes called the Seabury Investigations), a joint legislative committee which investigated corruption in New York's municipal courts and police department and called over a thousand witnesses. Those investigations forced Jimmy Walker out of the office of Mayor of New York City. In 1950, Seabury published The New Federalism, expressing doubts about increasing governmental power.^[6]

Seabury's chief counsel, Isidore Kresel, pioneered the innovative investigative technique that Seabury used in his investigations of Tammany Hall during the Seabury Commission. This technique has since become standard. Prior to this technique, an investigative commission or committee relied on interviews and public testimony from confessors to inform on decisions and outcomes of investigations. Kresel's method relied, instead, on gathering incredible amounts of facts pertaining to the investigation, including bank account documents, brokerage accounts, leases, title records, and income tax returns, and then using these documents to confront a witness during questioning.^[7]

An invalid for several years, Seabury died at Hand's Nursing Home in

In 1932, Seabury received The Hundred Year Association of New York's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York."

A park was named to honor Judge Seabury. On the corner of 96th street and