Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-06-16
HORNBLOWER DIES
At COUNTRY HOME
Associate Judge of New York
Court of Appeals Succumbs
to Long Illness.

ITTCUFTELD. Conn. June 16.-
William Butler Hornblower, associate
Judge of the New York Court of APP
DEALS, died at 1907 o'clock this morn
ing Of myocarditis. lie had been i'll
for long time, and several times in
the last few weeks his condition was
so grave that death was expected. A
wonderful vitality, however. helped
him 10 staye off what the doctors be-
lleVed was inevitable until today.
Judge l4ornblower was regarded as
one OF the most eminent lawyers in
rfNeW York State. Before his appoint
ment to the Court of Appeals in Feb
ruary last, he had spent much of his
Time IN recent years as a writer and
lecturer ON legal topics. At one time
Judge Hornblower was president of
the State Bar Association, and in 1904
was made a member of the board APP
pointed to codify the laws of New
York State.
Was Native of New Jersey.
Judge Horublower. son of the Rev.
DIR. William il. and Matilda Butler
Hornblower, was born in Paterson,
n. j., May 10, 1851. His grandfather,
Joseph G. Hornblower, was chief JUS
tlce of New Jersey for fourteen years.
Ills great grandfather, Josiah Horn
blower, an eminent engineer, brought
with him from England to New Jer-
sey in 1853 the first steam engine
erected and used in this country in
stalled at the Schuyler copper mines,
in which is now North Arlington.
Josiah Hornblower lived in the Man
sion House still standing at Main and
rutgers street, Belleville In this
mouse the former chief justice of New
Jersey was born. Josiah Hornblower
became a member of the Continental
Congress, speaker of the Provincial
congress and judge in New Jersey.
Judge Hornblower was graduated
from Princeton College in 1871 and
from Columbia Law School in 1875.
From Princeton he received the de-
gree of master of arts in 1874 and
the degree of doctor of laws in 1895.
Named for U. S. Supreme Court
He was admitted to the New York
bar In 1875, and was Il member of the
commission appointed by act Of
Legislature in 1890 to propose amend
ments to the State constitution Judi
CARY article. Appointed by Presi-
dent Cleveland to succeed Justice
B'atchford in the United States Su-
preme Court in September, 1898, his
nomination was rejected by the Sem
ate in January, 1894. because of the
political enmity of Senators David B.
Hill and Edward Murphy, jr., of New
>Eork.
he was a member of the Board of
Statutory Consolidation. appointed
by act of Legislature. 1904, to con-
!, solt3kae the general statutes of the
State9sf New York. The Legislature
in 1908 adopted and passed the con-
solidated statutes as recommended
by the board.
An Independent Democrat in poll
+ tics, he was appointed associate
Judge of the Court of Appeals by
Governor Glynn, February 9, 1911. to
fill the vacancy caused by the cleo
ton of Willard Bartlett as chief
judge.
Was Eminent at the Bar
His spirit of idealism cropped out
more than once in his practice of the
law. The latest example of this, AMI
the one which brought the greatest
publicity. was when in 1910, although
admitted to be the peer of the ablest
lawyers in the country, he volun-
tarily defended against charge Of
murder John Washington, "a poor
negro.
He was one of the signers of the
call for the big anti-graft meeting in
Cooper Union, August II, 1912, where
r ways and means were considered for
stamping out organized lawlessness in
New York.
He was a1 active worker in the
presidential Campaign of Woodrow
Wilson, always cbampioned tariff re-
duction, and was a bitter opponent of
the judicial recall.
Judge Hornblower was senior mem
der of the law firm of Hornblower,
Miller & Potter. An eminent lawyer,
recognized as one of the leaders of the
bar, he was a member of the Ameri-
can Bar Association, president of the
New York State Bar Association in
1902, and president of the Bar Asso-
citation of the City of New York in
1913.
He was a member of the Sons of
the Revolution and of the University,
Century. Metropolitan, Manhattan,
City, Reform and Princeton Clubs.
He married Susan c. Sanford, of
New Haven, April &c, 1882. She died
April q, 1886. He again married in
1894, his second wife being Emily San
ford Nelson. widow of Lieutenant
Colonel a. d. Nelson. L. S. A. His
son, George Sanford Hornblower now
represents the family name in the
firm of Hornblower, Miller & Potter.
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