Samuel Seabury
Seaburyc. 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 theNew York Supreme Court
In office January 1, 1907 – December 8, 1914
Judge of theNew York City Court
In office January 1, 1902 – December 31, 1906
Personal details
Born	(1873-02-22)February 22, 1873 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	May 7, 1958(1958-05-07) (aged 85) East Hampton, New York, U.S.
Party	Democratic
Other political affiliations	Jefferson Democracy(1897) Labor(1899) Citizens Union(1901) Liberal Democratic(1902) Municipal Ownership(1905) Independence(1906–1916) Progressive(1913–1916) American(1916) Republican(1934) City Fusion(1933–1941)
Spouse	Maud Richey ​ ​ (m. 1900; died 1950)​
Relatives	Samuel Seabury (1729–1796) (ancestor) Samuel Seabury (1801–1872) (ancestor) Thomas Richey (father-in-law)
Occupation	Judge, attorney, politician
Known for	Seabury Commission

Samuel Seabury (February 22, 1873 – May 7, 1958) was an American lawyer and politician fromNew York.^[1] Seabury is famous for dedicating himself to a campaign against the corruptTammany 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 aGeorgist after readingProgress 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 ofWilliam Jones Seabury, professor ofcanon law (and himself the son of theologianSamuel Seabury), and Alice Van Wyck Beare. On June 6, 1900, this Sam Seabury married Maud Richey (d. 1950), daughter of Episcopal priest and seminary professorThomas Richey. They had no children.

Seabury graduated fromNew 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 theTammany Hall candidate. In 1901, Seabury ran again for the City Court, this time on theCitizens Union ticket, and was elected to a ten-year term.

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

In 1905, Seabury ran for theNew York Supreme Court (actually a trial court) on theMunicipal Ownership League ticket headed byWilliam Randolph Hearst for Mayor, but was defeated. In 1906, he ran again, this time on theDemocratic andIndependence League fusion ticket headed by Hearst for Governor, and was elected to a fourteen-year term.

In1913, Seabury ran on the Progressive ticket for theNew York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, but was defeated. Thefollowing year, he ran again, this time on theDemocratic,Progressive,Independence League, andAmerican tickets, and was elected to a fourteen-year term, becoming the only Democrat elected that year. On December 8, 1914, Seabury was appointed to the Court of Appeals three weeks before his elective term would begin, to fill the vacancy caused by the death ofWilliam B. Hornblower.

Theodore Roosevelt opposed incumbent GovernorCharles S. Whitman and convinced Seabury to run in the1916 gubernatorial election.Franklin D. Roosevelt supported Seabury and helped him win the Democratic nomination. However, Theodore did not obtain the Progressive nomination for him, causing Seabury to state that "Mr. President, you are a blaitherskite". He also failed to receive the support of Tammany Hall. Whitman defeated Seabury in the election.^[5]

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

In 1930–1932, Seabury became lead investigator of theHofstadter 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 forcedJimmy Walker out of the office ofMayor of New York City. In 1950, Seabury publishedThe 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 inEast Hampton.^[1]

In 1932, Seabury receivedThe 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 andLexington Avenue, it was renovated in 2005–2006.

• Kessner, Thomas (1989).Fiorello H. LaGuardia and the Making of Modern New York.McGraw Hill Education.ISBN 0-07-034244-X.

• Court of Appeals judges at New York Court History
• Great American Judges by John R. Vile, Kermit Hall & John R. Vile (ABC-CLIO, 2003,ISBN 1-57607-989-9,ISBN 978-1-57607-989-8 ; pages 683ff) [with portrait]
• Municipal ownership and operation of public utilities in New York City at the Internet Archive

• 1873 births
• 1958 deaths
• Politicians from New York City
• Judges of the New York Court of Appeals
• New York Supreme Court justices
• New York Law School alumni
• New York (state) Democrats
• New York (state) Progressives (1912)
• 20th-century American politicians
• American Party (1914) politicians
• Georgist politicians
• Presidents of the New York City Bar Association
• Lawyers from New York City

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata