Sanford E. Church | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 14thChief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals | |
| In office July 4, 1870 – May 14, 1880 | |
| Preceded by | Robert Earl |
| Succeeded by | Charles J. Folger |
| 19th New York State Comptroller | |
| In office January 1, 1858 – December 31, 1859 | |
| Governor | John A. King Edwin D. Morgan |
| Preceded by | Lorenzo Burrows |
| Succeeded by | Robert Denniston |
| Lieutenant Governor of New York | |
| In office January 1, 1851 – December 31, 1854 | |
| Governor | Washington Hunt Horatio Seymour |
| Preceded by | George W. Patterson |
| Succeeded by | Henry J. Raymond |
| Member of the New York State Assembly from theOrleans district | |
| In office January 1, 1842 – December 31, 1842 | |
| Preceded by | Richard W. Gates |
| Succeeded by | Elisha Wright |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sanford Elias Church (1815-04-18)April 18, 1815 |
| Died | May 14, 1880(1880-05-14) (aged 65) Albion, New York, U.S. |
| Resting place | Mount Albion Cemetery, Albion, New York |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Ann Wild Church |
| Children | Nellie Church George B. Church |
| Profession | Lawyer Judge Politician |
| Signature |  |
Sanford Elias Church (April 18, 1815 – May 14, 1880) was an American lawyer andDemocratic politician. He served as thelieutenant governor of New York and chief judge of theNew York Court of Appeals.
Born inMilford,Otsego County, New York, Church moved from Otsego toMonroe County, New York, with his parents when he was still a child, and his education was obtained in the common schools of that county and at the Monroe Academy. From 1835 on he resided inAlbion, New York, with the exception of a brief residence inRochester, New York.
Church studied law with Benjamin L. Bessac, and wasadmitted to the bar in 1842 and became Bessac's law partner until 1843. Then he associated himself withNoah Davis. This firm continued for a period of thirteen years. On its dissolution the firm of Church & Sawyer was established at Albion. About 1862, he took Judge Selden's place in the firm of Selden, Munger & Thompson, at Rochester; in 1865 the firm became Church, Munger & Cooke, and so continued until Church's elevation to the bench of theNew York Court of Appeals.
Church was a member from Orleans County of theNew York State Assembly in 1842. Three years later he was appointed District Attorney of Orleans County, and after theNew York State Constitution of 1846 became effective, was elected by the people to the same office, serving until the end of 1850.[1]
In 1850 Church was nominated by the Democrats for lieutenant governor withHoratio Seymour for governor. Seymour was defeated byWashington Hunt, theWhig candidate, by about two hundred majority, but Church ran ahead of his ticket andwas elected. In 1852, he was re-elected to the same office, and this time Seymour was elected governor.
In 1857 Church was electedNew York State Comptroller,[2] but was defeated in 1859 and 1863 when a candidate for re-election. In 1867 he was a delegate to theNew York State Constitutional Convention, and was chairman of its finance committee. During theCivil War, Church "vilified theLincoln administration for seeking to 'absorb, centralize and consolidate the rights and powers of the loyal States in the general government.'"[3]
A delegate to the1844,1860,1864 and1868 Democratic National Conventions, Church, in 1860, advocated the nomination ofStephen A. Douglas. At theDemocratic National Convention, held in New York City in July 1868, he was named by the delegation from New York State as its choice for the nomination for the presidency, and his name was presented to the convention bySamuel J. Tilden, the chairman of the delegation, who cast the vote of the State for him for the first seven ballots. New York then switched toThomas A. Hendricks from the eighth to the twenty-second ballots until a break was made by other states toHoratio Seymour, the chairman of the convention, who was then nominated.
In the spring of 1870, Church was nominated by the Democratic convention for chief judge of the Court of Appeals. The opposing candidate in the convention wasGeorge F. Comstock, and the opposing candidate in the election wasHenry R. Selden. Church was elected by a majority of nearly ninety thousand votes. He began his term as chief judge on July 4, 1870, and served until his death on May 14, 1880.[4][5]
On May 14, 1880, during a three-week vacation at his home inAlbion,Orleans County, New York, Church left for his office after dinner and visited the National Bank in Albion. Upon his arrival, he complained of chest pain and was quickly driven home. Dr. Samuel Cochrane, his son-in-law, was sent for and Church ventured unassisted to his room. The doctor arrived at the home to find Church in terrible pain. He turned a shade of purple, fell over on his side and expired, his death the result ofapoplexy.[6] He was 65 years, 25 days of age and isinterred at theMt. Albion Cemetery in Albion, New York.[7]
Church's parents, Ozias and Permelia (Palmer) Church, were of English and Scotch descent. He married Ann Wild in 1840 inBarre Center, New York. They had a daughter, Nellie Church, and a son, George B. Church.[8]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of New York 1851–1854 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | New York State Comptroller 1858–1859 | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals 1870–1880 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
