Townsend SCUDDER, Congress, NY (1865-1960)

SCUDDER, Townsend, (nephew of Henry Joel Scudder), a Representative from New York; born in Northport, Suffolk County, N.Y., July 26, 1865; attended preparatory schools in Europe; was graduated from Columbia Law School, New York City, in 1888; was admitted to the bar in 1889 and commenced practice in New York City; corporation counsel for Queens County, N.Y., 1893-1899; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1899-March 3, 1901); declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1900 and resumed the practice of law; elected to the Fifty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1903-March 3, 1905); was not a candidate for renomination in 1904; justice of the State supreme court for the second judicial district 1907-1920; again resumed the practice of his profession in New York City; State park commissioner and vice president of the Long Island State Park Commission 1924-1927; appointed to the State supreme court bench by Gov. Alfred E. Smith in February 1927; subsequently nominated by the two major political parties to succeed himself for the full term of fourteen years; elected on November 8, 1927, and served until January 1, 1936, when he retired; died in Greenwich, Conn., February 22, 1960; interment in Putnam Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present