"History of the Third Department"

Justice F. Walter Bliss was born in Gilboa, Schoharie County, on April 27, 1892. His father was a merchant and county clerk. He graduated from Poughkeepsie High School in 1908 and from Cornell University in 1913. In 1915, he graduated from Albany Law School. He began practicing in Middleburgh, Schoharie County, in 1916. Shortly thereafter, he enlisted in the Army for service during World War I. He served as a first lieutenant in the Army Signal Corps. After the war, he returned to his Middleburgh practice. In 1922, he began six years of service as Schoharie County Attorney. He gained prominence when he successfully represented the Town of Gilboa in a landmark suit against New York City resulting in an order requiring the city to pay taxes on Gilboa dam and reservoir, which supplies water for New York City. On October 1, 1930, Gov. Roosevelt appointed him to the Supreme Court to fill a vacancy; he was elected to one 14-year term in November of the same year. In 1931, he presided at the second trial of the notorious Jack "Legs" Diamond. On January 1, 1933, by appointment from Gov. Lehman, Justice Bliss began service on the Appellate Division, Third Department; he served on the court until the end of 1944. While on the Appellate Division, he would return to Schoharie County annually to serve a two-week term as a Supreme Court trial justice. After his judicial service, he resumed the private practice of law, mostly in Schoharie County; he continued practicing almost until the date of his death. At the State Democratic Party's 1950 nominating convention in Rochester, Justice Bliss was the unsuccessful candidate of upstate delegates for the party's gubernatorial nomination. In 1965, by reference from the Court of Claims, Justice Bliss was one of a panel of three referees to hear and decide an action against the State by the Thruway Authority. The case resulted in an award of over $31 million to the Authority. In 1939, Central College of Pella, Iowa, awarded him an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. He served as a trustee of Howe Caverns from 1947 to 1965; then as president from 1965 to 1982; and finally as chairman of the board. He died on September 8, 1982, at the age of 90.

Justice Gilbert V. Schenck was a member of one of the oldest families in New York. Dating from the period of Dutch occupation, the name is found mentioned in the public activities of the colony and of the State over a very long span of years. He was born in Palatine, Montgomery County, December 28, 1882. After attending the common schools, he entered the Albany Boys' Academy and Union College. He was graduated from Albany Law School in 1906, and his admission to the Bar followed immediately. He opened a law office in Albany. From 1902 to 1916, Justice Schenck served in the 10th Infantry, New York State National Guard. During World War I, he commanded the Third Anti-Aircraft Machine Gun Battalion with the rank of major, a rank he continued in the Officers' Reserve Corps. He was appointed Corporation Counsel of the City of Albany at the beginning of 1922. His judicial career began as Albany County Surrogate. He became a Supreme Court justice in 1933. From 1939 to 1944 he served on the Appellate Division. In 1938, he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He was President of the Albany Public Library Board of Trustees for many years and made particular contribution in that role. He died on March 24, 1946.

Justice Pierce H. Russell was born in Troy on May 25, 1878. He studied in the public schools, graduated from Troy Academy in 1896, and from Williams College in Massachusetts in 1900. For three years, he was supervising principal of a public school district in Troy comprising four public schools, while at the same time teaching some classes. Meanwhile, he studied law and was admitted to practice in 1903. The next year, he served as clerk to County Court Judge M.A. Tierney. In 1905, he served as Troy Corporation Counsel. He was elected Rensselaer County Judge in 1915 for a six-year term and then was re-elected. As County Judge he also presided over the Rensselaer County Children's Court. On January 1, 1926, he became an elected Justice of the Supreme Court for the Third Judicial District; he was re-elected in 1939. In 1947, he was designated to the Appellate Division by Gov. Dewey, where he served until his retirement at the age of 70 at the end of 1948. Justice Russell died June 4, 1952, of a heart attack while conducting a transit strike hearing in Rochester.

Justice Donald S. Taylor received his preliminary education in the public schools of Troy and graduated from Troy High School and then Colgate University and, finally, Albany Law School in 1922. After his admission, he began practicing law with his father, John P. Taylor, a former District Attorney of Rensselaer County. He and his father and brother, former Congressman Dean P. Taylor, formed the law firm of Taylor & Taylor, later Wager, Taylor, Howd & LeForestier. The firm continued on after Justice Taylor's withdrawal from active practice with his son John as a name partner under the name Wager, Taylor, Howd & Brearton. In 1948, he was elected to the Supreme Court. On March 1, 1961, he was designated to the Appellate Division by Gov. Rockefeller, where he served until he reached retirement age in 1968. He was re-elected to the Supreme Court in 1962. He died on June 23, 1970. He was born on June 17, 1898, in Troy.

Justice Herbert D. Hamm was born in Poestenkill in Rensselaer County in January 1896 (the same month the Appellate Division heard its first cases). He graduated from Troy High School and Rutgers University and Harvard Law School. His studies were interrupted by service in the Navy during World War I. He was admitted to the bar in 1925 and practiced in Troy. He served as Rensselaer County Attorney from 1940 to 1945. In 1945, Gov. Dewey appointed him acting Rensselaer County Judge upon the resignation of Hon. Harry E. Clinton. Later that year, he was elected to a full six year term as County Judge and Judge of the Children's Court. In February 1951, Gov. Dewey named Justice Hamm to the Supreme Court to succeed Hon. William H. Murray. He was then elected to a full 14-year term. In 1964, he was designated to the Appellate Division, where he served until his retirement in 1966 due to failing health. Justice Hamm was a regent of the Sons of the American Revolution. He died in 1972, at the age of 76. Justice Hamm's father was a prominent doctor in Troy. His mother was Ella L. De Freest. At his memorial service, Justice Mahoney noted one of his characteristics as a trial judge. Whenever a trial lawyer conducted himself in a manner not in keeping with Justice Hamm's view of proper procedure, a vein in his right temple seemed to enlarge itself and take up a life of its own by beating and pulsating noticeably. Invariably, when this occurred, the offending attorney would mollify his method, and, invariably, the vein would slow its beat and finally stop and return to whatever pocket or enclosure years of trial experience of its owner had prepared for it. Justice Mahoney opined that this effect on attorneys must have mystified the judge but the judge probably attributed it to his stern visage on the bench.

Justice Ellis J. Staley, Jr. was born in Albany on September 12, 1914. He graduated from Albany Academy in 1932, from Yale University in 1936, and from Albany Law School in 1939. He was admitted to the Bar in September 1939. From 1944 to 1961, he was a member of the law firm of Browne, Staley, Sanford & Forner. He was an associate professor of law teaching Federal and State taxation at Albany Law School from 1945 to 1956. He was elected to the Supreme Court in 1960 and re-elected in 1975. From April 1964 to April 1967, Gov. Rockefeller temporarily assigned him as a Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department. He was designated to the Appellate Division, Third Department, by Gov. Rockefeller on May 16, 1966, and remained on the Court until he voluntarily retired on October 16, 1980. For a time, Justice Staley's name appears on decisions rendered by both Departments. He died at his home in Loudonville in January 1981. Justice Staley's father, Ellis J. Staley, Sr., held numerous public offices, sequentially including deputy Attorney General, counsel to the Forest, Fish and Game Department of New York State, Albany County Attorney, Albany County Surrogate, New York State Conservation Commissioner, Chairman of the first Water Power Commission, and Justice of the Supreme Court for the Third Judicial District (beginning in 1922). Justice Staley, Sr., while Albany County Attorney, was very involved in the planning and construction of the Albany County Courthouse. Judge Bergan has observed that he "was really the father of [the Albany County Courthouse]. He planned it, he arranged for its financing; in fact, he almost designed it point by point, and in many respects it is a monument to his memory." Staley family ancestors emigrated to America in the 1600s from Switzerland and southern Germany and settled around Albany and westward into Schoharie County.

Justice T. Paul Kane was a native of Washington, D.C., and the son of a national bank examiner. He grew up in Poughkeepsie and completed his undergraduate education at Yale in 1942. He was active in crew and Naval ROTC at Yale. Prior to entering Albany Law School, from which he graduated in 1948, Justice Kane was called to active duty in 1942 as a commissioned ensign in the United States Naval Reserve. He served for one year on the USS Blakeley as a gunnery officer in the Caribbean and South Atlantic. He then served on the destroyer USS Paul Hamilton for 2 1/2 years, first as a gunnery officer and later as executive officer. He was discharged at the end of 1945. Upon graduation from law school, and admission to practice on September 16, 1948, Justice Kane entered the office of Jones & Jones in Cobleskill, Schoharie County. Subsequently, he practiced alone until being elected Schoharie County District Attorney in 1950. In 1964, Gov. Rockefeller appointed him to the Supreme Court; he was elected to the post that same year and re-elected in 1978. He was designated to the Appellate Division in 1972, where he served until he retired in 1990 at the age of 70. Upon leaving the Court, Justice Kane joined the Albany office of Hiscock & Barclay as resident counsel. He later left the firm and practiced out of Cobleskill. Justice Kane died in January 2003.

Justice John L. Larkin was born in Kingston, Ulster County, on May 7, 1923. His father was a physician in Kingston. He graduated from Holy Cross College in Massachusetts in 1943 and from Albany Law School. He served as an ensign in the United States Navy during World War II and participated in amphibious landings in the Pacific Theatre. He was wounded and spent nearly two years in naval hospitals recuperating from his injuries. He was a trial attorney in Kingston and also served an assistant Ulster County District Attorney before his election to the Supreme Court in 1970 at the age of 47. While in private practice, he was a law partner to Ulster County Judge and former Ulster County District Attorney Francis J. Vogt. Gov. Wilson appointed him to the Appellate Division in 1974. He retired from the Court in June 1979, effective July 15, 1979, and died on July 25, 1979, at the age of 56. He had had a brain tumor operation the prior year.

Justice John T. Casey entered LaSalle Institute in South Troy as a member of the class of 1939 and emerged as valedictorian and colonel of the regiment. He next graduated from the University of Toronto in 1943, entered the Navy as an ensign, and served in the North Atlantic, Aleutian Islands, and South Pacific. After the war he returned to Troy, graduating from Albany Law School in 1949. Six years after his graduation Justice Casey became a professor at Albany Law School, serving until 1977, teaching criminal practice and procedure. He served Rensselaer County as its District Attorney from 1956 through 1963 and as its County Judge from 1964 through 1968. In 1968, he was elected to the Supreme Court. He was appointed to the Appellate Division, Third Department, by Governor Carey in 1979. He retired from the Court at the end of 1997 at the age of 76.

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