James M. Varnum (born 1848)

James Mitchell Varnum (June 29, 1848 – March 26, 1907) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.

Life

Varnum was born on June 29, 1848 in New York City, the son of New York State Assembly Speaker Joseph B. Varnum and Susan M. Graham. His great-grandfather was Major General Joseph B. Varnum.[1]

Varnum graduated from Yale University in 1868. He then attended Columbia Law School, graduating from there in 1871. He was admitted to the bar shortly afterwards. In 1873, he became a member of the law firm Varnum, Turney & Harrison, which his father was the senior partner of.[2] The law firm later became Varnum & Harrison. He was also a director of the Lawyers' Title Insurance Co. and the Fulton Trust Co., trustee of the Real Estate Loan and Trust Co., and one of the original members of the New York Real Estate Exchange.[3]

In 1879, Varnum was elected to the New York State Assembly as a Republican, representing the New York County 11th District. He served in the Assembly in 1879[2] and 1880.[4] He was then put on the Military Staff of Governor Cornell as senior Aide-de-Camp with the rank of Colonel in the New York National Guard, serving in that position from 1880 to 1882. In 1881, he was a New York commissioner to receive French and German guests for the Yorktown centennial. In 1883, he was chairman of the Committee of Arrangement for the Evacuation Day centennial. In 1889, he was a committee member that supervised the centennial celebration of Washington's inauguration. He served as the grand marshal of the New York City lawyers in the 1896 Sound Money Parade.[1]

In the 1889 New York state election, Varnum was the Republican candidate for Attorney General of New York. In 1890, he was the Republican and anti-Tammany candidate for Judge of the Superior Court. He served as the chairman of the 1891 Republican State Convention. In 1895, Governor Morton appointed him Paymaster-General of the state, with the rank of Brigadier-General.[5] In 1899, then-governor Theodore Roosevelt appointed him Surrogate of New York County.[6]

Varnum married Mary Witherspoon Dickey in 1899. They had no children.[3] He was a governor of the University Club and a member of the Bar Association, the Century Club, the Union Club, the Metropolitan Club, the Society of the Cincinnati, the Sons of the Revolution, the General Society of the War of 1812, and the General Society of Colonial Wars. In 1903, the French government appointed him as a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour.[1]

Varnum died in Roosevelt Hospital after suffering a fatal car crash on March 26, 1907.[6] He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.[7]

References
  1. Wright, Henry P. (1914). History of the Class of 1868, Yale College, 1864-1914. New Haven, C.T.: The Tuttle, Morehouse, & Taylor Press. pp. 270–272 – via Google Books.
  2. Shanks, Charles G., ed. (1879). The State Government for 1879. Albany, N.Y.: Weed, Parsons & Company. p. 159 – via Google Books.
  3. Bulletin of Yale University: Obituary Record of Graduates, 1906-07. Third Series, No. 9. New Haven, C.T.: Yale University. 1907. pp. 741–742 – via Google Books.
  4. The Argus Almanac: A Political and Financial Annual for 1880. Albany, N.Y.: The Argus Company. 1880. pp. 99–100 – via Google Books.
  5. Prominent Families of New York (Revised ed.). New York, N.Y.: The Historical Company. 1898. p. 594 – via Google Books.
  6. "J. M. Varnum Killed in his Automobile" (PDF). The New York Times. LVI (17959). New York, N.Y. 27 March 1907. p. 1.
  7. "Funeral of Gen. Varnum" (PDF). The New York Times. LVI (17963). New York, N.Y. 31 March 1907. p. 9.
New York State Assembly
Preceded by
William Waldorf Astor		 New York State Assembly
New York County, 11th District
1879-1880		 Succeeded by
Robert Ray Hamilton
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