1823-1884
James Emott served in 1863. Born in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, N.Y., Apr. 23, 1823. Columbia College, class of 1838. District attorney of Dutchess County, 1849; mayor of Poughkeepsie, 1854. Justice supreme court, second judicial district, 1855-1864. Appointed presiding judge, 1863. One of the organizers of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and instrumental in developing its library. Died in Poughkeepsie, Sep. 11, 1884. Father, James Emott, having served as state assembly speaker was representative to Congress (1809-1813). See 1 McAdam, History of the Bench and Bar of New York, New York History Co. (1897), p. 321. Obituary, The New York Times, Sep. 12, 1884. Sources conflict as to his date of birth. McAdam lists it as Apr. 23, 1823; The New York Times obit gives only the year (1821). There are also conflicts as to when he served on the supreme court: The Times obituary says elected 1858, serving until 1863; McAdam says he served 1855-1864.
This biography appears in The Judges of the New York Court of Appeals: A Biographical History, ed. Hon. Albert M. Rosenblatt (New York: Fordham University Press, 2007). It has not been updated since publication.