1811-1878
Samuel Garvin was born in Oswego County, New York, in 1811. He was admitted to the practice of law in Norwich in 1837 and moved to Utica in 1840. He was elected District Attorney of Oneida County in 1850. From 1853 to 1857, Garvin served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York by appointment of President Franklin Pierce. In 1858, Garvin moved to New York City and became an Assistant District Attorney in New York County under District Attorney Nelson J. Waterbury.[1] In August 1863, Garvin and District Attorney A. Oakey Hall were publicly lauded for their efforts in prosecuting the New York City draft rioters,[2] 67 of whom were ultimately convicted in the state courts.
Upon moving to New York City, Garvin “fell into favor with the then rising Tammany Ring magnates, and he was elected Judge of the Superior Court in 1863.”[3] In January 1869, Garvin left the bench when Governor John T. Hoffman appointed him to fill the vacant position of District Attorney upon A. Oakey Hall’s election as Mayor. In November 1869, running on the Tammany Hall ticket, Garvin was elected to a full term as District Attorney, a position he held until January 1873 when he returned to private practice.
As District Attorney, Garvin prosecuted the highly publicized case of People v. Rosenzweig, in which the young victim of a fatally botched abortion was found dead in a trunk at a train depot. Garvin publicly lamented that the only charge he could bring against the defendant for performing the deadly abortion was second-degree manslaughter, with a maximum penalty of seven years. Following the notorious trial, the legislature substantially increased the criminal penalties for performing abortions and for abortion-related deaths.
One of Garvin’s “last official acts was his attendance before the Grand Jury for the indictment against William M. Tweed.” [4] Prosecution of the indictment went forward under his successor, District Attorney Benjamin Phelps. Garvin was in a precarious position during his three years in office (1870 through 1872), which coincided with the peak and downfall of Boss Tweed’s powers. Garvin, who owed his position to Tweed and Tammany Hall, apparently did not wish to lead the investigative and prosecutorial efforts against Tweed. Nor was he and his staff fully trusted to do so. Garvin’s office largely stood aside while a team of special prosecutors, led by Samuel Tilden, took on the responsibility of investigating and bringing charges. As the extent of the corruption became known and public outrage mounted Garvin cooperated in bringing indictments against Tweed and his cronies. One of the special prosecutors, Wheeler H. Peckham, later commented on Garvin’s role.
Although we know that Mr. Garvin . . . was friendly to Tweed and his crowd . . . we trusted in his protestations that, although he did not want to prosecute his friends himself, he would give the prosecutors every facility of [his office] and merely hold a position of neutrality. . . . Mr. Garvin . . . gave support to the prosecution . . . although [his office] never took an active part in the proceedings.[5]
Garvin, who served as a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1867-1868, was described in his obituary as “a man of marked presence, being over six feet in height,” and as a “trustworthy and able” lawyer and jurist, though “not especially eminent.”
Garvin died of a stroke in 1878.
[1] “Obituary: Samuel B. Garvin,” New York Times, June 29, 1878.
[2] “The Trial of the Rioters,” New York Times, Aug. 15, 1863.
[3] New York Times, June 29, 1878.
[4] Id.
[5] “It Dismays the Bosses,” New York World, Nov. 4, 1887.