Addison Gardiner

Addison Gardiner (March 19, 1797 – June 5, 1883) was an American lawyer and politician who served as Lieutenant governor of New York from 1845 to 1847 and Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals from 1854 to 1855. Early life and career Gardiner was born in Rindge, New Hampshire on March 19, 1797, the son of William Gardner and Rebecca (Raymond) Gardner. The family eventually settled in Manlius, New York, where William Gardner became a successful businessman. Gardner's sons, including Addison, later decided t restore the original spelling of their family name, Gardiner. Addison Gardiner was educated at Manlius Academy, and received his degree from Union College in 1819. He was later admitted to the college's Philomathean Society as an honorary member. In 1851, Gardiner received the honorary degree of LL.D. from the University of Rochester. After college, Gardiner studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1822, and began practicing in Rochester, New York with Samuel L. Selden, who later became a judge of the New York Court of Appeals. Selden's brother Henry R. Selden later studied law with Gardiner and Selden, then served as lieutenant governor and judge of the Court of Appeals. Gardiner was the first Justice of the Peace ever elected in Rochester. D.A. and Circuit Judge In 1827, Gardiner was appointed District Attorney of Monroe County. From 1829 to 1838, he was Judge of the Eighth Circuit Court of New York, with jurisdiction over the counties of Allegany, Erie, Chautauqua, Monroe, Genesee and Niagara. The Anti-Masonic excitement, growing out of the disappearance of William Morgan, had now commenced, and perhaps the most important case that came before Judge Gardiner, while on the bench of the circuit court, was that against Elihu Mather who was tried for conspiracy in the abduction of Morgan. After the acquittal of the defendant, a motion for a new trial was made in the New York State Supreme Court. The case is to be found in the fourth volume of Wendell's reports, page 220. The head notes, giving the disposition of the various questions raised, occupy four pages. On many of the points it has ever been a leading case. All the rulings of the judge were sustained by the Supreme Court, and these, and other decisions, gave him the reputation of the model circuit judge. He resigned his judicial office in February 1838, and returned to the practice of law at Rochester.