Henry R. Selden

Henry Rogers Selden (born October 14, 1805 in Lyme , New London County , Connecticut , † September 18, 1885 ) was an American lawyer and politician who was lieutenant governor of the US state of New York between 1857 and 1858 . He later defended Susan B. Anthony in June 1873 on charges of unlawful electoral influence. She was the first woman to be registered as a voter in a presidential election in the United States and to cast her vote in the 1872 election.

Career

Henry Selden was the son of Calvin Selden and Phebe (Ely) Selden. He moved to Rochester, New York, where he began to study law in 1825 in the law firm of Addison Gardiner and his brother Samuel L. Selden . He was admitted to the bar in 1830 and then began practicing in Clarkson, New York.

On September 25, 1834, he married Laura Anne Baldwin in Clarkson. The couple had five children together, three sons and two daughters. One of these sons was George Baldwin Selden , who was the first person to be granted a patent for an automobile .

Selden became the Rapporteur in the New York Court of Appeals in 1851 . Originally a Democrat , he later became an abolitionist and, in 1856, a founding member of the Republican Party of New York. In the same year he was elected lieutenant governor. The Yale College awarded him the 1858 LL.D. (Doctor of Laws). Selden returned to Rochester in 1859. The following year he served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention .

In July 1862, Henry Selden was appointed a judge on the New York Court of Appeals. There he filled the vacancy created by the resignation of his brother, Samuel. In November 1863 he was re-elected for an eight-year term, but resigned on January 2, 1865. The Republican Party nominated him in 1870 for the post of Chief Judge at the New York Court of Appeals, but he was defeated by the Democrat Sanford E. Church .

In 1872 Selden took part in the convention of the Liberal Republican Party in Cincinnati . The partisan controversy led to his withdrawal from politics. He then spent the remainder of the year and the first half of the following year on Anthony's case, for which he never billed Anthony. Selden then retired from legal practice in 1879.

He was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery near Anthony after his death .

Honors

The Fort Selden in New Mexico was named after him in honor.

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personal data
SURNAME	Selden, Henry R.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Selden, Henry Rogers (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American lawyer and politician
DATE OF BIRTH	October 14, 1805
PLACE OF BIRTH	Lyme , Connecticut
DATE OF DEATH	September 18, 1885