James H. Tuthill

James Harvey Tuthill (February 19, 1826 – January 18, 1894) was a New York American lawyer, politician, and judge.

Life

Tuthill was born on February 19, 1826, in Wading River, New York, the son of seafarer and merchant Captain Nathaniel Tuthill and Clarissa Miller. The family moved to Greenport when he was eleven. His brother was Franklin Tuthill, an assemblyman and editor of The New York Times.[1]

Tuthill studied at the Miller Place Academy for three years, winning distinction at the school. When he was seventeen, he entered the Sophomore class at Williams College. He graduated from there three years later with honors. He then began studying law, first with his mother's relative Judge George Miller of Riverhead then with Judge Joseph S. Bosworth of New York City. He was then admitted to the bar and in 1849 he began practicing law in Riverhead with Judge Miller.[2] The firm was known as Miller & Tuthill. He was originally a Whig.[3]

In 1860, Tuthill was elected to the New York State Assembly as a Republican, representing the Suffolk County 1st District. He served in the Assembly in 1861[4] and 1866.[5] He then served as district attorney of Suffolk County from 1867 to 1875, followed by Surrogate of the county from 1880 to 1892.[1]

Tuthill was a director of the Suffolk County National Bank and attorney, legal advisor, and trustee of the Riverhead Savings Bank. He joined the Long Island Historical Society when it was founded in 1863, and was one of its councilors from 1864 until his death. He helped organize the Suffolk County Historical Society in 1886 and served as its first president until his death. He helped organize the Riverhead Village Library Association, donating a number of valuable books from his own library to the association. He was a leading member of the local Congregational Church, serving as superintendent of its Sunday school for forty-four years and president of the Suffolk County Sunday-school Association for more than twenty years.[1] In 1850, he married Maria Frances Foster. Their only child was Ruth Halsey.[6]

Tuthill died from a brain hemorrhage while at the Surrogate's office in a trial of a will case on January 18, 1894.[7] He was buried in Riverhead Cemetery.[6]

References
  1. Pelletreau, William S. (1903). History of Long Island From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time. Vol. II. The Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 616–617 – via Google Books.
  2. Portrait and Biographical Record of Suffolk County, (Long Island) New York. Chapman Publishing Co. 1896. pp. 117–120 – via Google Books.
  3. Murphy, William D. (1861). Biographical Sketches of the State Officers and Members of the Legislature of the State of New York in 1861. New York, N.Y. pp. 276–277 – via Google Books.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. The Evening Journal Almanac, 1861. Albany, N.Y.: Weed, Parsons & Co. 1861. p. 48 – via Internet Archive.
  5. The Evening Journal 1866 Almanac. Albany, N.Y.: Weed, Parsons & Company. 1866. p. 94 – via Internet Archive.
  6. White, Willis H. (March 2003). "Using Uncommon Sources to Illustrate Family History: A Long Island Tuthill Example" (PDF). National Genealogical Society Quarterly (91): 14–16 – via Orange County California Genealogical Society.
  7. Parsons, E. B. (1894). Obituary Record of the Alumni of Williams College, 1893-1894. Williamstown, M.A. pp. 239–240 – via Google Books.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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