Clerks of the Court (Historical)

George T. Campbell

Clerk of the Court: 1921 - 1957
Born: 1871
Died: April 25, 1957

George T. Campbell was a man of quiet dignity. Mr. Campbell had been with the Appellate Division First Department since the court was constituted on January 1, 1896. Previously, he was on the staff of its predecessor, the New York Court of General Term. He was appointed clerk of the Appellate Division, First Department in 1921 and served for 36 years. To this day, he served the longest term of any First Department Clerk.

He was known to generations of judges and lawyers as an efficient and meticulous public servant. His reservoir of information regarding the law and his court was always available and invariably correct. He was very punctilious in his dealings with the bench and bar.

Mr. Campbell had a fierce pride in the heroic sized statues of the ten famous lawgivers that graced the edge of the courthouse roof since its inception in 1900. In 1954, the Department of Public Works undertook a $1,200,000 project to clean the façade and construct a five - story office building as an addition but Mr. Campbell's opposition to the removal of the statues saved all but the one of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was removed on the advice of the State Department.

The small and agile Mr. Campbell continued to be active even in his later years. He received extensions beyond the retirement age of 70. On April 25, 1957, while still employed as Clerk of the Court, George T. Campbell passed away at age 86 Mr. Campbell will always be remembered for his long and dedicated service to the court.

Source:

• Obituary, New York Times, April 27, 1957, p. 15.

*This biography was written by Abigail Butcher in August of 2016. At the time of the writing, Ms. Butcher had recently graduated from High School for Law Advocacy, and Community Justice in Manhattan and was soon to begin college at the State University of New York at Oswego.