Benjamin W. Downing

Benjamin W. Downing (April 1, 1835 – December 2, 1894) was an American lawyer from New York.

Life

Downing was born on April 1, 1835, in Glen Head, New York.[1]

Downing attended the Academy in Macedon, graduating at the top of his class. He worked as a teacher in various Long Island schools for many years. In 1856, while working as principal of the Locust Valley school, he was elected Superintendent of Schools in the Eastern District of Queens County. He was later elected School Commissioner, an office he held for nearly seven years. While working as School Commissioner, he began studying law under Elias J. Beach, the County Judge of Queens County. He then went to Poughkeepsie Law School, graduating there with high honors. After he was admitted to the bar, he began practicing law in Flushing, where he maintained an office until he died.[2] He served as a trustee of the village for several terms, and was at one point, president of the board. He was also a member of the board of education, serving as its president for twenty years. He was also interested in Flushing real estate.[3]

In 1865, Downing was elected Queens County District Attorney,[4] an office he held for many years. As District Attorney, he prosecuted a large number of indictments. One trial and conviction under him led to the first execution in the county in many years.[1] He served as District Attorney until 1883, when he was charged with accepting money from a murdered man's father to prosecute and convict the murderer, for which Governor Grover Cleveland removed him from office. His friends insisted he was removed for political reasons,[5] and congressman James W. Covert defended him. He was nominated for the State Senate while the charges were pending, and he was removed from office immediately following the nomination. In 1885 and 1891, he unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat for County Judge.[6]

In 1890, he became identified with a series of revival meetings in Staten Island held by the "boy evangelist" Harrison and converted. Shortly afterwards, he established the Holiday House, a summer home for Bayville working girls. By the time he died, his law partner was William J. Youngs.[6]

In 1858, Downing married Georgina V. Underhill. They had a daughter, the wife of a Brooklyn physician.[7]

Downing died in Tampa, Florida, where he was staying for the previous several weeks for health reasons, on December 2, 1894.[8] He was buried in the family plot in the Locust Valley Dutch Reformed Church.[9]

References
  1. History of Queens County, New York. New York, N.Y.: W. W. Munsell & Co. 1882. pp. 136–139 – via Internet Archive.
  2. Proceedings at the Sixteenth Annual Meeting and Sixteenth Annual Festival of the New England Society in the City of Brooklyn. Brooklyn, N.Y. 1896. pp. 16–17 – via Google Books.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. Waller, Henry D. (1899). History of the Town of Flushing, Long Island, New York. Flushing, N.Y.: J. H. Ridenour. pp. 267–268 – via Internet Archive.
  4. "Official Election Returns-Queens County". The Long Island Farmer. Vol. XXXIII, no. 37. Jamaica, N.Y. 21 November 1865. p. 6 – via NYS Historic Newspapers.
  5. "Benjamin W. Downing". The New York Times. Vol. XLIV, no. 13505. New York, N.Y. 4 December 1894. p. 6 – via Internet Archive.
  6. "Benjamin W. Downing". New-York Tribune. Vol. LIV, no. 17551. New York, N.Y. 4 December 1894. p. 7 – via Chronicling America.
  7. Frost, Josephine C., ed. (1932). Underhill Genealogy: Descendants of Capt. John Underhill. Vol. II. pp. 512–513 – via Internet Archive.
  8. "Latest Long Island News". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Vol. 54, no. 334. Brooklyn, N.Y. 3 December 1894. p. 7 – via Brooklyn Public Library Historical Newspapers.
  9. "Latest Long Island News". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Vol. 54, no. 339. Brooklyn, N.Y. 8 December 1894. p. 7 – via Brooklyn Public Library Historical Newspapers.
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