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American attorney From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Asa Palmer French (January 29, 1860 – September 17, 1935)[3][4] was an American attorney who served as the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts from 1906 to 1914.[1]
Asa P. French | |
---|---|
United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts | |
In office 1906–1914 | |
Preceded by | Melvin O. Adams |
Succeeded by | George W. Anderson |
Personal details | |
Born | [1] Braintree, Massachusetts United States | January 29, 1860
Died | September 17, 1935 75)[1] Wellesley, Massachusetts United States | (aged
Resting place | Central Cemetery, Randolph, Massachusetts |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Elisabeth Ambrose Wales |
Residence | Randolph, Massachusetts[2] |
Alma mater | Yale University[2] |
Occupation | Attorney |
Signature | |
French was born on January 29, 1860. His father was a Commissioner of the Court of Alabama Claims. In 1877 French began attending Thayer Academy as one of its first students and was a member of its first ever graduating class in 1878. In 1882 he graduated from Yale University, where he served on the tenth editorial board of The Yale Record[5] and was a member of Skull and Bones.[3] He subsequently studied law at Boston University.[2]
In 1896, French came to prominence, with James E. Cotter, as court-appointed junior counsel for Thomas M. Bram, who was successfully prosecuted by Sherman Hoar, with Justice Edward Douglass White presiding, then sentenced to hang, for a triple axe-murder committed aboard the Herbert Fuller on the high seas. French and Cotter secured a second trial on writ of error, Bram v. United States,[6] but he was, again, found guilty. Bram maintained his innocence, was released from prison in 1913, became a successful restaurateur, and was pardoned by President Woodrow Wilson, in 1919.[4][7][8]
From 1901 to 1906, French was the district attorney for the Southeastern District of Massachusetts.[2] In 1905 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for Massachusetts Attorney General.[9] In 1906, he was appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt to serve as the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. He was re-appointed by President William Howard Taft in 1910 and remained U.S. Attorney until November 1, 1914 when he resigned to enter private practice.[2]
In 1916, he testified before the United States Senate during the confirmation hearings of United States Supreme Court nominee Louis Brandeis. Of Brandeis, French said: "Mr. Brandeis has, in my experience, the reputation of being a man of integrity, a man of honor, a man who is conscientiously striving for what he believes to be right".[2]
French was elected to serve as a member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1917, representing the Massachusetts Fourteenth Congressional District. [10]
In 1920, French was a counsel for the complainants in a $150,000,000 suit against William Rockefeller and other former directors of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. He split a fee of more than $800,000 with four other lawyers.[4]
French died on November 17, 1935.[1]
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