William Newcorn

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William Newcorn (March 4, 1868 – November 10, 1946) was a Polish-born Jewish-American lawyer, politician, and judge from New Jersey.

Life[edit]

Newcorn was born on March 4, 1868, in Kraków, Austria, the son of Nathan Newcorn and Cecelia Friedner.[1]

Newcorn moved to America with his parents in 1870 and settled in New York City. He graduated from Grammar School No. 4 in 1880 and passed entrance exams for admission to the City College of New York, although he ended up not attending college. In 1883, he began working for the Knickerbocker Ice Company of New York. He worked there until 1887, when he began working as a wholesale cigar and tobacco dealer. In 1889, he moved to Plainfield, New Jersey, and ran a sporting goods and musical instrument store until 1897. He studied law while working there, and in 1897 he was admitted to the bar and began working as a lawyer in Plainfield.[2]

Newcorn was elected Justice of the Peace in 1893, resigning from that office in 1897. He was a member of the Union County Republican Committee and a member, secretary, and treasurer of the City Republican Committee. In 1901, he was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly as a Republican, serving as one of the three representatives of Union County. He served from 1902[3] to 1903, having been re-elected to the office in 1902.[4] In 1906, Governor Edward C. Stokes appointed him Judge of the District Court. He was reappointed Judge in 1907 and served as Judge until 1912.[5]

Newcorn resigned from the Union County Republican Committee when he became judge, but in 1914 he rejoined the Committee and served as its chairman until 1917. During World War I, he was a member of the City Liberty Loan Committee and an organizer and trustee of the Plainfield Community Chest. In 1919, he was appointed First Assistant Attorney General of New Jersey.[2] He served in that position until 1924. He then worked as a special counsel to the state's legal department from 1924 to 1927.[6] He was corporation counsel of Plainfield from 1933 to 1941. He was also a Supreme Court Commissioner and Special Master in Chancery.[7]

Newcorn was a director of the State Trust Co., Palm Oil Co., Processing Co., Inc., Panama Palm Oil Co., Inc., Columbia Palm Oil Co., and the Plainfield Title and Mortgage Co. He became president of the Plainfield Board of Trade in 1931. He was president of the YMHA from 1924 to 1925, president of the board of trustees of the Jewish Community Center,[8] first chairman of the New Jersey section of the Zionist Organization of America, president of the United Hebrew Charities Organization in 1914, and an elected member of the American Jewish Committee. He was involved with the Joint Distribution Committee. He was also an organizer of Temple Sholom of Plainfield, serving as its president from 1913 to 1928.[9]

A member of the Improved Order of Red Men, Newcorn was elected Great Sachem of the Great Reservation of New York in 1900 and was a representative to the Great Council of the United States. He was a master workman and financier of the local Ancient Order of United Workmen lodge and a counsel commander of the Woodmen of the World. He was a member of the Improved Order of Heptasophs, the Elks, the Knights of Pythias,[3] the New Jersey Historical Society, the National Geographic Society, the Freemasons,[1] the American Bar Association, the New Jersey State Bar Association, the Union County Bar Association, the Plainfield Bar Association, and the Anti-Defamation League. He was also honorary Grand Superior of legal fraternities Phi Epsilon Pi and Lambda Alpha Phi.[7] In 1889, he married Rachel Drear. Their children were Netta and Isabel. In 1904, he married a second time Mamie Miller. Their children were Cecil and Jerome David.[2]

Newcorn died in Muhlenberg Hospital, where he went for an operation for gland trouble several days beforehand, on November 10, 1946.[10] Around 450 people attended his funeral in Temple Sholom, the first time the temple was used for a funeral. Judge Donald H. McLean and former New Jersey State Senator Arthur N. Pierson were honorary pallbearers. He was buried in Mount Lebanon Cemetery in Iselin.[11]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Who's Who in American Jewry, 1926. New York, N.Y.: The Jewish Biographical Bureau, Inc. 1927. p. 458 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ a b c Honeyman, A. Van Doren, ed. (1923). History of Union County, New Jersey, 1664-1923. Vol. II. Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc. p. 29 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ a b Fitzgerald, Thomas F. (1902). Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey, One Hundred and Twenty-Sixth Session, 1902. Trenton, N.J.: MacCrellish & Quigley. p. 312 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Fitzgerald, Thomas F. (1903). Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey, One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Session, 1903. Trenton, N.J.: MacCrellish & Quigley. pp. 313–314 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Keasbey, Edward Quinton (1912). The Courts and Lawyers of New Jersey, 1661-1912. Vol. III. New York, N.Y.: Lewis Historical Publishing Company. pp. 85–86 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ Schneiderman, Harry; Fine, Morris; Spector, Maurice; Basseches, Maurice, eds. (1947). "Necrology". American Jewish Year Book, 5708, 1947-1948 (PDF). Vol. 49. Philadelphia, P.A.: The Jewish Publication Society of America. p. 615 – via American Jewish Committee Archives.
  7. ^ a b "William Newcorn" (PDF). The New York Times. Vol. XCVI, no. 32434. New York, N.Y. 12 November 1946. p. 29.
  8. ^ Who's Who in American Jewry, 1938. 1938. p. 778 – via JewishData.
  9. ^ Landman, Isaac, ed. (1942). The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York, N.Y.: The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Inc. p. 210 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ "Judge Newcorn, Civic Leader, Is Dead at 78". Plainfield Courier-News (Final ed.). Plainfield, N.J. 11 November 1946. pp. 1, 18 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Judge Newcorn Laid to Rest". Plainfield Courier-News (Final ed.). Plainfield, N.J. 14 November 1946. p. 24 – via Newspapers.com.

External links[edit]

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