Charles Cooper Nott Jr.

Harvard Law School

Alice Effingham Hopkins Nott

Charles Cooper Nott Jr. (October 10, 1869 – May 10, 1957) was an American attorney and jurist. He served as judge of the New York General Sessions Court from 1913 to 1939. In 1922 he presided over the obscenity case of James Branch Cabell and Robert Medill McBride for the novel, Jurgen, A Comedy of Justice. In 1939 he presided over the second trial of James Joseph Hines.

Early life

Nott was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts, on October 10, 1869. He was the son of Alice Effingham (née Hopkins) Nott and Charles Cooper Nott Sr., the chief justice of the United States Court of Claims.

His great-grandfather was Eliphalet Nott, the longtime President of Union College, and his great-aunt, Sarah Marie Nott, was married to Bishop Alonzo Potter.

Nott graduated from Williams College in 1890, then received his law degree from Harvard Law School.

Career

After his graduation and until November 1913, Nott was an assistant district attorney for New York City for district attorney William Travers Jerome.

From November 1913 to 1939 he was a judge for the New York General Sessions Court. Nott wrote in his decision that "...the most that can be said against the book is that certain passages therein may be considered suggestive in a veiled and subtle way of immorality, but such suggestions are delicately conveyed [and that because of Cabell's writing style] ... it is doubtful if the book could be read or understood at all by more than a very limited number of readers."

In 1939, Nott presided over the second trial of James Joseph Hines, the Democratic Party politician who was one of the most powerful leaders of Tammany Hall in New York City, where Hines was found guilty on corruption and conspiracy charges.

Assassination attempt

Main article: 1919 United States anarchist bombings

There was an attempted assassination in 1919 when anarchists planted a bomb at his doorstep. The bomb prematurely exploded, killing both of the bombers. The opinion of the police was that Federal Judge John Clark Knox, who presided over cases during the First Red Scare, may have been the intended target, and the bombers had confused their names.

Personal life

On November 12, 1896, he married Julia Jerome Hildt (1871–1912), the daughter of Frances Jewitt "Fanny" (née Jerome) Hildt and John McClean Hildt. Together, Charles and Julia were the parents of four children:

• Dorothy Nott (1898–1899), who died in infancy.
• Frances Jerome Nott (b. 1900), who first married Stacy Courtis Richmond Jr. (1898–1931) in 1922. After his death, she married James Smith Hemingway Jr. (1899–1961) in 1934.
• Joel Benedict Nott (1903–1931), who died in an aircrash on Saturday, November 21, 1931, at the New Bern Regional Airport.
• Lawrence Hopkins Nott (1906–1986), who married Janet Lawton.

After his first wife's death, he remarried to Mary Porter Mitchell (1878–1960) on April 15, 1916, in Williamstown. Mary, who was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, was the daughter of Emily Frances and James Mitchell of Newton, Massachusetts.

Nott died on May 10, 1957, at St. Luke's Hospital in Manhattan.

References

References

1. (November 7, 1913). "Train Succeeds Nott. Whitman Names Him in Place of Assistant Who Becomes a Judge". [[The New York Times]].
2. (June 3, 1919). "Wreck Judge Nott's Home. Man And Woman Killed May Have Been Bomb Setters. Mrs. Nott In The House She And Caretaker's Family Escape, Though Front Of Building Was Shattered. Judge Nott In The Country Police Rush Guards To Homes Of Officials And Judges Throughout The City. Child's Amazing Escape. Stairways Fall. Other Houses Shattered. Wreck Judge Nott's Home. All Police Agencies Active. Crowds Hamper Police. Judge Nott's Public Career.". [[The New York Times]].
3. (October 20, 1922). "'Jurgen' Is Proper, Judge Nott Rules. Direct Jury To Acquit Publishers Of James Branch Cabell's Book". [[The New York Times]].
4. (February 26, 1939). "Judge Nott Uses Powers To Balk Hines Mistrial". [[Chicago Tribune]].
5. (March 7, 1916). "Charles C. Nott Dies at 88. Ex-Chief Justice of U. S. Court of Claims Was Father of Judge Nott". [[The New York Times]].
6. (2000). "Genealogical Notes of New York and New England Families". Heritage Books.
7. (1915). "Henry Codman Potter, Seventh Bishop of New York". Macmillan.
8. (1913). "A sketch of the Wadham family in England".
9. "James Branch Cabell". [[Virginia Commonwealth University]].
10. (1913). "Wadhams Genealogy, Preceded by a sketch of the Wadham family in England". Frank Allaben Genealogical Co..
11. "History Of Coastal Carolina Regional Airport". Tradewind Aviation.
12. (October 2, 1932). "Janet Lawton Wed To Lawrence H. Nott. Ceremony Performed By Judge C. C. Nott, Father Of Bride-Groom, at The Barclay.". [[The New York Times]].
13. (May 11, 1957). "Charles Nott Jr., Ex-jurist, Dead. Member of General Sessions Bench, 1914-39, Presided at Second Hines Trial". [[The New York Times]].