William Travers Jerome
William Travers Jerome was an American lawyer and politician from New York.
Early life
William Travers Jerome was born in New York City on April 18, 1859. He was the son of Lawrence Jerome and Kate Jerome.Financier Leonard Jerome was his uncle, Lady Jennie Jerome was his first cousin, and U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill was his first cousin once removed. Lady Jerome had married the son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough, and brother of the 8th Duke, with the family seat being Blenheim Palace.
He attended Amherst College but left in 1881 without graduation. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1884, and commenced practice in New York City.
Career
From 1888 to 1890, he was a Deputy Assistant D.A. under John R. Fellows.From 1894 to 1895, he worked for the Lexow Committee. In 1894, he managed the successful campaign of William L. Strong for New York City. In 1895, the Court of Special Sessions was re-organized, legislating out of office the six incumbent justices. On July 1, 1895, Jerome took office as one of the first five new justices of the re-organized court.
He was New York County District Attorney from 1902 to 1909, elected in 1901 on the Fusion ticket headed by Seth Low. As D.A. he led a campaign against political corruption and crime, often leading raids personally, notably the one against the gambling house of Richard Canfield. On October 13, 1905, the Republican county convention nominated Judge Charles A. Flammer for D.A. with a vote of 237 to 9.
However, Jerome had a popular following and ran as an independent candidate. Shortly before election day, Flammer withdrew as a candidate, and the Republican Party sought to back Jerome again. On October 27 the county convention met again and nominated Jerome in place of Flammer unanimously. However, it was too late to change the names on the ballots, the limit being 20 days before the election. Thus Jerome was re-elected with a plurality of about 4,000 votes as an Independent, while Flammer received more than 12,000 votes on the Republican ticket. Jerome's successful re-election was considered a victory against machine politics.
In 1907 and 1908, Jerome prosecuted Harry Kendall Thaw for the murder of Stanford White.
In September 1910, Jerome defended successfully former State Engineer Frederick Skene against charges of grand larceny in office.
Personal life
On May 9, 1888, he married Lavinia Taylor Howe, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, and their son was William Travers Jerome, Jr.He died of pneumonia on February 13, 1934, at his townhouse 125 East 36th Street in Manhattan.