Obituary for Jacob Gould Schurman, Retired N.Y.C. Judge
The Jersey Journal, Sep 22 1961, P. 50, Col. 3
"NEW YORK - Jacob Gould Schurman, 67, retired judge of the Court of General Sessions, died yesterday after a heart attack at his home, 161 East 70th Street.
Mr. Schurman was named for his father, Jacob Gould Schurman, president of Cornell University and of the first Philippine Island Commission and Minister to Greece, Montenegro, China and Germany. Like his father Mr. Schurman long was active in public service. He dropped the junior from his name at his father's death in 1942.
BORN IN ITHACA, N.Y., he went to public schools there, Roemer's Institute in Munich and the Hill School before entering Cornell.
In 1914 he was traveling with his mother and a sister in Belgium when World War I broke out. After taking them to London, he volunteered as an attache at the American Consulate in Brussels to escort English non-combatants from the war zone. He spent the rest of his summer vacation on these missions with the cooperation of the German authorities.
In 1917, Mr. Schurman was graduated from Cornell and joined the Army. As an infantry captain in the 309th Regiment of the 78th Division he took part in the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives, winning the Silver Star. Later he studied at the University of Dijon and received a law degree from Harvard in 1922.
ASSOCIATED WITH an uncle in the law firm of Hughes, Schurman & Dwight from 1922 to 1928, he sought appointment as an Assistant District Attorney in New York County. During 1925 he investigated graft in the pushcart market. In 1928 he became a partner in the firm of Schurman, Wiley & Willcox.
In 1930 Mr. Schurman volunteered as an assistant counsel in the first Seabury Investigation of the Magistrates Courts. In 1931 he became chief assistant in the continuing investigation of the New York County District Attorney's Office. He was credited with a major role in exposing corruption in the administration of the late Mayor James J. Walker.
A Republican, he ran for New York County District Attorney in 1933 on the Fusion slate headed by Fiorello H. La Guardia, who won. Although Mr. Schurman was defeated two years later Mayor La Guardia appointed him Chief City Magistrate.
AS CHIEF MAGISTRATE, he noted that nearly half the traffic tickets drew suspended sentences from magistrates. In 1936 he introduced a system of uniform sentences for traffic tickets, requiring magistrates to explain on the court papers any reason for suspending sentence. This was credited with ending the "fixing" of such tickets through political connections."