Adolph J. Rodenbeck

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Adolph J. Rodenbeck

| image = Adolph Julius Rodenbeck (1861–1960).png

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name = Adolph Julius Rodenbeck

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1861|10|15}}

| birth_place = Rochester, New York, US

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1960|4|8|1861|10|15}}

| death_place = Rochester, New York, US

| resting_place = Mount Hope Cemetery

| occupation = Lawyer, politician, judge

| awards =

| spouse = {{Marriage|Blanche B. Brown|1927}}

| children =

| education = {{Plainlist|

}}

| signature =

| party = Republican

| office = Member of the New York State Assembly

| constituency = Monroe County 2nd District

| term_start = 1899

| term_end = 1901

}}

Adolph Julius Rodenbeck (October 15, 1861 – April 8, 1960) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge from Rochester, New York.

Life

Rodenbeck was born on October 15, 1861, in Rochester, New York, the son of Charles T. and Frederica C. Rodenbeck.{{Cite news |date=9 April 1960 |title=Adolph J. Rodenbeck, Ex-Mayor, Dies at 98 |volume=128 |page=36 |newspaper=Democrat and Chronicle |issue=100 |publication-place=Rochester, N.Y. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-adolph-j-rodenbe/174268582/ |access-date=2025-04-09 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Rodenbeck graduated from the Rochester Free Academy in 1881 and from the University of Rochester in 1885. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon at the University. He then studied law in the office of Henry G. Danforth in Rochester and finished his studies in a New York City office. He was admitted to the bar in 1887, and after an extended trip abroad he settled in Rochester and worked as a lawyer there.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/landmarksofmonro00peck/page/n609/mode/2up?view=theater |title=Landmarks of Monroe County, New York |publisher=The Boston History Company |year=1895 |location=Boston, M.A. |pages=457–458 |language=en |via=Internet Archive}} He was appointed Second Assistant City Attorney in 1892, First Assistant City Attorney in 1892, and Corporation Counsel in 1894. He served in the latter position until June 1898, after which he resumed his private law practice. In 1898, he was elected to the New York State Assembly as a Republican, representing the Monroe County 2nd District. He served in the Assembly in 1899,{{Cite book |last=Murlin |first=Edgar L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5yM0AQAAMAAJ |title=The New York Red Book |publisher=James B. Lyon |year=1899 |location=Albany, N.Y. |pages=224–225 |language=en |via=Google Books}} 1900,{{Cite book |last=Murlin |first=Edgar L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iARDAQAAMAAJ |title=The New York Red Book |publisher=James B. Lyon |year=1900 |location=Albany, N.Y. |pages=163–164 |language=en |via=Google Books}} and 1901.{{Cite book |last=Murlin |first=Edgar L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L300AQAAMAAJ |title=The New York Red Book |publisher=James B. Lyon |year=1901 |location=Albany, N.Y. |pages=163–164 |language=en |via=Google Books}}

In 1901, Rodenbeck was elected Mayor of Rochester.{{Cite news |date=6 November 1901 |title=Mr. Albridge Had a Close Call |edition=Last |volume=43 |page=6 |newspaper=The Post Express |issue=128 |location=Rochester, N.Y. |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qOFfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Xm0NAAAAIBAJ&pg=1307%2C5210537 |access-date=2025-06-10 |via=Google News Archive}} He served as Mayor from 1902 to 1903. During this time, he was primarily concerned with increasing the water supply for the city's growing population with water from Lake Ontario.{{Cite journal |last=McKelvey |first=Blake |date=January 1969 |title=His Honor, the Mayor of Rochester: 1900-1928 |url=https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v31_1969/v31i1.pdf |journal=Rochester History |volume=XXXI |issue=1 |pages=6–7}} In November 1903, Governor Benjamin Odell appointed him Judge of the New York Court of Claims to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Judge Charles T. Saxton.{{Cite news |date=11 November 1903 |title=Rodenbeck is Now a Judge |volume=45 |page=6 |newspaper=The Post Express |issue=133 |location=Rochester, N.Y. |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8qFhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kx4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=1689%2C3676821 |access-date=2025-06-10 |via=Google News Archive}} In March 1904, he was reappointed Judge for a term that expired in 1909. In 1906, the Court's Judges' terms were extended ten years. The Court was abolished in 1911, but when it was recreated in 1915 he became Chairman of the Court.{{Cite book |last=Murlin |first=Edgar L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=no9FAQAAMAAJ |title=The New York Red Book |publisher=J. B. Lyon Company |year=1915 |location=Albany, N.Y. |pages=82 |language=en |via=Google Books}}

Rodenbeck was a delegate-at-large to the 1915 New York State Constitutional Convention.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B55WAAAAYAAJ |title=The Convention Manual of Procedure, Forms and Rules for the Regulation of Business in the Seventh New York State Constitutional Convention, 1915 |publisher=J. B. Lyon Company |year=1915 |location=Albany, N.Y. |pages=243 |language=en |via=Google Books}} In February 1916, Governor Charles Seymour Whitman appointed him Justice of the New York Supreme Court to succeed retiring Justice Arthur E. Sutherland.{{Cite news |date=22 February 1916 |title=Whiteman Delivers to Aldridge |volume=104 |page=8 |newspaper=The Argus |issue=53 |location=Albany, N.Y. |url=https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83045592/1916-02-22/ed-1/seq-8/ |via=NYS Historic Newspapers}} He was elected for a full term as Justice in the election that year.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l3FIAAAAYAAJ |title=The New York Red Book |publisher=J. B. Lyon Company |year=1917 |editor-last=Malcolm |editor-first=James |location=Albany, N.Y. |pages=492 |language=en |via=Google Books}} He served as Justice until he reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 in 1932. He was widely known in legal circles for "The Anatomy of the Law," his 1925 volume on the divisions of the law through its various branches.{{Cite news |publication-date=9 April 1960 |title=Adolph Rodenbeck Dies |language=en |edition=Late City |volume=CIX |page=23 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=1960-04-08 |place=Rochester, New York |issue=37331 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/04/09/archives/adolphrodenbeckdies-exsupreme-court-justice-98-uformer-rochester.html |access-date=2025-06-10}}

Rodenbeck was a trustee of the Wagner Memorial Lutheran College, secretary of the Central Republican Club, and a member of the Freemasons, the Odd Fellows, the Down Town Republican Club, the Genesee Valley Club, the Monroe Club, the Rochester Whist Club, the Monroe County Historical Society, the New York State Bar Association, the Rochester Bar Association, Phi Beta Kappa, the Maennerchor Society, the Rochester Historical Society, the Association of Alumni of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts of New York City, and the German-American Society. In 1927, he married his former secretary Blanche B. Brown at the Church of the Transfiguration in New York City, with Rev. Rudolph Ray officiating the service.{{Cite news |date=18 March 1927 |title=Justice Rodenbeck Weds Former Secretary at Famous 'Little Church' |volume=95 |page=37 |newspaper=Democrat and Chronicle |location=Rochester, N.Y. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-justice-rodenbeck/174268983/ |access-date=2025-06-10 |via=Newspapers.com}}