Algernon Sydney Biddle
{{short description|American lawyer and professor}}
{{Infobox academic
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| name = Algernon Sydney Biddle
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| image = Algernon Sydney Biddle.jpg
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| caption = Portrait by Cecilia Beaux
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1847|10|11}}
| birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| death_date = {{death date and age|1891|4|8|1847|10|11}}
| death_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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| occupation = Law professor
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| parents = George Washington Biddle and Maria (McMurtie) Biddle
| relatives = *great-grandfather, Colonel Clement Biddle
- siblings, George Biddle and Arthur Biddle
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| alma_mater = Yale College
University of Berlin
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| workplaces = University of Pennsylvania Law School
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| main_interests = Evidence and torts
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Algernon Sydney Biddle (October 11, 1847 – April 8, 1891) was an American lawyer and law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. An endowed chair was established at the University of Pennsylvania Law School in his name.
Biography
Biddle was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to George Washington Biddle (a lawyer) and Maria (McMurtie) Biddle, their second child.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/universityofpenn01cham|page=[https://archive.org/details/universityofpenn01cham/page/403 403]|quote=algernon sydney biddle.|title=University of Pennsylvania: Its History, Influence, Equipment and Characteristics; with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Founders, Benefactors, Officers and Alumni|first=Joshua Lawrence|last=Chamberlain|date=1901|publisher=R. Herndon Company|via=Internet Archive}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xAI9AAAAYAAJ&q=%22algernon+sydney+biddle%22&pg=RA4-PA119|title=Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography: Illustrated|date=1921|publisher=Lewis Historical Publishing Company|via=Google Books}}{{cite web|url=http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/findaids/biddle.htm|title=University of Delaware: BIDDLE FAMILY PAPERS|website=www.lib.udel.edu}} His siblings were George Biddle and Arthur Biddle. His great-grandfather, Colonel Clement Biddle, was quartermaster in the army of George Washington during the American Revolutionary War.
He graduated from Yale College in 1868. Biddle then studied at the University of Berlin. He was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1872.
Biddle was a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School from 1887 until his death, teaching evidence and torts.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cv-kRJoXag4C&q=%22algernon+sydney+biddle%22&pg=PA19|title=The FDR Years|first=William D.|last=Pederson|date=2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=9780816074600|via=Google Books}} In 1887 to 1888 he was one of the editors of the American Law Register. He was also a member of the American Philosophical Society.
The George Biddle and Algernon Sydney Biddle Memorial Library was established at the University of Pennsylvania Law School via a gift by George W. Biddle in his memory and in the memory of George Biddle.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZD9HAQAAMAAJ&q=%22algernon+sydney+biddle%22&pg=PA339|title=Undergraduate Courses of Study Bulletin|date=1900|publisher=University of Pennsylvania|via=Google Books}} In 1900 it had 23,000 books. The law school contains a portrait of him by society portraitist Cecilia Beaux.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A-GhgeCIJHgC&q=%22algernon+sydney+biddle%22&pg=PA133|title=A Guide Book of Art, Architecture, and Historic Interests in Pennsylvania|first=Anna Margaretta|last=Archambault|date=1924|publisher=Penn State Press|isbn=0271046821|via=Google Books}}
An endowed chair was established at the University of Pennsylvania Law School in his name. Among the law professors who have held that chair are George Wharton Pepper, Francis Bohlen, Paul Bruton, George Haskins, and Curtis Reitz.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zxxHAQAAMAAJ&q=%22algernon+sydney+biddle%22+library&pg=PA840|title=Undergraduate Courses of Study Bulletin|date=1917|publisher=University of Pennsylvania|via=Google Books}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BB1BDwAAQBAJ&q=%22algernon+sydney+biddle%22&pg=PR16|title=Estates in Land and Future Interests: Problems and Answers|first=John|last=Makdisi|date=2017|publisher=Wolters Kluwer Law & Business|isbn=9781454897811|via=Google Books}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ui07AQAAIAAJ&q=%22algernon+sydney+biddle%22|title=Directory of Law Teachers|date= 1982|publisher=West Publishing Company|via=Google Books}}
Biddle married Frances Brown.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3-78JbUTUewC&q=%22algernon+sydney+biddle%22&pg=PA346|title=The Prominent Families of the United States of America|first=Arthur Meredyth|last=Burke|date= 1991|publisher=Genealogical Publishing Com|isbn=9780806313085|via=Google Books}} His children were Moncure (an investment banker), George (a muralist), Francis (who became both a corporate and public attorney, and was the primary US judge at the Nuremberg trials), and Sydney Geoffrey.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XR1NPiqp5aQC&q=%22algernon+sydney+biddle%22&pg=PA50|title=Great American Lawyers: An Encyclopedia|first=John R.|last=Vile|date=2001|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781576072028|via=Google Books}}{{cite web|url=https://www.philly.com/philly/obituaries/oliver-caldwell-biddle-96-lawyer-author-and-member-of-prominent-philadelphia-family-20180331.html|date=March 31, 2018|title=Oliver Caldwell Biddle, 96, lawyer, author and member of prominent Philadelphia family|first=Bonnie L.|last=Cook|work=The Inquirer}} Biddle died in Philadelphia.
References
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External links
- [http://hsp.org/sites/default/files/legacy_files/migrated/findingaid1792biddle.pdf Biddle family papers] at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania
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Category:19th-century American lawyers
Category:Yale University alumni
Category:Lawyers from Philadelphia
Category:University of Pennsylvania Law School faculty