James R. Whiting
{{short description|American judge}}
James Raynor Whiting (April 30, 1803 – March 16, 1872) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.
Life
He was New York County District Attorney from 1838 to 1844. In 1842 as District Attorney, he prosecuted John C. Colt for the murder of Samuel Adams.{{cite book |title=Killer Colt: Murder, Disgrace, and the Making of an American Legend |first=Harold |last=Schecter |author-link=Harold Schechter |page=[https://archive.org/details/killercoltmurder00sche_0/page/210 210] |publisher=Random House |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-345-47681-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/killercoltmurder00sche_0/page/210 }}{{cite news |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030313/1872-03-19/ed-1/seq-10/ |newspaper=New York Herald |page=10, column 2 |date=March 19, 1872 |title=Obituary. James R. Whiting}}{{PD-notice}}
In November 1855, he was elected on the Democratic ticket a justice of the New York Supreme Court, and took office on January 1, 1856, but resigned the following year. In November 1857, Josiah Sutherland was elected to fill the vacancy.{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/newyorkcivillis00houggoog |title=The New-York Civil List |first=Franklin B. |last=Hough |location=Albany, N. Y. |publisher=Weed, Parsons & Co. |year=1858 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newyorkcivillis00houggoog/page/n378 350], 377}} (gives wrong first name, "John", on page 350])
In November 1856, Whiting ran on a Reform ticket for Mayor of New York City, but he and four other candidates were defeated by Fernando Wood.{{cite news | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1855/11/12/76465183.pdf |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 12, 1855 |title=City Election}} {{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1856/11/03/77062813.pdf |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 3, 1856 |title=The Elections To-morrow}}
Whiting also owned and developed real estate. For example, he once owned the Broadway Theatre, demolished it, and replaced it with a modern textile showroom.{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1912/11/24/100382852.pdf |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 24, 1912 |title=Will Jarvie Buy Tiny Corner Plot? |quote=Mr. Whiting, in his day, was a large owner of realty in that locality. He bought the old Broadway Theatre, which stood on the former Tefft-Weller Building site, 326 to 330 Broadway, and erected the structure soon after 1859, when the theatre was torn down.}}
He was buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx).{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1872/03/21/79015501.pdf |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 21, 1872 |title=Funeral Obsequies of Ex-Judge Whiting}} (has typo in middle name, "Traynor")
References
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{{s-legal}}
{{succession box
| before = Thomas Phoenix
| title = New York County District Attorney | years=1838–1844
| after=Matthew C. Paterson
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Manhattan DA}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Whiting, James Raynor}}
Category:New York County district attorneys
Category:New York Supreme Court justices