Joseph Koch

Joseph Koch (September 28, 1843 – August 28, 1902) was a Jewish-American lawyer, judge, and politician from New York.

Life

Koch was born on September 28, 1843, in New York City, New York, the son of German immigrants Samuel Koch and Theresa Engelhard.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6TQcAQAAMAAJ |title=Universities and their Sons |publisher=R. Herndon Company |year=1900 |editor-last=Chamberlain |editor-first=Joshua L. |editor-link=Joshua Chamberlain |volume=V |location=Boston, M.A. |pages=344 |language=en |via=Google Books}}

Koch graduated from the College of the City of New York in 1862. During the American Civil War, he served in the Judge Advocate General's Department of the Army with the rank of major from August 1862 until his honorable discharge in May 1863.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OiufUDG-zboC |title=The Convention Manual of Procedure, Forms and Rules for the Regulation of Business in the Sixth New York State Constitutional Convention, 1894: Delegates Manual and Introduction |publisher=The Argus Company |year=1894 |location=Albany, N.Y. |pages=lxvi |via=Google Books}} He then worked as an assistant teacher at Grammar School No. 36 in New York City, attended law lectures with Professor Theodore William Dwight at Columbia University, and studied law with Richard H. Huntley and Abram J. Dittenhoefer. He graduated from Columbia Law School with an LL.B. in 1865. He was admitted to the bar later that year, after which he sailed to Europe and spent a year at Heidelberg University. He returned to New York City in 1867 and began practicing law there. He was offered the Democratic nomination for the New York State Assembly that year. He declined, and was instead appointed Law Clerk of the New York Supreme Court, followed by Deputy County Clerk{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sZU-AAAAYAAJ |title=Representative Men of New York |publisher=The New York Press |year=1898 |editor-last=Mowbray |editor-first=Jay Henry |volume=III |location=New York, N.Y. |pages=106–108 |language=en |via=Google Books}} under County Clerk Charles E. Loew.{{Cite book |last=Gover |first=William C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zDUsAAAAYAAJ |title=The Tammany Hall Democracy of the City of New York |publisher=Martin B. Brown |year=1875 |location=New York, N.Y. |pages=88–89 |language=en |via=Google Books}}

Koch retired as Deputy County Clerk in 1869, when he was elected Civil Justice in the Fifth District.{{Cite news |date=15 December 1869 |title=County Clerk Loew Loses the Services of a Valuable Man |volume=37 |page=1 |work=The Sun |location=New York, N.Y. |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1869-12-15/ed-1/seq-1/ |via=Chronicling America}} In 1877, he was nominated by anti-Tammany organizations for Justice of the Marine Court, losing the election by a small majority and allegedly due to fraud.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U14oAAAAYAAJ |title=The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography |publisher=James T. White & Co. |year=1894 |volume=V |location=New York, N.Y. |pages=177–178 |language=en |via=Google Books}} In 1879, he ran for the New York State Assembly as a Democrat in New York County's 21st District. He lost the election to Republican Edward Mitchell.{{Cite book |last=McBride |first=Alexander |url=https://archive.org/details/eveningjournalal1876amer/page/126/mode/1up?view=theater |title=The Evening Journal Almanac, 1880 |publisher=Weed, Parsons & Co. |year=1880 |location=Albany, N.Y. |pages=126 |language=en |via=Internet Archive}} He served as trustee of the common schools from 1870 to 1874. In 1881, he was elected to the New York State Senate, representing New York's 10th State Senate district (the 12th, 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd wards of New York City). He served in the Senate in 1882{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/eveningjournalal1882slsn/page/116/mode/1up?view=theater |title=The Evening Journal Almanac, 1882 |publisher=Weed, Parsons & Co. |year=1882 |editor-last=McBride |editor-first=Alexander |location=Albany, N.Y. |pages=116 |language=en |via=Internet Archive}} and 1883.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/eveningjournalal1883slsn/page/130/mode/1up?view=theater |title=The Evening Journal Almanac, 1883 |year=1883 |location=Albany, N.Y. |pages=130 |language=en |via=Internet Archive}} He was elected as a Democrat, even though the district was strongly Republican. An active member of Senate, he was chairman of important senate committees. In 1883, he called attention to the devastation of the Adirondack Forest and wrote an elaborate report on the subject. He returned to his private law practice after his senate term ended.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/newyorkmetropoli00spra/page/272/mode/1up?view=theater |title=New York, The Metropolis |publisher=The New York Recorder |year=1893 |volume=I |location=New York, N.Y. |pages=272 |language=en |via=Internet Archive}} According to The Jewish Encyclopedia, he was the first Jewish state senator in New York.{{Cite web |last1=Adler |first1=Cyrus |author-link=Cyrus Adler |last2=Kohler |first2=Max J. |author-link2=Max J. Kohler |last3=Sulzberger |first3=Cyrus L. |author-link3=Cyrus Leopold Sulzberger |last4=Hermalin |first4=D. M. |title=NEW YORK |url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5439-educational-alliance#anchor28 |access-date=2022-08-13 |website=The Jewish Encyclopedia}}

In 1884, Mayor William Russell Grace appointed him a Dock Commissioner.{{Cite news |date=10 May 1885 |title=Mayor Grace's Appointments |volume=XL |page=4 |work=New York Dispatch |issue=30 |location=New York, N.Y. |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85026214/1885-05-10/ed-1/seq-4/ |via=Chronicling America}} He was then elected Chairman of the Commission. In 1889, Mayor Hugh J. Grant appointed him an Excise Commissioner.{{Cite news |date=2 May 1889 |title=Appointments |page=1 |work=The Evening World |location=New York, N.Y. |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1889-05-02/ed-3/seq-1/ |via=Chronicling America}} In 1892, Grant reappointed him Excise Commissioner{{Cite news |date=26 April 1892 |title=A New Excise Board |volume=LIX |page=3 |work=The Sun |issue=239 |location=New York, N.Y. |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1892-04-26/ed-1/seq-3/ |via=Chronicling America}} and he became president of the Excise Board.{{Cite news |date=2 May 1892 |title=The New Excise Board |page=2 |work=The Evening World |location=New York, N.Y. |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1892-05-02/ed-2/seq-2/ |via=Chronicling America}} In 1893, Mayor Thomas Francis Gilroy appointed him Police Justice to succeed James T. Kilbreth, whose term as Police Justice expired.{{Cite news |date=4 January 1893 |title=Named By Gilroy |page=7 |work=The Evening World |location=New York, N.Y. |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1893-01-04/ed-2/seq-7/ |via=Chronicling America}} He was a school trustee for the 19th Ward from 1877 to 1882 and a delegate to the 1894 New York State Constitutional Convention.

An active member of B'nai B'rith, Koch was president of the District Grand Lodge No. 1 and chairman of the 1874 national convention in Chicago.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PrxtAAAAMAAJ |title=The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia |publisher=The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Inc. |year=1942 |editor-last=Landman |editor-first=Isaac |editor-link=Isaac Landman |volume=6 |location=New York, N.Y. |pages=424 |language=en |via=Google Books}} He was also an active member of the Freemasons, serving as grand marshal and grand steward as well as a commissioner of appeals of the Grand Lodge of New York in 1874. He was a captain in the 71st New York Infantry Regiment as well as Major and Judge Advocate of the Second Brigade in the New York National Guard. He was also a member of the Harmonie-Liederkranz, the Arion Society, the Manhattan Club, the Democratic Club, and the Lotos Club. In 1874, he married Hennie Bendit. Their children were Spencer B. and Roland J.

Koch died in Mount Sinai Hospital from a long illness on August 28, 1902.{{Cite news |date=29 August 1902 |title=Death of Ex-Justice Koch |volume=LI |page=9 |work=The New York Times |issue=16426 |location=New York, N.Y. |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_new-york-times_1902-08-29_51_16426/page/n8/mode/1up?view=theater |via=Internet Archive}}