Thomas Whitaker Trenchard (December 13, 1863 – July 23, 1942) was an American lawyer and a justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court between 1906 and 1941. [1]
Trenchard was born on December 13, 1863, in Centreton, Pittsgrove Township, Salem County, New Jersey, the son of William B. and Marie G. Trenchard. He graduated South Jersey Institute in 1882 and was admitted to bar in 1886. He practiced at Bridgeton, New Jersey, where he also acted as City Solicitor from 1892 to 1899. He was a Member of the House of Assembly in 1889 and a Republican presidential elector in 1896. He married Harriet M. Manning on November 17, 1891. They resided in Bridgeton, New Jersey|]].
He was appointed law judge of Cumberland County by Governor of New Jersey Foster McGowan Voorhees in 1899 and reappointed by Governor Murphy in 1904. He was appointed Justice of Supreme Court on June 8, 1906, to fill a vacancy and for full term on January 15, 1907. He is well known for being the presiding judge in the high-profile trial of Richard Hauptmann for the Lindbergh kidnapping. He retired in 1941. [2] [3]
He died on July 23, 1942, at his home in Trenton [4] [5] and is buried at the Old Broad Street Presbyterian Church and Cemetery in Bridgeton.
Trenchard was portrayed by Walter Pidgeon in the 1976 TV movie The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case and by Gerald McRaney in J. Edgar (2011), both depicting the Lindbergh trial.
Bridgeton is a city in Cumberland County, within the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the county seat of Cumberland County and is located on the Cohansey River near Delaware Bay in the South Jersey region of the state.
Bruno Richard Hauptmann was a German-born carpenter who was convicted of the abduction and murder of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., the 20-month-old son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The Lindbergh kidnapping became known as "The Crime of the Century". Both Hauptmann and his wife, Anna Hauptmann, proclaimed his innocence to his death, when he was executed in 1936 by electric chair at the Trenton State Prison. Anna later sued the State of New Jersey, various former police officers, the Hearst newspapers that had published pre-trial articles insisting on Hauptmann's guilt, and former prosecutor David T. Wilentz.
William Paterson was an American statesman, lawyer, jurist, and signer of the United States Constitution. He was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, the second governor of New Jersey, and a Founding Father of the United States.
On March 1, 1932, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old son of colonel Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was abducted from his crib in the upper floor of the Lindberghs' home, Highfields, in East Amwell, New Jersey, United States. On May 12, the child's corpse was discovered by a truck driver by the side of a nearby road.
Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf was the first superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. He is best known for his involvement in the Lindbergh kidnapping case. He was the father of General Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., the commander of all Coalition forces for Operation Desert Shield/Storm.
David Brearley was an American Founding Father, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, a delegate from New Jersey to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which drafted the United States Constitution, a signer of the United States Constitution, and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.
Robert Nathan Wilentz was Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1979 to 1996, making him the longest-serving Chief Justice since the Supreme Court became New Jersey's highest court in 1948.
David Theodore Wilentz was the Attorney General of New Jersey from 1934 to 1944. In 1935 he successfully prosecuted Bruno Hauptmann in the Lindbergh kidnapping trial. He was the father of Robert Wilentz, Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1979 to 1996, as well as Norma Hess, wife of Leon Hess, founder of Hess Corporation and Warren Wilentz
Warren W. Wilentz was an American lawyer and Democratic politician from New Jersey. He was the son of New Jersey Attorney General David T. Wilentz, who prosecuted Bruno Hauptmann in the Lindbergh kidnapping trial, and the brother of New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Wilentz.
The Hunterdon County Courthouse is an historic site located in Flemington, the county seat of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States, that is best known as the site of the 1935 "Trial of the Century" of Bruno Hauptmann and his conviction and sentence of death for his role in the Lindbergh kidnapping.
William Asher Stevens was an American jurist and Republican Party politician who served as President of the New Jersey Senate and New Jersey Attorney General. As Attorney General he conducted the early phase of the state's investigation into the Lindbergh kidnapping.
George Purnell Fisher was Attorney General of Delaware, Secretary of State of Delaware, a United States representative from Delaware and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, now the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
Old Broad Street Presbyterian Church and Cemetery is a historic church on Broad and Lawrence Streets in Bridgeton, Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. It was built in 1792 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The church and cemetery are also listed on both the New Jersey Register
Centerton is an unincorporated community located within Pittsgrove Township in Salem County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. County Route 540 is a major road that travels through Centerton and passes Centerton Pond. Route 55 provides access to Centerton, via exit 45. Centerton is approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Vineland in Cumberland County.
Highfields is a historic house in East Amwell Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey that served as the home of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, the famous aviators. It was the location of the Lindbergh kidnapping, after which it was turned into a rehabilitation center. The home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case is a 1976 American television film dramatization of the Lindbergh kidnapping, directed by Buzz Kulik and starring Cliff DeYoung, Anthony Hopkins, Martin Balsam, Joseph Cotten, and Walter Pidgeon. It first aired on the NBC network on February 26, 1976.
Albert E. Burling was a justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1947 to 1960.
Charles Wolcott Parker (1862–1948) was a justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1907 to 1947. He presided at the 1926 Hall–Mills murder trial and wrote a 1935 unanimous opinion upholding the Bruno Richard Hauptmann murder conviction.
Frederic Runyon Colie (1895–1974) was a justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1941 to 1948.
Ernest E. L. Hammer was an American lawyer, politician, and judge from New York.