Alton Brooks Parker comes from good old New England stock. He was born
in Worcester, Massachusetts, May 14, 1851. Later his family moved to
Cortland, New York, in which place he was educated, graduating from
the normal school at that place. He spent three years in teaching, and
then entered a law school at Kingston, New York, and afterward took a
course at the Albany law school, where he was graduated in 1872. After
being admitted to the bar, he formed a partnership with W. S. Kenyon
at Kingston, New York. In 1877 Mr. Parker was elected surrogate of
Ulster county, and was again re-elected in 1883. Two years later he
was appointed, by Governor Hill, justice of the Supreme Court to fill
the vacancy occasioned by the death of Hon. Theodoric R. Westbrook.
At the end of the year he was elected justice for the full term. In
January, 1889, the second division of the Court of Appeals was created,
and Judge Parker was appointed to it, he being the youngest member
who ever sat in the Court of Appeals in New York city. The second
division court was dissolved in 1892, and at that time Governor Hill
appointed him member of the general term of the first department, where
he continued until 1895. He has always been active in politics and
has been a delegate to nearly every state convention, and also to the
national convention in 1884 which nominated Grover Cleveland. In 1895
he was chairman of the Democratic state executive committee. In 1897 he
was elected by a majority of over sixty thousand to the office of chief
justice of the Court of Appeals, the highest judicial office in the
state of New York. He has often been mentioned as a possible candidate
for president by the Democratic party. He was married October 16, 1873,
to Mary L. Schoonmaker.