William Irwin Grubb
| William Grubb | |
|---|---|
| Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama | |
|
In office May 18, 1909 – October 27, 1935 |
|
| Appointed by | William Taft |
| Preceded by | Oscar Hundley |
| Succeeded by | David Davis |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
March 8, 1862 Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died |
October 27, 1935 (aged 73) Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Alice Virgo |
| Alma mater | Yale University |
William Irwin Grubb (March 8, 1862 – October 27, 1935) was a United States federal judge who struck down key portions of President Roosevelt’s New Deal. A Yale graduate, Grubb was a corporate lawyer in Birmingham, Alabama when he was appointed by President Taft in 1909 to fill a seat on the District Court for Northern Alabama. While Judge Grubb was a Democrat, President Hoover appointed him in 1929 to the Wickersham Commission to investigate the effectiveness of prohibition. He is still remembered as the only member of the Commission to oppose any modification to prohibition or its repeal. During the New Deal, Judge Grubb ruled against both the TVA and the NRA.
Judge Grubb was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and was the son of John Grubb and Sidney Irwin. The family was descended from John Grubb, who originally settled in Delaware from Cornwall in the late 1600s. The Judge's parents owned a grocery in Cincinnati and both were related to President Benjamin Harrison. In 1883, William received an A.B. from Yale University and relocated to Birmingham, Alabama five years later. A local delegation welcoming President Harrison was somewhat surprised when the President warmly greeted the young lawyer who responded with “Hello Uncle Ben.” In 1906, William married Alice Virgo and had three children.
In 1909, President William H. Taft nominated Grubb to a seat vacated by Oscar R. Hundley. Grubb's roommate at Yale was Horace Taft, the President's youngest brother. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 18, 1909, and received his commission the same day. In 1913, 1927 and 1930, he was assigned to the Federal District Court in New York City to help reduce the backlog. Judge Grubb gained a reputation for his decisions against price fixing schemes (for example the Wool Institute case in 1930) and for giving out long jail sentences to bootleggers. He was also a hard taskmaster, insisting that court begin promptly at 9:30 and continue after lunch until 5:30.
...
Wikipedia