District Attorney William Travers Jerome
William Travers Jerome (1859 - 1934) was an American lawyer
Jerome was born in New York City in 1859. From 1894 to 1895, he worked in the Lexow Committee. In 1894, he managed the campaign of William L. Strong, who subsequently became mayor of New York City. The same year, he helped in the creation of a legislation that created the court of special sessions, where he himself was judge in the following year. Between 1901 and 1909, he served as district attorney of New York, where he lead a campaign against political corruption and crime, often leading raids personally, notably the one against the gambling house of Richard Canfield. He also acted as prosecutor in the trial against Harry Kendall Thaw for the murder of Stanford White. Jerome was also the the first cousin of Winston Churchill's mother Jenny
My godfather, Isadore Kressel, was the Chief Assistant D.A. under William Travers Jerome, and later he, Jerome and another attorney, Rand, formed the law firm, Jerome Rand & Kressel. Interesting fact, since Kressel was Jewish, a Columbia Law Graduate, that Jerome found good fortune with his colleague in private practice at a time when such lines ordinarily would not be crossed. Henry H. Korn, Esq., Member of the NY Bar, admitted in Feb 1974.
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