Freeport Village Police Judges
The office of Justice of the peace was created in September 1894 mainly to catch and fine bicyclists who were riding on the sidewalks and at night without lights. The sport of cycling was popular before the turn of the 20th century and wheelman would come out to Long Island from Brooklyn with their cycling clubs. The judges also dealt with oyster bed poaching, stray dogs, knocking out of kerosene lamps and minor assaults.
Franklin Jay Bedell [1894-1896, 1898-1899]Bedell was appointed as the first police judge in Freeport and had a rocky career. In February 1896, according to the Brooklyn Eagle, the Trustees of the Freeport Club preferred charges against Bedell to remove him from office as judge, if he did not resign immediately. He was “charged with drunkedness and being found in a barroom when it was necessary to see him in relation to judicial duties.” The clerk of the Board of Trustees was instructed to notify him that his resignation was required by February 21 or he would be removed. He denied the charges and said that it was motivated by his political opponents. The Village Board of Trustees forced him to resign in June of 1896.
Not an attorney, he held a number of interesting positions. In November of 1998, he was made a pond keeper at Massapequa for the Brooklyn Water Works because he was a Democrat. In 1902, he was the station master for the Long Island Railroad. In 1908, he leased the hotel at Scott’s Beach on Lower Main Street. He was a delegate to the 4th District Democratic primary and was elected a delegate to the town convention. He served as a member of the Freeport Board of Trustees from 1905-1920, was a director of the Ever Ready Hose Company at its incorporation and a member of the Freeport Baseball Club as a pitcher and an umpire (1903).
Wilbur Tredwell [1896-1898]The son of Daniel M. Tredwell, who was a lawyer in Brooklyn and wrote on a variety of subjects including Indians of Long Island, the history of Freeport, and A Personal Reminiscences of Men and Things on Long Island, Wilbur was a graduate of New York University Law School. In August 1896, he was nominated for Freeport police justice and was described as a “lawyer of no mean ability and can be relied upon to dole out justice impartially and with sound judgment.” As justice, he came out against football after watching a game where there were a number of injuries. He stopped the game and told the players they would be arrested if they continued to play.
He was an attorney with offices at 186 Remsen Street, Brooklyn with evening and Saturday office hours at Van Riper’s Hall in Freeport. As a member of Transfiguration Episcopal Church, he donated the altar in memory of his brother.
Andrew MacLean [1898]In March of 1898, he was elected police justice as part of William G. Miller’s party. In the same year, he was elected president of the 4th District Democratic Association and a delegate to the town convention. In 1896, he was the editor of the Queens County Review along with Charles D. Smith and also received the contract to supply street signs to the village at $.18 each. He invented an automatic fire alarm in 1897. In 1899, he was the organist and sacristan of Transfiguration. Episcopal Church. He conducted the music of the Episcopal Church when it was a mission. His wife was a member of the WCTU. He was still living in Freeport in 1920.
Archer B. Wallace (d. 1931) [1899-1903]Wallace was the son of George Wallace who was a Hempstead justice of the peace, assemblyman from the 3rd District in 1897 and Village president from 1900-1902. Archie attended the Freeport Schools and graduated from Claverack College and Hudson River Institute in New Jersey. He was the first in the county to enlist in the army to serve in Company K 71st Regiment in the Spanish-American War and served in Cuba where he fell ill with malaria or yellow fever (depending on the source). He studied law and attended some lectures at New York University law school. During his lifetime, he had a varied career. He owned a news store, was the manager and editor of the South Shore Observer (owned by his father), justice of the peace of the Town of Hempstead, coroner, auctioneer, census enumerator, collector of Freeport school taxes, and chief of the Freeport police, among others. He ran unopposed for Police Justice and at 23 years old, was the youngest judge in the State. His cases dealt with tramps who were becoming a problem in Freeport because they were treated so well here. He sent them off to the penitentiary. The County had passed the Cock’s Law that prohibited both automobilists and bicyclists from going over 8 mph. Freeport was zealous in enforcing the law and Wallace tried many of the miscreants in his own living room. One particular example concerned Lillian Russell. She was in a car whose chauffer always broke the speed limit. In a speed trap, the car was ticketed and the case was heard and the driver fined. Miss Russell referred to the Freeport officials as a bunch of ignoramuses.
Wallace was very involved in community organizations such as the Freeport Gun Club, the Odd Fellows, the Freeport football team, Court Iroquois Foresters of America, and the Junior Order of American Mechanics. His first loves were the Freeport Fire Department (Ever Ready Hose Company), and the Freeport Elks. He held many positions in both organizations and traveled extensively on their behalves.
Sidney H. Swezey [1903-1911]
Swezey came to Freeport in 1900 and was a prominent real estate lawyer with offices on Railroad Avenue. He was elected justice in a race against Archer B. Wallace. As judge, he was “a symbol of honesty and everyone relied on” him. One of the cases he dealt with was the trial of Dr. T. Horace Evans who was accused of threatening the life of Thomas Powers. Dr. Evans was a professor of anatomy at New York College of Medicine and Flower Fifth Avenue Hospital and lived at 350 South Main Street. He was defended by Clinton Flint; George Wallace and Archer B. Wallace represented the people.
According to George Morton Levy, “he was never too certain in his advice, and he coupled it with a few if’s, but’s and and’s, but, nevertheless, the respect for him was as great as any lawyer in the community. He spent as much time on a $25 case as the present day lawyer today spends on a $100,000 case and probably not charge his client anything when he was through.” He also served as a Village counsel and was president of Freeport from 1917-1918. During World War I, he was president of the Canteen of the War Camp Community Service Club that provided entertainment, food and solace to service men stationed at Mineola.
Elvin Edwards (c. 1881- 1946) [1911-1912]
Born in Brooklyn, Edwards was the son of the Reverend and Mrs. Charles Edwards. They moved to Freeport when he was two years old, and he attended the Freeport public schools and graduated from New York Law School in 1905. He began his private practice in Freeport with his law office located in the Ross and Randall Building on Railroad Avenue. His first case as Village judge was for petit larceny. He ran for the State Assembly on the Bull Moose ticket in 1912. He spent 19 years in the District Attorney’s office, which included three terms as District Attorney. While there, he “led an effective resistance movement against New York racketeers who attempted to transfer their operations to Nassau County when New York police ‘heat’ became uncomfortable.” “He was a vigilant, hard-driving and frequently spectacular prosecutor who dashed the plans of many an underworld character of the Prohibition era.” He returned to private practice in 1934 at the Mineola firm of Edwards, Froelich and MacDonough. His minister, Reverend Reginald Scott of the Transfiguration Episcopal Church said in his eulogy “he was a servant of the people who had been tried and never found wanting.”
He was the president of the Nassau County Bar Association, a member of the Junior Order of American Mechanics and vice-president and counsel for the Freeport Board of Trade.
Stephen P. Pettit (1880-1925) [1912-1913]
Born in Rockville Centre, Pettit began as a cab driver at the Baldwin and Freeport railroad stations and was in the auction business with Archer B. Wallace and later with Roland Lamb, a Village president. Pettit initiated the development of what was known as the actors’ colony in south Freeport and was made an honorary member of the LIGHTS (Long Island Good Hearted Thespian Society) Club. Pettit was president of the Citizens’ National Bank on Merrick Road and prominent in real estate circles in Freeport, Long Island, New Jersey and Florida. He was president of the Stephen P. Pettit Company and Vice President of the Jamaica Tile and Trust Company, and an organizer and member of the Freeport Chamber of Commerce. He served two terms as constable for the Town of Hempstead and three years as sheriff of Nassau County. When he was running for constable, he was referred to as an “experienced man…who will fill the office with credit, both to himself and to the town.”
He was president of the Freeport Trotting Association (Jay Bedell was an officer), a horse trainer, and owned lots of fast horses. He also played polo on the field located on Atlantic and South Bayview Avenues. The opposing team featured such players as Will Rogers, Vernon Castle and Fred Stone. He played second base for the Freeport baseball team in the South Side League along with Jay Bedell. He also was an Exalted Ruler of the Freeport Elks. It was said that he “has as large a circle of friends as any man on Long Island.” He has an “engaging personality and [a]wide range of business activities.”
Clinton Flint (c. 1875- ) [1913-1919]
Flint came to Freeport in 1903 and was a graduate of the University of Rochester with an AB, and earned his LLD from Cornell College of Law. As police justice, he had an “excellent reputation of being a fair and square dealer of justice.” He served as counsel to the Board of Education and the Village Board (1921-1922.) He also was a real estate developer (Freeport Lawns) and treasurer for The South Side Messenger. From 1927 to 1931, and 1943-1945 he was mayor of Freeport. The 1927 election was a contentious one in that Republicans were pitted against Republicans and the national Republican Party was brought in. He supported the Tin Hat Club which represented War veterans and wished to put them in County offices and oust those who had been there for years. He received the deed to Randall Park on September 17, 1927, from the estate of John J. Randall. On July 14, 1928, he laid the cornerstone for Village Hall. As mayor, he initiated the installation of the sewer system despite objections from the New York City water supply administrators.
He was a member of the Master Lodge F. A. M., and Freeport Lodge Royal Arch Masons. He also served as president of the Freeport Club, a prestigious men’s club.
Albin Johnson (1874- ) [1919-1933]
Born in Sweden, Albin’s family (August and Bertha) immigrated to the United States in 1886. He graduated from the Freeport Public Schools in 1893 and was the first president of the Alumni Association. In 1894, he graduated from the commerce department of Pratt Institute and received his bachelor of laws degree from New York University in 1896 and his master of laws from Brooklyn Law School, St. Lawrence University in 1905. In 1931 he ran on both tickets for judge, such was his popularity. “He had few, if any enemies, for his fairness in and out of court brought respect and his kindness and willingness to assist others at all times brought him the admiration and love of all who knew him.”
Johnson was called the “Great Joiner” and it was said he belonged to more fraternal organizations than any other resident of Freeport. He was an Exalted Ruler of the Elks, a member of the South Shore Yacht Club, the Freeport Lodge of Moose, United Commercial Travelers of America, Modern Woodsmen of America, Freeport Chamber of Commerce, Freeport Exchange Club, Royal Arch Masons, Odd Fellows, and the Methodist Church. He was made an honorary member of the William Clinton Story Post American Legion, Henry Theodore Mohr Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Order of the Ahepa. He also was president of the Board of Education
Hilbert Johnson [1933-1953]
Johnson was born in Freeport and grew up on Seaman Avenue in Freeport when it was very rural. He graduated from Freeport high School with high honors in 1906 and entered New York University Law School and graduated in 1909. He passed the State Bar examination admitting him to the practice of law before he was 21. He joined his brother Albin in the law practice of Johnson and Johnson at 33 South Grove Street. He was elected a Village trustee in 1921 by a record breaking vote and served until 1923. In that year he was elected president (mayor) and later served as Village counsel until he was elected to succeed his brother Albin as Village judge. He was considered “as one of the most capable corporations counsels in the state.” …and was “an authority on Municipal law.” His legal opinions as village counsel “have been sustained by the Appellate Division, Second Department, and also affirmed on appeal by the Court of Appeals, settling intricate and disputed questions of law involving legal construction and constitutionality of Village Law.”
He was the unofficial historian of the Village and wrote numerous articles for local papers and the pamphlet, “Freeport, Its History and Progress” in 1934 which was published and sold by the Freeport Unemployment Relief Committee, the proceeds of which were to support that organization to help people hurt by the Depression. In 1932, he was elected President of the Corporation Counsels’ Association. He was a member of the Elks, Freeport Exchange Club, Morton Lodge F. and A. M. of Masons, the Royal Arcanum and the South Shore Yacht Club and was the first president of the Freeport Historical Society in 1940.” He was one of the organizers of Hose Company #4 of the Freeport Fire Department.
Paul J. Kelly [1953-1962]
Born in Freeport, and educated in Freeport schools he graduated from Freeport High School.. He was admitted into the practice of the law in 1936 and was a Village counsel. From 1942 to 1945, he was state deputy housing commissioner when the issue of Bennington Park was raised and was in private practice from 1945 until 1962, when he was appointed a county court judge. He was first appointed and then elected to the state Supreme Court in 1973. He built a reputation as one of the leading criminal trial lawyers in the County.
Eddie Vasil, a popular columnist for the Leader said he “took a personal interest and proved that judges can be human and yet be just in their decisions. During the hearings one sensed an invisible slogan over the Judge’s Bench which appeared to read ‘Justice Tempered with Mercy.’” He was highly respected by all for his “priceless quality of understanding his fellow man.” He was a member of the law firm of Kelly, Hyman and Deeley located at 113 West Sunrise Highway. He was a leader in the Republican Party for many years. In 1988, he was honored by the Nassau County Bar Association who commissioned his portrait that is hanging in the courtroom where he presided. He served in the Mineola court from 1973 to 1986. Locally, he was a life member to the fourth degree of the Knight of Columbus.
Edwin J. Freedman [1962-1977]Freedman was called a “Judge’s Judge” and had “the height, bearing and appearance of an Abraham Lincoln (and also the modesty.) He has a speaking voice and manner of presentation which rates with the finest in legal circles and a natural sense of wisdom and justice.” He was reelected numerous times by the various parties and frequently ran without opposition. People felt that he served as the judge of all persons regardless of political affiliation. He was vice president of the Nassau County Magistrate’s Association, and was a director of the Nassau Bar Association and served on its Judiciary Committee.
Ralph P. Franco [1977-1988]Prior to his election to the Village Court, Ralph Franco was a deputy mayor and trustee of the Village of Freeport. He originated the phrase “Court Watchers Welcome” which appeared in the Leader’s weekly calendar for the Village Court. He was a graduate of Brooklyn College and Brooklyn Law School. When he was the Freeport judge, he said “certain aspects were very rewarding; striving to have people respect the law.” I always take time to explain my judicial decisions.” He felt that the most important quality for a judge to have is “compassion, but tempered with fairness and firmness.” “I have sympathy for the family, but not for the felon.” In 1984, he was elected to the district court, handling civil and criminal cases as well as felony arraignments and examinations until 1995. He was elected to the Supreme Court in 1995. He is a member of the Nassau Bar Association, serving as its president, the Association of Justices of the Supreme Court, the Nassau County Magistrates Association, the Catholic Lawyers Guild and the Columbian Lawyers Association
Michael Solomon [1988-]
V. Roy Cacciatore [-2009]
Stephen Drummond [2009-]
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Additional information about local village courts:
Murphy, William. Nassau Village Closes Up Court. Newsday, A.16. (To access, you will need your Freeport Memorial Library barcode).
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