John L. Cadwalader

The life of John Lambert Cadwalader was a true expression of faculties and character, and, as became it, replete with service to the community in which it was passed. He was born at Trenton, in 1837 [sic: 1836], of an ancient and honorable family. He graduated at Princeton and afterwards at the Harvard Law School. From 1874 to 1878 he filled, to the satisfaction of all, the office of Assistant Secretary of State under Hamilton Fish; and then returning to New York, formed with Charles E. Strong, the law firm of Strong & Cadwalader. There is no need to say that Mr. Cadwalader was one of the soundest and most respected members of our Bar. No one did more, by character and example, to strengthen its standards than this clear-minded, fearless, and wise practitioner. The Association of the Bar of the City of New York honored both itself and him when it made him its President. A professional career was not the bound of Mr. Cadwalader’s conception of useful living. He became a Trustee of Princeton University and contributed counsel and money. He was a Trustee of the Carnegie Institute of Washington, and one of the wisest and most useful of the Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. But it is in connection with our Public Library that his services are most widely recognized, where he succeeded John Bigelow as President of the Board of Trustees. No one did more than he to bring about the consolidation of the Astor, Lenox, and Tilden foundations into that great institution, or to further the construction of the building which is its home. Mr. Cadwalader steadily refused political office; but gave his countenance and energies to the support of many a civic movement. While he never married, in his home and within the large circle of his friends, he made himself esteemed and cherished.

Henry Osborn Taylor
1915 Century Association Yearbook