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The Coroner of New York City issued death certificates and performed autopsies and inquests for New York County, New York until 1891 when the city expanded. After the 1891 consolidation of New York City the office handled death certificates, inquests and autopsies for the outer boroughs, with each outer borough having two coroners, except Staten Island which had a single coroner. Coroners are elected at the same time as the Mayor of New York City for a term of four years and there was no requirement to be a physician. They may be removed from office by the Governor of New York. The coroners received a salary and also billed the city for services rendered for each autopsy and inquest. By 1896 the Manhattan coroner was earning $6,000 per year, and in 1897 each inquest was billed at $8.50. In 1915 a law was passed and the office was to be abolished on January 1, 1918. It was replaced with the Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York. The medical examiner was to be a physician and no longer had the ability to hold inquests, those powers were transferred to the district attorney. Between 1898 when the city was consolidated and 1915 when the office went from coroner to medical examiner, 65 coroners had served in the position. Of them, 19 were physicians, 8 were undertakers, 7 were politicians, 6 were real estate agents, 2 were saloon keepers, 2 were plumbers, 1 was a musician, 1 was a dentist, and 1 was a butcher.

There are eleven Coroners in the City of New York — four for the Borough of Manhattan, two for The Bronx, two for Brooklyn, two for Queens and one for Richmond. The Coroners in each borough, except Richmond, constitute a Board of Coroners for the borough. Coroners are elected at the same time as the Mayor for a term of four years. They may be removed on charges by the Governor. The Coroner has jurisdiction over all homicide, suicide and accidental death cases and over all suspicious deaths, deaths in prison, and cases where the deceased was unattended by a physician. In cases of serious wounding the Coroner has jurisdiction to take an ante-mortem statement. The functions of the Coroner are threefold — medical investigation to determine the scientific cause of death, legal investigation to determine who caused the death, and judicial power to sit as a magistrate in homicide cases. The law requires the Coroner to summon a jury in cases where there is reasonable ground to believe that a homicide has been committed, and he may order the arrest of suspected persons. Each Coroner has a coroner's physician to assist him in medical investigations. He may subpoena witnesses and has power to order an autopsy and issues death certificates, upon which the Health Department grants burial permits. A law passed in 1915 provides for the abolishment of the office of Coroner on January 1, 1918, and the substitution of a Chief Medical Examiner for the entire city, with assistant medical examiners. The work of legal investigation is to be assumed by the District Attorneys, and the coroner's judicial function is to be performed by the City Magistrates.

History

Originally New York City had two elected coroners. Each coroner was assigned a physician and a clerk. In 1852 the number of coroners were doubled to four.

In 1896 Theodore Knapp Tuthill suggested doubling the number of New York County, New York coroners from four to eight, and increasing the compensation for the coroners to attract more competent officials.

In 1898 New York City expanded from Manhattan to include Queens, Staten Island, Brooklyn, and The Bronx.

In 1903 senator Nathaniel A. Elsberg sought to abolish the office and set up a new one based on the medical examiner model used in Massachusetts. Each medical examiner would be appointed to a five-year term. The coroner would no longer have police power, and that role would taken over by the New York County District Attorney.

By 1914-1915 there were eleven coroners serving the five boroughs of New York City with a budget of $170,000.

On January 1, 1918 the office was abolished and replaced with the Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York. Charles Norris (1867–1935) was the first non acting chief medical examiner in the newly established Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York.

New York County

Two coroners serving simultaneously until 1852 and four coroners for Manhattan, New York City after 1852. The aggregate of the coroners is called the Board of Coroners and is served by a president. The salary was $6,000 (approximately $220,000 today) in 1898.

• John Burnet (coroner) 1748 to 1758.
• Thomas Shreve circa 1771.
• Geer circa 1852.
• O'Donnell circa 1854.
• Nugent circa 1857.
• Collin circa 1865.
• Wildey circa 1865.
• Robert Gamble (coroner) has been chosen President, and coroner William C. Gover as secretary of the Board of Coroners for the ensuing three years in 1865.
• William C. Gover (1815-1891) 1867 to 1871. He was born in 1851 in Philadelphia. He died on December 14, 1891 in Manhattan, New York City.
• Aaron B. Rollins (1818-1878) 1867 to 1871.
• Cornelius Flynn circa 1870.
• Patrick H. Keenan circa 1870.
• William G. Schirmer, M.D. (1810-1878) 1868 to 1870.
• Richard Croker (1843-1922) 1873 to 1876.
• Poltman circa 1874.
• Anthony Eickhoff (1827-1901) 1874 to 1876.
• Dempsey circa 1879.
• Ferdinand Eidman (1843-1910), 1885 to 1889. He was born in 1843 in Worms, Germany. He died on May 5, 1910 in Manhattan.
• Levy circa 1892.
• William O'Meagher, M.D. (1829-1896) 1894 to 1896. He died in office before he could complete his four-year term.
• Messemer circa 1889.
• Theodore Knapp Tuthill, M.D. (1848-1926) 1896 to ?. He was born on January 22, 1848 in Orange County, New York. He graduated from New York University College of Medicine in 1890. He died on October 25, 1926 at the Lutheran Hospital in Manhattan.
• Emil William Hoeber (1833-1906) from about 1895 until 1897. He was born in 1833 in Germany and migrated to the United States in 1853. He married Jenny Heidelsheimer on October 28, 1875 in Manhattan, New York City. He died on October 5, 1906 in Manhattan, New York City.
• William H. Dobbs circa 1896.
• Greenleaf circa 1897.
• Edward T. Fitzpatrick, 1898 to 1901. He was the president of the Manhattan Board of Coroners under the administration of William L. Strong. His salary was $6,000 in 1898.
• Jacob E. Bausch (1868-1932), 1898 to 1902. His salary was $6,000 in 1898. His physician was Philip F. O'Hanlon. He died on May 21, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York City.
• Edward W. Hart, 1898 to 1901. His salary was $6,000 in 1898.
• Antonio Zucca (1851-1922), 1898 to 1901. He was born in 1851 in Trieste. His salary was $6,000 in 1898. He died on 14 April 1922 in Manhattan.
• Nicholas T. Brown circa 1902.
• Solomon Goldenkranz, M.D. (1868-1937), circa 1902. He attended New York University Medical School.
• Gustave Scholer, M.D., circa 1904. He was a graduate of New York University Medical School, and the chief of the Surgical Department of the West Side Dispensary. He was a Republican.
• Moses J. Jackson (1848-1918) circa 1905. Convicted of bribery. He died on January 1, 1918.
• Peter P. Acritelli (1873-1912), 1905 to 1907. He was born on January 18, 1873 in Italy to Francesco Acritelli and Santa Maringelo. He was elected as coroner in 1905. He was indicted on two counts in connection with an illegal registration. He was charged with a felony and a misdemeanor in 1907. He survived the indictment and ran again for coroner and was defeated. He died on March 3, 1912.
• George Frederick Shrady, Jr., M.D. (1862-1933), circa 1906.
• Peter Dooley, circa 1907.
• Julius Harburger (1850-1914), circa 1907.
• Israel Lewis Feinberg, M.D. (1872 - April 13, 1941), 1910 to 1918. He was a physician and the President of the Manhattan Board of Coroners from 1910 to 1918.
• Henry W. Holzhauser, circa 1911.
• Herman Hellenstein, M.D. (1863-1920), 1909 to 1917. He was born in 1863 in Hungary. He died December 20, 1920 at Mount Sinai Hospital. He was 57 years old.
• James Edward Winterbottom (1880-1933), circa 1911. He was born on July 6, 1880. He worked as an undertaker. He died on November 13, 1933.
• Timothy P. Healy (1863-1930), 1913 to 1918. He served until the office was abolished.
• Patrick D. Riordan, M.D. (1868-1923), 1914 to 1918. He was one of the last set of coroners and he was the first acting medical examiner. He filled the office for one month until Charles Norris was appointed. He collapsed in the doorway of Louis Cohen's drug store, at 1203 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan and died on September 21, 1923.

Queens County

Two or three coroners serving simultaneously for Queens, New York City

• Ackerman, circa 1879.
• William J. Bartlett was elected a coroner for a term of three years from January 1, 1897.
• Philip T. Cronin (1858-1905), circa 1898. He was born in 1858. His salary was $4,000 in 1898. He died on May 16, 1905 and was buried in Lawrence Family Graveyard.
• Samuel S. Guy, Jr. circa 1898. His salary was $4,000 in 1898.
• Leonard Ruoff, Jr. circa 1898. His salary was $4,000 in 1898.
• Samuel Davidson Nutt, M.D. (1865-1928) 1906 to 1910. He was born on June 24, 1865 in New York City to Joseph D. Nutt and Celia Florinda Upham. In 1886 he graduated from Bellevue Hospital Medical School. He became the coroner in 1906. Charles Evans Hughes attempted to remove Samuel D. Nutt as coroner of Queens County, New York in 1908. Nutt took $94 from the body of A.R. Von Der Zweep, who was killed by the cars on the Long Island Rail Road at Valley Stream, New York. He was exonerated, he testified that he had locked the money in his safe to protect it, and became ill and forgot to list it in the inventory. He served as coroner until 1910. He died on May 3, 1928 in Woodhaven, New York.
• Dunn, circa 1913.

Bronx County

Two coroners served simultaneously for The Bronx, New York City

• Anthony McOwen circa 1898. His salary was $6,000 in 1898.
• Thomas M. Lynch circa 1898. His salary was $6,000 in 1898. He may have died on April 11, 1922 at age 75.
• Albert Frederick Schwannecke (1859-1912) 1909 to 1912. He was born in 1859 in Germany and migrated to the United States. In 1892 he was the Commissioner of Deeds for New York City. In 1909 he became Coroner of Bronx County, New York. In 1910 he was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct for threatening a police officer while he was investigating a murder. He died on April 30, 1912 in Bronx, New York City of a gastric hemorrhage after falling while on duty.
• Jerome F. Healy, 1912 to ?.

Kings County

Two coroners served simultaneously for Brooklyn, New York City

• George Henry Lindsay (1637-1916), 1886 to 1892.
• Edward Butler Coombs, dentist (1862-1910), 1896 to 1897. He was a dentist and in 1896 was elected as the coroner of Kings County, New York. In 1898 he was convicted of presenting a false and fraudulent bill for an inquest that he never performed. He was released from prison in 1900 after serving one year and seven months. "Ex-Coroner Edward B. Coombs was released from the Kings County Penitentiary yesterday afternoon, his term of imprisonment having expired. Coombs was not required to pay the fine of $1,000 which was imposed upon him when he was sentenced because of a legal flaw in the commitment." After his release he left the city.
• George H. Nason, 1896 to 1897. He was an undertaker before elected as coroner. He and Coombs were indicted in 1897 for submitting fraudulent bills for inquests that never convened.
• Delap, 1899. His physician was Alvin C. Hendersen (1849-1899).

Richmond County

Two coroners served in some years, and in other years a single coroner served Staten Island.

• Charles W. Townsend, ? to 1897.
• William B. Wilkinson, 1897 to ?.
• John Seaver. He was paid $4,000 in 1898.
• George Charles Tranter (1851-1925). He was paid $4,000 in 1898. "George C. Tranter, 74 years old, one of the Democratic leaders of Staten island before its consolidation with New York City, died in his home." He died on 13 May 1925 on Staten Island.

References

1. ^ Government of the City of New York. New York City Commissioner of Accounts. 1917.
2. "The Corrupt Tale of the Last Coroners of the City of Brooklyn". May 14, 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-30.
3. ^ The Abolition of the Office of Coroner in New York City. New York Short Ballot Organization. 1914.
4. ^ Kenneth Terry Jackson, Lisa Keller, and Nancy Flood. The Encyclopedia of New York City. p. 1506.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
5. The New York City Consolidation Act, as in Force in 1891. 1891. p. 738.
6. ^ "Coroners In Conference. Plans Advanced For Making Their Service More Efficient. Coroner Tuthill Reads an Elaborate Paper Outlining a Scheme of Improvement. He Thinks the Salary Insufficient to Secure Competent Officials. Twice as Many Coroners' Physicians Needed and Their Pay Not Adequate". New York Times. August 5, 1896. Retrieved 2015-12-26.
7. "Bill To Abolish Coroners. Senator Elsberg Introduces a Measure Favored by Medical Associations Based on the Massachusetts Law". New York Times. February 6, 1903. Retrieved 2015-12-26.
8. Minutes of Coroners proceedings, City and County of New York.
9. "Coroner and Office of Chief Medical Examiner, 1823-1946". NYC.gov. Retrieved 2015-12-27.
10. "General News". New York Times. January 11, 1865.
11. "Funeral of William C. Gover. He was Connected with New York Politics For Many Years". New York Times. December 16, 1891.
12. ^ "Death Of Ex-Coroner Rollins. He Is Found Dead In His Bed At The Union-place Hotel. A Sketch Of His Career". New York Times. December 5, 1878. Retrieved 2015-07-03.
13. "Dr. William Schirmer". New York Times. July 9, 1878. Retrieved 2015-12-26.
14. "Ferdinand Eidman Dead. Revenue Collector, ex-State Senator, and ex-Coroner Was 67 Years Old". New York Times. May 6, 1910. Retrieved 2016-01-05.
15. ^ "Dr. T.K. Tuthill Made Coroner. Appointed by Gov. Morton in Place of the Late Dr. O'Meagher". New York Times. March 28, 1896. Retrieved 2015-12-26.
16. "Death of Coroner O'Meagher". Boston Medical and Surgical Journal. 1896. Retrieved 2015-12-26.
17. "Funeral of Dr. Theodore K. Tuthill". New York Times. October 28, 1926.
18. "Ex-Coroner Hoeber Dead. An Interesting Figure of the Strong Administration Passes Away". New York Times. October 6, 1906.
19. "Jacob E. Bausch Dies. Former Coroner Here. Served in Manhattan, 1898 to 1902, and as Clerk of Board, 1906-? Labor Leader". New York Times. May 22, 1932. Retrieved 2016-01-05.
20. "Coroner Eidman's Deputy". New York Times. December 30, 1885. Retrieved 2016-01-05.
21. "Indict Coroner Acritelli. He Is Accused of Aiding and Abetting Registration Frauds". New York Times. October 26, 1907. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
22. "George F. Shrady, Ex-Coroner, Dies. Son Of Eminent Physician Caused Lowering Of Death Rate From 'the Bends.' Headed Aqueduct Police ... Sanitary Engineer. His Profession Once Had Charge Of Tammany Speakers' Bureau". New York Times. April 6, 1933. Retrieved 2010-07-12. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
23. "Dr. Israel Feinberg, Ex-Coroner Here, 69; Head of Old Board, 1910-18, Sought to Abolish System". New York Times. April 14, 1941. Retrieved 2011-02-06. Dr. Israel Feinberg, former president of the old Board of Coroners, died yesterday morning at bocker Hospital where he was ... {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
24. "Coroners' Office Conceals Crime. Dr. Feinberg, Head of Manhattan Board, Admits Whole System Should Be Abolished. Commissioner of Accounts Gets Confirmation of Charges by Official Twice Elected". New York Times. November 18, 1914. Retrieved 2011-02-06. Dr. Israel L. Feinberg, President of the Manhattan Board of Coroners and now serving his second term, has come out unreservedly for the abolition of the entire Coroners' system. He says it is inadequate, subject to great abuses, and that as it works out in this city, it reeks with waste, confusion, and inefficiency. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
25. "Herman Hellenstein". New York Times. December 22, 1920.
26. "James Winterbottom Dies". New York Times. November 14, 1933. Retrieved 2016-01-05.
27. "Ex-Coroner Riordan Dies Suddenly". New York Times. September 22, 1923.
28. "Throng at Cronin Funeral". New York Times. May 20, 1905.
29. "Want Nutt Punished For Contempt Of Court". Brooklyn Daily Standard Union. April 16, 1906.
30. "Asks Gov. Hughes To Oust Coroner Nutt. Charged That Queens Official Retained $94 Taken from A.R. Von Der Zweep's Body. Coroner Says That He Held Railroad Victim's Effects In His Safe Until Court Action Was Brought". New York Times. April 18, 1908.
31. ^ "Lieut. Mcauliffe On Trial. He Is Under Charge for the Arrest of Coroner Schwannecke". New York Times. April 29, 1910.
32. "Bronx Coroner Killed On Duty. Schwannecke, Beloved by His Neighbors, Fell While Investigating Laborer's Death". New York Times. May 1, 1912.
33. "J.F. Healy New Bronx Coroner". New York Times. July 11, 1912.
34. "Ex-Coroner Coombs Free. His Term of Imprisonment for Presenting a False Claim Expires. Not Required to Pay Fine". New York Times. August 21, 1900.
35. "Dr. A.C. Hendersen Dead. He was Coroner's Physician in the Borough of Brooklyn". New York Times. February 7, 1899. Retrieved 2016-01-05.
36. ^ "Coroner for Richmond County". New York Times. September 18, 1897.
37. "George C. Tranter". New York Times. May 14, 1925. Retrieved 2016-01-06.

Template:Coroner of Kings County, New York

• Forensics organizations
• Government of New York City
• Coroners of New York City