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SKETCH OF JUDGE MUNSON Eminent Jurist Was Close Friend of Mr. Withers and a Power in American Turf Affairs. i i Judge A. C. Munson, once the close friend j of Mr. Withers and the intimate associate of those who made the turf great in the six- ; ties, had a long and notable career. Gradu- : ated from the Columbia college, he after- : ward took a course of instruction in the Tale law school, studied in the offices of : Ambrose Jordan and Benjamin W. Bonney and was admitted to the bar when he was only twenty years of age. Associated with his brother-in-law, Rob- : ert H. Morris, he practiced for several years : at the New York bar, and was soon regarded as one of the most promising young men of : that day. When the excitement over the discovery of gold upon the Pacific Coast broke out. he daught the prevalent fever and went to California. It was not with pick and shovel that ho entered upon life there. Taking his law books with him and hanging out a shingle in Sacramento, he entered upon the practice of law. In the golden state he ; made rapid progress and became a leading . member of the bar. In 1S52, Governor John Bigler appointed him to fill a vacancy in the District Court, and before his term of service expired the next governor tendered him an appointment to the bench of the Supremo Court. This offer Mr. Munson declined and returned to his former home in New York. A year later, in 1S58, he made a visit to Europe. Upon his return from abroad he again went to California and re-entered upon the practice of his profession, remaining there until 18G3. After the latter date he was settled permanently in New York. It was soon after his return to the metropolis that he met Mr. Withers, and the acquaintance that thus sprang up ripened into a friendship that has been likened to that of Sehmuckle and Pons, which Balzac has immortalized. For years thereafter these two companions followed the turf, a pair of walking encyclopedias upon all matters pertaining to the race track.
