admin HON. EDWARD K. EMERY, Justice of the Supreme Court, has won distinction at the bar, elevation to the bench and legislative honors. Of intellectual poise and judicial caliber, the moral and civic standards of Justice Emery are of the kind which commend themselves to the sterling elements of a community.
Justice Emery comes of excellent New England stock. John and Anthony Emery, sons of John and Agnes Emery of Romsey Hants, England, came to America in 1635, and settled in Newsbury, Massachusetts, the same year. Jonathan Emery, son of John Emery, Sr., was a soldier in King Phillip’s War and participated in the great Narragansett battle fought on the 19th of December, 1675, where he was wounded. He had a son, Edward Emery, who was killed by the Indians in 1719. He had a son, William, who had a son, Josiah Emery, who had a son, Josiah Emery, grandfather of Judge Emery, who was born July 1st, 1784. He was a man of great enterprise and a representative pioneer. In 1808 he was part owner of a store and sawmill at Barre, Vermont. In January, 1811, he moved his family and portable effects in a four-horse sleigh to Western New York, settling at Caledonia, and finally at Willink, South of Buffalo. In his new home Josiah Emery was a man of influence and was held in high estimation. When the War of 1812 broke out he entered the army, with the rank of Lieutenant. In the conflict on the Niagara Frontier he served gallantly, participating in several engagements, including the Battle of Lundy’s Lane. Later he became a Colonel in the State militia. His death took place August 14, 1873. Josiah Emery, son of Colonel Josiah Emery and Susannah Little Emery, and the father of Judge Edward K. Emery, was born at Aurora, N. Y., October 29th, 1819. He was a man of great intellectual power, filled an important position in public affairs, and while conducting the homestead farm at Aurora almost continually held County office and was frequently consulted in legal matters. July 11th, 1847, Mr. Emery married Miss Elizabeth C. Kellogg, a daughter of Alexander and Mary (Ingersoll) Kellogg, formerly of Bethlehem, Connecticut. Mrs. Emery died December 12, 1884. The children of the union were: Ella Frances, Edward Kellogg, Josiah Albert, who became a prominent lawyer of Buffalo and was connected with the District Attorney’s office; Mary Elizabeth, and Asher Bates, now a well-known legal practitioner of Buffalo.
Edward Kellogg Emery was born in East Aurora, Erie County, N. Y., July 29th, 1851. The self culture which is a characteristic fact of Judge Emery’s career, began while he was still in his boyhood, his education being chiefly due to his own efforts. He taught school winters and did farm work in summer time, thus acquiring enough means to begin a course of legal study. Coming to Buffalo, he read law, his preparatory work being marked by rare diligence and research. In 1877 he was admitted to the bar, immediately thereafter engaging in the practice of his profession in Buffalo.
Judge Emery’s early experience in the active labors of his profession was accompanied by struggles and self-denial. He soon became known as one of the hard-working and reliable young attorneys and steadily grew in the public confidence, building up a valuable practice.
As time passed his position became fully confirmed, and in the later years of his active practice he was recognized as one of the ablest of Buffalo lawyers.
Always a Republican, in the fall of 1886 he was elected Assemblyman to represent the old Fifth District of Erie County and reelected in 1887.
On retiring from the Legislature, Mr. Emery resumed the active duties of his profession.
He was elected County Judge in 1895 and reelected for a second term of six years in 1901. In 1907 he was elected an additional Supreme Court Judge from the Eighth Judicial District, in which position he is serving at the present time. An able lawyer and jurist. Judge Emery is also prominent in social life. He is a Mason, a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of the Royal Arcanum.
October 7, 1886, Judge Emery married Miss Clara B. Darbee, a daughter of Jedediah and Mary A. Darbee of Aurora, N. Y. They have one child living, Mary Elizabeth, born July 31, 1888.
SOURCE: Memorial and Family History of Erie County New York; Volume I