James J. Lindsay, Jr. (1895-1964)
MSA SC 3520-1620
James J. Lindsay, Jr. was born and spent his childhood in Towson, Maryland. Lindsay attended Loyola College, and after graduating in 1917, served in World War I as an ensign with the United States Navy. At the conclusion of his military service, Lindsay returned home to continue his education. In 1921, he received his law degree from the University of Maryland.
Lindsay's interest in law was hardly surprising considering that his father, James J. Lindsay, Sr., was an attorney as well as a member of the Maryland General Assembly from 1884 to 1892. After his graduation in 1921, the father and son built a practice together. At the time of his father's death, Lindsay formed his own law firm, specializing in corporate work, which grew to be one of the largest in the area. Lindsay was also a well respected trial lawyer, particularly in the area of negligence.
Lindsay entered politics in 1923 when he was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates at the age of 27. He remained a Delegate until 1933. In 1938, Lindsay was elected to the Maryland State Senate, and he presided as President of the Senate from March 1944 until December 1946. In this capacity he also served as the chairman of the Legislative Council. The Council was created in 1939 and is the predecessor of the Legislative Policy Committee. Lindsay sought to make the Council an effective mechanism for examining the most important issues of state government. One of Lindsay's main legislative goals was to make state government more efficient. For example, Lindsay advocated a bill that would require the General Assembly to repeal two "obsolete" laws for every new law passed. Although this bill did not pass, Lindsay continued to fight for a simplified system of goverment. During his terms, Lindsay also worked to improve worker's compensation laws, to reorganize the Court of Appeals, and to repeal "Jim Crow" laws.
Despite all his hard work and long hours in the General Assembly, Lindsay still found time for his family and various leisure pursuits. In February 1925, he married Etta O'Toole, and the couple had two daughters, Mrs. John R. Shea, Jr. and Mrs. Walter E. Elcock. He was a member of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Towson. Lindsay was also a member of numerous community and professional organizations including the Baltimore City, the Maryland State, and the American Bar Associations, the Baltimore Country Club, the American College of Trial Lawyers, the Elks Club, the Knights of Columbus, the Navy League, the Old Round Table Club, and the Maryland Historical Society. In addition to these activities, Lindsay indulged his love of golf and poker in his spare time.
In 1959, Governor J. Millard Tawes appointed Lindsay to the Third Judicial Circuit of the Baltimore County Circuit Court on which he served until two days before his death. In 1961, the Greater Towson Chamber of Commerce chose Judge Lindsay as their "Man of the Year." During the awards ceremony Judge Lindsay remarked, "I've wound up in the exact spot I had dreamed of when I joined my father's firm in 1921." This award was a fitting tribute to a citizen who dedicated not only his career but much of his life to improving Maryland. Judge Lindsay died of pneumonia on May 7, 1964 at the age of 68.
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