James Truesdell Kilbreth

James Truesdell Kilbreth (March 12, 1841 – June 23, 1897) was a lawyer, judge and political figure who served as Collector of the Port of New York, an important federal government post[1] in pre-Sixteenth Amendment times,[2] when customs duties and excise taxes were the primary sources of US federal government revenue.

He was a member of the Irving Hall faction within the Democratic party in New York State, later joining the County Democracy, where he was a friend and consistent supporter of Grover Cleveland.

In July 1893, in a surprise choice, Kilbreth was appointed as Collector of the Port of New York by his friend President Grover Cleveland.

These factors led the office of Collector of the Port of New York to be described as "the prize plum of Federal patronage not only in this State but perhaps in the country, outside of positions in the Cabinet.

[6] The appointment was plainly a message from the President that Tammany Hall was no longer the influence it was:"The fact is recalled that James T. Kilbreth made one of the best Police Justices New-York has ever had.[...

The obituary written for him by his Clubmates at the Century Association reads as follows: "James T. Kilbreth, the Collector of the Port of New York when he died, and for many years a Justice of the Police Courts in the city, was an able, honorable official, and in every position he was called upon to fill gave evidence of his high sense of duty to the public, and was rewarded by the confidence of his fellow citizens without distinction of party to an unusual degree.