William Gardner Choate

William Gardner Choate (August 30, 1830 – November 14, 1920) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He also cofounded the Choate Rosemary Hall college, a private boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut.

Education and career Choate was born in Salem, Massachusetts, the son of George and Margaret Manning (Hodges) Choate. His brothers were physician George Cheyne Shattuck Choate and diplomat and lawyer Joseph Hodges Choate. Choate received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Harvard University in 1852 and a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1854. He was in private practice in Danvers, Massachusetts from 1855 to 1857, then in Salem until 1865, and then in New York City from 1865 to 1878.

Federal judicial service

On March 14, 1878, Choate was nominated by President Rutherford B. Hayes to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by Judge Samuel Blatchford. Choate was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 25, 1878, and received his commission the same day. Choate served on the court for only three years, resigning on June 1, 1881.

His wife Mary was the niece of Senator Edgar Atwater and Sarah S. Yale, member of the family of Senator Charles Atwater and the Yale family of Yale University. Sarah's cousin was Senator Charles Dwight Yale and her uncle was merchant William Yale.

William Gardner Choate died on November 14, 1920, in Wallingford.