Harry M. Clabaugh

Who was Harry M. Clabaugh?

Harry M. Clabaugh was a United States federal judge.

Born in Cumberland, Maryland, Clabaugh received an LL.B. from the University of Maryland in 1878. He was in private practice in Baltimore, Maryland from 1878 to 1880, and in Carroll County, Maryland from 1880 to 1904. He was a Chairman of the Republican State Central Committee from 1891 to 1899. He was an Attorney general of the State of Maryland from 1895 to 1904.

On February 21, 1899, Clabaugh was nominated by President William McKinley to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia vacated by Louis Emory McComas. Clabaugh was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 2, 1899, and received his commission the same day.

In 1903, the District Court was reorganized, and on April 1, 1903, Clabaugh received a recess appointment from Theodore Roosevelt to a seat on the reorganized court vacated by Edward F. Bingham. Formally nominated on November 10, 1903, Clabaugh was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 16, 1903, and received his commission the same day. Clabaugh served in that capacity until his death, in 1914, in Washington, D.C.