USA > New York > Monroe County > Rochester > Rochester and Monroe County, New York : pictorial and biographical > Part 1
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01783 2186
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Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/rochestermonroec00unse
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ROCHESTER and MONROE COUNTY N
E W Y OR K
PICTORIAL and BIOGRAPHICAL
NEW YORK AND CHICAGO THE PIONEER PUBLISHING CO. 1908
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Campbell Brothers, NewYork
Johann Davy
Judge John M. Daby
W HEN THE history of New York and her public men shall have been written, its pages will bear no more illustrious name and record, no more distinguished career than that of Judge John M. Davy. If "biog- raphy is the home aspect of history," as Wilmott has expressed it, it is certainly within the province of true history to commemorate and perpetuate the lives of those men whose careers have been of signal usefulness and honor to the state, and in this connection it is not only compatible but absolutely imperative that mention be made of Judge Davy, one of the most able and learned members of the New York bar, who for seventeen years served on the supreme court bench.
Though born across the border, he is distinctively American in his thoughts, his purposes and his loves. He was born in Ottawa, Ontario, June 29, 1835, and in his infancy was brought by his parents to Monroe county. He is of English and Irish descent and his boyhood, youth and early manhood were passed in Mendon and Henrietta until he commenced the practice of law, when he removed to Rochester, seeking the broader field of labor offered by the courts of this city. He had almost completed his preliminary reading when, in 1862, he assisted in raising Company G of the One Hundred and Eighth Regiment of New York State Volunteers, and was appointed cap- tain of the company by the recruiting committee of Monroe county, which was composed of Dr. Anderson, Judge Selden and others. L. B. Yale, who was at the same time appointed first lieutenant, objected to taking a sub- ordinate position, whereupon Mr. Davy offered to exchange places with him, saying that he had enlisted through patriotic motives, and, if necessary, he was willing to enlist as a private. This was truly indicative of the char- acter of the man who has ever placed his country's good before personal aggrandizement. The offer of exchange was accepted, and in August, 1862, Mr. Davy was commissioned by Governor Morgan as first lieutenant. With the regiment he went to the front and was in active service until the winter of 1863, when he was taken ill with typhoid fever and the attack left his health and strength seriously impaired, so that he was no longer able for field service. Accordingly he was honorably discharged in the spring of 1863.
After recovering his health Judge Davy resumed the study of law in the
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office of Strong, Palmer & Mumford, and was admitted to the bar that year in the same class with Justice William H. Adams, of Canandaigua, New York. Opening an office in Rochester, Mr. Davy at once began practice and his clientage rapidly increased, as in his law work he gave evidence of his ability to handle with masterly skill the intricate problems involved in liti- gation. He was soon recognized as a leader among the younger members of the Rochester bar. In 1868 he received the republican nomination for the office of district attorney of Monroe county, and during his term in that position he handled the large business of the office in a most conscientious and able manner. Declining a second nomination, he retired from office in 1871 with a most creditable record and took up the duties of a constantly increas- ing private practice.
From time to time he has been called from his private business interests to aid in conducting public business. Entirely unsolicited and without his knowledge there came to him from President Grant, in 1872, the appoint -. ment to the office of collector of customs for the port of Genesee, and there- in he served until it became necessary for him to resign in order to enter upon the duties of congressman, having been elected to represent his district in the legislative councils of the nation. While in congress Judge Davy was a member of the committee on railways and canals, also the committee ap- pointed to investigate the police commission of the District of Columbia. He voted for the electoral commission bill. He made but few speeches, but was an active and influential member. His speech against congress grant- ing subsidies to railroads was a wise and statesmanlike effort. Studying all his points with care and with a thorough grasp of his subject, he showed that such means were in direct controversion to the fundamental law of the land, and an encroachment upon the rights reserved to the states. In the matter of the Geneva award bill, pertaining to the adjustment of the Alabama claims, he showed an equally nice sense of justice and a solicitude for the preserva- tion of the national honor in an exact performance of the conditions ex- pressed by the committee of arbitration in the distribution of the funds awarded. His whole congressional record showed a thorough knowledge of constitutional and common law, as well as practical and sound common sense concerning every public question that claimed his attention and considera- tion.
At the close of his congressional career Judge Davy devoted himself ex- clusively to the work of his profession. He was attorney for the East Side Savings Bank for fourteen years and was also attorney for a syndicate of New York capitalists in the Genesee Valley Canal Railroad litigations, in which his efforts were successful. He was likewise attorney for the West Shore Railroad Company and the North River Construction Company in the coun- ties of Cayuga, Seneca, Wayne, Monroe and Genesee. He was also attorney for the Rochester & Lake Ontario Railway Company. While an active practi-
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tioner at the bar he argued many cases and lost but few. No one better knows the necessity for thorough preparation and no one has more industriously prepared his cases than he. His handling of his case was always full, com- prehensive and accurate; his analysis of the facts clear and exhaustive; he saw without effort the relation and dependence of the facts and so grouped them as to enable him to throw their combined force upon the point they tended to prove. His briefs always showed wide research, careful thought and the best and strongest reasons which could be urged for his contention, presented in cogent and logical form and illustrated by a style unusually lucid and clear.
High professional honors came to Judge Davy in his election in the fall of 1888 as justice of the supreme court for the seventh judicial district. He was unanimously nominated by the republican party and later by the demo- cratic party, while the prohibition party placed no candidate in the field. He received the largest vote ever cast for a justice of the supreme court in the district and after serving fourteen years he was again nominated by acclam- ation by both parties and served for three years, at which time he retired, having reached the age limit of seventy years, as imposed by the laws of the state. His opinions while on the bench showed great research, industry and care and challenged the approval of and commended themselves to the bench and bar. He frequently held court in the city of New York during his judicial career and rendered decisions in many very important cases. He is a mem- ber of the State Bar Association and for one term served as its vice president. At the conclusion of his last term of court in the city of New York, when the business of the court was ended, Attorney General Mayer made a speech complimenting him upon his record on the bench and voicing the regret of the legal fraternity of the state that his term of office was about to expire. District Attorney Jerome and other well known lawyers took occasion to ex- press highly complimentary appreciation of the career of the Rochester jurist. When he retired from the bench a banquet was held in his honor and the guests had much to say concerning his professional and judicial career. Per- haps no better estimate of his official service can be given than in inserting the addresses delivered at a special term of the supreme court held in Roches- ter, December 30, 1905, when the bar took occasion to give public expression to the high regard in which Judge Davy is uniformly held.
Mr. J. P. Varnum said: "This being the last day of your Honor's of- ficial term as justice of the supreme court of this state, before you take final leave of the bench on which you have had a seat for the last seventeen years, and where you have so well, so faithfully and so conscientiously discharged the duties of your high office, the members of the bar of this county desire to mark the day by some open and public expression of the feelings and senti- ments which they entertain towards you, both as judge and as man, and for
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that purpose Mr. Charles M. Williams has been requested to act as our spokesman, whom I now have the pleasure of introducing."
Mr. Charles M. Williams said: "If your Honor please, seventeen years of judicial faithful service deserves and demands respect and recognition. We come today to mingle expressions of congratulation and regret; congratu- lation, that you have attained three score years and ten in an active and useful life, conspicuous in the state, full of honor and of years; regret, that the judi- cial term for which you were elected is abbreviated by the limitations of the constitution of this state, which compels you to retire from the bench while in the full vigor of your faculties, with judgment ripened by experience, and with integrity and uprightness on the bench tested by years of service.
You bear your youth as yon Scotch firs, Whose gaunt line our horizon dims, While twilight all the lowland blurs, Hold sunset in their ruddy stems.
While you hold this ruddy glow of sunset, we recall that this day termi- nates twenty-five years of service to the people, to the state, and to the nation, as district attorney, as member of congress, and as a justice of the supreme court. Twenty-five years is a long period for personal character and influ- ence to be woven with the history of a populous, a prosperous and a grow- ing community. You began your judicial service in the old courthouse, you end it in the new; you tried, if we recall aright, the last case tried by jury in that old courtroom, where the benignant faces of the pioneers looked down upon you from the framed portraits, and you end it today, when a generation of younger lawyers look up to you and feel the impress and the inspiration of that integrity and uprightness which is held by the standards of tradition of an honorable and noble profession. Is it strange that memory shall come among us and open her box of brilliant colors of mellow recollection, and, placing them upon the tinted palette, take her brush and sketch upon the walls of this new temple of justice those invisible but yet imperishable forms and features who were your contemporaries when you first came to the bench? Of that brilliant company of justices of the supreme court, you, with one exception, are the only survivor. Judge Bradley, beloved, retired like you by reason of the limitation prescribed by the constitution, age. Macom- ber, Rumsey, Adams, have passed away, and Dwight, too, to that Higher Life, to study with the great Lawgiver face to face and receive inspiration from that fountain where absolute justice and right eternal prevail.
"Of the company of the bar who welcomed you to the bench you miss to- day, as you recall those personages, Angle and Bacon, Cogswell and Dan- forth, Stull and Van Voorhis and Yeoman, who prepared the way for the junior profession of the bar with their intelligence and pointed the way to the higher attainments and to the wise counsel of the exalted profession.
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This is neither time nor place to attempt a eulogy or an analysis of your judicial work. The records of this court, the records of this county and of the counties in this judicial district have recorded your labors, and the of- ficial reports of cases have printed the opinions which you have rendered and the weight with which they have been judged by higher tribunals of the state.
"But we would bring you today the rose-garland of gracious memory and of friendly appreciation. You leave the judicial ermine without spot or wrinkle, with no soil of meanness or touch of criticism upon it. Your cour- tesy, your kindness, your affability, your approachability, were among those thoughtful but beneficent offices which bind bar and bench together, and that come to us with the fragrance of the wind blown over sweet-scented flowers. You have held high the standards, the ethics and the morals of the profes- sion. To you, the younger, as well as the older, members of the bar may look for an example of the just and the upright judge, with resolution and courage, yet withal tempered with the gentleness of sympathy and the kind- liness of mercy. We bid you joy and wish you many years of happy and of prosperous activity. While we wish you 'an age serene and bright, and lovely as a Lapland night,' yet we would welcome you to a life of active service at the bar.
Age has its opportunity no less than youth, Though in another dress, And when the twilight fades away The sky is filled with stars, unseen by day.
"And here, as we make our closing word and bid you adieu as you leave the bench, it is not 'Hail and farewell,' but the bar opens its ranks, and, as you retire from the bench, present arms, give salutation, and say 'Hail and welcome.' "
To which Justice Davy made the following reply: "Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Monroe County Bar: I greatly appreciate the manifestation of kindly feeling towards me personally and the exalted office of justice of the supreme court, which I have held for seventeen years. It is very embar- rassing to listen to one's own commendations and it is more embarrassing to reply to them. When I entered upon my judicial career the members of the supreme court of the seventh judicial district were Justices Smith and Adams of Canandaigua, Macomber of Rochester, Dwight of Auburn, Rum- sey of Bath, and Bradley of Corning, all of whom were men of great learning and ability, who graced the bench and were a credit and honor to the judi- ciary of the state. They have all gone to their final resting place except Bradley, who, at the age of four score years, is living a quiet and happy life in the city of Corning, surrounded by hosts of friends, and is honored and respected throughout the state. I am reminded also that that able and dis- tinguished jurist, Judge Danforth, whom we all honored and esteemed so
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highly, has died since I went upon the bench. During that period the Mon- roe county bar has lost some of its ablest lawyers; Yeoman, Bacon, Stull, Danforth, Cogswell and Van Voorhis were great lawyers and stood high in the legal profession. No man can lay aside his judicial robes and the trust which he has held in the hearts of a gracious and confiding people for many years and feel that at all times he has met in the best possible way the re- quirements of that high judicial office.
"Seventeen years ago I received the high honor of having the unanimous nomination of the republican and democratic parties, and was elected with- out opposition. I went upon the bench untrammeled, and with a firm deter- mination to honestly do my duty, and when fourteen years had rolled around it was more than gratifying to me to again receive the unanimous endorse- ment of both parties. It is very pleasing to receive this public acknowledge- ment from the members of the bar of the city of Rochester. In receiving your approbation on this occasion it is appropriate that I shall also make my ac- knowledgments to you, for I can say that if I have given satisfaction it has been largely owing to the learning and assistance of the bar. The charac- ter, ability and standing of the judiciary must in the future, as in the past, depend largely upon the character and influence of the members of the bar from which the judges are selected, and the best evidence of that ability will always be found in the respect with which the lawyers receive the legal con- clusions of the judges. I think I voice the sentiment of the members of the bar when I say that the judges of the supreme court of this great state, with few exceptions, have been men of unstained reputation for personal integrity, and men of strict impartiality, who have always enjoyed the implicit confidence and respect of the community. Society cannot be maintained without trib- unals to hear and determine controversies arising between individuals. The importance, therefore, of a capable and upright judiciary cannot be overes- timated. The judicial tribunals are indispensable to the safety and well being of the people, which fact is attested by the extensive powers which are en- trusted to them, and as long as judges are capable, conscientious and inde- pendent in the discharge of their official duties, they will command respect and their decisions be upheld. Judges take a solemn obligation to administer equal and exact justice alike to the rich and the poor, and however able and rich in learning they may be, they will fail in the discharge of this high duty if not endowed with honesty, courage and a sense of right. It avails nothing if a judge is calm, patient and able to see the right, if he is moved by popular clamor or prejudice.
"It has been frequently said that owing to the inflexibility of the law courts are sometimes prevented from administering justice between litigants. So far as my experience extends, rarely is this the case. If with capable coun- sel to aid the court injustice triumphs over right, the judge and not the law should bear the reproach. While we recognize the binding force of the rules
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of law which have stood the test of reason and experience, both in this and other countries, there is a growing disposition on the part of our judges against sacrificing justice to technical rules of law, and with advancing intelli- gence we need have no fear that the judges coming after us will be less in- clined to see substantial justice administered in the trial of causes.
"There are many who denounce our system of trial by jury. During my judicial experiences the instances are few where I have had reason to be dis- satisfied with their verdicts. I regard the jury system an essential branch and part of the free institutions of our country. It is a cherished tradition, its roots strike down deep into the experience, the life and the heart of the people. In criminal cases there is no substitute for the jury that would be acceptable to the profession and the people. If judges would do their duty jurors would do theirs. Brief, pointed instructions, calling attention to the points at issue, will generally, so far as I have observed, be followed by satis- factory verdicts.
"Now let me say a word or two to the younger members of the bar, for whom I have always had the warmest and kindest affection. Let no young man choosing the law for a calling yield to the popular belief that fidelity and honesty are not compatible with the practice of law. My advice to the young man choosing the law for a calling is, to be honest at all events. If you cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer. Personal character is one of the elements which go to determine the just rank of any member of the legal profession. You must not only be honest, but you must be industrious; labor and honesty are absolutely essential to success in the legal profession. I am one of those who do not believe that there is any decline in professional integrity or in the loyalty of the attorney to his client. I believe that the lawyer's influence is widening rather than lessen- ing, and that never before since the legal profession became a distinct avoca- tion has that influence upon the affairs of daily life been more direct and far reaching than at the present time. The lawyer has come to be the silent part- ner in the great mercantile establishments and manufacturing industries of the country; he moulds and shapes the management of our great corpora- tions; his influence is felt in every avenue of business and legislative life; he cannot, if he would, escape these large responsibilities which pertain to the legal profession. We are living in a period of intense activity and social dis- order. The great overwhelming problems of capital and labor, the relations of the corporate interests of the country to the people, these are problems of vital moment to every thoughtful man in every calling, and none more so than the legal profession, and especially the younger members of the bar. They are questions, not of the day, but for all time, and upon their wise solution de- pends in a large degree the future stability and safety of the republic. When I turn to the great judges whose names are woven into the warp and woof of the common law, and read the story of Coke and Hale and Kent and Story,
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or when I recall the great advocates whose geniuses have forever enriched the traditions of our profession, Erskine and Brougham in the mother country, our own Webster, Choate, Carpenter., Benjamin, O'Connor and Evarts, I am content that the record may be made up and the balance struck between the profession of the law and other avocations, and I dare say for the profession, not only here, but everywhere, that it may safely challenge comparison in its methods with all other professions in the world. I feel justly proud of the members of the Monroe county bar; it is an intelligent and accomplished bar and stands high all over the state; a large majority of its members are in the prime of life, and their future is full of hope and promise. They look to the rising sun. As for me, my work of life is nearly finished. I must now retire from judicial service and be content with the glory of the setting sun and the evening shadows, but during the remainder of my days I shall cherish with the warmest affection the memories of the lawyers of the Monroe county bar.
"With renewed thanks for the honors I have received at your hands and with a happy New Year greeting to each and every one of you, as justice of the supreme court I now bid you farewell."
Judge Davy has been called upon to address the public on many momentous occasions. At the time of the dedication of the soldiers' monument at Gettys- burg on the 4th and 5th of September, 1888, to the memory of those of the One Hundred and Eighth Regiment of New York Volunteers who offered up their lives on the altar of our country, Judge Davy was chosen as orator. His address has been preserved in substantial form and is an eloquent tribute to the noble deeds and self-sacrifice of the brave soldiers in whose honor he spoke.
Judge and Mrs. Davy reside at No. 20 Buckingham street, Rochester, and his residence in this city dates from 1860. Mrs. Davy was the daughter of James Hodges, a wealthy farmer of the town of Henrietta, Monroe county, where she was reared. She bore the maiden name of Elizabeth S. Hodges and on the 22d of September, 1869, gave her hand in marriage to John M. Davy. They have three sons. Cassius C., who succeeded his father as attorney for the East Side Savings Bank, married Miss Hattie Mertie, of Oneida, who died several years ago. Burton H., who wedded Miss Minnie Aikenhead of Rochester, by whom he has two children, Elizabeth S. and James, was elected sheriff of Monroe county when only twenty-six years of age, being the youngest to fill that position in the county. He is now secretary and treasurer of the East Side Savings Bank of Rochester. James R. Davy, the youngest son, is now practicing law with his father, for upon his retirement from the bench Judge Davy resumed the active work of the profession.
He and his wife are members of the Central Presbyterian church, in which he is serving as an elder. He is also a Knight Templar and thirty-sec- ond-degree Mason and belongs to Powers post, G. A. R., and to the Military Order of the Loyal Legion. He is likewise a member of the Genesee Valley
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Club. No man was ever more respected and no man ever more fully enjoyed the confidence of the people or more richly deserved the esteem in which he was held than does Judge Davy. The people of the state, recognizing his merit, have rejoiced in his advancement and in the honors to which he has attained. A gracious presence, a charming personality, profound legal wis- dom, purity of public and private life and the quiet dignity of an ideal follower of his calling, combine to make him one of the most distinguished and honored residents of the Empire state.
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