Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 234

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452

USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations > Part 234

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Judge Paige was a student in every sense of the word. When he first assumed the practice of his profession, his mind was so thoroughly imbued with accurate knowledge of elementary law, and his habit of study and investigation so diligent and unremitting, that he arose at once to the first rank in his profession. Though genial in his na- ture, and enjoying with the highest relish, in his hours of relaxation, the pleasures of refined social associations, his constant midnight lamp was the evidence to all of his love of study.

In 1824 he was appointed District Attorney, which office he held for fifteen years, performing its duties with distinguished credit. In 1826 he was elected a Member of Assembly, and in the three suc- cessive years of 1827-8-9 he was returned as the pop-

ular representative of this county in the Assembly. These political duties, though onerous, were never permitted to interrupt those of his profession, in which it seemed to be the great object of his ambi- tion to excel. So rapidly did he rise in his pro- fessional distinction that the acute mind of Chancellor Walworth was attracted to him, and in 1830 he selected him as the reporter of his court, to which office he was appointed, and which he held until 1846. The highest encomium that could be paid to his qualifications for that po- sition is the appreciation of the Bar of the State of New York of the skill, ability, and success with which he executed its duties, as manifested in their appreciation of the eleven volumes of the reports which will bear his name to all the future in our judicial history. In 1838 Judge Paige was elected a trustee of Union College, which place he held for thirty years, until his death. He was placed in the principal charge of the finances of that institu- tion, and gave to that duty a constant and most laborious attention. To no one individual during that period is more credit due than to him for the care, security, prosperity and increase of the now exceedingly large and productive property of that institution. Before the adoption of the Constitution of 1846, Judge Paige was twice elected to the Sen- ate of this State, and was thus made a member of the Court for the Correction of Errors. His opin- ions as a member of that court are distinguished for great clearness, learning and power. Upon the adoption of the Constitution of 1846, and at the first election under it, he was elected a Justice of the Supreme Court, and once after elected to supply a vacancy. He was for two years a mem- ber of the Court of Appeals. It would be useless to the judiciary, to his associates or to the bar to speak of the character of the many contributions in our books of reports which bear the impress of his profound legal mind. Suffice it to say, he spent his life in the service of the State, and the ability and soundness of his judicial decisions are a part of its history and have greatly contributed to its honor and fame.

The last public position occupied by Judge Paige was that of a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1867-8. Though then somewhat enfeebled by the disease which terminated his life, his noble and efficient efforts to provide in the Constitution of the State a security against the cor- ruptions of the elective franchise were in harmony with the integrity of his whole life.

He was a gentleman of imposing presence, adopting the old school of dignified and gentle- manly manners, still possessing great urbanity, amenity and kindness. His leading characteris- tics were open, sincere honesty, undoubted, un- qualified integrity, frank sincerity, uniform cour- tesy, and he was generous and liberal in charities to the destitute. His early religious training im- pressed upon his mind great gravity of demeanor, and many years before his death he made a public profession of religion and united with the Presby- terian church ; at the time of his death he was one of the ruling elders of that church.

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF SCHENECTADY.

Upon the announcement of his death, in March, 1868, the Bar of Schenectady County called a meeting to express their profound sorrow for his loss. This meeting was largely attended. Hon. John Sanders was called to the chair, who, on taking it, addressed his brethren in a speech of deep feeling and eloquence. A committee on resolutions was appointed, consisting of Hon. J. S. Landon, Hon. Thomas B. Mitchell, S. A. Daggett, J. Fuller and*A. P. Strong, Esqrs., who presented by their chairman brief, touching res- olutions, eloquent and heartfelt expressions of sorrow for the death of the distinguished jurist they memorialized.

In presenting the resolutions Judge Landon said : " We honor our deceased brother, not so much on account of the high places of trust and of honor to which he was called and worthily filled, for none know better than our profession that in our age and time high official place is not the truest evidence of high merit. The bat can reach that eminence as well as the eagle. But we honor him because through all the years of his early and later manhood he dignified, adorned and elevated the profession of the law, even in the esti- mation of lawyers themselves. No pretense, no art of a demagogue, no superficial acquirements, can give the lawyer high rank among lawyers ; only merit, and real merit, can win that. Judge Paige, by the cheerful assent of his associates, long had place among the few who stand at the front rank of the Bar of our State. Others, doubtless, sur- passed him in the gift of eloquence which charms while it instructs, but none in that tireless industry, that exhaustive learning, which, guided by the en- lightened conscience and disciplined brain, com- pels, alike from principle and authority, the law to stand, as Bacon called it, 'the perfection of human reason.' Throughout the State Judge Paige commanded the respect and honor of the learned and the good."

We only give a portion of Judge Landon's eloquent and appropriate eulogy. When he said that "throughout the State the departed jurist com- manded respect and honor," he uttered the senti- ment of the Bench and the Bar in all the State, as was exhibited by many public demonstrations.

The Schenectady Bar has furnished four Justices of the Supreme Court, viz .: Joseph C. Yates, ap- pointed February 8, 1808; Alonzo C. Paige, elected June 7, 1847; Platt Potter, elected November 3, 1857.

HON. PLATT POTTER.

In writing the biography of the eminent jurist whose name appears at the head of this sketch, we speak of one long accustomed to the struggles of the Bar, one who has for many years pronounced the law from the Bench. He is one who, in his sphere, has discharged his duties with such probity and honor, such learning and ability, as entitles him to the highest esteem of the Bench, the Bar, and the public.

Hon. Platt Potter was born at Galway, Saratoga County, N. Y., April 6, 1800. He is perhaps one

of the oldest judges and lawyers in the State; one of those through whom one generation speaks its thoughts, appeals and sympathies to another. His father, Restcome Potter, was a native of Mass- achusetts, but removed to New York early in life. Notwithstanding the non-combatant principles of himself and his ancestors, who were members of the Society of Friends, he engaged in military ser- vice during the war with the mother country, un- der Ethan Allen (the noted hero of Ticonderoga) when demanding the surrender of the fort in the name of the "Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress."

Later in life he received a colonel's commission in the militia from Governor George Clinton, for whom he named one of his sons. He removed to Saratoga County about 1794, and from there to Schenectady in about 1806, and followed the oc- cupation of farming. A man of energy and public spirit, he was chosen to fill various official posi- tions, being in turn Alderman of the City, Justice of the Peace, and for sixteen years a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He was possessed of commanding influence in his day, and died, greatly regretted, in 1853. The mother of Judge Platt Potter was Lucinda (Strong) Potter, of Litchfield, Conn., who was also descended from patriotic an- cestry. During his boyhood, Judge Potter at- tended the common schools and the academy at Schenectady, from which he graduated in 1824. He immediately began the study of law under the direction of Hon. Alonzo C. Paige, afterward a Judge of the Supreme Court. He was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court in 1828. He entered upon the practice of his profession at Minaville, Montgomery County, and continued thus occupied till 1833, when, removing to Schenectady, he en- tered into partnership with Mr. Paige, his former preceptor. This connection continued for a period of thirteen years. Upon its dissolution, Judge Potter practiced alone for a time, but was subse- quently associated in practice with distinguished legal men who have occupied high positions of official honor both in the State and National Gov- ernment. In the autumn of 1830, Mr. Potter was elected Member of Assembly from Montgomery County. During this session of the Legislature, a committee, of which Judge Potter was chairman, was appointed to consider the matter of providing improved accommodations for the insane. He made the report, and introduced the first bill to erect an asylum at Utica for lunatics. He served also during the same period of legislative labor on the Judiciary Committee. In 1836 he was married to Antoinette, daughter of the Rev. Winslow Paige, D. D. From 1839 to 1847 he held the office of District Attorney for Schenectady County, and was at the same time Master and Examiner in Chan- cery, having been appointed to that position in 1828, and continuing to exercise its functions till the abolishment of the Court in Chancery about 1847. In 1857 he was elected Justice of the Su- preme Court of New York, running as candidate against his former partner, Judge A. C. Paige. He was returned by a small majority, serving dur-

Matt Potter -

CITY OF SCHENECTADY .- BENCH AND BAR.

ing one of the most critical periods of our political history. During this term he also served as a Judge of the Court of Appeals. He was re-elected in 1865 to the Supreme Bench of the State without opposition. In the same year he was elected trustee of Union College, which office he continues to hold, and which institution conferred on him in 1867 the degree of LL. D.

He was always a staunch Republican in political sentiments. His judicial services during the rebel- lion, and the four years of trying national experience which immediately preceded it, were of the utmost value to the Government.

Noted for more than usual mental readiness and penetration, and great activity in the performance of every duty, Judge Potter has filled with honor many high official positions in the State. His election to the Supreme Bench of the Common- wealth, and his long continuance as a member of that distinguished body, evince the appreciation in which not only his talents but his worth are held by those whose interest have been the object of his judicial care. His labors as a legislator showed his large philantrophy and his wise statesmanship. As a jurist, he stands high in the State. His argu- ment before the Assembly upon the case of the supposed "High Breach of Privilege of the Honorable the Assembly of the State of New York, in the matter of the Hon. Henry Ray, Mem- ber of Assembly from Ontario," exhibits his pro- found knowledge of the constitutional rights and powers of the judiciary as a co-ordinate branch of the Government, the extent of the law of legislative privilege, and those sound principles of law and equity underlying just legislative and judicial action.

This case was novel and unprecedented; neither in the legislative nor judicial history of this State had any case similar to it been known.

The facts in the case, briefly stated, are as fol- lows: On the 20th of January, 1870, a subpoena, requiring one Henry Ray to appear and testify as a witness in a criminal proceeding then pending be- fore the Grand Jury of Saratoga, Oyer and Ter- miner, was issued under the authority of that Court, Hon. Platt Potter, one of the Justices of the Su- preme Court, presiding. The subpoena was duly served on Ray at the City of Albany. He refused to obey its mandates on the grounds of his privi- lege as Member of Assembly of the State of New York, then in session. The District Attorney of Saratoga County then applied to the Court for an attachment against Ray for such disobedience. It was granted by the Court, and the officer was di- rected to serve the same by producing the body of Ray before the Court. He went to Albany on the morning of the 21st and arrested Ray at his lodg- ings. Ray insisted on his privilege, and refused to accompany the officer, who then informed him that he should take him by force. Under pro- test, the gentleman submitted himself to the cus- tody of the officer.

When the arrest of Ray was communicated to the House of Assembly, it created great excite- ment in that body, and elicited an exciting debate.

It was regarded as a question involving a high breach of privilege of the House, and an insult to their dignity. It was finally referred to the Com- mittee on Grievances for grave consideration. This Committee was composed of seven of the then most experienced members of the House. The Hon. Thomas C. Field was Chairman. After thorough inquiry and a full investigation, the Com- mittee presented an elaborate report, stating the facts and circumstances of the case, the effect of the act upon the character and dignity of the House, the encroachments on legislative rights of the law of Parliamentary privileges, and of the danger of the public interests if the precedent com- ing from such a source should pass without public rebuke. The Committee came to the conclusion "that the arrest of the Hon. Henry Ray, on Jan- uary 21, 1870-a Member of Assembly from the First District of the County of Ontario-on an at- tachment issuing out of the Court of Oyer and Terminer then being held in the County of Sara- toga, of which the Hon. Platt Potter was Presid- ing Justice, was a high breach of the privileges of this House by the said Potter, and deserves the censure of this House. Your Committee, there- fore, respectfully submit the following resolution:

" Resolved, That the Hon. Platt Potter, Justice of the Supreme Court of the Fourth Judicial District, be summoned and required to appear before the bar of this House for a high breach of its privi- lege in issuing an attachment for the arrest of the Hon. Henry Ray, a Member of Assembly of the State of New York from the First District of the County of Ontario; and that the House will then and there take such action as the House in its judgment may see fit."

A similar resolution was passed in relation to the District Attorney of Saratoga County, who ap- plied for the attachment against Ray.

The notice to appear at the Bar of the House and answer was served on the Judge February 14, 1870, only two days previous to that appointed for the hearing.

At twelve o'clock noon on the 16th of February, Judge Potter appeared at the bar of the Assembly, when the Speaker of the House briefly stated to him the charges which he was required to answer, and called upon him to state any excuse for his conduct in issuing his attachment against Hon. Henry Ray, a member of the House.

Judge Potter, who had appeared with Hon. Wm. A. Beach, as counsel, proposed that that gentle- man should answer for him. Mr. Fields stated that the presence of counsel in such cases was unusual, whereupon the Speaker declared the Judge could not be heard through his counsel.

"Then," said Judge Potter, " I will speak for myself." He then entered on his remarks with the calm confidence of one who can rely upon himself in any emergency. His argument was able, profound and elaborate ; every authority bearing on the matter in any way-whether Eng- lish or American-was fully considered and digested. It did not touch upon anything which

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF SCHENECTADY.

would excite the fancy, for it contained nothing but logic, learning and facts. The Assembly and many Senators who came to be present, and a vast throng of spectators, listened with deep and un- wearied attention. All who heard it were lost to everything except the words which fell from the lips of the speaker, standing under such peculiar circumstances. But he had the complete mastery of his subject, and his words flowed with intel- lectual energy.

We regret that we have not space to give in detail his remarkably able arguments-this great defense of an independent judiciary. It was rewarded by a great and signal triumph.

"Although," said the Judge, in concluding his argument, "I have appeared here and offered this defense, I do not say that I submit this case to you, though probably that will be the effect of your action ; but, sir, I stand here. PROTESTING, earnestly PROTESTING, that I am not here in obedi- ence to your power, but here out of courtesy to an independent department of this Government."

At the close of this argument, Thomas C. Fields, Member from the City of New York, rose and made a motion that Judge Potter withdraw from the House until his case could be disposed of.

The Speaker then informed the Hon. gentle- man that he could withdraw to the library till his case was decided.

Judge Potter. - "I prefer to stay, and unless driven from the House by its power shall remain."

The Speaker .- " The request of the Hon. Judge will be granted."

Judge Potter .- "I have made no request," taking his seat.

A long and exciting debate in the House fol- lowed. Mr. Fields offered a resolution that Hon. Platt Potter, in issuing the attachment for the arrest of Hon. Henry Ray, Member of Assembly from Ontario, was guilty of a high breach of the privileges of this House, and that he be repri- manded by the Speaker in the presence of this House.

This resolution received no support and was withdrawn, whereupon Mr. Alvord, of Onondaga, offered the following amendment to Mr. Field's re- solution.

Resolved, "That the Hon. Platt Potter was mis- taken as to the privileges of this House in the ac- tion taken by him in the arrest of Hon. Henry Ray, but this House do not believe that intention or desire to interfere with the independence or dignity of the House actuated him in the perform- ance of that which he deemed his official duty."

Mr. Wm. D. Murphy offered a substitute for that resolution, to the effect that Judge Potter be discharged from the custody of the House until the hour of twelve o'clock on the first day of March, and that in the meantime the opinion of the Attorney-General be communicated as to the term "Civil Process" in the statute exempting legislators from arrest. This was lost.

The question was then taken upon the motion of Mr. Alvord, which was carried by a vote of 92

to 15, and thus ended the case, a sketch of which only is contained in Barbor's Reports, Vol. 55, page 625.

Very soon after Judge Potter's discharge, he re- ceived a large number of letters, "the volun- tary congratulations of the jurists, statesmen and lawyers, names distinguished in the State and na- tion." They were written to the Judge as the in- dorsement of the soundness of his argument upon the question of the independence of the judiciary. These letters, though not written with the object of publication, have appeared in a pamphlet contain- ing the argument of Judge Potter, published by and at the request of members of the Bar in the counties of Rensselaer, Saratoga, Montgomery and Schenectady, to which publication Judge Potter consented, inasmuch as numerous and material errors and omissions in the newspaper report of the argument demanded correction.

Further evidence of the high esteem in which the judiciary and the bar held Judge Potter, and the grati- fication his legislative triumphs gave them, was ex- hibited in the September following that event. A State Judicial Convention was held at Rochester in September, 1870, for the purpose of nominating a candidate for Judge of the Court of Appeals. It was chiefly attended mostly by judges and ex- judges. Mr. Potter was unanimously chosen per- manent President of the Convention, upon the ex- press grounds of his triumphant victory over the Legislature on the question of the independence of the judiciary.

Judge Potter's written opinions and judgments exhibit the profound lawyer, the thoughtful, patient and investigating judge.

He has attained distinction as a writer. Among his written productions we refer to the following:

In 1870, while still on the bench serving as judge, he prepared a work upon the construction and interpretation of American Statutes and Con- stitutions. In it he also included, with approval, the law of England, as far as applicable, and as laid down by one Dwarris, a distinguished law writer of that country. The work prepared by Judge Potter is entitled "Potter's Dwarris." It is a work univers- ally approved as authority in all the States of this country. In 1875 he compiled and greatly en- larged, with the later authorities, a treatise on Equity Jurisprudence, originally prepared by John Willard. This is known as Potter's edition of that work. In 1879 he prepared an original work on corporations, in two volumes, entitled " Potter on Corporations." Each of these three works has been recognized in this country as standard authority, and they are now used as books for study and in- struction in the Albany and other law schools.

Judge Potter is distinguished for his domestic and social qualities. His own fireside is, to him, the dearest place on earth. His conversation is agreeable and instructive. His long and large ac- quaintance with distinguished men of the past and the present, and his reminiscences of their careers, give an historic interest to his conversation. He possesses the rare faculty of eliciting the strong points in the person's character with whom he converses.

yours most respectfully John Sanders

CITY OF SCHENECTADY .- BENCH AND BAR.

As years fall upon him, they bring no asperities to his disposition, no dimness to the light of his social and mental powers, nor do they detract aught from the suavity of his manners. He is in every sense of the word a Christian gentleman, and has for many years been an elder of the First Presbyterian Church in Schenectady. His piety is with him a deep sentiment-it is warm, but not heated; earnest, but tranquil; a principle, not an impulse.

That a man like Judge Potter should be held in the highest esteem and affection by his friends and neighbors, is the natural reward of a well-spent life.

JUDSON STUART LANDON was born in Salis- bury, Litchfield County, Conn., December 16, 1832. His great-grandfather, James Landon, rep- resented that town in the Legislature of the Colony of Connecticut in 1759, and his uncle, also James Landon, represented the same town in the Legislature of the State just one hundred years later. His father, William Landon, who married Phebe, daughter of Dr. Cyrus Berry, a physician of Dutchess County, was born in the same town, and died there in 1876 at the age of eighty-one. He was a merchant and farmer.

Mr. Landon was educated in the common schools, and in the American and New York Con- ference seminaries. In 1853 he was a teacher of Latin, mathematics and natural sciences in the academy at Princetown, Schenectady County, N. Y. He at the same time pursued the study of law without an instructor. In 1854 he left the academy and studied law in Yale College for one year. In 1855 he returned to the academy as its principal. He received the degree of Master of Arts from Union College the same year. In 1856 he was admitted to the Bar, and was elected Dis- trict Attorney of Schenectady County in the fall of that year. Since then he has resided in Schenec- tady. He was re-elected District Attorney in 1859. In February, 1865, he was appointed County Judge to fill a vacancy, and was elected for four years in the fall of that year. In 1867 he served as a member of the State Constitutional Con- vention. In 1873 he was elected Justice of the Supreme Court in the Fourth Judicial District. Jesse Gay, of Plattsburgh, was the candidate of the Democrats, but declined to run, and the elec- tion of Justice Landon was not opposed.

He is one of the governors of Union University, a trustee of Union College and of the Albany Law School, and at present acting president of Union College. He received the degree of LL. D. from Rutgers College in 1885.

His practice for several years was chiefly con- fined to litigated cases. In 1868 he was one of the counsel for Robert C. Dorn, Canal Commis- missioner, who was tried before the Court of Ap- peals and the Senate upon articles of impeachment preferred against him by the Assembly. He opened the case before the Court and examined the wit- nesses on behalf of Mr. Dorn, who was acquitted.

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Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 234

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co. Number of Pages: 1452

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452