Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 35

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 35

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Chancellor Lansing was the author of a small volume entitled " Reports of Select Cases in Chan- cery, and in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, in 1824 and 1828," viz., in Chancery, Lan- sing v. The Albany Insurance Company, March 24, 1824; Egberts v. Lansing, September 7, 1822 ; Lansing v. Goelet ; Supreme Court, Globe In- surance Company v. Lansing, February Term, 1826.

ABRAHAM VAN VECHTEN.

Among the great American lawyers whose names appear on the roll of the Albany Bar is that of Abraham Van Vechten. No name is more honored in the history of the State than his-

honored not only as a learned, eloquent and emi- nently successful lawyer, but as a legislator whose wisdom and profundity are seen in the enactment of many of the laws that have given protection and greatness to the State of New York.

He was born at Catskill, December 5, 1762. He received his elementary education at Esopus, now Kingston, New York, completing his educa- tion at Kings, now Columbia College. At the close of the revolutionary war he commenced the study of law under the direction of Chancellor John Lansing. He was one of the first lawyers admitted to the Bar after the organization of our government. Immediately after his call to the Bar he opened an office at Johnstown, Montgomery County, New York, but was soon invited to oc- cupy a more extensive field in the City of Albany.

The high places at the Bar were then occupied by gifted advocates, among whom were Hamilton, Burr, Harrison, Jones and Livingston. But the brilliancy of such names could not cast young Van Vechten in the shade. He soon ranked among the illustrious seniors as an equal and a compet- itor for the highest professional eminence ; untir- ing in his efforts, the naturally great powers of his mind were continually developed and expanded.

His intellect was formed to grapple with the most abstruse and difficult subjects of legal and judicial investigation; and he early inured himself to the most intense application of mental industry. In acuteness and the ready comprehension of any subject presented for his investigation, he had few equals. Nature seemed to have furnished him with powers eminently adapted to the illustration of legal principles, but he made no display of legal lore ; his learning seemed incorporated with all his thoughts. What he once read was well digested and remained ever ready for application.

A large portion of his life was spent in the dis- cussion of legal questions in our highest courts of law and equity; he was always listened to with pro- found attention by the ablest judges in the State and nation. His arguments, clear and learned, always elucidated and instructed, and greatly aided the tribunals to which they were addressed in coming to correct conclusions. His style was re- markable. for perspicacity and strength, enforced by thoughtful logic.

In his manner he was usually calm and unim- passioned, yet earnest and forcible. His talents were too conspicuous to allow him to confine his efforts to the Bar. He was repeatedly chosen to represent his fellow citizens in both branches of the Legislature. The State Senate Chamber was the theatre of some of his highest intellectual efforts.

As a member of the Court for the Correction of Errors he has left behind him enduring monu- ments of his legal learning.

On February 13, 1813, he was appointed At- torney-General of the State. He was the successor of that illustrious lawyer, Thomas Addis Emmet. In February, 1815, he was succeeded by Martin Van Buren. The high and responsible duties of Attorney-General were never discharged with more ability and success than by Mr. Van Vechten.

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During the administration of Gov. John Jay, that great statesman, in recognition of Van Vech- ten's commanding talents as a lawyer, tendered him -then one of the youngest members of the Bar-the office of Judge of the Supreme Court of the State. The offer was modestly declined, as Mr. Van Vechten preferred to practice his profession instead of presiding on the bench. The lawyer and the student are often astonished at the vast number of our reported cases heard in the Supreme Court and Court for the Correction of Errors in which Mr. Van Vechten represented one of the parties litigant. "Over a half century his brilliant mind was con- stantly shedding its light over the jurisprudence of the State and nation. The Bar long delighted to accord to him its highest honors.

To the younger members of the profession he greatly endeared himself by his kind and courteous manners; and by all he was venerated as an illus- trious model of professional excellence. In his daily consultations with his clients he was em- phatically a peacemaker. It was his constant habit to advise the settlement of disputes without recourse to litigation, allowing no selfish interest to influence his advice or bias his mind in giving his opinions.

He was Recorder of the City of Albany from 1797 to 1808; Regent from January, 1797, to 1823 ; State Senator from 1798 to 1805; member of As- sembly from 1805 to 1815 ; Attorney-General for the year 1810, and again appointed in 1813-serving two years, and was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1821.

His character as a citizen in the private walks of life afforded a model of excellence. "He con- stantly displayed in his intercourse with his neigh- bors and acquaintances the most amiable social qualities. To his other traits of character was added one which is justly deemed of far the most importance; he was a sincere believer in the Saviour of the world and a venerated member of the Dutch Reformed Church of Albany. In his judicatories his parental counsels were received with reverence as eminently calculated to promote the peace and prosperty of the church. His dis- interestedness was a prominent feature in his char- acter and was the foundation of that unbounded confidence which was reposed in him by all who knew him."

On May 24, 1784, Mr. Van Vechten was united by marriage to Miss Catharine Schuyler, daughter of Philip P. Schuyler and Anna Wendell. This union proved eminently happy, and Mr. Van Vechten's domestic life was proverbial for the felicities it afforded.

JOHN V. HENRY.

JOHN V. HENRY was one of the earliest members of the Albany Bar. He was admitted to practice as an attorney at law at a term of the Supreme Court held at Albany in January, 1782. Col. Aaron Burr was admitted at the same term. On the 14th of April following Mr. Henry and Burr were admitted to practice as counselors at law.

The advantages of a finished classical and legal

education, united to great native mental powers, very soon gave Mr. Henry a commanding position in his profession, and he rapidly attained a State and national reputation, ranking with Hamilton, Burr, Hoffman, Lansing, and other great lumina- ries that adorned the Bar.

Possessing attractive elocutionary powers, con- trolled by close and ready logic, enlivened and strengthened by extensive reading, stimulated by ambition, it was natural that he should be attracted to the political arena. Here his abilities were speedily recognized and appreciated, and he be- came a leader.

In 1800 he was chosen Member of Assembly for Albany County. By re-election he represented this county in the Assembly in the Legislature of 1801-2. He was the acknowledged leader of the Federal party in those bodies. So moderately and so justly did he govern and exercise his political sentiments that he gained the esteem and friendship even of his political opponents, with a very few ex- ceptions. Hence his great influence in the Legis- lature.

In January, 1800, Mr. Henry was appointed Comptroller by John Jay, then Governor of the State. As he was eminently qualified for the duties of this office, his appointment was very popular. George Clinton, who had been Governor from 1777 down to 1794, was in 1795 succeeded by Jay, elected in the Gubernatorial election of that year. Gov. Jay was re-elected in 1798. In 1801 Gov. George Clinton was re-elected. Mr. Clin- ton, though apparently friendly to Mr. Henry, suddenly removed him from the office of Comp- troller. At the time of this removal the Governor had been in office but a few months. Mr. Henry's successor was Elisha Jenkins, a merchant of Hud- son, N. Y .- a man in every sense Mr. Henry's in- ferior. This appointment of Jenkins was made at the instance of Ambrose Spencer, at that time a political boss, with powers equal to any of the modern rulers of political parties. Spencer after- ward became a Judge of the Supreme Court and Chief Justice of the State, ranking among the greatest and purest of American judges.

Though Mr. Henry's removal from office greatly disgusted him, we must, on the whole, regard it as a fortunate circumstance in his life. It caused him to adopt an irrevocable resolution never again to accept any office, but devote himself entirely to the practice of his profession. This resolution gave him that commanding position at the Bar of the State and nation we have already described.

For many years his practice was confined to the General Term of the Supreme Court, the Court for the Correction of Errors, and in the United States Supreme Court.

To use the language of another, "The great superiority of Mr. Henry as an advocate consisted in his skill in condensing his arguments-in saying everything which could be said in favor of the posi- tion he wished to establish with the fewest words. These words were selected in the best possible manner. He never used a word except the very best to express his ideas. He was not generally

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florid, and seldom aimed at brilliancy, though, if the occasion required, he could be impressive, brilliant and powerfully eloquent." He continued to devote all his time, talents and energies to his profession until the 22d day of October, 1829, when he was suddenly removed from the scenes of his earthly labors and ambition by the hand of death.

We give the following account of Mr. Henry's death as we find it in the Albany Gazette of October 24, 1829:

"Mr. John V. Henry, one of the most distinguish- ed lawyers in the State, is no more. He attended the Supreme Court on Wednesday morning ; on his way from the court-room at the Capitol, about 11 o'clock in the forenoon, when opposite the resi- dence of Chandler Starr, in State street, he was seized with an apoplectic fit. He was taken into Mr. Starr's and medical aid was immediately ren- dered. He lingered until half-past two o'clock yesterday afternoon, when his mighty spirit was yielded up to the God who gave it. His age was about sixty-four.

"The death of Mr. Henry is a public calamity. The tears his family shed over his lifeless form fall not alone. Those who respect the probity, the in- dependence, the gallant bearing, and the high talents which sometimes redeem human nature from suspicion, must also lament the fall of such a man as this, in whom these traits were so happily combined.

"And so depart, with fearful rapidity, the sages, the statesmen and the jurists of our day. Clinton and Wells, and Emmet and Henry, have, in their turn, ceased to be. And what a lesson to mankind do their sudden deaths impart. One by one the wise and virtuous fall into the deep gulf of Time, and yet thousands tread thoughtlessly on the sol- emn verge.

"The Supreme Court of the State, in session in the City of Albany, adjourned on Friday without doing any business in consequence of the death of JOHN V. HENRY."

At this time John Savage was Chief Justice, William L. Marcy and John Woodworth were Associate Justices of the Supreme Court.

At the opening of the court on Friday morning, the day after Mr. Henry's death, that great lawyer, Daniel Cady, in the presence of those illustrious judges, and distinguished lawyers from all parts of the State, arose and in a voice indicative of the deepest sorrow announced the death of Mr. Henry. So sensible and deep was Mr. Cady's emotion that, with all his commanding powers of eloquence and his usual self-control, he could at first hardly pro- ceed with his announcement. Gaining composure, he pronounced a beautiful and touching eulo y upon the distinguished deceased. He concluded by moving that the court adjourn until the next day.

The Chief Justice, after observing that the motion of Mr. Cady accorded well with the feelings of the court, who deemed it due the memory of so dis- tinguished a lawyer as Mr. Henry that this mark of respect should be shown, directed that the court adjourn until the next day.

JOHN V. N. YATES.

This distinguished lawyer, scholar and politician was a son of Chief-Justice Robert Yates. He was born at Albany in 1779. After receiving a liberal education he entered the office of John V. Henry, under whose tuition he prepared for the Bar. After receiving his degree as Attorney at Law, he began practice in Albany. With the advantages of extraordinary talents, an excellent classical and legal education and influential friends, he rapidly made his way to the front rank of his profession.

In 1803 the Legislature appointed him one of a committee with John Cuyler and Charles D. Cooper to report an estimate of the cost of a State and Court House in Albany.

On March 7, 1804, they submitted their report to the Legislature, and it was adopted.

On April 6 following an act was passed author- izing the erection of the building.

In 1808 he was appointed a Master and Exam- iner in Chancery. In June, 1808, he was appointed Recorder of the City of Albany.

In January, 1809, he was removed, to make place for Mr. Graham, and was restored in 1811, serving till July 8, 1816, when he was again removed, as before, for political purposes. In the administration of this office Mr. Yates exhibited rare judicial abilities.

In April, 1818, he was appointed Secretary of State, serving till February 13, 1823, when he was re-appointed, serving till 1826, when he was suc- ceeded by Azariah C. Flagg.

In the administration of this office he exhibited abilities which commended him largely to public favor.

In 1808 Mr. Yates became embroiled in a mem- orable legal contest with Chancellor Lansing. This contest grew out of an attempt of the Chan- cellor, in his official capacity, to punish Yates for malpractice and contempt of court. The case was seriously important in many senses, one of which brought the Court of Chancery and the Supreme Court of the State in collision.

At the time of which we are speaking Yates was a Master in Chancery. By the ninth section of the act then in existence concerning Attorneys, Coun- selors at Law and Solicitors in Chancery, all these officers were forbidden to bring any action in the name of another attorney or solicitor, without his knowledge and consent.

At this time Yates was not a solicitor of the Court of Chancery, but began an important suit in that court, using the name of one Peter W. Yates, a solicitor, without his knowledge, against the statute. Complaint was presented to Chancellor Lansing, who granted an order for the arrest of Yates. He insisted that he appeared as solicitor with the consent of Peter W. Yates, but that gen- tleman denied the consent.

Mr. Yates excepted to the issuing of the order for an arrest ; he insisted that the charge against him was a crime ; that the Court of Chancery had no criminal jurisdiction ; that whether he was guilty or not was a question which the consti-

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tution provided should be tried by a jury. But the Chancellor took a different view of the case. Mr. Yates was denied bail, and sent a prisoner to the old Albany jail.

He was highly popular with the people, and his imprisonment caused great excitement. He was a proud, high-minded man, inflexible in his purposes, ardent in carrying them into execu- tion, and he determined to contest what he deemed to be the high-handed course of the Chancellor to- ward him, and he carried his determination with unequaled earnestness into effect. He retained Thomas Addis Emmet as his counsel, who applied to Judge Spencer for a writ of habeas corpus for the release of his client from imprisonment, which was granted, and, after a full hearing, Mr. Yates was discharged. Whereupon, by order of the Chancel- lor, Mr. Yates was re-committed to prison, on the ground that the Supreme Court had no right to in- terfere with the proceedings of the Court of Chan- cery. The General Term of the Supreme Court opened about that time at Albany. and Mr. Emmet immediately moved in open court for another writ of habeas corpus to bring before it the body of Mr. Yates. He was brought before the court, and after a full argument the first and second arrests of Yates were sustained, and he was remanded to prison. The case was immediately removed to the Court for the Correction of Errors, the Chancellor using every effort to prevent the allowance of the writ; but he was defeated and the case was brought to argu- ment in that court. A judgment of the court was finally rendered, declaring the arrest of Yates illegal and directing his discharge. Soon after being re- manded to jail he obtained bail. The case will be found in 6 Johnson's Reports, 335. Yates imme- diately brought an action against Lansing for false imprisonment, and another long legal contest en- sued, in which the Chancellor succeeded on the ground that he was not liable, as he acted in a judicial capacity.

Mr. Yates was afterward appointed by the Legis- lature to add notes, references and succinct mat- ters touching the laws under our colonial govern- ment to the revised laws of New York of 1813-a duty which he discharged with singular ability and success.

He was afterward the recipient of many distin- guished official positions.

Mr. Yates was a valuable contributor to the lit- erature of his country, and until a short time pre- vious to his death the productions of his pen added largely to his own honor and to that of the city in which he lived. He died in Albany, January 10, 1839, aged sixty years.

MARTIN VAN BUREN.

MARTIN VAN BUREN was born in Kinderhook, then in the County of Albany, now Columbia, December 5, 1782. In his boyhood he exhibited a love of knowledge, a fondness for books, "a quickness of apprehension, a shrewdness of obser- vation ; but the limited means of his father denied him the advantages for an education, except those taught in a common school." He soon mastered

all the branches taught in that humble institution of learning, and became a teacher in the common schools. In this occupation he acquired the means of defraying the expenses of an education at the Kinderhook Academy for two or three years. In this institution he acquired an excellent English education and became a very fine Latin scholar.

" As a student," says one of his biographers, "young Van Buren was distinguished not only for his industry and application, but for his unwilling- ness to take anything upon trust, and his conse- quent habit of investigation and reflection. He was fond, too, of argumentative discussions; he had never studied dialectics as taught in the schools and knew but little about Aristotle or Locke, yet he was a natural logician, and handled the weapons of those whose very names he was ignorant with great skill and ability. He was ambitious to surpass his companions in extemporaneous speaking and English composition; many were the encomiums he received for his excellence in these branches."

Mr. Van Buren, like Ben Jonson, who pursued his classical studies with a trowel in his hand, was always a student; always found time, especially in his earlier years, to devote to classical studies. A desire to become a lawyer by profession was his early ambition, so strongly indulged that he began his legal studies at the early age of fourteen. His preceptor was Francis Sylvester, Esq., a leading member of the Bar. He pursued his legal studies with unwearied diligence and much success. At the age of eighteen he began to try causes in justices' courts, those tribunals which afford the legal student such a field for improvement in public speaking, in examining witnesses, in arranging testimony and in sharpening the perceptive facul- ties. He soon became famous as an advocate in these courts, acquiring a large and lucrative prac- tice therein. He often met as opponents the lead- ing members of the Columbia Bar, whose respect he gained by the exhibition of his rare abilities, his courteous and high-toned bearing.

While a student he was an active politician and gave his allegiance to the Democratic party. His regard and admiration of Thomas Jefferson were almost unbounded. In the great contest between Adams and Jefferson, he advocated and defended the Republican principles with much ardor and ability. Though yet in his teens, he addressed Republican gatherings, wrote resolutions, memo- rials and pamphlets. In the autumn of 1800, when only eighteen years of age, he represented the Democrats of his native town in a Congressional convention. Mr. Van Buren completed the last year of his studies in the office of William P. Van Ness, of the City of New York, one of the brilliant lights of the Bar, and subsequently one of the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. At a term of the Supreme Court of the State, held at Albany, October, 1803, Martin Van Buren was called to the Bar. After remaining in Albany a few months he returned to Kinderhook and actively began his professional career. The Columbia County Bar at this time was one of the strongest and most brilliant

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in the State. Here William W. Van Ness, Elisha Williams, Thomas P. Grosvenor and Jacob Rustin Van Rensselaer, all of them prominent Federal- ists and distinguished lawyers and politicians, seemed to stand in the way of Mr. Van Buren's professional and political advancement.

He was a Democrat; they were Federalists. They belonged to the aristocratic families of the county and State; Van Buren to the humbler ranks of life. They were wealthy and powerful; Van Buren was poor, with nothing to rely upon but his own energy and talents; these, it seems, were sufficient; with them he won his way to dis- tinction, triumphing over his powerful and disdain- ful rivals. His business increased, his clientage daily became more numerous and influential, and it was not long before he became the acknowl- edged leader of the Columbia Bar.

In the meantime he was as active, energetic and powerful in politics as he was in his profession. Space will not permit us to enter into any descrip- tion of his splendid and eventful career; but from 1808 to 1837 the history of that career is the political history of the State; at least, that history could not be perfectly written with the career of Martin Van Buren omitted.

On the 20th of March, 1808, he was appointed Surrogate of the County of Columbia. The manner in which he discharged the duties of this office largely enhanced his professional reputation. About this time he removed to Hudson, a measure which contributed largely to his advantage. At this time Elisha Williams, undoubtedly the most gifted and eloquent lawyer of his time, whose magnificent oratory rendered him famous at the American Bar, was a resident of Hudson. Martin Van Buren soon became the rival of this great lawyer. In order to grapple with his formidable opponent Van Buren was compelled to submit to the most intense study; when the day's work was ended, after a little rest, he retired to his study and gave himself to his books with such deep applica- tion that frequently the dawning day paled the light of his lamp. In this way he successfully armed himself to meet his antagonist in the arena he had entered.

His great success at the bar, his acknowledged abilities as a politician, soon led him to that legisla- tive career which gradually advanced him to the most exalted position in the nation. In 1812 he was nominated by the Democrats of the Middle Senatorial District, of which Columbia County was a part, as their candidate for State Senator. He was opposed by a no less distinguished opponent than Edward P. Livingston, then a member of the State Senate. Mr. Livingston was a Democrat ; but there was something in his connection with the Bank of America which rendered his nomina- tion distasteful to the Democrats, or a large ma- jority of them, and they refused to renominate him, preferring Van Buren. Nevertheless he re- ceived the nomination, and received the support of the entire Federal party, together with the friends of Gov. Lewis. This was a powerful combination, but Van Buren overthrew it, after a

desperate struggle ; but his majority was only two hundred in a poll of over 25,000.

He entered the State Senate at an extra session, November 3, 1812, and became the leader of his party in that branch of the Legislature. From this time he remained almost constantly in public life down to the time of his retirement from the Presidential chair.

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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 35

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