Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 36

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 36

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In the spring of 1816 he was re-elected to the Senate, and shortly afterward became a resident of the City of Albany. This removal became neces- sary on account of the great increase of his profes- sional business, and to give him greater facilities for discharging his official duties.

In 1817 Benjamin F. Butler, his distinguished pupil, who reflected so much honor upon his pre- ceptor, became his law partner, forming one of the most influential legal firms in the State.

On February 6, 1821, Mr. Van Buren was elected by the Legislature a Senator in Congress. This caused him to partially withdraw from his practice, leaving his large business to Mr. Butler. He was occasionally employed in very important cases, among which were the cases of Wilkes vs. Lyon, argued in the Court for the Correction of Errors in 1823, and that of Varick vs. Johnson, argued in the same court in 1828 ; reported in 2 Cowan, 338; 2 Wendell, 166. These cases have always been read by the lawyer and the student with great interest and profit. The arguments of Mr. Van Buren appear at length in them. The briefs were prepared by Mr. Butler.

Mr. Van Buren appeared for the last time before a jury in the trial of the Astor case, and that of the Sailor's Snug Harbor, in the fall of 1827. His speech in the State Senate on the disputed accounts of Gov. Tompkins - the last he ever delivered in that body-was a memorable and magnificent production.

The Constitutional Convention of 1821 was composed of the ablest men connected with the great political parties in New York. Among them were James Kent, Rufus King, Am- brose Spencer, Abraham Van Vechten, Elisha Williams and Peter R. Livingston. Foremost among these was Martin Van Buren. He took part in all the important discussions, and estab- lished the claim of his friends that he was a high- minded, gifted, eloquent and independent states- man. In his speeches there was none of that ad captandum eloquence calculated to touch the pas- sions of the multitude ; they were the offsprings of research, of an enlarged and liberal mind, with statesman-like views. In the Senate of the United States, then composed of the ablest and most illus- trious statesmen of the nation, Mr. Van Buren took a commanding position.

He was early committed against the policy of distribution of the public lands, subsequently advo- cated with so much zeal and ability by Mr. Clay. He was never friendly to a high protective tariff, but voted for the tariff of 1824, though not entirely satisfied with all its details. He delighted to repeat the witty remark of John Randolph concerning the tariff movement of 1827-8, which he regarded

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almost wholly of a political character. "That tariff," said Mr. Randolph, "does not refer to manufactories of any sort or kind, except to the manufacture of a President of the United States."

After the death of Mr. Clinton, in February, 1828, Mr. Van Buren became Governor of the State, but on being appointed Secretary of State under President Jackson, he resigned the Governor- ship. This event took place March 12, 1829.

He subsequently became Vice-President of the United States, and at a Democratic National Con- vention held at Baltimore in May, 1835, he was unanimously nominated a candidate for President of the United States. Col. Richard M. Johnson was nominated for Vice-President. Mr. Van Buren was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1837, and entered upon the duties of his great office.

The subject of the abolition of slavery constituted an important feature in his inaugural address ; the agitation of this great question had begun in the year 1834-5 in the Northern States. Mr. Van Buren and his friends strongly opposed the move- ment. Though he brought to the office much ability as a statesman, the highest and most consci- entious patriotism, there were many unfortunate circumstances that tended to render his adminis- tration in a measure unpopular. We cannot say that at this time his opposition to the anti-slavery question injured him as much as has been alleged. The measure had not then been far enough ad- vanced in a political sense to have a bearing upon his administration. What tended most to injure it was the terrible revulsion, or financial crisis, which prostrated the industry and commercial in- terests of the nation. The Whig party adroitly took advantage of this unfortunate state of things and attributed the financial depression of the coun- try to the policy of Mr. Van Buren's administra- tion. This resulted in his defeat for re-election in 1840 and the elevation of Gen. Harrison. He retired from the Presidential chair to private life. His nomination by a wing of the Democratic party at Buffalo in 1848, and his defeat, are events too well known to need any description here.

BENJAMIN F. BUTLER.

BENJAMIN F. BUTLER, an historic name in the State and Nation, a lawyer of the highest ability, a scholar of rare endowments, and a citizen of great purity of character, was born at Kinderhook, in the County of Columbia, December 17, 1795. His father was a merchant at that place ; a man of strict integrity, industrious in his vocation, and honorable in his relations to the society in which he lived.

The early years of young Butler were passed in attending a common district school and in assist- ing his father in his store. He was a boy of re- spectful manners and an intellectual turn of mind. While engaged in the store, he became a favorite of a learned and distinguished Presbyterian clergy- man, who resided near his father ; from this gentleman he received his first knowledge of books and the rudiments of a classical education. At the age of fourteen, Benjamin, already far

advanced in his studies, was sent to Hudson Academy, where he remained several years, an energetic and successful student. When his aca- demic course was ended, he entered the office of Martin Van Buren, then a young lawyer who had been at the Bar but a few years, but who was regarded as a young man of great promise, and who had already secured a respectable position at the Columbia Bar. This was in the year 1812. In the year 1816 Mr. Van Buren removed to Albany, where he entered upon his extraordinary official career. Young Butler accompanied him. In 1818 Mr. Butler was called to the Bar, and im- mediately became the partner of Mr. Van Buren, a relation which existed until February, 1821, when Mr. Van Buren was appointed a Senator in Congress. In 1827 Mr. Butler was united in marriage to Miss Allen, a young lady of many accomplishments and many mental and personal attractions. She was a sister of the gallant Lieuten- ant William H. Allen, who distinguished himself in the engagement between the frigate "United States" and the British ship-of-war "Macedonia," in 1812, and who was afterward killed by pirates in the Gulf of Mexico.

The firm of Van Buren & Butler was the most distinguished legal firm in the State. The senior member stood at the head of the State Bar, and his practice at the United States Supreme Court and his position as a Senator in Congress gave him a national reputation.

Mr. Butler, with his unwearied industry, tena- cious memory and active intellect, followed rapidly in the footsteps of his preceptor and former partner.

Among the important cases which, by Mr. Van Buren's retirement from the firm, were left for Mr. Butler to conduct, were Wilkes vs. Lyon and T'arick vs. Johnson. These cases attracted great attention throughout the State, and for a consider- able time occupied the attention of the Court for the Correction of Errors.

The labor necessary to their preparation for argu- ment was immense ; but Mr. Butler brought to the task that industry and research for which he was so distinguished. After several weeks of labor he placed in the hands of Mr. Van Buren a thoroughly arranged, exhaustive and perfect brief. Mr. Van Buren argued the cases, assisted by Mr. Butler.

For two years after his admission to the Bar Mr. Butler confined himself to the Circuit Courts, at- taining a highly respectable reputation as a jury lawyer. He first appeared in a General Term of the Supreme Court in October, 1820, when he argued the case of the People vs. Foote ; his oppo- nent was the late Thos. J. Oakley, who then ranked among the great lawyers of the State. Soon after this, he argued, in the same court, the celebrated case of the President and Directors of the Bank of Auburn vs. Blanchard et al. , his opponent was Daniel Cady, an illustrious character in the legal history of the State.

One of Mr. Butler's first cases in the Court for the Correction of Errors was that of Manaham vs. Gibson-a case of historic importance. The op- posing counsel was that giant of the Bar, J. V.

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Henry. In the celebrated case of Troup vs. Smith, and that of Morton vs. Cragan, Mr. Butler was associated with Samuel A. Talcott, one of the bril- liant ornaments of the New York State Bar.

Mr. Butler appeared so often in the Supreme Court that a history of his cases he conducted in that court would fill several volumes.

On February 19, 1821, he was appointed District Attorney of Albany County, discharging the duties of this office till January, 1825, when he was succeeded by Edward Livingston.

Though the labors of this office were heavy, and for one so young its responsibilities great, Mr. Butler's success was in proportion to his labor, and he retired from the office with the well-earned commendations of the public. Before his official term expired, a law was passed by the Legislature of 1824, appointing Chancellor Kent, Erastus Root and Benjamin F. Butler commissioners to revise the laws of the State; but these gentlemen did not enter upon the duties thus assigned them, as the Legislature of 1825 passed an act by which Mr. Butler, John Duer and Henry Wheaton were made commissioners to revise the statute laws. Not long after the passage of this act, Mr. Wheaton was ap- pointed charge d'affaires to the Court of Berlin, and John C. Spencer was appointed in his place.

As was said by a distinguished member of the Bar, "the selection of Mr. Butler, who had then so recently commenced his practice, for a position so high and responsible, carried with it the evidence of the high estimation in which he was held by the Legislature. It was an undertaking of great hazard to his professional reputation, as well as an im- mense labor. It involved for a time the entire sacrifice of his business, as he was obliged to devote his time almost exclusively to that business. He undertook it, and, notwithstanding the prejudices it at first encountered, it was carried to a successful termination."

In the language of Judge Kent, " All who knew the indomitable energy of John C. Spencer will naturally believe that his spirit pervaded the whole work ; but, judging from internal evidence, I can- not avoid believing that much of the essential excel- lence of the Revised Statutes, and more of the labor which adapted them to our general system of jurisprudence-the plan and order of the work, the learning of the notes, the marginal references, and the admirable index which accompanies it-should be ascribed to the labor, the patient touches of unwearied art, bestowed by Mr. Butler. The statutes, however, reveal the learning, skill, labor and ability of each of their great authors."

Three years later a new edition of the statutes was deemed necessary, and the revisers were once more called to the work of revision. The whole existing statute laws of a general nature, all the acts of the Legislature passed since the year 1825, were carefully examined ; the statutes themselves critically reviewed and re-arranged, with annota- tions and references made by the Supreme Court, the Court of Chancery and the Court for the Cor- rection of Errors.

This new edition was reported to the Legislature at its annual session in the winter of 1836, and by appropriate acts was passed as the Statutes of the State of New York. Other editions have succeeded it, embracing acts since passed. They are volumin- ous but indispensable works in the library of a practicing lawyer.

Mr. Butler was elected a member of the Legisla- ture of 1828, and left on its records indubitable evidence of liis ability as a legislator.

In 1833 Mr. Butler was appointed commissioner, with Theodore Frelinghuysen, to settle the long- disputed boundary line between New York and New Jersey, and brought this difficult question to a highly satisfactory adjustment. In the autumn of 1833, before the labors of the New Jersey commission were terminated, Mr. Butler was ap- pointed Attorney-General of the United States, in place of Roger B. Taney, appointed Chief Justice of the United States. A few days before Mr. Butler's departure for Washington to enter upon the duties of his office, the citizens of Albany, without distinc- tion of party, assembled and publicly expressed their regard for his virtues as a citizen and their ad- miration of his talents as a lawyer. Among those who addressed the meeting were Stephen Van Rens- selaer, Abraham Van Vechten and Harmanus Bleecker.

In October, 1836, while discharging his duties as Attorney-General, Mr. Butler was appointed Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President Jack- son. He discharged the duties of the two offices until the 4th of March, 1837. In the Department of War there was at this time a large accumulation of business, owing to the Seminole war; but Mr. Butler, by his assiduity and systematic method, brought up the arrears of business, and left the de- partment in a satisfactory state to his illustrious successor, Felix Grundy, of Tennessee.

The legal opinions rendered by Mr. Butler while Attorney-General are still read and admired for their profundity in substance, their perfection in diction ; they are also established as reliable prece- dents.

On the 4th of March, 1837, President Van Buren entered upon the duties of his administration. Mr. Butler continued to discharge the duties of Attor- ney-General until January, 1838, when he resigned and returned to the practice of his profession. Within a few months, however, the office of United States District Attorney for the Southern District of New York became vacant, and Mr. Butler was ap- pointed to fill that office. He discharged these duties until the inauguration of President Harrison. when he resigned. When President Polk assumed the executive chair he tendered Mr. Butler the office of Secretary of War, but the offer was respect- fully declined for reasons which were entirely satis- factory to the President. Not long after, however, the President tendered to Mr. Butler the office of United States District Attorney for the Southern District. This position Mr. Butler did not hesitate to accept, as it did not interfere with the duties of ·his profession. He discharged these official duties until after the election of Gen. Taylor, when he

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was removed for political reasons. In the mean- time Mr. Butler had become a citizen of the City of New York.

In the summer of 1856 he made a visit to Eng- land, but returned very soon to complete a profes- sional engagement of great importance. This was the great case of Levit vs. Curtis, which had been before the court for a long time, and was then pending in the Court of Appeals. He was com- pelled to terminate his European tour in order to conduct the argument of the case at a term of the court then approaching.

In 1835 the Council of the University of the City of New York having decided to establish a faculty of law in that institution, Mr. Butler was requested to prepare a plan for its organization. He com- plied with the request, and on the 29th day of May, 1835, submitted to Rev. J. N. Mathews, then Chancellor of the University, a document entitled " A Plan for the Organization of a Law Faculty and for a System of Instruction in Legal Science in the University of the City of New York." His plan was warmly approved by the Council and promptly accepted by the most flattering resolu- tions.

Mr. Butler continued to devote his entire ener- gies to the duties of his profession ; but it was ap- parent to his friends that his health was rapidly failing, and they prevailed upon him to visit Europe again. Accordingly, in October, 1868, he em- barked on the steamer Arago, bound for Havre, intending to remain abroad two years. On the 29th of October he landed at Havre. He visited Harfleur and Rouen, and on the 3d of November he arrived at Paris. The next day he wrote a long and interesting letter to his son, William Allen Butler, Esq. In the evening of that day he was taken ill, and his disease rapidly progressed, and finally, on the 8th of November, his earthly career ended.

GREENE C. BRONSON.

Among the illustrious legists whose names em- bellish the roll of lawyers of Albany County is Greene C. Bronson, who for twenty years and up- ward was a gifted and successful contestant at the Albany Bar.

He was born at Utica, Oneida County, N. Y., in 1789. He began his practice at Utica about the year 1815; he early developed a peculiarly strong judicial mind and method, in recognition of which he was, on. April 13, 1819, appointed Surro- gate of Oneida County. He discharged the duties of this office for two years with singular ability. In the fall of 1822 he was elected member of Assembly from Oneida County, and was honored by the posi- tion as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. The next year he was tendered a renomination, but de- clined, and devoted himself to his profession.

On February 27, 1829, he was appointed Attor- ney-General of the State, the successor of Samuel A. Talcott, universally acknowledged one of the greatest of American lawyers. Mr. Bronson dis- charged the duties of this office till January 12, 1836, when he was appointed one of the Justices of

the Supreme Court. We should have said that about the time he was appointed Attorney-General he removed to Albany, where he resided over twenty successive years.

On March 5, 1845, he was appointed Chief Jus- tice of the State, in place of Hon. Samuel Nelson, appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Few members of the American Bench rank higher than Judge Bronson ; the opin- ions written by him always command the respect and admiration of the student and the practitioner ; the ingenuity and exactness with which they are written, their polemical strength and the extent of their erudition, are hardly equaled by those of any other judge. He occupied the Bench as Chief Justice two years, when he resigned, and was suc- ceeded by Samuel Beardsley, the last of the Chief Justices under the Constitution of 1821.

In 1853 he was appointed Collector of the Port of New York, and removed from Albany to that city. In 1859 he was Corporation Counsel for the City of New York, serving until 1863, when he re- tired to private life.

In politics Judge Bronson was a Democrat, and during the divisions of the Democratic party into Hard Shell and Soft Shell factions, he was the leader of the Hard Shell wing. Some of his speeches delivered in defense of his position created marked attention throughout the nation for the skill of their argument, the beauty and strength of their diction, and, more than all, for their boldness, and, as the opposition journals termed, for their audacity.

Judge Bronson died in the City of New York, September 3, 1863.

MARCUS T. REYNOLDS.

During a period of twenty-six years Marcus T. Reynolds was one of the leading members of the Albany Bar. The history of his career during that time is the history of the Supreme Court, Court for the Correction of Errors and the Court of Appeals. For ten years previous to that time he often ap- peared in the different courts that held their sit- tings in Albany; an examination of the reports of the cases argued in the Appellate Courts of the State from 1817 to 1853 shows that Mr. Reynolds represented more cases adjudicated in the Supreme Court and Court of Errors than almost any other lawyer in the State.

He was born at Florida, Montgomery County, N. Y., December 22, 1788. When he was ten years of age he was placed in a high school at Canajoharie, where he remained three years. Leav- ing Canajoharie, he entered a collegiate school at Utica, where he was fitted for college. In 1805 he entered Union College, from whence, in 1808, he was graduated, standing second in his class.

While in college he developed those polemical and elocutionary talents, that keen and sparkling wit, which distinguished him as an advocate. Hav- ing graduated, he began the study of law in the office of that truly great lawyer, Matthias B. Hil- dreth, of Johnstown, N. Y. Mr. Hildreth was for several years Attorney-General of the State.

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Young Reynolds was a particular favorite with his learned preceptor, who spared no pains in advancing his student in acquiring that knowledge necessary for a profound and successful lawyer. On October 12, 1811, Reynolds was called to the Bar. About this time Addison Gardner, Samuel Stevens, John A. Collier, Charles O'Conor, William H. Seward, Ogden Hoffman and Alonzo C. Page were called to the Bar.

Mr. Reynolds began his practice at Johnstown, N. Y .; here he was compelled to contend with Daniel Cady, of whom it may be said he was a gladiator in the legal arena of uncommon prow- ess. Other eminent lawyers became the antago- nists of Mr. Reynolds, and in contending with legal giants he rapidly grew to be one himself.

He continued to practice at Johnstown until 1828, when he removed to Albany, where he spent the remainder of his life, and where he retained that position which has given him an undying fame in the legal history of the State.

The legal speeches of Mr. Reynolds were natural, easy, replete with argument, never too artificial, and recherche. His gestures were very few, generally with his right arm and forefinger, occasionally dropping the palm of his left hand upon the table, if one was before him ; if not, he balanced it before him in an easy, natural manner.

He had the faculty of passing from "grave to gay, from lively to severe," with surprising facility. This is illustrated by his arguments in cases like Mabee vs. Peck, and cases like The People vs. Lam- prey. So widely did these intellectual efforts differ from each other that a stranger would naturally have believed them to be the productions of different minds. The former case involved the consideration of mere abstract questions of law, and his argument abounded in nothing but reason, relieved by no lucid narration-no appeal to the feelings-no address to the imagination, and yet it was an intellectual triumph ; those who listened to him could hardly think it possible for a feeling of pathos, sympathy or pleasantry ever to enter his bosom, so thoroughly prosaic was his speech. Lamprey was tried for the murder of his own nephew. There were many circumstances in the case which appealed strongly to sympathy, and Mr. Reynolds interposed a powerful and successful defense, founded not only upon the facts, but upon grave and intricate questions of law. His address to the jury was an inimitable specimen of legal oratory. It was often enlivened by momen- tary displays of wit and humor ; it abounded in exquisitely wrought passages, in which pathos and argument were interlused. Even on the discussion of the legal questions in this case, "he cast the playful hues of his fancy ; " so that it was difficult to determine whether at the bar he was the giant or magician-Briareus or Prospero.

He carried his cases by being thoroughly imbued with them himself, and then, by a clear and well- defined statement to court and jury, imparting the impression that he had no doubt of the right of his case. Before a jury he had a sort of magnetic power,

by which he photographed his own ideas and rea- sons upon the minds of the jury.

Many years before his death he was thrown from a horse ; the fall produced an injury to one of his knee-pans of such a serious character that ampu- tation became necessary. Immediately after the accident he was taken into a store, and the wound was examined by one of the most skillful surgeons in Albany, who became convinced that amputation must inevitably follow, and he so informed the suf- ferer, stating further that perhaps it had better be done on the following day.

"I wish you to proceed instantly. I cannot have the matter upon my mind," said Reynolds. The surgeon obeyed. This was before chloroform was used by surgeons, but Mr. Reynolds submitted to the operation without a groan. After the loss of his leg he generally conducted his causes sitting.

In person he was slightly above the ordinary stature ; his frame was slender, but well propor- tioned ; in his earlier years his form was more athletic. His face was thin ; his high forehead evinced intellectual power ; he lived a life of devo- tion to his profession, never seeking or holding public office. Simple and retired in his tastes and habits, a warm and generous friend, an open and manly adversary. Many of the religious, charita- ble and literary institutions of Albany are indebted to him for pecuniary aid and valuable assistance. For many years he was a member of St. Peter's Church, and for a long time one of the vestry.

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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 36

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