Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 40

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 40

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Edward Newcomb, 5 Albany Savings Bank Build'g. M. C. G. Nichols, 187 Livingston avenue. Nathaniel Niles, 7 Albany Savings Bank Building. Frank S. Niver, 99 State.

Norton & Bentler, 73 State.

John C. Nott, 50 State. Edward W. Nugent, 52 State. Myer Nussbaum, Albany Savings Bank Building. Smith O'Brien, 9 Tweddle Building.

John J. Olcott, 69 State.

John B. O'Malley, Rooms 7-8, 44 State. Myron H. Oppenheim, Tweddle Building.

Leonard Paige, 55 State. Parker & Countryman, 99 State.

A. J. Parker, Jr. George Parr, 74 State. R. W. Peckham, Room 7 Albany Sav. Bank. John DeWitt Peltz, 35-38 Tweddle Building. John C. Pennie, 149 Madison avenue. A. B. Pratt, 94 State. Charles H. Ramsey, 71 State. Joseph H. Ramsey, 71 State. Rankin & Featherstonhaugh, 31 North Pearl. Wm. F. Rathbone, 79 Chapel. Cornelius B. Reardon, 24 North Pearl.

Edward T. Reed, 39 Tweddle Building. Hugh Reilly, 29 North Pearl. Dexter Reynolds, 25 North Pearl. Simon W. Rosendale. S. C. Rodgers, 52 Tweddle Building. Edward D. Ronan, 34 Tweddle Building. Wm. P. Rudd, 20-23 Tweddle Building. J. G. Runkle, 18 High. James M. Ruso, 52 Tweddle.

Joseph W. Russell, Jermain's Building, 2 James st. J. H. Sand, 114 State. Bleecker Sanders, 24 North Pearl. H. T. Sanford, 74 State. Thomas Sayre, 443 Broadway.

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HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY.

Robert G. Scherer, 73 State. Wm. M. Scott.

Andrew G. Seelman, 80 State.

Osgood H. Shepard, 443 Broadway.

S. O. Shepard, 443 Broadway.

Hiram E. Sickels, 25 North Pearl.

George W. Smith, 74 State.

Horace E. Smith, 43 Tweddle Building.

Stuart G. Speir, Museum Building, Room 9. C. T. F. Spoor, 35 to 38 Tweddle Building. Nathaniel Spaulding.

B. I. Stanton, 22 Tweddle Building.

David H. Stanwix, Beaver Block, Room 10. J. Stedman, 443 Broadway. P. A. Stephens, 78 State.

John B. Steele, Jr. Henry E. Stern, 37 Maiden Lane, Room 2. George H. Stevens, 48 Tweddle.

John A. Stephens.

Clarence Strevell, 24 North Pearl.

Elliott I. Stiles, 5 Partition, E. A.

Henry C. Stryker.

J. B. Sturtevant. Geo. V. Thatcher.

Wm. W. Thompson, 74 State.

Geo. L. Thompson, 444 Broadway.

C. M. Tompkins, Albany Savings Bank Building.

Tracey & Cooper, 24 North Pearl.

A. H. Tremain, 13 Tweddle Building.

George M. True, 66 State. Lucien Tuffs, Jr., Beaver Block.

Thomas J. Van Alstyne, 9 Douw's Building. Andrew Van Derzee, 14 Tweddle Building. W. Bayard Van Rensselaer, 25 North Pearl.

Abram Van Vechten, 3-5 North Pearl.

Lansing Van Wie, 16 Second avenue.

Alonzo B. Voorhees, 73 State.

Fletcher Vosburgh.

Isaac H. Vrooman, 282 Hamilton street. Edward Wade, 93 State.

Frederick E. Wadhams, 33 Tweddle Building. R. B. Wagoner, 86 State.

Augustus H. Walshe, 85 Hawk.

John W. Walsh, 79 Chapel.

Walter E. Ward, 37 Maiden Lane.

Hiram L. Washburn, Jr., 44 State.

Cyrus Waterbury, Jr., 44 State.

Robert H. Wells, 94 State. Jacob Wendell, 184 Elm. W. S. Whitmore, 86 State. Thos. F. Wilkinson, 16 Douw's Building.

John S. Wolfe, 14 North Pearl.

Bradford R. Wood, 25 Tweddle Building.

J. Hampden Wood, 25 Tweddle Building. Horace I. Wood. Francis H. Woods, 116 State. O. M. Wright, 25 North Pearl. Edwin Young, 79 Chapel.

William A. Young.

MEMBERS OF THE ALBANY COUNTY BAR OUT- SIDE THE CITY OF ALBANY.

BERNE.

Z. B. Dyer, Edward V. Filkin, John D. White.

C. M. Barlow, W. Scott Coffin, J. M. Harris,

COEYMANS.

S. Springstead, Cornelius Vanderzee, Gerrit Witbeck.

COHOES.

James F. Crawford, Rosin J. House,

Charles F. Doyle,

John E. McLean,

Peter G. Falardo,

Peter D. Niver,

George H. Fitts,

James R. Stevens,

Lawrence B. Finn, Earle L. Stimson,

Isaac W. Hiller,

Henry A. Strong, James Wallace.

GUILDERLAND.

Hiram Griggs, Atchison Mitchell.

NEW SCOTLAND.

B. H. Staats.

RENSSELAERVILLE.

Lawrence Faulk, Norman W. Faulk,

William R. Tanner.

WESTERLO.

Farley Fisher, Alonzo Spaulding.

WEST TROY.

Geo. F. Alexander,

A. D. Lyon,

L. R. Beekley, Eugene McLean,

E. L. Blood, Volkert J. Oathout,

James W. Boyle, D. J. O'Sullivan,

John H. Gleason, Isaac B. Potter,

F. L. Getty, Alfred W. Richardson,

J. D. Hallen,

Thomas F. Riley,

William Hollands,

Peter A. Rogers,

C. D. Hudson, Elias Van O'Linda,

Isaac W. Lansing,

James W. Warford.

GREEN ISLAND. James R. Torrance.

JUDGES AND OTHER COURT OFFICERS

FOR ALBANY COUNTY, OR RESIDENTS OF THE COUNTY.

MASTERS OF COLONIAL COURT OF CHANCERY. John Abeel and Evert Banker, Oct. 13, 1705; P. P. Schuyler, 1768.

CHANCELLORS OF STATE COURT OF CHANCERY.

John Lansing, Jr., Oct. 21, 1801 ; James Kent, Oct. 25, 1814 ; Reuben H. Walworth, April 22, 1828.

CHIEF JUSTICES FROM ALBANY COUNTY OF THE SUPREME COURT FROM 1777 TO 1847.

Robert Yates, September 28, 1790; John Lansing, Jr., February 15, 1798; James Kent, July 2, 1804; Smith Thompson, February 3, 1814; Ambrose Spencer, February 9, 1819; Greene C. Bronson, March 5, 1845.

PUISNE JUSTICES of Supreme Court.

Robert Yates, May 8, 1777; John Lansing, Jr., September 28, 1790; Ambrose Spencer, February 3, 1804; Greene C. Bronson, January 6, 1836.

A Circuit Court was created by the Constitution of 1821. It was the Nisi Prius, or Trial Court of the Supreme Court. The State was divided into eight districts or circuits, corresponding to the Senatorial Districts. At least two Circuit Courts and Courts of Oyer and Terminer were required to be held in each county annually, the Circuit Judge presiding. Each of the Circuit Judges was to ap- point a clerk for the Court of Equity, to be held by each judge respectively.

CIRCUIT JUDGES from Albany County.

William A. Duer, April 21, 1823; James Vanderpoel, January 12, 1830; Amasa J. Parker, March 6, 1844.

Murray Hubbard,

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THE BENCH AND BAR.

The Constitution of 1846 abolished the old Su- preme Court, the Court of Chancery, Court for the Correction of Errors, and the Circuit Courts; insti- tuting a Court of Appeals, a Supreme Court with an Equity side, and retaining the Court of Oyer and Terminer. The Judges of these Courts were all made elective.

JUDGES OF THE COURT OF APPEALS from the County of Albany.

Alexander S. Johnson, November 5, 1851; John K. Porter, Jan. 2, 1865; Rufus W. Peckham, May 17, 1870; Samuel Hand, June 11, 1878.

JUDGES OF THE SUPREME COURT under the Constitution of 1846.

Ira Harris, June 7, 1847; Elisha P. Hurlbut, June 7, 1847; Malbone Watson, June 7, 1847, and Nov. 8, 1853; Amasa J. Parker, June 7, 1847; Ira Harris, November 4, 1851; Deo- datus Wright, April 20, 1857; Rufus W. Peckham, Novem- ber 8, 1861; William L. Learned, June 21, 1869; Rufus W. Peckham, Jr., November 6, 1883; William L. Learned, No- vember, 1884.

Judge Peckham is a son of Hon. Rufus W. Peckham, a judge of the Court of Appeals, who was a passenger on the steamer Ville du Havre, which, on the night of November 22, 1873, in mid-ocean, collided with the British iron ship Loch Erin. Two hundred and twenty-six souls, among whom were Judge P. and his wife, were drowned. COURT OF COMMON PLEAS AND SPECIAL SESSIONS.

A Court of Common Pleas was established in Albany County by the provisions of the Dongan Charter, 1686. A Court of Common Pleas was es- tablished in each County by an act of the Colonial Legislature in 1691. The first State Constitution retained the Court of Common Pleas, varying its procedure to accord with the State Government. The Constitution also organized a Court of Ses- sions, it being the criminal side of the Common Pleas, as the present Court of Sessions is the crimi- nal side of the County Court. The judges were appointed by the Governor and Council of Ap- pointment down to 1821, when the latter body was abolished, and the Common Pleas judges were appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice of the Senate, down to the Constitution of 1846, which abolished the Court of Common Pleas, created a County Court, a Court of Sessions to be presided over by one County judge in each County elected by the people. It provided for the election of two justices in each County who, with the County judge, constituted a Court of Sessions for the trial of criminals. These session justices, with a justice of the Supreme Court, constituted the Court of Oyer and Terminer in each County for the trial of crimi- nals of a higher grade.

We give the names of the First Judges of the Court of Common Pleas during its existence, fol- lowed by the County Judges appointed or elected since under the first Constitution of 1777, and of the Constitution of 1846 :

MAYOR, RECORDER AND ALDERMEN of Albany, or any three of them, from 1686.

Peter Schuyler, May 27, 1691; John Abeel, May 27, 1702; Peter Schuyler, Oct. 14, 1702; Killiaen Van Rensselaer, Dec. 23, 1717; Rutger Bleecker, Dec. 23, 1726; Ryer

Gerritse, Dec. 23, 1733; Robert Sanders, Nov. 28, 1749; Sybrant Goose Van Schaick, Jan. 5, 1758; Rensselaer Nicoll, May 14, 1762; Abraham Ten Brock, March 4, 1773; Walter Livingston, March 22, 1774; John H. Ten Eyck, March 21, 1775; Volkert P. Douw, Jan. 6, 1778; Abram Ten Broeck, March 26, 1781; Leonard Gansevoort, March 19, 1794; John Tayler, Feb. 7, 1797; Nicolas N. Quacken- bush, Jan. 13, 1803; David McCarty, March 13, 1804; Charles D. Cooper, March 29, 1806; Jacob Ten Eyck, June 8, 1807; Apollos Moore, June 6, 1812; James L'Amo- reaux, March 15, 1828; Samuel Cheever, March 12, 1833; John Lansing, May 17, 1838; Peter Gansevoort, April 17, 1843; William Parmelee, June, 1847; Albert D. Robinson, Nov., 1851; George Wolford, Nov., 1859; Jacob H. Clute, Nov., 1863; Thomas J. Van Alstyne, Nov., 1871; John C. Nott, Nov., 1883.

COURT OF PROBATE.

By an Act of 1787, Surrogates were empowered to be appointed, the Judge of the Court of Probates holding jurisdiction in cases of decease out of the State, or of non-residents within the State. On March 10, 1797, an act was passed providing that the Court of Probate should be held in Albany, and that the judge and clerk should remove the books, papers and documents of that court to that city, and reside there. This court held appellate jurisdiction over the Surrogate's Court, On March 21, 1823, it was abolished, and its jurisdiction conferred on the Chancellor, who exercised it until the Court of Chancery was abolished in 1846.

Its jurisdiction was then conferred on the new Supreme Court. The records of this court were deposited in the office of the Court of Appeals at Albany. The following are the Albany County Judges of the Court of Probate :

Leonard Gansevoort, April 5, 1799; T. Van Wyck Gra- ham, March 16, 1813; Gerrit Y. Lansing, July 8, 1816.

SURROGATES.

Surrogates, under the first Constitution, were ap- pointed for an unlimited period by the Council of Appointment, and an appeal lay from their decis- ions to the Judge of the Court of Probates of the State. Under the second Constitution they were appointed by the Governor and Senate for four years, and appeals lay from their decisions to the Chancellor.

The Constitution of 1847 abolished the office of Surrogate, except in counties where the population exceeded 40,000, and devolved its duties on the County Judge. In counties exceeding this popu- lation the Legislature may authorize the election of Surrogates. They are elected for six years, and are allowed to take the acknowledgment of deeds and administer oaths in the same manner as County Judges.

SURROGATES of Albany County.

John DePeyster, April 3, 1756; William Hannah, Novem- ber 18, 1766; Peter Lansingh, December 3, 1766; Stephen DeLancey, September 19, 1769 ; John De Peyster, March 23, 1778; Henry Oothoudt, April 4, 1782; John De P. Douw, April 4, 1782; Abraham G. Lansing, March 13, 1787; Elisha Dorr, April 12, 1808 ; John H. Wendell, March 5, 1810; Richard Lush, June II, 18II ; John H. Wendell, March 3, 1813; George Merchant, March 17, 1815; Christopher C. Yates, April 19, 1815; Ebenezer Baldwin, July 7, 1819; Abraham Ten Eyck, Jr., February 19, 1821; Thomas A. Brigden, April 11, 1822; Anthony Blanchard, April 9, 1831; Moses Patten, Febru-

156

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY.

ary 28, 1840; Anthony Blanchard, February 28, 1844; Lewis Benedict, Jr., June, 1847; Orville H. Chittenden, November, 1851; James A. Mckown, November, 1855; Justus Haswell, November, 1859; Israel Lawton, Novem- ber, 1863; Peter A. Rogers, November, 1871; Francis H. Woods, November, 1883.

DISTRICT ATTORNEYS.

This officer was at first Assistant Attorney-Gen- eral. The counties were divided into districts, in which he had jurisdiction; hence the name of Dis- trict Attorney. The act of February 12, 1796, divided the State into seven districts; that of 1801, into thirteen districts. By the laws of 1818, each county was constituted a separate district for the purposes of this office. Under the second Consti- tution, District Attorneys were appointed by the Court of General Sessions in each county. Under the Constitution of 1846, they were made elective.

Abraham Van Vechten, February 16, 1796; Samuel S. Lush, April 6, 1813; David L. Van Antwerp, June 21, 1818; Samuel A. Foote, July 3, 1819; Benjamin F. Butler, Febru- ary 19, 1821; Edward Livingston, June 14, 1825; Rufus W. Peckham, March 27, 1838; Henry G. Wheaton, March 30, 1841; Edwin Litchfield, March 30, 1844; Andrew J. Colvin, March 21, 1846; Samuel H. Hammond, June, 1847; An- drew J. Colvin, November, 1850; Hamilton Harris, Novem- ber, 1853; Samuel G. Courtney, November, 1856; Ira Shafer, November, 1859; Solomon F. Higgins, November, 1862; Henry Smith, November, 1865; Rufus W. Peckham, Jr., November, 1868; Nathaniel C. Moak, November, 1871; John M. Bailey, November, 1874; Lansing Hotaling, No- vember, 1877; D. Cady Herrick, November, 1880.

COUNTY CLERKS.

The County Clerk, during the colonial period, was Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, Clerk of the Peace, and Clerk of the Sessions of the Peace, in his own county. Under the first State Consti- tution, it was his duty to keep the County Records, and act as the Clerk of the Inferior Court of Com- mon Pleas and Clerk of the Oyer and Terminer. These last duties were conferred upon him by the Act of February 12, 1796. The seals of the Coun- ty Clerk were the seals of the Court of Common Pleas in their respective counties. County Clerks are now Clerks of the Supreme Court, Court of Oyer and Terminer, County Court and Court of Sessions. The term of office since the adoption of the Constitution of 1821 has been three years.

Ludovicus Cobes, 1669; Robert Livingston, 1675; Johan- nes Cuyler, March 2, 1690; Robert Livingston, 1691; Wil- liam Shaw, 1696; Robert Livingston, 1705; Philip Living- ston, 1721; John Colden, February 23, 1749; Harme Gan- sevoort, September 25, 1750; Witham Marsh, 1760; Stephen De Lancy, January 25, 1765; Leonard Gansevoort, May 8, 1777; Mattbew Vischer, 1778; Richard Lush, September 29, 1790; Charles D. Cooper, March 3, 1808; William P. Beers, February 28, 1810; Charles D. Cooper, February 5, 1811; John Lovett, March 3, 1813; George Merchant, March 31, 1815; Henry Truax, June 6, 1820; George Merchant, Feb-

ruary 19, 1821; L. L. Van Kleeck, November, 1822; Conrad A. Ten Eyck, November, 1828; Henry B. Haswell, No- vember, 1837; William Mix, November, 1843; Lawrence Van Dusen, November, 1846; Robert S. Lay, November, 1849; Robert Harper, November, 1852; Robert Bab- cock, November, 1855; Smith A. Waterman, November, 1861; Giles K. Winne, February 9, 1865; Isaac N. Keeler, June 20, 1868; John McEwen, November, 1868; Albert C. Judson, November, 1871; William E. Haswell, November, 1874; John Larkin, November, 1877; William D. Strevell, November, 1883.

SHERIFFS.

This officer, during the colonial period, was ap- pointed annually by the Governor-General and Colo- nial Council. Under the first Constitution, he was appointed annually by the Council of Appointment, and no person could hold the office for more than four successive years ; he could hold no other office, and must be a freeholder. Since the adoption of the Constitution of 1821, he has not been required to be a freeholder, is elected for three years, and is ineligible for the next succeeding term.

John Manning, April 6, 1665 ; Gerrit Swart, Aug. 17, 1668 ; Andrew Draeyer, Oct., 1673 ; Michael Siston, Nov. 4, 1674 ; Johannes Provoost, Oct., 1677 ; Richard Pretty, Oct., 1678 ; Lodovicus Cobes, Oct., 1679 ; Richard Pretty, Oct., 1680 ; Gaspar Teller, March 1, 1691 ; John Apple, Dec. 1, 1692 ; Simon Young, June 19, 1696 ; Johannes Groenendyke, Oct., 1698 ; John Williams, Oct., 1699; Jonathan Broadhurst, Oct., 1700 ; Jacobus Turk, Oct., 1702 ; David Schuyler, Oct., 1705 ; Henry Holland, Oct., 1706 ; Thomas Williams, Oct., 1712 ; Samuel Babington, Oct., 1716 ; Gerrit Van Schaick, Oct., 1719 ; Henry Hot- land, Oct., 1720 ; Philip Verplanck, Oct., 1722 ; Thomas Williams, Oct., 1723 ; Goose Van Schaick, Oct., 1728; James Stepbenson, Oct., 1731 ; James Lindsay, Oct., 1732 ; Henry Holland, Oct., 1739 ; John Rutger Bleecker, Oct., 1746 ; Jacob Ten Eyck, Oct., 1747 ; Thomas Wil- liams, Oct., 1748 ; Richard Miller, Oct., 1749 ; Abraham Yates, Oct., 1754 ; Abraham Yates, Jr., Oct., 1755 ; Jacob Van Schaick, Oct., 1759 ; Hermanus Schuyler, June 18, 1761 ; Henry Ten Eyck, Oct., 1770 ; Hendrick J. Wendell, Sept. 27, 1777 ; John Ten Broeck, March 22, 1781 ; Hendrick J. Wendell, Nov. 29, 1782 ; John Ten Broeck, Sept. 29, 1786 ; Peter Gansevoort, Jr., Sept. 29, 1790 ; John Ostrander, Jr., Sept. 29, 1792 ; John Given, Sept. 29, 1796 ; Hermanus P. Schuyler, Feb. 25, 1800 ; John J. Cuyler, Jan. 28, 1801 ; Hermanus H. Wendell, Jan. 12, 1803 ; Lawrence L. Van Kleeck, Feb. 28, 1807 ; Solomon Southwick, Feb. 10, 1808 ; Jacob Mancius, Feb. 13, 1810 ; Peter P. Dox, Feb. 12, 1811 ; Jacob Mancius, Feb. 23, 1813 ; Isaac Hempstead, March 17, 1815 ; Leonard H. Gansevoort, March 6, 1819 ; Cornelius Van Antwerp, Feb. 12, 1821 ; Cornelius Van Antwerp, Nov., 1822; C. H. Ten Eyck, Nov., 1825 .; John Beckey (removed Oct. 5, 1829), 1828 ; Asa Colvard, Nov., 1829 ; Albert Gallup, Nov., 1831 ; Angus McDuffie, Nov., 1834; Michael Artcher, Nov., 1837 ; Amos Adams, Nov., 1840; Christopher Batterman, Nov., 1843 ; Oscar Tyler, Nov., 1846; William Beardsley, Nov., 1849 ; John McEwen, Nov., 1852 ; William P. Brayton, Nov., 1855 ; Thomas W. Van Alstyne, Nov., 1858 ; Henry Crandall, Nov., 1861 ; Henry Fitch, Nov., 1864 ; Harris Parr, Nov., 1867 ; George A. Birch, Nov., 1870 ; Albert Gallup, Nov., 1873 ; John Wemple, Nov. 6, 1876 ; James A. Houck, Nov., 1879; Wm. H. Keeler, Nov., 1882.

THE BENCH AND BAR.

157

A.LITTLE

Hon, AMASA J. PARKER.

AMASA J. PARKER.

AMASA J. PARKER was born June 2, 1807, at Sharon, Parish of Ellsworth, Litchfield County, Conn., where his father, the Rev. Daniel Parker, was settled for twenty years as a Congregational clergy- man. On both sides Mr. Parker traces his de- scent from families distinguished in the early history of New England, sharing in the perils and occupa- tions of Indian warfare, and, at a later day, in our Revolutionary struggle. His maternal grandfather, Thomas Fenn, of Watertown, Conn., represented that town for more than thirty sessions in the Legislature of his State.

The Rev. Daniel Parker removed into New York State with his family, when his son Amasa was nine years of age.

Great pains were taken with his education, and under the personal instruction of his father, as well as of other capable teachers, he completed, with great thoroughness, a full collegiate course of study, and in June, 1823, when but sixteen years old, though having the personal appearance of more advanced age, he was appointed Principal of the Academy located at the City of Hudson, an institu- tion chartered by the Regents of the University of this state, and entered immediately upon the duties of the position, He remained there four years, and on the first of May, 1827, resigned his place to prosecute the study of the law. During the last year of his service in the academy, he had entered the office of Hon. John W. Edmonds, but his du-

ties elsewhere gave him but little time for his legal studies.

He was eminently successful in his labors as principal of the Academy. Under his charge the institution acquired distinction and attracted stu- dents from different and distant parts of the coun- try. He resigned his trust with the various depart- ments of the academy full of students and in the height of its prosperity, because he felt that the time had come for him to devote his whole atten- tion to the necessary preparation for his intended profession.

An incident occurred when he was in charge of the academy worthy of mention. The friends of a rival and successful institution in a distant town of the same county, in order to promote its interests, made capital of the fact that the principal of the Hudson academy was not himself a graduate of any college. To put such an objection at rest, young Parker, in the summer of 1825, presented himself at Union College; submitted to an exam- ination for the whole college course of study, and graduated with the class of 1825. The singular fact occurred that one of his own former students graduated with him in the same class.

On resigning the charge of the academy in May, 1827, Mr. Parker entered the office of his uncle, Amasa Parker, Esq., an eminent lawyer of Delhi, Delaware County, who had been established there many years. Upon his admission to the Bar in October, 1828, he entered into a copartnership

158

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY.

with his uncle, and the firm of A. & A. J. Parker (well known to the profession throughout the State) was not dissolved till Mr. Parker's appoint- ment to the Bench in March, 1844.

During all that time Mr. Parker was engaged in a large professional business, perhaps more extensive and varied than that of any other country law of- fice in this state. He soon acquired a professional standing that secured him a large practice as counsel in the highest courts of the state. He attended quite regularly the circuits of Delaware, Greene, Ulster and Schoharie counties, and occasionally those held in Broome, Tioga and Tompkins counties, and in other counties more distant, as well as the stated Terms of Chancery and of the Supreme Court, as the printed reports of those courts show. It has been said, by those acquainted with the subject, that at the time of his appointment to the Bench he had tried more cases at the Circuit than any other law- yer of his age in the State.

Mr. Parker always insisted that his success, in establishing a large practice as attorney and counsel, was owing to his promptness, system and method rather than to any other peculiar talent. It was the rule of his life never to fail to answer a business letter on the same day on which it was re- ceived, to send to his client a check for money collected by the first mail, and never to fail in keep- ing an appointment at the precise time fixed for it. This latter practice he never omitted on the bench, having rarely if ever failed to open his Court at the precise hour appointed. In this way he en- forced the most punctual attendance of counsel, parties and witnesses, and by it he was enabled to accomplish much more business.

During the fifteen years of Judge Parker's prac- tice, before he was appointed to the bench, he mingled somewhat actively in political contests of the day. In the fall of 1833 he was elected by the Democratic party to the Assembly without opposi- tion, and served in 1834. In 1835 he was elected by the Legislature of this State a Regent of the University of the State, being then twenty-seven years of age, and was the youngest person ever elected to that distinguished trust. He held it for nearly ten years, and resigned it when appointed to the bench. In November, 1836, he was elected to the Twenty-fifth Congress to represent the dis- trict then composed of the Counties of Delaware and Broome. This time also he ran without op- position, no candidate being nominated by the opposite party. He entered upon the duties of the office at the extra session held in September, 1837, and served during the three sessions of that Congress. These were exciting and some- times stormy sessions. The Sub-Treasury measure was proposed by Mr. Van Buren at the extra ses- sion of 1837, and was warmly advocated by Mr. Parker and others, but it did not secure the sup- port of all the Democratic members. Upon it Congress was very nearly divided, and ques- tions were frequently decided by the casting vote of the Speaker, Mr. Polk. It was not till a later Congress, when the measure had become better understood, that it was passed into a law,

and it still remains in force, its wisdom being now admitted by all parties.

During his service in Congress, Mr. Parker was actively engaged in the duties it imposed, on com- mittees and in the discussions in the House. His speeches on the Mississippi Election case, on the Sub-Treasury bill, on the Public Lands, on the Cilley and Graves duel and on other subjects, are reported in the proceedings of that Congress. Hiram Gray, Richard P. Marvin, Henry A. Foster, Arphaxad Loomis, John T. Andrews and Amasa J. Parker were the last six survivors from this State of that memorable Congress.

Mr. Parker, at the close of his term, returned to the practice of his profession.

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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 40

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