Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 47

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 47

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In the autumn of 1862 he was, without solicita- tion, nominated for Lieutenant-Governor, with Gen. Wadsworth as the candidate for Governor, against Horatio Seymour and David F. Jones, Democratic candidates for Governor and Lieutenant- Governor. The Republican ticket was defeated by a majority of about 10, 000.

Mr. Tremain now returned with a renewed vig- or to his large legal practice, not forgetting, however, to use his influence and his eloquence in aiding a vigorous prosecution of the war. About this time he was retained in the famous legal ten- der cases, the question involving the constitution- ality of that section of the law of Congress which gave the greenback its legal tender quality. His argument in the Court of Appeals was a powerful vindication of that clause. The constitutionality of it was upheld by a divided vote, and thus an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States was prevented, and greenbacks as legal tenders were made lawful. He was also retained to defend

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the banks upon the claims made to tax the shares in national banks created under the act of Congress. Mr. Tremain took the ground that such taxation was illegal, but the Court of Ap- peals held against him. He then appealed to the United States Supreme Court, where the judgment of the Court of Appeals was reversed. Thus he continued in one of the most distinguished pro- fessional careers in the State, advocating in the meantime the vigorous prosecution of the war to its close ; but just prior to that happy event he sustained a terrible affliction in the loss of his gal- lant and almost idolized son, Col. Frederick L. Tremain, who, young as he was, only about 21 years of age, had been promoted for gallant con- duct on the field to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the 10th Regiment of New York Cavalry, and fell at the head of his regiment at Hatcher's Run, Va., February 6, 1865.

In the fall of 1865 Mr. Tremain was nominated and elected Member of Assembly from Albany County. His colleague was the Hon. Clark B. Cochrane. On the meeting of the Legislature Mr. Tremain was elected Speaker. The history of that remarkable session bears indubitable evidence of the great ability with which he discharged the duties of this office.

He was engaged with the District Attorney of Albany in the prosecution of Gen. Cole, who had in a cowardly manner assassinated L. Harris His- cock, a member of the Constitutional Conven- tion of 1867 (8), at Stanwix Hall. Cole was de- fended by James T. Brady and William A. Beach. The defense was insanity, superinduced by the alleged criminal intimacy of Hiscock with the wife of Cole. The case was twice tried, the jury on the first trial disagreeing ; on the second trial the prisoner was acquitted, the jury rendering the singular verdict that just before and just after the murder Cole was sane, but that he was insane when it was committed. Mr. Tremain's argument to the jury has passed into legal history as one of the most splendid efforts ever made at the Bar.

During the whole of Mr. Tremain's professional life he had been subject to frequent and painful attacks of inflammatory rheumatism, which would come suddenly upon him. He would frequently retire at night in perfect health, but before morning would be perfectly helpless, suffering indescrib- able anguish. All prescriptions produced only temporary relief, and in 1869 he decided upon a voyage to Europe, his wife and daughter accom- panying him ; he was absent about one year. On his return to Albany, nearly or quite restored to health, as he believed, he was tendered a public reception by citizens who held him in the highest esteem. In 1872 his name was promi- nently brought forward as a candidate for Gov- ernor, but he respectfully but firmly declined the proffered honor. In the autumn of 1873 he was unanimously nominated for Congressman-at- Large on the Republican ticket and was, with the rest of the ticket, elected. "He entered the Forty- third Congress with a constituency of 4, 000, 000 of people. On taking his seat in the House the

Speaker assigned him the second place on the Judi- ciary Committee in advance of several old and ex- perienced members. He performed all his arduous duties as a member of this committee in a manner that gave him a national reputation."

In 1871 he was called to assist the Attorney- General and Mr. Wheeler H. Peckham, of New York, in the prosecution of the astounding frauds of the Tweed Ring. The great legal contest which this prosecution brought on is one of the most remarkable in legal history, equal in impor- tance and interest to the trial of Warren Hastings on the Begum and other charges. To attack Tweed and his ring was a herculean effort ; their power, wealth and influence seemed so great as to defy the law and crush all efforts to convict them.

On Tweed's first trial the jury failed to agree ; he was again brought to trial in the fall of 1873, before Judge Noah Davis and a jury. The care and scrutiny which Messrs. Tremain and Peckham bestowed upon the selection of a jury was a striking and interesting incident in this great trial, with the eyes of the world resting upon it. But a jury of honest, unbiased men were obtained and Tweed was convicted upon the great number of counts in the indictment.

After strenuous efforts for an arrest of judgment, he was sentenced upon a number of counts in the indictment, all of them aggregating to a term of imprisonment in the penitentiary for many years.

"Congratulations poured in upon the counsel for the people from all sides, and Mr. Tremain had the satisfaction of bringing to punishment the greatest criminal of the age." Appeals were taken to the higher courts to test the power of the Oyer and Terminer to inflict these several sentences, the result of which was the reduction of the number of sentences to one term of imprisonment.

When Edward S. Stokes startled the whole country by assassinating James Fisk, Jr., it became a question of intense interest to learn who he would select from among the great lawyers of the times as his leading counsel. When, after the most earnest consultation on the subject with his friends, it was known that his choice fell upon Mr. Tre- main, every one believed that he had taken the surest step possible to shield himself from punish- ment ; nor were they mistaken, as the result showed. The sentiment of the community was decidedly against Stokes, and that sentiment in a large degree pervaded the jury box. In many respects it was a trial for which Mr. Tremain's mind was peculiarly fitted ; in conducting it he showed uncommon tact in sifting testimony, de- tecting motives, and great art in the examination of the evidence. . When occasion occurred for the use of keen satire and scorching sarcasm he used it with powerful effect.

Perhaps no advocate, except William H. Seward, in the defense of Freeman, ever stood more squarely between his client and public opinion than did Mr. Tremain in the Stokes case. Though determined to save his client from the gallows, he had little hope of securing his acquittal before a jury. It was, therefore, his policy, while

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exerting every effort in his behalf, to secure suffi- cient points to obtain a new trial on exceptions in case his client was convicted. The jury did con- vict him, and Mr. Tremain did save sufficient ex- ceptions on the trial to obtain a new trial. In this he exhibited all the acumen of a thoroughly learned lawyer, for it was his deep knowledge of the law that saved Edward Stokes from the gal- lows. After his conviction the case was removed to the Supreme Court, where the conviction was af- firmed, "the Court holding that while there was error in the charge of the Judge in his definition of murder, the law inferred malice from the fact of the killing instead of leaving to the jury to find malice as a fact ; yet the Court held the error had not been productive of harm to the prisoner when other portions of the charge were examined." The case was removed to the Court of Appeals. Mr. Tremain's argument in that tribunal was one which the lawyer, the student and the scholar will ever read with delight and profit ; it bears the impress of a gigantic intellect and vast research. As a specimen of acute and powerful reasoning, enlivened occasionally by glowing eloquence, it ranks among the finest efforts of American legal oratory. As Dr. Johnson said of a similar effort at the English Bar, "It was bark and steel to the mind."

Mr. Tremain's triumph in results was equal to his great argument. The Court of Appeals re- versed the judgment of the Supreme Court and the verdict of the jury, granting Stokes a new trial. Tremain had now obtained his great object ; he had shielded his client from the influence of public opinion ; he had given public indignation time to cool ; he had taught the Courts to fear him, and when the new trial took place he entered upon it confident that he should shield his client from the gallows. Judge Davis, who presided, held every intendment against the prisoner, which was an em- barrassment for Mr. Tremain ; but he overcame whatever obstacles there were in Judge Davis' course, and with an almost superhuman effort defeated a conviction for murder in the first de- gree, securing a verdict for manslaughter only, on which Stokes was sentenced to State prison for only four years. Thus the astute and long-sighted policy of Mr. Tremain prevailed, and now, though his truly great defender is sleeping in an honored grave, Edward S. Stokes has for several years been a wealthy, successful and luxurious citizen of New York. So exhausted was Mr. Tremain after the last trial of Stokes, that he fell asleep at the dinner table in his hotel while the jury were deliberating.

During that trial his old disease afflicted him, but he resisted it as best he could with medical aid. In the second session of Congress he took his seat in that body, ranking among the leaders of the House. His speeches on the important ques- tions that arose show that he was as accomplished in parliamentary debate as he was in the discus- sions of the Bar. Many of his speeches outlived their times, and they will be read as fine specimens of parliamentary eloquence and logic for years to come. Among these was that upon the subject of " The Disposition of the Balance of the Money

received from England by virtue of the Geneva Award." This speech was read with profound in- terest through the United States and Europe. His Congressional career ended March, 1875, and he retired exhausted and suffering from the repeated attacks of disease, aggravated by the unwholesome air of the House.

He returned to Albany, but, unable to resume his business, he decided upon another voyage to Europe with his wife. He returned much im- proved, though not restored to health. Soon after his return he was unfortunately induced to under- take the defense of Frederick Smith, tried for mur- der at the Fulton Oyer and Terminer early in 1876. This case was to the people of Fulton County what the Stokes case was to the City of New York. Public opinion was strongly against the accused, as was also the evidence. The court room was crowded, the air in it poisonous to Mr. Tremain, and he became so ill that court was compelled to adjourn, and for a time he was con- fined to his bed. As soon as he felt himself able, weak as he was, he took his place at the Bar and the trial was resumed. The energy he exhibited was a matter of wonder to all ; suffering as he was, he entered on the duty of addressing the jury in a manner so surprisingly powerful that it was hard to believe him suffering from a disease which had a fatal hold upon him. "He stood before the jury for hours, pleading with them by turns, with all his old-time voice and charm of manner, and then clearly and forcibly disintegrating the evi- dence for the people, denouncing in deep and stern tones its flimsy character. The jury ac- quitted the prisoner, and the verdict was due to the able manner in which Mr. Tremain tried the cause and to the magnificent manner in which he closed it." This was his last important case ; his strength never returned ; he breathed with difficulty and his spirits were clouded. He went to his office, but was too ill to take any part in business. At this time his partners were Rufus W. Peckham, son of his old friend and former partner, and now a Judge of the Supreme Court, and his son Grenville Tremain.

We have thus sketched the professional, politi- cal and public life of Lyman Tremain, of whom it is no affectation to say that he was one of the most brilliant lights of the Bar of the State of New York, with full mastery of the eloquence of the Bar in its best days.

It remains now to consider briefly his private life. That such a man as Mr. Tremain should be a favorite in the high circle in which he moved is natural. At the head of a refined and happy family, in which centered great domestic happiness, surrounded by all that could make life happy, ad- mired and honored by his brethren of the Bar, it would seem that he was beyond the reach of afflic- tion and sorrow.

In August, 1842, he was united by marriage to Miss Helen Cornwall, of Catskill, N. Y., a lady of much personal worth and many accomplishments. Never were husband and wife more strongly at- tached. The sufferings of the former from the painful

D. C. Note

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attacks of the disease we have mentioned rendered him an object of the tenderest care and solicitude to the wife. Her gentle, loving and faithful minis- trations did much to sustain him and retard the ravages of disease, strengthening him and enabling him to continue his brilliant and ardent career down to the time when human efforts to succor him became of no avail.

Four children, three sons and one daughter, were born to this marriage, The sons all passed from earth before the death of Mr. Tremain. Their first-born, Frederick, as we have seen, fell in bat- tle. The sorrow and gloom which the death of this gallant young soldier produced in Albany and elsewhere is recorded in a volume devoted to the history of his life. In the fall of 1868, a bright and beautiful boy of seven was suddenly taken away, under the most painful circumstances. He died from the effects of a fall over the banisters of a stairway in his father's house, almost under his father's eyes. His other son, Grenville, his law partner, inherited all his father's talents, all his eloquence, and all his personal worth. Young as he was, he attained a commanding position at the Bar ; so commanding that in 1877 he received the nomination, by acclamation, of Attorney-Gen- eral from the Republican party. This was a spon- taneous and splendid tribute, all unsought, both to father and son. The Republican ticket was not successful in the State, but young Tremain re- ceived a most flattering vote, running largely ahead of his ticket, and obtaining a majority of votes in Albany County.

But this young man, so gifted, so winning, so idolized by his parents, was suddenly stricken by a fatal illness, which terminated fatally in a very few days. From this terrible blow Mr. Tremain never recovered. The deep fountains of sorrow were opened for him ; over his heart a wintry change had come, and the sunlight of his life was shad- owed. But he lingered through the summer and fall of 1878, dying on the 30th of November. His death, though not unexpected, created a most pro- found sensation throughout the State. The Bench, the Bar and the Press attested their respect for his memory ; the former by proceedings character- ized by the deepest solemnity and sorrow ; the latter by tributes the most respectful and of the highest ability. The popular favor which he en- joyed in such unmeasured profusion was exhibited by many unusual demonstrations of public and private sorrow ; every degree of talent and of elo- quence offered to his memory green and fragrant garlands.

In person Judge Tremain was above the middle height, of strong, vigorous mould and dig- nified presence. His face was uncommonly at- tractive, with large blue eyes, broad, open fore- head, month and teeth of great beauty, and a smile unusually winning and cordial. In private life those who knew him best felt for him the sincerest affection. He was a model husband, father and friend ; his disposition was amiable and generous. During his long and at times distressing illness he governed himself with rare self-restraint. His un-

wearied, heroic patience, unfailing good humor and cheerful courage rendered attendance upon his needs a pleasure to all. Mr. Tremain was a sincere, devoted believer in the teachings of the sa- cred Scripture. His primary characteristic, that which gave him his peculiar weight in the com- munity, was the force of his moral, religious princi- ples ; a force which operated with the steadiness of a law of nature, blending harmoniously with his brilliant talents. To live religiously he did not think himself called to give up the proper pursuits and gratifications of human nature. He believed that religion was in harmony with intellectual im- provements, with the pleasures of imagination and society, and especially with the kindly affections, and thus religions principle added tenderness, steadiness, dignity, to the impulses of nature. Without pretension or show, or any striking dis- coveries of emotion, he felt the claim of everything human upon his sympathy and his service, and his strong abiding hope of a blessed immortality beautifully sustained him during the fatal illness that terminated his life. Finally, may we not say that he whose life and acts we have recorded is really the speaker? That it is he rather than his biographer who teaches us from the tomb where his head now lies low, or rather from that world into which his soul has passed, such valuable les- sons as may be drawn from his example in the an- nals of his life. Reflecting on that life, recalling its modest beginnings and its solid achievements, his fidelity to duty and his loyalty to principle, the soundness of his judgments and the just balance of his thoughts, the simplicity of his character and his winning personal traits ; considering the range of offices well filled, his obligation to his clients well and honorably discharged ; reflecting on all this, do we not find the elements of a picture of what a man ought to be -- the portraiture of the son, the husband and the parent, the student, the scholar, the lawyer, orator, patriot and Christian.

JOHN C. NOTT.

Judge JOHN C. NOTT was born at Norman Vale, the old Taylor homestead in Guilderland, Albany County, N. Y., August 15, 1835. His father was Hon. Benjamin Nott, son of Dr. Eliphilet Nott, for many years President of Union College.

Judge Nott's mother was Elizabeth Cooper, a . sister of Gen. John Taylor Cooper, of Albany, and a granddaughter of Gov. John Taylor, a distinguished character in the early history of the State of New York. In 1843 Hon. Benjamin Nott became a resident of Bethlehem, Albany County.

In his early boyhood young Nott attended the common school of Bethlehem, where he acquired a rudimentary education. He prepared for college at the Albany Academy, and entered Union College, from whence he was graduated in the class of 1856. He took his degree, with the repu- tation of an excellent scholar.

In conformity with his intention of entering the legal profession, he became a student at law in the office of Cagger, Porter & Hand, of Albany, a

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distinguished law firm, with a State and national reputation. The advantages which young Nott derived from his studentship in this firm of ac- quiring a solid, practical legal education have been manifested in his professional and judicial career. He was also a student in the Albany Law School, and is an alumnus of its class of 1863, and in that year he was admitted to the Bar.

One or his early traits was a marked love for mil- itary affairs ; to these he gave such attention that he became an accomplished citizen soldier, exhib- iting such decided abilities that in 1865 he was promoted to the rank of Colonel of the Eighty- second Regiment, N. G., S. N. Y. The efficient and practical knowledge he brought to his office exhibited itself in the drill and discipline of his command.

In 1866 he formed a partnership with the late Hon. Wm. S. Paddock, of Albany, in the practice of his profession, under the firm name of Paddock & Nott. This same year he was elected School Commissioner for the First District of Albany County, and although the business of his law firm was large and extended, he found time to discharge in a faithful and acceptable manner the duties of his office. His relation with Recorder Paddock continued to the year 1874, when he was nomi- nated for Police Justice by the Democrats of Al- bany. He was elected by a plurality of 2,400. In 1878 he was renominated and elected by a ma- jority of 3,700 over his Republican competitor. In 1882 he was a third time nominated, and was elected by a majority of about six thousand. These repeated elections, with such largely increased ma- jorities, eloquently attest the ability with which he discharged his first judicial duties, and the estima- tion in which he was held by the citizens of Al- bany.

In 1882 he formed a partnership with Isaac B. Barrett, a gentleman whose legal attainments are generally acknowledged, and who occupies a high standing at the Albany Bar. This partnership still continues, and is a leading firm of Albany.

The appreciation of Judge Nott was manifested in a higher and more marked degree by his eleva- tion to the Bench of the County Court of Albany County.

On October 10, 1883, the Citizens' Association of Albany nominated him for County Judge. Three days later he received the indorsement of the Dem- ocratic County Convention, and was elected at the general election in November following, by an un- usually large majority of five thousand nine hun- dred and seventy-seven, being the highest majority of any nominee on the ticket.

He brought to the Bench all those qualities that rendered him so useful and popular in his former official position. He exhibited familiarity with statute law, criminal law and the laws of evidence. In the trial of causes he grasped the facts with rapid precision, and decided both questions of law and fact promptly and without circumlocution.

" On the bench he is not given to verbosity. In passing upon questions of law in a civil action, or imposing its penalties on convicted criminals, he is

always brief and to the point. He does not wander off into a maze of decisions, theories or parallel cases, nor does he read vapid homilies to them." He pronounces his decisions in terse, positive lan- guage, and he comes to his sentences of criminals with directness and dignity. His severity is always adequate to the crime of which the criminal is convicted, and he gives due consideration to prop- erly established mitigating circumstances.

One of the first trials at which Judge Nott presided was of absorbing interest. It was at the April, 1884, term of the Court of Ses- sions, and the manner in which he presided com- mended him alike to the admiration of the Bar and the respect and confidence of the public. Alfred F. Vedder, a minister of the Gospel, was arraigned for procuring an abortion to be performed upon one Anna A. Walters, a young lady who had been one of his flock. The story she told was highly sen- sational, relating to their first meetings, their visits together to different hotels and to different cities, and in many of the details her story was strongly corroborated by circumstantial evidence. The de- fense was conducted with great earnestness, and every possible point made and saved for review. Judge Nott held the scales of justice evenly bal- anced, ruled promptly on the many law questions presented, and at the close of the evidence, in a lucid charge, submitted the case to the jury, which rendered a charge of guilty, and Vedder was sentenced to State Prison for four years.

Many difficult law questions were debated on the trial. Was Miss Walters an accomplice of the prisoner ? became a very important question. If she was, her evidence required corroboration under section 399 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. It was argued for the defense that she was a party to the crime, consenting, and equally guilty with the prisoner. Judge Nott held that she was not an accomplice, but rather a victim. An appeal was taken to the General Term of the Supreme Court, and the conviction was affirmed by a divided court. A further appeal was taken to the Court of Appeals, and that court unanimously confirmed the conviction, and thus settled in this State the mooted question of whether a woman who submits to an abortion is an accomplice of the procurer. The opinion of that court was written by Chief- Justice Ruger, and contains a review of the trial, and expressly affirms every ruling made on the trial. This case justly added to the reputation of Judge Nott, and placed him in the ranks of the ablest of our trial judges.

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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 47

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