Civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the County of Kings and the City of Brooklyn, N. Y., Part 161

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : Munsell
Number of Pages: 1360

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In December, about the 13th, 14th and 15th, oeeurred the great and disastrous battle of Fredericksburgh. The necessary limits of this sketch of General Pratt restricts ns (as in all the other portions of the narrative) to a very concise mention of the part he bore. His brigade was the first of the left grand division to eross the river, and was in the first line of the desperate battle for two days and two nights. It was hopeless from the outset, for our troops had nothing to do but to charge their uncovered breasts against the impregnable breastworks of the rebels, and though they did so again and again with the most intrepid, im- petnous, and reckless bravery, there eould, in the nature of things, be but one result -that of failure. On the night of the retreat across the river, in the face of the enemy, General Pratt was ordered to take charge of the troops of the left grand divi- sion at the crossing. This most delieate, difficult, and all-im- portant duty was performed with such skill and ability, that the last of the rear guard was erossed to the north bank just before daylight. The slightest accident, panic, or confusion might have resulted in the loss of half the army. General Pratt acquired much added distinction by his conduet in this battle and at its elose.

Late in December, in the same year (1862), he went on what was familiarly termed " the mnd campaign " of General Burn- side. Ilis brigade was selected to lead in crossing the Rappa- hannock River, and in storming the rebel works. But a severe rain-storm made it impossible to bring the artillery and the pontoons through the hopeless depths of mud to the bank of the river, and the attack and campaign were necessarily abandoned.

The command of the army was then assumed by General Hooker, and soon after General Pratt was ordered to select the requisite number of regiments and to form a Light Division. He did so, and the command which he thus organized consisted of the 31st and 43d New York, the 49th and 62d Pennsylvania, the 6th Maine, the 5th Wisconsin, and Hahn's Independent Light Battery. General P'ratt was placed in command of this fine body of troops.

A short time prior to the campaign of Chancellorsville, General I'matt stated to General Hooker that he would with his command inarch ten days without any supply wagons. General Hooker doubted this bold proposition, as up to that time the infantry troops of the Army of the Potomac had not carried more than five days' rations. General Hooker, however, at onee issued an order appointing a Board, of which General Pratt was the Presi- dent, to take the subject into consideration and report to him. The Board met at General Pratt's headquarters. Men were de- tailed from various regiments to appear in heavy marehing order. Every article borne by them was weighed, and then the knap- sacks were emptied and the usual three days' rations were placed in haversacks, and seven days' rations of hard taek packed in the knapsacks. It was found that the extra rations, with blanket und extra pair of socks, did not, on the average, weigh more than what soldiers usually carried. A report of the fets was made in detail, and General Prutt submitted a proposition to

drive upon the hoof sufficient meat for the other seven days, and to furnish each regiment with a mule and paek-saddle to carry eamp kettles and desieented vegetables sufficient for the seven extra days. The report was at onee adopted, approved, printed and eireulated through the army.

This, we believe, was the first attempt to leave the supply train behind for more than three or five days at one time.

General Pratt's new command was then diligently drilled, and thoroughly fitted for special service. It remained through the winter in camp, without being ealled on for any general pieket duty.

General Pratt's promotion as brigadier-general was confirmed by the United States Senate in the winter of 1863.

His military service, which had to this time been brilliant and sueeessful, was unexpectedly terminated by an imperative call to another, though less eongenial, field of duty, which he was not at liberty to disregard, or postpone to his own wishes and advancement. The death of a near family connexion, by whose will (disposing of a large property) he was made an executor, and the probate of which will was resisted, resulting in an active and protracted lawsuit, left him no alternative, but compelled him to resign his commission, and devote himself to the war of the formn instead of that of the field.

His resignation was not acted on until after the army had moved on what is known as the Chancellorsville campaign.

General P'ratt was ordered to assume the duty, with his eom- mand and that of General Alexander Shaler, of making the ner- essary preparations for the army to eross the Rap River, be- low Fredericksburgh, under direction of General Bonham, the chief engineer on General Hooker's statf. This duty he performed, and the crossing by the army was snecessful. The following day (May 3d) he received notice of the acceptance of Iris resignation (which had been sent in about the 1st April), and, with a reluctant heart, sheathed his sword and resumed the weapons of the law.

On returning to his home, he again pursned the practice of his profession, in partnership with the late Grenville F. Jenks, Esq. Ex-Judge James Emott and Hon. Joshua M. Van Cott afterwards became members of the firm. Their business was large and prosperons. Among the eases in which they were employed, were that of Mrs. Gaines, the widow of General E. V. Gaines, and several capital eases of great interest.

In the summer of 1865, General Pratt was appointed by P'resi- dent Johnson to the office of Collector of Internal Revenue, which he held until March 4th, 1866. He continued thenceforth in the active practice of law until 1869, when he was elected. we may say, by the common consent of the whole community, and of the Bar, as a judge of the Supreme Court of the Second District. He received the rare honor of a nomination by both political parties, and was elected without opposition. llis term expired in 1877, when he was selceted for a term of four teen years with the like expression of respeet, confidence and approval, for he again received an unanimous nomination by both the Democratic and Republienn parties. The satisfaction which he has given and the ability which he has shown dur- ing his fourteen years' service as a judge, could not be more fully vouched.

His experience and service at nisi prius exceed, perhaps, that of any other judge. lle has, it is believed, presided at more jury trials than any other judge in this country (unless, possibly. Judge Van Brunt of New York) has done, having been constantly engaged during the last fourteen years in holding eirenit until January, 1883, when he took his seat at General Term, pursuant to assignment by Governor Cornell. The " causes celebri'" tried before him have been too numerous for mention here Among them, was the remarkable case of Rubenstein, convicted of murder in 1875, in which Judge Pratt's charge to the jury. delivered without note, or reference to the testimony on the trial, which lasted several days, was decided by lawyers as a

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model of lucid statement, and of exposition of the law as regards circumstantial evidence.

His service during this period was not exclusively on jury trials. He sat in a great number of important equity cases, and from time to time at the General Term. His opinions are con- tained in the volumes of reports, and constitute a part of the record of his life.

The boldest, if not the best, act of his judicial life was that of granting a stay of proceedings in the case of Foster, convicted of murder in 18 -. Popular opinion, popular clamor, and the public press were unanimous, excited, vehement, in call- ing for the execution of the culprit-against "the law's delay " of an appeal to the Court of Appeals-therefore against the stay of proceedings necessary to effect the appeal. But Judge Pratt, with whom it was discretionary, deemed it, under the circum- stances, the prisoner's right, and therefore his own duty, that the stay should be granted. To make the order was to defy all the potent influences we have named, but he did not hesitate, and, with characteristic courage, and the like boldness which marked his action in the field, he made the stay. From one end of the country to the other, his action was denounced. Threatening letters poured in upon him. Even the pulpit up- braided him. But justice held its even course, and the calm dignity and power of the law and the rights even of the guilty were vindicated. The Court of Appeals, in its opinion confirm- ing the conviction of the prisoner, expressed its strong ap- proval of Judge Pratt's action in granting the stay, which it held to be eminently proper and right. Fickle popular opinion soon reacted and changed its direction, and before the day fixed for Foster's execution, the most prominent lawyers, many ministers, and a multitude of others made urgent appeals to Governor Dix for executive clemency; and, to cap the climax, the succeeding Legislature amended the law, so as to prevent another conviction in like cases.

In the beginning of this sketch, we intimated that we should refrain from commendations of its subject, but we may be pardoned if, in closing it, we cite the words of one of Judge Pratt's political opponents, who (at the Republican Convention which nominated him for re-election in 1877) described him as "a judge who, in administering his high office, has held the scales with even hand, has been absolutely impartial, and known no favorites, who has been diligent and efficient in the despatch of business, who has brought to the performance of his duties clearness and strength of mind, muscular common sense, patience in listening to cases, laborious study, sonnd judgment and uprightness, and who, by his dignity, courtesy and kindness, has secured the respect and attachment of the Bar."

Such has been the career of Judge Pratt as lawyer, soldier and on the Bench; and such is the esteem in which he is held in this community.

LUCIEN BIRDSEYE.

LUCIEN BIRDSEYE was born at Pompey, Onondaga County, N. Y., October 10th, 1821. His father, the late Hon. VICTORY BIRDSEYE, was a historic character of central, and we may well say of the State of New York; a native of Cornwall, Connecticut; born December 25th, 1782; the descendant of the most prominent family of his native State.

The unusual name of Victory came into the family by an interesting incident.

One of Mr. Birdseye's maternal ancestors, when a young infant, was brought by its parents one Sunday morning, in September, 1759, to the church to receive the rite of baptism; this was in one of the most exposed settlements of the Colony of New Haven, Connecticut, during what is known as the French and Indian war.

Upon the success of the English depended the safety of tho

little settlement from the tomahawk of the Indian. Ilardly had the pastor and people gathered at the little church, when a horseman, bearing a white flag and shouting "Victory! victory! victory!" halted at the church door. In a moment the con- gregation were on their feet, and the glorious news of the victory of the English on the heights of Abraham, on the 13th of September, was announced. The French and Indians had been defeated, and all danger from a murderous attack on the colonists was at an end. General Wolfe, the glorious commander of the English, had fallen, but he died victorious.

The congregation caught up the cry, and the words " Victory! victory!" resounded through thechurch. When quiet was restored the child was brought forward for baptism. The aged minister, still excited by the glorious news, probably forgetting the name of the child, dipped his hand in the water and laying it on the forehead of the child, said, with impressive fervency, "Victory, I baptize thee, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Henceforth, the name of Victory became a family name, and was highly honored by the distinguished lawyer, Victory Birdseye, to whom we have referred.

He prepared for college partly at the grammar school at Cornwall, Connecticut, and at Lansingburgh, New York. In September, 1800, he entered Williams College, Massachusetts, from whence, on September 4th, 1804, he was graduated. Among his classmates were Luther Bradish, Robert and Henry D. Sedgwick. In the class of 1803 were the Hon. Samuel R. Betts and Daniel Mosley, afterwards so prominent in the judicial history of New York.

As he had decided upon entering the legal profession, he went to Lansingburgh, and became a law student in the office of his maternal uncle, Gideon Tomlinson, a prominent lawyer of that place. His industry and acumen as a student attracted the attention of the members of the Bar, who did not hesitate to express a decided opinion that he was to be successful as a lawyer. Victory Birdseye was admitted as an attorney of the New York Supreme Court, February 12th, 1807, and took the degree of counselor at law, February 15th, 1810.

In June, 1807, he became a resident of Pompey, Onondaga County, New York. In October, 1813, he married Miss Electa Beebee, of Onondaga Hill. Possessing those qualities which admirably capacited him for the legal profession, he entered ardently and successfully into practice. About the time Mr. Birdseye settled at Pompey, that powerful legal gladiator, B. Davis Noxon, so well known in the legal history of Central and Western New York, settled at Marcellus, Onondaga County, and became one of Mr. Birdseye's rivals at the Bar, but the rivalry between the young lawyers was generous and high-toned: each seemed to rejoice in the other's success, and both made their way to the front rank of the profession. Mr. Birdseye was a man who, without any apparent effort, was always a favorite with the people, and always recciving evidence of their conti- dence, personal, political and professional.

In November, 1814, he was elected to Congress, serving from March 4th, 1815, to March 4th, 1817.

He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1821. which formed the second Constitution of the State. He was a member of the Assembly for 1823, and of the State Senate during the years 1827 28. He was again elected member of Assembly in 1838 and 1840, and was elected to the 27th Congress in November, 1840; he occupied a seat in that body from March 1841-43. As a legislator, he took a high and responsible posi- tion, wielding influence as a strong, cogent and versatile debater; as a quick-sighted, sagacious and energetic member of com- mittees. Few men were more thoroughly esteemcd and honored at home than Mr. Birdseye; this is evidenced by many pleasing illustrations. He was for many years postmaster; Master in Chancery for several years: in 1818 he was appointed District Attorney of Onondaga County, discharging the duties of that important office for about fifteen years. Time or space will not

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permit us to detail but a small part of the history of this eminent and highly esteemed lawyer; esteemed as few men have ever been. His long, distinguished and useful life came suddenly to a elose.

On the evening of September 15th, 1853, he retired in his usual health, and sometime during the night his spirit peace- fully passed away. Such was the father of Lucien Birdseye. The truthful and faithful historian can find no better subject for his pen; the life of the distinguished father should forin a part of that of his eminent son.

LUCIEN BIRDSEYE, the real character of this sketch, with the example of such a father before him, entered life under auspicious circumstances. He prepared for college at the Pompey Academy, and entered Yale in October, 1837, graduating August 16th, 1841. A singular incident connected with the class of 1841, is the fact that it has furnished four judges of the Su- preme Court of the State-Gilbert Dean, Lucien Birdseye, and Joseph F. Barnard, of the Second Distriet; and Wm. L. Larned, of the Third District.

Having decided to follow the profession of his father, he entered his office as a student at law, where he remained for two years; he completed his legal education in the office of the highly honored law firm of Kirkland & Bacon, of Utica, New York. Both these gentlemen still survive, illustrious examples of the beautiful old age which sometimes crowns the life of the active lawyer, the polished and erudite scholar.

No name is more frequently found in the legal reports of the State than that of Mr. Kirkland; the practitioner, the student and the judge, in consulting these reports, are convinced of the depth of Mr. Kirkland's learning, the erndition he has imparted to the books, and the wondrous extent of his practice; he is therefore one of the last survivors of the giants of the old Supreme Court, and the court of dernier ressort of the State of New York. Mr. Bacon was an honored member of the judiciary of the State, a Justice of the Supreme Court, a jurist of great purity of character, inature and practical learning, impartiality and courtesy. Such were Mr. Birdseye's legal preceptors.

On July 11th, 1844, he was called to the Bar, at a General Term of the Supreme Court held at Utica. The illustrious Samuel Nelson -afterwards a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States-was then Chief Justice. Greene C. Bronson and Samuel Beardsley-names synonymous with judicial great- ness -were associate Justices. The Chief Justice, in admitting Mr. Birdseye to practice, congratulated him upon his accession to the Bar, of which his father was so long a conspicuous member. " Not ouly personally known to me," said the Chief Justice, " but he was my highly estecined friend, and I have no doubt but you will follow in his honored footsteps."

During his student days, Mr. Birdseye decided to make Memphis, St. Louis or Chicago his future home; but, on due reflection, after receiving his license, he decided upon Albany, New York, as the place of his future residence. Accordingly, in October, 1844, he removed to that city and commeneed his practice.

In 1846, he was married to Miss Catherine M. Baker, of Pompey, New York.

He entered at once into a very respectable aud inereasing prac- tice; in the meantime his honored preceptor, Mr. Kirkland, re- moved to New York City and resumed his practice there; in his removal to that city, he followed the example of such conspienons names as Win. Cartis Noyes, Luther R. Marsh, Win. and Charles Tracy, and other leaders of the New York City Bar. Mr. Kirkland's necomplishments as a lawyer were at once re- cognized by the New York City Bar.

After his removal to New York, he invited Mr. Birdseye to become his law partner in that city: the invitation was necepted, and on the Ist of May, 1850, the firm of Kirkland & Birdseye opened an office and commenced business at 39 Wall street.

The wide nud well-known standing of the head of the firin

secured from the beginning full and remunerative occupation. The fact that a brother of Mrs. Birdseye was then a resident of Brooklyn, induced Mr. Birdseye, in the spring of 1850, to be- come a resident of that city.

Early in July, 1856, Hon. Wm. Rockwell, a justice of the Supreme Court of the Second Distriet, suddenly died, and Governor Clark immediately tendered the office to Mr. Birdseye, who, after considerable deliberation and hesitaney, accepted it. The salary of a justice of the Supreme Court was then only $2,500 per annum-not a very inviting remuneration for the labors and responsibilities of the office.

Of the other thrce judges of the district, Judge S. B. Strong resided at Setauket, Suffolk County ; Judge Brown at Newburgh, and Judge Emott at Ponghkeepsie. Judge Rockwell had been failing in health for some time prior to his decease; and the legal business of Brooklyn, then not small, and since so vastly increased in volume and amount, had fallen largely in arrears.

When he commeneed the duties of his office, Judge Birdseye devoted himself to the clearing off these arrears. At the close of his term, on December 31, 1857, the calendars of the Cireuit and Equity Term of Kings County had been eleared; the mo- tions at Chambers had been heard and decided; and since that time there has been no such accumulation of business as had before 1856 clogged the calendars of the court in that county.

At the fall election in 1857, Judge John A. Lott was nomi- nated by the Democratic party, and Judge Birdseye by the Repub- lican party, for the remaining four years of the unexpired term of Judge Rockwell. Judge Lott was elected by nearly the full majority then usual in that strongly Democratie distriet, and Judge Birdseye returned to practice in the city of New York.

Prior to his appointment, the firm had become Kirkland. Birdseye & Sommers, by the admission thereto of John B. Yates Sommers, Esq. On the dissolution of that firin by the retirement therefrom of Judge Birdseye, Henry W. Johnson, Esq., then of Albany, had joined Mr. Sommers. On leaving the Bench, Judge Birdseye became associated with them, under the style of Birdseye, Sommers & Johnson. That firm was dissolved in October, 1861, and Mr. Birdseye remained in practice without any associate until January, 1865, when he took into partnership Charles P. Crosby, Esq., formerly of Detroit, Mich. That asso- ciation continued until August, 1872, when it gave place to the firm of Birdseye, Cloyd & Bayliss, which has continued to the present time unchanged ; except by the admission to the firmn, but without change of name, of Mr. Clarenee L. Birdseye, the son of the senior partner.

Judge Birdseye possesses many qualities which give success to the lawyer aud the judge. To use the language of another: "Judge Birdseye, after leaving the Bench, was for several years very much occupied with the hearing of causes referred to him. Finding this elass of engagement to interfere with his general practice, he declined to serve any longer as a Referee. Judge Birdseye is very rapid in thought, speech and aetien, and accomplishes a great amount of labor in a short time. He is gifted with a rare memory of facts, dates and principles, and is enabled to refer to the authorities with great facility."

The amount and importance of the litigation in which Judge Birdseye has been engaged, is a truthful and interesting history of his career at the Bar, and is a history which needs no other illustration; any intelligible account of them that would put the reader in possession of a knowledge of the vest interests involved in them, and the subtle points upon which they turn, would form the contents for a respectable volume, and a mere tabulated account of them would dwarf their interest. They, however, ocenpy a prominent place in legal history, reported among the eases adjudicated in the Supreme Court of the State, and in the Court of Appeals. There they will be found at length, and we commend them to the practitioner and to the legal student for the variety and importance of the legal principles involved in

Michester / Britton

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LEGAL BIOGRAPIIIES.

them, many of which are original, standing as prominent prece- dents in legal learning. This brings us to say that the briefs of Judge Birdseye, many of which are wholly transferred to the reported cases, exhibit his industry, his comprehension and his analytic powers.

" A well prepared brief," said Lord Erskine, "is a better indi- cation of a good lawyer than a dozen speeches at the Bar; for, after all, out of a well-prepared brief comes an eloquent argu- ment." In speaking of the important cases conducted by Judge Birdseye as a lawyer, it is proper to add that many of his opin- ions delivered as a judge commend themselves to the profes- sion for the strength of their verbiage, condensation of reason, and unity with the philosophy of the law.

They exhibit a conscientious devotion to his judicial duties and an independent impartiality. For their history and a full understanding of his opinions, the reader is referred to the reported cases found in the 3rd, 4th and 5th volumes of Abbott's Pr. Rep., the 4th, 14th and 15th of Howard's Pr. Rep., and in the 24th to the 27th volumes of Barbour's Reports. "Many of them interpreting the Code on questions before unsettled, and some on questions of great general importance."

Among the cases conducted by Judge Birdseye, which will recall to the reader their history and importance without any amplification, were the cases of " Prouty, Boardman, Jermain and others v. The Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana R. R. Company," which, during the litigation, was consolidated with other corporations, to form the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern R. R. Company. Soon after Judge Birdseye was re- tained in this controversy, these companies passed under the control of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and of his son-in-law, a lawyer of great ingenuity and force.

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Civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the County of Kings and the City of Brooklyn, N. Y., Part 161

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909. Publication date: 1884 Publisher: New York : Munsell Number of Pages: 1360

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : Munsell
Number of Pages: 1360