USA > New York > Delaware County > Delaware County, New York, history of the century, 1797-1897, centennial celebration, June 9 and 10, 1897 > Part 12
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In 1827, at the age of twenty, be removed to Delhi and resumed the study of law with his uncle, Col. Amasa Parker. He was admit- ted to the bar in 1828, and immediately was taken into partnership by his uncle. Here for fifteen years he was engaged in an extensive and laborious practice; his uncle almost entirely confining himself to the duties of the office, leaving to the learned and brilliant nephew the duty of appearance in court.
In 1834 he was a member of the Assembly.
In 1835 he was chosen a Regent of the University, which position he held till he was appointed Judge.
In 1837-39 he was a member of Congress from the counties of Broome and Delaware.
lu 1839 he was a candidate for State Senator against General Root, but was defeated by a few votes.
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
In 1844 he was appointed by Governor Silas Wright to the office of Circuit Judge of the Third Circuit. It was at this time he re- moved to Albany where he resided until his death.
At no time in the history of the State have the judicial labors devolving upon the judges been more difficult and responsible than those which he was called upon to discharge during the twelve years of his service. The anti-rent excitement was then at its height. It crowded the civil calendars with litigation, and the criminal courts with indictments for acts of violence in resisting the collec- tion of rents.
The trial of Dr. Boughton ("Big Thunder") in the spring of 1845 before Judge Parker at Hudson lasted two weeks and resulted in a disagreement of the jury. The second trial was held by Judge Edmonds and the prisoner was convicted and sentenced to State's prison.
In the summer of 1845 Osman N. Steele, Under-Sheriff of Dela- ware county, while attending a sale for rent, at which more than two hundred disguised " Indians" were present, was shot and killed. Over two hundred persons were indicted for crimes connected with this killing. The trials were conducted during the autumn of 1845 by Judge Parker. The cases were all disposed of either by trial or by the prisoners pleading guilty. The sad business was ended and Judge Parker had done a pathetic and trying piece of work.
In 1846 a new constitution was framed for the State and duly adopted. Under this constitution Judge Parker was elected a Jus- tice of the Supreme Court of the State for the full term.
After the expiration of his term of office he devoted himself to the duties of his profession in the city of Albany. A large part of his time was taken up with the argument of cases before the Court of Appeals. He was the author of several law books which were highly esteemed by the profession. Geneva College in 1846 bes- towed upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws. He was called upon often in his home in Albany to aid in the management of educational and charitable enterprises. For many years he was a professor in
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the Albany Law School and devoted much time to preparing and giving lectures.
He was a politician in its widest and best sense. Twice he was the candidate of his party for Governor of his State, in 1856 and again in 1858.
JAY GOULD.
Jay Gould was born in Roxbury. Delaware county, in 1836. He was a desdendant of the Goulds who immigrated from New England into Delaware county in 1789 .* The ancestor of the family came from England in 1646 and settled in Fairfield, Conn. Abram Gould the great-grandfather of Jay Gould, was a colonel in the Revolution- ary war and was killed in battle. It was the son of this revolution- ary colonel who came with other pioneer settlers into Roxbury. Here his son John B. Gould was born, who grew up to be one of the substantial citizens of the town. He married a daughter of John More who was the pioneer Scotch settler in Roxbury and the founder of Moresville.
When their son Jay Gould , was fourteen years old, he was sent to the Academy at Hobart, where he made such good use of his opportunities that he became well founded in the branches of which he was afterward to make such good use. In 1851 his father es- tablished a hardware store in the village of Roxbury, and the ener- getic boy, now grown to be sixteen years of age, was the chief manager of the business. In the midst of all his engagements. however, he contrived to save time to continue his studies in survey- ing and engineering. And in the next year, 1852, we find him employed to make a survey of Ulster county for a proposed map. His employer, however, failed in his plans, and they were taken up and finished by his young assistants one of whom was Mr. Gould. Other surveys followed, -the village of Cohoes, and the counties of Albany. Sullivan aud Delaware. About 1853 he was for a time a
ยท See page 49.
+ Originally the name was Jason Gould.
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student in the Albany Academy, no doubt with the purpose of perfecting himself in the branches which he had occasion to use.
His history of Delaware county-a notably thorough and pains- taking piece of work-was issued in 1856. After the manuscript had been sent to the printer in Philadelphia it was destroyed by a fire in the printing house. It was however re-written, and ready for the printer a second time within four months from the time of its destruction. The map of Delaware county was also published in 1856 when Mr. Gould was still but twenty years of age.
In the meantime he had formed the acquaintance of Col. Zadoc Pratt of Prattsville, who had a gift for discovering energetic and capable young men. Col. Pratt had come to the conclusion that owing to the failure of the supply of hemlock bark, the time for the business of tanning at Prattsville was nearly ended. He despatched Mr. Gould, therefore, to search for and select some suitable place where the business could be profitably conducted. In pursuance of this purpose he selected a site in Pennsylvania, where there was an abundance of hemlock timber which would furnish bark for a long time. Here he built an extensive tannery and entered upon the business on a large scale. In a few years he was able to buy out his partners, and finally in 1857 he sold out the entire establishment in order to enter upon the occupation which had always had a fasci- nation for him.
In his testimony before a Commission appointed by the United States Senate in 1883, to investigate the affairs of the Union Pacific Railroad, Mr. Gonld, in describing this transition in his career, says: "I still retained my early love for engineering and I was watching the railroads: After the panic everything went down very low, and I found a road whose first mortgage bonds were selling at ten cents-the Rutland and Washington Railroad, running from Troy, N. Y. to Rutland, Vt. I bought a majority of the bonds at ten cents, and left everything else and went into railroading. That was in 1860. I took entire charge of that road. I learned the business,
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and I was president, treasurer and general superintendent, and owned a controlling interest."
The result of his foresight and energy was soon apparent. The road which he had rescued was soon after consolidated with others into the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad with a very substantial profit to the young financier. After this profitable transaction he established himself in the city of New York, becoming an extensive broker, especially in railroad properties. The New York and Eric Railroad was at this time in dire financial straits, and Mr. Gould purchased large blocks of its depreciated securities. In 1872 he became the president of the road, and for some years thereafter was deeply engaged in its management. Finally however a decisive turn occurred in its affairs through the intervention of the English bondholders and Mr. Gould and his friends were retired.
When the Union Pacific Railroad became financially embarrassed, freling assured of the substantial value of the transcontinental lines, he bought up large quantities of its securities. These, when the affairs of the road had been improved, appreciated greatly on his hands and returned him a liberal profit. His dealings in the Missouri Pacific securities were of the same kind and led to the same profitable results. As he himself testified before the Commission above referred to: "The re-organization of broken-down roads and rendering them profitable had become a hobby with me. I cared less for the money I made out of the transactions than for the satis- faction of re-establishing them upon a profitable basis."
Another of his far-reaching and remunerative schemes was the organization of the Western Union Telegraph Company. After several preliminary consolidations, the last which brought all the interests into one vast company was effected in 1881. By this great transaction he became by far the largest holder of Telegraphic stock in the United States. Soon after this he took up the Elevated Railroad interests in the city of New York, and it was mainly through his influence that the separate companies holling these valuable franchises were combined into one working organization. The
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results of this operation were to add largely to his already vast wealth. Thus by his own foresight and by his clear and dexterous combinations this able and capable man who " knew how to bring things to pass," had step by step grown to be one of the recognized financial powers in the country.
In 1863 he had married Helen Day Miller, the daughter of Hon. Daniel S. Miller of Greenville, N. Y. Their children who are all still living are: George Jay Gould, Edwin Gould, Helen Miller Gould, Howard Gould, Anna Gould. (now the Countess Castelane) and Frank Jay Gould. His wife died January 13, 1889, and Mr. Gould himself December 2, 1892.
In memory of their father and mother, and in recognition of their father's birth and early residence in Delaware county, the family has improved and beautified the ancestral residence in Rox- bury and frequently it is occupied as a summer home. They have also built a beautiful and picturesque little memorial church, which they have donated to the Reformed Congregation of the town. And lastly Miss Helen Gould, who most often takes up her summer resi- dence there, has bought back the old home of her father and con- verted part of it into a library and reading room for the people of the village. She has contributed many books to this library, and the library association of the place has purchased others, so that the little village library has become a most valuable source of culture and intelligence.
All these benetactions have been inspired by the desire to com- memorate in some appropriate manner the lives of those who were so dear to them, and at the same time to benefit the community to which early associations had attached them. It is a matter of no small pride to Delaware county that two of the most eminent finan- ciers of our country have thus been born within her territory, viz: William B. Ogden and Jay Gould.
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Anthony M. Paine. General Paine was born at Harpersfield, March 25, 1901, a son of Dr. Asahel E. Paine, who came to Delhi in 1807, and Mr. A. AMI. Paine was a resident from that time till his death, March 10th, ISSI. In March, 1833, in company with Jacob D. Clark, purchased the Delaware Gazette. In early life Mr. Paine was engaged in mercantile business in Delhi village. For many years he was a Justice of the Prace, also Supervisor and Town Clerk. For one year he was Treasurer of the county, and in 1830 census taker of the county. He was a director in the Delaware Bank for nearly forty years ; for over forty years a trustee of Delaware Academy, and for fifteen years pres- ident of the board. He passed through the various promotions of the old State militia until he reached the rank of Brigadier-General, which position he held until the militia was disbanded. Mr. Paine was always very regular and punctual in attendance at his office ; and rarely in the last forty-four years of hi- life did a day pass by when in the village that he was not to be found there at his accustomed seat; and as he passed into and through middle life to a ripe old age, no man ever had occasion to say that a single scar marred that life's record. His ear was never deaf to the story of suffering and distress, hor his hand empty to want and hunger.
Hon. Samuel A. Law. Samuel A. Law was born in Cheschire, Conn., in 1771. Ile was graduated from Yale College in 1792. lle pursued the study of law at Litchfield, Conn. and was admitted to the bar in 1795. He was sent Into Delaware county in 1798 as the agent of the owners of the Franklin Patent. The tract was then almost a wilderness; but the liberal terms offered to set- tler- led to the rapid filling up of the vacant lands. Mr. Law himself became a settler, and established himself at what has since been called Meredith Square. He was appointed a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, from which fart he was commonly called Judge Law. Ile died at his home in Meredith in I>45 in the 71th year of his age.
Colonel Amasa Parker. Colonel Parker was born in Litchfield county, Conn .. in 1784. He was graduated from Yale College, studied law in Litchfield and afterward with Peter Van Schaik at Kinderhook, N. Y. In 1812 he removed to Delhi and formed a law partnership with Samuel Sherwood, then in the arme of his professional career. This lasted until Mr. Sherwood removed to New York. His residence was near that of Mr. Sherwood at the influx of the Little Idlaware. Afterward ho formed a partnership with his nephew, Amasa J. Parker, which continued until the latter was appointed a judge and removed tu Albany. Then he still continued the practice of law with his son. Robert Parker. His distinguished services in his profession ended with his death
Hon. Charles Hathaway. Charles Hathaway was born at Hudson N. Y. in 1796. He died at his home in Delhi January 21, 1876. He came with his Biur- ont into Delaware county in 1808, where he spent the whole of his long life He commenced the practice of law in Delhi, being for a time in partnership with llon. C. A. Foote. He hold the offer of County Judge and Surrogate be- Kinning Isto, to which he was appointed by Governor Seward. During his term of office there was a bitter controversy throughout the State as to the maladministration of the office of Surrogate. The reports of Surrogate Hath-
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away were especially commended as models for honesty and fairness in every particular. After the termination of his form of office as county judge he retired from the practice of law, and devoted himself to the extensive land interests for which he had been appointed agent. These interests were the same as those for which Judge Foote had acted. During his life he had avail- ed himself of the assistance of Mr. Hathaway in the management of these in- portant concerns ; and before his death had him substituted for himself as the agent.
Judge Hathaway was during his whole life an active and public-spirited citizen. The introduction of water for the village, the organization of a fire department, the building of churches and county buildings, the organization of the Delaware Bank, all found in him an active and zealous friend.
Judge llathaway married in 1828 Maria Augusta Bowne, a neiee of Judge Foote and a sister of Norwood Bowne.
Hon. Samuel Gordon. Samuel Gordon was born at Wattles Ferry on the Susquehanna in 1802. Like most of the young men of that day his education was chiefly obtained in the common schools of his home. His busy, active and intellectual boyhood naturally led to a career beyond the community in which he was born. He acquired by persistent self-effort a good general education including classies and general literature. In 1827 he commeneed the study of law with General Erastus Root in Delhi. After admission to the bar in 1829 he became a partner of General Root and began that remarkable career of professional activity which ended only with his life. Scarcely a term of the court passed during that long period without his being engaged in some of the most important cases. He was elected in succession to nearly all the offices which lay in the line of his profession. He was postmaster in 1831; he was member of Assembly in 1833; he was District Attorney of Delaware county trom 1836 to 1839: he was elected a member of Congress from Delaware and Broome counties in 1840 ; he was re-elected in 1844; during the civil war he served as provost-marshal of the 19th congressional distriet until its close in 1865.
His wife was Frances Loete and his children were Harriet, Frances, Anna, Samuel, William and George L.
He died at his home in Delhi, October 24, 1878.
Dr. O. M. Allaben. Dr. Allaben was born in 1808 at a place then in the town of Delhi, but which now is in the town of Hamden. His father removed to Roxbury when his son was still a small boy. He attended the Delaware Academy and prepared himself for his subsequent professional studies. He commenced the study of medicine in 1827 with Dr. J. B. Cowles of Roxbury. He was graduated in 1831 from the Waterville (Me.) Medical College, and in the same year settled for practice in the town of Middletown. Besides his constant devotion to his profession he was always a most public-spirited citi- zen, and ready to exert his influence for the benefit of his friends and the community. He was elected supervisor of his town for sevon successive terms beginning from 1839. He was a member of Assembly in 1840 and again in 1870 ; and a State Senator in 1864 and 1865. In the latter position he obtained the legislation necessary for building the Ulster and Deiaware R. R. In 1863 he started the Utilitarian newspaper which he personally condueted for five years. In 1832 he married a daughter of Noah Dimmock. Ho died at Mar- garetville November 27, 1891.
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Hon. Norwood Bowne. Norwood Bowne was born in New York City May 2, 1>13. He carly became familiar with the printer's trade with which his life was to be associated. He came to Delhi in 1830 in order to enter upon the- study of law with his brother-in-law Charles Hathaway. But the taste for editorship and printing was too strong in him. He was for a time connected. with a newspaper called the Delaware Republican established by George E. Marvine. But this enterprise not being successful, he returned to New York where he was connected with the publication of the Protestant Vindicator. The printing and publishing house was destroyed by tire in 1834, leaving the proprietors penniless.
In 1839 he returned to Delhi for the purpose of establishing a newspaper in the interests of the Whig party. The Delaware Gazette, a Democratie paper, had been established in 1819, and in 1839 was the only newspaper printed in the county. At this time Mr. Bowne founded the Delaware Express and dur- ing the remainder of his life continued to be its editor and publisher.
Mr. Bowne has held various local offices. He was postmaster from 1549. to 1852; he was active both personally and by his paper in every important public enterprise. In 1854 he was elected on the State ticket with Governor Myron H. Clark to the office of State Prison Inspector, in which he served for three years. He died at Delhi, January 7, 1890.
Hon. William Gleason. JJudge Gleason was born in Roxbury January 1, 1519. He was educated in the common schools of his vicinity, and added to his acquirements a vast amount of liberal culture attained by private reading and study. To the very end of his life he took delight in works on literature, hl-tory and poetry, which he had learned to love in his boyhood. He studied law in the office of Judge Levinus Monson of Hobart, and was admitted to the county bar in 1813 and to that of the Supreme Court in 1845. He was elected a member of Assembly in 1850 and took an active part in the business of that lunly. In 1851 he was elected County Judge and Surrogate and removed his residence to Delhi. He was elected to a second term in 1859, and served also as supervisor of the town. He was in every way a publie-spirited citizen and ready om overy occasion to help forward measures for the public good. In the civil war when Delaware county was so conspicuous for its patriotic efforts. no one was more active in devising and working for the public good than Judge Gleason.
In 1853 Judge Gleason was married to Caroline, daughter of John Blanch- ard of Delhi. He has had three sons all still living : John B. Gleason of New York, Wallace B. Gleason of Delhi, and Lafayette B. Gleason of New York. le died at his home in Delhi, May 9, 1891.
Hon. William Murray. William Murray was born in Bovina in 1820. Ho was the son of William Murray who had migrated from Scotland two years Infore. In his early life he was engaged in the work of the pioneer settler. His education was such as could be acquired at the common schools and at the Delaware Academy. He commeneed the study of law in the office of Samuel Gordon and was admitted to the har in 1548. He has held in stores- sion nearly all the offices in the line of his profession : Justice of the Prace, District Attorney County Judge. After the expiration of his term of office he
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was appointed by Governor Fenton in January, 1868, Justice of the Supreme Court in the Sixth District in the place of Judge Mason, resigned. In the autumn of 1869 he was elected to the same office for eight years. And at the end of this term he was re-elected without opposition for the term of fourteen years. These evidences of popular favor were the results of his judicial fair- less. his personal amiability and profound legal knowledge.
In 1850 Judge Murray married Rachel Merwin of Bloomville. He has three children living : David Murray, lawyer, of New York, Mrs. Alexander Conklin of Delhi, and Asher Murray, lawyer, of Wadena, Minnesota. He died at Delhi, 1887, aged sixty-seven years.
General Ferris Jacobs jr. General Jacobs, the son of Dr. Ferris Jacobs of Delhi, was born March 20, 1836. He received his education at the Delaware Academy, the Franklin Institute and at Williams College. From this last in- stitution he was graduated in 1856 in the same class with President Garfield. He commeneed the study of law in Philadelphia but afterward changed to Delhi where he was connected with the office of Parker and Gleason. He was admitted to the bar in 1859.
Early in the civil war he enlisted a company of cavalry and was mustered in as captain at Elmira in August, 18GI. His company belonged to the Third Regiment of New York Volunteer Cavalry. From this time he was in continual active service. He was with General Banks in the Shenandoah; he was with Burnside in North Carolina, where he was in innumerable engagements and was promoted to the rank of Major; he took part in the memorable campaigns of 1864 and was again promoted to be Lieutenant-Colonel and commanded his regiment. His regiment was so cut up and reduced in numbers that it was necessary to consolidate it with other regiments and Colonel Jacobs resigned. He re-entered the service however and was assigned to duty on the northern frontier. In July, 1865, he was mustered out of service with the brevet rank of Brigadier-General.
After his return from the war in 1865 he was elected District-Attorney and in 1871 he was elected for a second term of the same office. He ran for the office of County Judge but was defeated. He was a member of Congress dur- ing the term 1881-83.
In 1869 he married Miss Mary Hyde of Yellow Springs. Ohio. He died at Delhi, Angust 30, 1886.
Judge Isaac H. Maynard. Judge Maynard was born in Bovina in 1838, being the grandson of the first settler in that town. He was graduated from Amherst College in 1862. He studied law in the office of Judge Murray and established himself at the village of Stamford. Here he was supervisor in 1869 and 1870. He was elected County Judge as a demoerat, carrying the county by 1,355 majority, although usually its majority was 800 republican.
In 1875 he was elected Member of Assembly; in 1884 he was appointed first Deputy Attorney-General of the State, which position he resigned to be- come Second Comptroller under President Cleveland. In 1887 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the United States Treasury. In 1892 Governor Flower appointed him one of the Judges of the Court of Appeals.
Judge Maynard was a man of scholarly attainments, a brilliant and suc- cessful lawyer, and was highly esteemed by many friends. He died in Albany June 12, 1896, at the age of 58 years, and his remains rest in Woodland Ceme- tory at Delhi.
suaich
PART II.
11
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Centennial Celebration.
7.
M ARCH 10, 1897 ... the birthday of Delaware county. A county which has rounded a full century is no infant; there is no poetical license in the phrase " Old Delaware." Natur- ally, as the hundredth anniversary drew near, there were thoughts of some fitting celebration of the century milestone, but the various suggestions of individuals or the county newspapers did not erys- tallize into definite action. The Delaware Express, at Delhi, had frequently called up a remembrance of March 10, 1797. Its editor discussed the advisability of a celebration with many of the promi- nent men of the county but found little interest among the people generally. The project, however, was not to be smothered by any moist blanket of indifference; if the people who should care did not. care, latent interest must be aroused. Delaware county had tin- ished a hundred years of honorable history; she had sent out from her borders a host of children who had made history in other counties and other states and had honored their birthplace: her sons and her daughters had ever been and were sturdy, honest and full of the free spirit of the native hills. The century mark of such a county must not pass unnoticed. In the issue of The Delaware Express for March 6, 1897, the following eall for a citizens' meeting was printed:
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