USA > New York > Encyclopedia of biography of New York, a life record of men and women whose sterling character and energy and industry have made them pre?minent in their own and many other states. V.6 > Part 33
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generous face of my friend, John C. Havemeyer, with the inscription on the frame, 'Jolın C. Havemeyer, First Presi- dent of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation 1881'."
For many years he was a local preacher of his church and occupied many pulpits other than those of his own denomina- tion. The Bible is his great and final authority ; what can be proved by it is binding beyond dispute. He believes thoroughly in personal Christian work, in strict Sabbath observance. He has writ- ten many monographs, among others "A Study of Labor Unions," "Patriotism," "Shall We Prepare for War in Time of Peace," "The Needs of the Church from a Layman's Standpoint," "What is Love of Country," "Great Armaments and Peace," "Fundamental Facts About Re- ligion," and "Foundation Truth." His newspaper articles are legion and there has been no great moral, religious or ethical question of his time that he has not publicly discussed, and has never sought an obscure person to discuss it with.
Personal philanthropy cannot be fairly dealt with in a biography for the essence of true benevolence is secrecy. But phi- lanthropy is an indication of character and the method and spirit in which it ex- presses itself deserve careful considera- tion. Mr. Havemeyer was born with an inherited disposition to help those in need and was trained to do good from earliest days by precept and home example. He believes in simple living and regards wealth as a stewardship for which an ac- count must finally be rendered. He gives systematically and as far as possible finds out all he can concerning the person or cause he is assisting. He holds decided opinions upon philanthropy, as he does upon every question he deems of impor- tance, and is not easily driven from a
position in which he has intrenched him- self particularly if it be a Bible truth. He is conscientious to the last degree, emi- nently fair in argument and most cour- teous. A strong character and one the world should know better.
Mr. Havemeyer married in Athens, Greece, December 5, 1872, Alice Alide Francis, daughter of John Morgan and Harriet E. (Tucker) Francis. Her father was for three years United States minis- ter to Greece, later United States am- bassador to Austria-Hungary, and owner as well as editor of the Troy (New York) "Times." Mr. Havemeyer met his future bride in 1871 in Brussels, where she was sojourning with her parents. Later they became engaged and in November, 1872, sailed from New York to Greece to claim his bride. A number of distinguished guests were present at the marriage, among them several missionaries. They made Yonkers their permanent home.
CLARKE, R. Floyd, Attorney-at-Law, Author.
Mr. Clarke is descended on the father's side from one of the oldest Rhode Island families, with straight descent from the English family of Clarkes, originally located at Westhorpe, Suffolk county, England, whose pedigree can be traced back with the aid of Parish Registers and an ancient Bible to John Clarke, of Wes- thorpe, Suffolk county, England, who died there in 1559. (See "The Clarke Families of Rhode Island," by George Austin Mor- rison, Jr., page 13).
The grandson of this John Clarke was also of Westhorpe, and had among his seven children four males known as the "Immigrants," namely, second son Ca- rewe, third son Thomas, fifth son John, seventh son Joseph, who emigrated to America about 1637.
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Of these four immigrants, John Clarke, born October 8, 1609, died April 20, 1676, was the most prominent. (See sketch of him in 4 "Appleton's American Cyclo- paedia," 640, and "Story of Dr. John Clarke, Founder of Rhode Island," by Thomas W. Bicknell.) He devoted him- self to study, and at twenty-eight years of age we find him holding two professions -that of a physician and also that of an ordained minister of the Baptist faith. He appears in the Catalogue of the Uni- versity of Leyden, Holland, 1575-1875, as one of the students there on July 17, 1635 ("Story of Dr. John Clarke," supra, p. 74) ; and during his life he practiced both pro- fessions in New England, and also prac- ticed as a physician in London for twelve years while he was engaged in obtaining the charter for Rhode Island hereinafter mentioned.
He emigrated to Boston in November, 1637. Owing to his views on religious toleration, he came in conflict with the Puritan element, and was practically banished, and proceeded with others to form a settlement on the Island of Aquid- neck, Rhode Island. Later, in 1651, hav- ing held religious services at Lynn, he and two companions were sentenced to pay fines, or else to be whipped, and to remain in prison until paid, for their meet- ing at William Witter's about July 21st, and then and at other times preaching and blaspheming, etc. On August 31, 1651, from his prison he wrote to the Honored Court assembled at Boston, ac- cepting the proffer publicly made the day before of a dispute with the ministers, and therefore "do desire you would ap- point the time when, and the person with whom" the points might be disputed pub- licly. This challenge to a debate was not accepted, and his fine and Mr. Crandall's were paid by friends without their con- sent, they thus escaping corporal punish-
ment. His fellow prisoner, Holmes, was publicly flogged. ("Story of Dr. John Clarke," supra, p. 85.)
Later, Dr. Clarke and Roger Williams proceeded to England-Clarke represent- ing the Newport and Aquidneck colonies, and Williams the Providence colony. Williams returned, but Clarke remained in England for twelve years, watching over and advancing the affairs of the Colony, and finally obtained from the Government of Charles II. a Royal Char- ter for Rhode Island in the year 1663. This charter contains the first guarantee of civil and religious freedom in America. In fact it is the first charter of religious toleration ever granted. This charter provided : "that no person within the said colony at any time hereafter shall be in anywise molested, punished, disquieted or called in question for any differences of opinion in matters of religion, which do not actually disturb the civil peace." ("Story of Dr. John Clarke," supra, p. 193.) The provisions in this charter, embody- ing freedom of religious thought and wor- ship with a temperate and just civil gov- ernment as opposed to the narrow and dogmatic attitude of the other New Eng- land colonies at this time upon these questions was chiefly the idea and con- ception of John Clarke. ("Story of Dr. John Clarke," supra.)
Dr. Clarke maintained himself in Eng- land by using his own funds, and we find later that the town of Providence and other towns voted him a partial compen- sation for his outlays. On returning to the Colonies, he settled at Newport, and later died there, without issue, after hold- ing various religious and public offices. ("Story of Dr. John Clarke, supra.)
While John Clarke left no issue, his three brothers left issue, resulting in one of the three branches of the Clarke family in the United States.
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Joseph Clarke, of Westhorpe, Suffolk county, England, and later of Newport and Westerly, brother of John Clarke, is the ancestor of R. Floyd Clarke, of this review. Joseph Clarke was admitted an inhabitant of the Island of Aquidneck at Newport in 1638. He was president at the General Court of Election in 1640, and became a freeman on March 17, 1641. He was made one of the original mem- bers of the First Baptist Church of New- port in 1644, and a member of the General Court of Trials in 1648; he became a free- man of the Colony and acted as a com- missioner in 1655-57-58-59 and was as- sistant in 1658-63-64-65-78-80-90. His name appears in the charter granted to Rhode Island by Charles II., July 8, 1663. He became a freeman at Westerly in 1668, and acted as deputy to the General Assembly in 1668-69-70-71-72-90. He was a member of the Court of Justices of the Peace in 1677. He returned to Newport in the later years of his life. ("Clarke Families of Rhode Island," Morrison, p. 23.)
The descendants of Joseph Clarke, the immigrant above referred to, continued living in Newport and Westerly and occu- pying various religious and political posi- tions from time to time until the eighth generation was represented by Thomas Clarke, of Westerly, and later of North Stonington, Connecticut, born June 10, 1749, died May 28, 1832, married, June 10, 1770, Olive Marsh, of Hartford, Vermont, among whose eleven children was a son, Samuel, born June 23, 1790 (ibid, p. 69).
This Samuel Clarke was the grand- father of R. Floyd Clarke. The story as told in the family is that Samuel Clarke was of a studious turn of mind, and pre- ferred books to ploughing, much to the chagrin of his father, Thomas Clarke; that on one occasion when the boy was about fifteen years old, his father caught
him reading Euclid in the shade of a tree while the horses and plough stood idle in the furrow. Result-serious parental chastisement, and that night the young- ster ran away to sea. Beginning as a cabin boy in the New England West Indies trade, he soon became a super- cargo, waxed well in this world's goods- married Eliza Burnell, daughter of an English sea captain at Nassau, in the Ba- hamas, and taking her to the United States established himself as a factor, etc., in marine stores, etc., at St. Marys, Georgia, on the river St. Marys, a tribu- tary of the river St. Johns. Later he was practically ruined by the burning of his warehouse and stock, etc., by a predatory expedition of the British up the St. Marys river in the War of 1812. Making a new start at the same place, he again im- proved in this world's goods when the Seminole War came along, and with it the destruction of his warehouse and goods and family residence by flames, he and his family barely escaping with their lives. Again a new start in life, with a wife and large family on his hands, in Savannah and St. Marys, and again a successful issue and the death of the old gentleman at his place of residence, "Glenwood," St. Marys, Georgia, Octo- ber 26, 1858, where he had been accus- tomed to entertain his friends in the style of the old Southern hospitality of "before the war." He left his second wife sur- viving; he had no issue by her, but had issue by his first wife of some fifteen chil- dren. Lemuel Clarence Clarke, the sixth son and tenth child of this couple, was the father of R. Floyd Clarke.
On his father's side Mr. Clarke has a small mixture of Spanish blood. His great-grandmother, Elizabeth Sanchez, of the Venanchio Sanchez family of St. Au- gustine, Florida, married Captain Bur- nell, an English sea captain, the father of
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his grandmother, who became the wife of the Samuel Clarke, above mentioned.
On his mother's side Mr. Clarke is of mixed English and Scotch blood - his grandmother, Sarah Caroline Heriot, be- ing of the Heriots hailing from George- town, South Carolina, and prior to that from Haddington, in Scotland. Of this family was that George Heriot who founded a hospital in Edinburgh, and a sketch of whose life may be found in the 13 Encyclopaedia .Brittanica (11th Ed.) p. 363. His grandfather on the mother's side, Thomas Boston Clarkson, was a resident of Charleston, and later of Columbia, South Carolina, and was a wealthy cotton planter owning four plan- tations and many slaves. He was de- scended from the Clarksons of England. and through the female line from the Scotch divine, Thomas Boston, Calvin- istic Theologian, 1676-1732, author of "The Crook and The Lot," and other theological works,-a sketch of whose life may be found in 2 Appleton's American Encyclopaedia, p. 139, and 4 Encyclopae- dia Brittanica (11th Ed.) p. 289.
Mr. Clarke's father, Lemuel Clarence Clarke, born at St. Marys, Georgia, Au- gust 4, 1831, later removed to Columbia, South Carolina, and there married Caro- line Beaumont Clarkson, of Columbia, South Carolina, December 17, 1859. He was a merchant in Columbia, South Caro- lina, before and during the war, and then
removed with his family to New Orleans and later to New York, and died in New York, April 30, 1893. Mr. Clarke's mother, Caroline Beaumont (Clarkson) Clarke, of Columbia, South Carolina, born October 10, 1834, died at New York City, October 26, 1912, she being the first daughter and fourth child of Thomas Clarkson and Sarah Caroline Heriot, men- tioned above. This couple had seven chil- dren, all save one dying in infancy. Their third child and second son, R. Floyd, born
after his twin brother, October 14, 1859, is the sole survivor of the whole family.
This family of Clarksons had come over to Charleston, South Carolina, in the eighteenth century, and in 1851 they were represented by three brothers named Thomas Boston Clarkson, William Clark- son and John Clarkson, and by the child of a deceased sister, W. C. Johnson. Thomas Boston Clarkson and William Clarkson had married, and had large families, but the third, John, was a wealthy bachelor.
As an indication that all Southerners of this period did not believe in slavery, the following episode may be of interest: In December, 1841, the Legislature of South Carolina passed an act to prevent the emancipation of slaves. John Clarkson died in 1849, leaving a will in which, with the exception a few legacies, he be- queathed all of his property, on certain conditions made with him, to his brother, William Clarkson, and appointed the latter executor. The executor having qualified, the infant son of the deceased sister brought a suit to be found as "W. C. Johnson, by next friend, vs. William Clarkson and Thomas Boston Clarkson, Charleston, January, 1851, 24 South Caro- lina Equity Reports, 305," in which he declared that the object of the will, and the conditions under which it had been given, had been to free the slaves of the testator, and asked for a decree to set aside the will. John Clarkson's property consisted of a plantation, a large number of negroes, together with stocks and other personal estate.
The answer of the defendants admitted that the property was left to them, and accepted by them upon the conditions ex- pressed by the testator in certain papers accompanying the will unless prevented by the court, and upon condition that they were to practice no evasion of the law, but to make application to the Legis-
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lature of the State, which body alone could emancipate slaves, to emancipate all the slaves belonging to the testator at death, or to give the defendants a license to send them out of the State; and if the said negroes be emancipated by the Leg- islature, or defendants permitted to send them out of the State, then to sell the plantation and out of the property and proceeds pay certain legacies, and the balance to divide among the negroes. If the foregoing could not be done, then to sell and divide according to other direc- tions given. The court held that no bene- ficial interest was given by the will to William Clarkson and the conditions im- posed by the testator being void under the law of South Carolina, the estate went to the next of kin. Among the memo- randa left by John Clarkson with his will were the following:
Husbands and wives must on no account be separated.
Nov. 25, 1842.
JOHN CLARKSON.
I do not wish my negroes forced to go to Africa, if they do not wish it.
Aug. 13, 1849.
JOHN CLARKSON.
R. Floyd Clarke, son of Lemuel Clar- ence and Caroline Beaumont (Clarkson) Clarke, was born October 14, 1859, in Columbia, South Carolina. He was in that town at the time it was burned dur- ing Sherman's march in 1865; was later, at the age of seven, in the yellow fever epidemic of 1867 in New Orleans, recov- ering from an attack of the same, including the black vomit, from which stage of the disease a very small percentage ever sur- vive. Afterwards, the family being im- poverished by the war, Mr. Clarke was brought as a child to New York about 1870, where he was educated in Public School No. 35-the old 13th Street School near Sixth Avenue, and in the College of the City of New York, then at 23rd Street
Stand, Lexington Avenue. He graduated from the College of the City of New York, A. B. in 1880, and in 1899 received from that institution the degree of A. M. Taking up the study of law at Columbia College Law School, he was graduated LL. B. cum laude in 1882, taking the first prize in Municipal Law. Shortly after- wards he was admitted to the New York bar, obtaining, with others, honorable mention as the result of the examination, and has since practiced law in New York City, first as managing clerk in the office of Olcott & Mestre, 1882-83; then as a member of the firm, 1883-84; then as a member of the firm of Clarke & Culver, 1895-1903; and from that time under his own name. He has been counsel for large interests and corporations ; and has been identified with important litigations and international cases, notably in the follow- ing litigations: The George Kemp will case; the Edward Keinp will case; the Dunlap Estate litigation; the Consoli- dated Lake Superior Corporation litiga- tion ; the James R. Keiser trade name lit- igation over "Keiser Cravats" and others.
He has been counsel in the following international cases, notably in connection with the claims of private claimants under the Mexican title in the interna- tional arbitration case of Mexico vs. United States in the El Chamizal District, El Paso, Texas, decision for part of the land in favor of Mexico, June 15, 1911, decision protested by the United States and matter standing in statu quo; the claim of the United States & Venezuela Company, known as "the Crichfield As- phalt Concession" against Venezuela, which, by protocol of February 13, 1909, was sent to the Hague Tribunal, but was afterwards settled out of court for $475,- 000; the claim of the McGivney & Roke- by Construction Company against Cuba which resulted in obtaining enforcement
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through diplomatic intervention by the United States under the Platt Amend- ment of their contract to sewer and pave the City of Havana, work on which is going on and has now been practically completed; counsel for Porter Charlton (the Lake Como murder case) in habeas corpus proceedings to prevent his depor- tation to Italy on the ground that Italy having admittedly broken the Treaty of Extradition, it could not be heard to en- force it. This issue was taken through the Secretary of State's office and all the courts to the Supreme Court of the United States without success; but on the subsequent trial of the case in Italy, the delays of the litigation in America counting on the sentence, Charlton was sentenced to only twenty-eight days of imprisonment and is now a free man; counsel also in important contraband cases arising as to steamers and cargoes in the recent world war; and others.
He is the author of "The Science of Law and Law Making" Macmillan & Com- pany, 1898) and articles including "A Permanent Tribunal of International Law -Its Necessity and Value," I American Journal of International Law, April, 1907, P. 342; "Castro, The Ungrateful," North American Review, April, 1908; "An Epi- sode on the Law of Trusts," Columbia Law Review, May, 1905; "Intervention for Breach of Contract or Tort Com- mitted by a Sovereignty," Proceedings of American Society of International Law, 4th Annual Meeting, 1910, pp. 149-191.
He is a member of the New York State Bar Association, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the New York County Lawyers' Association, American Society of International Law, Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa Society. He is a life member of the New York Southern Society. His recreations are: Yachting, motoring and chess. He owns the sloop yachts "Atala"
and "Golliwog," and has a country place at Stony Creek, Connecticut, opposite the Thimble Islands. Clubs: Life member of the University Club of the City of New York, New York Yacht Club, Larchmont Yacht Club and Atlantic Yacht Club. Member of Colonial Order of the Acorn and Manhattan Chess Club.
Mr. Clarke's book, "The Science of Law and Law Making," being a treatise on the vexed question of the propriety of codifying the whole of the Civil Law, and taking strong ground against its entire codification, has been much discussed and has received many reviews both in the United States and England. As might be expected from the nature of its subject matter, these have been partly compli- mentary and partly the reverse. As a sample of the diversity of the human mind, the following extracts from some of these reviews may be of interest :
From "The Harvard Law Review," May, 1898, vol. xii, p. 68: Mr. Clarke's book should be wel- comed as affording to the general reader an introduction to the study of law suggestive of the beauty and interest of its problems, and as giving for the first time a comprehensive discussion of the problem of codification *
In advocating the cause of the case law system, the real substance of the book, the writer has accomplished his purpose well. The division of the chapters into so many headings adds little to the clearness or literary merit of the work, but the argument is, on the whole, coherent and con- vincing.
From "The Green Bag," May, 1898, vol. x, No. 5, p. 228: This work is intended especially for the layman, but the legal profession will also find it both readable and instructive. Mr. Clarke gives his readers a clear and true conception of the system of law under which they live, explain- ing in popular terms the general outlines of legal systems and making the subject perfectly intelli- gible to the ordinary mind. He then proceeds to discuss the question of codification, and his con- clusions seem to us to be sound and to be sus- tained by facts. We commend the book as one which may be read with profit by all thinking men.
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From "The Albany Law Journal," Saturday,
April 2, 1898, vol. 57, No. 14, p. 223: * * * Within the 475 pages of this work the author has condensed in an admirable manner all the leading arguments for and against codification, in ad- dition to which he has given a large amount of elementary matter, valuable not only to the stu- dent, but as well to the professional reader, in refreshing his recollection and aiding to a clearer conception of the generalizations involved in the arguments advanced. His style of writing, it may be added, is charmingly clear, as well as remark- ably vigorous. * *
* it will probably be con- ceded that it would be difficult to put the argu- ment against codification more strongly and forci- bly in so many words. Mr. Clarke has certainly made a valuable contribution to the solution of a very important and exceedingly complex problem.
From "The Yale Law Journal" (New Haven), May, 1898, vol. vii, No. 8, p. 374: * * * Mr. Clarke takes strong ground against codification. The arguments for and against are reviewed and the question made distinct and clear. This method of illustrating the working of the systems of Case and Code Law, by applying their methods to the solution of the question of a contract in restraint of trade, is ingenious and convincing.
From "The New York Law Journal," Friday, May 13, 1898, vol. 19, No. 36, p. 522: * * * This work will certainly accomplish one of its principal purposes in imparting to intelligent lay readers the science of jurisprudence and the pro- cess of the building of the common law. * * * It is therefore a distinct advantage to general culture to have a work, such as Mr. Clarke's, from which the ordinary reader may learn the rudiments of our legal system.
This author furthermore presents the argu- ment against codification very forcibly and com- pletely and with much originality of suggestion and ingenuity of illustration.
From "The New York Evening Post," Saturday, August 20, 1898, vol. 97, p. 15: * *
* Where we find ourselves at one with the author is in believing that some subjects lend themselves better to statutory, others to common law regu- lation.
From "The American Law Register," May, 1898, vols. 46 O. S., 37 N. S., No. 5, p. 335: The importance of the question considered by the author, and the growing interest in it, insure something more than passing attention to the
book under review. * The method of adducing concrete examples of case, statute and code law is very effective, often rendering argu- ment on a given point almost unnecessary. * *
To the lawyer, the book will commend itself as one in which a vital problem is impartially treated. None of the advantages of codification are underestimated, nor are its disadvantages slighted. The conclusions reached by the author are evidently the result of careful thought and, insofar as a cursory examination can show, valid.
From "The Banking Law Journal," May, 1898, vol. 15, No. 5, p. 261 : * * * To all intelli- gent laymen, as well as to all lawyers desirous of brushing up on the fundamentals, we would com- mend Mr. Clarke's work, which is written in a style that will find favor with the popular reader, and which admirably fills the want we have out- lined. No one who reads this work will say that the law is dry; on the contrary, it will be found to have a peculiar fascination for the general reader. *
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