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 34

Author: Fitch, Charles E. (Charles Elliott), 1835-1918. cn
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Boston, New York [etc.] The American historical society, inc.
Number of Pages: 700


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 34


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The work gives the most complete and best presentation of the whole subject of codification -the arguments and reasons pro and con-yet written; and while, as such, it will command the attention of the foremost legal minds on both sides of the Atlantic, it is none the less a work which will be found intelligible and highly in- structive to, and entirely within the comprehen- sion of, the general reader.


From "The New Jersey Law Journal," vol. 21, No. 5, p. 159, May, 1898: A general introduction to the study of the law is followed by concrete examples showing its expression and application in a suit at law and in reported cases, digests, text-books and in statutes, and from these ex- amples it is shown how different are the methods and results when the law is found in reported cases and when it is expressed in statutes or codes; and then there is a statement of the exist- ing provinces of case and statute law and a dis- cussion of the question whether the province of the latter should be extended and a clear ex- position of the essential differences between the two and an earnest argument against the effort to crystallize the whole law in a definite code it has the merit of bringing the question by means of examples within the comprehension of any intelligent man not familiar with the law.


From "The Western Reserve Law Journal," vol. iv, No. 3, p. 81, April, 1898: * Here is a work, written with scholarly accuracy and


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clearness, so simple as to render a dictionary un- necessary, and yet so complete and profound as to invade the depth of a science on which many of our law givers are painfully ignorant. * * *


To those who, with a mental aggressiveness, are continually alive to the absorption of useful and valuable, even necessary knowledge, we gladly commend this work as a new contribution to the field of scientific legal thought.


From "The New York Daily Tribune," Tues- day, July 26, 1898: Mr. Clarke has seized the idea of evolution in law with a grasp not easily loosed. * *


* The evolutionary process had been a natural one, and both Professor Jenks and Mr. Clarke, however much they might differ about other things, evidently hold that it continued to be natural. Mr. Clarke goes on to say that the process in the mind of successive generations of judges was inductive, not deductive. The prin- ciple was sought in the actual concrete case, not inferred from some universal premise and applied to the case. Professor Jenks says the same thing by contrast, when he describes the method of interpreting the Roman Law as scholastic. Mr. Clarke's argument is that after all these ages of legal development on lines that are now found to be just the natural lines of investigation, and above all of scientific investigation, it is absurd for men to go back to the scholastic method of a fixed code.


From "The American Law Review," vol. xxxii, No. 4, p. 637, July-August, 1898: The briefest description of this work would be to say that it somewhat resembles, in outline and substance, the celebrated work of Judge Dillon on English and American jurisprudence and laws. It carries us into new lines of thought and widens out many fresh fields of discussion. It will repay reading by everyone who has time to think upon the foun- dations of the jurisprudence of his country.


From "The Nation" (New York), vol. xvii, No. 1729, p. 137, August 18, 1898; * * * Where we find ourselves at one with the author is in believing that some subjects lend themselves better to statutory, others to common law regula- tion.


From "The Law Quarterly Review," vol. xiv, No. 55, July, 1898: This book professes to be an introduction to law for the use of laymen, but it is really nothing but an elaborate argument against codification, in which the general reasons


pro and contra are set forth with sufficient fair- ness and, we venture to think, more than sufficient fulness.


From "The Athenaeum," No. 3695, August 20, 1898: "The Science of Law and Law Making," by Mr. R. Floyd Clarke (Macmillan & Co.), which purports to be an important philosophic, or at least scientific, inquiry of more than usual interest, because seldom undertaken, proves on perusal to be an unscholarly discussion of the comparative advantages of statutes or decisions as methods of legal expression. * * *


Admitting all he has to say as to the practical difficulties in the way of the statutory form, we still think that it is the right form to aim at, and Mr. Clarke's arguments to the contrary are far from being irresistible. We have not the space to go into the merits of the question, nor can it be urged that Mr. Clarke's treatment of it tempts his critics to do so. Law books are seldom happy in style, and in this respect his work can success- fully claim to be a law book.


From "The St. James' Gazette," vol. xxxvii, No. 5676, September 21, 1898: The latest discus- sion of the whole subject of codification is to be found in a bulky volume, the "Science of Law and Law Making," by Mr. R. F. Clarke, of the New York Bar. Mr. Clarke, who is a convinced opponent of codification, has spoiled his case by going too far and endeavoring to establish a fanciful theory as to the respective provinces of case and statute law. According to him, legal rules of conduct involving an ethical element should be left to be fixed by the common law in decided case; while rules about conduct ethically indifferent but requiring regulation for general convenience, say the rule of the road, should alone be left to the Legislature. * * *


On the general subject Mr. Clarke has much to say that is sound and ingenious; but the book is illarranged and intolerably diffuse.


From "The Irish Law Times and Solicitors' Journal," vol. xxxii, No. 1641, Saturday, July 9, 1898: * * * The fifth chapter, treating of English law as it is, is very interesting and novel in its methods, contrasting concrete examples of Statutes, of Reported Cases, of Text Books, of Digests. That dealing with English law as it would be if codified is also noteworthy. As regards Case Law the author asks if there is no relief from the ever increasing mass of Case Law, with its bulk, contradictions, and uncer-


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tainties. And certainly any one who has glanced through the American Digests will appreciate the query. He answers that a perfect system of law is unattainable and that both Statute and Case Law must continue to flourish side by side. Codi- fication of the Case Law of England is, he says, the mirage of enthusiastic speculation, and would be the forging of fetters on the Science of law, precluding its true development. To all interested in this Science the present work will prove the most interesting holiday reading.


From "The London Times," No. 35,559, Mon- day, July 4, 1898: Mr. Floyd Clarke has written a clever book though he does refer to Sir "Thom- as Moore" as Lord Chancellor, and though he maintains a thesis which is hopelessly wrong. "The Science of Law and Law Making" (Mac- millan) is another name for "No Codification." * * Perhaps the cleverest, and we are tempted to add, not the least absurd, chapter in the book is that in which Mr. Clarke seeks to show that there is scientific warrant for the dis- tinction between statute and case law; that their provinces are properly different; and that while statute law deals with morally indifferent con- duct, case law relates to ethical conduct. There are many things in the volume much more valu- able than these whimsical distinctions-or the contention that "the necessity for codification arises from the clash of wills." The author throws out several hints and suggestions well worthy of the consideration of law makers, and shows that much remains to be done to perfect the mechanics of legislation.


From "The Manchester Guardian," Tuesday, August 23, 1898, No. 16,235 : * * * * The book is indeed the most formidable attack on codifica- tion which has appeared for a long time-well planned, clearly written, ably and ingeniously argued.


From "The Canada Law Journal," vol. xxxiv, No. 17, October 15, 1898: * * * As the an- thor states, it is a curious fact that no work exists in which the general outlines of legal systems are explained in popular terms, so as to be intelligible to the ordinary man not versed in technicalities. The book is, firstly, an introduc- tion to the study of law and secondly, gives the ground work on which to build up an argument on codification. It should, therefore, be helpful to those students of the law who desire to be lawyers and not merely practitioners. It exhibits


much thought and research, and is written in an interesting style and clear in expression. There is entirely too little thought and time given to the study of foundational truths, such as are presented in this book, and the sooner the student is compelled to know more of the science of law and law making, the better for the profession.


From "The Evening Sun" (New York), Satur- day, June 3, 1899: The layman is accustomed to associate dullness with treatises on the law. But how foolish this notion is he would speedily admit were he to glance into "The Science of Law and Law Making" (Macmillan), by Mr. R. Floyd Clarke of the New York Bar. It is a philosophical and scholarly statement of first principles and their application. The great sub- ject is handled with such grasp and skill as to make the questions dealt with interesting to the least sympathetic. The volume, which only runs to 450 pages, is one which no lawyer's library should be without. As for the student and the legislator, they will find it the best possible in- troduction to what has been until recent years a puzzling and bewildering wilderness. Mr. Clarke speaks with authority, but in no case have we come upon a quotation in his book which could be described as having been used for the purpose of ostentation. * *


Were it only to be regarded as a book of reference, this treatise would be very valuable. Mr. Clarke has the trick of clever definition and apt illustration.


From "The Speaker" (London), vol. xviii, No. 466, p. 675, December 3, 1898: This is a very able, if somewhat diffusive, argument against the codi- fication of English case law, but we cannot ex- actly understand how it came to be labelled "The Science of Law." *


Mr. Clarke's book, though the unscientific lawyer may perhaps think it too conclusive to have needed writing, may with great confidence be recommended to all professors and laymen who take an interest in legal reform. It comes with added authority from across the Atlantic.


Munroe Smith in "The Political Science Quar- terly," vol. xiv, No. 2, p. 347, June, 1899, says : * * * He therefore begins at the beginning and writes "an introduction to law" which pre- pares the way for an exhaustive analysis of the difference between statutory and judicial law. This part of the work is well done, and the book can be cordially commended to every layman who


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desires a more definite conception of the ways in which law comes into existence. The method of concrete illustration is perhaps pushed to an ex- treme; the layman may be induced to read a case or two, and even a statute or two, but he is hardly likely to peruse with care extracts from a digest or the table of contents of a code.


As regards the treatment of the special question of codification, the book has great merits. The author really makes it possible for a layman to see, as few lawyers really see, what is meant by the "flexibility" of case law. When he says (p. 255) that "the case law deals with the actual phenomena, while the code law deals with human abstractions from the phenomena as the counters for its reasoning," he has really gone to the bottom of the question.


From "Law Notes," Northport, New York, January, 1900: * We do not know whether the author has had previous experience in literary work, but his book shows no signs of the prentice hand. One may open it at any page, and reading a sentence, his attention and interest are fixed at once. * * *


In the short space of this notice we can give no adequate idea of the charm of this book for a thinking reader. Any one who has read Buckle with delight cannot fail to be delighted with Mr. Clarke's essay. In its lucid and vigorous style it resembles the work of the distinguished philo- sopher-historian. But a more striking resem- blance is found in the fact that our author, like Buckle, ramsacks the whole realm of human knowledge in ardent search for analogies that will support his argument. And he finds them too.


Hon. John J. Dillon writes of the book : I have delayed writing you until I could find the time to read the volume, which I have now done with both pleasure and instruction. Its pages are replete with proofs of your wide reading and research, and of your own studies and reflection, and the results are embodied in this delightful volume. With here and there a slight reserva- tion, I am able to agree with you concerning the important subjects which you discuss.


Hon. William L. Penfield, Solicitor of the State Department, Washington, 1904, etc., writes : * * It is a solid contribution to the science of jurisprudence; its style is lucid and engaging, and I find it very readable and instructive.


ELY, Albert Heman,


Physician, Surgeon.


Dr. Albert Heman Ely, one of the most prominent physicians of New York City, was born November 22, 1860, in Elyria, Ohio. His ancestor, Nathaniel Ely, was born in England, doubtless at Tenterden, County Kent, in 1606, and received a common school education, as evidenced by the records left behind him. He came to America, it is thought, in 1634, in the bark "Elizabeth," from Ipswich, England, with his wife Martha, and a son and a daughter. His name is not on the pas- senger list, but that of his friend, Robert Day, appears, and as they settled on ad- joining lots in Newtown, Massachusetts Bay, now the city of Cambridge, May 6, 1635, it is reasonable to believe that they came together. In 1639 he was one of the constables of Hartford, and in 1643- 49 one of the selectmen. The name of Nathaniel Ely is on the monument to the memory of the first settlers of Hartford. He died December 26, 1675, and his wife, Martha, October 23, 1688. Samuel Ely, son of Nathaniel and Martha Ely, was born probably at Hartford, or Cambridge, Massachusetts, and died March 19, 1692. He removed to Springfield with his par- ents and married there, October 28, 1659, Mary, youngest child of Robert Day. Their sixteen children were all born in Springfield. Deacon John Ely, son of Samuel and Mary (Day) Ely, was born January 28, 1678, at Springfield, and died at West Springfield, January 15, 1758. He married Mercy Bliss, and their son, Ensign John (2) Ely, was born Decem- ber 3, 1707, at West Springfield, and died there May 22, 1754. He married, Novem- ber 15, 1733, Eunice Colton, born at Longmeadow, February 22, 1705, died March 29, 1778. Justin Ely, son of En- sign John (2) and Eunice (Colton) Ely,


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was born August 10, 1739, at West Springfield, and died there June 26, 1817. He graduated from Harvard College, 1759, and became a successful merchant in his native town, where he conducted a larger business than any other merchant. During the Revolution he was active in aiding the country, especially in collect- ing men who were drafted into the serv- ice and in providing for them afterwards. He married, November 9, 1762, Ruth, daughter of Captain Joel and Ruth (Dart) White, of Bolton, Connecticut, and had four children.


Heman Ely, youngest child of Justin and Ruth (White) Ely, was born April 24, 1775, in West Springfield, and died February 2, 1852, in Elyria, Ohio. Early in the nineteenth century he became in- terested in the purchase of lands in Cen- tral and Western New York, and under his direction large tracts there were sur- veyed and sold to settlers. At about the same time he entered into partnership with his brother Theodore in New York City, and was for ten years engaged with him in commerce in Europe and the East Indies. During this time he visited Eng- land, Holland, France and Spain, largely in the interests of his business. In France he lived long enough to acquire the lan- guage, and was in Paris from July, 1809, to April, 1810, where he was witness of many social and political events of his- torical interest. He saw in August, 1809, the grand fete of Napoleon and the Em- press Josephine, and in the evening at- tended a ball at the Hotel de Ville, where a cotillion was danced by a set of kings and queens. The following April, the Empress Josephine having in the mean- time been divorced and dethroned, he witnessed the formal entrance into Paris of Napoleon and Marie Louise of Aus- tria, and the religious ceremony of mar- riage at the chapel of the Tuilleries. At that time all Europe was under arms and


passage from one country to another was attended with the greatest difficulty and danger. Mr. Ely and a friend, Charles R. Codman, of Boston, in 1809 embarked for Holland from England in a Dutch fishing boat, were fired upon by gen- darmes as they tried to land, and only after a long journey on foot reached Rot- terdam and finally Paris. In 1810 he re- turned to America and the following year visited Ohio, and returned to New Eng- land by way of Niagara Falls, the St. Lawrence, and Montreal. In 1816 he again visited Ohio, and in February, 1817, accompanied by a large company of skilled workmen and laborers, he left the east for his future home. The new settle- ment was named by Mr .Ely, Elyria, and owed its prosperity to his life-long efforts. Mr. Ely was a Federalist in politics, of the school of George Cabot, Harrison Gray Otis and Thomas Handyside Per- kins. He married at West Springfield, October 9, 1818, Celia Belden, daughter of Colonel Ezekiel Porter and Mary (Par- sons) Belden.


Heman (2) Ely, son of Heman (1) and Celia (Belden) Ely, was born October 30, 1820, at Elyria. His mother died in 1827, and he was brought up by Rev. Emerson Davis, D. D., and his wife, of Westfield, Massachusetts. Later he attended the high school at Elyria and Mr. Simeon Hart's school in Farmington, Connecti- cut. He then returned to Elyria and en- tered his father's office, where he received a business training particularly in the care of real estate. He soon assumed the entire business. He assisted in the or- ganization of the first bank in Elyria, was chosen a director in 1847 and from that time has been connected with it as direc- tor, vice-president and president. It be- came in 1883 the National Bank of Elyria. In 1852, with Judge Ebenezer Lane and others, he secured the building of that section of the present Lake Shore &


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Michigan Southern Railway, then known as the Junction Railroad, from Cleveland to Toledo. From 1870 to 1873 he was a member of the State Legislature, and in- terested himself especially in the forma- tion of the state insurance department. He was a member of King Solomon's Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and was worshipful master from 1852 to 1871 ; of the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of Ohio, grand commander from 1864 to 1871 ; of the Supreme Council of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Free Masonry for the Northern Jurisdiction of the United States, and treasurer for some years. He was also a member of the Con- gregational church in Elyria, and for many years one of its officers. For ten years he served as superintendent of the Sunday school. He has spent some time in compiling the records of the Ely family. He married (first) in Elyria, September I, 1841, Mary, daughter of Rev. John and Abigail (Harris) Montieth, born in Clin- ton, Oneida county, New York, Novem- ber 12, 1824, died in Elyria, March 1, 1849. He married (second) in Hartford, May 27, 1850, Mary Frances, daughter of Hon. Thomas and Sarah (Coit) Day, born in Hartford, May 7, 1826.


Dr. Albert Heman Ely, son of Heman (2) and Mary Frances (Day) Ely, pre- pared for college at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, and entered Yale University, where he was graduated in the class of 1885 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He entered upon the study of his profession at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, and was graduated there with the degree of M. D. in 1888. He received his hospital experience as interne at St. Luke's Hospital in New York City. For about two years he traveled and studied abroad, attending lectures and acquiring hospital experience at Vienna. Since his return to this country he has been en-


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gaged in general practice in New York City. He is a member of the County and State Medical societies, the American Medical Association, and is a Republican in politics. He belongs to the New Eng- land Society of New York, the Univer- sity, Yale and Southampton clubs, and is a communicant of the Protestant Epis- copal church. He married, at Rochester, New York, October 7, 1891, Maude Louise Merchant, born at Rutland, Illinois, daughter of George Eugene and Frances (Sherburne) Merchant. Children: Regi- nald Merchant, born August 10, 1892, died August 21, 1892; Albert Heman, March 21, 1894; Gerald Day, October 7, 1896, died December 29, 1900; Francis Sherburne, November 7, 1902. Albert H. Ely, Jr., graduated at Yale, 1915, pre- pared at Hill School and for a year before he entered college traveled with the Por- ter E. Sargent School of Travel, going through all Europe, the Eastern Medit- teranean, Greece and the Dalmatia Coast. During the summer of 1914 he made a complete trip around South America through the Straits of Magellan and Pana- ma Canal. At present he is studying in Columbia Law School.


MILLER, Charles Ransom, Journalist.


Charles Ransom Miller, editor of the "New York Times," one of the leading newspapers of the country, is a descend- ant of an old English family. His an- cestor, Thomas Miller, yeoman, of Bis- hops Stortford (called usually Stortford), England, had by his wife Bridget, daugh- ter of Thomas Jernegan, seven children. John Miller, of Stortford, son of Thomas and Bridget (Jernegan) Miller, was a butcher, as shown by his will dated March 26, 1601, proved November 9, 1602. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Rich- ard Jardfeilde, of Stortford, and sister of


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John and George Jardfeilde. Their son, John (2) Miller, married, and had three children, according to parish records which run back to 1561. Thomas Miller, son of John (2) Miller, was born at Bis- hops Stortford, about 1610, came to Mas- sachusetts with his brother John in 1635, but did not settle in Dorchester, as the list of inhabitants of that town in Janu- ary, 1636, contains only John and Alex- ander. The first notice we have of Thom- as Miller is that he was enrolled as a free- man at Boston, May 22, 1639, residence Rowley. His first wife, Isabel, died in 1660, leaving one child, and he married (second) at Middletown, June 6, 1666, Sarah, daughter of Samuel Nettleton, of Milford, settled there in 1639. Benjamin Miller, son of Thomas and Sarah (Nettle- ton) Miller (senior so-called in Middle- town records), was born July 30, 1672, died September 12, 1737; he married, 1701, Mary Basset, born 1674, died De- cember 5, 1709. Their son, Benjamin (2) Miller, was born 1702, and removed to New Hampshire in 1738, as in the latter year and in 1753 we find him at Newing- Charles Ransom Miller, son of Elijah Tenney and Chastina C. (Hoyt) Miller, was born January 17, 1849, at Hanover. He attended the public schools of Han- over, the Kimball Union Academy at Meriden, New Hampshire, and the Green Mountain Institute at South Woodstock, Vermont, where he completed his prepa- ration for college. He entered Dart- mouth College and was graduated in the class of 1872 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1905 he was honored by his alma mater with the degree of Doctor of Laws. Columbia University conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Letters in 1915, and that year also he was elected to membership in the National Institute of Arts and Letters. From the time of his graduation from college until 1875 he was on the editorial staff of the "Republi- ton, and as late as June 5, 1783. He mar- ried, about 1730, Hannah, surname un- known. Benjamin (3) Miller, son of Ben- jamin (2) and Hannah Miller, was born between 1731 and 1735. He was in New- ington, New Hampshire, prior to 1775, when he removed to Brookfield, Massa- chusetts, but returned to New Hampshire about 1778-80, settling at Lyme, where he probably died. He married, in 1773, Esther, daughter of Elijah Clapp, and had four children. Elijah Miller, son of Benjamin (3) and Esther (Clapp) Miller, was born at Newington, in 1774, as his recorded age at death in New Hampshire State Official Register was sixty-three. He was baptized June 23, 1776, died Janu- ary 10, 1837. He was in the town of Lyme, New Hampshire, from 1780 to 1798, when he removed to Hanover, and can," at Springfield, Massachusetts, and




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