History of Columbia County, New York. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 16

Author: Everts & Ensign; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Ensign
Number of Pages: 648

USA > New York > Columbia County > History of Columbia County, New York. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 16

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HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Columbia county jury for a like offense, and convicted the same day ; and on the sixth day Philip Jansen was tried for a similar theft, the verdict of the jury being " not guilty as to stealing a gelding of a black color, but guilty of stealing one of a bay color." The same day the grand jury returned three other indictments, -- one for misdemeanor, one for theft of a bee-hive, and one against " Peter, a male slave, the property of Gerard D. Cook," for a theft of leather. The cow-stealer was convicted ; the bec-hive thief gave bail to the next oyer and terminer, at which term a swarm of witnesses was likely to appear. Two indictments against Cornelius Chatterton were tried, resulting in verdicts of " not guilty." On the 2d of April, 1788, Jacobus Kre- lenbergh, Philip Jansen, and John Davis, convicted of horse-stealing, were brought to bar for judgment. " And it being demanded of them severally what they had to say why judgment should not pass against them respectively, according to law, they severally nothing said other than what they respectively before had said. Therenpon it is con- sidered and adjudged by the court now here that the said prisoners be severally, for the felonies whereof they are severally convicted, taken from hence to the place from whence they came, and from thence to the place of execu- tion, and that they there be severally hanged by the neck until they shall be respectively dead. Ordered that the above sentence be executed on the 30th day of May next, between the hours of ten and twelve of the clock in the forenoon of the same day, and that the sheriff of Columbia County cause execution to be done accordingly." This ex- ecution took place in accordance with the sentence pro- nounced. Peter, the slave, received " thirty-nine lashes on his bare back, from the waist upwards, at the public whip- ping-post," and the cow-stealer was treated to a like inflic- tion.

At the second oyer and terminer, in March, 1789, the bec-hive thief was again held to bail to the next term, thus experiencing what to him at least were the sweets of the law's delay. Notwithstanding the severe sentence of the horse-thieves at the first oyer and terminer, there were found five indictments for stealing, one for burglary, and three for assault and battery at this term. At the third term, held June, 1789, eight defaulting jurors were fined forty shillings each, of whom four were farmers, three esquires, and one " a gentleman." Hon. John Sloss Ho- bart held the term. The bee-hive man was tried, and by the surplus of honey in the tongue of his counsel, or the lack of sting in the jury, was found not guilty. At the December oyer and terminer, 1789, Henry Mckinney and Timothy Jackson were indicted and tried for, and con- victed of, robbery, and sentenced, December 5, to be hanged December 18. Lawrence McDermod, prosecuting witness, received eleven pounds thirteen shillings for prosecuting the above prisoners to execution, Johannes J. Muller and Elizabeth Muller being the other witnesses for the State. Justice Yates presided, with Peter Van Ness, l'eter Silves- ter, Peter R. Livingston, and Israel Spencer associates, at the trial of the robbers.

In July, 1791, Peleg White, alias William Williams, was convicted on two indictments for larceny, and sentenced to receive thirty-nine lashes on that day (Saturday), thirty-

nine more on Monday following, and thirty-nine more on the next Saturday, at the public whipping-post. " Guss," a negro, indicted for a rape at the May sessions, 1791, was tried in the oyer and terminer, and convicted and sen- teneed to be hanged August 26. At this term Coroner Peter Bishop returned an inquisition on the body of James Robertson, killed by the accidental discharge of a gun in the hands of Mathew Van Deusen, while pigeon-shooting. At the December oyer and terminer Thomas Southward, Jonathan Arnold, John West, Abel Hackett, Ebenezer Hatch, Robert Boze, John Boze, John Rodman, Joseph Tickner, and Jacob Virgil were indicted for the murder of Cornelius Hogeboom, sheriff of Columbia county. The first named, Southward, was indicted, as the principal, in the first degree, and the others, as accessories, in the second degree. These persons were tried at the February term of the court, 1792, and discharged, the verdict of the jury being " We find the prisoners at the bar not guilty, and that he did not fly for it," Andrew Klaw, Jacob Mont- gomery, and Gerrit Rowen were sworn as triers to try the jurors as to impartiality or favor. Judge John Lansing, of the Supreme Court, William B. Whiting, Adgate, Peter Van Schaack, Philip Frisbie, Israel Spencer, David Pratt, and Peter R. Livingston were the judges.

At the October term, 1795, Justice Yates, and Greene and Silvester, judges, presiding, Jessap Darling, who was indicted at the May sessions for forgery, was tried and convicted, and sentenced to be hanged December 18, "within two miles of the court-house in Claverack, on or near the road leading to Kinderhook." John Thompson, convicted also of burglary, was arraigned for sentence of death, but judgment was arrested, and the case taken under advisement. At the next oyer and terminer, held Sep- tember, 1796, Thompson was sentenced to be hanged No- vember 10 following, Judge Lansing pronouncing the sen- tence. At the same term Samuel Freeborn, a slave, was convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to confinement for seven years "in the State prison to be built in Albany county, and till the same be ready" was to be confined in the county jail.

In June, 1797, Justice Morgan Lewis (subsequently governor of the State) presiding, David MeCraeken, in- dicted for forgery, was tried and convicted, and sentenced to confinement for life in the State's prison in New York city, and until the same was completed to be confined in the Washington county jail. Ambrose Spencer was attor- ney-general, and J. Rutsen Van Reusselaer and Elisha Williams defended the prisoner.

In 1798 the first indictment for passing counterfeit money was found, and Nathan Kent, the prisoner, was convicted, and sentenced to State's prison for life. The June oyer and terminer, 1799, was held by Justice (after- wards Chancellor) Kent. D. D. Tompkins, afterwards governor of New York, held the July oyer and terminer, 1806, and sentenced Ben, a negro slave, who was convicted of a rape, and Dan Beathew, convicted of burglary, to imprisonment for life. Cæsar Johnson, a black man, was transported for felony, in 1808. Daniel Burr, for sodomy, was sentenced to imprisonment for life, in 1810. In Octo- ber, 1812, John Prosser, for arson, was sentenced to a life

HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

imprisonment, and three accomplices received a sentence of fourteen years' confinement.

At the September oyer and terminer, 1817, Margaret Houghtaling, alias Peggy Densmore, was indicted and tried for the murder of a child, of which she was convicted, and sentenced to be hanged Oct. 17 following, and was executed. The next execution was that of Joseph Brown, alias Joseph Barney, indicted Jan. 15, 1868, for the murder of Angeline Stewart, alias Angie Brown, of Canaan, by burning her to death in a house which he set fire to. He was tried in April, before Judge Rufus W. Peckham, Supreme Court justice, and James E. Christie and George S. Snyder, justices of sessions, and convicted, and sentenced to be hanged May 30, and was accordingly executed. Hon. Jonas Platt, a justice of the Supreme Court, and L. M. Goes, R. I. Goes, and H. Dayton, commissioners of oyer and terminer, tried Margaret IIoughtaling.

Smith A. Bonghton ("Big Thunder") and Mortimer C. Belding (" Little Thunder") were indicted, February, 1845, for taking from the sheriff of Columbia county, on the 11th of December, 1844, certain distress warrants on the Livingston grants, and for such offense Boughton was tried at the March oyer and terminer. The trial began March 20, and the jury returned into court March 30, unable to agree upon a verdict, and were discharged. Fourteen witnesses were sworn for the people and thirty- one for the defense. The indictment charged riot, con- spiracy, and robbery. Hon. Amasa J. Parker, circuit judge, and Peck, Holdridge, Martin, Wilcoxson, and Clyde, judges, held the trial. Boughton was again brought to trial in September, 1845, before Judge Edmonds, as circuit judge, and associates as before. John Van Buren, attorney- general of New York, conducted the prosecution, assisted by Theodore Miller, district attorney. James Storm and Ambrose L. Jordan defended the prisoner. The jurors were Peter Gardenier, farmer, Kinderhook ; Bartlett V. Clark, merchant, Chatham ; Elisha Fingar, farmer, Ger- mantown ; Benson Simpson, merchant, Ilillsdale; Richard Van Alstyne, mechanic, Chatham ; Philander S. Gifford, farmer, Chatham ; James B. Van Valkenburgh, farmer, Chatham ; William A. Case, farmer, Chatham ; Abraham Van Dyck, farmer, Stuyvesant ; Jeremiah Manton, farmer, Stuyvesant ; Abraham Raymond, inn-keeper, Ghent; and Philip Mickle, farmer, Chatham. Forty witnesses were sworn for the people, and forty-nine for the defense. The suit was called Sept. 3, and the time from and including that day to the 17th, also inclusive, was occupied in im- panelling a jury, but four of the regular panel being ac- cepted. The first witness, Sheriff Henry C. Miller, on whom the outrage was committed, was sworn on the 17th, and the testimony was closed on the 26th. Mr. Jordan commenced summing up for the defense on the evening of the 26th, and closed at five o'clock on the evening of the 27th. The attorney-general opened for the people at half- past six o'clock P.M. on the 27th, and concluded at a quarter past four o'clock on Monday evening, the 29th. Judge Edmonds occupied three hours in charging the jury, who retired, under charge of four constables, at half-past eight P.M. on the 29th, and returned into court at half-past eight A.M. on the 30th, and reported their inability to agree,

and were sent baek. At half-past eleven A.M. they came into court again, and returned a verdict of guilty. Bongh- ton was senteneed to State's prison for life, but was pardoned by Governor Young, after a brief confinement. During the progress of the trial the attorney-general, Mr. Van Buren, and Mr. Jordan, attorney for the defense, indulged in a passage at arms, which resulted in the execution of the following order of the court :

"Sept. 4, 9 o'clock, A.M .- Ambrose L. Jordan and John Van Bu- ren having been severally guilty of disorderly and contemptuous be- havior during the sitting of this court, within the immediate view and presence, and directly tending to interrupt its proceedings and to impair the respect due its authority, it is ordered that the said Ambrose L. Jordan and John Van Buren be imprisoned in the county jail of the County of Columbia for the space uf twenty-four hours."

At the March term, 1846, five indictments against as many different persons were presented for appearing armed and disguised. These and seven other similar ones were nol. pros'd. in September, 1846, including the one against Belding.

At the April oyer and terminer, 1824, there was a gen- eral time of felicity. The grand jury had no business, and filed a congratulatory report with the board of supervisors on the good morals of the county, praised the jailer, and condemned the roof of the jail, and commended the alms- house and eity Bridewell of Hudson. Daniel Smith was the foreman, and Charles Esselstyne the clerk, of the grand inquest.

THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COLUMBIA COUNTY

was first held, for civil business, June 30, 1823, IIon. Samuel R. Betts, circuit judge, presiding.

THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK

held a special term in Hudson for the first time, beginning July 7, 1847, for equity business, Hon. Amasa J. Parker presiding.

The first judgment entered up in the courts of the county was by confession, Oct. 30, 1786. Previous to the first term of the court, so far as appears of record, there were judgments entered by confession amonnting to £685 1s. 8d., and numbered thirteen in all ; two of them entered by John Bay, three by K. K. Van Rensselaer, two by E. Gilbert, three by E. Pratt, and three by J. C. Wynckoop. The first one was in favor of Thomas Thomson, and against Jonathan Holcomb, for the amount of £32 damages and £3 14s. costs. The costs in the whole number of judg- ments amounted to £46 1d.

THE COUNTY COURT OF COLUMBIA COUNTY

held its first session in the fall of 1847, Judge John T. Hogeboom presiding,-the common pleas having been abolished from and after the first Monday of July, 1847.

TIIE SURROGATE'S COURT.

The first session of the surrogate was begun at Claver- ack, April 18, 1787, Killian K. Van Rensselaer being the first surrogate of the county. Petitions for letters of admin- istration on the estate of Sarah Van Hoesen, of Claverack, deceased, were filed, and letters were granted May 2 to Cor-

HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

nelius Van Hoesen, of Coxsackie district, Albany county. Bonds in the sum of one thousand pounds, New York cur- rency, were given, with Justice Van Hoesen, of Hudson, and Lawrence Fonda, of Claverack, as sureties. The let- ters are dated " in the eleventh year of freedom and inde- pendence," and run in the name of " the People of the State of New York, by the grace of God free and independent." The bond was conditioned for the returning of an inventory to the court of probates of New York, and the report of the administration to be examined and approved by that court. In August, 1787, the condition of the boud of Angus Mc- Donald, as administrator of the estate of Rodolphus Ding- man, of Claverack district, was for the return of the in- ventory to the surrogate court of Columbia county, but the final report was to be made to the court of probates. In 1802 administrators were under the full jurisdiction of the surrogate, all reports being returned to and approved by him, and wills probated also by bim.

The first will that appears of record in the surrogate's office is that of Lucas Goes, registered Jan. 21, 1804. It makes specific bequests to relatives, and gives a negro boy, " Dick," then sixteen years old, to the testator's wife, while she lives, and then he was to be sold to " a good master" to serve until he was forty years of age, when he was to be free. The money the boy Dick brought by his sale was to go to two devisees named. The testator manumitted his slave Harr and his wife. The bulk of the estate was de- vised to sisters and brothers and their children. The exec- utors were a brother of the testator, John Goes, Jr., and his nephews, Jacobus L. and James I. Van Alen. The will was dated August 21, 1803, and witnessed by Myndert P. Vosburgh, John Pennoyer, and Lucretia Vosburgh, who testified to the due execution of the will, and the competency of the testator to make the same, before W. W. Van Ness, surrogate, Jan. 13, 1804. On the same day letters testa- mentary were granted to the executors named in the will.

The second will was probated Jan. 27, 1804, the same being that of Zachariah Standish, a physician, who thus announced his faith in his ante-mortem statement : " Prin- cipally, and first of all, I give my soul into the hands of Almighty God, who gave it, and my body to the earth, to be buried in decent Christian burial, at the direction of my executors, nothing doubting but at the general judgment I shall receive the same again by the power of God."

Andries Shirts, inn-keeper in Livingston, devised two negro women slaves to his wife and daughter, for their use during life, and on the death of the devisees the slaves to be free. Their own decease may have enfranchised them sooner. An old lady gave a son a pair of " old calico cur- tains which she earned while living with him," and the remainder of her property to her daughter, with whom she was living at the time of her death.

The will of Johan Silbernagel, written in the Dutch language, was proven and recorded June 4, 1805. Its caption was as follows : " Diess ist mein wille und testament, und ich habe es bey volkomen Beweert seyn in Deutsche Sprache in Jahr nach Christte Gebert, ein tousand acht hundert und fienf, den achten tag Appriels."

Letters of guardianship were granted to Nathan Gillett, guardian of Nathan Gillett, Jr., son of Elizabeth Gillett,

of Chatham, Sept. 24, 1808, by Martin Van Buren, surro- gate, under the act of 1802 "authorizing surrogates to appoint guardians for infants." This was the first appoint- ment by the surrogate iu the county. The general sessions had appointed before. The first assignment of dower was made, also by Mr. Van Buren, the same year, the same being that of Christina, widow of Hendrik Scheelt, deceased, of Claverack. John J. Mesick, Harman Sagandorph, and John I. Miller were the commissioners.

In 1801, October 16, the first petition for the sale of real estate of a decedent to pay debts was filed, the same being in the estate of John C. Miller, Jr., intestate. The order of sale was granted December 6, under the act of March 27, 1801, " conferring additional powers on surro- gates," and was made by W. W. Van Ness, surrogate.

THE MAYOR'S COURT OF HUDSON.

This tribunal, though local, was nevertheless for many years an important one in the county, and as such deserves a notice in this connection. It was instituted with the charter of the city, in 1785, and had civil jurisdiction only. For the past thirty years its chief business has been the naturalization of aliens. Justices' courts and the police court now take its place in its former jurisdiction. The court, prior to 1854, for a time was held by three justices. In the latter year the first police justice was elected, and from that time to 1872 continued to be elected, but since then the office has been an appointive one. The court when first established was held by the mayor, recorder, and alder- men, or any three of them, of whom the mayor must be one.

The court opened for the first time, June 7, 1785, with the following presence: Seth Jenkins, Esquire, mayor ; Nathaniel Greene, recorder ; and Ezra Reed, William May- hew, Benjamin Folger, aldermen. There being no business, the court adjourned till the first Tuesday in July. At the July term there were nine cases on the docket, John Bay and Ezekiel Gilbert being the attorneys in attendance. Or- ders in each case were entered for pleas in ten days, or, in default, judgment would be entered for want of same, with one exception, in which the plaintiff was ruled to give security for costs. Andrew Mayfield Carshore was natur- alized in pursuance of the act of the Legislature to that effect. At the August term two cases had the same order for pleas : one fieri facias was returned by the marshal, who had seized thereon certain real estate, including the dwelling-house, store-house, shed, and brewery of John I. A. Moder, the writ being issued in favor of Cotton Gels- ton. A writ of venditioni exponas was ordered out on the same.

At the September term the first jury trial was had, the jurors being Titus Morgan, Reuben Folger, Peter Fields, Shubael Worth, Dan Paddock, William Tunnicliffe, Cotton Gelston, Silas Bunker, William Hardick, Nathaniel Porter, and Elihu Bunker. Thirteen witnesses were sworn for the plaintiff, Thomas Denton, and five for the defendant, Jacob Barnard. The jury gave the plaintiff twenty-four pounds damages and sixpence costs, and judgment nisi was entered on the verdict, Mr. Bay appearing for the plaintiff.

At the December term, Ambrose Spencer and H. L.

HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Hosmer were admitted to practice in the court. A seal bearing the device of an anchor, with the legend " Hudson Mayor's Court Scal," was adopted as the seal of the court. David Van Schaack and Herman Pruyn took the oath of allegiance to New York, Sept. 5, 1786, and also James Brebner. K. K. Van Rensselaer was admitted as an attor- ney of the court at this term.

In March, 1787, rules of admission to practice in the court were adopted, requiring of the applicant a certificate of three years' clerkship in the office of some attorney of the State, and also of good moral character.

The courts of justice which exercise jurisdiction over the people of Columbia county, within the bounds of the federal and State constitutions, at the present time are as follows :

THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Morrisun R. Waite, Ohio, chief-justice, appointed 1874 ; Nathan Clifford, Portland, Maine, associate justice, 1858; Ward Hunt, Utica, N. Y., associate justice, 1873; Wm. Strong, Philadelphia, Penn., associate justice, 1870 ; Joseph P. Bradley, Newark, N. J., associate justice, 1870; Noah II. Swayne, Columbus, Ohio, associate justice, 1862; John M. Harlan, Kentucky, associate justice, 1877 ; Samnel F. Miller, Keokuk, Iowa, associate justice, 1862; Stephen J. Field, San Francisco, Cal., associate justice, 1863; D. Wesley Middleton, of Washington, clerk ; William T. Otto, of Indiana, reporter ; John G. Nicolay, of Illinois, marshal. The court holds one general term at Washington, D. C., commencing on the second Monday in October.

UNITED STATES COURT OF CLAIMS.

Charles D. Drake, Missouri, chief-justice, commissioned Dec. 12, 1870; Edward A. Loring, Massachusetts, asso- ciate justice, commissioned May 6, 1858 ; Ebenezer Peck, Illinois, associate justice, commissioned May 10, 1863 ; Charles C. Nott, New York, associate justice, commis- sioned Feb. 22, 1865; W. A. Richardson, associate jus- tice, Massachusetts, commissioned June 2, 1874; Archibald Hopkins, chief clerk, Massachusetts.

THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES,

for the second circuit (including New York, Vermont, and Connecticut) .- Judges : Ward Hunt, associate justice, circuit judge, and the district judge. Terms of this court are held for the northern district of New York (including Columbia county) at Albany, second Tuesday in October ; Canandaigua, third Tuesday in June ; also adjourned term, for civil business only, at Albany, third Tuesday in Jan- uary, and at Utica, third Tuesday in March. Charles Mason, clerk northern division, office at Utica.

THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES,

for the northern district of New York .- William J. Wal- lace, district judge, Syracuse; Richard Crowley, district attorney, Lockport; Winfield Robbins, clerk, Buffalo; Isaac F. Quimby, marshal, Rochester. The terms of the court are held as follows : Albany, third Tuesday in Jan- uary ; Utica, third Tuesday in March ; Rochester, second Tuesday in May ; Buffalo, third Tuesday in August; Au- 9

burn, third Tuesday in November. Special terms are held by appointment at Oswego, Plattsburg, or Watertown; and a special session in admiralty at Buffalo, ou Tuesday of each week.

THE COURT OF APPEALS OF NEW YORK.

Sanford E. Church, Albion, chief judge; term expires Dec. 31, 1884. Associate judges : William F. Allen, Os- wego, term expires Dec. 31, 1878; Charles A. Rapallo, New York city, term expires Dec. 31, 1884; Charles Andrews, Syracuse, term expires Dec. 31, 1884; Charles J. Folger, Geneva, term expires Dec. 31, 1884; Theodore Miller, Hudson, term expires Dec. 31, 1886; Robert Earl, Herkimer, term expires Dec. 31, 1890. Edwin O. Perrin, clerk, Jamaica ; F. Stanton Perrin, deputy clerk, Albany ; Hiram E. Sickels, reporter, Albany ; Amos Dodge, crier, Albany ; Andrew J. Chester, attendant, Albany ; Jeremiah Cooper, attendant, Lenox.

THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK.

The general terms of the third judicial department, consisting of the third, fourth, and sixth judicial districts, holden by Wm. L. Learned, Albany, presiding justice ; and Augustus Bockes, Saratoga Springs, and Douglas Buard- man, Ithaca, associate justices.

THE CIRCUIT COURTS, COURTS OF OYER AND TERMINER, AND SPECIAL TERMS OF THE SUPREME COURT,

held in Columbia county, in the third judicial district, comprising the counties of Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Schoharie, Sullivan, and Ulster. - Judges : Theodore Miller Hudson, term expires Dec. 31, 1884 ; Charles Ingalls, Troy, term expires Dec. 31, 1885 ; Wm. L. Learned, Albany, term expires Dec. 31, 1884; Theo- dore R. Westbrook, Kingston, term expires Dec. 31, 1887.

THE COUNTY COURT.

Hon. Hugh W. McClellan, county judge, term expires Dec. 31, 1883; Levi F. Longley, clerk, term expires Dec. 31, 1879; H. M. Hanor, sheriff, term expires Dec. 31, 1879.

GENERAL SESSIONS OF THE PEACE.

Hugh W. McClellan, county judge, term expires Dec. 31, 1883; Philip Rockefeller, justice sessions, term ex- pires Dec. 31, 1878 ; Henry P. Van Hoesen, justice ses- sions, term expires Dec. 31, 1878; Levi F. Longley, clerk, term expires Dec. 31, 1879; John B. Longley, district attorney, terni expires Dec. 31, 1880; H. M. Hanor, sheriff, term expires Dec. 31, 1879.

SURROGATE'S COURT.

Isaac N. Collier, surrogate; term expires Dec. 31, 1883. THE MAYOR'S COURT OF HUDSON,

the police court of that city, and the several justices of the peace in the towns of the county.

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History of Columbia County, New York. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 16

Author: Everts & Ensign; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Ensign Number of Pages: 648

Author: Everts & Ensign; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Ensign
Number of Pages: 648