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 24
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Court of the United States, which he long adorned by his great abilities. Van Ness fell a vietim to an insidious dis- ease, and in 1823, at the early age of forty-eight years, closed a professional and judicial career of uncommon brillianey. Grosvenor was also dead. Oakley was soon appointed to the bench of the Superior Court in the eity of New York. Van Buren had already, to a great extent, withdrawn from the practice of his profession, which he never again resumed to any marked degree, having entered the Senate of the United States in 1821, where he remained for many years. Of those just referred to by name, Wil- liams alone remained on the theatre of his former labors to claim or dispute pre-eminence with old or new competitors.
But Columbia county was not undistinguished in the next decade in the walks of the legal profession. There were (not to name others) Williams and Jordan and the
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Vanderpoels (James and Aaron), Monell, Tallmadge, Bush- nell, Killian Miller, and Robert H. Morris. Of these, it is no disparagement to the others to say that in the forensic department of the law Williams and Jordan took the lead. They were both, though widely different, highly accom- plished advocates. Williams was probably the greater genius, Jordan the more accomplished scholar ; Williams was rapid, ready, and impetuous, Jordan was more cau- tious, deliberate, and reflecting ; Williams would rush into the forensic battle relying upon the resources of his genius, Jordan would give to every cause the most careful prepara- tion. The latter was not so much distinguished for quick- ness of perception in the rapid change of tactics, yet no living speaker had a finer vocabulary at his command, was keener at repartee, or knew better how to put the right word in the right place. Jordan was a man of fine person, of dignified and commanding presence, and easy aud graceful elocution, of impressive manner, of musical voice, and of great fluency of speech. Though not indifferent to political advancement, he wisely confined himself for the most part to the appropriate duties of his profession, where, more than in any other sphere, he was adapted to shine; he was, nevertheless, in several instances the recipient of political and official honors,-those already alluded to,-he having been surrogate and district attorney of Otsego county while resident therein. In 1821, soon after his removal to Hud- son, he was appointed recorder of that city, which office he held for several years. In 1824 he was elected to the Assembly. In 1825, for a period of four years, to the Sen- ate of this State, which office, after three years' service, he resigned. In 1846, though then a resident of the city of New York, he was elected to the constitutional convention from the county of Columbia, and in 1847 he was made the first attorney-general of the State under the new con- stitution.
But, as I have said, his tastes as well as his mental en- dowments inclined him to the practice of his profession. He continued to reside in Hudson until the year 1838, and was largely in demand as counsel in the neighboring circuits. Williams had died in 1833 ; but, in addition to those of his own county, Jordan found able antagonists in various por- tions of the State, prominent among them being Samuel Stevens, Marcus T. Reynolds, Henry G. Wheaton, Henry R. Storrs, and Samuel Sherwood.
In 1834 he removed to the city of New York, and there for a period of twenty years he was laboriously engaged in the practice of his profession, taking high rank therein, especially in the department of advocacy, among the distin- guished lawyers of the metropolis. He never failed to serve his clients with devoted zeal and uncompromising fidelity ; and if in the heat of forensic contest he, like others of his profession, sometimes indulged in a vein of ridicule, of sarcasm, or of severe denunciation, for which he was well qualified by the copiousness and force of his vocabulary, no one who knew him will ever deny to him the possession of an honest, manly heart, or believed him to be insensible to the instincts of generosity and friendship.
But the burden of his professional cares was ultimately too weighty for even his vigorous constitution, and-some- where I think about the year 1859-he was stricken down
with paralysis, and this calamity necessitated his withdrawal from active pursuits. Since that time he lived for the most part in the privacy, serenity, and happiness of domestic life, and has at last yielded to that summons which all must ultimately obey.
His talents and his virtues entitle him to a more ex- tended and formal notice, but I have thought this brief tribute would not be altogether unacceptable to his friends from one who knew him well.
AMBROSE L. JORDAN.®
The death of one so distinguished as Ambrose L. Jordan is an event which emphatically calls forth from those who liave been associated with him in professional life tokens of respect and manifestations of personal regard.
The name of Mr. Jordan is associated with my earliest recollections of the bar of this county. I well remember the part he took in the trial of Taylor, for murder, and in the case of Poucher vs. Livingston, two of the most cele- brated cases in the annals of the law in this county.
While I was a student, Mr. Jordan occupied a most com- manding position at the bar. He was engaged in most of the cases which were tried, and he brought to the trial ability, eloquence, and wit which made him a most formid- able antagonist and a most successful advocate. The trial of a cause in those days was an intellectual contest, a glad- iatorial combat of mind against mind, which elicited all the powers and capacities of the man, and all the learning and genius of the advocate. Those may perhaps be character- ized as the brilliant days of the profession, when eloquence, learning, and debate were permitted free scope, without the restraints which increasing business and modern rules have imposed.
In those days the courts were the great forum for the exhibition of clashing intellects striving for the mastery. When Williams and Jordan, and their compeers, Miller, Monell, Bushnell, Edmonds, and others, entered the arena, it was a struggle of giants.
Mr. Jordan was distinguished for his manly beauty. With an erect, commanding form, an expressive face, and an eye which, in moments of excitement, flashed like the eagle's, his appearance never failed to attract attention and to create a most favorable impression. I have often thought that, in the prime of his life, he was the perfection of phys- ical and intellectual manhood.
His style of oratory was of the highest order of forensic eloquence, his voice as soft and musical as the tones of the flute, his manner dignified and commanding, his elocution most fluent and graceful, and his diction in the highest de- gree terse, vigorous, and elegant.
Although cool and deliberate in the trial of causes, he was quick at repartee and keen and unsparing in invective .. He was the possessor of rare wit and a bitter sarcasm, qual- ities which were often displayed in his addresses to jurics as well as in the cross-examination of witnesses. Unfortu- nate indeed was he who became the subject of his scathing rebuke. No speaker had greater power of scornful ex- pression than he possessed.
# Written by Hon. Theodore Miller soon after Mr. Jordan's death ..
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Mr. Jordan was a man of great industry. His cases were always prepared with the utmost thoroughness. The large amount of business which claimed his attention made his life one of incessant labor. Gifted as he was, self-reliant as he was, yet he never, until near the close of his life, relaxed his habits of study and labor.
Mr. Jordan removed from this city to the city of New York about the time I was admitted to the bar. There a larger field opened to him, and compensation more com- mensurate with his great abilities rewarded his efforts.
No lawyer could be more devoted and faithful to his clients, or more carnest and effective in his advocacy of their rights.
In private life Mr. Jordan enjoyed the esteem of all who knew him. He was a man of generous sentiments, he had a high sense of honor, and was just and upright in all his dealings.
He occupied during portions of his life places of political distinction, and it may be said that he enjoyed a full share of public honors, yet he never sought position or honors save those which belonged to his profession. His heart was in the profession to which he devoted himself. He loved its learning, its principles, its contests, and its victories with the enthusiasm of the true lawyer.
The name of Ambrose L. Jordan will occupy a place not only with those who have conferred distinction on this county, but with the most distinguished and honored men of the State.
He has gone to his last rest full of years and crowned with the triumphs of a brilliant career. He left the field of his labors with a character unblemished, and with a professional renown which will make his bright example an encourage- ment to those who are traveling the same rugged path of professional labor.
THOMAS P. GROSVENOR.
Mr. Grosvenor was born December, 1780, in the town of Pomfret, in the State of Connecticut. He spent about two years at Williams College, and then entered Yalc Col- lege, at the age of sixteen, and received the honors of that institution in the summer of 1800. Having finished his collegiate course with distinguished reputation, he im- mediately commenced the study of the law, under the in- struction of his brother-in-law, Elisha Williams, of Hudson, and in 1803 was admitted an attorney of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. Before his death he had successively become an active member of the courts of law and equity of this State and of the United States. Soon after his admission as an attorney he opened an office in the village of Catskill, and entered upon the duties of his profession. Naturally possessing a clear head, a warm heart, and a giant intellect, a few efforts at the bar ac- quired for him the character of an able and successful advocate. Early in the summer of 1807 he removed from Catskill to Hudson. Here, having a wide field for the dis- play of his legal acquirements and forensic talents, his pro- fessional avocations were followed with brighter and more alluring prospects of distinction and usefulness. The electors of the county of Columbia, in April, 1809, nomi- nated him as one of their representatives in the State 13
Legislature. No means which could blight the character or wound the feelings of an honorable and conscientious man were deemed unwarrantable or left untried by his political adversaries to defeat his election. Passion and party prejudice transcended the bounds of moral rectitude, and the contest was severe but fruitless; he was returned a member of the Legislative Assembly of the State. The ability and integrity with which he discharged the duties of a legislator, during the session of the succeeding winter, eminently entitled him to the love and confidence of his eonstituents. He was accordingly re-elected in 1810, and again in 1811. During part of this period he executed the office of district attorney, having received a commission for that purpose in the spring of 1810. In the fall of 1812 he was elected a representative to the Thirteenth Congress of the United States, and at the same time to supply a vacancy in the Twelfth Congress, occasioned by the resig- nation of Colonel Robert Le Roy Livingston. After his re-election to the Fourteenth Congress, in the spring of 1814, he chiefly resided in the city of Baltimore. He died at Belmont, near Baltimore, on the 22d of April, 1817, in the thirty-seventh year of his age.
We extract from an obituary notice of Mr. Grosvenor, published in the Alexandria, Va., Gazette, soon after his death, as follows :
" His eloquence may be said to have amongst us consti- tuted a species. What is true of him would not be true of any other orator,-at least on this side of the Atlantic; nor do we know of one by a comparison with whom an adequate conception of Grosvenor's eloquence would be conveyed. Its kind was the same as that of the illustrious Charles James Fox ; in degree alone its essential difference consisted. The same ardent feeling, earnestness, and ani- mation ; the same overflowing fullness of conception and tumult of thoughts, which seemed as if they would burst the bosom that contained them in their struggles for pre- cedence; the same apparent artlessness of arrangement, which diffused the glowing tint of nature through the complexion of every speech, and imparted to it a beauty and effect beyond the skill of wrought-up rhetoricians ; the same disdain of factitious, vulgar logic, and useless, gaudy drapery ; the same constant intermixture of matter of fact and plain common sense with the most acute, refined, sub- tle reasoning, which distinguished Mr. Fox from all other orators, constituted the pre-eminent characteristics of Mr. Grosvenor's eloquence, and gave it that singular, felicitous advantage so seldom possessed by that which amongst us courtesy calls eloquence, namely, the stamp of sincerity and feeling.
" It is certain that no man of discernment could have seen much of the great British orator and of Mr. Grosve- nor, when figuring in their respective senates, without pro- nouncing the latter to be the Charles Fox of the new world. ... We have been told that a very able and acute speaker,* the representative in Congress from one of the new States, who had experienced the effect of these powers, once said, that for readiness and strength on any and every topic that arose in debate, or, as he emphatically called it,
# Mr. Grundy, of Tennessee.
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'rough and tumble' in argument, Grosvenor had not an equal in Congress."
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BUTLER,
the son of Colonel Medad Butler, was born in Kinderhook (the part which is now Stuyvesant), Dec. 15, 1795. He studied law with Martin Van Buren, and on being admitted to the bar, in 1817, became his partner. He was ap- pointed district attorney of Albany county in 1821, and held the office four or five years. In 1825 he was ap- pointed one of the commissioners to revise the statutes of New York, and in 1828 was a member of the State Assem- bly. He was attorney-general of the United States under General Jackson in 1831-34, and acting secretary of war from October, 1836, to March, 1837, and from 1838 to 1841 he was United States district attorney for the south- ern district of New York. He was district attorney of the United States for the southern district of New York, by appointment of President Polk (after declining the office of secretary of war, tendered by him), from March, 1845, till September, 1848, when he was removed. He afterwards returned to the practice of the law in New York city, and was principal professor of law in the University of the City of New York, of which he had been one of the founders. During the greater part of his life he was an influential member of the Democratie party; but on the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill abolishing the Missouri compro- mise he joined the Republicans, and voted for Fremont in 1856.
JAMES VANDERPOEL.
Judge James Vanderpoel, son of Isaac Vanderpoel, was born in Kinderhook, Jan. 10, 1787. He was educated principally at Kingston, Ulster Co., and studied law with Francis Silvester, in Kinderhook, and afterwards with at- torneys in Kingston.
He commenced the practice of his profession in 1808, at Kinderhook, where he remained until 1832. He was elected to terms in the Assembly in 1810, 1816, and 1820, and was appointed surrogate of Columbia in 1812. He was appointed judge of the common pleas of Columbia in 1825, and circuit judge of the third circnit, by Governor Throop, in 1831. In the following year he removed to Albany, where he acquired a high reputation as a lawyer and a judge. As circuit judge of the third judicial district of this State, he was distinguished for learning, ability, and promptitude, for rapid and clear-sighted views of the law and the facts, as he was also in his intercourse with his fel- low-citizens for all manly and honorable qualities. Hc died Oct. 3, 1843, universally esteemed and regretted.
AARON VANDERPOEL
was born in the town of Kinderhook, on the 5th day of February, 1799. His education was acquired at the com- mon school and at the academies of Kinderhook, and Lenox, Mass., which instruction was supplemented by classical training under his brother James, and Peter Van Schaack, Esq. He studied law in the office of his brother, and im - mediately after his admission to the bar ( May, 1820) joined in professional partnership with him.
He was elected member of Assembly in 1825, and was again elected to the same office in 1829, and in both these sessions be took a prominent part in the debates. He was elected to Congress in 1832, 1834, and 1838, remaining in that body until March, 1841.
The stringent measures growing out of the veto of the bill to re-charter the United States Bank all originated soon after his first election, and agitated, during his whole term of service, not only the national Congress but the whole country. During all this time he was a firm supporter of the administration, having the full confidence of Presidents Jackson and Van Buren, of both of whom he was a warm personal as well as political friend. The files of the con- gressional debates and records of the proceedings show that he brought to the discharge of his duties during that period the same energy, industry, and ability which characterized his life.
After his retirement from Congress, in 1841, he re- moved to the city of New York, where he resumed his profession, and in 1843, after a residence of less than two years, he was appointed one of the judges of the superior court of that city, and served in that capacity seven years, ending on the 1st of January, 1850. He was a man of the most distinguished talents and tireless industry.
JOHN P. VAN NESS
was born in Claverack district (the part now the town of Ghent), in 1770. He was educated at Columbia College, and studied law with Brockholst Livingston, in New York city. He commenced the practice of law in his native county, but did not long continue in it on account of ill health.
In 1801 he was elected to Congress from the Columbia and Rensselaer district, and this led to his marriage, in 1802, with a very wealthy lady of Washington, and his removal to that city as a place of residence. He became mayor of Washington, president of the Bank of the Me- tropolis, and major-general of the militia of the District of Columbia. He was one of the most prominent and infin- ential men in the capital city, and died there in March, 1846.
WILLIAM P. VAN NESS
was born in what is now the town of Ghent, about 1777; was educated at Columbia College, studied law with Edward Livingston, in New York, and commenced the practice of his profession there about 1800. He was appointed judge of the United States district court for the southern district of New York, by President Madison. He was Colonel Burr's second in the Hamilton duel, and was author of a pamphlet signed " Aristides," a most bitter attack upon political opponents, but which evinced such remarkable powers of mind that Hammond says it had not been equalcd in style since the days of "Junius." He died suddenly in New York, Sept. 6, 1826.
CORNELIUS P. VAN NESS.
Governor C. P. Van Ness was born in the town of Kin- derhook, January 26, 1782. At the age of eighteen he entered the law-office of his brother, William P. Van Ness,
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in New York. He was admitted to the bar in 1804, and in the spring of 1806 he emigrated to Vermont, and located in the town of St. Albans, but in 1809 he removed to Burlington. In 1809 he was appointed United States dis- triet attorney for the district of Vermont, and was made collector of customs for the district in 1813. In 1816 President Madison made him commissioner on the part of the United States to settle the northeastern boundary. In 1818 he was elected to the Assembly of the State, and in 1821 was appointed chief-justice of the Supreme Court of Vermont, which he held for two years, and was then elected governor of the State, to which office he was twice re-elected. In 1826 he declined re-election and returned to his profes- sion, which he pursued for three years, and in 1829 ten- porarily suspended it to accept the office of minister pleni- potentiary and envoy extraordinary to the court of Spain, which had been tendered him by President Jackson. Gov- ernor Van Ness was a brother of John P. and William P., and a cousin of the gifted Judge W. W. Van Ness; and his career certainly did credit to his family name and to the county of his nativity.
WILLIAM J. WORTH.
General William J. Worth was born in 1794, in a house which is still standing, on the south side of Union street, between Second and Third, in the city of Hudson. In this city, for a considerable time during his youth, he was a elerk in one of the stores.
Upon the breaking out of the last war with England young Worth was one of the first to apply for a military commission, and on the 19th of March, 1813, he was ap- pointed first lieutenant in the Twenty-third Infantry. In the battle of Chippewa he acted as aid-de-camp to General Scott, and was commissioned captain, Aug. 19, 1814. For good conduct in the battle of Niagara he received the com- mendation of his superior officers, and was advanced to the rank of major. At the close of the war he was placed in superintendence of the military academy at West Point. He was brevetted lieutenant-colonel, July 25, 1824; ap- pointed major of ordnance in 1832, and colonel of the Eighth Infantry, July 7, 1838.
In the Florida war he performed excellent service. He was brevetted brigadier-general, March 1, 1842. He fought the battle of Palaklaklaha on the 19th of April in that year, completely defeating a large body of Seminoles, and capturing their chiefs.
In the Mexican war General Worth was with Taylor's column, and his second in command, leading the main part of the corps to the Rio Grande, while Taylor moved towards Point Isabel. Soon after he was superseded in the command of his division by General Twiggs, who, arriving on the ground, claimed the command by priority of com- mission. Upon this General Worth, considering himself aggrieved, left the army, proceeded to Washington, and tendered his resignation, but at the same time expressed the hope that if actual war should take place, he might be permitted to resume his place in the army.
" While at Washington the aspect at the seat of war changed. News arrived of the danger of Taylor at Fort
Brown, and soon after of the march to Point Isabel, and the battles of the 8th and 9th of May. Worth immediately applied for his commission ; it was granted, and he hurried on to Texas. He was received by General Taylor with open arms, and condneted the negotiations attending the capitulation of Matamoras.
" But another and nobler field was now offered to him at Monterey. General Taylor, with the generosity of a true soldier, intrusted him with the attack upon the Bishop's palace, an almost impregnable fortress, commanding a steep and rocky height, and the key of the road to the interior. This was considered by the whole army as an almost des- perate undertaking, and none who saw the division of the general march from the camp towards the palace expected to see half of them return.
" The peculiar situation of Worth favored this belief, as it was supposed that, in order to atone for his lost oppor- tunities and stop the voice of calumny, he would rush head- long into danger, and reeover his reputation at every hazard. Worth acted differently. He felt his duty to the soldiers, and allowed no personal feeling to hinder its execution. Where the Americans expected the heaviest loss, and per- haps total failure, they were scarcely injured. During the whole time the troops labored in range of the enemy's guns, crossing ravines, climbing rocks and ledges, wading through water and carrying their cannon up precipitous cliffs. Worth was all the time on horseback, riding from post to post, and using every effort to cheer his men in their labori- ous duties. His conduct is mentioned by the commander in terms of the warmest approbation.
" Worth was one of the commissioners at the negotiations for the capitulation, and performed efficient service during the evacuation of the city. He was subsequently detached to Saltillo, where he remained until January, at which time he marched for the Gulf coast to join General Scott.
" At Vera Cruz, General Worth was the first officer that formed his troops in line after their landing. His services in the siege were valuable; and he was the head of the American deputation to arrange the terms of capitulation. When the Mexicans had left the city, Worth was appointed governor, and occupied it with his brigade. His prompt and exact measures soon resuscitated the trade and com- merce of the city, and repressed the disorders which had long disgraced it.
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