USA > New York > Herkimer County > History of Herkimer county, New York > Part 12
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Soon after the organization of the society, the citizens of Little Falls with commendable liberality contributed several hundred dollars for the erection and fitting up of a board of trade room, and it was completed in good style under the supervision of J. W. Cronkhite, of Little Falls:
When we consider that the annual product of cheese in America now amounts to 350,000,000 pounds, of which 130,000,000 pounds are an- nually exported, while the annual butter crop is not far from 1,000,- 000,000 pounds, all must admit that Herkimer county has a record in the history of dairying of which her citizens may well be proud. Mr. Moulton, in his recent address at the international dairy fair at New York, December 7, 1878, stated that within the last twenty years the export of cheese alone has been 1, 163,000,000 pounds ; and the total value of exported butter and cheese during the same time was $185,- 000,000. During the last ten years 885,000,000 pounds of cheese have been shipped abroad. Nearly all the factory cheese made in Herkimer county goes to England, and many of our factories have a deservedly
128
HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
high reputation among English shippers for the style and fine quality of their goods.
Many of the factories, like Old Fairfield, Newville, Eatonsville, Man- heim, Middleville, Crain's Corners, the Newport factories, managed by Mr. Babcock, some of the Winfield factories and others in the various towns throughout the county, are so well known abroad for the excel- lence of their product that orders are often sent from England to agents here to secure the weekly shipments.
Butter-making has never been extensively practiced as a specialty in Herkimer county, although considerable quantities of butter are made in the spring and fall in connection with cheese manufacture. The usual plan, in these seasons, when milk is delivered at the factories, is to allow farmers to skim one day's milk, or the night mess of milk, and then de- liver the skimmed milk. In farm dairies the milk is set for a longer or shorter period, and the skimmed milk made into cheese. But this practice obtains for the most part only in spring and fall, while some of the factories will not allow any skimming, believing that a high repu- tation can only be maintained by manufacturing at all times nothing but " full-milk cheese." A few creameries have from time to time been operated in the county. Among the earliest establishments of this kind may be named the Car Creamery, of Salisbury; the Nichols, of Norway ; the Barto Hill and North Fairfield, and the Whitman & Burrell factory, near Little Falls.
Since the foregoing paper was written but few changes have taken place in cheese- dairying in Herkimer county. The annual production of dairy products shows slight fluctuations from year to year but has neither materially increased nor decreased. The changes which have occurred have been mostly along the line of advanced methods in manufacture, the introduction of improved machinery into cheese and butter factories and of better blood into dairy herds. The machine recently invented by Dr. Babcock, of the Wisconsin Experiment Station, Madison, Wis., for testing milk to determine the amount of its butter fats, is now in use in some creameries and factories, while the separator is quite extensively employed in the manufacture of butter.
129
HISTORY OF CHEESE DAIRYING.
Dairymen are giving more attention to means for increasing the capac- ity of their herds, both with regard to production and quality of milk. The introduction of full-blooded males of the Holstein Friesian, Jersey and Guernsey breeds, for the accomplishment of this end, is conse- quently receiving considerable attention, which, with better care and management, is gradually improving the average of the dairy cows of the county. The silo, too, is beginning to command attention from the most progressive dairy farmers, a dozen or more being in successful operation in different localities in the county. A movement is also be- ing made in the direction of winter dairying, which bids fair to add new impetus to this already important and prosperous industry.
With regard to the cheese market at Little Falls : While there has been no material increase or decrease in the annual transactions since 1878, yet very much less cheese is being sold for shipment abroad, fully three- fifths of the product manufactured in 1892 having been purchased for home consumption. It is gratifying to note that the demand from this source is steadily increasing and that, without doubt, in a few years all the cheese made in the county will find an outlet through home mar- kets.
The importance of the dairy industry in Herkimer county will be better appreciated by consulting the following table showing the trans- actions of the Little Falls market for 1892, and also comparative sta- tistics with other years :
DATE.
SALES.
COM.
TOTAL.
LOW.
RULING. AVERAGE.
HIGH.
DAIRY.
April 25.
200
907
1,107
01. C.
9%. c.
.05
9% c.
100
May 2.
720
2,268
2,988
Q
9 --
1,912
821
2,733
4
9 4
.95
16_
3,878
729
4,607
1,6
.97
1011
688
23
4,129
741
4,870
.94
IO
533
30.
4,486
709
5,195
-
.963
10
914
15,325
6,175
21,500
June 6.
3,963
1,115
5,078
811
8 %
.853
94
913
13 --
5,202
948
6,150
71.
8
.808
8 .
805
20 __
6,766
1,569
8,345
81
.818
8 1.
831
27.
6,614
588
7,202
7
.83
834
868
22,555
4,220
26,775
July 4
6,18g
742
6,931
7
, 5
8
.8
1140
18
7,184
722
7,906
7 8
.835
900
25-
8,095
580
8,675
8
8 k
.838
84
808
28,125
2,898
31,014
1
81
.800
408
II.
6,657
1
845
1
7,502
78
.936
0 1/2.
150
515
1
17
130
HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
DATE.
SALES
TOTAL.
LOW
RULING. AVERAGE
HIGH
DAIKY
August 1
7.768
740
7,508
8 .
.867
9
870
15
.2
1.700
340
7.04 >
8
=
.877
796
5,900
2,670
38,030
September
7.297
559
7,856
8
.881
579
12
6,417
620
7,046
4
.945
-97
I )
7,270
420
8, 100
1
-
.082
IC
835
26,888
2.747
20,635
October ; ..
5,035
777
5,812
.00
989
10.
€,770
580
7.350
.97
1 1
076
17-
6,0 5
373
7,278
01
.07
1 .
106g
24
7,391
502
7,983
.067
-
780
5,987
5fc
6,547
.060
920
12,088
2,882
34.970
November 7
4,650
43
5,080
.066
534
14.
5.877
520
6.307
01
.072
10
827
21 --
5,172
350
5,522
.493
101
343
28 .. .
0,136
6,526
.1090
320
21,844
1,600
23,534
.0865
.0022
.0015
.095
. ; 881
Total
182,785
23,273
206,058
206,058
Number of pounds per box
60
Number of pounds sold
12,363,480
Average price per pound
.0015
Value of season's cheese
$1,131,258.42
Add value of dairy cheese
87,404.46
Total value ..
-$1,218,662,80
Comparing this result with that of the two previous years, the fol- lowing differences will appear .
1890
1801
1892
Number of boxes sold, including dairy
245,057
230,249
220,939
Highest price ..
LIC.
1031C.
Lowest price.
601.
71.C.
7C.
Average high for year
.0873
.0014
.095
Average low for year
. )743
.( 45
.0865
(General average .
.r 836
. ,885
.0915
Value of cheese in :800
$1,181,836.65
Value of cheese in 1891
1,202,7;8.70
Value of cheese in 1802
1,218,662.88
Difference in favor of 1802
15,924.1.5
7.700
506
8,2. 6
.801
=
065
481
7,086
.880
777
.882
.261
7,178
7,781
.071
740
634
6.543
Total number of boxes.
131
THE COURTS.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE COURTS, TIIE BENCH AND BAR OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
A LTHOUGH as a distinct county our records are comparatively re- cent, the early history of the Bench and Bar of Herkimer county takes us back to judicial systems very different from those with which we are now familiar and very similar to those of England. For the British governors after the peace of Westminster introduced such of the courts of the mother country from time to time as seemed adapted to the new colonies; and although our constitution of 1777 abolished such as were hostile to the democratic sentiments of the new era, it preserved with considerable entirety the legal fictions and the judicial systems of its inheritance. It was thus that the new county of Herkimer found in existence such courts as the Common Pleas, Chancery, Court of Pro- bate, Court for the Trial of Impeachments and the Correction of Errors, and others long since abolished or merged in those of the present day. The old Assizes had already passed away and the Federal constitution had taken from the State the Court of Admiralty ; but most of those mentioned above still attested our early relations with the complex system of England.
During the exciting times succeeding the administration of the tyrannical Governor Andros, and just after the execution of Leisler and the arrival of Governor Slaughter, and while the charter of liberties was agitating our colony, the Court for the Correction of Errors and hearing of appeals was established. It consisted of the Governor and Council, its powers resembling those of our present court of final resort. The Revolution necessitated a change which gave rise to the Court for the Trial of Impeachments and the Correction of Errors. The consti- tution of 1846 which made so many changes in our judicial system, entirely remodeled this court. It divided it, in fact, creating the Court of Appeals in place of the Court for the Correction of Errors, and leaving the Court for Trial of Impeachments still composed of the
132
HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
Senate and its president, together with the judges of the new court. The convention of 1867-68 reorganized the Court of Appeals, and in 1869 the people ratified the change, which resulted in the present court of final resort.
On account of the great mass of accumulated business, a Commission of Appeals was created in 1870, continuing until 1875, possessing sub- stantially the powers of its sister court, and designed to relieve the latter. In 1888 the Legislature passed a concurrent resolution that section 6 of article 6 of the constitution be amended so that upon the certificate of the Court of Appeals to the governor of such an accumu- lation of causes on the calendar ot the Court of Appeals that the public interest required a more speedy disposition thereof, the governor may designate seven justices of the Supreme Court to act as associate judges for the time being of the Court of Appeals, and to form a second division of that court, and to be dissolved by the governor when the said causes are substantially disposed of. This amendment was sub- mitted to the people of the State at the general election of that year and was ratified, and in accordance therewith the governor selected seven Supreme Court justices, who were constituted the second division of the Court of Appeals.
The Supreme Court's jurisdiction as it now exists is a combination of very diverse elements. The powers and jurisdictions of the Court of Chancery, the Court of Exchequer, the Court of Common Pleas, the Court of Oyer and Terminer, Probate Court, the Circuit Court and the Supreme Court proper, have all been combined to make up this im- portant branch of the judicial system. But during our early county history several of these courts existed independently of each other, some of the carly lawyers of Herkimer county being among their mem- bers. The Court of Chancery, which had been organized when the Court of Assizes was abolished, in 1683, was the beginning of the equity branch of the present Supreme Court. It was reorganized shortly after the Revolution and, with some slight modifications by the constitution of 1821, and by subsequent enactments, it continued until 1846, when it was merged into the new Supreme Court. Equity jurisdiction and powers are now exercised by the Supreme Court, its judges having powers that were formerly possessed by the chancellor.
mills
133
THE COURTS.
The Court of Exchequer, having been erected in 1685, was made a branch of the old Supreme Court just after the Revolution, and so con- tinued until finally abolished in 1830. In our earliest colonial history there had been a Court of Oyer and Terminer, but it was discontinued during the time of King William, its name, however, surviving to designate the criminal part held with the circuit. This brings us to the old Supreme and Circuit Court, with which the Court of Chancery united under the constitution of 1846, to complete the principal branch of our present system. In the early part of the century the Supreme Court of the State consisted of five justices. It had been the practice to hold four terms a year, two in Albany and two in New York ; but previous to that time and in the closing years of the last century, the circuit system was established somewhat on the plan of that of Eng- land. It was enacted that the judges should, during their vacations, hold courts in the various counties of the State, and return the pro- ceedings to the Supreme Court when it convened again, when they should be recorded and judgments rendered. A few years later the system was simplified by the division of the State into four judicial districts. To each of these districts was assigned a judge whose duty it was to hold circuits in each of the counties therein at least once in each year. It had already been enacted that the Courts of Oyer and Terminer (the criminal part, presided over by a Justice of the Supreme Court) should be held at the same time and place with the circuit, and should consist of the circuit judge, assisted by two or more of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas of the county. The circuit system was very similar to the present, excepting that our Special Terms are substituted for the Court of Chancery.
After the constitution of 1821, the State was divided as at present into eight judicial districts, each being provided with a circuit judge, in whom were vested certain equity powers, subject to appeal to the Chancery Court ; while the Supreme Court proper held much the same position as the present General Term. In 1846 the new constitution abolished the Court of Chancery, giving the powers theretofore held by it to the Supreme Court, which it reorganized substantially as it exists to- day. Such is the history in brief of the higher courts of this county and State.
134
HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
The system of local judicature was also changed to correspond with that of the State at large. The Court of Common Pleas, organized contemporaneously with the colonial Court for the Correction of Errors and Appeals, has given way to the County Court; while the offices of county judge and surrogate have been combined where the county pop- ulation does not exceed forty thousand During the eighteenth century the Court of Common Pleas consisted of a first judge assisted by two or more associates, all of whom were appointed by the governor. Its powers were very similar to those of the present County Court, the associate justices corresponding to the justices of sessions on the present criminal bench. The constitution of 1846 abolished the Court of Com- mon Pleas and created the County Court and Court of Sessions as they exist to- day.
The Surrogate's Court has undergone less changes than any of those we have described. In early times and before the Dutch supremacy was overcome by the English, there had been a short-lived Orphan's Court. Then the English government introduced the Prerogative Court, which in turn was superseded by the Court of Probates after the Rev- olution. Surrogates were then appointed in each county, having much the same powers as at present. This was the system down to 1823, when the Court of Chancery took the place of the Court of Probates in hearing appeals from the decisions of surrogates ; but the office of sur- rogate remained as before.
Our Justices' Courts and Courts of Special Sessions have remained substantially unchanged since the colonial period. The office of dis- trict attorney has undergone much change. Early in the century this State was divided into seven districts for each of which there was an assistant attorney-general. The present office, as distinct from the at- torney-generalship, was created in 1801. Since 1818 each county has had its own district attorney.
Previous to the erection of Herkimer county in 1791, the judicial affairs of the people where conducted at Whitestown in what is now Oneida county, and there the court-house and jail were situated. Upon the division of the county the records were kept by Oneida county. The proceedings of the Board of Supervisors for 1795 contain a record of the steps taken for the erection of the public buildings at Whitestown.
-
135
COUNTY BUILDINGS.
The committee having the work in charge made a report which con- tained the following :
The committee proceeded to make the apportionment, as follows, for the respective towns to pay, viz. : Herkimer, 140; German Flats, 185; Norway, 95; Steuben, 90; Whites (Whitestown) 150; Schuyler, 90; Brookfield, 23; Cazenovia, 30; Sangerfield, 20; Hamilton, 22; Sherburn, 15; Westmoreland, 60; Paris, 120.
The buildings at Whitestown were erected in 1793-4 and were used until Oneida county was taken from Herkimer in 1798.
The first court house for the use of the present Herkimer county stood on the site of the one now located at Herkimer village, and was a plain two-story wooden building. It stood until January 25, 1834, when it was burned with other property near it. It was a fortunate fire, for the building was a discredit to the community and of very little actual value. The jail, which was on the ground floor, would not con- fine a prisoner, unless he was a paralytic, and no one mourned its loss,
On the 31st of March, 1834, the Legislature authorized the super- visors to borrow from the common school fund, on the credit of the county, $4,600 with which to build a new court-house, and directed that a tax of $500 a year be levied on the county to pay the loan. Francis E. Spinner, Arphaxed Loomis, and Prentice Yeomans were named in the act as commissioners to superintend the erection of the building. The building was of brick and sufficed for the needs of the county for about forty years. When the erection of this building was contemplated an effort was made by citizens of Little Falls and vicinity to have the county seat removed to that place; but the effort was un- availing.
In the year 1873 the present court-house was built on the site of the old one, which was taken down. The new structure was designed to accommodate the increasing business of the county, and it is admirably adapted for the purpose. It contains offices for the judges and surro- gate, rooms for the supervisors, etc., and cost $45,000.
The jail, on the opposite corner from the court-house, was erected after the burning of the old court-house and finished in 1835, at a cost of $10,300. It is a substantial building and convenient for its purpose. Edmund Varney, Cornelius T. E. Van Horn, Isaac S. Ford, Jacob F. Christman, Warner Folts, Frederick P. Bellinger and Charles Gray were the building commissioners.
136
IHISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
The county clerk's office stands in the same grounds with the court- house, and is a substantial fire-proof structure. It was erected in 1847 by Aaron Hall.
Among the members of the bar of Herkimer county have been and now are many men of eminence in their profession. It is peculiarly appropriate that those whose attainments and public life are worthy of remembrance should receive recognition in a history of this county. Among the very early judges in the courts of the county were some who have already been properly mentioned in these pages, notably Judge Henri Staring, of Schuyler. Another, who was for many years a justice of the peace, was Sherman Wooster, of Newport. He was also appointed one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas in April, 1828, held the office one term and declined a reappointment. In 1822 he was elected to the State Senate, and made for himself an ex- cellent record during a very stormy session. In 1832 he was elected to the Assembly. In these various offices Mr. Wooster exhibited ster- ling qualities and more than average ability. He died in Newport in 1833.
Evans Wharry filled a prominent place in the early history of the county at the close of the war in 1783. He was a native of Orange county, N. Y., and took an active part in the Revolution. He settled in this county in 1785-6, and purchased a tract of land, which em- braced the home where he died, near Little Falls. This home is now known as the X. A. Willard farm and is still occupied by his descendants. He was a practical surveyor and was much engaged in that occupation. He was appointed one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas and a justice of the peace in 1798, and held those offices until 1805, when he was commissioned first judge, on the resignation of John Meyer. Under this appointment Judge Wharry held the office until he was sixty years old, the then constitutional limit. He was elected to the Assembly in 1800, and was one of the delegates from this county to the convention called by the Legislature in ISO1. He was again elected to the Assembly in 1803 and 1804. He was an active and suc- cessful politician, and during the Revolution was a personal acquaintance of Washington, Hamilton, Burr, and other distinguished leaders. He served his country well and faithfully, and died in 1831, at his home in the town of Little Falls.
137
BENCH AND BAR.
Edmund Varney came to the town of Russia in 1809, when it was a wilderness and became a successful farmer. He was born in Dutchess county in 1778. In 1812 he was appointed a justice of the peace, which office he held twenty-five successive years ; was clerk of the town many years, and five years one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas, after 1823. He was also supervisor five years, master in chancery, etc. In 1825 he was elected to the Assembly, and in 1841 to the State Sen- ate from the fourth district. Elevated in principle, and urbane in manner, he secured the respect and confidence of his associates and of the community. He died in Russia December 2, 1847.
In our history of Fairfield may be found some account of Nathan Smith, a pioneer of that town in 1790. He was a merchant, in con- nection with his brothers William and Samuel, and became a suc- cessful and prominent politician. In 1798 he was in the Legislature, and again in 1801 and 1802, He was appointed a judge of the Court of Common Pleas and justice of the peace in March, 1805, and in 1808 and 1811. He was chosen a senator in 1805 and held the office two full terms, by a re-election. In 1808 he was chosen as one of the council of appointment. During his incumbency in the Senate impor- tant legislation relating to the banks, as well as other matters, was en- acted, and Judge Smith demonstrated therein his fitness and ability as a legislator. After the close of his senatorial term he was appointed, in 1814, first judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and resigned in 1821. He died at Fairfield October 7, 1836, aged sixty-seven years.
George Rosecrantz was a son of Rev. Abraham Rosecrantz, the noted early German preacher. He was born on Fall Hill March 15, 1764, and died December 21, 1838, at the place of his birth. At the age of thirty-five he was chosen to the State convention with Evans Wharry and Matthias B. Tallmadge (1801) and in 1805 was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas, which office he held until 1821. In 1812 he was appointed by the Legislature one of the electors, and voted for De Witt Clinton. He was member of Assembly from the county in 1817 and 1818, and was chosen State senator in the spring of 1818. He possessed sound sense and discriminating judgment, and was indus- trious and diligent in his official duties.
Jacob Markell, of Manheim, born in Schenectady May 8, 1770, oc- cupied a position on the county bench. While Manheim was still a
18
138
HISTORY OF HERKIMER COUNTY.
part of Montgomery county he was made judge of the Court of Com- mon Pleas and was elected to Congress during the war of 1812. He was elected to the Assembly from Herkimer county in 1819. Ile " was very methodical in all his business affairs, and with other qualities possessed a shrewd and intelligent mind which, from long practice, had become considerably imbued with legal principles." He died in Man- heim November 26, 1852.
Sanders Lansing was born in Albany June 17, 1766, and was the youngest of four brothers. Educated to the legal profession, he re- moved to this county with his family in 1820 and settled at Little Falls. He was chosen delegate to the convention of 1821 with Sher- man Wooster and Richard Van Horn, and was appointed a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in March, 1821; reappointed in 1823 and held the office until 1828. He also was master in chancery and a com- missioner to perform certain duties of a justice of the Supreme Court at Chambers. Judge Lansing was most scrupulous in his faithful attend- ance upon his official duties, was pure in character, and enjoyed the es- teem of his fellows. He died in Manheim, where he lived a few years, September 19, 1850.
Michael Hoffman was born October 11, 1787, in Saratoga county. He began the study of medicine early in life, and obtained a diploma in 1807 ; began studying law in the following year and was admitted an attorney in 1815. In 1816 he was associated with Aaron Hackley at Herkimer, where Mr. Hackley had established himself in 1807. Mr. Hoffman, by assiduous attention to his profession and his native qualifi- cations, early placed himself in the foremost rank of attorneys. As early as 1819 he began active participation in politics and about the same time removed to Seneca county, but returned in a few years and resumed practice in Herkimer ; was appointed district attorney in 1823, and again in 1836, resigning in the following September. In 1824 he was elected to Congress, in which body he occupied a distinguished position during four terms on committees and in debate. On his re- tirement from Congress he was appointed canal commissioner, in 1835, but held the office only a short time. He was appointed first judge of the county in June, 1830, and held the office until 1833; represented the county in Assembly in 1841-42, and again in 1844. He was a
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