History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 37

Author: Ruttenber, Edward Manning, 1825-1907, comp; Clark, L. H. (Lewis H.)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1336

USA > New York > Orange County > History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 37

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Judge Wilkin is an eminently successful lawyer. His aid is sought in every important case which arises in his community. At the same time he has never aimed to promote vexatious and expensive litigation, and he possesses the entire confidence of his clients, of the courts, and of the public.

JOSEPH M. WILKIN .- Mr. Wilkin is descended from a family who represent four distinct nationalities, the German, French, Irish and Scotch, a detailed account of which is given in the sketch of Samuel J. Wilkin in this work. His grandfather, William Wilkin, was a resident of Hamptonburgh township, in Orange County, where his life was spent in farming pursuits and where his death occurred.

Among his large family of children was Daniel, who was born on the homestead and inherited his father's love for agricultural employments. He located in Hamptonburgh, and was married to Miss Harriet Haines, daughter of David Haines, of Montgomery. To this marriage six children were born,-John G., Moses B., Daniel F., Joseph M., and two daughters, Susan (Mrs. McWilliams) and Abbie (Mrs. Horn- beck), now deceased.

The birth of Joseph M. occurred April 18, 1828, at the paternal home in Hamptonburgh, where he re- mained until his fourteenth year, meanwhile turning his willing hands to farm labor or devoting his time to study at the district school. Being desirous to ac- quire a more thorough education than was possible within the confines of his own township, he entered the academy at Montgomery, and there prepared for college, having been admitted to the junior class of Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., in 1846, from which he was graduated in 1848, standing fifth in his class, and becoming a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He soon after engaged in teaching at the Kinsley Mathematical and Classical School at West Point, where three years were spent. Later the principalship of the academy at Montgomery was accepted, where an additional three years was passed

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The ancestors of the Grier family were of Scotch origin, fled to the north of Ireland during the persecution of the Presby- terians in Scotland, and the grandfather of Maj. Grier, a Pres- byterian minister, is supposed to be the progenitor of the family in Orange County, and who is known to have resided and preached in Wilmington, Del. His son was Rev. Thomas Grier, a well-known Presbyterian clergyman of Lancaster, Pa., who settled as pastor at Westtown, Orange Co., in 1808, where he preached for many years, and abont 1836 died in his pulpit at Cold Spring, Putnam Co., N. Y.

The children of Rev. Thomas Grier were William ; Maj. George M. ; Smith, was a merchant in Chambersburg, Pa., where he died abont 1870: Hon. Thomas Evans, a merchant at Pitts- ton, Pa., has been several terms a representative in the State Legislature ; Washington Decatur, was a physician, and died in Kentucky ; Jane, was the wife of John Wallace, of Milford, Pa. ; and John D. Grier, of Chambersburg, Pa., a merchant, and connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Maj. George M., son of Rev. Thomas Grier, was born in Lan- caster County, Pa., Sept. 27, 1802, and was therefore six years of age when his parents settled in Orange County. Ilis early education was received under the careful instruction of his father. At the age of eighteen he began the study of law with Hon. I. R. Van Duzer, a prominent lawyer of Goshen, was admitted to practice as an attorney at the Octoher term of the Supreme Court in 1826, and was associated until 1834 with Mr. Van Duzer in law practice.

Hle was appointed surrogate of Orange County hy Governor William 11. Seward, Feb. 7, 1840, and ereditably discharged the duties of that office for several years. Being related to the Seward family by marriage, he was made one of the executors of the late Samnel S. Seward's will, and had the principal charge of the estate.

lle was appointed major in the old State militia by Maj .- Gen. Gilbert O. Fowler, of Newburgh, by which title he was

familiarly known to the people of Goshen. IFe had a fondness for agricultural pursuits, and spent considerable time in the management of his farm, which lay just outside the limits of the village. Ile was, from its organization, a director of the Goshen National Bank, a trustee and member of the Preshy- terian Church at Goshen, and for nearly forty years officiated as clerk of the board of trustees.

Maj. Grier was a liberal, publie-spirited citizen, and highly respected for his integrity and frankness in all the business relations of life. He was prominently identified with local and State polities, and was chosen to fill many places of trust and responsibility at home. He was chosen a delegate to the Pittsburg Convention that placed Gen. Fremont in nomination for the Presideney of the United States in 1856, and he was also chosen one of the Presidential electors of New York at the November clection in 1860. Maj. Grier died Dec. 20, 18;8. llis wife was Frances, daughter of Freegift and Elizabeth (Sweezy) Tuthill, of Goshen, whom he married Ang. 7, 1833. She was born Jan. 16, 1804, and died Fch. 7, 1860. Her mother, Elizabeth Sweezy, was a niece of the late Judge Samuel S. Seward, and cousin of Ilon. William H. Seward. Her father, Freegift Tuthill (for many years a merehant in Goshen), was son of Joshua and grandson of Freegift Tuthill, who was born on Long Island, Ang. S, 1698, married Abigail Goldsmith, who bore him three sons and one danghter, and removed to Orange Connty about the year 1733 with his family. In the history of Cornwall and Blooming-Grove, members of the Tuthill family are mentioned as taking an active part in the public affairs of the towns as early as 1765-67.

The last-named Freegift Tuthill was a son of John, and grand- son of John Tuthill, who was horn July 16, 1635, and is sup- posed to have heen the progenitor of the family on Long Island from England.

The surviving children of Maj. Grier are George and Thomas E., merchants in Goshen, and two daughters, Mary and Frances.

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as instructor. Mr. Wilkin having determined upon the choice of a profession, entered the National Law School at Poughkeepsie, then a popular institution under the direction of John W. Fowler, from which he graduated in 1854, having previously studied under the direction of Robert Proudfit, Esq., of Newburgh. At a general term of the Supreme Court held at New- burgh, N. Y., in June, 1854, he was admitted to prac- tice in all the courts of the State of New York.

In October of the same year he removed to the South, and having been admitted to practice in all the courts of Tennessee, located at Nashville in that State. Here he became extensively engaged in pro- fessional labor, and remained thus employed until 1861. Mr. Wilkin was an unflinching advocate of the cause of the Union, and popular feeling through- out the South at the opening of the late war rendered a further residence at Nashville impracticable. He | returned to Montgomery, and was, Nov. 6, 1861, . He was one of the directors of the Orange County

married to Miss Catherine, daughter of llarvey D. Copley, of Montgomery. Their children are Louise C., John Flavel, Harriet and Joseph M.

During the year 1865 the company was organized for the construction of the Montgomery and Erie Railroad, of which Mr. Wilkin was elected president.

He devoted his energies for two years to the build- ing of this road, of which he was general superin- tendent until 1872, and is still the efficient president. He, in 1871, resumed professional labor in Mont- , his fellow-man, or debating the political questions of gomery, and is now engaged in active practice. He is also a director of the National Bank at Walden.

Mr. Wilkin is an earnest advocate of the principles of the Republican party in politics. He was edu- cated in the faith of the Presbyterian denomination, and still worships with that church.

1823 .- Daniel H. Tuthill, Goshen; Isaac R. Van Duzer, Goshen.

Gedney, of Newburgh, and shortly afterwards he pur- chased the old Hurtin homestead of Mr. Aspinwall, of New York, where he resided for the rest of his life, and where his family still live. He soon took and re- tained a commanding position in his profession, and his practice extended through this county and the neighboring counties on all sides. For some years the late Hon. George M. Grier was associated in busi- ness with him. In 1833 he became one of the firm of Van Duzer & Sharpe, associating with himself Wil- liam F. Sharpe, Esq., who still survives him as the Nestor of the county bar. He served as district at- torney for some years, resigning the office in 1835. He is said to have been equally at home in his office- work and before the courts, and to have been able to dictate two bills in chancery by alternate lines at the same time. He was one of the original incorporators of the Orange County Mutual Insurance Company. Bank, and a vestryman of St. James' Episcopal Church for many years.

Mr. Van Duzer, soon after his entrance into profes- sional life, commenced to take a strong personal inter- est in the politics of the day, and was closely and prominently identified with the local politieal move- ments. He possessed, in a rare degree, the gift of oratory, and whether presenting a technical point of legal logic, or entreating with a jury for the life of

the day, he is said to have been equally ready and - successful. He represented his district in the State Assembly during the sessions of 1832 and 1833, and there made conspicuous his abilities of tongue and pen. In the session of 1833, as chairman of the com- mittee on Ways and Means, he made a report on the subject of the State canals and the proper disposition of the revenues arising from them.

ISAAC R. VAN DUZER .- The late Hon. Isaac Reeve llis position on this and other questions brought Van Duzer was born in the town of Cornwall, Orange , him into collision with the powerful Albany regency who then controlled the policy of the State govern- ment. He was fearless and outspoken in his able denunciations of what he believed to be the misman- agement of the public funds and other matters, and the regency in return made open war upon him

Co., May 8, 1802. IFis father, Isaac Van Duzer, was of the old Dutch blood that first settled this State, and was one of the prominent business men of that locality, and possessed many of the same strong elements of mind and character afterwards displayed by his son. His mother's name was Keturah Reevs. After re- ! through their organs in Albany and Orange County. ceiving a good academic education, Isaac R. Van Duzer studied law with William A. Seely, Esq., a dis- tinguished lawyer of New York City, and was ad- mitted to practice in the Supreme Court, Aug. 15, 1823. He was rarely gifted both in mind and person for the honorable profession which he had chosen, and soon found that he had made no mistake in his choice. He commenced the work of his profession at his native place, but partly influenced by a desire for a more central field of action, and partly influenced by the

In view of the personal and bitter nature of these attacks, Mr. Van Duzer felt called upon to vindicate himself by legal proceedings, and he finally succeeded in fully punishing his assailants both at home and in Albany. In 1834 the Whig ticket, on which he was a candidate for re-election, was defeated in State and county.

Some years before this Mr. Van Duzer had been identified with the administration party. In 1832, President Jackson had vetoed the bill which had friendship of Gen. George Wickham, the president of , passed Congress extending the charter of the United the Orange County Bank at that time, he moved to States Bank, and in 1833 had caused the removal of public funds from that bank to certain State banks. Goshen, the county-seat, about 1826. IFe was married Dec. 14, 1826, to Annie E. Gedney, daughter of Dr. These measures gave rise to great public excitement

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

at the time. Whatever may be concluded by the dis- interested student of history as to the justice of the President's opposition to the United States Bank, there seems to be little doubt of the great injustice of the arbitrary methods pursued by him in attacking it. This alienated many supporters of the President and strengthened the opposing party. About this time Mr. Van Duzer became one of the prominent leaders among the Whigs or anti-regeney men of this county. With him in this movement may be grouped, among others, Gen. Wickham, George M. Grier, Albert S. Benton, Judge Fullerton, and Joseph Davis.

He lived to see the party of his later choice become triumphant in State and nation, for William II. Sew- ard, formerly of this county, was elected Governor in 1839, and a Whig President, Harrison, was elected in 1840.

Mr. Van Duzer died of consumption, Nov. 27, 1841, in the fortieth year of his life. It is the unanimous verdict of those living who remember him that he would probably have attained very high public honors if his life and health had been prolonged to the years of old age. The general impression of those now living who were brought into personal contact with him is, that he was one of the most impressive and magnetic men of his day, that he was an orator of rare powers of eloquence and logic and gifted with a mag- nificent voice, that he was studious, painstaking, and honorable in the practice of his profession, and withal one of the most successful lawyers that Orange County has known.

Ile lett surviving him five children,-Charlotte, who married the late J. W. Gott, Esq. ; Kitty, who married Henry Strong, Esq., now president of the Bank of Green Bay, Wisconsin ; George W., who died in early manhood; the Hon. G. Gedney, a promising young lawyer, who died in 1859; and Isaac R., who became a merchant in New York City, and died in 1875.

1824 .- Theodore S. Fisk, Newburgh ; James D. Bull, Philip Millspaugh, Montgomery.

1825 .- Agricola Wilkin, Goshen ; Abraham Crist, Montgomery ; E. C. Sutherland, Cornwall ; James G. Clinton, Newburgh ; Benjamin H. Mace, Newburgh.

BENJAMIN H. MACE, although an active politician, had little legal practice. He was postmaster of New- burgh, and an inspector of State prisons. He also held several local positions. In his latter years he devoted attention to real estate and to grape culture. He died Nov. 21, 1879, in his seventy-seventh year.

JAMES G. CLINTON was the son of Gen. James Clinton, of New Windsor, and half-brother to De Witt Clinton. He was a master in chancery, and a rep- resentative in Congress. He died May 28, 1849, in his forty-fifth year.

E. C. SUTHERLAND was for many years in suc- cessful local practice at Cornwall.

ABRAHAM CRIST removed to Williamsburgh.

1826 .- William C. Hasbrouck, Newburgh ; George 31. Grier Goshen.

WILLIAM C. HIASBROUCK was a descendant of Abraham Hasbrouck, who settled at New Paltz in 1675. He was born Aug. 23, 1800; married Mary E., daughter of William Roe, June 28, 1831; died No- vember, 1870. He graduated at Union College at the same time William H. Seward was an under- graduate, and soon after removed to Franklin, Tenn., where he became principal of the academy founded by Bishop Otey. Among his pupils and friends there were many then and since distinguished in the his- tory of the nation, among whom were John Bell, Sam Houston, Felix Grundy, Andrew Jackson, and Mat- thew F. Maury. Returning to the North, he became principal of the Farmers' Hall Academy, at Goshen, in 1822, and commenced there the study of law with Mr. Wisner. He completed his legal studies with William Ross, in Newburgh ; was admitted to the bar in 1826, and rose rapidly to rank in his profession. He was frequently the candidate of his party for po- litical honors ; but, his party being in the minority in the district, he was without success. He was, how- ever, elected to the Assembly of 1847, and was chosen Speaker of that body. Ile was a man of high bear- ing, spotless character, and a chivalric sense of honor and duty ; few m'en enjoyed a more unblemished repu- tation, both at home and abroad. In person he was tall and slender, of attractive presence, and courteous manners ; liberal in his charities ; American in every aspiration of his nature.

Mr. Hasbrouck's oldest son, William H., is a prac- ticing lawyer. His second son, Henry C., graduated at West Point Military Academy, May, 1861 ; served as lieutenant under Capt. Griffin, Fifth Artillery, U.S.A., in first Bull Run, also at Miner's Hill and Newport News; promoted captain Fourth Artillery, and in service in the Modoc campaign. Roe, his third son, graduated at Harvard College in 1876; since de- ceased.

1827 .- Alsop Woodward.

1828 .- John E. Phillips, Brookfiekl ; Coe S. Brad- ner, Mount Hope.

1830 .- Wm. F. Sharp, Goshen ; Joseph V. Whalen, Montgomery ; William J. Street.

JOSEPH V. WHALEN is referred to in connection with his father, Dr. Whalen, of Montgomery.

1831 .- Wm. B. Wright, Newburgh ; Nathan West- cott, Goshen ; Chas. Mason, Newburgh.

CHAS. MASON studied law in Newburgh after graduating at West Point. He subsequently removed to Wisconsin.

NATHAN WESTCOTT was the son of David M. Westcott, for many years connected with the press of Goshen. He was county clerk in 1849. For several years of his life he suffered from paralysis of his limbs, resulting from being accidentally thrown from a wagon, and the distinction which he might have attained at the bar was defeated. He died in 1879.

WM. B. WRIGHIT was the son of Samuel Wright and Martha Brown, his wife, and was born in New-

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burgh, April 16, 1806. His father was a ship-carpen- ter, and he himself an apprentice, in his early years, to the business of printing under Ward M. Gazlay. He was an industrious boy and much of a student, and found his way, after his apprenticeship, to the office of Ross & Knevels, where he read law. On his admission to the bar he practiced in the office of Samuel J. Wilkin, at Goshen, and there, as well as at Newburgh, was connected with the press. Indeed, his early life was very much mixed up with mechan- ical, editorial, and legal pursuits. From Goshen he removed (1835) to Monticello, where he settled down to a quiet local practice, in which there was no ex- ample of industry or brilliant genius. At one period his life was a failure, but in 1846 he succeeded in the election as delegate to the Constitutional Conven- tion, where he made some friends and acquaintances. In 1846 he was elected member of Congress by a combination of Whigs and Anti-Renters, and gained such additional notoriety that he secured a combina- tion nomination for justice of the Supreme Court, in which station he remained by re-election for twelve years. In 1861 he was elected judge of the Court of Appeals, and served in that capacity until 1868, when he died. In his judicial position his whole character underwent a change, so greatly so indeed that Ward Hunt, his associate judge, could say with truth, "His enduring monument will be found in the reports of the decisions of this court. Patient, laborious, learned, clear-minded, and discriminating, he ranks honorably in that long line of distinguished men who bave pre- sided on this bench." With the ability and determi-

Not long after his admission to the bar he held the - position of postmaster at Goshen for several years. In 1849 he held the office of county clerk of Orange County by appointment. In the earlier part of his professional career he was also, for some years, one of nation to adapt himself to the opportunity, Judge ' the proprietors and editors of the Goshen Democrat and Whig.

Wright secured a reputation which few of his con- temporaries attained. During the latter years of his life his residence was at Kingston.

1833 .- Alfred D. Walden, Walden; Horace W. Armstrong, Newburgh.

1835 .- George W. Lord, Mount Hope; John J. Monell, Newburgh ; George Van Inwegen, Deerpark.

JOHN J. MONELL was the son of Samuel Monell, of Montgomery, in which town he was born. His mother was Elvira, daughter of John Scott, and her sister, Catharine Lydia, was the mother of John A. C. Gray, of New York. Ile studied law under .John W. Brown, and practiced in Newburgh for many years, during which time he served one term a judge of the County Court. He was active in local societies and associated enterprises, and deserves more credit in these connections than has been awarded to him. His residence has been at Fishkill for some years; and his more active business relations have been in connection with the publication of the New York Evening Post. His first wife was Mary E., daughter of Nathaniel Smith, of Connecticut; and his second, Caroline De Wint, widow of Andrew J. Downing.

1838 .- George W. Niven, Newburgh.

1839,-Nathan Reeve, Newburgh ; Benjamin F. Duryea, Goshen ; Chris. Van Duzer.

1840 .- Aaron B. Belknap, Newburgh ; Daniel B. Boice, Newburgh; Joseph W. Gott, Goshen ; William Fullerton, Newburgh ; John L. Bookstaver, Mont- gomery.

JOSEPH W. Gort, a prominent lawyer of Orange County for many years, was born May 25, 1814, in the town of Austerlitz, Columbia Co., N. Y. His father, Storey Gott, was a well-known and lifelong resident of that locality.

Mr. Gott passed much of his boyhood at Red Rock, Columbia Co., and in 1834 entered Union College, Schenectady, N. Y. That institution of learning was then under the admirable care of Dr. Eliphalet Nott. He was one of the founders of that large and well- known secret fraternity, now represented in most of the leading colleges, known as "Psi Upsilon." He graduated honorably in 1837.

In the same year he came to Goshen to reside, and assumed the position of principal of Farmers' Hall Academy, which he held for two years. He then turned his attention to the study of law, and pursued his studies with the firm of Van Duzer & Sharpe, and in 1842 was admitted to practice. From that time until his death, in 1869, he was in constant practice of his profession in the community in which he had taken up his residence, and became thoroughly iden- tified with this locality.

He was a communicant and vestryman of St. James' Protestant Episcopal Church for many years.

He was married, Jan. 27, 1847, to Charlotte Van Duzer, daughter of the Hon. Isaac R. Van Duzer, now deceased, a prominent lawyer and ex-member of the Legislature. For many years he was a partner of the late Judge Samuel J. Wilkin.

In 1858, his health having suffered severely from too intense application to the demands of a large busi- ness, he made a trip to Europe, but found there only temporary relief from the bronchial trouble with which he was afflicted. His life was much prolonged by his temperate habits and rigid observance of the laws of health. He literally died in the harness, attending to his professional occupations until shortly before his death, which happened Jan. 6, 1869.

Mr. Gott was not, in one sense of the word, a public man. He was not ostentatious in his life, nor did he aspire to political preferment. But he was probably as well known in the line of his profession as any of his contemporaries in this county. He had several opportunities to form very profitable professional connections in New York City and elsewhere, but preferred to continue where he had begun his profes- sional career.

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He was a steadfast Whig until the formation of the Republican party, and then an earnest adherent to the latter while he lived. lIe was a strong personal friend of Secretary W. H. Seward.

He was of an eminently literary turn of mind, and owned and made practical use of a large and well- selected fibrary.

The true lesson of Mr. Gott's life and professional success is contained in the following extract from the resolutions passed by the bar of his county, Jan. 13, 1869, and now entered upon the record of the court minutes :

" Resolved, That the earnestness and assidnity with which our deceased friend labored to protect and secure the rights and interests of those whom he served entitled him to the public confidence he so largely enjoyed, and that his distinguished success was achieved, not by uuprofessional artifice, but by the devotion of his laborious life to high professional duty.

" Resolved, That the career of the deceased has closed with no stain of professional dishonor resting upon it, proving that no sacrifice of fair- ness, truth, and integrity is necessarily involved in the exercise of great professional zeal and the attainment of an exalted professional reputation."

Mr. Gott left two children,-a daughter, Annie, and a son and namesake, Joseph W., the latter of whom graduated at Yale College in 1873, and Columbia Law School in 1875, and has been engaged in the practice of law in Goshen since 1875.

1841 .- Chancey F. Belknap, Newburgh; John C. Dimmick, Goshen.

1842 .- Alexander Wilkin, Goshen ; John S. Thayer, Newburgh ; Stephen B. Brophy, Newburgh ; John G. Wilkin, Middletown.

1843 .- Robert S. Halstead, Newburgh ; James W. Fowler, Newburgh ; Benjamin F. Dunning, Goshen.

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History of Orange County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 37

Author: Ruttenber, Edward Manning, 1825-1907, comp; Clark, L. H. (Lewis H.) Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1336

Author: Ruttenber, Edward Manning, 1825-1907, comp; Clark, L. H. (Lewis H.)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1336