USA > New York > Putnam County > History of Putnam County, New York : with biographical sketches of its prominent men > Part 55
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Mr. Fish is now well along in years, and has laid off the bur- den of public life. His son, Hamilton Fish, jr., who inherits
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in a large degree the abilities of his father, has taken up his mantle, however.
Mr. Fish married Miss Kean, a descendant of Peter Van- burgh Livingston of New Jersey. He spends most of his time at present in his beautiful city residence at No. 251 East 17th street, changing this during the summer season for his country home in Putnam county. From these he continues to watch with interest the progress of national affairs.
HON. EDWARDS PIERREPONT, late Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States at the Court of St. James, is a direct descendant of the Rev. James Pierrepont, of New Haven, and was born at North Haven, in 1817. He graduated at Yale College, in the class of 1837, with very high honors, having been prepared in the Hopkins Grammar school, of New Haven, under the charge of Rev. Noah Porter, after- ward the president of Yale College.
After completing his legal studies at the New Haven Law School, under Judge Daggett and Judge Hitchcock, he com- menced the practice of his profession at Columbus, Ohio, in 1840, continuing there until January, 1846, when he removed to New York, where he now resides. He was married in 1846, to the daughter of Samuel A. Willoughby, of Brooklyn. In 1857, he was elected a judge of the Superior Court of the City of New York, in place of Chief-Justice Oakley, removed by death. His first public speech which attracted attention was delivered on the death of Theodore Sedgwick, about a year and a half before the fall of Fort Sumter, in which Judge Pierrepont foreshad- owed the war. To this speech the "New York Herald," De- cember 15th, 1859, called especial attention.
When he resigned his seat upon the Bench, in October, 1860, and returned to the practice of his profession and attention to public affairs, he wrote a letter to the governor upon the ap- proaching corruption in the government, which attracted great attention. From the letter we extract the following:
"The more intelligent portion of our citizens give the subject of their government no united attention; they are intent on wealth; madly hastening to be rich; leaving justice, order, and government to take care of themselves, or to be cared for by those who will trample them in the dust. If the wise, the
Engyby HB Hall & Sons, New York.
HON. EDWARDS PIERREPONT. LL.D. D. C. L. ATTORNEY GENERAL IN THE CABINET OF GENERAL GRANT.
ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY AND MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY AT THE COURT OF STJAMES 1876-1877.
HURST-PIERREPONT, IN THE HIGHLANDS.
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wealthy, the honest and the intelligent will not combine for good government, the wicked, the idle and the dishonest will com- bine for bad government; and they will govern; and through the forms of law, in the shape of taxation and other legalized jobbery, they will strip the children of the industrious rich, of their carefully conserved estates, leaving them in poverty the more hopeless from the very wealth in which their childhood was pampered. Government will be administered by somebody: that may be relied upon. If the wise and good will not attend to it, fools and knaves will. If our rich, intelligent, and honest citizens think these things of no moment, they will let them alone, as they have heretofore done; but they may rely upon it, these things will not let them alone."
From the first gun that was fired upon Fort Sumter, Judge Pierrepont took a zealous interest in the Union cause, and was one of the most active members of the famous "Union Defence Committee of the City of New York." To this committee large sums of money were intrusted through private subscriptions, besides a million of dollars raised under the following
ORDINANCE.
" An ordinance making an appropriation in aid of the defence of the National Union, and authorizing the borrowing of money for that purpose.
"The Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York, in Common Council convened, do ordain as follows:
"Sec. 1. The sum of one million dollars is hereby appro- priated for the purpose of procuring the necessary equipment and outfit of the military force of the City of New York, now engaged, or which may hereafter be engaged, in the service of the state of New York in pursuance of the requisition of the President of the United States, and to provide for the aid and support of the families of such of the officers and men so engaged as may require the same.
"Sec. 2. The money so appropriated shall be paid by the Comptroller upon vouchers to be approved by a committee to be known as the " Union Defence Committee of the City of New York," consisting of the Mayor, Comptroller, President of the Board of Aldermen, President of the Board of Councilmen, and the following named citizens:
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HISTORY OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
Moses Taylor,
Edwards Pierrepont,
Moses H. Grinnell,
Richard M. Blatchford,
Royal Phelps,
Alexander T. Stewart,
William E. Dodge,
Hamilton Fish,
Greene C. Bronson,
Samuel Sloan,
William M. Evarts,
John Jacob Astor,
John J. Cisco,
William F. Havemeyer,
James T. Brady.
Charles H. Russell,
Simeon Draper,
Rudolph A. Witthaus,
James S. Wadsworth,
Charles H. Marshall,
Isaac Bell,
Prosper M. Wetmore,
James Boorman,
Robert H. McCurdy,
Abiel A. Low,
who were appointed at a public meeting held at Union Square, on Saturday, the 20th day of April, instant, to collect funds and transact such other business in aid of the Government as the public interest may require.
"The vouchers aforesaid shall be certified in writing by the chairman of the said committee."
The Massachusetts troops having been attacked in Baltimore on their way to the defense of the capital, and all the usual communications having been cut off between New York and Washington, the city sent a committee of three to make their way as best they might to the seat of government, to confer with the president and cabinet. Thurlow Weed, William M. Evarts and Edwards Pierrepont were selected and they forth - with proceeded on their way toward Washington, but on reaching Perryville they found that no communication through Baltimore could be had. At Perryville they took a little gun boat, and went down the river to Annapolis, then held by Gen- eral Butler. Under an escort of troops directed by General Butler, they started for Annapolis Junction. The rails in many places had been torn up by the rebels and had to be re. laid, which was accomplished by General Butler's men, who were quite equal to the necessity. In that way the committee finally reached Washington, and this was the first time that Mr. Pierrepont had ever seen Mr. Lincoln, but from that time to the day of Mr. Lincoln's murder the intercourse was fre- quent and intimate.
In 1862, he was appointed by the president to act as a commis- sioner (in connection with Major General Dix) to try the prison -.
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ers of State, then confined in the various forts and prisons of the United States. Upon the assassination of the president, in April, 1865, he was one of a committee selected to attend the funeral of the lamented Lincoln. In 1864, he was one of the most active in organizing the War Democrats in favor of the re election of Abraham Lincoln, and made many speeches and was very active in that contest. In April, 1867, he was elected a member of the convention for forming a new Constitution for the State of New York, and was one of the Judiciary Commit- tee. In the spring of 1867, lie was employed by the Attorney General, Hon. Henry Stanbury, and the Secretary of State, Hon. William H. Seward, to conduct the prosecution, on the part of the government, against John H. Surrat, indicted for aiding in the murder of President Lincoln. This celebrated trial commenced before the United States District Court, in the city of Washington, on the 6th day of June, and lasted until the 10th day of August, 1867.
He has been engaged as counsel in the trial and arguments of very many celebrated cases, and was much employed by rail- road and other corporations. In the presidential contests of 1868 and 1872, Judge Pierrepont was an ardent supporter of General Grant, making numerons speeches on the republican side, many of which have been published. Upon his accession to the presidency in 1869, General Grant appointed Judge Pierre- pont, Attorney of the United States for the Southern District of New York, which office he resigned in July, 1870.
In the autumn of 1870, he was one of the most active of the "Committee of Seventy " against the "Ring Frauds " of New York.
During the contest between General Grant and Mr. Greeley in 1872, Judge Pierrepont was particularly active, making many speeches both in New York and Pennsylvania in support of General Grant.
Judge Pierrepont received the honorary degree of LL.D., June, 1871, from Columbia College, Washington, D. C. (having in that year delivered the oration before the graduating class of the Law School of that institution), and also in 1873, the same degree from Yale College.
In May, 1873, Judge Pierrepont was appointed American Minister at the Russian Court, an honor which he declined. In June, 1874, he delivered a remarkable oration in the Center
38
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HISTORY OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
Church, of New Haven, before the Alumni of Yale College, which was published. In April, 1875, he was appointed At- torney General of the United States, and remained in the cabi- net of President Grant until May, 1876, when he was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States, at the Court of St. James.
While Attorney General he argued all the more important causes on the part of the government, among which were the noted Union Pacific Railway Case and the celebrated Arkansas Hot Springs Case. During his term of office he was called upon by the Secretary of State to give an opinion upon a great ques- tion of international law, which gave him a wide reputation in Europe.
" Department of Justice,
" Washington, June 26, 1875.
" SIR :- The facts upon which the Secretary of State asks the opinion of the Attorney General, are these: Mr. A. Steinkanlar, a Prussian subject by birth, emigrated to the United States in 1848, became naturalized in 1854, and in the following year had a son born in St. Louis, Missouri. Four years after the birth of his son, Steinkanler returned to Germany, taking his family, including the infant child, and became domiciled at Weisbaden, where they have all continuously resided. Nassau, in which Weisbaden is situated, became incorporated into the North Ger- man Confederation in 1866. This son has now reached the age of 20 years, and the German Government has called upon him for military duty. Mr. Steinkanler, thereupon, invokes the intervention of the Legation of the United States, at Berlin, on the ground that his son is a native-born American citizen.
" To an inquiry by Mr. Davis, our minister at Berlin, whether the son would give an assurance of intention to return to this country, within some reasonable period-to be fixed by himself, and to reside here and assume his duties as a citizen-the father, on his behalf, declined to give any such assurance.
" The question is, whether, upon the facts stated, it is the duty of the Government of the United States to interfere in the matter.
" Opinion of the Attorney General.
" The status of young Steinkanler, and his right to protec- tion from the Government of the United States, depends primarily upon his nationality. Nationality is either natural
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or acquired. The one results from birth, the other from the operation of the laws of Kingdoms or States.
" Nationality by birth in some countries, depends upon the place of birth; in others upon the nationality of the parents. There is no uniform rule of international law upon the subject, nor is there any treaty between the United States and North Germany, or any statute or rule of common law either in North Germany or the United States (so far as I can find), which solves the question submitted. In North Germany, as in the United States, the minority of the child continnes until the age of twenty-one years; and minor children of naturalized parents, domiciled and living with such parents in North Germany, though such minor children were born in the United States, are made German subjects with the rights of German citizens, much the same as minor children of naturalized parents, though the children are foreign born, are rendered citizens of the United States, by the naturalization of the parents of such minors.
" In 1868, the naturalization treaty between North Germany and the United States was concluded. Article IV. reads as follows: 'If a German naturalized in America renews his resi- dence in North Germany, without the intent to return to America, he shall be held to have renounced his naturalization in the United States.' * * * ' The intent not to return may be held to exist when the person naturalized in the one country resides more than two years in the other country.'
" Section 1999, of the Revised Statutes of the United States reads as follow: 'Whereas the right of expatriation is a natural and inherent right of all people, indispensable to the enjoyment of the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and whereas in the recognition of this principle this Government has freely received emigrants from all nations, and invested them with the rights of citizenship; and whereas it is claimed that such American citizens, with their descendants, are sub- jects of foreign states, owing allegiance to the governments thereof; and whereas it is necessary to the maintenance of pub- lic peace that this claim of foreign allegiance should be promptly and finally disavowed: Therefore, any declaration, instruction, opinion, order, or decision of any officer of the United States which denies, restricts, impairs or questions the right of expatriation is declared inconsistent with the funda- mental principles of the Republic.'
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HISTORY OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
"Under the treaty and in harmony with the American doc- trine, it is clear that Steinkanler, the father, abandoned his naturalization in America and became a German subject (his son being yet a minor) and that by virtue of German laws, the son acquired German nationality. It is equally clear that the son by birth has American nationality, and hence he has two nationalities-one natural, the other acquired. Difficulties like the one we are now considering, and which arise from double nationality, have recently been disposed of in England by Statute 33rd Victoria, A. D., 1870, ch. 14, sec. 10, sub. 3.
" ' Where the father being a British subject, or the mother being a British subject and a widow, becomes an alien in pur- suance of this act, every child of such father or mother who during infancy has become resident in the country where the father or mother is naturalized, and has, according to the laws of such country, become naturalized therein, shall be deemed to be a subject of the State of which the father or mother has be- come a subject, and not a British subject.'
"We have no such statute, and we must, therefore, seek some other mode of solving this somewhat difficult question. Young Steinkanler is a native born American citizen. There is no law of the United States under which his father or any other person can deprive him of the birthright. He can return to America at the age of twenty one, and, in due time, if the people elect, he can become President of the United States; but the father in accordance with the treaty and the laws, has re- nounced his American citizenship and his American allegiance, and has acquired for himself and his son, German citizenship and the rights which it carries, and he must take the burdens as well as the advantages. The son being domiciled with the father and subject to him under the law during his minority, and receiving the German protection where he has an acquired nationality, and declining to give any assurance of intention of ever returning to the United States, and claiming his American nationality by residence here, I am of opinion that he cannot rightfully invoke the aid of the Government of the United States to relieve him from military duty in Germany during his minority; but that I am of the opinion that when he reaches the age of twenty-one years, he can then elect whether he will return and take the nationality of his birth with the duties and privileges, or retain the nationality acquired by the act of his
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father. This seems to be right reason, and I think it is Jaw.
" While the Government of the United States with zealous care will protect its humblest citizen wherever found, yet, in the opinion of the Attorney-General, it is not our duty to aid a young man of twenty years to escape from military service in a government whose protection he has enjoyed since four years old, and where he has acquired nationality which he does not propose to give up, and when interrogated by the envoy of the American Government, declines even to suggest that he ever intends to return to the United States and reclaim the nation- ality and assume the duties of an American citizen.
" Protection from a government involves the reciprocal duty of allegiance and service from the citizen when needed. In the case presented I see no occasion for interference on the part of the American Government.
" EDWARDS PIERREPONT, "Attorney General.
" The Honorable HAMILTON FISH,
"Secretary of State."
During the first year of his mission (1876) the question of the extradition of criminals between the two countries was largely discussed, and the extradition was for a time suspended, but the government of Great Britain at last substantially yielded their assent to the construction which Mr. Fish, the American Secretary of State, claimed for the treaty, and extradition was resumed the same as it was prior to the misunderstanding, and so continues.
During the second year of Mr. Pierrepont's mission to Eng- land General Grant visited London and was Mr. Pierrepont's guest. Apprised of the intended visit, Mr. Pierrepont urged upon the Queen's Ministers the propriety of according the same precedence to General Grant, who had twice been elected the chief ruler of a great power, holding near and friendly relations with Great Britain, as had been given to the ex-ruler of France. The Ministry acted with great delicacy and friendliness in the matter, and at a dinner given to the Prince of Wales by Mr. Pierrepont at his residence, the German, French, Russian, Austrian, Italian and Turkish Ambassadors, the Queen's Min- isters of State, the Dukes of Wellington, Richmond, Suther-
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HISTORY OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
land, Westminster and Argyll were present. General Grant was, by common consent, placed on the right of the Prince.
And everywhere throughout Great Britain ex-President Grant was treated with all the distinction and accorded all the precedence which any American could desire, and we are as- sured that the General bore himself with such dignity, tact and good sense as to command universal respect. The example of England was largely followed by other governments.
During the second year of his mission Mr. Pierrepont nego- tiated with Lord Derby, the British Minister of Foreign Affairs, the trade-mark treaty. In 1878 the ancient and renowned Uni- versity of Oxford conferred upon Mr. Pierrepont the degree of D.C.L., the highest honor in their gift.
Mr. Pierrepont visited many parts of England, Wales, Scot- land and Ireland, seeing all classes of people, with a view to understand their social and political condition. He devoted large attention to the financial system of England in order to ascertain what had given her such a preeminent lead in the affairs of the globe, and how the United States, whose annual earnings and income were far more than those of Great Britain, might make New York the money center of the world.
On his return from England in 1878, Mr. Pierrepont at once engaged actively in his profession. He was the leading counsel for the defense in the noted case of the United States against Pings & Pinnar. in which the government claimed more than half a million of dollars. He is counsel for the United States in the Lewis will case; also in the suits for income tax, in the Wood will, and other heavy cases, and of late he has taken a deep interest in financial questions and has written upon the subject.
A well-known writer, in speaking of Judge Pierrepont's forensic success, says :
"Judge Pierrepont has unrivalled skill in the cross-examina- tion of witnesses, and in arranging his facts so that one seems to grow out of the other in such logical sequence, that when the statement is made the argument is concluded. His remark- able power in the lucid statement of facts and of adhering to them under every difficulty and counter influence, constitute the charm and force of his advocacy. To an unprejudiced mind he generally conveys his own convictions, because they are convictions founded on truth. And all this he has secured
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simply by following his own maxim that no man without an upright mind, and no man who has not preserved his integrity, has ever died leaving the reputation of a great lawyer." And the same writer adds: "Perhaps the secret of his fearless course, and cool and even temper which nothing disturbs, was unconsciously revealed by Judge Pierrepont in the closing para- graph of the address to the law students at Washington already mentioned.
"'A few more words and I have done. To those who can re- ceive them they are more important than all that I have said or can say. They will tell you the best way through the perplex- ing affairs of this life; give a calmness to the judgment, a cheerfulness to the spirit, and an even temper; a courage, se. renely lifted above all passions, and which nothing can daunt; they will help to lighten every disappointment, render duty pleasant, and make you satisfied with your lot; and year by year you may grow stronger, wiser, and more happy. This may come, this will come, to him who, with an earnest wish seeks only the right, and in every trouble, in every joy, in every im- portant undertaking in life, and every day, with honest heart and willing mind, asks enlightenment and guidance from the Great Lawgiver, our Father of Heaven.'"
EDWARD PIERREPONT lies buried in St. Philip's church yard, Putnam county, near his father's country seat. The following was written by a devoted friend -- Mrs. Brunnow-the daughter of Chancellor Tappan and a granddaughter of Colonel Living- ston, late of New York.
" 'Whom the Gods love, die young,' was said and believed in by the Ancients, and though it is so often quoted, still in the present instance I venture to repeat this old saying, which is so true as regards the early deatlı of our beloved and honored young friend.
"I feel that an abler pen than mine should write the memoir of this noble, pure spirit, but my heart will not keep silent; having known and loved the parents and grandparents of him who has left us, indeed having been present at the wedding of his parents when still a child myself, knowing all intimately, bound by the holiest ties of love and friendship, it seems but fitting that I should raise my voice to lament and honor him whom God has taken to himself in his early bloom and freshness.
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HISTORY OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
"Edward Pierrepont, the subject of our sketch, was born under a lucky planet, as the astrologers would have said, being blessed with parents of such eminent distinction. His father, the Hon. Edwards Pierrepont, is so well known by fame to all Americans, and also to the English world as a distinguished lawyer and statesman, that his name need only be mentioned; but although I well know his mother's modest, retiring na- ture, I must say a few words of the one who gave birth to so rare a son.
" All great men are said to owe much to their mothers, and truly a good, noble mother is a treasure a man can ever be proud of, and indeed she molds his young life for the future. In this case certainly it was so: not left to the care of servants and hirelings, he was carefully watched over and tenderly cared for, both physically and spiritually, by his loving mother, who felt the trust God had imposed upon her in giving her this young soul to train for life.
"He was born at 103 Fifth avenue, in the city of New York, in the house his father had built many years before, and little did they think when they beheld that lovely child that one day he would write 'From Fifth Avenue to Alaska.' When but five years of age his mother took him to Paris that he might acquire the French language in an easy and natural way, and with un- tiring devotion remained and watched over him for some two years. When ten years of age he was put under the charge of the Rev. Dr. Coit, the eminent head of St. Paul's School, at Concord. From early childhood, he was remarkably strong and althletic, and as he grew up he became tall, handsome and pol- ished in manner.
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