USA > New York > Saratoga County > History of Saratoga County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers. > Part 33
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11
360
3,105
78,054
...
...
Edinburgh
12
1
500
4
50
376
7
383
273
10G
19
12
3,440
100,333
Greenfield
9.34
713
9
722
86-
201
22
22
870
7,230
490,967
6
1
...
lladley
274
239
239
117
25
6
G
412
2,350
70,450
...
...
Moreau
12
>16
730
6,250
295,008
...
...
...
631
13
644
652
178
10
12
Northumberl.und
122
49€
...
414
27
441
G77
158
12
12
9:20
3.450
506,885
Saratoga ..
12
1472
1199
50
1249
381
7
1
1
12
2,375
26,750
1,080,151
Saratoga Springs.
7
3083
202
2046
14
2060
1510
16.39
1
14
33,975
36,300
2,645,534
Wilton
10
390
329
10
339
210
50
10
10
410
2,900
302,314
...
Total
159
9122
12
290
6737
150
6893
5289
$22801
107
14
2
|123
$41,143
$96,185 $5,780,970
-
-
-
No. 16 .- CENSUS OF 1875-WIIERE BORN, IN CERTAIN SELECTED COUNTIES, STATES, AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES.
BORN IN THE UNITED STATES.
BORN IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES.
INHABITANTS
BORN IN THE STATE.
BORN IN
BORN IN
OF
SARATOGA COUNTY.
Other
shire.
Other
setts.
Countries.
Counties.
Massachu-
joining.
Scotland.
England.
The German
Empire.
Total.
Ireland.
Canada.
Other States.
Pennsylvania.
New Hamp-
Connectiont.
Vermont.
Rhode Island.
New Jersey.
Total.
Maine.
Counties ad-
Saratoga.
Total.
General Total.
Ballston.
1.932
1,633
1,541.
1.105
247
99
I
20
10
19
5
21
299
50
16
215
5
...
Charlton
1,580
1.411
1,360
992
280
2
2
7
3
1
5
5
21
175
1
27
63
69
12
Clifton Park
2.493
2.230
2,158
1,544
152
...
3
14
9
6
8
4
28
15
66
115
1.659
1.531
1,444
1.135
211
98
5
34
14
3
11
3
13
128
44
14
15
49
3
3
Corinth
Dav.
1,199
1,143|
1.085
921
130
28
2
5
9
...
9
6
...
1
56
21
1
...
34
...
Edinburgh
1.481
1,448
1,354
1,036
239
1
34
17.
21
6
8
1
2
12
33
14
2
15
Galway.
1,941
1,585
1,168
289
131
16
16
2
16
4
4
12
281
17
5G
86
81
19
22
...
Greenfield
2.690
2.438
2.29 1
1,784
260
7
52
31
13
13
9
34
232
14
37
37
131
3
10
Hadl-v
1,063
949
628
190
111
36
1
3
114
3
1
05
1
...
12
...
...
Half-Moon.
5,176
2,750
2,624
1,894
546
184
4
34
28
5
10
8
33
4:26
25
60
25
300
9
Malta
1.214
1,075
1,040
880
98
62
11
8
1.39
31
1
95
9
1
...
-1
Milion
5,349
4,399
3,987
2,996
615
37G
11
9
107
123
4
23
24
56
950
152
178
86
486
34
14
51 -1
Morean
2,315
1,993
1,877
1,121
G34
122
S
47
26
42
8
322
78
21
3
207
9
4
Northumberland.
1,622
1,481
1,416
1,090
254
72
1
2
16
141
25
18
13
74
4
:
Providence.
1 132
1,063
1,011
808
161
42
1
3
14
14
1
3
5
69
2G
10
32.
...
1
Saratoga.
4,500
3,601
3,373
2,402
793
178
3
12
60
60
24
16
4
40
908
74
71
10
721
28
4
Saratoga Springs
10,736
8,604
7,437
5,074
1412
95.
21
382
107
16
122
49
48
256
2132
182
220
183 1441
49
57
Stillwater
3,434
2.895
2,771
1,076
57G
219
10
38
25
12
10
6
19
5.39
33
6:2
16
412
10
G
Waterford
4,386
3,197
2,945;
1,781
883
281
3×
10
5.3
38
28
19
11
54
1189
279
191
40
608
48
29
Wilton
1,218
1,155
1,104
775
251
78
1
23
10
G
5
1
5
G3
4
20
10
28
...
1
Total
55,137 46,676 43,289 31,200
8523
3566
87
177 1027
675 101
351
173
143
653
8461 1020 1149
663 5196 250 183
-
No. 17 .- CENSUS OF 1875-CIVIL OR CONJUGAL CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE.
Married, whose husbands
Single.
Married.
Willowed.
Divorced.
or wires do not appear in
the returns in the same
How Intermarried.
families with themselves.
Native.
Foreign
Native.
Foreign
Foreign
Foreign
Native
Foreign
Born.
Born.
Native.
Born.
Native. 1
Born.
Native.
Foreign.
Husband Husband.
SARATOGA COUNTY.
Wife.
Wife.
Wife,
Wife.
Female.
To Foreign
To Native
To Foreign
To Native
Male.
Female.
Male.
Male.
Female.
Female.
Female.
Female.
Female.
Male.
Male.
Female.
Male.
Małe.
Female.
Female.
Male.
Male.
Male.
Ballston
493
475
35
39
284 297
98
89
17
67
14
24
5
1
275
7
17
....
....
6
11
50
Charlton.
487
3.85
15
26 22%
236
G2
56
21
53
7
I
3
1
222
...
...
580
41
427
440
97
34
86
1º
1
5
410
10
25
Clifton Park.
660
...
434
391
32
10
318!
328
43
31
20
39
7
1
9
8
1
303
6
17 :
25
10
Corinthi
Day
371
276
20
224
220
18
13
21
21
4
1
1
3
3
1
1
220
1
6
1I
Edinburgh
397
357
10
5
309
324
11
4
18
1
5
13
302
2
Galway
470
495
31
20
291
29
102
92
36
71
10
17
4
2
1
269
15
21
76
....
Greenfield,
703
678
21
476
473
87
88|
36
91
5
1
13
1
441
21
19
GG
....
...
14
30
Hadley
347
270
21
7
156
161
45
7
1
G
1
1
146
4
14
Half-Moon.
840
779
40
39
485
510
160
137
44
91
24
1
16
3
4
156
13
37
120
Malta.
312
285
16
208
2209
56
51
17
41
3
6
3
3
1
1
195
11
44
....
7
G
Milton.
1,330
1,317
129
115
731
739
312
299
71
203
28
G7
G
25
20
6
G
659
47
60
24G
... +
91
Moreau
68
580
51
25
319
325
116
108
26
61
G
16
1
5
4
1
297
17
24
...
Northumberland.
405
14
16
289
297
59
50
28
44
8
6
1
7
13
1
1
275
10
12
39
417
g
16
Providence.
301
14
2
222
225
28
20
2.2
31
1
1
10
7
3
1
209
3
Saratoga ...
1.311
1,153
134
188
584
596
255
256
42
114
16
59
11
19
5
35
215
1
10
542.
31
....
Saratoga Springs.
2,505
2,602
346
346 1436 1507
633
593
109
428
165
6
11
1
39
59
4
15
1323
125
504
144
Stillwater.
934
888
65
65
471
490
180
170
27
84
17
32
1
12
1]
4
5
4:38
41
Waterford
1,059
1,029
17:3
184
458
477
378
357
39
134
27
69
1
1
21
24
10
5
1 389
48
64
304
Wilton.
329
283
G
6
242
242
25
20
38
1
1
8
5
227
7
10
15
22
Total
14,181 13,480 1218 1139 8158 8402 2767 2552 656 1747 230 548
18
25
3
214
237
16
52
7595 349
570 2151
-
-
--
-
137
HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
CHAPTER XXVII.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
REUBEN HYDE WALWORTHI.
AMONG the many distinguished jurists who graced the bench of the State of New York, during the palmy days of its rapidly increasing jurisprudence, no name became more like a household word on the lips of every lawyer in the land than that of Chancellor Walworth.
Reuben Hyde Walworth was born on the 26th day of October, 1788, in Bozrah, Conn. He was the third son of Benjamin Walworth, the American branch of the Wal- worth family tracing its origin to the historic Walworth, the Lord Mayor of London, who slew the rebel Watt Tyler in the reign of Richard LI. In 1671, William Walworth, the ancestor of Benjamin Walworth, came from the city of London and settled on Fisher's island, afterwards re- moving to New London.
In the early part of the Revolutionary war, Benjamin Walworth, the chancellor's father, was quartermaster of Colonel Nicholl's New York Regiment in the service of the United States, and was acting adjutant-general of his regi- ment at the battle of White Plains.
When the chancellor was four years of age his parents removed to Hoosick, N. Y., where he was occupied with the labors of the farm, receiving such education as was then afforded by the excellent common schools of the period, together with much private instruction in his father's family. At the age of seventeen he commenced the study of law, and at twenty was admitted to practice in the county court, and two years later in the Supreme Court of the State. He settled at Plattsburg, Clinton Co., in January, 1810, and in 1811 was appointed master in chancery and one of the county judges. In the War of 1812 he was an officer of volunteers, and at the siege of Plattsburg in 1814, was acting adjutant-general of the United States forces, on the staff of Major-General Mooers, taking an important part in the battle. He was a member of Congress from 182t to 1823, being appointed in the latter year one of the circuit judges of the State, by Governor Joseph C. Yates. This office he held for five years, in which he was noted for his prompt and fearless administration of the law both in the civil and eriminal branches of his court.
In 1828, Judge Walworth was appointed chancellor of the State of New York. This office he held for twenty years, and until the new constitution of 1848 abolished the court of chancery. In the office of chancellor he greatly distinguished himself. His decisions as chancellor are eon- tained in eleven volumes of' Paige's Reports and three of Barbour's Reports. The most of his opinions delivered in the court for the correction of errors, of which, as chancellor, he was the principu executive officer, were published in Wendell's Reports, twenty-six volumes; Hill's Reports, seven volumes, and iu the five volumes of Dino's Reports.
The year he was appointed circuit judge, 1823, he re- moved, in October, to Saratoga Springs. He purchased at that time of Judge Walton, its first occupant and builder, what has since been known as the Walworth place of Pine Grove. In these carly days it was much more secluded a 18
place than it now is, and was exceedingly beautiful. The railroad had not then marred its proportions, and a de- lightful wood, which bounded it on the rear, extended up westward beyond Matilda street, and to the Waterbury orchard and farm. Almost the entire block opposite was then used as a publie park, and was the favorite resort for both the villagers and summer guests, which was known as Pine Grove, and was traversed by fine walks. It inclosed a ten-pin alley, which was much resorted to. Swings hung down between the tall pines in almost constant motion. In this grove the Indians sometimes encamped, offering for sale their manufactured wares, and shooting with bows and arrows to show their matchless skill in archery. And here, too, the militia sometimes met on training days.
In 1828 he removed to Albany. In that city he first occupied a house in Park Place, near the academy, and af- terwards one on Washington avenue, the present residence of Judge Amasa J. Parker. In 1833, tiring of his city residence, he returned to his former home in Pine Grove, in Saratoga Springs, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred on the 28th day of November, 1866.
Chancellor Walworth, before his death, had long been identified with the leading religious benevolent movements of the day. He was for many years president of the American Temperance Union, vice-president of the Tract Society and of the American Bible Society, and one of the corporate members of the American board of missionaries for foreign missions.
Chancellor Walworth may justly be regarded as the great artisan of our equity laws. In some sense he was the Bentham of America, without the bold speculations and fantastical theory which, to a certain extent, characterized the great English jurist. What Bentham did in removing the defects in English jurisprudence, Walworth did, in reno- vating and simplifying the equity laws of the United States. Before his day the court of chancery in this State was a tri- bunal of very illy defined powers and uncertain jurisdiction, in a measure subservient to the English court of chancery in its procedure.
Chancellor Walworth abolished much of that stolidity, many of those prolix and bewildering formalities which had their origin in the rising Mediaval Ages, and reduced the practice of his eourt to certain standing rules, which he prepared with great industry. These rules greatly im- proved the old state of equity, and though he has been charged with thus blocking the court of chancery with expensive machinery, it cannot be gainsaid that with Chancellor Walworth equity was the sole spirit of law, creating positive and defining rational law, flexible in its nature and suited to the fortunes, cares, and reciprocal complications of men .*
While residing at. Plattsburg, he married his first wife, whose maiden name was Maria Ketchum Avery. She was a lady of singular sweetness and benevolence of char- acter. With her husband at the time of their marriage she united herself to the communion of the Presby- terian church, to which she always remained devotedly attached. She was gentle and pliable except where con-
# Sce Reminiscences of Saratoga, by William L. Stone.
138
HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
science was concerned, when she was as immovable as a rock. With unbounded love for little children, she de- lighted to minister to their wants. Among the poor aud sick she was a constant daily visitor. Not an urchin in the village, however ragged, whether white or black. but knew her like a book, and felt truly at home with her. By all classes. whether old or young, she was greatly be- loved. She died at Pine Grove on the 24th day of April, 1847. As a Christian, wife, mother, friend, and neighbor, she was a model in every relation of life. In the locality where she so long lived, loved, and was beloved in turn, her memory is still tenderly cherished.
By his first wife Chancellor Walworth had six children, of whom the four ellest are still living. His daughters were Sarah, now Mrs. Davison; Mary, now Mrs. Jenkins; Eliza, now Mrs. Barkus; and one deceased. His sons were Rev. Clarence Walworth and Mansfield Tracy Wal- worth.
On the 16th of April, 1841, Chancellor Walworth again married. His second wife was Sarah Ellen, daughter of Ilorace Smith, of Locust Grove, and widow of Colonel John J. Hardin. She brought with her to Saratoga three young children of her first marriage, two boys and a daughter, who is the present Mrs. Ellen Hardin Walworth, who, with her family of children, two sons and three daughters, still occupies the family mansion. The eldest. daughter, Miss Nellie Hardin Walworth, at sixteen became the anthor of a work of much merit, entitled " An Old World as Seen through Young Eyes." The chancellor's second marriage, like his first, was eminently a happy one. The new wife was sweet and loving in her temper, and a woman of high refinement and culture. She brought with her to Pine Grove a style of southern hospitality which accorded well with her husband's disposition and station in life. It was her pleasure to keep open house, and many more familiar faces passed in and out than ever thought to ring the bell or wait in the parlors. She survived her hus- band only ten years, dying in the month of April, 1874.
Few men have been more extensively known throughout the country than Chancellor Walworth. Perhaps no man indeed ever so well remembered his friends. He seemed never to forget faces or names. After retiring from office, the study of genealogy became his peculiar hobby, and his chief relaxation and enjoyment. The result was the pub- lication of a volume entitled the " Hyde Genealogy," being that of his mother's family. It contains fourteen hundred and forty-six pages, in two large octavo volumes, and it is said to be the largest account of a single family ever pub- lished. His body was interred in his family plot in Green- wich cemetery. This plot bad long been an object of his special care and interest. It was his custom for many years to go there on every Sunday morning before service, and when flowers were in bloom, to carry thither bouquets which he had gathered in his garden. His body now lies beside that of the wife of his youth, among the graves that he had so well cherished, and beneath the soil upon which he had so often scattered the roses of spring-time. The family mansion is still standing in the old grove, very little altered in external appearance since the day when the chancellor first came to the Springs. And now neither
stranger nor villager ever sees him at work in his garden, or romping with his grandchildren under the pines. The magnet that drew thither so many feet is no longer there. The last of the chancellors of the State of New York is gathered to his rest.
ESEK COWEN.
Upon the pages of the ten thousand volumes of legal lore which crowd the book-shelves of the lawyers of the New World and the Old, the name of Esek Cowen has long been the synonym for patient research and the most profound erndition.
Esek Cowen's father, Joseph Cowen, was the son of John Cowen, a Senteh emigrant, who settled in Scituate, Mass., in 1656. Esek was born in Rhode Island, Feb. 24. 1784. His father removed, with his family. to Greenfield, this county, about 1793. A few years later he removed to Hartford, Washington county, where, during his early years, Esck labored upon his father's farm. The only educational advantages he ever enjoyed was six months' attendance in a neighborhood school. While pursuing his labors upon his father's farm he always had a book by his side, and while tending the lime-kiln would often read all night by its Inrid fires. Thus, by persevering industry, he mastered classical and English literature.
At an early age he turned his attention to the law. When but sixteen he entered the office of Roger Skinner, at Sandy Hill, continuing his studies later with Zebulon Shepherd. In 1810 he was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court, and began the practice of his chosen pro- fession with Gardner Stowe, in Northumberland, in this county. Subsequently he formed a law copartnership with Wissell Gansevoort .* In 1812 he removed to Saratoga Springs. He rose rapidly in the legal ranks. In May, 1824, he was appointed " reporter in the Supreme Court and court of errors," holding the position until 1828, when he was appointed circuit judge by Governor Pitcher. Ilis reports, embracing nine volumes, are justly prized by the profession. In 1835 he was appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy occasioned by the with- drawal of Judge Savage. Mr. Cowen continued in that office until his decease. In his early life he held the office of justice of the peace, and in 1821-1822 served as super- visor of Saratoga Springs.
Previous to his elevation to the bench (1817) he formed a law copartnership with Judge William L. F. Warren, who had formerly been a student in his office. This part- nership continued until 1824. Subsequently he was asso- ciated for some years with Judiah Ellsworth.
Besides his " Reports," the other works of his pen, which remain as a monument of his industry and genius, were a " Treatise on the Practice in Justices' Courts" and " Cowen and Hills' Notes on Phillips' Evidence," the latter of which represents eleven years' labor, and was published in 1839 in four volumes. In the writing and compilation of the " Notes" he was assisted by Nicholas Hill, one of the most able lawyers the State ever produced. In these works were written those learned opinions which have since ren- dered Judge Cowen's name illustrious.
# Bench and Bar of Saratoga County, p. 268.
139
IHISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
After removing to Saratoga Springs he built the " stone honse" on Congress street, which was for many years his residence.
In 1811 he married a daughter of Sidney Berry. Their children were Susan Berry, Sidney Joseph, and Patrick Henry. Colonel Berry was the first surrogate of Saratoga County, and served as a colonel in the Continental army during the Revolution. "It was he who was detailed to receive, on the 30th of September, 1776, the messenger sent by Lord IFowe to invite Dr. Franklin, John Adams, and Mr. Luttrage to a conference on Staten Island." *
Judge Cowen was emphatically a self-made man. With an extremely limited common-school education, by his own efforts, stimulated by his energy and ambition, he rose to eminence. As a writer he was plain but accurate; as a judge, " prompt, acute, learned. and upright." But it was as a jurist that he was best known. Of his opinions, which so eminently distinguished him as a jurist, it has been said that " in their depth and breadth of research, and their strength and reason of bearing, they are not excelled by those of any judge in England or America." " llis opu- lent mind. his love of research, caused him to trace every legal opinion to its fountain-head, to discover every varia- tion between apparently analogous precedents. . . . Like Lord Mansfield, to whom he has frequently been compared, he was accustomed, in the preparation of his opinions, to a liberal expenditure of mental capital,-an excess of in- tellectual labor which renders them the triumph of a great genius, impelled by an unprecedented industry."
Judge Cowen's most marked traits of character were those naturally resultant from his indomitable energy and remark- able powers of endurance. Possessed of a splendid consti- tution, " his athletic frame and fine muscular development" were often remarked. His physical powers were enhanced by his abstemious habits, the rule of his life from a youth. He was one of the founders of the first temperance society in the United States,-that established at Northumberland in 1812. Ife was noted for his quickness of penetration, his force and originality of thought. Socially he was cheer- ful, often jocose. Intensely practical, he was not lacking in fine sensibility, or noble and generous actions. Material aid and kindly advice were never refused when needed, as many whom he started on the road to fame and fortune bear witness. The late Gideon M. Davison, on the occasion of his death, says, " He was my early friend and benefactor,- the one who, when I needed aid, kindly took me by the hand and led me through various trials, the one, in fact, who laid the foundation of all I have of earthly posses- sions." He stood ever ready to aid all meritorious enter- prises ; he gave the money (Dr. Clarke giving the land, and Judge Walton the timber) for the erection of Bethesda Episcopal chapel. ITis house, too, was the abode of kindly hospitality, where his genial manners, love of music, and rare poetic taste made him a delightful companion. He greatly delighted to hear and to sing certain plaintive Scotch ballads, among which " Bonny Doon" and " High- land Mary" were favorites.
Judge Cowen is described as having been tall,-over six
* Reminiscenees of Saratoga, p. 360.
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feet high,-commanding of presence and bearing, but withal simple and unassuming in manner. His death occurred in the city of Albany, Feb. 11, 1844, at the age of sixty. His funeral was attended in the hall of the capitol by the clergy of the city, the governor, State officials, both houses of the Legislature, judges, members of the bar, and a vast voncourse of citizens. The procession accompanied the remains as far as the Patroon's on the route to Saratoga Springs, where, on the 15th, the last obsequies were per- formed. t
JOHN WILLARD.
The village of Saratoga Springs seems to have been for many years the headquarters of legal learning, from the fact that so many eminent jurists made it their home. Promi- nent among these was the Ilon. John Willard, who, as a circuit judge and vice-chancellor of the Supreme Court under the old constitution, and justice of the Supreme Court under the new constitution, adorned the offices which he filled, and was a shining example of candor and integrity, joined with great learning and ability.
Judge Willard was born at Guilford, Connecticut, on the 20th day of May, 1792, and descended directly from two of the noble band of Puritans who in 1639 planted that town. He graduated from Middlebury College in 1813, and while there was associated with the late Silas Wright and Samuel Nelson, and evinced at that time the same patriotic solicitude for the welfare of his country while en- gaged in a foreign war that he afterwards exhibited when it was rent with the civil strife caused by the Rebellion. He was a nephew, by marriage, of the late Mrs. Emma Willard, the pioneer of female education in this country, and during his college life he was an inmate of her family. She always entertained a high regard for him, and in her later years was glad to renew the intimacy of earlier days. Ile was admitted to practice as an attorney of the Supreme Court in 1817, under the chief-justiceship of Smith Thomp- son, and entered upon the practice of the law in Salem, Washington county. Bringing to the profession of his choice a well-stored and disciplined mind, he soon attained, by his untiring industry, and without any adventitious aid, an enviable eminence in his profession. He was for many years first judge of the common pleas, and surrogate of Washington county, until, in 1836, on the elevation of Esek Cowen to the bench of the Supreme Court, he was appointed circuit judge and vice-chancellor of the Fourth Judicial district, filling that office until the new organiza- tion of the judiciary under the constitution of 1846, when he was elected one of the justices of the Supreme Court. The latter office he held until 1854; and, under the regu- lations of our judicial system, was a member of the court of appeals during the last year of his term of service. The rapidity and ability with which he discharged his judicial duties ; his uniform courtesy and kindness to the profes- sion, and, above all, the pureness and integrity of his character as a judge and as a man, commanded universal respeet and esteem, and won for him many flattering testimonials of regard from the bar in the different coun- ties of the district.
+ Stone's Remiscences of Saratoga and Ballston.
140
HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
After his retirement from the beneh he was engaged for some years in the preparation of several legal treatises, which are valuable contributions to our jurisprudence, and not less distinguished for felicity and perspicuity of style than accurate and profound legal research and learning.
As a politician he was attached to the Democratic party, and strong and decided in his political opinions ; but upon the breaking out of the Rebellion he sunk the partisan in the patriot, and took early and strong grounds in favor of a united support to our government in its struggle with treason.
In 1861 he was the candidate of the Union convention for senator, and subsequently endorsed by all other parties, he was elected without opposition. While in the Senate he uniformly acted with the Union Demoerats and Repub- licans, and his opinion on all questions before that body was received with great respect. By his efforts the confu- sion in the laws respecting murder and the rights of mar- ried women was removed, and simple and sensible statutes passed in relation thereto.
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