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 50
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OLIVER L. BARBOUR.
Oliver L. Barbour was born in Washington Co., N. Y., in the year 1811, but when quite young removed to Sara- toga Springs. He is a relative of Reuben H. Walworth, and as the confidential clerk of the celebrated " Chancellor," gained a knowledge of legal lore, and " became familiar with those great legal principles, the elucidating of which has given him such an enviable reputation in the profes- sion." His works hold high rank, having been commended by Chief-Justice Story, the American jurist. and other authorities of repute. He is author of the following trea- tises : " Equity Digest, embracing English, Irish, and
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IIISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
American Reports," 4 vols., 8vo; " Collyer on Partner- ships ;" " Chitty on Bills;" " A Treatise on Criminal Law;" " A Treatise on the Law of Set-off;" " A Treatise- on the Court of Chancery," 2 vols .; " Reports of Cases decided in the Court of Chancery," 3 vols .; " Reports of Cases decided in the Supreme Court of the State of New York," 18 vols .; and revisions of his " Chancery Practice" and " Equity Prac- tice." Hamilton College has honored him by conferring upon him the degree of LL.D. He continues to reside at Saratoga, greatly honored both at home and abroad.
JOIIN A. COREY.
Judge John A. Corey, son of a farmer living in Wash- ington Co., N. Y., was born at Greenwich, Nov. 5, 1805. Allen Corey, of the West Troy ( N. Y.) Democrat, was a brother, and Sidney G. Corey, D.D., and Rev. Daniel Corey, well-known Baptist divines, were cousins of the subject of this brief sketch. Ile received a good common school edu- cation, and adopted the profession of teaching. In 1824 he established his residence at Saratoga, and, entering the office of The Sentinel, learned the "art preservative," with the late G. M. Davison, then publishing that paper. He subsequently turned his attention to the study of Black- stone and Chitty, in the offices of Judge Cowen, Ellsworth, and Nicholas Hill, Jr. He was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court in 1835, and advaneed to the degree of counsellor in 1838. He was appointed examiner in chan- cery in 1836.
With a " divided love," he again, in 1844, went back to journalistic labors,-commencing the publication of The Saratoga Republican in the year named. 1Ie continued the same until 1853, when his successor, Thomas G. Young, merged it in The Sentinel. Although this was his last pro- prietary interest, he remained a contributor to the press until his death.
He was supervisor of Saratoga Springs in 1849, clerk of the board in 1850, '52, and from 1864 to 1867, and for several years a justice of the peace of his town. Ile was appointed county judge by Governor Seymour, in 1854, to fill the unexpired term caused by the resignation of Judge Bockes. The well-remembered "Carson league" prosecu- tions occurred during his term of office, and he fearlessly pronounced sentence upon all convicted of illegal liquor- selling, to the full extent of the law. As the Democratic candidate for re-election the following year, he was defeated by the liquor interest, who put a third candidate in the field against him. In 1855, President Pierce tendered him the governorship of the Territory of Kansas, but he declined the honor. Soon after he was appointed United States com- missioner by Judge Hall, and retained the office until his demise.
He was one of the founders, and for many years secretary, of the Saratoga County Agricultural Society. Early in life he married a daughter of George Strover, Esq., of Schuyler- ville, who survives him, with a family of one son and three daughters.
Judge Corey departed this life, after a lingering illness, the 29th of April, 1873, aged seventy years.
JOSIIUA PORTER.
Dr. Joshua Porter was born in 1759, at Salisbury, Litch- field Co., Conn. He was the eldest son of Colonel Joshua Porter, a prominent man in his day, for more than fifty sessions judge of probate, and representative in both the Colonial and State Councils. During the Revolution he commanded the Fourteenth Connecticut Regiment, which formed part of the brigade of General John Fellows, and was present with his regiment at the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga. Colonel Joshua Porter died at Salisbury, Conn., in 1826, aged ninety-five years.
Dr. Joshua Porter, his eldest son, after taking his degree at Yale College, and in medicine and surgery, was attached to the Continental army as surgeon's mate.
While serving in that rank at the disastrous battle of Long Island, he was taken prisoner and confined in the notorious prison-ship " Jersey," but subsequently was re- leased on parole.
During the early part of the present century, suffering from the opening of an old wound, he moved with his family to Saratoga Springs, then just in the dawn of their celebrity, in hopes of deriving benefit from their curative properties. Here he resided until his death, which occurred in 1831.
He was the first president of the village, his son-in-law, Peter V. Wiggins, being village clerk, and he was long re- membered for zeal and energy in his management of muni- cipal affairs. For many years he was one of the principal physicians of the village, and the contemporary of Dr. John 11. Steel. Hle was elder brother of the late John Augustus Porter, of Niagara Falls, and of General Peter B. Porter, secretary of war, etc., and Eunice Porter, wife of Colonel Albert Pawling, of the personal staff of General Washington, and first mayor of Troy. Another sister, Sally Porter, was wife of John M. Holley, and mother of Alexander H. Holley, late governor of Connecticut.
Of Dr. Porter's five children, his eldest daughter, Au- gusta, became the wife of R. F. Barnard, of Berkshire Co., Mass., and was the mother of Rev. Dr. F. A. P. Barnard, present president of Columbia College, N. Y., and General John G. Barnard of the United States Army. His young- est daughter, Mary, married, first, Henry Walton Andrews, second, Peter V. Wiggins.
HON. JOIIN W. CRANE.
Judge John W. Crane is a native of Saratoga County, and is of English descent by both his parents. His pater- nal ancestors settled in New Hampshire about the year 1725, and subsequently that branch of the family from whom he is descended removed to New Jersey. His father was Justus Crane, who settled in Saratoga County about the year 1820, and died here in 1860. ITis mother, who is still living, in the eightieth year of her age, at Saratoga Springs, was Betsey, daughter of William Bridges, one of the first settlers of Ballston Spa.
John W. Crane was born Sept. 30, 1827, at West Milton, Saratoga Co., N. Y. At the age of fifteen he entered upon a course of studies at the academics at Saratoga Springs,
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HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
and received a good classical and scientific education, chiefly under the instruction of that eminent teacher, Professor William J. Hancock.
In 1847, having chosen the profession of the law, he became a student in the office of Hon. William A. Beach, at Saratoga Springs ; and, after a thorough course of prep- aration, was admitted to practice at the September general term, in 1852. In 1854 he formed a law partnership with P. J. Avery and Franklin Hloag, under the firm style of Avery, Hoag & Crane, which did an extensive legal busi- ness. After the retirement of Mr. Avery the other part- ners continued the practice sneeessfully till the election of Mr. Crane to the office of county judge, in 1858, or, rather, till his assumption of the duties of the office, on the 1st of January, 1859.
and again in 1868 and 1869, and has also held various other positions of trust and responsibility in his town and village. Several noted cases might be cited wherein his abilities as a lawyer were signalized, but it is unnecessary where his reputation is so well known, and his general character in his official and professional life has been above reproach.
In 1876 he was again elected to the office of county judge for a term of six years, and at this writing is honor- ably discharging the duties of his station.
Judge Crane has always been a stanch Democrat. At the time of his last election he did not desire the office, and was nominated against his expressed wish. It was at the time of the presidential contest, when party lines were drawn more strongly than usual, and the county was Repub- Jiean by a majority of about fifteen hundred, yet he was
Photo, by Myers, Saratoga Springs.
HON. JOHN W. CRANE.
He was nominated on the Democratic ticket. His oppo- nents were Alembert Pond, Republican, and Lemuel B. Pike, American. The Democrats were in the minority in the county ; yet such was his reputation for probity and integrity, that at the November election he received a plurality of three hundred and twenty-three votes over Mr. Pond, and a clear majority of forty-three over both com- petitors.
At the close of his eminently successful term of four years on the bench, he resumed his professional practice on the 1st of January, 1864. During his official years he had practiced successfully in the higher courts of the State, and had been admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1861. Ile made an honorable record on the bench, and has the reputation of being one of the best office lawyers and most careful conveyancers in the county.
Judge Crane was elected supervisor of his town in 1863,
elected by a good majority, showing in what estimate his character and abilities are held even by his political oppo- nents.
Judge Crane was married to Mary Martin, of Hartford, Washington Co., in 1852, and has one son, George M. Crane, who is a student-at-law in the office of his father.
RANSOM COOK
was born Nov. 8, 1794, in Wallingford, New Haven Co., Conn. His parents, Joseph Cook and Mary Ann Tohman Cook, removed to this, Saratoga Co., N. Y., when their son Ransom was but seven years of age. Joseph Cook was a furniture manufacturer, and took his said son to work in the shop with him at an early age, he being found expert in mechanical pursuits. At the age of ten years he made
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HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
what was called common chairs,-turning the posts and rounds in a foot lathe, framing, seating, painting, and var- nishing the chairs. When twelve years of age, he manu- factured electrical machines for several physicians in the county. The machines were thought wonderful as the work of a small boy. " The cracking shocks they would give, which were thought certain to cure all diseases for which there was no other remedy," greatly inereased the wonder. The boy's success with these machines no doubt served to stimulate his propensity for scientific experiments and investigations, which has been a prominent character- istie of his life, attended with flattering success. He had never seen an electrical machine when he made these, only a poor picture of one. Ilis edneation was obtained in the common schools.
I hoto, by Baker & Record, Saratoga Springs.
Ransom Cook.
In 1813, when he had entered his nineteenth year, he commenced work in the village of Saratoga Springs as a journeyman, at his trade of furniture manufacturer. This he followed with various intervals for several years. At this time the land now occupied by buildings in said village was mostly covered with a second growth of white pine,- the primitive forest having been ent off for lumber. What is called the Upper village was then the principal settle- ment. Our present Broadway, now miles in length, was then mostly a pine grove. The inhabitants, about three hundred in number, were quiet, honest, and industrious. No prosecution for a criminal offense, even for assault and battery, is recollected by Mr. Cook, for several years after he commenced his residence here.
In February, 1818, Ransom Cook was married to Rachel Ayres, the daughter of a respectable and extensive farmer, living in the same neighborhood with Joseph Cook, the father of our subjeet, on the road between Saratoga Springs and Ballston.
In 1822, Ransom Cook, finding the inhabitants of the village largely increasing their demands for his services, purchased a place there to which he removed and extended
his business, which soon became too extensive for his room there. He therefore in 1827-28 erected an extensive shop and spacious dwelling on South Broadway. He there also erected a steam-engine, and various machines for working and shaping wood and metals to his purposes, which were the first of the kind known in said village. These facili- ties enabled Mr. Cook to greatly increase the products of his shop in furniture, and devote a considerable part of his own time to the manufacture of scientific apparatus. These articles, after filling his own shelves, he sold to colleges and other publie institutions.
Now, in another residence and in another shop, he still retains and frequently adds to his own supply of apparatus, as well as to his choicely-selected and much-admired library. Here, in this quiet retreat, to use his own words, his " books and playthings furnish him with all the felicity he desires, during those intervals from pain which neuralgia allows him."
We are admonished that in a work of this kind we have not room for more than an inventory of the events person- ally connected with such a long and active life as that of Mr. Cook's, nor ean we give even those in full. In No- vember, 1828, Mr. Cook was elected a justice of the peace, and re-elected thereafter for many years, regardless of the political changes in the town. An elderly member of the bar thus writes us on this subject :
" During the whole of Esquire Cook's full four terms,- sixteen years as a justice of the peace,-he was singularly successful in giving satisfaction in the discharge of his duties. His conduct was always careful and correet, never allowing himself to be biased or prejudiced for or against either party in litigation before him, and his honesty was never doubted. He aeted with such rare good sense and intelligence, as well as strict integrity, that his decisions were generally accepted as final, and very seldom was any attempt made to disturb them by appeal to the reviewing courts."
He was also popular as an arbitrator, to whom cases which were then ealled large amounts were submitted. As a referee, cases were also referred to him from the Supreme Court,-sometimes on matters of account, but more espe- cially those where the issue was on mechanical subjeets.
Sueh referenees were not surprising to those aware of Mr. Cook's skill as a mechanic and inventor, he having obtained fifteen patents on various subjects. His first patent, obtained in 1842, was for a process for making wrought-iron and steel cannon. Our government, then fearing no war, declined to make the guns. The English- man, Armstrong, as Mr. Cook learned at Washington, obtained a copy of his patent and specification, adopted his process, and has made a fortune of millions by it.
In 1842 he was appointed by our State government a commissioner to examine the mineral regions of our State, and obtain proposals for the sale of mines, with a view to the employment of our eouviets in mining and smelting. This appointment was made without Mr. Cook's solicita- tion or knowledge, as were those to all the offices he ever accepted, -for he never applied for an office, but has refused many, and is still doing so. When the building of the State-prison was determined upon, its location was by law
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HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
given to the governor, controller, and attorney-general. Mr. Cook had no vote or voice in the matter, as has been erroneously reported. But Mr. Cook was appointed, with- out his application, to the offices of both agent and warden of the prison, with the extraordinary authority to appoint all his subordinates,-physician, chaplain, keepers and guards, foremen and artisans,-the governor and Senate thus manifesting a strong confidence in the capacity and integrity of Mr. Cook.
Mr. Cook's management of Clinton prison was the subject of much commendation by the good and eminent people who became acquainted with it, as well as by the careful scrutiny of special committees, composed of such men as Governor Silas Wright, Controller Flagg, and joint committees of the Senate and Assembly. They found his discipline of the convicts to be even-tempered and humane. His mechanical skill and economy was manifested in so many ways that several pages would be required to describe them. The prison is a model one. The work upon that, the steam saw-mill, foundry, machine-shop, dwelling for his own and the clerk's family, with four or five other buildings and a large amount of machinery, including beautiful steam- engines, had prevented his erection of the forges for making iron before a change in politics relieved him from further labors there,-much to his pecuniary advantage but detri- mental to the State.
An editor in Saratoga Springs, who had long been ac- quainted with Mr. Cook, spoke thus of him a few years ago in his editorial :
" His scientific attainments, all self-acquired, are of the highest order. His mind is well stored with knowledge on any subject within the range of human thought and inves- tigation. His well-selected library is his constant compan- ion, from which he draws words of wisdom for the benefit of mankind, and his laboratory is ingeniously arranged for applying satisfactory tests to everything emanating from his inventive mind. He is a devotee to science, particularly as applied to mechanics. The archives of the patent-office at Washington contain designs and models by Mr. Cook which would do credit to any inventor in this country. By his improvement upon boring-implements he has conferred a lasting benefit upon all industries to which they are applied.
" Mr. Cook is a useful citizen, tenacious of his own honor and integrity, rather too credulous and confiding for a man who means to be honest himself and expeets to find honesty in others; once deceived or imposed upon, no subsequent explanation or apology will restore his confidence in the man by whom he has been cheated."
ROBERT C. MCEWEN, M.D.
The subject of this notice was born on the 15th of Oc- tober, 1833, in Bainbridge, Chenango Co., N. Y. He is of Scotch descent. His paternal and maternal grand- fathers, Charles MeEwen and Josiah Hedden, were both eminent judges in the city of New York. The MeEwens
landed at Amboy, N. J., and thence removed to Stratford, Conn., where the old family residence still remains.
Robert D. McEwen, father of the subject of this sketch, was a merchant, and was brought up at Stratford, Conn. In early life he became a clerk in New York city, and subsequently embarked in mercantile business for himself at Bainbridge, Chenango Co. In 1834 he removed to New York city, where he continued to reside, having also a country residence at Stratford, Conu.
The early life of young McEwen was spent in the city of New York, where for nine years he was a pupil of the celebrated teacher, William Forest, A.M., whose school for boys was regarded as one of the best in the city. He was here prepared for college, and entered Williams at the age of sixteen. He graduated in 1853, and in 1854 took his first course of medical lectures in Yale Medical College, as student nuder Dr. N. B. Ives, of New Haven. During the years 1854-56 he was a student of medicine in the office of Professor J. M. Smith, of New York city, and graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1856.
On the Ist of October, 1857, after examination by the medical board, and upon its recommendation, he was ap- pointed by the governors of the almshouse junior assistant on the house staff of Bellevue Hospital, and subsequently occupied the positions of senior assistant and house physi- cian, having resided in the hospital during the period of one year and a half, and having performed its duties in the several offices with credit and satisfaction, receiving the di- ploma of the hospital.
After a trip to South America, where he received a commission as surgeon in Her Majesty's service, and vis- ited the Cape of Good Hope, Dr. MeEwen returned to New England in March, 1860, and, at the solicitation of his friends, remained and practiced his profession at Strat- ford, Conn., till the 16th of August, 1862, at which date he was commissioned first assistant surgeon of the Seven- teenth Connecticut Volunteers. He soon became acting surgeon of the regiment, and remained in that capacity till he resigned, on account of ill health, in September, 1863. After returning from the service he practiced in New York city, where he became a member of the New York County Medical Society.
In 1866 he removed to Saratoga Springs, where he has since resided, and has built up a snecessful practice, his learning and experience in his profession rendering him a very skillful physician.
Dr. McEwen occupies a high position in Masonry, being at present Eminent Commander of Washington Commandery, No. 33, K. T. He has also been for seven years a vestry- man of Bethesda Episcopal church at Saratoga Springs.
His first wife was Caroline Armstrong, whom he married at Stratford, Conn. She died in 1864. June 10, 1867, he married his present wife, née Sarah Watrous, daughter of Andrew Watrous, of Saratoga. He has two children living, one by each marriage.
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HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
BENJAMIN F. JUDSON.
Benjamin F. Judson was born in Nassau, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., July 22, 1827. ITis parents removed to Hillsdale, Columbia Co., where he was brought up till the age of eigh- teen, at which time he went to the city of Hudson and learned the trade of a printer. Ile afterwards removed to Troy, where he continued the same occupation till 1855, when he came to Saratoga Springs and commenced the pub- lication of The Temperance Helper, which he changed to The Saratogian on the Ist of January, 1856, and published about twenty-two years, a portion of the time alone, and the rest of the time associated with other parties.
In 1873 he was elected president of the Editorial Asso- ciation of the State of New York. The convention was held at Saratoga Springs in June of that year, and was the largest and most successful meeting of that body ever held in the State.
HIe severed his connection with The Saratogian, Dec. 22, 1876, since which time the affairs of the post-office have occupied his whole attention.
At Albany, in 1853, he was united in marriage to Miss E. Augusta Thompson, a lady of that eity. The fruit of this union has been three children, two of whom (daughters) are living at the date of this writing-May, 1878.
Photo, by Baker & Record, Saratoga Springs.
B. F. JUDSON.
In 1861 he assisted in raising the Seventy-seventh Regi- ment New York State Volunteers, raised in the county of Saratoga, which he accompanied to the field in the ca- pacity of senior captain of the regiment. On account of disability he resigned, and returned home in the spring of 1862.
He has always been a zealous Republican since the forma- tion of the party in 1856. Hle assisted in forming the first Republican organization of the county, and in 1856 changed The Saratogian, of which he was then publisher, to a political paper, advocating the principles of the new party. He established the first permanent daily newspaper at Saratoga Springs in 1869-The Daily Saratogian- which has continued its issues without interruption ever since.
Soon after the election of General Grant to his first term of the presidency, in 1868, Mr. Judson received the ap- pointment of postmaster at Saratoga Springs, and by succes- sive appointments under each succeeding administration he has held the office ever since.
PETER V. WIGGINS.
Peter Vail Wiggins was born at Southold, Suffolk Co., L. I., June 23, 1793. He came to Saratoga County about the year 1820, first settling in the town of Greenfield, under the auspices of his uncle, James Vail, but moved to the village of Saratoga Springs, and commenced the mer- cantile business during the summer of 1822. This busi- ness he carried on successfully, and for many years was the principal merchant of the village.
Oct. 26, 1825, he married Mary S. Andrews, widow of Henry W. Andrews, Esq., and daughter of Dr. Joshua Porter. Four only of their children reached maturity, viz., Martha Vail, Augusta Porter, Mary Ellsworth, and Peter Porter.
The eldest daughter, Martha Vail, was married June 13, 1848, to Crugar Walton, Esq., son of Judge Henry Wal- ton. Mrs. Walton died July 29, 1850, leaving two chil- dren. Mary E. Wiggins died Oct. 6, 1853; Peter V. Wiggins died May 28, 1862.
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HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
LEWIS PUTNAM.
Lewis Putnam was the third among nine children of Gideon and Doanda Putnam, the original white settlers of Saratoga Springs, and was the first white child born at that place. During his earlier years he was employed in lum- bering throughout this seetion of the country with one of his younger brothers. They transported their lumber to Schuylerville, and thence rafted it down the Hudson. His recollection of these good old days was always interesting, and it was with pride that he recalled the solid old log cabin of his birth, and the stump of a once immense tree in it which served for dining-table for the family.
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