History of Steuben county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 18

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia, Lewis, Peck & co.
Number of Pages: 826

USA > New York > Steuben County > History of Steuben county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 18

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David Rumsey, the subject of this notice, was brought to Bath by his parents at the age of six years. On their removal to Auburn he was taken to reside in that city, where he enjoyed for several years the advantages of its excellent schools. As a boy, he possessed an active and vigorous intellect ; his faculties were of that order which led him early to acquire habits of close and careful investi- gation, and even in boyhood he enjoyed the labor of sifting truth from falsehood, in the tangled and complicated sub- jects presented to his mind, with a zest which has only been heightened in the more abstruse and complex problems which have engaged his professional attention.

He began the study of law at the age of nineteen, in the office of Hon. Henry Welles, late justice of the Supreme Court, theu a resident of Bath, and was admitted to the bar in the year 1831. His practice in this village, and in a large number of adjacent countics, where his services have been retained in important suits, has covered a period of almost half a century, including his career during the past five years on the bench of the Supreme Court.

In 1832 he formed a law partnership with Hon. William Woods, of Bath, which relation existed till the death of Mr. Woods, on the 7th of August, 1837. Mr. Rumsey then practiced by himself about four years. In 1842 he entered into partnership with his brother-in-law, Hon. Robert Van Valkenburgh, now one of the justices of the Supreme Court of Florida, who studied law in his office. This partnership continued until Mr. Van Valkenburgh was appointed minister to Japan in 1865.

Prior to Judge Rumsey's career in Congress, he discharged for four years the duties of surrogate of Steuben County, to which office he was appointed by Governor Seward, in 1840.

In 1846 he was elected to Congress for the first time, and discharged so acceptably the duties of a representative that he was put in nomination again, and re-elected in 1848. Hle served during the sessions of the Thirtieth and Thirty- first Congresses, holding a responsible position as member of the Committee on Private Fund Claims during both sessions. In 1867 he was elected a delegate to the Constitutional

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D. Pumsey

HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Convention, and while in that body was a member of the Committee on the Powers and Duties of the Legislature. n 1872 he was appointed by Governor Hoffman a member f the Commission to Propose Amendments to the Consti- ution of the State.

On the 7th of January, 1873, he was appointed by Gov- rnor Dix one of the jnstiees of the Supreme Court, to fill he vacaney caused by the death of the late IIon. Thomas 1. Johnson, in the Seventh Judicial Distriet, embracing Cayuga, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Seneca, Wayne, Yates, nd Steuben Counties. In November, 1873, he was elected y the people to fill the same exalted and honorable position or a term of fourteen years. But by reason of age his ime will expire Dee. 31, 1880.

Judge Rumsey, as a member of the bar, has had a long nd distinguished practice. He has been engaged in many f the most difficult and laborious eases tried in the Su- reme Court and Court of Appeals, and has a reputation or integrity, fidelity to the interest of his elients, indefati- able labor, and legal acumen second to no other lawyer in his section of the State. Many interesting and important ases in which he has participated might be eited had we pace for them and did it comport with the wishes of Judge lumsey to have them inserted in a sketch for publication. As a justice of the Supreme Court, his rulings and de- isions are characterized by eminent impartiality, and his emeanor by that courtesy which always renders his inter- ourse with men agreeable.

Judge Rumsey married, in 1841, Jane E., daughter of Ion. Anthony Brown, of Ogdensburgh, N. Y., and has three children. His only son, Col. William Rumsey, erved through the late war, and is his father's successor i a large law practice at Bath.

HON. EDWARD HIOWELL.

Edward Howell was born in Newburg, Orange Co., N. Y., Det. 16, 1792, at which place and in the city of New York is early years were passed. In his boyhood he made several oyages to sea on board of a ship of which his father was aster. In 1808, he came to Sidney, Delaware Co., and t the age of seventeen was employed as a teacher in Una- illa. He came to the town of Bath in the spring of 1811, nd was employed in farming, teaching school, and mer- handise till 1816, when he commenced the study of law ith Gen. Daniel Cruger, of Bath. In 1818 he was ap- ointed county elerk, and soon after postmaster of the vil- ige of Bath. In 1823 he was admitted as an attorney in he Supreme Court and solicitor in Chancery, and three ears later as counselor in these courts. In 1829 he was ppointed district attorney, and was elected to the Assembly 1832. In 1833 he was elected to Congress, when he re- igned the office of district attorney, to which he was re- ppointed in June, 1836. He was soon after appointed a Supreme Court commissioner.

Mr. Howell for many years stood at the head of his pro- ession in this section of the State. During the time he as in practice seventeen young men entered his office as tudents-at-law, at different times within a period of about wenty years.

To his great abilities and profound knowledge of the law

Mr. Howell added a wide range of information, and a con- scientious fidelity in the discharge of his duties which commanded the respect and regard of all who knew him. He died Jan. 30, 1871, aged seventy-nine years.

WILLIAM HOWELL, ESQ.

William Howell, Esq., brother of Edward Howell, is still in the practice of his profession at Bath, where he has continued the same since 1830, a period of forty-nine years. He is now the oldest lawyer in Steuben County. He was born in Newburg, N. Y., Oct. 3, 1804. His father died in Unadilla, N. Y., and in 1811 his mother moved with the family to the Conhoeton Valley, about a mile above Kanona, in the town of Bath. He came to the village in 1827, and commenced the study of law in the office of Gen. Daniel Cruger. In 1830 he was admitted to practice in the Court of Common Pleas, and as attorney in the Supreme Court and solicitor in the Court of Chancery in 1833.

HON. ROBERT CAMPBELL.

One of the distinguished members of the Steuben County bar, as well as an incumbent of the second official position in the gift of the people of the State, was Hon. Robert Campbell, son of Robert Campbell, Sr., who was one of the first settlers of Bath, and second to no other citizen in point of honor and integrity. An old acquaintance, speaking of the senior Mr. Campbell, says, " Ile was one of Nature's noblemen,-kind, genial, honest, and true." His son, Robert, was born in Bath, in the month of May, 1808. After a preparatory course of study, he spent some time at Hobart College, Geneva, and in 1826 commeneed the study of law in the office of Cruger & Ilowell, then the leading law firm in Steuben County. He was admitted to practice in 1829, and immediately opened an office in copartnership with W. T. Worden, Esq., at Auburn, N. Y. In a year or two he returned to Bath and entered into practice with Gen. Cruger, under the firm-natue of Cruger & Campbell. Subsequently he formed a partnership with Hon. Samuel II. Hammond. He was a scholarly, laborious, conscientious, and successful lawyer, and attained a large and Inerative prae- tice. Ilis devotion to his profession induced him for many years to decline political preferment. In 1842 he refused to accept the nomination for senator, which was tendered him by the Democratic Senatorial Convention. But in 1844 he was a member of the Democratic National Convention which nominated James K. Polk for the Presidency. The Legis- lature, in 1846, eleeted him a member of the Board of Regents of the State University, and he held the office at the time of his death. Also in 1846 he was elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and did efficient service in that important body. Ile was twiee in succession elected lieutenant-governor of New York,-in 1858 and in 1860,-and presided over the deliberations of the Senate with great dignity and ability. As a member of the Canal Board, and indeed in all his official relations, he discharged his duty with singular fidelity and conscientious devotion to the public welfare.

As a member of the bar he attained an honorable posi- tion. Though he never had the reputation of an eloquent advocate,-a gift which is often the result of rhetorical

HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK.

fluency more than of a knowledge of the law, -he was a lawyer who prepared his briefs with great care, and who could urge his arguments before a court or a jury with great clearness and cogency. He was very systematic and labo- rious in his business habits, and a gentleman of courteous manners and a kindly and generous disposition.

HON. WILLIAM WOODS.

Hon. William Woods was one of the early and prominent lawyers of Bath. He was a native of Washington County, and studied law with Hon. Samuel Nelson, late justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who married his niece. IIe did a very large legal business, and was one of the most popular men of his time. He was a member of the Legislature in 1823 and 1828, a member of Congress

passage, and Mr. Rochester with a large number of pas- sengers was drowned.

IION. DAVID MCMASTER.

Mr. MeMaster was born in Unadilla, Otsego, N. Y., on the 21st of April, 1804. He is a graduate of Hamilton College, in the class of 1826. He began the same year the study of law at Norwich, Chenango Co., and in the fall of that year came to Bath, and continued his legal studies with Hon. William Woods, and was admitted in 1827. His first practice was in Bath, in 1827, in part- nership with Hon. Henry W. Rogers, and, with the ex- ception of one year in Clyde, Wayne Co. (1828-29), he praetieed continuously in this village till 1847, a portion of the time in partnership with Ziba A. Leland and L. H. Read, both since deceased.

D.WMasten

from 1823 to 1825, and surrogate of the county from 1827 to 1835.

IION. WILLIAM B. ROCHIESTER.

This distinguished member of the carly bench and bar of this county was a native of Maryland. He read law in the office of Gen. S. S. Haight, at Bath, where he practiced some time, and at one time in partnership with Hon. Wil- liam Woods. He was elected a member of the Eighteenth Congress in 1822, was a representative on the part of the United States in the Congress of the American States at Panama, and in 1823 was appointed one of the circuit judges of this State for the Eighth Judicial Circuit. Ile subsequently removed to Buffalo, N. Y., where he was for many years president of the Branch Bank of the United States in that city. His health failing, he started to spend a winter in Florida, for the benefit of that climate, on board the steamer Pulaski. The vessel was wrecked on its

Under the new constitution, in June, 1847, Mr. Mc- Master was elected county judge and surrogate of Steuben County, which offices he filled in a manner creditable to himself and his constituents. In 1856 he was re-elected to both offices for a term of four years, and discharged the duties of the same with that care and fidelity characteristic of him both as a lawyer and a judge. Few men, either in their professional or official duties, have gained or retained the esteem and confidence of their fellow-citizens in a higher degree than has Judge MeMaster.

IFe was married, Feb. 13, 1828, to Miss Adeline A. Humphreys, daughter of the late Guy Humphreys, of Marcellus, N. Y., who died Oct. 7, 1841. By this mar- riage he has two children living.

On February 22, 1843, he married, for his second wife, Mary, daughter of the late Hon. George C. Edwards, of Batb. Of the children by this marriage six are living.

PHOTO BY EVANS.

HON. GEORGE T. SPENCER.

Hon. Geo. T. Spencer is a lineal descendant of the sixth generation from Jared Spencer, who emigrated to America about 1634, and settled first at Cambridge, Mass., then called Newtown; subsequently at Lynn, Mass. ; afterwards at Hartford; and was at Haddam, Conn., in 1662, where he died in 1685.

His son Thomas migrated to the town of Saybrook, Conn., about 1679, where the family remained, and where Judge George T. Spencer was born, Nov. 6, 1814.

His father, George Spencer, was a manufacturer of ivory combs, piano-keys, etc., and was among the earliest manufacturers in this country of that class of goods.

He married Julia Pratt, of Saybrook, who was a de- scendant of Rev. William Pratt, of Baldock, Hertford- shire, England, through William Pratt, the cmigraut of 1633, who was among the early settlers of Saybrook in 1645, known as Lieutenant William Pratt. Of this union were born two sons and three daughters, of whom Judge Spencer was eldest. His father died at the age of ninety-one, July 24, 1877. His mother died March, 1845, at the age of fifty-nine.

Judge Spencer received his preliminary education at the common school, at Lees Academy, Connecticut, and at Amherst Academy, Massachusetts.

In 1833 he entered Yale College, from which he was graduated in the class of 1837, with classmates William M. Evarts, Secretary of State; Morrison R. Waite, Chief Justice of the United States ; and Edward Pierre- pont, late Minister to the Court of St. James.

In 1839 he entered the law office of Governor Ells- worth, at Hartford, Conn., and subsequently was a stu- dent with John G. Forbes, of Syracuse, N. Y., and was admitted to the bar in July, 1841.

In August of the same year he began the practice of the law in Corning, where he has remained continuously nntil the present time.

He was formerly a Whig, but became a member of the Republican party upon its formation.

In 1857 he was a member of the Legislature of the State, and served npon the committee on the judiciary.

In 1867 he was a member of the Constitutional Con- vention, and from 1872 to 1876, inclusive, judge of Steuben County.

In the year 1842 he married Harriet, danghter of Ira Stacy, of Belchertown, Mass. Their children are George Spencer, of St. Cloud, Minn. ; Mrs. Horace N. Pond, of Boston, Mass. ; Mrs. Rev. Albert W. Hubbard, of Sivas, Turkey ; Betsey ; Clarissa ; and Hugh.

PHOTO BY SUTTON

JUDGE WILLIAM M. HAWLEY.

With the eminent lawyer whose name stands at the head of this sketch is associ- d much of the history of Steuben County and Western New York, while the record self-made mon presents few higher triumphs of unassisted energy and exertion to ia exhibited in his life, for he was in every sense the architect of bis own for- e. It has been truthfully said that those who, in the commencement of life are npelled to struggle with difficulties, determined to overcome them, have the key success in their hands.

fudge Hawley entered the battle of life, compelled to contend with herculean diffi- ties, and when, like Antæna, he was sometinies obliged to touch the earth, he sprang ain to the contest with renewed energies, which at length gave him the victory. Ho was born in the county of Delaware, N. Y., Feb. 13, 1802. His father was one the early settlers of that county, a farmer by occupatiou. His means were limited, I he could afford his children but few advantages for education.

Young Hawley very early evinced a desire for knowledge, and the few advantages thin his reach were eagerly seized by him and turned to best account.

While very young a friend of his father lent him "Pintarch's Lives," which he d not only with avidity, but understandingly, and through his whole life that at biographer continued to be his favorite author among the ancient writers. So entive was his memory, that once reading a work he could repeat verbatim large rtions of its contents. His memory was truly remarkable.

He early conceived the thought that he should one day become a lawyer, and this 8 was the theme of his ambition, the controlling motive of his life. Upon reach- g his majority, with no fortune except strong bands, a vigorous constitution, the ntal acquirements which he possessed, and a determined purpose, he removed to mond, Allegany Co., purchased a piece of nocultivated land on credit, and at once nmeuced the work of clearing it for tillage. His intelligence and business capacity re soon manifested, and he immediately took a respectable position among the ople of Almond. In the spring of 1824 he was elected one of the constables of it town. At this time imprisonment for debt had not been sholisted, and this ic of barbarism greatly enhanced the duties and responsibilities of constables. the discharge of his official duties he was often one of the attending constables the various courts held in Angelina. Although Allegany County was remote from e more cultivated portions of the State, yet its courts were graced by the most rmed and able judges and advocates of that day. Nothing occurred which escaped notice ; the legal contests of these gifted advocates were watched by Mr. Hawley th intense interest, and when the law was pronounced by those profound judges beard and garnered up all that fell from their lips.

During the first term of court which he attended at Angelica he entered his name a law student in the office of the late George Miles, then a leading member of the legany bar. As his means did not admit of his devoting his entire time to the ice, he pursued his studies at home when relieved from other duties. This he ntinued for two years. Declining the office of constable, he commenced practice justices' courts, in the mean time continning his legal studies. A distinguished wyer, who in those days often met him in justices' courts, remarked that Ilawley ed a case before a justice with ability sufficient to distinguish iu any court. His uses were condneted with dignity, propriety, skill, and learning.

In due time Mr. Hawley completed his law studies, and passed in a creditable man- r a thorough examination, was admitted to the bar, and at once opened an office Almond. Such had been his reputation before his admission that he was soon in e midst of a practice of considerable importance. In the fall of 1837 he was in- ced to make Ilornelleville his future residence, where he soon took a high position hong the distinguished lawyers by whom he was surrounded, and controlled a large d lucrative practice. One of his earliest business relations was a partnership with e late Jolm Baldwin, whose legal abilitles and keen wit distinguished him through-

out Western New York. This partnership continned only about one year when it was dissolved. In January, 1846, he was appointed by Governor Silas Wright first judge of Steuben County. Many years previous Governor Wright had met him and forined his acquaintance, and regarding him as a high-minded, honorable, and able lawyer, he tendered him this position as a mark of his esteem and confidence.

Ile held this office for a little over one year, when Hon. David McMaster took his place by election, and he was elected to the Senate from the Twenty-fifth Senatorial District of the State, and was honored with the second position on the committee of ways and means, while his name appeared on other important Senate committees during his term.

On the 19th of February, 1848, he delivered a speech in the Senate on certain resolu- tions instructing the senators and representatives in Congress from this State to vote for the prohibition of slavery in New Mexico, whose entrance into the Union was then anticipated. This speech added much to his reputation ; it was calm, direct, and statesinanlike. It was regarded as one of the ablest delivered in the Senate during that winter.

Judge Hawley was a delegate froio this State to the Democratic National Conven- tion which assemhled at Baltimore on the 22d of May, 1848, at which two delegations from the State of New York presented themselves for admission ; one of which was known as the Free-Soil, Radical, or Barnburner delegation, under the guide of the lato Samuel Young, and that of the Conservatives or Hunkers, who were under the lead of Daniel S. Dickinson. He identified himself with the former.

This convention culminated in a National Convention held at Buffalo, Ang. 9, 1848, to which Judge Hawley was also a delegate, and entered ardently into all its pro- ceedings, and in which Martin Van Buren was nominated for President, and Charles Francis Adame for Vice-President.

He was one of the committee who introduced those resolutions whose essential elements were afterwards adopted by the Republican party. On the introduction uf those resolutions he delivered n speech, the very sentimente of which in after-years he reiterated in a Republican State Convention.

After retiring from the Senate, Judge Hawley never again sought for official posi- tions, but confined himself exclusively to bis profession, and although fortunate in his financial matters, he continued to practice until within a short period of his death, which occurred Feb. 9, 1869.

As late ax 1868, September, at the Stenhen circuit held at Corning, he appeared and conducted a very important divorce case, and there appeared no diminution in his fine mental powers, and he stood at the bar, as he had for years, an able and powerful competitor, though his health had been for some time declining. Few lawyers were more perfect in their preparation of a case for trial or argument than he. His papers always exhibited a brief philosophic statement of legally dedneted facts, what a cor- rect system of pleading demands.

As a friend he wns sincere and undeviating ; unpretending and easy in his manners, with pleasant, even fine conversational powers, he was an attractive companion. There way a seeming humor in his manner that drew the young as well as the old to him, and which disguised his faults. As a speaker he was calm, temperate, and logical; he knew how to enliven a dry theme with a proper play of the imagination, and thus give relief to the fatigue of close attention. In the argument of a purely legal question, at special or general term, he avoided all fiorid language, and sought per picuity and preciseness of expression.

As a citizen he was public-spirited, sedulous to advance the interests of the com- munity in which he lived, and reasonably active in all projects of public improve- ment. Sorue years previous to his decease he united with the Episcopal Church at Hornellaville. In his domestic relations he was a kind busband and indulgent and liberal father.

HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK.

HON. JOSEPH G. MASTEN.

Hon. Joseph G. Masten was a son-in-law of Dugald Cameron, and a lawyer who attained to considerable dis- tinetion. Ile came to Bath about 1832, was admitted to the Common Pleas, and practiced in partnership with Henry W. Rogers. About 1836 he and Rogers removed to Buffalo, where he afterwards became mayor of that city and justice of the Superior Court. He was also a member of the Con- stitutional Convention of 1867. He died in Buffalo about 1872.

HENRY W. ROGERS, ESQ.,

came to Bath from Sidney Plains, N. Y., about 1827. He taught school, read law with Hon. Henry Welles, and be- came a partner with Hon. David MeMaster, with whom he practiced for some considerable time. He then formed a partnership with Mr. Masten, and both practiced together till they removed to' Buffalo. Mr. Rogers now resides at Ann Arbor, Mich. During his residence in Buffalo he was collector of that port, and was also prosecuting attor- ney, acting in the famous Rathbun case.

VINCENT M. CORYELL.

Vincent M. Coryell was admitted to the practice of law in Bath in 1822, and was for a short time a partner of Judge Welles. He subsequently became a Methodist cler- gyman. Mr. Coryell was a son-in-law of Dugald Cameron.

SCHUYLER S. STRONG, ESQ.

Schuyler S. Strong, Esq., came to Steuben from Orange Co., N. Y. In December, 1822, he formed a partnership with Hon. William Woods, and in 1824 became associated in practice with Hon. Edward Howell. He took a leading part in the trial of Robert Douglas for murder at Bath in 1825. Some years later he removed to Springfield, Ill., where he died in 1843. He was a son-in-law of Gen. Daniel Crnger, and Mrs. Strong is still living at Bath.

ANSON GIBBS, EsQ., was also a practicing attorney at Bath in 1820 and 1821. Ile removed to Ellicottville, where he was prominent as an attorney.

JOUN COOK, EsQ., was also an attorney at Bath for many years, and died there. He followed Daniel Cruger as district attorney, being appointed Feb. 19, 1821.

HON. S. H. HAMMOND.

IIon. Samuel H. Hammond, who, for a time, was partner with Mr. Campbell, was a man of very different mould and temperament. Though gifted with rare powers he disliked the rontine and drudgery of a law-office, and books of reference were his abhorrence. The scenes of nature, the wild solitudes of mountain and glen, the sports of hunting and fishing, were, on the contrary, his delight, and he often found them so tempting a pastime as to seriously interfere with anything like systematic attention to professional duties. He was at times, and, it may be said, generally, eloquent as an advocate, and was a graphic and rhetorical writer. He was from temperament and habit better adapted to journal- ism thau to the law, and in the former sphere he is best known and will be longest remembered. He wrote many beautiful and tender things both in prose and poetry, which

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History of Steuben county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 18

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford) Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Philadelphia, Lewis, Peck & co. Number of Pages: 826

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia, Lewis, Peck & co.
Number of Pages: 826