USA > New York > Chemung County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 153
USA > New York > Schuyler County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 153
USA > New York > Tioga County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 153
USA > New York > Tompkins County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 153
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At the annual meeting of 1863, George G. Freer ap- peared as the supervisor from Dix, and Adam G. Campbell as supervisor from Montour vice Charles Cook, resigned. Mr. Freer moved the Board meet in the court-house at Watkins, but an amendment to meet in the court-house at Havana was carried by a vote of five to two.
Mr. Freer proposed to convey to the county of Schuyler his interest in the court-house, clerk's office, and jail, and their site at Havana, and also in the site of the public buildings, for $6000, the Board to cancel the bond and mort- gage against him on the Havana property in addition, and the proposition was accepted. $3000 were levied and $3000 borrowed to pay the amount. The conveyance was accord- ingly made, and the transfer appropriately effected. A pro- position to sell the court-house property at Watkins met with much opposition from the Watkins interest, but to no effect, the sale being ordered by a vote of five to two, Mr. Freer not voting. Supervisors Campbell, Barkley, and Bower were appointed a committee, with full powers to carry out the resolutions of sale.
Messrs. Cagger & Porter, surviving partners of Hill, Cagger & Porter, commenced suit against the Board of Supervisors in 1864, by mandamus on a bill of $2524, for attorney's fees of Mr. Hill, for arguing the question of the constitutionality of the act erecting Schuyler County be- fore the Court of Appeals in the case of the People vs.
563
AND SCHUYLER COUNTIES, NEW YORK.
Rumsey. At the annual meeting in 1864, the committee before appointed for the purpose reported the sale of the court-house at Watkins, to Rev. F. F. Howe, the president of the Watkins Academy, for the sum of $6750; cash re- ceived, $1687.50 ; balance, $5062.50, secured by mortgage on the premises. The sale was made Jan. 15, 1864. No disturbing legislation was presented at the several meetings of the Board in 1865 and 1866, growing out of the county- seat contest, until the annual meeting in the latter year, when, on Dee. 13, a memorial to the Legislature was adopted, asking that body to change the site of the county buildings to Watkins, the said village being more eligibly situated for the commerce of the people of the county ; the people of Watkins, in consideration of such removal, to bind themselves to furnish free of expense to the county a site and proper buildings for the needs of the county. A bond of $30,000 was accordingly given by the citizens of Wat- kins to fulfill the agreement contained in the memorial, which was accepted by the Board, and the act asked for passed by the Legislature, April 24, 1867. A board of commissioners was appointed, consisting of Abraham Law- rence, of Catharine ; Isaac D. McKeel, of Hector; Archi- bald Robbins, of Reading; Cornelius Haring, of Orange; and Alexander C. Kingsbury, of Dix, to act in conjunction with the Board of Supervisors of the county, in the exami- nation and selection of a proper site for the public buildings, a majority of both commissioners and supervisors to eon- stitute a legal acceptance. The buildings were to be equal in materials, workmanship, finish, and convenience for pub- lic use, to those then in Havana. When the deed for the site was accepted and full possession entered into by the county, the transfer of the county-seat. was to be deemed complete and perfect, and all courts were thereafter to be held at Watkins. The buildings at Havana were to be sold within three months after acquiring possession of the site at Watkins, and the proceeds, less the expenses of sale, to be paid to such citizens of Watkins as had procured the site and provided the buildings at Watkins. Such parts of the buildings at Havana as might be deemed fit for the buildings at Watkins might be taken out and used in the construction of the new buildings. No part of the expense of the new buildings was to be levied on any part of the county except Watkins, and if the buildings were not ready for use by Oct. 1, 1869, the act to be void.
The commissioners and the Board of Supervisors met in pursuance of the act, May 18, 1867, and organized the commission by choosing Hon. Abraham Lawrence, chair- man ; and E. B. Mapes, clerk. A committee, of which L. M. Gano was chairman, appeared and presented the reso- lutions adopted by a publie meeting of the citizens of Wat- kins appointing the committee, and tendering to the con- mission, as a site for the county buildings, the lots on which the present court-house, clerk's office, and jail now stand, fronting on Franklin Street, between Ninth ard Tenth Streets. The trustees of the village of Watkins also selected and tendered the same premises as such site in behalf of the village. The site was duly examined and accepted, and a certificate of location made according to the provisions of the act. The same being adopted by a vote of nine to four, all of the commissioners voting for it but Mr.
Lawrence, and all of the supervisors but those of Cayuta, Catharine, and Montour. The location was reported to the Board of Supervisors, which accepted the same, and ordered the certificate and the acceptance on record.
A vote of the citizens of Watkins, had June 24, 1867, directed the trustees of the village to issue the bonds of the village to carry into effect the provisions of the aet remov- ing the county-seat ; and an act of the Legislature, passed February 28, 1868, legalized the issue, and declared the bonds a lien on the taxable property of the village, and re- quired the trustees to levy the amount, year by year, neces- sary to pay the same and interest as the bonds fell due, limiting the issue to $25,000.
At a special meeting, held Feb. 4, 1868, the building commissioners reported the court-house, clerk's office, and jail completed, and fully equal in materials, workmanship, finish, and convenience to the old buildings at Havana ; that they were conveniently fitted and furnished in all re- spects for the use of the county; and, in addition to the said public buildings, the Watkins people had generously erected a good, substantial, and commodious brick dwelling for the sheriff or jailer of the county ; that the village of Watkins had fully complied with the act of the Legislature removing the site of the county buildings, etc.
This report was signed by four of the commissioners, Hon. Abraham Lawrence being absent at Albany in at- tendance on the Constitutional Convention, of which body he was a member. Bradford C. Hurd conveyed the premises to the county by warrantee deed, free of in- cumbrance, and the county was put in full possession of the property.
The Board accepted the deed and buildings, and adopted a resolution declaring the act of the Legislature fully com- plied with, and the removal of the site of the public build- ings an accomplished fact, by a vote of five to three, the supervisors of Cayuta, Catharine, and Montour voting nay. The clerk was directed to notify all officers interested of the completion of the public buildings, by serving them with a copy of the proceedings of this meeting. B C. Hurd was directed to put the county clerk into the pos- session of the clerk's office, and the sheriff into that of the court-house, jail, and jailer's residence. Those officers were directed to remove the fixtures and furniture from the buildings at Havana forthwith to Watkins, and the records and books of the Board of Supervisors to be removed also to that place at the cost of Watkins. A sale of the public buildings at Havana was ordered to take place Feb. 17, 1868, by a vote of five to three. Before this sale could be effected Elbert P. Cook, as the legal representative of Charles Cook, deceased, commenced suit against the Board of Su- pervisors by injunction, restraining the sale, and soon after, during the month of February, the trustees of the village of Hlavana brought a similar suit. At a special meeting, held Feb. 29, 1868, a compromise was effected with the village, whereby no sale was to be effected for ten days, the Supreme Court having vacated the injunction. On March 30, another order of sale was made of the property at Havana, by a vote of five to two, but no sale was had under it, an injunction having been granted restraining the same. On April 27 a sale of the property was again ordered to be
564
HISTORY OF TIOGA, CHEMUNG, TOMPKINS,
made, as soon as the injunction was vacated, by a vote of six to two. The injunctions were dissolved, and the commit- tee sold the property to John Lang and Archibald Robbins, of Watkins, for $10,000, and the proceeds turned over to the village of Watkins, as provided for by the act of 1867. The action of the committee was reported, and ratified and confirmed by the Board, at a special meeting, June 20, by a vote of five to two, one member being absent. The north- east room of the court-house was fitted up for the super- visors' room.
The suit of the village of Havana against the Board of Supervisors, against the removal of the county-seat, was decided adverse to Havana ; the trustees of the village ap- pealed to the gencral term of the Supreme Court, but the case was not argued as late as 1872, owing to the absence of Hon. H. Boardman Smith, counsel for the Board, in Congress. Judge Rood, the attorney for the Board, re- ported the suit still undetermined at the annual meeting of 1872, and recommended that an attempt be made to " bury the hatchet and smoke the pipe of peace between the two villages of Havana and Watkins." However, the pacific overtures of the judge, who had been foremost in the fight from the beginning as the champion of the Watkins inter- est, were not accepted, and the case was finally argued in September, 1874, at Binghamton, and the findings of the special term in favor of the Board affirmed, ending the con- troversy of twenty years. Judge Rood suggested the costs of the special term and general term awarded the county against Havana be collected or canceled, and the "ehasın closed."
Doubtless, believing that one who had so gallantly " fought the fight and kept the faith" for Watkins could more casily solve the question of collection or cancellation, the Board ordered an assignment of the judgments for costs, amounting to $282.48, to Judge Rood, for his fees in the suit. The official act of assignment, however, was not completed until November, 1877, when the Board again ordered the act consummated by the clerk. And thus ended the most persistently-contested struggle for the pub- lic buildings of a county between rival villages the annals of the Empire State can show, in all probability. Happy, indeed, is it that the strife is ended, and that the towns of little Schuyler ean, like brothers, dwell together in unity, with no disturbing elements to vex them, in the midst of a country unrivaled for the beauty of its landscapes, and rich in the lore of the past.
The cost of the buildings at Havana and at Watkins was not far from the same amount, about $24,000.
The clerk's office is a neat brick edifice. The court-house, also of brick, is two stories in height, the southern room being the supervisors' room, and a very pleasant room in- dced, fitted up with plain chestnut desks and a case for books and papers. The north room is occupied by the surrogate, and the upper story by the court-room and jury- 100ms, which are reached by a broad hall and staircase, the former opening out on the west front under a deep portico. The jail is a two-story brick building in the rear, and con- neeted with the jailer's residence, also fronting west. It contains numerous cells, and is fairly commensurate with the needs of the county at the present time.
CHAPTER LXXVII.
POLITICAL AND CIVIL HISTORY.
UPON the organization of the county it was placed in the Twenty-Seventh Congressional District, with the coun- ties of Chemung, Tioga, and Tompkins. The district was represented as follows : John J. Taylor, 1853-55; John M. Parker, 1855-59; Alfred Wells, 1859-61 ; Alexander S. Diven, 1861-63.
Under the act of April 23, 1862, the number of the district was changed to the Twenty-sixth, and consisted of Tioga, Tompkins, Broome, and Schuyler. Its representa- tives were as follows : Giles W. Hotchkiss, 1863-67 ; Wm. S. Lincoln, 1867-69 ; Giles W .. Hotchkiss, 1869-71; Milo Goodrich, 1871-73.
Under the act of June 18, 1873, the number of the district was changed to the Twenty-eighth, the countics, however, remaining the same as before. It has been repre- sented as follows: Thomas C. Platt, 1873-75 ; Jeremiah W. Dwight, 1875,-present representative.
SENATORIAL.
Schuyler constitutes a portion of the Twenty-seventh Senatorial District (Chemung, Schuyler, and Steuben), and has since its organization. The district has been repre- sented as follows : Alexander S. Diven, Elmira ; Samuel H. Hammond, Bath ; Charles Cook, Havana ; Stephen T. Hayt, Corning (two terms); John I. Nicks,* Elmira (two terms) ; Theodore L. Minier, Havana ; Gabriel T. Harrower, Find- leytown ; George B. Bradley, Corning; Ira Davenport,t Bath.
MEMBERS OF ASSEMBLY.
Although legally organized in 1854, the county of Schuy- ler had no representative in the Assembly until the eighty- first session thereof, which began Jan. 5, and ended April 19, 1858. The following is the list, viz. :
1858. Henry Fish, Mecklenburg. 1868-69. George Clark, Altay.
1859. I. D. McKecl, Searsburg. 1870-71. Wm. C. Coon, Burdette. 1860. Edwin II. Downs, Havana. 1872. Harmon L. Gregory, Altay. 1861. A. V. McKeel, Searsburg. 1873. Jere'h McGuire, Havana. 1863. Sam'l Lawrence, Havana. 1864-65. L. Webber, Orange. 1862. A. C. Hause, Weston. 1874. Harmon L. Gregory, Altay. 1875-76. Wm. Gulick, Watkins. 1877. Abram V. McKeel, Hector. 1878. Abram V. McKeel, Hector. 1866-67. S. M. Barker, N. Hector.
COUNTY JUDGES.
County judges are elected for six years. The constitu- tion of 1846 abolished the office of surrogate, except in counties where the population exceeds 40,000, and devolved its duties on the county judge. The following is the list :
1854. Simcon L. Rood. 1870. George G. Frecr.
1862. George Shearer. 1876. Oliver P. Hurd.t
1866. Benjamin W. Woodward.
CLERKS.
County clerks are elected for a term of three years. They are clerks of the Supreme Court in their respective counties, and their scals are the seals of the court.
# Elected vice Hayt, resigned.
t Present incumbent.
565
AND SCHUYLER COUNTIES, NEW YORK.
The list is as follows :
1854. Algernon S. Newcomb.
1866. Edward Kendall.#
1857. John Hollett.
1875. Myron H. Weaver.
1860. D. G. Weaver.
1878. Arthur Woodward.t
SHERIFFS.
Under the first constitution sheriffs were appointed annu- ally by the Council of Appointment, and no person could hold the office for more than four successive years. He could hold no other office, and must be a freeholder in the county to which appointed. Under the second constitution sheriffs were elected for a term of three years, and were ineligible to election for the next succeeding term. The tenure of office is the same under the present constitution.
1854. John J. Swartwood.
1865. Chester M. Hagar.
1856. E. K. Mandeville.}
1868. Charles W. Clauharty.
Moses F. Weaver.
1871. John S. Swartwood.
1859. Robert Lockwood.
1877. Henry B. Catlin.t
1862. Peter C. Hagar.
TREASURERS.
County treasurers are elected under the constitution of 1846 for a term of three years. They were formerly ap- pointed by the Board of Supervisors in the several counties.
1854. Charles J. Broas.
1869. L. Shepherd.
1857. Cyrus Roberts.
1873. A. S. Stothoff .¿
1860. Adrian Tuttle.
Wm. H. Wait.
1863. Jacob Fitzgerald.
1876. Wm. H. Wait.t
1866. James Cormack.
DISTRICT ATTORNEYS. Distriet attorneys arc elected for a term of three years.
1854. Lewis F. Riggs.
1864. Samuel C. Keeler.
1855. Marcus Lyon. |
1867. Oliver P. Hurd.
Daniel Jameson.
1870. Wm. L. Norton.
1858. H. C. Van Duzer.
1873. Charles H. Fletcher.
1861. John W. Brown.
1876. Charles W. Davis.
SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS.
Prior to 1857 sehool commissioners were appointed by the Boards of Supervisors. Sinee that year they have been elected on a separate ballot. The first eleetion under the aet ereating the office was held in November, 1859.
The following is the list, viz. :
William C. Guliek, Cyrus Roberts, Daniel Beach, Charles G. Winfield, Lauren G. Thomas, James H. Pope, Duncan C. Mand, Charles T. Andrews.
As illustrative of the politieal status of the county of Sehuyler, from its organization to the present time, the following exhibit is given. At the first clection the fol- lowing vote was given for Governor, viz. :
Clark.
Seymour.
Ulnan.
Bronson.
Cuyuta ..
28
99
5
1
Catharine
361
195
104
10
Dix.
276
193
46
11
Hector
483
561
78
Orange ..
86
125
157
1
Reading
163
107
2
1
Tyrone ..
187
187
9
S
Total
1582
1367
401
110
# Three terms.
+ Present incumbent.
¿ Appointed vice Swartwood, resigned.
¿ Appointed rice Shepherd.
|| Appointod vice Riggs, resigned.
Republican. 2342
Democrat. American. Temperance. 918 461
1858-Governor.
2003
1448
1860-President.
2551
1709
1862-Governor.
2294
1709
1864-President ..
2576
1893
1866-Governor.
2576
1884
1868-President
2771
2040
1870-Governor.
2506
2118
1872-President.
2478
1996
1874-Governor
2110
2260
299
1876-President ...
2860
2255
The vote for 1876 was as follows :
Republican. Democrat. Temperance.
Cayuta ...
37
112
Catharine .......
293
145
27
Dix ......
549
568
25
Heetor.
887
512
31
Montour ..
300
183
13
Orange ..
243
290
5
Reiding
233
191
10
Tyrone.
318
253
15
Total
2860
2254
132
CHAPTER LXXVIII.
THE BENCH AND BAR.
IT is eminently proper to introduce the history of the bar of Sehuyler County with a sketch of the earecr of the old patriarch, Simeon L. Rood, who was the first county judge.
JUDGE SIMEON L. ROOD was the first county judge of Schuyler County. He was born in the town of Sandgate, Bennington Co., Vt., March 19, 1804, and eame to the northern part of Cayuga County in 1817, when a boy of thirteen years. From that time until he was twenty-one years of age his life was spent in the forests in ehopping, or on the Erie Canal in digging, with the execption of two years, 1823-24, when he was employed in building saw- mills in the now famous Watkins Glen. In 1825 he was married in Cayuga County to Cynthia Ladow, a native of Saratoga County. In 1831 he returned to the present town of Dix (then the town of Catlin, Tioga Co.), since which time he has looked upon the present county of Sehuyler as his home. He was appointed one of the judges of the county of Chemung on its organization in 1836, and held the position four years, and resigned. He was clceted county elerk of Chemung County in 1840, taking the position Jan. 1, 1841, and holding it for two terms of three years each. While serving as clerk he resided in Elmira. In 1854 he was elected county judge of the new county of Schuyler, having a settled belief that he would never be ealled on to aet as such, by reason of the expected decision of the courts of the unconstitutionality of the aet erecting the county. He served two full terms of four years cach, and it is safe to say that no judge of a county court in the State has experienced a stormier service on the . bench than did Judge Rood for six years ont of his eight years of judicial life. The county-seat question being para- mount to all others, and the varied action of the Legislature and the Board of Supervisors making the confusion that reigned in local affairs worse confounded, the position of county judge was anything but a sinecure. Judge Rood
1856-President.
566
HISTORY OF TIOGA, CHEMUNG, TOMPKINS,
was also the attorney of the county in the Watkins in- terest, and championed that cause with a zeal and pertinacity no discouragements or defcats eould daunt. Under the decision of Judge Gray, given against the constitutionality of the act erecting Sehuyler County, he deelined to hold a Criminal Court in the county, holding that while the Legis- lature could by a saving clause, in case the county should be finally declared unlawfully organized, preserve the rights of parties in civil causes and in the Surrogate's Court, no such remedy existed in criminal matters. For this refusal, charges were preferred against him by parties in the Ha- vana interest to the Legislature, which he was required to answer, and did so triumphantly, the charges being dis- missed. For a refusal to draw a jury for a Circuit and Oyer and Terminer, appointed to be held at Havana by the Supreme Court Justices, supplemented by a proclamation of the Governor of the State to the same effect, and for issuing a writ prohibiting the elerk from drawing the jury, Judge Rood was again summoned to answer for his eonduet in his alleged obstruction of the courts and delaying of justice. This time the charges were before the Governor. His answer, explicitly stating the facts and the law, was deemed a sufficient justification of his action by Governor Morgan, and again the charges were dismissed. He was also arrested on similar charges by the Supreme Court for con- tempt, and at the general term at Ithaca had a hearing, resulting in his discharge and the dismissal of the complaint. But a greater triumph than his simple vindication awaited the judge here before this august tribunal, composed of Justices Mason, Baleom, Campbell, and Parker.
So well merited was the reward, so gracefully was it be- stowed, so unparalleled does it stand on the records of the Supreme Court of New York, that our readers will pardon a brief sketch of the scene and act. Down to the year 1859, Judge Rood, though a county judge then for nearly six years, was not a counselor or attorney of the Supreme Court. When the business of the general term was done, the justices announced they were about to appoint the times and places of holding the Circuits and Oyer and Terminer in their district, and among them a court for Sehuyler County, and as there was a dispute as to the proper place of holding the courts in that county, they would listen to arguments on the question next day. Judge Rood immediately called on Dana and Beers, the attorneys of the Board of Supervisors of Schuyler County, and told them they must attend to the matter for the Board. Mr. Dana looked up the law, and gave the brief of the points to Mr. Beers, who, to Judge Rood's surprise and great trepidation, told him that he (Judge Rood) was to make the argument before the judges. In vain the judge pleaded to be excused ; Beers was inexorable, giving the judge the small comfort of agreeing to sit by and " piek up sueh stitches in the latter's argument as might drop," and take down the points in the arguments of the opposing lawyers. The arguments were ealled on the morning of the day appointed, the judges deeiding that the Watkins interest had the right to hear the whole ease of Havana before replying. Mr. MeGuire and Mr. E. P. Hart, now both of Elmira, occupied the forenoon with the reading of printed and written arguments, and Judge Rood occupied
the afternoon in replying orally. The court adjourned for the day, and counseled far into the night " to the wee sma' hours ayont the twal," before reaching a decision, and then, being cqually divided between Watkins and Havana, they appointed a term of court for the county, but could not fix the place of holding the same. When the court the next morning had announced their appointments, Justice Mason, looking over his spectacles at Judge Rood, said, in his dig- nified, judicial manner, " Are we correctly informed, Judge Rood, that you are not a counselor of the Supreme Court ?" " That is a fact," said the judge, wondering what next was eoming. " Wouldn't you like to be ?" queried his honor. " Well, I have never thought of such a thing, your lionor," responded the county judge of Schuyler. " Well, gentle- men of the bar," said Justice Mason to the lawyers eon- gregated before the bench, "we propose to compliment Judge Rood, by admitting him to practice in all of the courts of this State, without the formality of an examina- tion. If there is any objection to this procedure among you, now is the time to make it known." John J. Van Allen, of Watkins, sprang to his feet in his impetuous manner, and paid Judge Rood a most glowing tribute, and others of the bar who knew the judge followed in the com- plimentary recommendation of the judge and indorsement of the proposed aetion, his late antagonists, Mr. McGuire and Mr. Hart, joining in the general verdiet ; whereupon Judge Rood was called before the bar of the court, and sworn as an attorney and counselor of the Supreme Court, which admits him to practice in all of the courts of the State. His license was issued to him, and may well be treasured by the old veteran, whose hair is fast whitening for "that bourne from whenee no traveler returns," and by his children and children's children after him.
A surprise-party dropped in on him and his helpmeet, on the fiftieth anniversary of their wedding-day, in 1875, leaving pleasing souvenirs of their friendly call. Old-time animosities are now forgotten and buried in the past, and erstwhile opponents are now warm-hearted, trusting friends, -a fitting close to a stormy life, especially where locked up in the breast of the one so crowned is the conscious- ness of a stern determination to do one's duty whatever betide.
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