USA > New York > Schenectady County > History of the County of Schenectady, N. Y., from 1662 to 1886... > Part 17
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COMPANY No. 6 .- This company was organized, with 48 members, November 20, 1838, and existed for many years, when it was disbanded. January 14, 1878, it was reorganized, with 30 members, as the J. S. Myers Hose Company. It disbanded in 1881, and reorganized March 13, 1884, with 19 members, as the Elmer Ellis Hose Company. This company has at present a membership of 23.
Ax, HOOK AND LADDER COMPANY. - The first ax, hook and ladder company was organized in 1814, and continued to exist until disbanded, June 5, 1856, but was reorganized on the same date. It disbanded August 17, 1860.
July 8, 1862, Hook and Ladder Company No. I was organized, with 55 members, and continued in the service to December 24, 1867, when it was disbanded, since which date no company of this kind has existed in the city.
FIRE GUARDS .- A company called the Fire Guards was organized September 6, 1836, from the Supply Company, which disbanded at that time. The Fire Guards disbanded August 5, 1845, and have never been reorganized.
EAGLE HOSE COMPANY .- A company called the Eagle Hose Company was organized from the members of the Fire Guards, August 5, 1845. It was disbanded January 4, 1851, and has never been reorganized.
Following is a list of Chief Engineers of the Fire Department since 1862 : James Babcock, Patrick Kelly (three terms), Thomas H. Kennedy, Edward Ellis (four terms), William E. Walker (two terms), Ezra McCue, Francis Cain (four terms), George B. Swortfiguer, Martin Eagan, William J. Anthony, Arden W. Weller, John A. Vedder (three terms).
Following is a list of Assistant Engineers since 1862 : 1863, Jaffrey Thompson and John Frame; 1864, Ephraim Clow, Walter Clute ; 1865, Ephraim Clow, Walter Clute ; 1866, Walter Clute, James Smith; 1867, Joseph Parker, W. S. Van Voast ; 1868, William Martin, John Collins ; 1867, P. H. McDermott, William Stevens; 1870, Charles A. Clark, Francis Cain ; 1871, William Fuller, Peter M. Doty ; 1872, Edward Van Epps, Frederick Esenminger ; 1873, Joseph Parker, John J. Wheaton ; 1874, John A. Vedder, Francis Cain ; 1875, Edward Cooley, Jacob De Long ; 1876, John A. Vedder, George B. Swortfiguer ; 1877, George B. Swortfiguer, Martin Eagan ; 1878, Martin Eagan, William J. Anthony ; 1879, William J. Anthony, Arden W. Weller ; 1880, Arden W. Weller, Andrew Coleman ; 1881, Andrew Coleman, Peter M. Dody ; 1882, Elias T. Van Patten, William P. Daley ; 1883, William P. Daley, James C. Dougherty ; 1884, James C. Dougherty, Myndert Scrofford ; 1885, James C. Dougherty, William P. Daley.
BENCH AND BAR.
The Bar of Schenectady County is as ancient as that of Albany County. Its lawyers practiced in the courts established under the Dutch regime as early as 1626, but for at least one hundred and twenty years Schenectady County formed a part of Albany County, and the lawyers of Schenec- tady were members of the Albany bar. On March, 1809, however, Schenectady County was organized from territory taken from the western portion of the latter county, but it embraced no portion of the manor of Rensselaerwyck.
Immediately after the formation of the County of Schenectady its bar was organized, and, in con- formity to the constitution and laws of the State, its county courts were also organized : the Court of Common Pleas, Court of General Sessions of the Peace, and the Surrogate's Court ; and times and places were also appointed for holding the Circuit Courts, Courts of Oyer and Terminer, and Special Equity and Supreme Court terms.
The judiciary of the county consisted of the Hon. Joseph C. Yates, appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court by Gov. Tompkins a few weeks pre- vious to the act establishing the county. Joseph C. Yates, at the time of his appointment, was a dis- tinguished lawyer residing at Schenectady, and one of the most prominent characters in the
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HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF SCHENECTADY.
history of the State. We shall refer to him more at large hereafter.
Hon. Gerrit S. Vedder was appointed First Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the county; William J. Teller, Surrogate ; Peter F. Vedder, Clerk ; James V. S. Riley, Sheriff ; James Barent, Under Sheriff ; Richard Oothout, Crier of the Court.
The first court held in Schenectady County after its organization was a Court of General Sessions, which began May 9, 1809. We take the following from the records of the Court of that date:
At a Court of General Sessions of the Peace, held in and for the County of Schenectady at the City of Schenectady, and at the Hall of the said county, on Tuesday, the 9th day of May, 1809.
Present-Hon. GERRIT S. VEDDER, First Judge.
JOHN YATES, JONATHAN HERRICK, JACOB A. VROOMAN, PETER C. VAN SLYCKE, J
Judges.
Court opened.
The Sheriff returned the precept for summoning the Grand Jury for this Court with a panel of Grand Jurors annexed, and the following Grand Jurors appeared and were sworn :
Charles Kane, foreman ; James Rom, Henry H. Peck, Eri Lusher, Daniel Shields, Jacob Swits, David Van Der Hyden, Robert Knowlton, Francis Vedder, John B. Clute, Cornelius A. Groot, Isaac De Graff, Maus Schemerhorn, Rudolph Van Housen, Peter McDougall. Ger- sham Van Vorst, Stephen Cogswell, Isaac Ledyard, Gabriel H. Bowne, William Strong, Robert Gan- ley, John Van De Bogart, Henry Mercelus.
Charge given to the Grand Jury ; adjournd till afternoon at 2 o'clock.
Court met at appointed hour ; there being no business, Court adjourned till next morning at 9 o'clock.
Wednesday morning, May 11 ; Court opened according to adjournment ; present, same judges as yesterday.
The Grand Jury, being called by their names, reported that they had nothing to offer to the Court; and, there being no business before the Court, the Grand Jury was discharged and the Court ad- journed.
The first Circuit Court and Court of Oyer and Terminer held in the county after its organization, began its session the 23d of October, 1810. The following is a copy of the minutes of the proceed- ings of this term:
At a Circuit Court held in and for the County of Schenectady, in the City Hall of the City of Schenectady, on Tuesday, the 23d day of October, 1810.
Present-His Honor, Mr. Justice SPENCER. Lyman M. Stanford vS.
Robert, Alexander and David Winne. S
On the motion of Mr. Henry Yates, ordered that the Sheriff return a venire and that this cause be brought to trial.
The Sheriff returned the venire with the panel annexed, and the following jurors were drawn and sworn : Jesse Coon, Job Leonard, Henry Swits, James V. S. Ryley, Charles Kane, William North, Araham A. Groote, Jesse Dowse, Henry Vandaman, Lewis Burhydt, John J. Van Vorst, Cornelius Putnam.
Witness on the part of plaintiff-Gibbons Went- worth.
The Jury, without leaving the bar, by Charles Keene, their foreman, say that they find their ver- dict in favor of the plaintiff : six cents damages and six cents costs.
There were three other causes disposed of by the Jury at this term, as follows :
Jeremiah Fuller
vS.
Jeremiah Romeyn, Rebeckah, his wife, and six other de- fendants.
The Jury rendered a verdict for the plaintiff of six cents damages and six cents costs.
James C. Duane US. Peter Keehtr. On trial before a Jury, a verdict was rendered in favor of the plaintiff, $111 damages and six cents costs. James Jackson, Ex-dem., vs.
Jacob Dillamont, John Dill- - Ejectment. amont and Alexander Vedder.
The defendants confess lease, entry and ouster. This was, as we see, an action of ejectment, with the celebrated James Jackson, Ex-dem. - according to the practice in those days in such cases-a fictitious party. These actions in the early history of the State, owing to the unsettled condition of land titles, were then and for fifty years following the most common actions tried in the courts. Looking at the reported causes for those days, the unprofessional reader naturally supposes that James Jackson, from the large number of cases in which he is plaintiff, was the most litigious being in the State, a troublesome fellow ; but, like John Doe and Richard Roe, he is never seen in court, and is only what can be called a legal myth.
There were three witnesses sworn for the plain- tiff and three for the defendants. The Jury, with- out leaving the bar, found their verdict for the plaintiff : one-third of the premises, six cents dam- ages, six cents costs.
The next case was a case of ejectment ; one witness sworn for the plaintiff and one for the defendant. The Jury without leaving the bar found verdict for plaintiff : six cents damages, six cents costs.
This was the last cause tried at this term.
Though it was called a Circuit Court and Court of Oyer and Terminer, it was merely a Circuit Court without the criminal side. No Court of Oyer and Terminer had yet been held in the county.
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CITY OF SCHENECTADY .- BENCH AND BAR.
Mr. Justice Ambrose Spencer, who presided, was one of the most learned and distinguished judicial officers in the State or nation. He was appointed in 1804, serving till 1819, when he was appointed Chief Justice of the State. He was the father of that great lawyer and statesman, John C. Spencer.
From the first the Schenectady Bench and Bar took a highly distinguished position, which has been maintained down to the present time. Many of its members have occupied the highest rank in their profession; many have been elevated to the Bench and to other prominent civic positions in the State and nation. On its roll were such hon- ored names as Harmon, Van Ingen, Paige, the Yateses, Duane, Fonda and many others. The Bar never was large in numbers. As late as 1830 it consisted of only twelve members, as follows: Christopher Fonda, admitted to the Bar in 1822; Joshua D. Harmon, admitted 1822; Samuel D. Jones, admitted 1816; Archibald L. Linn, 1823; Alonzo C. Paige, 1818; Abraham Van Ingen, 1818; Edward Yates, 1818; Gilbert F. Yates, 1822; Joseph C. Yates, 1792; Henry Yates, Jr., 1799; John B. Duane, Trumansburg, 1825; and Jacob G. Fonda, at Glenville, 1826. This was the Bar in 1830.
Ten years later, in 1840, the Schenectady Bar consisted of eighteen members, having increased but six in number during that time, as follows : Platt Potter, James M. Bouck, John Brotherson, Stephen A. Daggett, Henry Fuller, James Fuller, Alexander Gibson, Joshua D. Harmon, John Howes, S. H. Johnson, Samuel W. Jones, Alonzo C. Paige, John Sanders, D. C. Smith, Abraham Van Ingen, S. R. Van Ingen, James B. Van Voust, Giles F. Yates.
PRESIDING JUDGES OF THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF THE COUNTY AND OF THE COUNTY COURT. -Gerrit S. Vedder, appointed March 11, 1809; Gardner Cleveland, appointed May 25, 1812; Da- vid Boyd, appointed February 5, 1823; Samuel W. Jones, appointed January 31, 1835; Archibald I. Linn, appointed July 17, 1840; Samuel W. Jones, appointed February 10, 1845.
The following Judges were elected under the provisions of the Constitution of 1846: Samuel W. Jones, elected June, 1847; Stephen H. Johnson, elected November, 1851; John Sanders, elected November, 1855; Stephen H. Johnson, elected November, 1859; Judson S. Landon, elected Febru- ary 1, 1865 (Judge Johnson resigned and Judge Lan- don, now one of the Justices of the Supreme Court, was appointed to fill his place; he served till the close of 1869, when Walter T. L. Sanders, elected November, 1869, took his place); Austin A Yates, elected November, 1873; David C. Beattie, elected November, 1879.
DISTRICT ATTORNEYS. *- John K. Paige, ap- pointed June 11, 1818; Alonzo C. Paige,
* The original appellation of this office was that of Assistant Attor- ney-General, created by the act of February 12, 1796. It embraced several counties. The office of District Attorney was created by the act of April 4, 1801, and the State was divided into thirteen districts, several counties in each District. Albany, Schenectady and Schoharie Counties formed the Twelfth District. By the act of 1818 each county was appointed a separate district for the office of District Attorney. These officers were appointed till the Constitution of 1846 went into effect, when they were elected.
appointed September 3, 1823 ; Platt Potter, ap- pointed January 15, 1839 ; Benjamin F. Potter, elected June, 1847; Samuel L. Baker, elected November, 1850; James Fuller, appointed in place of Baker, resigned, August 22, 1851 ; John Van Santvoort, elected November, 1851 ; Samu:l T. Freeman, appointed in place of Van Santvoort, resigned; Simeon Caulkins, ap- pointed January 7, 1856, in place of Freeman, re- signed; Judson S. Landon, elected November, 1856; John G. McChesney, elected November, 1862; John L. Hill, elected November, 1865; Austin A. Yates, elected November, 1868; Alonzo P. Strong, appointed December 24, 1873, in place of Yates, resigned; Daniel C. Beattie, elected No- vember, 1874: Charles E. Palmer, elected Novem- ber, 1877; J. Teller Schoolcraft, elected Novem- ber, 1880.
SURROGATES. - William J. Teller, appointed May 30, 1809; Robert Hudson, appointed April 6, 1813 ; William J. Teller, appointed March 3, 1815 ; John Yates, appointed February 12, 1816 ; Giles F. Yates, appointed February 21, 1821 ; John Sanders, appointed February 13, 1840; David Cady Smith, appointed February 13, 1844. The County Judges whom we have named, elected under the provisions of 1846, have been Judges and Surrogates down to the present time.
COUNTY CLERKS. *- Peter F. Vedder, appointed March 11, 1809 ; Joseph Shurtleff, appointed February 26, 1810 ; Peter F. Vedder, appointed February 14, 1811 ; Jellis A. Fonda, appointed May 25, 1812 ; Joseph Shurtleff, appointed March 12, 1813 : Jellis A. Fonda, appointed February 13, 1815 ; Jellis A. Fonda, elected November, 1822; John S. Vrooman, appointed by the Governor 1834 ; Jonathan C. Burnham, elected November, 1834 ; Archibald Campbell, elected November, 1837 ; Silas H. Marsh, elected November, 1843 ; David P. Forrest, elected November, 1849; Mar- vin Strong, elected November, 1852 ; John W. Vedder, elected November, 1858 ; John M. Banker, appointed May 1, 1861, in place of Ved- der, resigned ; John McShea, Jr., appointed January 6, 1864, in place of Banker, resigned ; James G. Caw, elected November, 1864 ; J. Fonda Veile, elected November, 1876; Mr. Veile served by re-election till December 31, 1882 ; Thomas Yelverton, elected November, 1882.
SHERIFFS. -- James V. S. Riley, appointed March 11, 1809; John V. Van Ingen, James V. S. Riley, John Brown, Gideon Holliday, Isaac Riggs, Lewis Eaton, A. Van Slyck, elected under provision of Constitution of 1821, November, 1822; John F. D. Vedder, elected November, 1825; Gershom Van Voast, elected November, 1828; Isaac I. Yates, elected November, 1831; Matthew Putnam, elected November, 1834; Myndert M. R. Wemple, elected November, 1837; David F. Reese, elected Novem- ber, 1840; Anthony H. Van Slyck, elected Novem- ber, 1843; John G. Van Voast, elected November, 1847; John F. Clute, elected November, 1849; Nicholas Brooks, elected November, 1852; Philip
* These officers were appointed by the Governor and Council of Appointment down to 1821, when, by the provisions of the Constitution adopted that year, they were elected by the people.
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HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF SCHENECTADY.
Dederick, appointed vice Brooks, resigned, January 16, 1855; Obadiah L. De Forest, elected Novem- ber, 1855; Norman M. F. Clute, elected Novem- ber, 1858; Abraham Gillispie, elected Novem- ber, 1861; Samuel Wingate, elected November, 1864; Peter Miller, elected November, 1867; Clark V. Worden, appointed by the Governor, 1868; Jacob Vedder, elected November, 1869; James McMillen, Jr., elected November, 1872; Hiram J. Ingersoll, elected November, 1875; Charles H. Van Vranken, elected November, 1878; Jacob De Forest, elected November, 1881; S. L. Clute, elected November, 1885.
The legal history of Schenectady is best illus- trated by the lives and careers of men who have made its history by participating as leaders in the various matters of public and historic interest in the county. We shall, therefore, introduce biograph- ical sketches of those distinguished lawyers and judges of the county, without which, it may with truth be said, its history could not be written.
- We shall begin with the biography of Joseph C. Yates, a name not only interwoven in the history of Schenectady, but in that of the State, and in a large degree with that of the nation.
"Among the early settlers of Schenectady, or 'Corlear' as it was styled in the olden time, was Joseph Yates, an honest, industrious, intelligent and enterprising English yeoman. He was a native of Leeds, in Yorkshire, and emigrated to the Colony of New York at that fearful period in English his- tory when Charles the First was beheaded to ap- pease the fury of the men who established, under Cromwell, the Commonwealth of England.
"The descendants of Joseph Yates were numerous. Although they preserved the patronymic of their ancestors, they soon lost their nationality in a de- gree, by their frequent intermarriages with their Dutch and German neighbors."
No family was more conspicuous in the early annals of New York and the Revolution than the Yates fam- ily. They were strong and influential Whigs, entering ardently into the struggle of the Colonists for freedom, notwithstanding a large number (perhaps a majority) of the people by whom they were surrounded were Tories, and they were connected with some of the prominent loyalists by marriage. Nearly all the in- habitants of the valley of Mohawk and the intersecting valley of Schoharie were Tories. But the Germans and Dutch, with the exception of those families allied to the Johnsons or under their influence, were patriots, ready and willing to shed their blood for the freedom of their country.
The connection of the Yates family with the Bench and Bar is singularly instructive and inter- esting.
Robert Yates was one of the first Judges of the Su- preme Court of the State of New York, and subse- quently Chief Justice; Abraham Yates, Jr., an influ- ential citizen of Albany and afterward its Mayor; and Christopher Yates, father of Joseph C. Yates, whose life we are tracing, were cousins, and at an early day identified themselves with the great movement which terminated in the independence of the American Colonies.
Chief Justice Abraham Yates was a member of the Committee of Public Safety and of the Con- vention which adopted the Constitution of 1777. When his judicial appointment was tendered to him, his practice as a lawyer was extensive and lucrative. At the Albany bar, of which he was a member, and even at the bar of the city of New York, he was an acknowledged leader; learned, sa- gacious, eloquent and adroit. Such was his posi- tion long before the days of 1776, and when in 1777 he accepted the office of Chief Justice, he did so largely to the injury of his private interests. His judicial duties were peculiarly delicate and dan- gerous. He sat upon the bench, as a writer has expressed it, "with a halter about his neck, exposed to punishment as a rebel, had our efforts for liberty proved abortive. But no dangers could appall, no fears deter him from an honest performance of the functions of his office."
He represented New York in the Philadelphia Convention in 1787, and was a member of the State Convention called to ratify the Federal Con- stitution.
Christopher Yates was one of the leading men of Schenectady for many years prior to the Revolu- tion. During the French and Indian War he held a captain's commission in the provincial troops. He took part in the unsuccessful attempt made in 1758 to dislodge Montcalm from his position at Ti- conderoga; while bravely leading his men to the as- sault he was desperately wounded. In the following year he accompanied the army under Gen. Prideaux and Sir William Johnson in the expedition against Fort Niagara, and was present at the capture of that important work. The war over, he returned to his duties and occupation as a citizen. He was immediately elected to the Colonial Legislature, and for many years was a prominent member of that body. When the stirring questions began to be agitated that terminated in the Revolution, he espoused the cause of freedom. When the first alarm of war was raised he gave his services to his country. He accepted a commission in the New York troops, and was very soon promoted to the rank of colonel, in which capacity he served through the war, participating in many of its bat- tles.
He married Jane Bradt, a lady whose many ex- cellent qualities caused her memory to be affec- tionately cherished by her posterity. She was de- scended from an old and respectable Dutch family who emigrated to the colony of New York and settled in the lower valley of the Mohawk at a very early period. She was the mother of several children, sons and daughters. Of the former was Joseph C., whose name stands at the head of this sketch.
Henry Yates, a brother, represented the Eastern Senatorial District in 1811 to 1814, 1818 to 1821. He was also a delegate from the county of Sche- nectady to the Constitutional Convention of 1821. John B. Yates was for a long time an honored and respected citizen of Madison County, and Andrew. "the conscientious, punctual and kind-hearted " -to use the language of Dr. Potter-was an emi-
1
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CITY OF SCHENECTADY .- BENCH AND BAR.
nent clergyman, a Professor in Union College, a Trustee of Hamilton College, and Principal of the Polytechny of Chittenango. It will thus be seen how intimately connected with every part of Sche- nectady County-legal, judicial, civil and military -has been the name of Yates.
But to proceed with the life of the distinguished subject of this sketch, JOSEPH C. YATES.
He was born at Schenectady on November 9, 1768. Robust and energetic, physically and mentally, exhibiting an unusual fondness for study and a persevering love of knowledge, he early indi- cated that he was destined to enter that career of life demanding intellectual endowments, strong executive powers, strengthened and sustained by those moral and religious sentiments which gave strength and dignity to his character. Manv of these high qualities of the future Judge and Chief Magistrate of the State were exhibited in his early years. Inheriting many of the traits of his mater- nal ancestors, he early adopted the favorite maxim of their nation, "Een-dracht maakt macht." As has well been said, this motto, like the magic word in the Arabian tale, removed many an ob- stacle which obstructed his path, and served oft- times to serve and encourage him.
As the means of his father were ample, he enjoyed every advantage for obtaining a finished education, and he zealously availed himself of them.
His education was begun under the tuition of Jacob Wilkie, an accomplished scholar, a tutor in his family. After receiving the instruction of this gentleman for several years he was sent to Caugh- nawaja, where he continued his studies under the instruction of Rev. Dr. Romain and his scholarly son, Theodoric Frelinghuysen Romain. He re- mained here until the incursions of Brandt, Sir Guy and Sir John Johnson rendered his residence at Caughnawaja unsafe, and he returned to Sche- nectady, where he completed his education under the instruction of Rev. Alexander Miller and that distinguished scholar, John Honeywood.
Early in life he decided to enter the legal pro- fession. In conformity with this resolution, he entered the office of Peter W. Yates, a cousin of his father, a lawyer of distinction, and a leading Anti-Federalist, in the city of Albany. Young Yates pursued his legal studies, as he did his classi- cal, with a determination to master it as one of the greatest of sciences, which embodies in it, as has well been said, the perfection of all human reason- ing. At that day digests, compends and elemen- tary treatises on law were not as abundant as at the present time, and the legal student was compelled to work out his education in the exercise of unre- mitting diligence in tracing the intellectual sub- tlety of the legal writers of that period. But this labor and research tended to strengthen and enlarge the mind, give it profundity and flexibility.
In 1792 Yates was called to the Bar. Robert Yates was then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. He, too, as we have seen, was a native of Schenectady, a man fitted by education, by high mental qualities, thorough and
exhaustive legal training, for the elevated positions in life which he was called upon to occupy.
After his call to the bar, young Yates opened an office in Schenectady and began the practice of his profession under the most advantageous circum- stances. As was said by one of the distinguished citizens of the city at the time, "Schenectady need- ed a lawyer with the useful qualities which Mr. Yates possessed." He was prudent and sagacious as a counselor, able and skillful as an advocate, familiar with the rules which control real property and with the doctrines which govern the creation and devolution of estates. In the interpretation of devises and the construction of the settlement of deeds, grants, and the operation of trusts and powers, he was peculiarly qualified for the practice which, at that time, largely occupied the attention of lawyers.
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