USA > New York > Schenectady County > History of the County of Schenectady, N. Y., from 1662 to 1886... > Part 18
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Mr. Yates was not only active and useful in his profession, but he identified himself with every public improvement which tended to the advance- ment of Schenectady.
He was particularly active and useful in pro- moting the educational interests of the country. With other members of his family-with the Glens, the Fondas, the Van Ingens, the Oothouts, the Veeders and the Duanes-he was very influential in founding Union College. He was one of those to whom the funds raised by subscription were required to be paid, and one of the trustees named in the charter granted by the Regents of the University in 1790. The prosperity of Union College was to him a matter of deep interest. He remained a member of the Board of Trustees until the day of his death, and it may well be said that the history of Union College is largely blended with that of Joseph C. Yates.
In March, 1798, Schenectady was incorporated as a city. Previous to this the corporate property was held under letters patent granted in 1684 by Sir Edmund Andross, then Governor-General of the province of New York. We have said that Mr. Yates was particularly interested in the pro- motion and prosperity of Schenectady. His efforts and abilities were warmly appreciated by his fellow citizens, who, in return, bestowed upon him the most flattering proofs of their confidence and re- gard.
For over fifteen years he devoted himself with untiring assiduity to his constantly increasing and highly remunerative legal business, which brought him to the front rank of his profession.
The political arena had the same attractions for him that it has for most lawyers, and he entered it to reap the highest honors in the gift of the people of the State of New York. From this position he rose rapidly from one office of honor and trust to another.
In 1806-7 he was a member of the State Senate from the Eastern District. On the 3d of April, 1807, he was appointed by the Legislature of the State on a commission, consisting of Ezra L'Hom- medieu, Samuel Jones, Egbert Benson and Simeon De Witt, to meet and confer in behalf of the State with commissioners appointed by New Jersey, rel-
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ative to certain claims of jurisdiction and territory made by the latter as to the extension of its eastern boundary. The able manner in which this commission performed its duty has passed into history. In 1808, Mr. Yates was again elected from the Eastern District to the State Senate. Soon after his election, that illustrious jurist, Brockholst Livingston, then a Justice of the Supreme Court of the State, was promoted to the Bench of the United States Supreme Court, and Joseph C. Yates, to the great gratification of the Bench, the Bar and the public, was appointed to occupy the place on the State bench made vacant by Judge Livingston's promotion. He occupied this position with great ability until January 20, 1823, a period of fifteen years, when he was, as we shall more fully see hereafter, elevated to the chief magistracy of the State.
On the 28th of February, 1812, he was chosen a Regent of the University. We should have said that Mr. Yates very early allied himself to the Democratic-Republican party, afterward known as the Democratic party.
In November, 1822, he was elected Governor of the State over Solomon Southwick, his opponent. He resigned his office as Justice of the Supreme Court, and, on the first of January, 1823, was in- augurated Governor of the State. Until Governor Yates assumed the Executive chair, the State Gov- ernors, at the opening of each annual legislative session, appeared before the Senate and the Assem- bly, and delivered the Annual Message orally. He changed this custom by sending a written message to the Legislature, and the precedent he established has been adopted by all his successors.
In his first message he recommended laws for carrying the new Constitution-the Constitution of 1821-into effect; for the encouragement of domes- tic manufactories and economy in the public ex- penditures; and a liberal prosecution of the works of internal improvements then in progress. His message was a plain, unassuming, but very prac- tical document.
One of the questions that largely occupied the public mind in the State of New York, pending the canvass for President in 1820, which resulted in the re-election of James Monroe, was that of allow- ing the people the choice of Presidential Electors, instead of the Legislature. This question entered largely into the gubernatorial canvass of 1823, but was left undecided.
In his message to the Legislature, January 6, 1824, he called its attention to the fact that he de- sired a change in the mode of choosing Presidential Electors, expressing an opinion that it should be general throughout the country, looking to Con- gress for the remedy, and that in the meantime the interference of the Legislature, or the surrender of their right to choose the Electors, was not advisa- ble. He again recommended encouragement of domestic manufactures by duties on foreign im- ported goods. One of the most significant and important measures recommended by Gov. Yates in this message was the revision of the Statutes of the State.
Early in the legislative session of 1824, a heated and angry discussion took place in both branches of the Legislature on the introduction of bills au- thorizing the people to choose the Electors by gen- eral ticket. Previous to this, as we have seen, they were chosen by the Legislature.
A bill favorable to the change in the electoral laws passed the Assembly, but by a majority, in- stead of a plurality. The object of this bill was intended to effect the vote of New York in the Presidential election, which was to take place that year. In this election Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson and William H. Crawford were candidates for President.
The change was insisted upon by the friends of Mr. Crawford, by which means they believed it would give him the State. His opponents, how- ever, in the Senate defeated the measure by post- poning a further consideration of it until the first Monday in the following November, which, in effect, defeated the bill.
Such was the excitement on the question, that Gov. Yates called an extra session of the Legisla- ture for August 2, 1824. A bill providing for the choice of electors by the people, under the present form, passed the Legislature in 1826.
Gov. Yates' term of office expired January I, 1825, and he was succeeded by De Witt Clinton. In 1828 he was elected President of the Electoral College, the State giving its vote for Andrew Jack- son for President.
At the expiration of his term of office he re- sumed his residence at Schenectady, where he was greatly beloved and honored by its citizens. He remained attached to the Democratic party. He supported the administration of President Jackson and of Mr. Van Buren, though he did so with moderation and courteous deference to the opinion of others.
Gov. Yates was married three different times. His first wife was Mrs. Ann Ellice, of Schenectady, by whom he had no issue. For his second wife he married Miss Maria Kane, of Albany; she bore him one daughter, who became the wife of John Keyes Paige, for many years a clerk of the Supreme Court, and afterward Mayor of Albany. His third wife was Ann Elizabeth De Lancy, by whom he had two daughters; one of them married Mr. J. D. Watkins, of Georgia; the other, Mr. Samuel Neal, of New York City.
In person Gov. Yates was rather above the me- dium size and height. His appearance was digni- fied and his manner was easy, courteous and un- assuming. If he did not possess a brilliant mind, it was vigorous, well balanced and well disciplined by education and by his relations with the world. In all his private relations he was in every way es- timable. He died at Schenectady, on March 19, 1837, having attained the age of sixty-nine years.
HON. ALONZO C. PAIGE, LL. D .- Few names are more distinguished in the legal history of the State of New York than that of Alonzo C. Paige. It is an ornament to the bar, where he was dis- tinguished as a wise, eloquent and faithful counsel- or. While at the bar, he devoted himself with
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untiring industry to his profession. To him, ju- risprudence was a science which delighted his pol- emical mind, and he studied it with avidity and pleasure; but the student was never lost in the practicing lawyer. His deep reading was exhibited in his legal arguments, 'in his written opinions, and they rendered his briefs and all his legal pro- ductions beautiful specimens of legal logic and learning. Like most lawyers, Mr. Paige, in his earlier life, entered somewhat largely into politics, but never to the neglect of his professional duties. He was never what may be called a practiced pol- itician, and, when placed in comparison with those simulars of patriotism-politicians of policy and intrigue-approaching the people with artifice, and addressing them in the ambiguous language of a trimmer, his character shone with peculiar lustre, and it is no exaggeration to say that it did so in all the varied duties of his life.
We cannot better place the character and career of Judge Paige before our readers than in adopting the beautiful memorial of him found in 52 Barbor's N. Y. Supreme Court Reports.
Judge Paige was the son of the Rev. Dr. Winslow Paige, a Presbyterian clergyman, who was afterward called to the then Reformed Protestant Dutch Church. Judge Paige was born in Schagh- ticoke, Rensselaer County, in 1797. Blessed with a pious parentage and with the advantage of every possible care bestowed in the cultivation of his mind and advancement in education, he entered Williams College at an unusually early age, and graduated from that institution before he had arrived at the age of sixteen. In 1857 he received from his Alma Mater the degree of LL. D. After leaving Williams College, his father, designing to educate him for the ministry, sent him to be in- structed under the care of the Rev. Dr. Banks, a learned Scotch clergyman, then living in a neighbor- ing parish. After a year or more thus spent, his father, learning of his absence, upon inquiry, found him in a law office, in the city of Schenectady, laboriously studying a profession then most agreeable to his own wishes. He completed his legal term of study with the approbation of his parent, and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1818, and opened an office in the city of Schenectady in 1819. He then adopted that city as his residence, where he lived to the time of his death.
Judge Paige was a student in every sense of the word. When he first assumed the practice of his profession, his mind was so thoroughly imbued with accurate knowledge of elementary law, and his habit of study and investigation so diligent and unremitting, that he arose at once to the first rank in his profession. Though genial in his na- ture, and enjoying with the highest relish, in his hours of relaxation, the pleasures of refined social associations, his constant midnight lamp was the evidence to all of his love of study.
In 1824 he was appointed District Attorney, which office he held for fifteen years, performing its duties with distinguished credit. In 1826 he was elected a Member of Assembly, and in the three suc- cessive years of 1827-8-9 he was returned as the pop-
ular representative of this county in the Assembly. These political duties, though onerous, were never permitted to interrupt those of his profession, in which it seemed to be the great object of his ambi- tion to excel. So rapidly did he rise in his pro- fessional distinction that the acute mind of Chancellor Walworth was attracted to him, and in 1830 he selected him as the reporter of his court, to which office he was appointed, and which he held until 1846. The highest encomium that could be paid to his qualifications for that po- sition is the appreciation of the Bar of the State of New York of the skill, ability, and success with which he executed its duties, as manifested in their appreciation of the eleven volumes of the reports which will bear his name to all the future in our judicial history. In 1838 Judge Paige was elected a trustee of Union College, which place he held for thirty years, until his death. He was placed in the principal charge of the finances of that institu- tion, and gave to that duty a constant and most laborious attention. To no one individual during that period is more credit due than to him for the care, security, prosperity and increase of the now exceedingly large and productive property of that institution. Before the adoption of the Constitution of 1846, Judge Paige was twice elected to the Sen- ate of this State, and was thus made a member of the Court for the Correction of Errors. His opin- ions as a member of that court are distinguished for great clearness, learning and power. Upon the adoption of the Constitution of 1846, and at the first election under it, he was elected a Justice of the Supreme Court, and once after elected to supply a vacancy. He was for two years a mem- ber of the Court of Appeals. It would be useless to the judiciary, to his associates or to the bar to speak of the character of the many contributions in our books of reports which bear the impress of his profound legal mind. Suffice it to say, he spent his life in the service of the State, and the ability and soundness of his judicial decisions are a part of its history and have greatly contributed to its honor and fame.
The last public position occupied by Judge Paige was that of a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1867-8. Though then somewhat enfeebled by the disease which terminated his life, his noble and efficient efforts to provide in the Constitution of the State a security against the cor- ruptions of the elective franchise were in harmony with the integrity of his whole life.
He was a gentleman of imposing presence, adopting the old school of dignified and gentle- manly manners, still possessing great urbanity, amenity and kindness. His leading characteris- tics were open, sincere honesty, undoubted, un- qualified integrity, frank sincerity, . uniform cour- tesy, and he was generous and liberal in charities to the destitute. His early religious training im- pressed upon his mind great gravity of demeanor, and many years before his death he made a public profession of religion and united with the Presby- terian church ; at the time of his death he was one of the ruling elders of that church.
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Upon the announcement of his death, in March, 1868, the Bar of Schenectady County called a meeting to express their profound sorrow for his loss. This meeting was largely attended. Hon. John Sanders was called to the chair, who, on taking it, addressed his brethren in a speech of deep feeling and eloquence. A committee on resolutions was appointed, consisting of Hon. J. S. Landon, Hon. Thomas B. Mitchell, S. A. Daggett, J. Fuller and A. P. Strong, Esqrs., who presented by their chairman brief, touching res- olutions, eloquent and heartfelt expressions of sorrow for the death of the distinguished jurist they memorialized.
In presenting the resolutions Judge Landon said : " We honor our deceased brother, not so much on account of the high places of trust and of honor to which he was called and worthily filled, for none know better than our profession that in our age and time high official place is not the truest evidence of high merit. The bat can reach that eminence as well as the eagle. But we honor him because through all the years of his early and later manhood he dignified, adorned and elevated the profession of the law, even in the esti- mation of lawyers themselves. No pretense, no art of a demagogue, no superficial acquirements, can give the lawyer high rank among lawyers ; only merit, and real merit, can win that. Judge Paige, by the cheerful assent of his associates, long had place among the few who stand at the front rank of the Bar of our State. Others, doubtless, sur- passed him in the gift of eloquence which charms while it instructs, but none in that tireless industry, that exhaustive learning, which, guided by the en- lightened conscience and disciplined brain, com- pels, alike from principle and authority, the law to stand, as Bacon called it, 'the perfection of human reason.' Throughout the State Judge Paige commanded the respect and honor of the learned and the good."
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We only give a portion of Judge Landon's eloquent and appropriate eulogy. When he said that "throughout the State the departed jurist com- manded respect and honor," he uttered the senti- ment of the Bench and the Bar in all the State, as was exhibited by many public demonstrations.
The Schenectady Bar has furnished four Justices of the Supreme Court, viz .: Joseph C. Yates, ap- pointed February 8, 1808; Alonzo C. Paige, elected June 7, 1847; Platt Potter, elected November 3, 1857.
HON. PLATT POTTER.
In writing the biography of the eminent jurist whose name appears at the head of this sketch, we speak of one long accustomed to the struggles of the Bar, one who has for many years pronounced the law from the Bench. He is one who, in his sphere, has discharged his duties with such probity and honor, such learning and ability, as entitles him to the highest esteem of the Bench, the Bar, and the public.
Hon. Platt Potter was born at Galway, Saratoga County, N. Y., April 6, 1800. He is perhaps one
of the oldest judges and lawyers in the State; one of those through whom one generation speaks its thoughts, appeals and sympathies to another. His father, Restcome Potter, was a native of Mass- achusetts, but removed to New York early in life. Notwithstanding the non-combatant principles of himself and his ancestors, who were members of the Society of Friends, he engaged in military ser- vice during the war with the mother country, un- der Ethan Allen (the noted hero of Ticonderoga) when demanding the surrender of the fort in the name of the "Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress."
Later in life he received a colonel's commission in the militia from Governor George Clinton, for whom he named one of his sons. He removed to Saratoga County about 1794, and from there to Schenectady in about 1806, and followed the oc- cupation of farming. A man of energy and public spirit, he was chosen to fill various official posi- tions, being in turn Alderman of the City, Justice of the Peace, and for sixteen years a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He was possessed of commanding influence in his day, and died, greatly regretted, in 1853. The mother of Judge Platt Potter was Lucinda (Strong) Potter, of Litchfield, Conn., who was also descended from patriotic an- cestry. During his boyhood, Judge Potter at- tended the common schools and the academy at Schenectady, from which he graduated in 1824. He immediately began the study of law under the direction of Hon. Alonzo C. Paige, afterward a Judge of the Supreme Court. He was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court in 1828. He entered upon the practice of his profession at Minaville, Montgomery County, and continued thus occupied till 1833, when, removing to Schenectady, he en- tered into partnership with Mr. Paige, his former preceptor.` This connection continued for a period of thirteen years. Upon its dissolution, Judge Potter practiced alone for a time, but was subse- quently associated in practice with distinguished legal men who have occupied high positions of official honor both in the State and National Gov- ernment. In the autumn of 1830, Mr. Potter was elected Member of Assembly from Montgomery County. During this session of the Legislature, a committee, of which Judge Potter was chairman, was appointed to consider the matter of providing improved accommodations for the insane. He made the report, and introduced the first bill to erect an asylum at Utica for lunatics. He served also during the same period of legislative labor on the Judiciary Committee. In 1836 he was married to Antoinette, daughter of the Rev. Winslow Paige, D. D. From 1839 to 1847 he held the office of District Attorney for Schenectady County, and was at the same time Master and Examiner in Chan- cery, having been appointed to that position in 1828, and continuing to exercise its functions till the abolishment of the Court in Chancery about 1847. In 1857 he was elected Justice of the Su- preme Court of New York, running as candidate against his former partner, Judge A. C. Paige. He was returned by a small majority, serving dur-
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Platt Potter
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ing one of the most critical periods of our political history. During this term he also served as a Judge of the Court of Appeals. He was re-elected in 1865 to the Supreme Bench of the State without opposition. In the same year he was elected trustee of Union College, which office he continues to hold, and which institution conferred on him in 1867 the degree of LL. D.
He was always a staunch Republican in political sentiments. His judicial services during the rebel- lion, and the four years of trying national experience which immediately preceded it, were of the utmost value to the Government.
Noted for more than usual mental readiness and penetration, and great activity in the performance of every duty, Judge Potter has filled with honor many high official positions in the State. His election to the Supreme Bench of the Common- wealth, and his long continuance as a member of that distinguished body, evince the appreciation in which not only his talents but his worth are held by those whose interest have been the object of his judicial care. His labors as a legislator showed his large philantrophy and his wise statesmanship. As a jurist, he stands high in the State. His argu- ment before the Assembly upon the case of the supposed "High Breach of Privilege of the Honorable the Assembly of the State. of New York, in the matter of the Hon. Henry Ray, Mem- ber of Assembly from Ontario," exhibits his pro- found knowledge of the constitutional rights and powers of the judiciary as a co-ordinate branch of the Government, the extent of the law of legislative privilege, and those sound principles of law and equity underlying just legislative and judicial action.
This case was novel and unprecedented; neither in the legislative nor judicial history of this State had any case similar to it been known.
The facts in the case, briefly stated, are as fol- lows: On the zoth of January, 1870, a subpoena, requiring one Henry Ray to appear and testify as a witness in a criminal proceeding then pending be- fore the Grand Jury of Saratoga, Oyer and Ter- miner, was issued under the authority of that Court, Hon. Platt Potter, one of the Justices of the Su- preme Court, presiding. The subpoena was duly served on Ray at the City of Albany. He refused to obey its mandates on the grounds of his privi- lege as Member of Assembly of the State of New York, then in session. The District Attorney of Saratoga County then applied to the Court for an attachment against Ray for such disobedience. It was granted by the Court, and the officer was di- rected to serve the same by producing the body of Ray before the Court. He went to Albany on the morning of the 2 1st and arrested Ray at his lodg- ings. Ray insisted on his privilege, and refused to accompany the officer, who then informed him that he should take him by force. Under pro- test, the gentleman submitted himself to the cus- tody of the officer.
When the arrest of Ray was communicated to the House of Assembly, it created great excite- ment in that body, and elicited an exciting debate.
It was regarded as a question involving a high breach of privilege of the House, and an insult to their dignity. It was finally referred to the Com- mittee on Grievances for grave consideration. This Committee was composed of seven of the then most experienced members of the House. The Hon. Thomas C. Field was Chairman. After thorough inquiry and a full investigation, the Com- mittee presented an elaborate report, stating the facts and circumstances of the case, the effect of the act upon the character and dignity of the House, the encroachments on legislative rights of the law of Parliamentary privileges, and of the danger of the public interests if the precedent com- ing from such a source should pass without public rebuke. The Committee came to the conclusion "that the arrest of the Hon. Henry Ray, on Jan- uary 21, 1870-a Member of Assembly from the First District of the County of Ontario-on an at- tachment issuing out of the Court of Oyer and Terminer then being held in the County of Sara- toga, of which the Hon. Platt Potter was Presid- ing Justice, was a high breach of the privileges of this House by the said Potter, and deserves the censure of this House. Your Committee, there- fore, respectfully submit the following resolution:
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