USA > New York > Genesee County > History of the Genesee country (western New York) comprising the counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates, Volume II > Part 24
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In 1871, the construction of the Rochester, Nunda & Pennsyl- vania Railroad was proposed and some of the towns issued bonds to defray the expenses. The project failed. The building of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad through the county, on the Buffalo and New York main line, was begun in 1881 and completed in 1883.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
LIVINGSTON COUNTY : EARLY COURTS AND LAWYERS.
We have noted elsewhere the lack of court facilities experi- enced by the pioneers prior to the erection of Livingston County ; the inconvenience suffered by those from distant places attending the courts at Canandaigua; the delays undergone, and have made some reference to the history of those courts.
The first court of general sessions in Livingston County was held at the brick academy, a two-story building on the site of the school house on Center Street in the village of Geneseo, the county seat. This was on the last Tuesday of May, 1821. There were in attendance the first judge, Moses Hayden, and the other judges, Matthew Warner, Jeremiah Riggs and Leman Gibbs. The court was formally opened with prayer by Rev. Norris Bull. The fol- lowing grand jurors were sworn: William Janes, foreman; Rob- ert Mckay, James Smith, Asa Nowlen, Josiah Watrous, Francis Stevens, William Warner, Ichabod A. Holden, Ruel Blake, Wil- liam A. Mills, Ebenezer Damon, P. P. Peck, Joseph A. Lawrence, William Crossett, William Carnahan, James McNair, John Cul- ver, Erastus Wilcox, John Hunt, Daniel H. Fitzhugh, Thomas Sherwood, Ebenezer Rogers and Gad Chamberlain.
The first indictment tried was that presented against Mary DeGraw. She was charged with assault and battery, with intent to murder; the jury decided that she was guilty of assault and battery, but not with murderous intent. The first commitment from this court was that of May Brown, who was sentenced to the Ontario County jail for a term of thirty days.
The first term of the court of common pleas was held on the same day. The first civil case tried was that of Alfred Birge against Joel Bardwell. Orlando Hastings and A. A. Bennett were opposing counsel. The jury was composed of the following per- sons : James Richmond, LeRoy Buckley, Federal Blakesley, Roger
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Wattles, T. H. Gilbert, Joseph White, Jehiel Kelsey, John Salmon, George Whitmore, David A. Miller, Riley Scoville and Andrew Stilwell. It is interesting to recall the names of the attorneys who presented licenses and were admitted to practice at this time. They were: Samuel Miles Hopkins, George Hosmer, Felix Tracy, John Dickson, Orlando Hastings, Charles H. Carroll, Willard H. Smith, Augustus A. Bennett, Ogden M. Willey, Hezekiah D. Mason, and Melancthon W. Brown.
At the May term in 1823 the court of common pleas adjourned to the new court house. Charles H. Carroll was the presiding judge, George Hosmer district attorney and Samuel Stevens court crier.
After the demolition of the old court house in the spring of 1898, and during the progress of the work of erecting the present building, which was completed the following winter, Livingston County courts were held in the Rorbach Block in Geneseo.
Prior to the constitution of 1846, the county judge was known as the first judge and was appointed by the governor and held office for a term of five years. The constitution of 1846 desig- nated him the county judge, made the office elective and of four years duration, which was later extended to six years.
The first judges of Livingston County were: Moses Hayden, 1821; Charles H. Carroll, 1823; Hezekiah D. Mason, 1829; Wil- lard H. Smith, 1832.
The county judges, with dates of their induction into office, have been: Scott Lord, 1847; George Hastings, 1855; Solomon Hubbard, 1863; Samuel D. Faulkner, 1871; Daniel W. Noyes, 1878, appointed to fill vacancy caused by the death of Judge Faulkner; Edwin A. Nash, 1878; Edward P. Coyne, 1895; Wil- liam Carter, 1902; John B. Abbott, appointed to fill vacancy caused by the death of Judge Carter in 1914; Lockwood R. Doty, 1915.
From 1821 until changed by the constitution of 1846, the office of surrogate was separated from that of county judge, and filled by the governor. The two offices were then consolidated in this county. Those who held the office when it was appointive were: James Rosebrugh, beginning in 1821; Samuel W. Spencer, 1832 ; Benjamin F. Angel, 1836; William H. Kelsey, 1840; Benja- min F. Angel, 1844.
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To set down the history of those who composed the bar of this county would require a volume in itself. Scores of Livingston men have upheld the best traditions of the profession, a few of the very earliest of whom may be mentioned.
Perhaps the first practicing lawyer in Livingston County if not the first west of Canandaigua in the Genesee Country, was George Hosmer of Avon. He studied law in the office of Nathaniel W. Howell, of Canandaigua, was admitted to the bar in 1802 and opened an office in Avon in 1808. He was born at Farmington, Connecticut, August 30, 1781, the son of Dr. Timothy Hosmer. The latter, with his family, accompanied Oliver Phelps to Canan- daigua. Phelps was made first judge of the court of common pleas of Ontario County, but he was prevented from serving by a multi- plicity of duties. He resigned and Dr. Timothy Hosmer was ap- pointed in his place and presided in the first case tried before a jury in a court of record of Ontario County. Although a physi- cian by training, Doctor Hosmer was a capable jurist. It was in this court that young George Hosmer tried his first case, under the admiring eyes of his father, and he quickly won a wide clientele from the surrounding country. He was appointed district attor- ney upon the organization of the county and served until 1836. He was a member of assembly in 1824, and he was made chair- man of the judiciary committee. After a life of honorable achievement in and out of his profession. Mr. Hosmer died in March, 1861.
John Baldwin began practice at Moscow (Leicester) in 1814. Afterwards he resided at Dansville and Hornellsville. He was known as a wit and satirist of keen ability but eccentric.
Luther C. Peck, enrolled among the early lawyers of the bar of Livingston County, was a self-made man and an attorney of great ability. He served in the 25th and 26th Congresses, repre- senting Livingston and Allegany counties, composing the 30th Congressional district.
Orlando Hastings was a notable lawyer of his day, equally well known in Livingston and Monroe counties. He was a resi- dent of Geneseo when the county was formed and, in 1824, suc- ceeded George Hosmer as district attorney. He became dissatis- fied with criminal practice and resigned the same year, after- wards moving to Rochester. There he became a commanding figure in his profession.
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Calvin H. Bryan began law practice in 1815 in Otsego County, and in 1822 removed to Geneseo, where he passed the remainder of his life; he died in 1873. He was a member of assembly in 1828 and a close friend of Governor Clinton.
Samuel H. Fitzhugh, a jurist of fine attainments, first prac- ticed at Wheeling, Virginia, and removed to Mount Morris in 1831. In 1840 he was appointed associate judge of the court of common pleas of Livingston County.
George Hastings was a native of Oneida County; he gradu- ated from Hamilton College, and in 1829 began the practice of law. He represented the 28th district (Livingston and Steuben counties) in the 36th Congress, and in 1855 was elected county judge of Livingston, serving eight years.
One of the most noteworthy members of the early Livingston bar was John Young, afterwards governor of New York State. He was born in Vermont, June 12, 1802, and with his father, Thomas Young, removed to Conesus when four years of age. He attended the common schools and Lima Academy and when six- teen years of age taught school in Conesus. He began the study of law about 1823 in the office of A. A. Bennett of East Avon; was admitted to practice as an attorney of the supreme court in October, 1829, and shortly thereafter opened an office in Geneseo. He was elected to the assembly in 1832, to Congress in 1836 and 1840, serving until 1843, and in 1844 and 1845 was again chosen a member of the assembly. In 1846 he was elected governor in well-merited recognition of his services in the Whig cause. In 1849 Mr. Young was appointed assistant treasurer of the United States at New York and in this position he remained until his death, April 23, 1852.
Charles H. Carroll, admitted to practice in 1821, was the first man to sign the roll of lawyer in the new county. In 1823 he was appointed first judge, succeeding Judge Hayden, the first appointee. 'He retired from the bench in 1829, after his election to the state senate in 1828. He resigned from that body and retired to his estate at Groveland, but in 1845 he was again drafted into the public service, by being elected to Congress, where he remained two years, then retired permanently.
James Wood was born in Alstead, New Hampshire, April 4, 1820. His father, with the family, went into New York State
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in 1824, and in 1829 settled in Lima, Livingston County. Here James attended a district school and subsequently the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, where he completed the academic course, and from there went to Union College, from which institution he graduated in 1842. Soon after leaving college he entered the law office of John Young in Geneseo as a student and in the year 1843 was admitted to the bar. He became a partner of Mr. Young, under the name of Young & Wood, and, when in 1846 Mr. Young was elected governor of the state and removed to Albany, he re- linquished his large professional business to Mr. Wood, who after that time, except during the war period, was continually engaged in the practice of law, and was at the head of a legal firm of which Henry Chamberlain, Joseph Kershner, Henry V. Colt, Hon. K. M. Scott and Campbell H. Young were successive members. In 1854 he was elected district attorney of Livingston County ; he declined a renomination, his large and growing practice not permitting him to accept. When the war for the Union commenced in 1860, mainly through his efforts, the 136th Regiment, New York Volun- teers, was raised, and in 1862 he accepted the command of that regiment. He was shortly after ordered to join the 11th Corps. He was in the thickest of the fight at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge and several other engagements, in which the regiment covered itself with glory, and in which its leader exhibited the coolness, courage and military genius that he invariably displayed. He was brevetted major-general of volunteers for distinguished services. In 1865 he returned home to Geneseo and resumed the practice of law. He was elected to the New York senate from the 30th district in 1869, and was reelected in 1871. As a lawyer in the management of both civil and criminal trials he was of distinguished ability, persistency and success, and he was associated with nearly every case of importance held in the county. His knowledge of the law was great, his cases were thoroughly prepared and presented with force. He excelled as an advocate and for more than thirty years maintained his standing as one of the strongest jury lawyers at the bar of western New York, enjoying the confidence of judges and lawyers alike. He died suddenly February 24, 1892, and was buried in Temple Hill Cemetery at Geneseo.
William Henry Kelsey was born in the town of Smyrna, Che-
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nango County, New York, October 2, 1812. He was one of seven children, four daughters and three sons, of Solomon and Virtue (Record) Kelsey. Solomon Kelsey, with his family, removed to the town of Perry, New York, about 1820, and thence to Geneseo in 1834. William H. Kelsey became a printer and was one of the editors and publishers of the Register, the Livingston Democrat and was employed on the Republican after that paper was started in 1837. During his boyhood he took a deep interest in political affairs and on coming to manhood was thoroughly conversant with public men and measures, and entered with zeal into the ques- tions then agitating the country. He was a strong Whig of the Henry Clay school. In 1840 he was appointed surrogate of Liv- ingston County by Governor Seward and served four years. He studied law with John Young and Orlando Hastings, and devoted his after years to the practice of that profession. He was ad- mitted and licensed as an attorney in the supreme court and as a solicitor in the court of chancery in 1843, and in 1846 as a coun- sellor in the state supreme court. He was elected district attorney of Livingson County in 1850, serving three years. In 1854 he was elected to Congress from the 28th district, and was reelected in 1856. In 1866 he was again elected to Congress, this time from the 25th district, and reelected in 1868. He was an uncompro- mising foe of slavery, and enjoined the alliance of such men as Thaddeus Stevens and Benjamin F. Wade. There were few po- litical conflicts from 1835 until his death in which he was not active and conspicuous. He died from acute pneumonia April 19, 1879.
Reuben P. Wisner, a native of Cayuga County, was in his youth a farm laborer and cabinet-maker. Eventually he secured employment in a friend's hotel at Auburn. The hotel was the favorite stopping place for many lawyers of repute who came to Auburn to attend court, and the court house was just across the street; young Wisner thus had the opportunity to meet these men and witness court proceedings. He was asked by William H. Seward to enter his office as a law student and accepted. After being admitted to practice, he remained in Seward's office for two or three years. In 1837 he located at Mount Morris and formed a partnership with Judge Samuel H. Fitzhugh. In 1841 he was a member of assembly. He died at Mount Morris in 1872.
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Isaac L. Endress, a Pennsylvanian, graduate of Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was for a time a practicing attor- ney at Rochester, removing to Dansville in the fall of 1831. He was for sixteen years a partner of John A. Vanderlip. In 1840 he was appointed an associate judge of the court of common pleas. In 1856 he was one of the Presidential electors, and represented Livingston County in the constitutional convention of 1867. His death occurred in 1870.
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Benjamin F. Harwood, native of Steuben County, was ad- mitted to the bar in 1839, and practiced for a time in Dansville. Successful as he was in his profession, politics eventually became his chief interest. In him the Whigs had an ardent champion. In 1855 he was made clerk of the court of appeals and died in office in 1856.
Endress Faulkner was born at Dansville, the son of James Faulkner. After graduating from Yale in 1837, he began the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1843, then opened an office in his native village. He was a partner for a time of Cyrus Sweet, also of Solomon Hubbard of Geneseo; he died in 1852.
Col. Job C. Hedges was noted as a lawyer and as a soldier. Born in New York, he came to Dansville with his parents when he was a child. He entered the law office of Hastings & Newton at Rochester and was admitted to the bar in 1868. He began practice in New York City, but later returned to Dansville and opened an office. At the outbreak of the Rebellion Hedges aided in recruiting for the depleted 13th Regiment, in which he was commissioned first lieutenant and later adjutant, and with this rank marched to the peninsula with his command. He distin- guished himself at Fredericksburg, where he was severely wounded. In 1864 he was commissioned a major in the 14th Heavy Artillery and was engaged at the Wilderness and Spott- sylvania. At Petersburg, Virginia, on the morning of June 17, 1864, while leading his men "over the top," Major Hedges was instantly killed. He had been brevetted colonel for gallantry a short time before his death, but did not live to learn of the honor.
Another of the sterling members of the early Livingston bar was McNeil Seymour, resident of Mount Morris, and member of assembly in 1855. Mr. Seymour died while in the prime of life.
Harvey J. Wood was admitted to the bar in 1842 and began
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practice at Lima, where he lived his entire life. He completed his legal education in the office of Governor Young at Geneseo. He was a lawyer of great ability.
Joseph W. Smith, native of Steuben County, came to Dans- ville in 1842 and studied in the office of Benjamin F. Harwood. He was admitted to the bar in 1847. He began practice at Dans- ville, then went to Almond, Allegany County, for a time, but re- turned to Dansville in 1849. He was a member of the firm of Hubbard, Smith & Noyes; he was also associated with John A. Vanderlip, under the name of Vanderlip & Smith.
John A. Vanderlip, who died in 1894 after having practiced law in Livingston County since 1842, was a prominent member of the Dansville bar. Isaac L. Endress and Joseph W. Smith were his law partners at different times.
Daniel W. Noyes, who was associated with the practice of law in the county for many years, was admitted to practice in 1849. He located in Dansville shortly after and became a partner of Benjamin C. Cook, and afterwards with Joseph W. Smith, Solo- mon Hubbard, and Major Seth N. Hedges. When elected county judge he moved to Geneseo. He retired from this position in 1879 and formed a partnership with his son, Fred W., under the firm style of Noyes & Noyes. He also served as district attorney. He died in 1888.
L. B. Proctor, who died in 1900, was for thirty years a promi- nent lawyer of Dansville, and well known as a writer, particu- larly of biographical subjects. He finished studying in the office of I. L. Endress at Dansville in 1839, practiced a time at Port Byron, and in 1849 returned to Dansville where he practiced until 1875, when he removed to Albany.
Solomon Hubbard became a member of the bar in 1844 and for twenty years practiced in Dansville. In 1863 he was elected county judge and removed to Geneseo, which became his perma- nent home. Judge Hubbard served two terms as county judge; he died in 1902.
Willard H. Smith was the first lawyer of Caledonia. He was a graduate of Williams College and studied law in Albany and Waterford. He began practice at Caledonia in 1813 and was appointed the first judge of the court of common pleas, which office he held sixteen years.
Adoniram J. Abbott, born in Moscow, Livingston County,
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October 28, 1819, was one of the foremost lawyers and citizens of the county until his death April 8, 1898. After his education at the old Moscow Academy and Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, he taught for a time and then entered the law office of John H. Martindale, of Rochester, for two years continued his studies in the office of Governor John Young. He was admitted to the bar in 1848 and opened an office in Dansville in partnership with Alexander C. Fraser; after several years, Fraser having moved to Washington, Michigan, Mr. Abbott allied himself with John Wilkinson. In 1859 he removed to Geneseo, where he lived the remainder of his life. Among his partners here were Sidney Ward, Augustus A. Curtiss, Edward E. Sill, John N. Drake, Colonel John Rorbach, and his own son, John B. Abbott.
"HIGH BANKS," MT. MORRIS
CHAPTER XXXVII
LIVINGSTON COUNTY: MEDICAL
The first. physician who ventured into what is now the county of Livingston was Dr. Timothy Hosmer, of Avon, who came from Farmington, Connecticut, in 1790 with Major Isaiah Thompson, and purchased a tract of land from Phelps and Gor- ham for themselves and three other Connecticut men; only Doc- tor Hosmer and Major Thompson became residents here. Doc- tor Hosmer returned to Connecticut the same year, but came back in 1791 with his two sons, and erected a log cabin, to which he brought his family in 1792. He was the only physician in this wilderness and his professional services were eagerly sought and cheerfully rendered without much thought of professional gain. The Indians believed in his powers and gave him the name At-ta-gus, "healer of diseases." He had served as surgeon in the Sixth Connecticut Regiment during the Revolution. It is said that "on Doctor Hosmer devolved the duty of laying finger on Andre's pulse after the execution of that noted British spy, and reporting him dead to the officers of the court martial." He suc- ceeded Oliver Phelps as first judge of Ontario County. Doctor Hosmer was a man of intellectual tastes, and on the bench he enjoyed the same distinction that he had earned in professional life.
The first practitioner in Geneseo was Doctor Jonathan P. Sill. He had settled in Dansville in 1797, but in 1798 came to Geneseo, after spending some time at Williamsburg; he died at Geneseo in 1807. The second Geneseo physician was Augustus Wolcott. The directory of 1830 listed three doctors in that village, Eli Hill, Cyrus Wells and Elias P. Metcalf. Caledonia's first doctors were William H. Terry and Peter McPherson. Dr. Thomas McPher- son, who had practiced in his native Scotland and was a surgeon of wide repute, came here in 1831 and practiced until his death,
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in 1841. Doctor Newcome was the first physician in Leicester. In Mount Morris, Dr. Abram Camp was the first of his profes- sion, followed by Doctors Jonathan Beach and Charles Bing- ham. Dr. Myron H. Mills, born here in 1820, became a physi- cian of note. Dr. Hiram Hunt was another pioneer here.
Dr. Elisha D. Moses came to Portage in 1816 with his father's family and was the first of his profession in the town. In Springwater Doctors John B. Norton and Arnold Gray were early settlers. Norton practiced some time after 1820, then became a farmer. Doctor Gray came from Washington County in 1824 and practiced in the town until his death, in 1879. In the town of York, John W. Leonard, William Holloway, James Green, Joseph Tozier and Royal Tyler were among the pioneer doctors.
The first physician in Dansville was Dr. James Faulkner. He was born in Washington County in 1790 and died in 1884. He came to Dansville with his father and mother about 1797, studied medicine but practiced only a short time, then engaged in other pursuits. He was prominent in political affairs, having been member of assembly and state senator. He was president of the First National Bank of Dansville when it was organized in 1864. Dr. Jonathan P. Sill was the second physician in Dans- ville, but moved to Geneseo within a year. The third was Dr. Philip Sholl, who came in 1808 and practiced until his death, in 1821. Dr. Willis F. Clark came to Dansville from Utica in 1813 and remained until his death in 1858. Dr. Josiah Clark engaged in the practice several years after 1820, then removed to Livonia. Dr. L. N. Cook first had an office in Livonia and Richmond Hill; he came to Dansville in 1818 and went away in 1824. He returned in 1831 and lived in the village until his death, in 1868. Dr. William H. Reynale, whose death occurred in 1870, first came to Dansville in 1814. He became one of the leading profes- sional men of the county. Dr. Samuel L. Endress came to Dans- ville from Pennsylvania in 1828, and for some time was in part- nership with Doctor Reynale; he died in 1871. Dr. George W. Shepherd lived in Dansville over fifty years, his residence there beginning in 1846. Dr. Edward W. Patchin was engaged in practice in the town of Sparta for four years, one year in Liv- onia, and he came to Dansville in 1843; he was active here until
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his death, in 1869. His son, Dr. Charles V. Patchin, has prac- ticed at Dansville since 1881. Dr. B. L. Hovey opened an office in Dansville in 1842. At the beginning of the Civil War he became surgeon of the 136th Regiment, and at the close of hos- tilities located in Rochester. Dr. Zara H. Blake was under the preceptorship of Doctor Endress, beginning in 1840. After com- pleting his professional course, he maintained an office in Dans- ville until the war, when he became examining surgeon on the provost-general's staff for this district. He resumed practice after 1865 and continued until his death, in 1888. Both his son and daughter studied for the medical profession. Dr. Asahel Yale and Dr. Alonzo Cressy were practitioners in Dansville in 1829. Doctor Velder, from Austria, came to Dansville in 1850, and in 1867 removed to Elmira. One of the most eminent of the Dansville physicians was Dr. Francis M. Perine, who established himself here in 1861 and practiced over a half century and until his death, in 1904. He had a successful business career as well, and was extensively engaged in grape growing and wine mak- ing. Other physicians whose names will be remembered as Dansville residents were J. M. Blakesley, Isaac Dix, Charles W. Brown, S. L. Ellis, O. S. Pratt, Charles T. Dildine, George Yochum, Anthony Schunart, A. L. Damon, O. M. Blood, James E. Crisfield and W. B. Preston.
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