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 3
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Hotel, was a constable, deputy sheriff and a crier for the various courts. Colonel Newton's activities in drilling his militia com- pany, composed of thirty men with two muskets among them, is a worthy subject for a modern motion picture comedy. It is said that the martial music was provided by a real fife and a half tobacco barrel for a drum, while the Colonel, with ramrod for a sword, rode astride a rangy old mare-with her colt following. Ebenezer Watts opened a copper, tin and sheet iron business in the village in 1817, the first of its kind in Rochester. Dr. Azel Ensworth, in whose home the first county courts were held, Rus- sell Green from Connecticut, and Dr. John B. Elwood were others of prominence who located in the community in the latter part of 1816 and in 1817. Alpheus Bingham, Silas W. Caldwell, Alfred Judson, Bradford King, Samuel W. Lee, Isaac Loomis, H. T. McGeorge, Lewis L. Miller, Joseph Perkins, Hamlet Scrantom, Jeremiah Selkreg, Levi W. Sibley, Horace L. Sill, Preston Smith, Jedediah Stafford, Joseph Stone and Myron Strong are names of other pioneers of this period about whom many pages could be written-of their accomplishments, their motives in coming to this new country and their courage and hardihood. They were mechanics and merchants, professional men of all kinds-all se- rious-minded Americans with definite purpose. Many are not mentioned and many others are sketched in the various chapters treating of their respective vocations.
It has been the simple purpose of this chapter to sketch briefly and truly the pioneer era of Rochester, that period when the wilderness was broken and human habitations were first estab- lished at the falls of the Genesee. Could we view western New York from an airplane as it was in 1800, the question would nat- urally arise-why did these men leave the beaten paths to pene- trate into this land of swamp, dismal forest, hostile savage and sickness? In the case of Rochester the answer may be given in two words-water power. The far-seeing pioneers who first stood on the banks of the Genesee, viewing the tumbling waters before them, envisioned a center of industry and greatness, a prophetic glimpse of the great city of today. To these hard-working, hard- living men the resident of Rochester today owes the stability of the foundation upon which his home was built.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE CITY OF ROCHESTER: JUDICIARY AND BAR.
For the purpose of unity, it is fitting that the story of the judiciary and bar of Rochester and of the county of Monroe should be presented together. One merges with the other.
The first court to be held in the village of Rochester was a term of the district court for the northern district of New York in September, 1820. Judge Roger Skinner presided. On May 8th of the next year, in the upper story of the Eagle Tavern, the first Monroe County court was held.
Monroe County was organized February 23, 1821; a stone court house was begun a few months later and completed in time for use by the September courts in 1822. This was a court of general sessions, the designation of the criminal branch of the county court. The first term of this court, May 8, 1821, was opened with Elisha B. Strong presiding; Timothy Barnard and Levi H. Clarke, associate judges, and Timothy Childs, district attorney. However primitive the attic courtroom in the tavern may have been, the first day of court was clothed with proper judicial dignity. The crier, Nathaniel Negus by name, announced the judges with customary solemnity, the jurors were called, and a grand jury, with Jesse Hawley as foreman, was impaneled. David Sherred was the first man indicted in the county "for steal- ing three pinchback watches." Records are silent as to the dis- position of this case and it is quite probable that it was never brought to trial. The first session of the court ended on the sec- ond day, when adjournment was taken to the second Tuesday of the following September.
This day fell upon the 11th and court met with the following : Elisha B. Strong, first judge; Timothy Barnard, judge; John Mas- tick, justice of the peace; James Seymour, sheriff ; Derrick Sibley, under sheriff; Nathaniel Rochester, clerk, and Timothy Childs,
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district attorney. Henry Brewster was foreman of the grand jury. At this term of court the first conviction for felony oc- curred in the county, that of Dyer Higgins, who was sentenced to prison for grand larceny. Perjury, larceny, assault and bat- tery and liquor cases occupied most of the docket in the early courts. Many interesting cases appear in the records dealing with the fugitive slave law. Rochester was a station on the under- ground railway during the ante-bellum days and it must be said that in the local courts the runaway black man or woman was generally favored above the pursuing master. Justice in the pioneer courts was swift and, as a rule, the punishment was not severe. Assault and battery, for instance, was looked upon with a great amount of tolerance, for in this pioneer community a man was conceded the right to protect himself or to enforce his own laws on occasion.
The court of appeals was created by the constitution of 1846 to.take the place of the court for the correction of errors. At first it was composed of eight judges, but in 1869 a constitutional amendment was adopted by which the court was made to consist of a chief judge and six associates, elected by the people for a term of fourteen years. A number of the judges who served upon the bench of this court were residents of Rochester. They were as follows, with the dates of their election or appointment: Addi- son Gardner, June 7, 1847; Samuel L. Selden, November 6, 1855; Henry R. Selden, July 1, 1862; George F. Danforth, November 5, 1878; William E. Werner, January 1, 1904. Some writers credit Judge Sanford E. Church to Rochester, but the official records give his residence as Albion, Orleans County.
Addison Gardner was born in New Hampshire March 19, 1797, and began practice in Rochester in 1825, also during the same year he was appointed district attorney for Monroe County. In 1829 he was elected circuit judge for the eighth circuit, but resigned in 1838 and resumed practice. He was elected lieu- tenant-governor in 1844, and in 1847 was chosen as one of the judges of the first court of appeals. During the years 1854-55 he was chief judge of the court. He declined a renomination in 1855 and continued in practice at Rochester until a short time before his death on June 5, 1883.
Samuel L. Selden was born in Connecticut in 1800. In 1821
ميطبوم
COURT HOUSE SQUARE, ROCHESTER, 1837
Showing first court house, Mathews law office lower left, office of Drs. Elwood and Coleman, later clerk's office, lower right, First Presbyterian Church in left rear, and St. Luke's in right rear. This picture was reproduced from drawing made by Silas Cornell in 1837.
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he came to Rochester, completed his legal studies with Addison Gardner, with whom he then formed a partnership under the firm name of Gardner & Selden. From 1831 to 1837 he was the first judge of the Monroe court of common pleas. He was elected to the supreme court in 1847 and in 1855 succeeded Judge Gard- ner in the court of appeals. On account of ill health he resigned from the bench July 1, 1862, and lived in retirement at Rochester until his death on September 20, 1876.
Henry R. Selden, a brother of Samuel L., was born in Con- necticut October 14, 1805. When near his majority he came to Rochester, read law in the office of Gardner & Sullivan, and was admitted to the bar in 1830. For several years he prac- ticed in the town of Clarkson. About 1857 he located in Roches- ter, where he resided for the remainder of his life. In 1856 he was nominated by the republican party for lieutenant-governor, on the ticket with John A. King for governor, and was elected. In July, 1862, he was appointed judge of the court of appeals, to succeed his brother, and served until January 1, 1865. That year he was elected to the assembly. Under the constitution of 1869 he was a candidate for chief judge of the court of appeals, but was defeated by Sanford E. Church. He died at Rochester September 18, 1885.
George F. Danforth, who served as judge of the court of appeals from 1880 to 1890, was a native of Boston, Massachu- setts, and was born July 5, 1819. He graduated at Union College in 1840, studied law in Rochester, and was admitted in 1843. He was one of the ablest attorneys who ever practiced in Monroe County. He retired from the bench on account of the constitu- tional limitation of age, and died September 25, 1899, in the courtroom where he was conducting a case.
The late William E. Werner was born in Buffalo, New York, April 19, 1855; was educated in the public schools of that city; studied law in Rochester; was admitted to the bar in 1879; became clerk of the municipal court in 1881; was elected special county judge of Monroe County in 1884 and 1887, and in 1889 county judge. In 1894 he was elected to the supreme court without opposition and held this office until 1904. He was a can- didate for judge of the court of appeals at the general election of 1902, but was defeated by Judge John C. Gray; two years later,
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however, he was elected to that office for the full term of four- teen years.
In 1839 the business of the judicial district had grown to such an extent that a vice chancellor of the court of chancery was deemed necessary. Millard Fillmore, of Buffalo, afterward President of the United States, and Frederick Whittlesey, of Rochester, were the rival candidates for the position. The latter received the appointment April 16, 1839, and continued to serve until the court was abolished by the constitution of 1846. Whitt- lesey died at Rochester September 19, 1851.
In the seventh judicial district, which is composed of the counties of Cayuga, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Seneca, Steu- ben, Wayne and Yates, there are seven justices of the supreme court. Those from Monroe County who have served as supreme court justices are E. Darwin Smith, 1855 to 1876; Theron R. Strong, elected in 1858; George W. Rawson, elected in 1876 and died in December, 1877; James L. Angle, appointed to the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Rawson and elected for a full term in 1883; Francis A. Macomber, elected in 1878, re- elected in 1892, died October 13, 1893; John M. Davy, elected without opposition in 1888 and reelected in 1902; George F. Yeoman, appointed in November, 1893, and served until De- cember 31, 1894; William E. Werner, elected as Judge Yeoman's successor in 1894; Nathaniel Foote, appointed in 1904, when Judge Werner was elected to the court of appeals, and elected for a full term in 1905; Arthur E. Sutherland, elected in 1905; George A. Benton, of Spencerport, elected in 1906; John B. M. Stephens, elected in 1913; Adolph J. Rodenbeck, elected in 1916, and Benjamin B. Cunningham, elected in 1919.
Under the constitution of 1894, the fifth, seventh and eighth judicial districts constituted the fourth judicial department, or appellate division. This court sits in the court house at Roches- ter, where its very complete law library is placed.
The complete list of those men who have held the office of county judge of Monroe County is as follows: Elisha B. Strong, 1821; Ashley Sampson, 1823; Moses Chapin, 1826; Samuel L. Selden, 1831; Ashley Sampson, 1837; Patrick G. Buchan, 1844 (Buchan was the first judge of the county court as established by the constitution of 1846; before that time it was known as
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the court of common pleas) ; Harvey Humphrey, 1852, George G. Munger, 1856; John C. Chumasero, 1859; Jerome Fuller, 1868; William C. Rowley, 1878; John S. Morgan, 1884; John D. Lynn, 1889; William E. Werner, 1890; Arthur E. Sutherland, 1895; George A. Benton, 1906; John B. M. Stephens, 1907; John A. Barhite, 1918; Willis K. Gillette, 1918; J. Warrant Castle- man, 1919 (died before serving). Judge Gillette is the present incumbent.
The legislature of 1925 enacted a law providing for an addi- tional county judge owing to the growing volume of trial work in Monroe County. Philip H. Donnelly was appointed to the posi- tion by the governor.
The office of surrogate of Monroe County has been filled by the following: Elisha Ely, 1821; Orrin E. Gibbs, 1823; Morti- mer F. Delano, 1835; Enos Pomeroy, 1840; Mortimer F. Delano, 1844; Simeon B. Jewett, 1845; Moses Sperry, 1847; Denton G. Shuart, 1852; Henry P. Norton, 1856; Alfred G. Mudge, 1860; William P. Chase, 1864; W. Dean Shuart, 1868; Joseph A. Ad- lington, 1884; George A. Benton, 1896; Selden S. Brown, 1906 to the present time.
The office of special county judge of Monroe was created by the act of 1864. The judges holding this office since are: George W. Rawson, 1865; Pierson B. Hulett, 1874; John S. Morgan, 1880; Thomas Raines, 1884; William E. Werner, 1885; John F. Kin- ney, 1890; Arthur E. Sutherland, 1894; George A. Carnahan, 1895; John B. M. Stephens, 1900; John A. Barhite, 1907; Willis K. Gillett, 1917; J. Warrant Castleman, 1918; J. Stewart Page, 1920; Frederick L. Dutcher, 1920.
When the city of Rochester was incorporated in 1834, a police court was established. The first judge was Sidney Smith, who held the office for two years. Rochester's municipal court was created by the legislature of 1877. By the same act the office of justice of the peace in the city was abolished, with the expiration of the terms of those then holding the office. The list of municipal judges who have served in Rochester is: John W. Deuel and George W. Sill, 1878-1881; George W. Sill and George E. Warner, 1881; George E. Warner and Thomas E. White, 1882-94; George E. Warner and George A. Carnahan, 1894; George E. Warner and Henry W. Gregg, 1895; Harvey F. Remington and John M. Murphy, 1896-98; John M. Murphy
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and Thomas E. White, 1898-1904; John M. Murphy and Delbert C. Hebbard, 1904-1915; Delbert C. Hebbard and Ray E. West- bury, 1916-17; Delbert C. Hebbard, Ray E. Westbury and Joseph M. Feeley, 1918-23 (Judge Hebbard died August 20, 1923 and Joseph P. O'Connor appointed) ; Judges Westbury, Feeley and O'Connor elected in 1924 and now serving.
In the criminal branch of the municipal court, the following have occupied the bench: Sidney Smith, 1834-36; Ariel Went- worth, 1836-40 and 1844-48; Matthew G. Warner, 1840-44; S. W. D. Moore, 1848-56; Butler Bardwell, 1856-60; John Weg- man, 1860-65; Elisha W. Bryan, 1865-73; Albert G. Wheeler, 1873-77 and 1881-85; George Truesdale, 1877-81; Bartholomew Keeler, 1885-93; Charles B. Ernst, 1893-1901; John H. Chadsey, 1902-13; Willis K. Gillette, 1914-16; William C. Kohlmetz, 1917 to the present.
The first lawyer in Rochester was John Mastick, a notable figure of his day. He was born in Rockingham, Vermont, Janu- ary 25, 1780, and was the son of a Revolutionary soldier. In young manhood, Mastick came to western New York and located at Avon. Here he studied law with George Hosmer, later his father-in-law, and the first settled lawyer in the Genesee Coun- try. Mastick was admitted to the bar November 2, 1808, and immediately began to cast about for a permanent location. He stopped a while at Charlotte (then called Charlottesburg), but did not open an office there. He tarried for a time at Hanford's Landing and was elected supervisor of the town of Northampton. However, within a short period, he settled at Rochesterville, pur- chased a lot on the east side of State Street, between Main and Corinthian, and hung out his shingle. It is said that the prin- cipal part of Mastick's practice at the beginning was attending to the collection of bounties on wolves, which were abundant over the country and scores of Indians and white hunters crowded his office with their pelts. During the period from 1812 to 1821 Mas- tick was the leader of the bar in the county and accumulated much money according to the standard of the times. Hastings R. Ben- der, Roswell Babbitt, Joseph Spencer, Jesse Dann and Enos Pom- eroy were others who practiced here during those years. After becoming well established, Mastick returned to Avon and mar- ried Catherine Berry, whose mother kept a tavern where he had
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UNION BANK
FLOOD OF 1865; LOOKING UP STATE STREET
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boarded while studying law. The more notable Indians were partial to "Widow Berry's tavern," and Te-neh'-anah (which Seneca name expressed her reluctance to sell spirits to the Indians in the absence of her husband) was greatly esteemed by them. Turner says: "Widely known in early days was the comfort- able resting-place that she provided for man and beast; and in her primitive tavern some of the best wives and mothers of the Genesee Country were reared." Mrs. Mastick lived only four years after her marriage. Mastick himself did not survive her many years, his death occurring October 20, 1827. On Septem- ber 16, 1922, there was unveiled, under the auspices of the Rochester Historical Society and the Rochester Bar Association, a tablet inscribed to his memory and placed on the wall of the second floor corridor of the court house. During his life, John Mastick owned considerable property in the neighborhood of the four corners and in other sections, including the land now em- braced in Mt. Hope cemetery.
During the years from 1821 to 1827 other names were added to the roster of the Rochester bar. These were Daniel D. Bar- nard, Rufus Beach, Selleck Boughton, Moses Chapin, Timothy Childs, Palmer Cleveland, John Dickson, Addison Gardner, James H. Gregory, Ebenezer Griffin, Fletcher M. Haight, Orlando Hast- ings, Isaac Hills, Anson House, Harvey Humphrey, Richard C. Jones, Charles M. Lee, General Vincent Mathews, Selah Ma- thews, Richard N. Morrison, William W. Mumford, Charles Per- kins, Ashley Sampson, Samuel L. Selden, Elisha B. Strong, Theo- dore F. Talbot, W. C. Van Ness, Ephraim B. Wheeler and Fred- erick Whittlesey. Gardiner, Selden, Whittlesey and Humphrey were later judges in different courts. General Mathews has been referred to by some writers as the "father of the bar," and both Haight and Hastings were acknowledged leaders in the pro- fession. Others of prominence were E. Darwin Smith and Moses Chapin, Jasper W. Gilbert, E. Peshine Smith, who was better known in the diplomatic service, and John W. Dwinelle, later a judge of the supreme court of California. Theodore Bacon studied law with Henry R. Selden at Clarkson and was admitted in 1856, served as a captain in a Connecticut regiment in the Civil war, came to Rochester in 1865 and for over thirty years was recognized as one of the leading attorneys of the Gen- esee Country. Charles S. Baker was elected state senator in
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1883 and served three terms in Congress. John H. Martindale was elected attorney-general in 1865. Timothy Childs, the first district attorney of Monroe County, served four terms in Con- gress. John Van Voorhis, elected city attorney in 1859, was thrice elected to Congress, and the names of Oliver M. Benedict, James C. Cochrane, William F. Cogswell and many others equally prominent are still remembered and honored by the profession.
The growth of the city of Rochester was rapid in the years prior to 1850. No better indication of the truth of this state- ment is to be had than the ever increasing roll of lawyers in the community. In the short interval from 1827 to 1834 the following were added to the list given above: William S. Bishop, Patrick G. Buchan, D. K. Cartter, Isaac R. Elwood, Simeon Ford, Horace Gay, Theodore B. Hamilton, E. Smith Lee, Thomas Lefferts, D. C. Marsh, Samuel Miller, William R. Montgomery, George H. Mumford, John C. Nash, Henry E. Rochester, E. Darwin Smith, Hestor L. Stevens, A. W. Stowe, Ariel Wentworth, S. T. Wilder. Four years later we find the names of Graham H. Chapin, John C. Chumasero, Carlos Cobb, Mortimer F. Delano, James R. Doo- little, Joseph A. Eastman, Jasper W. Gilbert, Simon H. Grant, Sanford M. Green, Robert Haight, Alba Lathrop, Hiram Leon- ard, Abner Pratt and E. Peshine Smith. From this time on accessions to the list have been literally by scores.
The Rochester Bar Association was incorporated November 28, 1892, and has been a potent factor in preserving the high standing of the bar in Rochester. In 1925 the association had a membership of four hundred.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE CITY OF ROCHESTER: EDUCATION.
The cultural and intellectual standards of twentieth century Rochester are typified in the unsurpassed school system of the city. No other American municipality has greater or broader educational offerings. The branches of learning available extend in every direction, cover every field and, as repeatedly proved, are enthusiastically and generously fostered and pro- moted by the whole city, not merely by a small element as in some other communities. The early settlers of the village on the Genesee first built their homes and established their means of livelihood; then came schools. Many of the new families had children and their education was a necessity immediately recog- nized and put in the way of accomplishment.
The first school in the village was opened in the fall of 1813, and taught by Miss Huldah M. Strong, a sister-in-law of Abelard Reynolds. It is nearly certain that it was held in Enos Stone's barn, located on the north side of Main Street between St. Paul and Water streets. Shortly afterward the school was moved to a small room over Jehiel Barnard's tailor shop on the corner of Main and State streets. Miss Strong continued to teach until her marriage to Dr. Jonah Brown in 1816. This was in all re- spects a private school, provision for its maintenance having been supplied by individuals directly interested. Woefully small as this pioneer school was, it supplied the means of education to a majority of the village children. Attendance was not compul- sory, as the day of the truant officer had not yet arrived.
In the same year there came into existence district school Number 1, under the provisions of the legislative act of the pre- vious year. A meeting of the citizens was held some time during the early part of the year, at which a resolution was adopted to build a school. Messrs. Rochester, Fitzhugh and Carroll gave a lot on Fitzhugh Street, north of and adjoining the St. Luke's
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site, and upon this land a small, one-story frame structure, 18 by 24 feet, was erected. The building was completed in the fall of the year and Aaron Skinner was the first teacher. A shelf used as a desk by the pupils extended around three sides of the room and long benches, without back supports, were placed in front. The fourth side of the room was occupied by the teacher's desk and a large fireplace. The building was twice remodeled before 1823, and was later supplanted by a brick building, in which E. S. Treat was the first teacher. The Free Academy building now the municipal building, later occupied the site.
In 1815, or early in 1816, another school was opened on the corner of Mill and Platt streets. Moses King was one of the early teachers there, also Miss Crane, who afterward became Mrs. Fisher Bullard. Lyman Cobb, whose name will be remembered as the author of a spelling book and dictionary, taught in the school constructed at the corner of Clinton and Mortimer streets in 1818. Maria Allyn opened a young ladies' school on Mill Street about 1820. Philip P. Fairchild and Thomas A. Filer opened an English and Latin school on Exchange Street the same year; Rev. Comfort Williams of the First Presbyterian Church and Rev. F. H. Cuming of St. Luke's established classes. Zenas Freeman had a school in 1821 on the north side of Main Street, between St. Paul and Clinton; and Mrs. Mary Griffin started a primary school in 1822. Reverend Milligan, a native of Ireland, opened a class in a building at the corner of Main and Front streets in 1824 and was assisted at times by Mr. Penney, pastor of the First Church. Another famous old school was that known in history as the "Brown square old stone schoolhouse." In this school Reuben Johnson, Mr. McIntire, Ziba Crawford, Mr. Kin- ney and Mr. Boothby were teachers at different periods. A teacher named Blake conducted a school on Adams Street as early as 1820 and about 1825 there was a school on what is now Cort- land Street taught by Mr. Shafer. Also, about this time, Rich- ard Dunning kept a school on Stone Street near Main. In the United States hotel building on West Main Street, Rev. Gilbert Morgan kept a school and for a time each day the scholars were assigned the task of making barrels for the flour mills of the village; this departure may be said to have been the beginning of manual training in the schools of Rochester.
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