USA > New York > Niagara County > Landmarks of Niagara County, New York > Part 35
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Among other prominent citizens of the town of Wheatfield may be mentioned :
Edward A. Milliman, William Krull, Frederick and Martin Kopp, William Boen-
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ing, William Fritz, Frederick Wurl, William Mauth, Gottlieb Walck, William Beutel, James Briggs, L. B. Bullard, John Chadrick, William Deglow, William Devantier, Frederick Gentz, F. D. and B. A. Habecker, Henry Hall, Peter Heim, Dennis G. Hoover, Martin Klemer, Ferdinand Lang, William Lehon, William Mavis, Oliver and John Miller, William Pfuhl, Christ Radlaff, Charles Rogge, George Schenck, Joseph Schenck, William Schmidt, John H. and William Schnell, Henry Treichler, William Vandervoort, Henry F. Wagner, Albert and August Walk, Christopher Walk, Gottlieb Walk, William Watt, Fred Weinheimer, William Wendt, August and Charles Werth, Chauncey Wichterman, August and Gustav H. Williams, Will- iam Williams, George M. Warren, Christian George Krull, J. D. Loveland, Daniel Sy, William Clark, Martin Reisterer, Calvin Jacobs, J. S. Tompkins, Thomas Col- lins, Daniel Treichler, Harvey Miller.
More extended notices of some of these and many others appear in Part III of this volume.
Schools and religious services were among the first institutions to be inaugurated by the early settlers. The history of the beginnings of the former, however, is meagre. The first school in the north part of the town was taught by Ira Benedict in 1826, while the pioneers in the south part evidently sent their children over into Erie county, a school having been started there, near the creek, as early as 1816. In 1836, soon' after the formation of the town, Wheatfield was conveniently divided into school districts, which in 1860 numbered seven ; the pres- ent number is eight. In 1866 a portion of the Union School building in North Tonawanda was erected; this is a fine brick structure, known as the Goundry Street school, and was rebuilt in 1882, bonds to the amount of $14,500 being issued for the purpose. There are three other substantial brick school houses in the city, viz., the Ironton School, erected in 1889, and the Pine Woods and Gratwick Schools, built in 1892 ; the former cost $15,000 and the latter two $20,000 each. One of the most successful teachers and superintendents was Prof. Alexan- der D. Filer, who came to North Tonawanda from Middleport in 1881 and remained until his death, about 1891, being succeeded by Prof. Clinton S. Marsh, the present incumbent. The principal of the High School is F. J. Beardsley. Benjamin F. Felton has been connected with the Board of Education since 1876 and has served as its president since 1877 ; James H. Rand has officiated as clerk since 1882.
Religious services were held in this section as early as 1816-20, when Rev. John Foster was a preacher on the Tonawanda circuit, but
BENJAMIN F. FELTON.
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no church was organized until many years later. Some of the earlier churches of the town have already been mentioned. The inhabitants of Tonawanda worshiped for some time in a union church which was erected about 1830, on a lot on South Canal street donated by A. H. Tracy.
The First Methodist Episcopal Church of North Tonawanda was built in 1842, on the corner of Main and Tremont streets. One of the prime movers in this as well as in the original movement was John Simson, who on July 4, -1867, presented the lot, edifice, etc., to the society free of debt. The present church was completed in 1882.
A Baptist church was organized about 1852, but a few years later succumbed for lack of support. The First Baptist church of North Tonawanda was organized September 6, 1885, with eighteen members, and in 1887-88 an edifice was erected on Vandervoort street at a cost of about $8,000.
St. Mark's Episcopal church, organized February 17, 1869, is noticed in the chapter devoted to Lockport.
St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran church, of North Tonawanda, was organized October 31, 1887, by Rev. H. Kaufman, who also instituted a parochial school in connection therewith. The church was built about 1888.
The Church of Christ of North Tonawanda was organized in 1888, and the next year an edifice was built on the corner of Christiana street and Payne's avenue ; with the lot it cost about $12,000.
The Church of the Ascension (Roman Catholic), of North Tonawan- da, was organized by Rev. Father Bustin in 1888, and a church and parsonage were erected soon afterward. The present pastor is Rev. Patrick Cronin.
St. Matthew's German Evangelical Lutheran church, on the corner of Wheatfield and Bryan streets, was built in 1888-90, the church or- ganization being effected in January, 1890. The first pastor was Rev. W. C. Koch. Connected with the church is a flourishing parochial school.
The Evangelical Frieden's church was organized by Rev. Paul Ditt- man in 1889, and an edifice was built the same year on the corner of Schenck and Vandervoort streets at a cost of $8,000.
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The North Presbyterian church was organized April 30, 1891, with seventy-five members, and purchased the building erected by the Ger- man Methodists in 1887.
The Central Methodist church on Oliver street near Fifth avenue, North Tonawanda, was built about 1893.
The Young Men's Christian Association of North Tonawanda was organized largely through the influence of the late Rev. I. P. Smith in December, 1886. In 1892 a handsome brick building was erected on the corner of Main and Tremont streets. One of the principals in fos- tering this institution was Dr. F. M. Hayes, the first president.
There are two churches of the Lutheran faith in Martinsville, viz., St. Martin's, erected in 1846, and St. Paul's, built in 1861. Connected with each church is a flourishing parochial school.
CHAPTER XXIII.1
THE BENCH AND BAR OF NIAGARA COUNTY.
The old county of Niagara which then included Erie, was organized March II, 1808, and judicial jurisdiction extended over the whole of that territory until Erie county was set off in 1821, taking with it the county organization, and leaving Niagara with little else than the orig- inal name. The county seat of the old county was in Buffalo, and there the first courts in Western New York were held, none having been held prior to that time west of Batavia ; the opening of the first term in Buffalo was, therefore, an event of considerable importance and interest. It was held in the public house of Joseph Landon, which stood on inner lot No. I, on the south side of what is now Exchange street. Augustus Porter, of Niagara Falls, was first judge, and Erastus Granger, of Buffalo, was one of the puisne judges. Judge Porter was succeeded by Samuel Tupper in 1812, and he by William Hotchkiss, of Lewiston, in 1818. Samuel Wilkeson was chosen in November, 1820,
1 Prepared under the supervision of Hon. David Millar.
DAVID MILLAR.
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and held the office at the time of the division of the county, when he was succeeded by Silas Hopkins, of Lewiston.
There were few lawyers in Niagara county before the war of 1812, and nearly or quite all of these were located in Buffalo. Ebenezer Walden, Jonas Harrison, John Root, Heman B. Potter, and Jonathan E. Chaplin constituted the bar of Buffalo in 1812. There were only seven lawyers in Lockport as late as 1823. They were John Birdsall, Hiram Gardner, J. F. Mason, Elias Ransom, Harvey Leonard, Zina H. Colvin and Theodore Chapin. There were only thirteen lawyers in Buffalo when the county was divided in 1821.
The first court house erected for the original county of Niagara was built by the Holland Company in 1806-9 It was a frame building and stood in the center of half an acre of land laid out in circular form, the center of the circle being in the middle of what is now Washington street, Buffalo, just east of La Fayette Square, and immediately in front of the site of the new court house. The erection of these build- ings by the Holland Company was made an obligation by the Legisla- ture as a condition of the erection of Niagara county. The building was probably accepted by the judges of the County Court in 1810, the deed of the lot bearing date November 21 of that year. Even then the building was referred to as "an unfinished wooden court house." A stone jail was also erected by the company, on the east side of Wash- ington street, between what are now Clinton and Eagle streets. When Buffalo was burned by the British in December, 1813, the court house went with the other buildings in the village ; but the jail withstood the flames and was afterwards repaired and used for nearly twenty years. The Legislature passed an act in March, 1816, authorizing the supervisors of old Niagara county to raise $4,000 with which to build a new court house. This act was not carried into effect for some reason, and on April 17, 1816, another act was passed authorizing a loan of $5,000 by the State to the county, for the same purpose, and appoint- ing Samuel Tupper, Joseph Landon, and Jonas Williams, commis- sioners to superintend the construction of the building. Neither of these men was from the present Niagara county. The court house was built in 1816, and was in use when the present county of Niagara was erected by the setting off of Erie.
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When Niagara county was reduced to its present limits, in 1821, Lewiston was made the county seat, and there the first Circuit Court was held in a stone school house which stood on the academy lot. That building was used for the purpose until 1823, when Lockport was made the county seat.
The act creating Niagara county as at present bounded, appointed Lothrop Cooke, sheriff; Silas Hopkins, first judge; James Van Horn and Robert Fleming, judges ; Oliver Grace, clerk. Erasmus Root. Jesse Hawley, and William Britton were appointed commissioners to decide the question of locating a permanent county seat, but before the matter was consummated Mr. Britton died. Mr. Root favored Lewis- ton (or Molyneux's) in Cambria. Mr. Hawley favored Lockport, and as the two could not agree, nothing was then decided. Another com- mission was appointed by the Legislature of 1822, consisting of James McKown, Abraham Keyser, and Junius H. Hatch. In July this com- mission agreed upon Lockport as the county seat. Steps were at once taken to provide a court house by the purchase of two acres of land of William M. Bond, and the building was commenced. It was not com- pleted and ready for use until January, 1825, when the first courts were held within its walls.
The settlement of the location of the county seat was not effected without a serious and bitter rivalry between the eastern and western portions of the county. The towns of Lewiston and Niagara worked together, and their efforts resulted in February, 1823, in the appoint- ment of Silas Hopkins, Robert Fleming, Samuel De Veaux, James Van Horn and E. D. Richardson as judges-Hopkins and De Veaux from Niagara, Fleming from Lewiston, Van Horn from Newfane, and Rich- ardson from Cambria. Soon afterward the judges and supervisors met in Lewiston and appointed justices of the peace for the different towns : for Niagara, James Field, Alexander Dickerson, George Rogers, and Jerry S. Jenks; for Lewiston, Rufus Spaulding, Gideon Frisbie, James Murray, and Asahel Sage; for Cambria, E. D. Richardson, Andrew Sutherland, John Gould, and Myron Orton, and like numbers whose names are not now obtainable for the other towns.
An act of the Legislature passed in 1823 made it the duty of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas to lay out, " in as square form as
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convenient, gaol limits for said county, in such a manner as to embrace the site for the public buildings as determined by the commissioners appointed by the Legislature in August last, and to remove the said Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions of the Peace to the house of James McKown, in the said village of Lockport." The act contin- tinues : " And be it further enacted, that Nathan Comstock, with Benja- min Barton and Robert Fleming, be, and they are hereby declared, commissioners to superintend and cause to be erected a court house and gaol in said county of Niagara, at the site determined on by James Mckown, Abraham Keyser, and Junius H. Hatch."
On the 5th of May the County Court officials met in Lewiston to hold court, when it was discovered that the words, "by the first Mon - day of May next," had somehow been interpolated in the act. It is not known who perpetrated this deed. No court could, therefore, be held until the following September. The judges then proceeded to Lockport to lay out the jail limits.
The court house completed in 1825 continued in use until the year 1885 when, in response to a demand created by increased business and the insufficiency and incompleteness of the old structure, the Board of Supervisors decided upon the erection of a new county building. The old court house was torn down, and the present jail erected on the site. The land on which the present court house and jail stand was deeded to Niagara county by William M. Bond in 1822. The town of Lockport had not been created, and the town of Cambria adjoined the town of Royalton, the Transit road being the dividing line ; thus the lot lay in the town of Cambria. By the terms of William M. Bond's deed the land could not be sold by the county, and could be used only for county purposes. The so- called "seminary lot," which is the court house site, has a history of its own. It was for many years the recognized play ground. General Butler visited Lockport in 1872 and was one of the speakers at a large Republican ratification meeting. The speaking was from a platform erected on this lot. There was a great crowd in town, mostly animated by a desire to see " Ben." When he arose to speak a large delegation of boys on the outer edge of the stage almost prevented the general from moving with- out danger of stepping on some of them. This annoyance he eudured for a time, and then calmly stooped down and began brushing away the
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intruders with smart slaps freely distributed. The boys fled in dismay from this assault by the hero of New Orleans.
The Board of Supervisors on May 7, 1885, awarded William J. Blackley the contract for building the new court house, the contract price being $68,000. In less than a year the structure was finished. It is an imposing example of modern architecture. It is one of the largest and most convenient court rooms in the State, with offices for the county officials excepting the county clerk. The building commit- tee were A. R. Furgason, Alfred Morgan, A. U. Gatchell, H. J. Le- land and J. Binkley.
On Monday, November 20, 1886, the supervisors took possession of their new room and were the first to transact public business in the building. The formal dedication of the building took place on Decem- ber 13, 1886, when the County Court and Court of Sessions first con- vened there. Hon. Alvah K. Potter, county judge, presided ; Gordon Rowe and Duncan R. Maxwell, justices of sessions, were on the bench. The occasion was one of much interest and importance and a multitude of people from all parts of the county were present. Nearly every member of the bar in Niagara county, many ladies, and the Board of Supervisors in a body were in attendance at the exercises. County Clerk John A. Merritt administered the oath to the grand jury, and after they were sworn Major James Franklin Fitts delivered an appro- priate address, from which extracts are here given. Extempore re- marks were made by ex-Judge Levi F. Bowen and ex-Judge Alfred Holmes, after which Judge Potter delivered the charge to the grand jury. The court then adjourned until afternoon, when the dedicatory exercises were held. From the address then delivered by Major James Franklin Fitts the following extracts are made, which are eminently worthy of permanent preservation in these pages in connection with the history of the courts and bar of the county :
Upon the material structure that we thus unostentatiously dedicate we look with exceeding pride and satisfaction. It is at once the outward and visible sign of ag- gregated wealth and prosperity, and the firm pledge of public order and private security. Within its spacious chambers the people's servants find ample means and facilities for their labors. Its massiveproportions, its graceful architecture, its soar- ing tower may well represent the strength, the dexterity, the ambition of the people. Surmounting all, we behold the imposing and emblematic figure of that divinity whose rule within these halls has now begun. Too long have we scantly housed
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here; too long have we been unmindful of shabby exteriors and cramped accommo- dations. But the stride of progress in material things as in ideas is sure, if slow; and bidding farewell to the old, we greet the new with the fervent hope, that, as the centuries roll on, the scenes here to be enacted may realize the spirit of the poet's aspiration :
"For Justice-All place a temple, and all seasons summer."
The occasion is not at all obituary in its character; but it is impossible to express our sense of the greatness of the work, now happily accomplished, without some ref- erence to the beginnings and progress of the rule of law in Niagara county. In the year 1821 this county was reduced to its present territorial limits. Its courts were organized in May of that year. Justice, proverbially blind, and to the popular ap- preciation somewhat lame, was then locally houseless and homeless. No county seat had been designated; no temple, however humble, had been provided. Her first hab- itation was a stone school house on the academy lot in Lewiston, long since demol- ished, but which some present, besides your speaker, may recall as the after scene of their struggles and discipline in the way of knowledge. In this building was held the first Circuit Court of the county, Jonas Platt being the presiding Judge.
In 1823 the first Circuit Court was held in Lockport by Judge Rochester in an up- per room of the Mansion House, on West Main street. In January, 1825, the now venerable building across the way was completed and first occupied by a court. The square of three acres intersected by Niagara street upon which stand both court houses, jail and clerk's office, was conveyed in 1822 by William M. Bond and wife, to the supervisors of Lockport for a nominal consideration of one dollar " for the use of the county of Niagara." Scant was the population, as I have said; the primeval forest was everywhere; the war whoop of the savage and the red coat of the British soldier had but lately vanished; yet the settlers were enjoying some of the blessings of civilization, the lawyers among them. At that early day the bar of the county numbered ten persons. Let the names of those fathers of the local bar be mentioned with reverence at this time; they were John Birdsall, William Hotchkiss, Z. H. Colvin, Bates Cook, J. F. Mason, Elias Ransom, Hiram Gardner, Theodore Chapin, Sebride Dodge, and Harry Leonard.
Upon a greater occasion than this, the most illustious of American orators said, " human beings are composed not of reason only, but of imagination also, and sen- timent." Our minds are naturally turned to a brief retrospect of the life of the old temple that we vacate to day. We look upon it in all its homeliness and dwarfed proportions, and two generations pass before us. The population of the county has been ten times augmented. Our fathers and our grandfathers have taken the rule of their private and public conduct from what has occurred within it.
A long procession of honored and learned public servants has passed from its por- tals into the larger life beyond; grave contests over life and reputation and property, which have shaken the community, have been there decided. To merely mention memorable names and causes would make my words a mere catalogue; but I cannot forbear to remind you that yonder mouldy walls have witnessed controversies that have passed into national history; have heard from bench and bar the voices now long silent, of men of national repute. Trials have occurred connected with the disappearance of William Morgan which not only agitated the Empire State, but
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largely affected the national policies of that day. They witnessed the preliminary proceedings in the international questions arising in the case of the people against Alexander McLeod, which in 1841 brought us to the very verge of war with Great Britain. They echoed the words there spoken by William L. Marcy, by John C. Spencer, by Abram Stewart, by Washington Hunt, by Daniel S. Dickinson, by San- ford E. Church. And, therefore, it is that not alone with shining example, but with national history localized, we take the new departure. "Lockport, Niagara county," once remarked the venerable and illustrious John Quincy Adams to a member of this bar. " Why, that is classic ground. There were the Morgan trials, there McLeod was imprisoned, and there you have the combined locks on the Erie canal."
In regard to the first Circuit Court held in Lockport in 1823 the fol- lowing taken from an address recently delivered by Hon. John E. Pound, will be of special interest :
The judge who presided at that term, his associates on the bench, the sheriff, the clerk, the jurors, the witnesses, and the litigants, all have gone to appear before the higher court from whose judgments there are no appeals. The members of the bar then were John Birdsall, William Hotchkiss, Zina H. Colvin, Bates Cook, John F. Mason, Elias Ransom, Hiram Gardner, Theodore Chapin, Sebridge Dodge, and Harvey Leonard. Of John Birdsall history says in connection with the building of the locks in the Erie canal at Lockport: "Oratorical John Birdsall stood upon the foundation stone of the locks in 1823, the echo of his voice returning from the sur- rounding wilderness cleft, and announced the commencement, and on the deck of a canal boat at the head of the finished locks October 26, 1825, proclaimed to the as- sembled populace, 'the last barrier is removed.'" He became judge of the Supreme Court and Member of Congress, and held other high positions.
William Hotchkiss and Zina H. Colvin became district attorneys: Elias Ransom became district attorney, and he and Hiram Gardner worthily held the office of County Judge, and are still remembered in honor by many. John F. Mason was the second county clerk of the county. Bates Cook became comptroller of this State and Member of Congress. Theodore Chapin was justice of the peace and father-in- law of a lawyer named Hart, who amused the boys of his days by wearing high shirt collars which they thought cut his ears. Sebridge Dodge was a great Nimrod. The names of Chapin, Dodge and Leonard do not appear in the civil list, but the success of the seven out of the ten shows that the first bar of Niagara county was composed of able men.
What a commentary upon the health, the security, and the prosperity of this county is the fact that neither war, pestilence, nor famine have interrupted the reg- ular terms of its courts. Judges have come and gone, the scenes have been changed, and new lawyers, new suitors, new officers, and new jurors have appeared, but the courts have been regularly held, and the dignity of the law has been maintained. The public have looked on and witnessed the struggles of the young attorneys and rewarded many of'them with office; the proportion of the first bar so rewarded has been kept up, and about seven out of ten have at some period of their lives held pub- lic position.
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The principle of the sovereignty of the American people over the law of the country, as well as their dominance in other governmental re- respects, had a slow, conservative, yet steadily progressive and system- atic growth. In the colonial times in this State the governor was in effect the maker, interpreter, and enforcer of the laws. He was the chief judge of the court of final resort, while his councillors were usually his obedient followers. The execution of the English and colonial statutes rested with him, as did also the exercise of royal authority in the province ; and it was not until the Revolution that he ceased to contend for these prerogatives and to act as though the only functions of the court and councillors was to do his bidding, while the Legislature should adopt only such laws as the executive should suggest or approve. By the first constitution the governor was stripped of the judicial power which he possessed under colonial rule, and such powers were vested in the lieutenant-governor and the Senate, the chancellor, and the justices of the Supreme Court; the former to be elected by the people, and the latter to be appointed by the council. Under this constitution took place the first radical separation of the judicial and the legislative pow . ers, and the advancement of the judiciary to the position of a co-ordi - nate department of the government, subject to the limitation consequent upon the appointment of its members by the council. This court, called the Court for the Trial of Impeachments and the Correction of Errors, was continued by the second constitution, adopted in 1821.
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