USA > New York > Tompkins County > Landmarks of Tompkins County, New York : including a history of Cornell University > Part 7
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LANDMARKS OF TOMPKINS COUNTY.
Special county judges were authorized for this county by the Legis- lature in 1852. The following persons have held the office: Jerome Rowe (special judge and surrogate), 1852-63; Arthur S. Johnson, 1862-71; George W. Wood, 1871-72; Jesse M. Mckinney, 1873-77; Edward A. Wagner, 1877-81; Jared T. Newman, 1881-84; John Tyler, 1884-89; Judson A. Elston, 1889-92; James L. Baker, 1892-94.
Surrogate's Courts, one of which exists in each of the counties of the State, are now courts of record having a seal. Their special jurisdic- tion is the settlement and care of estates of persons who have died either with or without a will, and of infants. The derivation of the powers and practice of the Surrogate's Court in this State is from the Ecclesiastical Court of England, through a part of the Colonial Coun- cil, which existed during the Dutch rule here, and exercised its author- ity in accordance with the Dutch Roman law, the custom of Amsterdam and the law of Aasdom; the Court of Burgomasters and Scheppens, the Court of Orphan Masters, the Mayor's Court, the Prerogative Court and the Court of Probates. The settlement of estates and the guardianship of orphans which was at first vested in the Director-Gen- eral and Council of New Netherlands, was transferred to the Burgo- masters in 1653, and soon afterward to the Orphan Masters. Under the Colony the Prerogative Court controlled all matters in relation to the probate of wills and settlement of estates. This power continued until 1692, when by act of legislation all probates and granting of letters of administration were to be under the hand of the governor or his delegate; and two freeholders were appointed in each town to take charge of the estates of persons dying without a will. Under the duke's laws this duty had been performed by the constables, overseers, and justices of each town. In 1778 the governor was divested of all this power excepting the appointment of surrogates, and it was con- ferred upon the Court of Probates. Under the first Constitution sur- rogates were appointed by the Council of Appointment; under the second Constitution, by the governor with the approval of the Senate. The Constitution of 1846 abrogated the office of surrogate in all coun- ties having less than 40,000 population, and conferred its powers and duties upon the county judge. By the Code of Civil Procedure surro- gates were invested with all the necessary powers to carry out the equitable and incidental requirements of their office.
The following persons have held the office of surrogate in Tompkins county : Andrew D. W. Bruyn, appointed April 11, 1817; Edmund F.
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DISTRICT ATTORNEYS-SHERIFFS.
Pelton, appointed March 21, 1821; Miles Finch, appointed March 27, 1823; Charles Humphrey, March 4, 1831; Evans Humphrey, January 8, 1834; Arthur S. Johnson, March 3, 1838; George G. Freer, Febru- ary 14, 1843.
The only remaining courts which are common to the State are the Special Sessions, held by a justice of the peace for the trial of minor offences, and Justice Courts with limited civil jurisdiction. Previous to the constitution of 1821, modified in 1826, justices of the peace were appointed ; since that date they have been elected. The office and its duties are descended from the English office of the same name, but are much less important here than there, and under the laws of this State are purely the creature of the statute. The office is now of little im- portance in the administration of law, and with its loss of old-time power has lost also much of its former dignity.
The office of district attorney was formerly known as assistant attor- ney-general. The districts then embraced several counties in each and were seven in number. On the 15th of April, 1817, upon the organiz- ation of Tompkins county, a new district was formed, number the eighth, which included Broome, Cortland, Seneca and Tompkins coun- ties. At first the office was filled by the Governor and Council during pleasure. The office of district attorney, as now known, was created April 4, 1801. By a law passed in April, 1818, each county was con- stituted a separate district for the purposes of this office. During the era of the second Constitution district attorneys were appointed by the Court of Special Sessions in each county. The following have held the office in Tompkins county: David Woodcock (appointed or elected) June 11, 1813; Amasa Dana, January 28, 1823; Samuel Love, May 15, 1837; Benjamin G. Ferris, May 16, 1840; Alfred Wells, May 17, 1845; Arthur S. Johnson, June 14, 1847; Douglass Boardman, June, 1847; William Marsh, November, 1850; John A. Williams, November, 1853; Marcus Lyon, November, 1856; Harvey A. Dowe (appointed vice Lyon, removed from county), June 10, 1864; Samuel H. Wilcox, No- vember, 1864; Merrit King, November, 1867; Samuel D. Halliday, November, 1873; Simeon Smith (appointed vice Halliday, resigned), 1875; David M. Dean, November, 1876; Clarence L. Smith, Novem- ber, 1882; Jesse H. Jennings, November, 1883, and re-elected in 1891.
Sheriffs during the colonial period were appointed annually in Oc- tober, unless otherwise noticed. Under the first Constitution they were appointed annually by the Council of Appointment, and no person
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LANDMARKS OF TOMPKINS COUNTY.
could hold the office more than four successive years. The sheriff could hold no other office and must be a freeholder in the county to which appointed. Since the Constitution of 1821, sheriffs have been elected for a term of three years, and are ineligible for election to the succeeding term. The following have held this office in Tompkins county : Hermon Camp (appointed), April 11, 1812; Henry Bloom, June 26, 1817; Nicoll Halsey, March 2, 1819; Nicholas Townley, Feb- ruary 12, 1821, and elected November, 1822. (After this date the sheriffs have been elected in November of each year named.) Eben- ezer Vickery, 1825; Thomas Robertson, 1828; Peter Hager 2d, 1831; Minos McGowan, 1834; Jehiel Ludlow, 1837; Edward L. Porter, 1839; Ephraim Labar, 1842; John P. Andrews, 1845; Charles C. Howell, 1848; Lewis H. Van Kirk, 1851; Richard J. Ives, 1854; Smith Rob- ertson, 1857; Homer Jennings, 1860; Edward Hungerford, 1863; Eron C. Van Kirk, 1866; Horace L. Root, 1869; Eron C. Van Kirk, 1872; Barnard M. Hagin, 1875; William J. Smith, 1878; John K. Follett, 1881; J. Warren Tibbetts, 1884; John K. Follett, 1887; J. Warren Tibbetts, 1890; Charles S. Seaman, 1893.
Such legal business as the pioneers of what is now Tompkins county found necessary for about twenty years after their various settlements and down to the formation of this county in 1817, was of course trans- acted at the county seats of Cayuga and Seneca counties (the former taken from Onondaga county in 1797, and the latter from Cayuga in 1804). There were, without a doubt, lawsuits among those early set- tlers, but they were not so numerous nor so important as those of later days. The pioneers felt a too kindly spirit towards each other to admit of their often bringing malicious prosecutions against their neighbors, and they were far too busy with their labors in making homes for themselves and their children to willingly squander time in traveling to distant court houses, when traveling was a serious matter, there to wait the often tardy action of the primitive judiciary.
The act of the Legislature which organized Tompkins county desig- nated Ithaca (then a little hamlet in the old town of Ulysses) as the county seat. It would seem that somebody in the then counties of Cayuga and Seneca feared that the new county would not fulfill its proper destiny, for the act provided that in case of failure on the part of the town to convey a site for the county buildings and raise $7,000 with which to erect the same, the territory of the new county was to be reannexed to Cayuga and Seneca. But these provisions were promptly
Charles S. Seaman
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THE FIRST COURT.
complied with, and in 1818 a building for a court house and jail was erected and ready for occupancy. As a " hall of justice" it was quite insignificant; but it served its purpose until 1854, when the present structure was erected on the same site.
The old court house became inadequate for its purposes, and an act was passed by the Legislature authorizing the erection of the present structure, which was begun in 1854 and finished the succeeding year. The act named Stephen B. Cushing, Samuel Giles and Horace Mack a building committee, and under their careful direction the building was completed at a cost of $12,154.76. In the light of modern architectural practice it cannot be said that the court house is an honor to the coun- ty; indeed, this fact is so apparent that at this date (1894) measures are advocated for the erection of a new structure which will properly serve the people and honorably reflect the progress of the community.
The first judicial officers of the county were as follows: First judge, Oliver C. Comstock, appointed April 10, 1817; surrogate, Andrew D. W. Bruyn, appointed March 11, 1818; sheriff, Hermon Camp, appointed April 11, 1817; district attorney, David Woodcock, appointed April 11, 1817; clerk, Archer Green, appointed April 11, 1817. The first jus- tices of the peace (appointed 1817) were as follows: W. Wigton, Elia- kim Avery, A. D. W. Bruyn, Henry Bloom, Charles Bingham, Nathaniel F. Mack, John Sutton, Simeon F. Strong, Joseph Goodwin, John Bowman, J. Bennett, Samuel Love, John Ellis, William Martin, Peter Rappleya, Chester Coborne, Thomas White, Richard Smith, Henry D. Barto, Caleb Smith, Peter Whitmore, J. Weaver, Stephen Woodworth, Lewis Tooker, John Bowker, Charles Kelly, C. Brown 2d, James Colegrove and Abijah Miller.
At the first Court of General Sessions in this county, May 28, 1817, the following proceedings took place :
Present, John Sutton, esq., senior judge; Thomas White, . Richard Smith, and John Ellis, judges and justices of the peace; Charles Bing- ham, Parley Whitmore, John Bowman, and William Wigton, assistant justices.
Bills of indictment were presented to said court by the grand inquest of said county against the following persons, viz. : John C. Murry, Daniel Newell, Humphrey D. Tabor, Daniel Murry, Alvin Chase, Abraham Osborne, and Samuel Osborne. The above were " severally recognized in the sum of $100 each." Their securities were John Townsend, jr., for J. C. and D. Murry; Jabez Howland, for H. D.
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LANDMARKS OF TOMPKINS COUNTY.
Murry; Isaac Chase, for Alvin Chase; Isaac Chase and Henry Hewlin, for A. and S. Osborne.
The witnesses, who were also "recognized in the sum of $50 each," were Joseph Bowen, Chester Coborn, Samuel Rolff, and William Coy- kendall.
At this term of court a bill was returned by the grand jury for theft or petit larceny against Birdsey Clark. "Mr. Johnson pleaded against the jurisdiction of the court. The court overruled the objection, and ordered that the prisoner give bail or be committed to jail. The prisoner requested and obtained permission to be tried by a special session." A bill of indictment was also returned against Calvin Kel- logg for assault and battery.
The first petit jury was organized at the September term, 1812, and consisted of the following persons:
Samuel Knapp, Marvin Buck, John Collins, Oliver Miller, Abner N. Harland, Horace Cooper, John Sniffen, Aaron K. Matthews, John Walden, Caleb Davis, Augustus Ely, and Peter Vanvliet.
The first case tried by this jury was the indictment against Messrs. Murry, Tabor, Abraham and Samuel Osborne, and Alvin Chase, for riot.' They were found guilty, and Messrs. Tabor, Daniel Murry, and Abraham Osborne fined $10 each, and Alvin Chase and Samuel Os- borne $5 each.
The first Court of Common Pleas was held at the "meeting-house," in the village of Ithaca, town of Ulysses, on the fourth Tuesday of May, 1817. Senior judge, John Sutton; judges, Richard Smith, Thomas White, and John Ellis; assistant justices and justices of the pcace, William Wigton, Charles Bingham and John Bowman.
"The general pleas and the general commissions of the peace having been read, the court opened in due form. The court adjourned for one hour, to meet again at Champlin & Frisbie's hotel. The court met agreeably to adjournment; present as before. The venire for sum- moning the grand jury having been returned by John Ludlow, esq., coroner, their names being called, they all answered. Mr. Ben John- son objected to the grand jury being sworn, because they were sum- moned by a coroner and the venire directed to him. The court overruled the objection, and directed that the grand jury be sworn. They were accordingly sworn, and John Bowker, esq., was appointed foreman of the said inquest. At this court it was also
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EARLY MEMBERS OF THE BAR.
Resolved, By the Court, that those attornies who were authorized to practice in the counties of Seneca and Cayuga, and in the Supreme Court, and in good standing as such, be admitted in this court.
"On the following morning the court, having no further business, adjourned."
The first will recorded and proven was that of John Morris, of Lans- ing, A. D. W. Bruyn being at that time surrogate. It was proven September 6, 1817; Isaiah Giles, J. Whitlock, and Sarah Giles, wit- nesses.
The first letters of administration were issued May 6, 1817, to Eliza- beth Smith, on the estate of Alexander Smith, of Ulysses. The second letters of administration were issued to Barzillai King, jr., and Henry D. Barto, on the estate of Barzillai King, of Covert.
Tompkins county, in respect to its population, is among the smaller counties of this State, and its bar has not, therefore, been as numerous as in other and more populous counties; but it will not suffer in com- parison with the bar of any other interior section in respect to the character, ability and honor of its members. It has had, and now has, members occupying the highest judicial positions in the State, the duties of which have been performed to the honor of the incumbents and the people whom they represent. This county was quite well equipped with lawyers at its organization in 1817, and it is a pleasure to record some brief personal characteristics of many of the early rep- resentatives of the profession, as well as of those of more recent times.
One of the foremost of the early attorneys of this county was Ben Johnson, whose services were often in demand in the more important cases, and who was called to oppose some of the most distinguished lawyers of the State. Mr. Johnson was born at Haverhill, N. H., June 22, 1784. His early education was obtained in the district schools, with a little academic training. He entered the law office of Foote & Rumsey, in Troy, N. Y., studying there in company with John A. Col- lier, with whom he subsequently formed a partnership for practice in Binghamton ; this existed but a short time, when Mr. Johnson removed to Hector (then in Cayuga), but came to Ithaca some years previous to his marriage, which occurred in November, 1817. He built the house on Seneca street, where he passed the remainder of his life. His office was on Aurora street, and he practiced alone until 1819, when he became associated with Charles Humphrey. After several years con- tinuance of this partnership, Mr. Johnson joined with Henry S. Wal-
9
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LANDMARKS OF TOMPKINS COUNTY.
bridge, which connection terminated in 1839. His next partner was his son-in-law, Anthony Schuyler. His death took place at his home in Ithaca, March 19, 1848. We find the following written of Mr. John- son :
When fully aroused in an important trial, Ben Johnson was regarded by the most astute advocates as the peer of the ablest counsel in the State. Erudite, of logical mind, and possessed of rare powers in debate, his efforts before the courts always challenged attention, and often admiration. An indefatigable worker, he kept scrupulously within the bounds of his vocation, concentrating his mental and phys- ical strength upon the cases in hand. His nature was social and genial, though quiet and undemonstrative.
David Woodcock established himself in Ithaca as early as 1812, and soon took a prominent position at the bar of the State. Traveling the district with the Circuit Courts, as a forcible and astute jury lawyer, in persuasive power was seldom excelled by any whom he met at the bar. He represented Seneca county in the Legislature (1814-15), was dis- trict attorney in 1818, and was elected to Congress in 1821. At the close of the XVIIth Congress he retired to his professional practice; but was called again to the Legislature in 1826, where he was a lead- ing member of the House. Declining re-election, he was in 1828 again elected to Congress, where his abilities were at once recognized. On returning he resumed his practice at the bar and was suddenly stricken down with his armor on. He died at Ithaca in September, 1835. His nature was kind and genial, generous and warm hearted, and his in- fluence and example with the younger members of the bar was always salutary. His son, Don C. Woodcock, a lawyer of great ability, re- moved from Ithaca to Troy, and died in that city.
Charles Humphrey, already mentioned as a partner of Mr. Johnson, was another conspicuous attorney of the early years, who devoted to the service of the country his great legal abilities in establishing and fostering not only local improvements, but rendered signal service to the State. He was a forcible advocate, clear and sharp in attack and repartee, and long adorned the bar of the State. He was a member of the Legislature in 1834, and re-elected in the two succeeding sessions, serving as speaker of the House in both the LVIIIth and LIXth ses- sions. Years before this he had been sent to the National Legislature, representing the Twenty-fifth District, composed of Tioga and Tomp- kins counties, taking his seat in 1825. After continuing a large prac- tice many years he was again prevailed upon to take a seat in the State
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EARLY MEMBERS OF THE BAR.
Legislature in 1842. He also served some years as clerk of the Su- preme Court at Albany. He suffered from a painful constitutional disease in his later years, but returned to Ithaca and took up his prac- tice in important cases before the Court of Appeals and in the Supreme Court. Supported upon crutches and standing before the highest State court, he always commanded its strict attention and won ad- miration from distinguished members of the State bar. He died in Albany July 18, 1850, while in professional attendance at the Supreme Court.
Andrew D. W. Bruyn was an early and prominent member of the bar: held the office of surrogate 1817 to 1821, and afterwards under the second Constitution served as first judge of the county, 1826 to 1837. Elected to represent the Twenty-first District, counties of Che- mung, Cortland, Tioga and Tompkins, in the XXVth Congress, he took his seat September 4, 1837, and died at Washington in July of the following year. Judge Bruyn was distinguished for his legal acquirements and laborious industry in his profession. He was es- pecially noted for strict observance of all those social, public, private or official duties which, with a high sense of personal honor, make a well rounded character. In his profession he was powerful in argu- ment, while on the bench his decisions were clear and dignified, and wholly unbiased.
Amasa Dana was an early lawyer of Tompkins county whose profes- sional standing gave it honor and prominence, and whose high religious and moral character reflected the brightest luster. He acquired prom- inence as an advocate early in life, and was elected to the Legislature in 1828 and 1829, having already discharged the duties of the office of district attorney from 1823 to 1827. Returning from the Legislature to resume his practice he was clected to Congress from the Twenty- second District, serving from December, 1839, to March, 1841; and again was called to the same high office (1843 to 1845). He also served as first judge of the County Court, 1837 to 1843. Resuming his prac- tice in 1845 he gave his whole attention to its duties until his death, December 24, 1867, at the age of seventy-six years. It has been writ- ten of him:
Judge Dana not only adorned the profession he had chosen by a life of most faith- ful performance and observance of every exacting requirement of duty to society, to his home, and to every responsible public trust, but deeply imbued with a high and religious sentiment, he brought to the discharge of his professional, judicial and
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LANDMARKS OF TOMPKINS COUNTY.
legislative requirements a devout reliance upon the favor of a God in whom he trusted. His memory will be long cherished by the church at whose altar he was a devout worshiper, not less than by the bar of which he was so distinguished an ornament.
Other members of the early bar were Stephen Mack, who graduated from Yale in 1813, located in Owego in 1814, and soon afterward settled in Ithaca, where he practiced his profession many years. He was a diligent and methodical lawyer, and died at the age of seventy-one years, January 7, 1857.
Edmund G. Pelton was a lawyer of some prominence in early years and held the office of surrogate in 1821; and there were others who are, perhaps, entitled to mention in this connection, but whose good deeds have gone into the unremembered history of the past.
William Linn, though he eannot be ealled a distinguished lawyer, confining himself largely to office work, was conspieuous for his schol- arly attainments and his polished style of oratory upon the platform. His numerous public addresses were widely cireulated and regarded by cultivated scholars as models of logical force and elegant diction. He died when nearly eighty years of age. He studied for the pure love of it, and was richly endowed with historical and classical knowl- edge, and was the great orator at all great assemblies from 1810 to 1845. He was the author af the Roorbaek hoax of 1844.
Horace King, whose "Early History of Ithaca" attracted eonsider- able attention, was a native of Ithaea. He had just entered on the praetiee of his profession in 1847, when he delivered his historieal lec- ture. His very early death arrested a eareer which his qualifications as a pleader, and his attractiveness as a public speaker, must have made one of note in this community and elsewhere.
Augustus Sherrill was one of the old-time lawyers of Ithaea, whose memory is yet vividly recalled by those here from 1830 to 1846. Care- ful, painstaking and accurate, he was appreciated by clients, and en- joyed to a marked degree the confidence of the community.
George G. Freer practiced law in Ithaea for many years with Samuel Love. He was proprietor of the Tompkins Times in 1836 and ap- pointed surrogate by Governor Bouck in 1843. Mr. Freer removed to Watkins, and died there some ten years ago.
George D. Beers, as an advocate before a jury, was almost invariably pitted against sueh eminent practitioners as Ben Johnson and Charles Humphrey. His keen analytieal mind grasped the salient points in a
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EARLY MEMBERS OF THE BAR.
case, and he had a remarkable faculty of impressing a jury by the earnestness of his pleading and the grasp he had on the strong features of the case in hand. Mr. Beers was born at Hobart, Delaware county, June 7, 1812, and removed to Ithaca just after the organization of the county. He graduated from Union College, his diploma bearing the autograph of the remarkable Dr. Eliphalet Nott. He was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court in July, 1833, and in the Court of Chan- cery in 1834. In 1844 he was elected to the State Senate under the four-year term of four senators to a district. In 1879 he attended the fiftieth anniversary of his college class. He died in Ithaca, October 12, 1880.
Frederick G. Stanley practiced law in Ithaca four years along in the thirties. But little can be ascertained in regard to his early life or his family. Those of his profession who knew him and his conduct of cases, speak of him as the peer of the brighest intellects who have dig- nified the bar in this section of the State. Mr. Stanley removed to Buffalo, and after a few years, during which he built up a large client- age, he died.
Moses R. Wright was a young and brilliant lawyer who came to Ithaca in 1841, and whose career of great eminence was ended by his untimely death about ten years afterwards. No record is obtainable on his life, but there is scarcely a resident of Tompkins county who will not recall him, and those who knew him personally yet retain vivid recollections of his great power as an advocate and his clear conception of legal principles. He was a writer, especially on political subjects, of great force.
Henry S. Walbridge finished his law studies in the law office of Ben Johnson and, as before stated, entered into partnership with the latter. This gave him the advantages of Mr. Johnson's reputation to a certain extent and enabled him to soon occupy a commanding position, to which his superior qualifications also entitled him. He was elected to the Legislature in 1827, and again in 1846, serving with credit to himself and satisfaction to the people. After a period of devotion to his pro- fession he was elected to Congress from this district, and served from 1851 to 1853. Returning to Ithaca, he was elected first judge of the county in 1859, in which high office he discharged his duties with eminent ability and faithfulness until 1867. He soon afterward met with accidental death in a railroad casualty near the city of New York.
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