USA > New York > Wayne County > Landmarks of Wayne County, New York, Pt. 1 > Part 12
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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
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jurisdiction 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 authority 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 Pre- rogative Court and the Court of Probates. The settlement of estates and the guardianship of orphans which was at first invested in the director-general and council of New Netherlands, was transferred to the Burgomasters in 1653, and soon afterwards to the orphan masters. Under the colony the Prerogative Court controlled all matters in rela- tion to the probate of wills and settlement of estates. This power con- tinued 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 confer- red upon the Court of Probates. Under the first Constitution surro- gates 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 counties having less than 40, 000 population, and conferred its powers and duties upon the county judge. By the code of civil procedure surrogates were invested with all the necessary powers to carry out the equitable and incidental requirements of their office.
The following persons held the office of surrogate in Ontario county previous to the formation of Wayne: John Cooper, May 5, 1789; Samuel Mellish, March 22, 1792; Israel Chapin, jr., March 18, 1795; Amos Hall, February 23, 1796; Dudlay Saltonstall, January 25, 1798; Reuben Hart, February 16, 1809; Eliphalet Taylor, February 13, 1810; Reuben Hart, February 5, 1811; Eliphalet Taylor, March 9, 1813; Reuben Hart, March 17, 1815: Stephen Phelps, April 10, 1817; Ira Selby, March 5, 1821; Jared Wilcox, March 38, 1823.
The following persons have held this office in Wayne county: John S. Tallmadge, April 18, 1823; Frederick Smith, January 11, 1826;
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Graham H. Chapin, March 10, 1826; Lyman Sherwood, February 12, 1833; James C. Smith, April 10, 1844; (after 1847, the office was merged in that of county judge. )
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 attorney-general. The districts then embraced several counties in each and were seven in number. On the 15th of April, 1817, upon the organization of Tompkins county, a new district was formed, number the eighth, which included Broome, Cortland, Seneca and Tompkins counties. At first the office was filled by the governor and council dur- ing pleasure. The office of district attorney, as now known, was ere- ated April 4, 1801. By a law passed in April, 1818, each county was constituted a separate district for the purposes of this office. During the era of the second Constitution district attorneys were appointed by the County Courts in each county.
The following persons have held the office of district attorney for Wayne county from and including the year given in each case: William II. Adams, 1823; Graham H. Chapin, September 26, 1829; William H. Adams, September 29, 1830; John M. Holley, February, 2, 1831; Theron R. Strong, January 31, 1835; Charles D. Lawton, September 26, 1839; John M. Holley, October 5, 1842; George H. Middleton, September 26, 1845; Lyman Sherwood, May 30, 1846; Coles Bashford, June, 1847; George Olmstead, October 4, 1850; Stephen K. Williams, November, 1850; Joseph Welling, November, 1853; Jared F. Harri- son, November, 1856; Jacob B. Decker, November, 1858; William F. Aldrich, November, 1861; George N. Williams, jr, November, 1864; John II. Camp, November, 1867; Charles II. Roy, November, 1870; Murganzy Hopkins, November, 1873; Marvin I. Greenwood, Novem- ber, 1876; John Vandenburg, November, 1879; Jefferson W. Hoag, November, 1882; Charles II. Ray, November, 1885; Samuel M. Sawyer, November, 1888; re-elected November, 1891.
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The legal business of the inhabitants of the territory of Wayne county, was, of course, done in Ontario county previous to 1823. The public buildings were situated, as now, in Canandaigua. We learn from the records that the first court in Ontario county was held in the un- finished chamber of Moses Atwater's house on the first Tuesday in June, 1792: Oliver Phelps, judge; Nathaniel Gorham, jr., clerk; Judah Colt, sheriff. Vincent Mathews of Newtown was the only attorney present when the court opened. The first business in the Surrogate's Court of the county was the settlement of the estate of Captain Jonathan Whitney, who died in 1793.
By an act of the Legislature April 9, 1792, the supervisors of Ontario county were authorized to raise by tax the sum of six hundred pounds for building a court house. Under this act the first court house was erected on the square in Canandaigua. The first jail was a block-house which had been built as a protection against the Indians.
With the erection of Wayne county all the necessary measures were. adopted for the transfer of the courts to the new community. The act contains the following provisions :
"There shall be held in and for the county a Court of Common Pleas and a Court of General Sessions of the Peace, and there shall be three terms of said court in every year, to commence and end as fol- lows: The terms of said court shall begin on the fourth Tuesday of January, May and September, and may continue to be held until the Saturday following inclusive.
"That the first term of the said Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions of the Peace in and for Wayne county shall be held in the Presbyterian meeting house in the village of Lyons, and all subsequent terms shall be holden in the same place until the completion of the court house."
Meanwhile prisoners were to be confined in the jail of Ontario county. The act appointed William D. Ford, of Jefferson county; Samuel Strong, of Tioga county, and Oliver P. Ashley, of Greene county, as "commissioners for examining and determining a proper site for a court house and jail."
The supervisors of Wayne county were authorized to meet at the house of Henry L. Woolsey, in Lyons, on the first Tuesday in October, 1823, and "cause to be assessed, collected and paid into the treasury of said county of Wayne, the sum of $2,500; and also at their next annual meeting the further sum of $2,500, in like manner as taxes to defray the contingent expenses of the county."
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In pursuance of this legislation the church in Lyons was prepared for its new purpose. The upper part of the pulpit was removed; a platform was built over the small chancel in front, a carpet was laid, tables and chairs provided, and there on the fourth Tuesday in May, 1823, the first courts of Wayne county were held. John S. Tallmadge was first judge, and Enoch Moore and William Sisson, judges. Hugh Jameson was sheriff; William H. Adams, district attorney; Israel J. Richardson, county clerk; George W. Scott, deputy clerk; Andrew J. Lowe and George Sisson, coroners.
The resident attorneys of the county admitted to practice at the organization of the courts were: William H. Adams, Graham H. Chapin, Frederick Smith, Orville L. Holley, Hiram K. Jerome, William J. Hough, Joseph S. Colt John Fleming, jr., Hugh Jameson, William Wells, Thomas P. Baldwin, Alexander R. Tiffany, Charles F. Smith, Edward M. Coc.
Names of the first grand jurors empaneled in the county: John Adams, Abner F. Lakey, William D. Wiley, John Baber, jr., Lemuel Spear, David Warner, Ephraim Green, William Voorhies, James Mason, Abel Wyman, David Russell, Cephas Moody, Stephen Sher- man, William Wilson, William Plank, Alexander Beard, Jacob Butter- field, Daniel Chapman, Jeremiah B. Pierce, Freeman Rogers, Newell Taft, Pliny Foster, Joseph Lane.
The first court house was built in pursuance of the provisions of the Legislative act before noted. The building committee consisted of Simeon Griswold, of Galen, a Mr. Kellogg, of Sodus, and another gentleman, name unknown; Joseph Hull was the architect; John Mc- Carn and Harry Gale were the masons. The corner stone was laid with Masonic ceremonies, Henry Seymour officiated, and Gen. William HI. Adams delivered the address. The building was of brick and stood in the center of the present park in Lyons. It was burned in 1856, and the clerk's office erected. The old court house had long been inade- quaté and inconvenient for the county business before steps were taken in 1852-3 towards providing a better one. A Legislative act of April 11, 1853, appointed John Adams, Stephen Marshall and Francis E. Cornwell, commissioners for the erection of a new court house and jail. The State comptroller was authorized to loan the county $12,000 from the school fund, to be repaid in four annual installments; and on the 9th of April, 1855, another loan of $10,000 was made. Through the efforts of a committee consisting of William D. Perrine, S. Har-
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rington, S. Marshall, John Knowles, and P. P. Bradish, the commis- sioners secured title to two lots of land on the north side of Church street, opposite and north of the court house site. Its style of architec- ture is imposing and appropriate and the cost of the building about $50,000.
The first county clerk's office stood west of the park on Pearl street. It was used until it became apparent that it was both unsafe and in- adequate, when measures were adopted for the erection of a new one. A lot was purchased a little west of the old office, on the same street, and in 1874 the present commodious fire-proof structure was erected at a cost of about $14,000.
The county jail is a stone structure in the west part of Lyons, and is well adapted for its purposes.
The following document has a quaint interest in this connection :
DECLARATION.
I do solemnly swear that I have not been engaged in a duel, by sending or accept- ing a challenge to fight a duel, or by fighting a duel, or in any other manner, in violation of the act entitled, "An act to suppress dueling," since the first day of July, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixteen; nor will I be concerned either directly or indirectly, in any duel during the continuance of the said act, and while an inhabitant of this State .-- May 27, 1823.
William 11. Adams, William Wells, Lem. W. Ruggles,
Fred K. Smith,
Edward M. Coc, Mark H. Sibley,
Orville L. Holley, Chas. F. Smith, Alex. R. Tiffany,
Wm. J. Hough, Th. P. Baldwin, Iliram K. Jerome,
John Fleming, jr. David Hudson,
Rodney J. Church,
Graham H. Chapin,
Jeff Clark.
George W. Scott,
Hugh Jameson, Jared Willson,
Samuel Dickinson, Nathan Park,
Joseph Skinner.
This document is on file in the county clerk's office. It gives the names of the lawyers here at that early date, with a few from Ontario county who desired to practice here.
In the year 1856 the number of lawyers in the county had reached thirty-six, and they were distributed as follows:
Clyde .- George W. Cowles (still in practice), L. S. Ketchum, C. D. Lawton, William S. Stow, Joseph Welling, J. Van Denburgh.
Lyons .- William H. Adams, G. H. Arnold, R. W. Ashley, G. W. Benton, William Clark, F. E. Cornwell, D. H. Devoe, E. A. Griswold,
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John T. Mackenzie, D. W. Parshall, Lyman Sherwood, William Sis- son, William Van Marter, John N. York.
Newark .- Stephen Culver, G. W. Middleton, L. M. Norton, S. K. Williams (still in practice. )
Palmyra .- W. F. Aldrich, Ornon Archer, Joseph W. Corning, James Peddie, S. B. McIntyre, J. F. Harrison, G. W. Cuyler, Frederick Smith.
Red Creek .- J. B. Decker. Sodus .- C. C. Teal. South Butler .- A. S. Wood. Wolcott .- Chauncey F. Clark.
Very few of these are now living. In 1869 the number had increased to fifty-five, and at the present time (1894) there are fifty-three as follows:
Lyons .- Chester G. Blaine, Frank Brown, Dwight S. Chamberlain, John L. Cole, Thaddeus W. Collins, Thaddeus W. Collins, jr., James W. Dunwell, Burton Hammond, William Kreutzer, William U. Kreutzer, George Kent, Edson W. Hamm, William R. Mason, Charles H. Ray, John W. Van Etten. Palmyra .- David S. Aldrich, jr., Fred E. Converse, Henry R. Durfee, Mark C. Finley, Addison W. Gates, Murganzy Hopkins, Charles McLouth, Samuel B. McIntyre, Samuel N. Sawyer, Pliny T. Sexton, George Tinklepaugh. Newark .- Edwin K. Burnham, Marvin I. Greenwood, Joseph Gilbert, C. W. Esty, Edgar D. Miller, Luther M. Norton, Henry L. Rupert, Byron C. Williams, Stephen K. Williams. Clyde .- George O. Baker, George W. Cowles, Thomas Robinson, Charles T. Saxton, De Lancey Stow. Wolcott .- Jefferson W. Hoag, Edward H. Kellogg, Joel Fanning, Anson S. Wood, William Roe, George S. Horton, A. C. Brink. Sodus .- Myric M. Kelly, Benjamin B. Seaman. Red Creek .- Jacob B. Decker, Charles O. Peterson. Marion .- Henry R. Taber. Lincoln .- Charles E. Yale.
The Wayne County Bar Association was organized November 10, 1890, with the following officers: S. B. MeIntyre, president; John Vandenburg and William Roe, vice-presidents; Burton Hammond, secretary ; Henry R. Durfee, treasurer; S. B. MeIntyre, T. W. Col- lins, George W. Cowles, and L. M. Norton, executive committee.
One of the most conspicuous figures at the bar of Wayne county was Theron R. Strong. He was born at Salisbury, Conn., November 7, 1802. ITis father was Martin Strong, for many years a State senator and county judge of Litchfield county, Conn. His grand- 15
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father was Judge Adonijah Strong, who was also a colonel in the Revolutionary war.
Theron R. Strong was intended for other than professional pursuits, but his inherited love of the law led him to its study and finally after much opposition he was permitted to pursue his studies in the justly celebrated law school of Judge Gould in Litchfield for one year. He then sought the West, as it was then called, and for a time located in Washington county, where, in the office of Cornelius L. Allen, later a justice of the Supreme Court, he continued his studies. After admis- sion to the bar he sought a permanent location, and with means in- sufficient to support himself in one of the cities of the State, he finally selected Palmyra as his field of practice.
His early years were those of struggle and hardship, and his slender means were often at so low an ebb as to deprive him of the necessaries of life. But his sterling worth, although hidden by a natural diffi- dence and modesty, was soon discovered and, equipped with a thorough familiarity with legal principles, he won the confidence of and attracted as clients the most desirable citizens of Wayne county. He was as- sociated many years in business with Hon. O. H. Palmer, and the firm of Strong & Palmer was for many years among the leaders of Wayne county. Many years subsequently the late Hon. Oscar Craig was his partner in Rochester, as was subsequently the late George M. Mum- ford ..
He was chosen in 1831 district attooney. In 1839 he was elected member of Congress. In 1842 he became member of assembly and in 1851 he was elected justice of the Supreme Court. . He filled this posi- tion eight years, during one of which he sat as judge of the Court of Appeals. His record in that tribunal is indicated by the fact that of all the opinions from the eight members of the court regarded as valu- able for publication, the greatest number came from his pen, excepting only three written by Judge Denio.
In his early years his office was sought by two students who not only absorbed their law in his society, but also shared his hardships, sleep- ing in the same bed and cutting the wood for the office fire. One was Hon. William W. Campbell, later a judge of the Supreme Court, and the other Hon. Thomas M. Cooley, late chief justice of the Supreme Court of Michigan, chief interstate commerce commissioner, and author of learned works on municipal law and constitutional limitation.
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Judge Strong, after retiring from the bench, practiced several years with conspicuous success in Rochester, N. Y., and subsequently with even greater success in New York city. Ilis grasp of legal principles, his remarkably sound judgment, his power of application, his patient industry, his unassuming and courteous demeanor, won for him as a practitioner unlimited confidence and commanded for him as a judge the respect and regard of the bar; and among all classes in Wayne county, the name of Theron R. Strong was synonymous with the high- est qualities of Christian citizenship. He died in New York city on May 14, 1843, honored by the bench and bar of that city.
Ezra Jewell was probably the first lawyer in Lyons, and must have been one of the earliest in the county. He came in about 1812 and died about 1822. He held the office of judge in Ontario county, of which Wayne then formed a part.
Graham H. Chapin was a prominent lawyer of early times, who came to Lyons about 1819. . He was a graduate of Yale and a man of more than ordinary ability. He was elected to the Twenty-fourth Congress and served with credit one term.
Gen. William H. Adams, although not so conspicuous at the bar of Wayne county as some others, owing to his devotion to public and private interests in other directions, was nevertheless for many years one of the leading men in the community. Born in Berkshire, Mass., in May, 1787, he began law practice in Canandaigua long before Wayne county was created. He was an officer in the war of 1812 and in 1820 settled in Lyons as a partner of Hugh Jamison, the firm soon securing a large and successful business for those times. For twenty- five years these men were well in the front of the local bar. Mr. Adams was a warm and active supporter of the Erie Canal project and eventually sunk his competence in an effort to construct the Sodus Canal, an account of which is given elsewhere in this volume. He held the office of district attorney in 1823, 1830, and was county judge in 1846. Public spirited, full of business energy, General Adams accom- plished much good in this county. He died in Alloway April 7, 1865.
Hiram K. Jerome settled in Palmyra as an attorney in 1823 and soon assumed a leading position at the bar. In 1848 he ran on the Whig ticket under the new constitution for judge of the Supreme Court, but was defeated through a bolt at Canandaigua. This was a grievous disappointment to him, and as he had already engaged to some extent in produce business, he still further neglected his practice for that
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occupation. He was not successful and removed to Bloomington, Ill., where he practiced to about 1860, when he returned to Rochester, N. Y., but remained there only a short time. Again locating in Palmyra he opened a law office, but not securing the business he de- sired he again went to Rochester, where he died about fifteen years ago. He held the office of county judge of Wayne county one term beginning in 1840.
Lyman Sherwood, who died in Lyons, September 2, 1865, at the age of sixty-three years, was a prominent member of the bar and judiciary of Wayne county. He was for many years at the head of the law firm of Sherwood & Smith, which was in the front rank in Western New York. Originally a Democrat in politics, Mr. Sherwood gave his allegiance to the Republicans upon the organization of that party and remained in its ranks until his death. He was elected surrogate in 1833. In 1842 he was appointed to the State Senate, vice Mark II. Sibley resigned. In the fall of 1859 he was elected county judge and surrogate, holding the office until 1863. Judge Sherwood is remem- bered as a man of good ability and extremely conscientious in perform- ing what he considered his duty ; he was consequently highly esteemed, not only in his profession, but by the public at large. He was father of Lyman Sherwood, long a well-known citizen of Lyons, father of Mr. Sherwood, now publisher of the Lyons Republican.
John M. Holly was born in Connecticut, November 10, 1802; entered Yale in 1818, studied law in the Litchfield Law School and in the offices of his uncle, Orville L. Holley, of Lyons, and Joseph Kirkland, of Utica, and was admitted to the bar in 1825. He began practice at once in Buffalo, but a year later located in Wayne county, where he attained a prominent position, and was honored by his fellow citizens. He was for a period partner with Graham H. Chapin. In 1831 he was chosen district attorney and again in 1842. In 1841 he was elected to the Legislature. In 1847 he was elected to Congress, but his health had been broken and his very promising career was cut short by death at Jacksonville, Fla., March 8, 1848.
John H. Camp was born in Ithaca, April 4, 1840, and graduated from the Albany Law School at the age of twenty one. He located in Lyons in 1861 and entered the office of Justice Robert Ashley, and in 1863 went into the office of the surrogate. Mr. Camp began his political career carly in life by stumping the district for Lincoln in 1860. He was an eloquent and persuasive speaker and he soon gained a considerable in-
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fluence in political circles. He was soon made chairman of the County Committee. He was elected district attorney in November, 1867, and served with credit one term. In 1872 he was a presidential elector, and in 1876 was elected to Congress, where he served three terms with marked ability. In 1883 he was a candidate for justice of the Supreme Court, but failed of election through factional differences. From 1877 to his death Mr. Camp was senior in the firm of Camp & Dunwell, one of the foremost legal firms in Western New York. Mr. Camp was attorney for the N. Y. C. railroad. In 1891 he was admitted to practice in the U. S. Supreme Court. He died in October, 1892.
Conspicuous among the early lawyers and judges of Wayne county was William Sisson. He settled in Lyons about the year 1816, and soon entered the front rank of practitioners. He long held the office of justice of the peace and was also master in chancery. In 1830 he was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and held the office with credit to himself and satisfaction to his fellow citizens for the long period of seventeen years. He was a Democrat in politics, but never an aspirant for political office nor especially active in the political field. He became noted for the correctness of his decisions and his earnest- ness and persistent study to enable himself to do nothing but justice in all cases that came before him. His children were three sons and a daughter. He died in Lyons, December 7, 1863, at the age of seventy- six years.
Coles Bashford, a native of Putnam county, N. Y., came to Lyons with his parents in 1822. He was educated in the seminary at Lima, studied law and was admitted to practice in 1842. He advanced rapidly in his profession, and was elected district attorney in 1847. In 1850 he removed to Wisconsin, and in 1863 to Arizona, where he died April 25, 1878. He became conspicuous as a politician and office holder in the West.
R. W. Ashley died in Lyons, December 12, 1863, at the age of forty- six years. He was a son of Dr. Ashley, an early physician, studied law with Judge Sherwood and became a popular and successful attorney. Ile was justice of the peace about fifteen years.
W. F. Aldrich was born in Mendon, Mass., October 22, 1815 .. He came to Palmyra while young and while clerk in the collector's office, took up the study of law. He subsequently entered the office of Judge Theron R. Strong, and began practice in 1839. He had as partners at different periods George W. Cuyler, a Mr. Hopkins (a brilliant young
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