USA > New York > Westchester County > Manual of Westchester county.Past and present. Civil list to date 1898 > Part 3
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Lake Mahopac, Lake Kirk, Lake Gleneida, Lake Gilead and Barrett's Pond are among the streams belonging to New York city and from which water is drawn to furnish the necessary supply. As rules and regulations made by the New York State Board of Health, to prevent pollution of the Croton water, and protect the purity of New York city's water supply were to a great degree ignored, the State Legislature in March, 1893, passed an act providing for the sanitary protection of the sources of the water supply, to permit the city of New York to condemn all property adjacent to any stream, pond, or reser- voir, used for the city's water supply; to take energetic measures to remove all sources of pollution from the Croton watershed. In accordance with this act, the city is acquiring gradually a margin of about three hundred feet around all re- servoirs and along all streams emptying into the same.
The additional land required for the construction of the New Croton Reservoir has been taken from the towns of Cortlandt, Yorktown, New Castle, Bedford, Somers, Lewisboro and. North Salem, in Westchester county, covering an area of 6,398,244 acres. From the town of Cortlandt, 752,654 acres were taken; from the town of Yorktown, 1,752.932 acres were taken; from the town of New Castle, 154.697 acres; from the town of Bed- ford, 801.860 acres; from the town of Lewisboro, 850.236 acres; from the town of North Salem, 351.823 acres; from the town of Somers, 1,925.042 acres, making a total of 6,398.244 acres. Takings, under provisions of Chapter 490 of the Laws of 1883, were commenced in the years 1892, 1894, 1895 and 1897.
Many attractive residence localities in the territory taken will soon be, if not so already, among the things of the past. What was known as the village of Katonah, in the town of Bed- ford, has become extinct, and is now only a matter of history; its buildings, appraised and sold by order of New York city, have vanished; many of the frame dwellings and business structures were removed, intact, one mile distant south to the new settlement where old residents of Katonah are establishing new homes and a new resident village, to be known as New Katonah. Whitlockville and Woods Bridge, also in the town of Bedford, will pass out as did old Katonah, and its people will
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find habitations elsewhere. The thriving locality of Purdy Station, or a greater part thereof, shares the fate of Katonah, and will lie in peace hereafter as a part of the bed of the new reservoir; Purdy Station is within the township of North Salem. Pine's Bridge, in the town of Yorktown, lying close to the borders of Croton Lake, attractive and popular as a summer resort, and famous as the scene of numerous hard fought and exciting political conventions, held in the interest of all parties, likewise will be submerged. Croton Falls, in the town of North Salem, will contribute a portion of its territory, a section lying near and just west of the Harlem Railroad station. A tribute has also been laid upon Golden's Bridge, in the town of Lewisboro, and it will relinquish a portion of its land, near the railroad station. The Huntersville section of the town of Cortlandt, well-known to sportsmen, as it is famous for its excellent trout brooks; the Quaker Meeting House lo- cality, in the town of New Castle, the Wiremill Bridge, in the town of Cortlandt, and other localities of historic interest, are among the places that will be extinguished, and "go under with the flood."
To give some idea of the amount of property recently ac- quired in Westchester county for this reservoir, mention is made of the fact that the distance around said property is seventy- five miles. Not only handsome residences and choice building sites, but church edifices and public school buildings are among the property condemned. As might be expected, numerous cemeteries were found located within the territory required and taken; at the expense of the city of New York, bodies were removed from these cemeteries and re-interred elsewhere in accordance with the wishes of relatives or friends. The old highways on the condemned land, taken by the city, have been left open for public travel until such time as the city shall substitute others, which right the city is now endeavoring to obtain from property owners.
Getting possession of the aforesaid land was found by the authorities of the City of New York to be no easy matter. As of old, when the first attempt was made to acquire necessary land, property owners rebelled and refused to favorably con- sider the matter of giving up homes cherished on account of old associations, under whose roof they, and doubtless their fathers, had first witnessed the light of day; many of the owners were well advanced in years, and they looked upon a removal from the old homestead as little less than a sacrilege. Condemna- tion proceedings were prescribed by law, and Commissions of Appraisal, composed of three Commissioners each, had to be
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appointed by a Supreme Court Justice, to which Commissioners was given the duty of deciding as to the just value of the many parcels of property contained in the different proceedings. Witnesses to the number of thousands were examined, both for the property owners and for the city, requiring the expenditure of much time and labor on the part of the Commissioners. In a majority of cases the property owner was dissatisfied with the Commissioners' award, and in some instances, those who could afford to await developments, refused to accept the amounts tendered and served notice of appeal to the courts.
It is hoped that those who, naturally, regret having to part with old homes and familiar landmarks, will find satisfactory consolation in the knowledge that their sacrifice was necessary to insure to a great city an adequate water supply to contribute to the health and welfare of nearly two millions of human beings, and rejoice in the fact that they are specially privileged when, as in this instance, they are permitted to become great public benefactors, and consider all for the best, though com- pelled with the poet to say:
"I can't but say it is an awkward sight
To see one's native land receding through The growing waters; it unmans one quite."
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State Constitutional Conventions and Amendments.
The Fourth Provincial Congress, which convened at White Plains, in this county, on July 9, 1776, adopted unanimously cer- tain resolutions that had for their object the change of name of that body and the creation of the State of New York. On the first of August, following, a committee, composed of thir- teen members of the newly organized "Convention of Represen- tatives of the State of New York," was appointed to prepare a form of government. Gouverneur Morris, of this county, was made one of that committee. On March 12, 1777, the first Con- stitution of the State of New York was reported by the said committee, and on April 20, 1778, the Constitution was legally adopted.
On July 26, 1788, the State convention which met at Pough- keepsie and ratified the Federal Constitution, recommended to Congress by a convention which met at Philadelphia for the purpose, in September, 1787, was attended by Thaddeus Crane, Lewis Morris, Richard Hatfield, Philip Livingston, Philip Van Cortlandt and Lott W. Sarls, regularly elected delegates from this county.
In the Constitutional Convention, which was held at Albany, in October, 1801, under call of the Legislature, and which de- cided as to the powers of the Governor and other State officers, and arranged number of Senators and Assemblymen to be elected, the delegates attending from this county were, Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr., Thomas Ferris, Jonathan G. Tompkins, Israel Honeywell and Ebenezer White.
In October, 1821, at Albany, another convention was held, to more definitely define in the Constitution the powers and duties of State officers. Peter A. Jay, Jonathan Ward and Peter J. Munroe served as delegates elected from this county.
The Constitutional Convention held at Albany, in October, 1846, was a most important one, considering the results. The Constitution recommended, and subsequently adopted, ex- tended the elective franchise; most of the general and local officers, heretofore appointed by the Governor and Legislature, were made elective, by the people; the Court of Appeals was created, and other benefits bestowed. Aaron Ward and John Hunter were the county's representatives to this convention.
In the Constitutional Convention of 1867, which convened in Albany on June 4, of that year, and adjourned February 28, 1868, Robert Cochran and Abraham B. Tappan, of this county, with Abraham R. Conger and William H. Morris, represented the Ninth Senatorial District. Horace Greeley and Waldo
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Hutchins, also residents of the county, were members of the convention, two of the thirty-two delegates elected at large. The Constitution proposed by this convention was submitted to the people in 1869 and rejected, by a vote of 223,935 in favor, to 290,456 against, except the Judiciary article, which was adopted by a vote of 247,240 in favor, to 240,442 against. The Judiciary article adopted opposed a change in the selection of Judges and Surrogates; favored their election by the people in opposition to their appointment.
In 1872, on recommendation of Governor Hoffman, the Leg- islature passed an act authorizing the Governor, by and with the consent of the Senate, to designate thirty-two persons, four from each Judicial District, two from each of the two great po- litical parties, to constitute a commission for the purpose of re- vising the State Constitution and reporting the result of their action to the Legislature in 1873. Odle Close was appointed to represent this county on that commission, his associates from this Judicial District being Erastus Brooks, of Richmond County, Benjamin D. Silliman, of Kings County. and John J. Armstrong, of Queens County.
In 1879, on the question being submitted by the Legislature, the electors of this the Second Judicial District by a vote of 95,331 in favor, to 25,578 against, favored an amendment of the Constitution so as to permit of the election of an additional Justice of the Supreme Court in this district.
The Constitution was further amended in 1880 by a vote of the people of the State, so as to provide that Judges of the Court of Appeals and Justices of the Supreme Court, retired, under the Constitutional limitation of age, and who shall have served ten years or more, shall receive in full the amount of their salary during the remainder of the terms for which they were elected; and so as to authorize Judges of the City Court of Brooklyn to hold circuits and special terms of the Supreme Court in the County of Kings.
In 1882 the electors of this the Second Judicial District voted to further amend the Constitution so as to permit of the election of one additional Justice of the Supreme Court.
The Constitution was amended by a vote of the people of the State, in 1884, so as to prohibit counties, towns, cities and vil- lages from giving or loaning their property or credit except for county, city, town or village purposes, unless it be for aid or support of the local poor.
In the last Constitutional Convention, which convened at Al- bany, May 15, 1894, this Senatorial District was represented by Andrew C. Fields of Dobbs Ferry, John Gibney of Sing Sing,
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A. C. Hottenroth of Morrisania, and W. T. Emmet of New Ro- chelle. This Convention adopted thirty-three amendments to the Constitution. The term of the Governor and Lieutenant- Governor was shortened from three years to two years; it arranged so that the State Senators elected in the fall of 1895 and also the State officers then elected should serve for three years; thus extending the terms one year, for one term only. Provision was made for the election of State Senators and other State officers in and after 1898, for a term of two years, elections to be held in the even-numbered years, to give opportunity for the holding of municipal elections in the uneven-numbered years. No change in the Senate districts or apportionment of the As- sembly districts is to be made before 1905; when, in that year, a new census enumeration of the State is to be taken.
The new Constitution, as a whole, was adopted by a vote of the people at the general election held November 6, 1894.
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Old and New Court Houses.
At the organization of the county the courts were established at Westchester, and were continued there until November 6, 1759. A Court of Sessions was held at Eastchester. The Court House at Westchester was destroyed by fire February 4, 1758. By an act of the Legislature passed December 6, 1758, the Justices and the Supervisors were directed to select a new site for a Court House, and an appropriation of £1,000 was pro- vided to meet the expense of erecting a suitable building and of furnishing the same; it was decided that the new Court House be located at White Plains. The Court House was completed and the Court of Common Pleas held its first session therein on November 7, 1759. The Provincial Convention held its ses- sions in this Court House a few days in July, 1776, and in front of it the Declaration of Independence was publicly read, upon its receipt by that body. This Court House was used until it was burned in 1776.
To Dr. Robert Graham, who was Supervisor of White Plains from 1769 to 1775, and County Judge in 1778, is mainly due the credit of having White Plains fixed upon as the county-seat, having the court building erected, and having the courts re- moved there from Westchester. He gave to the county the site upon which the Court House was erected. His efforts were ably seconded by John Thomas, of Rye, who was then a mem- ber of the Colonial Assembly. Dr. Graham also, at consider- able expense, caused two hotels and a country store to be built, and thus gave the county seat a start. This Court House was destroyed by fire on the night of November 5, 1776, shortly after the battle of White Plains. General Heath, in his, memoirs, refers to the destruction of the Court House, in these words: "About 12 o'clock, this night, (November 5, 1776,) a party of Americans wantonly set fire to the Court House, and several private houses, which stood between the two armies. This gave great disgust to the whole American army, and drew from the commander-in-chief, the following paragraph, in his orders of the 6th: "It is with the utmost astonishment and ab- horrence, the General is informed, that some base and cowardly wretches have, last night, set fire to the Court House and other buildings which the enemy left. The army may rely upon it, that they will be brought to justice, and meet with the punish- ment they deserve." Pierre Van Cortlandt, of Cortlandt Manor, vice-president of the Committee of Public Safety, refer- ring to the matter, November 28th, wrote: "Unhappy am I to add that amidst all our sufferings, the army employed for the
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protection of America, have not refrained from embittering the calamities of war, at a time when the utmost resources of this State were laid open to their wants, and the members of Con- vention personally submitted to the labor and fatigue which were necessary on a sudden emergency, and after frequent losses of provisions and barracks, to supply two numerous arm- ies, augmented by the militia, with every article which they re- quired, the Court House and the remains of the village at the White Plains, which had been spared on the retreat of our forces, were, even after the enemy had in their turn retired, wantonly destroyed, without the orders and to the infinite re- gret of our worthy General, besides, in spite of all his Excel- lency's efforts, wherever our troops have marched, or been sta- tioned, they have done infinite damage to the property of the people.
"I am directed, sir, to submit it to the Hon'ble Congress, whether some effectual remedy ought not to be provided against such disorderly and disgraceful proceedings. The sol- dier, who plunders the country he is employed to protect, is no better than a robber, and ought to be treated accordingly; and a severe example, in the opinion of the committee, ought to be made of the officer who, without any necessity, or his General's permission, set fire to the Court House and other buildings at the White Plains. He is guilty of the crime of arson, and if he cannot be punished by the articles of war, ought to be given up . to the laws of the land. If so glaring a violation of every sentiment of humanity should be passed over in silence, if the army is not reasonably restrained from such acts of barbarity, the consequence must be fatal to the cause of a people whose exalted glory it is to be advocates for the rights of mankind, against the tyranny and oppression of lawless power. The resolutions which the Committee of Safety have passed upon the subjects are herewith transmitted. I have the honor to be, with great respect, sir, your most obedient and very humble servant."
"By order, "PIERRE VAN CORTLANDT, Vice-President."
"To the Honorable John Hancock,
President of the Congress of the United States."
The resolutions, referred to above, set forth : "That the laws of the country are not superseded by the military code in the presence of the army"; and "That a letter be written to General
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OLD COURT HOUSES.
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PRESENT COURT HOUSE.
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Washington, requesting that the officer directing the burning of the Court House and dwelling houses at the White Plains, be delivered to this committee or the Convention of this State, in order to his being tried by the laws of the States, and, if guilty, punished thereby."
It was charged that the order to set fire to the buildings was given by a New England Major. Fortunately, the records of the county were saved intact, having been removed and de- posited in a secure place by Theopilus Barton, the clerk, where they remained until the cessation of hostilities in 1783.
The second Court House was erected on the site of the first, on Broadway, White Plains, under authority given by an act passed May 1, 1786. This act appropriated £1,800 for the erec- tion of a second Court House, at White Plains, and another at Bedford, under the superintendence and supervision of Stephen Ward, Ebenezer Lockwood, Jonathan G. Tompkins, Ebenezer Purdy, Thomas Thomas, Richard Hatfield and Rich- ard Sackett, Jr. Prisoners had previously been confined in the New York jail, and courts had for a time been held in the Pres- byterian Church at Bedford, until 1779, when that village was burned by a party of British light horse on their route to Fair- field, Conn. From 1779 to 1785 courts were held in the meeting house in Upper Salem. By an act of April 11, 1775, courts were ordered to be held in the Presbyterian meeting house, at Bed- ford until a new Court House should be built.
Much to the general regret, the second Court House, at White Plains, which gave place to a more modern structure, together with the adjoining property, belonging to the county, passed into the hands of private parties several years ago, and the building was torn down, carried off and passed into the un- known. The remembrance is all of the historic structure that remains.
The third Court House, the handsome stone structure now in use, and which is situated on Railroad avenue, White Plains, was completed in the year 1857, nearly one hundred years after the erection of the first; the commissioners in charge of the construction of the present Court House, and jail, were Super- visors Abraham Hatfield, of Westchester, States Barton, of New Rochelle, Daniel Hunt, of Lewisboro, William Marshall, Jr., of Somers, and George C. Finch, of North Salem; R. G. Hat- field was architect, and D. I. Stagg assistant and superintend- ent; Theodore Hunt, builder of the Court House; Seth Bird, of Tarrytown, builder of the jail. The amount appropriated to cover the cost of the building was $120,000.
The Hall of Records was erected, as a wing of the Court
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House, in 1894; Supervisors Moses W. Taylor, of Mount Pleas- ant, Joseph B. See, of North Castle, Odle Close, of North Sa- lem, and Jacob Read, of Yonkers, were the commissioners in charge; Edwin A. Quick, architect. The County Jail, which stands in the rear of the Court House, is being enlarged, re- fitted with modern equipments, contributing to the security and care of prisoners, at an expense of $50,000.
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FINAL SITTING OF COUNTY COURT OF SESSIONS.
(OVER)
1
The Final Sitting of the WESTCHESTER COUNTY COURT OF SESSIONS 1
Held December 31, 1895.
The new State Constitution abolished the office of Justice of Sessions, and consolidated the County Court and the County Court of Sessions under the title of County Court. The change took effect January 1, 1896. On this latter date, also, Isaac N. Mills retired from the office of County Judge.
In the engraving of the interior of the County Court room, here. given from photograph taken upon above date, just before final adjourn- ment, appear the portraits of County Judge Isaac N. Mills ; Justices of Sessions Edward B. Kear and Robert J. Bellew ; Court Clerk M. James. Mooney ; Court Stenographer Harvey Husted ; Court Crier James C. Campbell ; Surrogate Theodore H. Silkman; County Clerk John M. Digney ; Commissioner of Jurors I. Howard Kinch; Deputy Commis- sioner of Jurors Harold Kinch ; Librarian Frederick F. Miller ; Coun- sellors William Porter Allen, Henry C. Henderson, David H. Hunt and Henry C. Griffin ; Court Officers John C. Verplanck, Leonard Banks, Michael Matthews, George S. Merritt, Charles H. Flandreau and Edgar R. Riley ; Janitor Thomas Zimmerman. Of this number, Messrs. Mooney and Matthews have since died.
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Supreme Court, Second Judicial District.
Under the Constitution of 1846 an independent Court of Appeals was established and the present Supreme Court created. Justices of the Supreme Court are to be chosen by the electors of their respective districts; their official term being fourteen years; no person can hold the office of Justice longer than until the last day of December next after he shall have reached the age of seventy years; they receive compensation to be established by law, which shall not be diminished during their official term, the same being paid by the State Treasurer. The salary of a Supreme Court Justice was $2,500, but by an act of the Legislature, passed April 18, 1857, the compensation was increased to $3,500 per annum. The compensation has since been increased until it is, in this Judicial District, $7,200 per annum, with an extra allowance of $2,500 for expenses, etc., per annum; Justices residing in King's county are paid a still larger extra compensation; the salary of the Justices of the Supreme Court in the Second Judicial District, is fixed by special laws. A Justice whose term of office has been abridged by limitation of age may, with his consent, be as- signed by the Governor to any duty in the Supreme Court, while his compensation is continued. Under the Constitution of 1846, and prior to 1870, the State was divided into eight judicial districts, as it is to-day; the first district was assigned five Justices, and the remaining districts four each, and were so classified that one in each district should go out of office every two years; the term of office was eight years. New Constitutions and Constitutional amendments have from time to time increased the number of Justices of the Supreme Court until this, the Second Judicial District, at the present time, has in office twelve active and two retired Justices, the latter as- signed by the Governor to hold special terms. The following are the names of the person who have served, and the years in which they were elected, as Justices of the Supreme Court in the Second Judicial District, which is composed of the coun- ties of Richmond, Suffolk, Queens, Kings, Westchester, Orange, Rockland, Putnam and Dutchess, and that part of New York county annexed, taken from Westchester county:
Selah B. Strong, Setauket, June 7, 1847. William T. McCoun, Newburgh, June 7, 1847.
Nathan B. Morse, Brooklyn, June 7, 1847.
Seward Barculo, Poughkeepsie, June 7, 1847.
John W. Brown, Newburgh, November 6, 1849.
Selah B. Strong, Setauket, November 9, 1851.
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William Rockwell, Brooklyn, November 8, 1853. Gilbert Dean, Poughkeepsie, June 26, 1854.
James Emott, Poughkeepsie, November 6, 1855. Lucien Birdseye, Brooklyn, August 13, 1856. John W. Brown, Newburgh, November 3, 1857. John A. Lott, Brooklyn, November 3, 1857. William W. Scrugham, Yonkers, November 8, 1859. John A. Lott, Brooklyn, November 5, 1861.
Joseph F. Barnard, Poughkeepsie, November 3, 1863.
Jasper W. Gilbert, Brooklyn, November 5, 1865. William Fullerton, Newburgh, August 30, 1867. Abraham B. Tappan, Tuckahoe, November 5, 1867. Calvin E. Pratt, Brooklyn, November 2, 1869.
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