USA > New York > Westchester County > Manual of Westchester county.Past and present. Civil list to date 1898 > Part 8
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and again sworn in as Vice-President March 4, 1821. His death occurred June 11, 1825, at his residence, at Tompkinsville, Stat- en Island, at the age of fifty-one years, and he was buried in a vault at St. Mark's Church, New York city. A monument is being erected in Scarsdale to mark Gov. Tompkins' birth-place.
MATTHEW VASSAR, the founder of the College for Young Ladies at Poughkeepsie, the first institution of the kind ever attempted, was born in England, in 1792, and came to this country with his parents in 1796; he died in June, 1868, while attempting to deliver his third annual address before the trus- tees of the college. His father settled in Poughkeepsie, where he became a brewer; the brewer intended that his son should enter the brewery and learn the business, but young Vassar rebelled, he had such a repugnance to the business that he ran away rather than go into the brewery as an employe or otherwise. He remained away from home five years, getting employment where he could; for a short period of the time named, the boy was employed as a clerk in a store in the town of Cortlandt. Returning home he entered his father's brewery as an employe. A fire destroyed the uninsured brewery and other property not long after, and reduced the family from comparative affluence to destitution. Young Vassar, at 19 years of age, undertook the task of restoring the fortunes of the family. With no other capital on hand than a few kettles, saved from the ruins, reinforced by energy and pluck, he started a miniature brewery, making one or two barrels of beer at a time, and delivered it himself to his customers. His father never learned to read, and did not feel the necessity of giving his sons more than the mere rudiments of knowledge. Much of young Vassar's leisure time he devoted to study. Hav- ing no children, and few heirs of his own kindred, he deter- mined, as fortune favored him, to leave the bulk of his large estate to found some charitable or useful institution. His first contribution to the establishment of the College was $460,000. Contracts for the erection of the building were awarded in 1861, though work was delayed by the war, the College was completed and opened in 1865.
JOHN LORIMER WORDEN, who won distinction in the Civil War by the great services he rendered his country, es- pecially as commander of the Monitor in its combat with the Merrimac, was born at Sing Sing, on March 12, 1818. He en- tered the United States Navy in 1834; was made Lieutenant in 1840; a Captain in 1863; a Commodore in June, 1868, and was
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an Admiral at the time of his death. He commanded the float- ing battery Monitor, which destroyed the Merrimac, on March 9, 1862. In June last Congress passed a bill directing that the name of Olivia Worden, widow of the late John L. Worden, an Admiral of the United States Navy, be placed on the pension roll, and that she be paid a pension at the rate of $100 per month. The widow was the wife of Officer Worden at the time he established his title to fame.
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THE PUBLIC CAREER OF HON. WILLIAM H. ROBERTSON.
BY HON. CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW AND OTHERS.
To demonstrate their appreciation of the man who devoted the best years of his life to their interests, and had become physically disabled owing to his activity in that service, friends and neighbors, irrespective of political party affiliation, decided, in 1897, to have a life-size portrait of Hon. William H. Robertson painted and hung in the County Court House at White Plains, in the court room where he so many years presided as County Judge. The portrait was paid for by popular subscriptions in small amounts to enable as many as possible of the former Judge's friends to contribute and share in the testimonial. The painting was presented to ex-Judge Robertson on the evening of April 30, 1898, at the annual dinner of the Westchester County Bar Association, 'given at the Murray Hill Hotel, New York city. On this occasion Surrogate Theodore H. Silkman, president of the Bar Association, presided. James Wood, of Mount Kisco, made the presentation address, and Hon. Chauncey M. Depew accepted the gift on behalf of ex-Judge Robert- son. The latter was present, but recent illness prevented his re- sponding in a manner fitting the occasion, therefore, that pleasant duty was discharged by his life-long friend.
By way of introduction, President Silkman made the following remarks:
Gentlemen of the Bar Association and Guests: As I look upon this numerous assemblage, I have in my mind the feeling which was very unfortunately expressed by a reform Governor of a Western State. He was elected upon a reform ticket, and his first speech- in fact, the only speech he ever made-was before the convicts of the State prison. He thought that he could make a speech. He commenced and, making a desperate effort, he said: "Ladies and gentlemen, fellow citizens, my dear friends: I am very glad to see so many of you here." (Laughter.) A year has elapsed since our last dinner, and, as I look around, it seems to me it must have been a very prosperous year for the Bar generally. You all have a pros- perous, happy look. Evidently, the Judges have taken good care of the bar of Westchester during the past year. (Applause.) I miss, however, one genial face from this board that was with us a year ago -that of the Father of the Bar Association of Westchester County. He was too modest to become its president. He has gone to his
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fathers. But there is one consolation when we view his career, when we reflect upon his legal ability, his generous friendship and his true manhood, and that is that the verdict of his friends at the Bar of Westchester County can never be reversed by the Court of Last Resort. "Well done, good and faithful servant." Gideon W. Dav- enport, one of the foremost members of the bar of Westchester County, has passed away from us.
Gentlemen, during the past year questions of momentous im- portance have been before the country. Not within the memory of the majority of us have there been before the country questions of as great importance to the future of our country as have existed in the last few months. The country is to be congratulated upon the fact that it is not the men who are admitted to practice law before the courts of the country that are the lawyers, but every American in the United States to-day is a lawyer and a judge, and the stability of our government is largely due to that trait of the American citizen, the judicial temperament.
We have awaited the verdict of the court which has passed upon our troubles with patience and conservatism, and have gained the admiration of the whole world.
The Bar Association of Westchester County is too young an association to dictate to the Legislature as to what laws it shall pass, or to suggest to the justices of the courts what rules they shall make in regard to the practice of the law, or what reforms they shall adopt. The time will come, however, when we expect that we will be a power for good in the land, such as the New York State Bar Association and the New York City Bar Association have been in the past. But, in a small way, we intend that our association shall be felt and heard. Westchester County is a county of historical in- cidents. It is a county of history. It is a county where you can find Mayflowers, Huguenots, Highlanders and Knickerbockers at every crossroads, and the Bar Association of Westchester County expects to keep up, so far as it may, the history of Westchester County, and your committee, who has had in charge this dinner has taken a departure in the matter of menu, as you will observe, and I trust that every future committee of the Bar Association will follow in their footsteps, so that the menus of the Westchester County Bar Association shall become a library which future gen- erations shall be proud to possess, and which in the distant future may only be purchased for large sums at the book stores where rare books are sold. (Applause.) We have undertaken to do honor to the citizens, members of the Bar of Westchester County, who
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have been true and faithful to the trusts which they have been called upon to perform. In this menu you will see that we have referred to the first two Justices of the Supreme Court called to sit from Westchester County-men who have acquitted themselves well. We have also undertaken to do honor, and we do do honor to the foremost lawyer, the foremost friend of every member of the Bar of Westchester County, who sits at my right. (Applause and cheers.)
Judge Robertson is a man who was never recreant to a trust that he was called upon to perform. (Applause.) He was al- ways a friend to the young and old, and he is a friend of every man here to-night. (Applause.) He was the first president of our Asso- ciation, and it is fitting to-night that we shall do him honor. The proceedings of the evening will be continued by our friend, Mr. James Wood, of Mount Kisco, whom I now introduce.
Mr. Wood spoke as follows: Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Westchester County Bar Association: Any one who will look through this menu and upon its pages and see the record of the official positions held by Judge Robertson will appreciate something of the embarrassment that one must feel who undertakes to speak of him. Judge Robertson's life has been so filled with activities; he has so impressed public affairs; he has touched and cheered the lives of his fellow men in so many places, that upon this occasion multi- tudes of memories of noble traits of character and of good deeds rush upon our minds. (Applause:) Of Judge Robertson's per- sonal qualities, and of his private life, due regard for his own feel- ings forbids that we should make anything more than a simple allu- sion, but his private character and his official career are matters of history, and as such they are public property. As Supervisor of his town and Chairman of the County Board; as member of the Assem- bly and of the State Senate; as Superintendent of Schools and as County Judge for repeated terms, in which his ability and his care- ful labor were shown by the fact that his decisions were almost in- variably sustained by the higher courts; as member of Congress; as Presidential Elector; as Collector of the Port of New York, a position unique and memorable because of the fact that it began with the filing of his official bond, in which the whole amount was covered by two names, and which closed with the percentage of ex- pense during his term of office having been smaller than under any other official in the history of that great office. In all these the public career of William H. Robertson has been without a par- allel in the history of our county or of our State, and in the grati-
Eng. by E. G. Willums & Bro. NY
meliam & Robertson
The New York History Co
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tude of his fellow-citizens for his services in this long-continued and varied career, it is also without a precedent. I desire to refer in the few remarks that I shall make more particularly to his service in the Legislature of this State. In the public estimation undoubt- edly that has its crowning position in the important place that he held so long as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the Senate, where his hand made its strong impress upon so much of the legis- lation of our State. But this service is too well known to need any particular reference here. I must ask Judge Robertson's pardon if, with a particularity that may be almost unpleasant to him, I refer to some acts of his legislative career that illustrates the qualities and the character that have controlled his public life. It is a trite and commonplace thing to say that a man is honest. Indeed, the friends of almost any of us might compliment us with a statement without possibly being able to refer to any specific acts of ours to prove it. It is easy enough to say good things in a general way, and, therefore, I ask Judge Robertson's pardon for what I am about to say, which will illustrate his character as no general statement can. Myron H. Clark was elected Governor of the State of New York on temper- ance issues, and his election was followed by very radical legislation; and the production and sale of alcohol were so interfered with that it became a very serious injury to many of the manufacturing indus- tries of the State. A committee, representing the manufacturers of alcohol, went to the Legislature for relief. They presented their grievances to Judge Robertson for his consideration, and, after care- ful examination, he said: "Gentlemen, I am in favor of your bill, and I will do everything I can to secure its passage." A member of the committee representing those manufacturers said: "Mr. Robert- son, you are in favor of this bill and will support it in every way you can. There will be much work for a lawyer to do in connection with this matter, and the committee desire that I should retain you as special attorney, and here is a retaining fee of $1,000." This offer was made to him by a personal friend from his boyhood, whom he knew he could trust every day in the year and everywhere. But he said to him: "I cannot accept of any retainer for any professional service in connection with my legislative duty."
The case that I have mentioned came within the limited sphere of my own personal knowledge. How many hundred other such cases there must have been in his protracted legislative career. With spotless hands he pushed them all aside. And here, gentlemen, you have the exhibition of his character which has secured the unre- strained and unbounded confidence of all his fellow men.
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No man ever dared to propose to influence Judge Robertson's vote for a consideration! But Judge Robertson has had an import- ant career besides the official positions he has held. His career as a lawyer would satisfy the ambition of most men. Perhaps in this company Judge Robertson, as a lawyer, would be most criticised because of the innumerable cases in which he has violated the pro- fessional traditions by rendering efficient, important and devoted professional service without any charge therefor. Hundreds of families remember this with gratitude, although he may have for- gotten them. But, after all, Judge Robertson has probably been most widely known as a politician. For over half a century he has been a potent influence in this important particular, and in every con- vention, from a town caucus to a national convention for the nom- ination of candidates for Presidential offices, his influence has been felt; indeed, it may be said that his influence at one time and another has controlled every one of them. He has controlled the course of the national conventions of his party, and rules that before had governed those conventions have been set aside because of the positions he has taken. In politics he has, indeed, been a modern Chevalier Bayard. He has attacked the greatest knights whenever he has considered them in the wrong, and he has brought them to the dust.
While a member of the Legislature no opponent ever accused him of dishonesty, and in politics no enemy ever yet charged him with foul play. A few weeks ago I was in the Republic of Mexico and visited the opal mines near Silao, and they showed me a sample of opals that charmed me. We looked through a mass of watery clearness and purity to a gem beneath the color of the purest and brightest gold. So, through the public career of Judge Robertson men have looked to the character beneath that has caused them to render him the honor and the homage that all men have shown. In recognition of this, a number of the friends of Judge Robertson have desired that some public expression of this appreciation and regard should be made, and they have commissioned me, on their behalf, to present to this Bar Association his portrait, to be by you held in trust, and to be placed in the court room at White Plains, where those who have known him may see him rightly honored, and where future generations may look upon the likeness of one who has been an important factor in the county's history. I am sure that every one of you will be glad to unite with me, in connection with this presentation, in wishing Judge Robertson long years of life, with continued health and prosperity.
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President Silkman: Gentlemen-I doubt whether any of you have ever heard of the temptations of Judge Robertson. I certainly never have, nor that it was his own neighbor that sought to seduce him as a member of the Legislature. The Bar Association of West- chester County is to-night to be represented by that old Westchester orator who has made Westchester County great in its modern days. (Applause.) Westchester was important in Revolutionary history, but in modern days it has taken Dr. Depew to keep Westchester County prominent before the world. Dr. Depew, on behalf of the Bar Association, and on behalf of Judge Robertson, will reply to Mr. Wood.
Mr. Depew, after applause had subsided, said: Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen-There are two men in Westchester County for whom I have always had profound respect and admiration. One is Judge Robertson, and the other James Wood. What Judge Rob- ertson has been in resisting temptations of an extraordinary kind Mr. Wood has most graphically related, and that Judge Robertson and Mr. Wood should be our ideals, notwithstanding the extra- ordinary faculty for offering real estate from lofty mountains that Mr. Wood has, is one of the most remarkable things in the history of Westchester County. (Laughter and applause.)
You know I feel like a boy to-night.' (Laughter).) I feel that way much of the time, but especially now when I stand here as junior, as I have for thirty years behind Judge Robertson. The Judge was the oldest member of the Westchester County Bar when I came to it-at least, that was the general impression, and he re- lated to me the peculiarities of that Bar and demonstrated that it was a very extraordinary institution. In the course, of my early practice, I had occasion to visit different parts of the State and to become familiar with the Bar of the several counties. In the other counties there were the usual characteristics of the ordinary lawyer, but in Westchester County, at the Westchester County Bar, were the eccentricities of genius. I remember once listening to a conversa- tion, when in my early days I was calling upon a client in a tenement house (laughter), while the discussion was going on upon the roof, where Mrs. Maloney and Mrs. Barney were hanging out their clothes. It seems there had been a feud among the 400 of that locality, but the severe and rigid etiquette of the house demanded that the cour- tesies should prevail upon the roof, and Mrs. Maloney said to Mrs. Baarney: "Good morning, Mrs. Baarney, and how is Mr. Barney, and how is Miles and Dennis and Michael and Bridget and Helen? Not that I care a damn, but just for conversation." (Laughter.)
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And so, in my early days at the Westchester Bar, I heard many a lawyer address a court or jury when it seemed to me, being a young man who was looking for the truth (laughter), that they were carrying on that conversation simply for the purpose of talk. (Ap- plause.) Judge Goodrich gave me a story to-night, from that vast fund he has brought from the Borough of Brooklyn, about an ex- plosion that occurred, and it was deputed to one of the friends to carry to the bereaved widow the sad tale. He said to her: "Your husband was blown up by a can of dynamite." "Well," said she, "how serious?" "Oh!" he said, "his head was foun in one lot, and his legs in another lot, and his body in another lot." "Ah!" said she, "that was just like Dennis; he was always all over the place." (Laughter.) Every one of you know the lawyer to whom I refer. He has been at the Westchester Bar for half a century. But there is this about the Westchester County Bar, as I have known it for the past thirty years, that, while the great lights of the New York Bar have been called to the trial of cases in almost every county in the State, I think they have been less in evidence at White Plains than at any other county seat. It was very seldom that Charles O'Conor or Mr. Evarts, taking the lawyers of a past generation, or that Mr. Choate, taking him as the leader of the present generation, have been called in by the members of our Bar to try or defend their cases in the Westchester County Court House. There has been that confidence in the members of our Bar that we coult attend to our own business and try our own cases far better than any body else (Applause), which has prevented these great lights of our pro- fession from being called to our assistance. Every Westchester County lawyer knows the Westchester County jury is unique, self- confident, intelligent, and peculiarly Westchester. (Laughter and applause.)
There isn't a man who has ever tried a dozen cases at White Plains who does not know that if a distinguished member of the Bar comes in for the other side from an outside county that he has won his case before that jury. All he has to do is to stand up before the farmer of Westchester County, whose father was a farmer of Westchester, and whose grandfather was a farmer, and whose great grandfather was a farmer, and say, "Boys, didn't we pro- duce John Jay, and wasn't he Chief Justice of the United States? (Applause.) Haven't we produced the greatest lawyers that this country has ever known? Why did my friend, the learned counsel on the other side, bring Charles O'Conor, or William M. Evarts, here? Because he knew that he did not dare trust his case to a
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Westchester County jury." That closed the case. I have done it myself. (Laughter and applause.)
Now, I have an affection for Judge Robertson because, after I had tried a lot of cases around in Putnam Valley-(A voice: "Yes, that's right!")-My young friend knows how it is himself-you pay $5 for a horse from a livery stable and get $10 from your client. After I had tried them in Yorktown and Somers town, I had reached the dignity of having a man bring an action against a client of mine in the county court, and with that little one egg, I went down to White Plains and boarded with the jury. (Laughter.) I did not board with the jury because I wanted to influence that palladium of justice (Laughter), but because I could not afford to stay at the Orawaupum Hotel. (Laughter.) But, happening there for the first time, I discovered why Judge Robertson was loved by the younger members of the Bar, and the secret of his success. I was timid, unused to the procedure of the court, and had very little confidence in myself. (Judge Silkman laughs.) Well, that was a good while ago, Judge. An elderly lawyer sat down beside me and proceeded to make a suggestion, which gave me just that sort of confidence and knowledge what to do, just that sort of information, placing me in harmony with my own self-respect and with the court, which made me never forget the older lawyer, who had no jealousy for fear a young lawyer would come and take his practice, and that man was Judge Robertson.
He was a young member of the Legislature. The Know-Noth- ing party was in the ascendant. It was peculiarly strong in Judge Robertson's district and very hostile to Gov. William H. Seward. The Judge saw that a party built on so narrow a platform could not live long. William H. Seward was the most distinguished states- man of our State and a candidate before the Legislature for United States Senator. eH lacked one vote of an election. The Judge's advisers told him that if he voted for Seward his political career was ended. But he cast that vote. Seward became the leader of the Republican party in the nation, as he was one of its founders, and the pride of New York-the Know-Nothing party-died, and Judge Robertson both gave a great man to the service of the country and assured his own political future.
Now it is fifty years, gentlemen, since Judge Robertson was first a member of the Legislature of the State of New York. Fifty years -1848-1898. Was there ever such a fifty years in the history of the world? I sat one evening at a dinner, at Lord Rosebery's, along- side of Mr. Gladstone. ` I saw the "Grand Old Man" at his best, and
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heard him talk in that marvelous way which was quite as wonderful at a private table as it was in the House of Commons, where he commanded the attention of the world, and of that conversation, running through hours, I remember his saying that, as he looked back over history, the Greek period, with its art, literature and culture; the Roman period, with its world conquests; the period of the revival of literature, and all the famous centuries, if he had to select the half century in which to live he would choose the one in which his public life had been spent, because it was the era of eman- cipation, the freedom of the slave, the removal of restrictions be- cause of creed or race, the period of liberty and power for the masses of the people. That fifty years has been largely the fifty years of the public life of our guest here to-night. He has not the world- wide reputation of Mr. Gladstone, but I think I can contribute a chapter to the story of the times which will show that he has been a factor of great importance in the history of the Republic.
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