USA > New York > Westchester County > Manual of Westchester county.Past and present. Civil list to date 1898 > Part 9
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Lincoln had served one term as President and was to be re- nominated for a second term. The war was going badly. There was a tremendous revolt in the Republican party, a section of which had nominated Fremont as a protest against Lincoln's administra- tion. There was a feeling in the North that we had better stop fighting and settle. The question was, Could Lincoln be re-elected? The Judge and I were delegates. He, as an older counselor, and I, as a young politician from the State of New York, went to Wash- ington to see the Secretary of State, Mr. Seward. Mr. Seward said: "Gentlemen, the Vice-Presidency, unless something is done to pre- vent it, will go to Daniel S. Dickinson. If the New York delega- tion presents his name, as it intends, he will be nominated. In that case, Mr. Lincoln cannot be re-elected. He must have for the second place on the ticket with him a Southern man, who has had the courage to resist the rebel sentiment of his State, and who has risked his life for the Union, and the one man who pre-eminently meets that requirement is Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee." Judge Robertson and I went back to the convention at Baltimore and in our delegation we set up the fight for Andrew Johnson. We began with nobody but the Judge and myself. Our New York State dele- gation met. New York was the pivotal State and the convention anxiously waited our decision. The question was debated all night. We reached a vote in the morning and the delegation decided, by a small majority, that New York would present for Vice-President Andrew Johnson. Judge Robertson, more than any one, brought about that result, and that action made possible the second election of President Lincoln. (Applause.)
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Events make history, and yet the historian knows little of the currents which cause the events of which he writes. The National Republican Convention of 1880 was called. It was a critical time for the Republican party. Every Republican knew that the chance was a narrow one whether we won or lost the Presidency, and every Republican knew that, unless we won, the party was out of power for a long time. The party in our State at that time was in the hands of the strongest, most masterful and most tyrannical politician who ever controlled its destiny-Roscoe Conkling. (Applause.) Roscoe Conkling had determined that New York State should be for a third term and for the unit rule. We all know now that, on the question of a third term, the election would have been lost. The State Convention of our State met to send delegates to the National Convention. It was harmonious and unanimous, under the leader- ship of Conkling, for a third term and the unit rule, upon which the third term depended. That night three men met in the room of Judge Robertson to break the unit rule and nominate a President. These three men were George Dawson, editor of the Albany Even- ing Journal; Judge Robertson, and another. They called in later Senator Wagner and Senator Wooden, and that began the cam- paign. This movement, started by Judge Robertson in his parlor in the Kenmore Hotel at Albany, made James A. Garfield President of the United States. Then came the contest for United States Sen- ator from New York. It was found that those who supported Gar- field were in a minority in the Legislature. Some of his friends could get five votes, some four, and some six. It was found that I could get twenty-six. I did not want to run for Senator. To run for Senator broke up my career. It severed my relations with Mr. Vanderbilt and the New York Central Railroad. But Judge Rob- ertson, with authority of Garfield and Blaine, said: "Chauncey, you have got to run for Senator," and I ran. The contest went on and Mr. Platt received a certain number of votes and Senator Crowley received a certain number of votes, and I received a cer- tain number of votes, about equally divided. Mr. Conk- ling was for Mr. Crowley. Mr. Platt carried on a masterful campaign for himself, and the Judge and I were whooping it up for Westchester. One day Mr. Platt came to me and said: "You can never be elected." "Yes, I know that." "Well, suppose you elect me." "Well," I said, "we have been crushed in this State for twelve years under the tyranny of the Conkling machine. Every effort has been made to drive me out of politics and Judge Rob- ertsen and his friends out of public life. We have made our fight,
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we have got our resident and don't propose to be crushed. Suppose you are elected, will you support President Garfield?" "Yes." We went at once to Judge Robertson's room and the twenty- six members of the Legislature who were supporting me came in. Mr. Platt made the same frank statement and the next day he was elected Senator. President Garfield sent Judge Robertson's name to the Senate for Collectorship of the Port of New York. Conkling determined to fight the administration on this nomination, but Mr. Platt refused to follow him unless the question was sub- mitted to the Legislature of New York for fresh instructions. " So the Senators resigned and the contest was transferred to Albany. In this historical crisis Mr. Platt, as always, stood by his pledge re- gardless of the sacrifice.
The contest for United States Senator of 1882 came on, and the Judge and his friends, and especially Mr. Blaine, again pushed me into the fight. The result of that contest aroused those animosities and that bitter, venomous, and vindictive feeling all over the coun- try which led a lunatic to assassinate Garfield, made Arthur Presi- dent of the United States, and changed, in a measure, the history of the country. Time went on and we met again at Chicago in na- tional convention. Our State, with a unanimity as gratifying as it was complimentary to me, for the first time in its history unani- mously presented a candidate for President, and that candidate was myself. The Judge was delighted. Everybody recognized in the convention that it was impossible to elect anybody without New York, and New York held the situation. When the Western States -Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas-came to me and said: "Mr. Depew, with your relation to the railroad system of the country, and the family for which you have been so long counsel, if you are nom- inated we will lose Nebraska, Kansas and Iowa, though you will be elected; but if you will withdraw, we can hold Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas for the Republican party for the next half century." I yielded to the appeal and retired from the field. My retirement gave to my friends, the New York delegation, largely the oppor- tunity to nominate the President, and we nominated Benjamin Har- rison, and made another and great President of the United States (Applause), and, as a commentary upon political prophesy, for the next three years Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska went Democratic.
Once more Westchester came to the front at the National Re- publican Convention at Minneapolis. Most of the leaders of the party said, "Harrison shall never be re-nominated." Westchester County said, "He shall," and he was. So, gentlemen, you see as
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you look over this fifty years, the history of these great conventions, these nominations for President, these casualties which have led to the assassination of a Chief Magistrate, these things which have changed the policy and the course of our government that the citi- zen who was a factor of the first importance on every occasion was our guest here to-night. (Applause.)
And now, gentlemen, I am an old lawyer, and the Judge is an old lawyer, and Judge Goodrich and G. Hilton Scribner are old lawyers, and I want to give this piece of advice to you young men. You are all lawyers and politicians. I have been in politics since my boyhood. I stumped the State the year I graduated. I was a member of the State Convention the year before I was ad- mitter to the Bar. I went to that State Convention very young and very fresh and opposed to Thurlow Weed, who controlled at that time my own party. At three o'clock in the morning, as I got into Syracuse, I was introduced to Thurlow Weed, who shook hands with me as if I had been an old and life-long friend, and when I met him at noon the next day he recognized me and recalled when we met, and told me flattering things about friends in Westchester, and I was captured. Thurlow Weed was a political leader of his party in this State for thirty years, and only lost his leadership when he became selfish and tried to limit his advisers and limit the people who should be the representatives of the organization and the recip- ients of its rewards.
I have seen the leadership of Dean Richmond in the Democratic party, which lasted for nearly the same period and was conducted on precisely the same lines as Thurlow Weed conducted his. I have been through the leadership of Reuben E. Fenton and of Roscoe Conkling, but I have seen in my forty years in politics this, which is the characteristic of the success of Judge Robertson, who was the leader in his district for forty years, that a leader only retains power who keeps cultivating the young; that leader only succeeds who, see- ing ability, is not jealous of it, but, in its recognition, secures the loyal support of youth, which is enthusiasm without bargains or conditions. Whenever a young man displayed conspicuous faculty for public life in Mr. Weed's time, Mr. Weed sent for him and said: "Young man, you have a career before you; what can I do for you?" And he would put around that young man the conditions which placed him in the Legislature, made him County Judge or District Attorney, carried him to National and State conventions, and that man would sacrifice his life for Thurlow Weed. That same course was the strength of James G. Blaine. What was the secret of the
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loss of Conkling's power? It was, that while he was one of the greatest in intellect, and as an orator who ever led a party, he had a singular jealousy of rising talent, and, whenever a man became dis- tinguished at the bar, or as District Attorney, or in the Assembly or Senate, Conkling decreed his destruction and he disappeared from public life-the machine eliminated him. The result has been that, while New England is rich in eminent ability in the Senate and House of Representatives, while the West is rich in men who are leaders of public opinion, New York has not contributed in twenty years a statesman to public life who has won a national reputation unless he won it before Conkling's greatest power. So, gentlemen, I say to you, never be jealous, because jealousy never wins. Never try to climb upon the hectacomb of those you have slain, because such men come to life and finally they will murder you. Resurrec- tion is the faith and practice of politics. But, if you have power, if you have the elements of leadership, recognize ability that will help and help it, and then you will have continuing power and fame, and all that makes public life worth the living. Such is the tribute we pay to the successful and extraordinary fifty years of the public services of our guest. (Applause and cheers.)
WILLIAM H. ROBERTSON was born in Bedford on October 10, 1823, a son of Henry and Huldah (Fanton) Robertson. He was educated at the Union Academy in his native town. He subse- quently taught school in the towns of Bedford and Lewisboro. He studied law in the office of Judge Robert S. Hart, in Bedford Village, and was admitted to the bar in 1847. In 1853 he formed a partnership with Odle Close, also of Bedford, under the firm name of Close & Robertson. They opened an office in Mott Haven in the town of Morrisania. After the Civil War they removed their office to White Plains. When only seventeen years of age, in 1840, in the Harrison campaign, Mr. Robertson took an active interest in politics on the Whig side. He cast his first vote in 1844 for Henry Clay, the Whig candidate for President. In 1845 he was elected Town Superintendent of Schools. He served four years as Super- visor of his town and two years as chairman of the Board of Super- visors. He was first elected a member of Assembly in 1848, and re-elected in 1849; in 1853 he was elected a State Senator; in 1855 he was elected County Judge and was twice re-elected, serving twelve years in that office; was elected several times as a Republican Presidential Elector; in 1866 he was elected a Representative in Congress; he was again elected a State Senator in 1871 and was re-
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elected four times; he was President pro tem. of the Senate for sev- eral years. In 1872 it was generally understood that Mr. Robertson would be the Republican nominee for Governor of the State. The unexpected happened, the name of Gen. John A. Dix was suddenly sprung when the convention met, and the strong appeal which was made in behalf of the General had the effect of giving to the latter the nomination. In 1876 Mr. Robertson was appointed by President Grant as one of a commission of three to visit Florida and supervise the counting of the votes cast in that State for the office of Presi- dent. In 1879 he was again before the Republican State Convention as a candidate for the Gubernatorial nomination, but he found the combination, as on the former occasion, too strong against him. He has represented his Congressional district, as a delegate, in every Republican National Convention for a period of nearly forty years. Hon. Chauncey M. Depew, in his address, published in connection herewith, refers to Mr. Robertson's influence in national affairs, and to the latter's appointment as Collector of the Port of New York in 1881. In 1887, after his retirement from the New York Custom House, he was again elected a State Senator, and re-elected, serving until 1892. Though he continued to take an active interest in politics, and was the recognized Republican leader in Westchester County, he held no public office after 1891, preferring to devote himself to his large law practice. His present sickness compels his retirement. Mr. Robertson never pretended to be a military man, nor did he lay claim to a military title, yet when the Civil War com- menced he was inspector of the old Seventh Brigade of the New York State militia, and in 1862 acted as chairman of the committee to raise and organize troops in the Eighth Senatorial District, ap- pointed by Gov. Morgan. He has been a Republican since the or- ganization of that party. Mr. Robertson was married in 1865 to Miss Mary E. Ballard, daughter of Hon. Horatio Ballard, of Cort- land, N. Y. The present place of residence of Mr. Robertson is at New Katonah, in this county.
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As Secretaries of State.
The office of Secretary of State of the State of New York was held four years by residents of this county, as follows:
Chauncey M. Depew, of Peekskill, 1864-65.
G. Hilton Scribner, of Yonkers, 1871-72.
County Judges of the County.
The persons named in the following list, before the year 1846, were designated Judges of the Court of Common Pleas. Those mentioned after 1846 were County Judges, the Constitution of 1846 having changed the title of the officer and provided for his election by the people. The term of office is six years; the salary, as fixed by a special act of the Legislature, passed February 25, 1890, is $6,000 per year. The office has been held by:
John Pell, Pelham, 1688 to 1695.
Caleb Heathcote, Mamaroneck, 1695 to 1721.
William Willett, Harrison, 1721 to 1732.
Frederick Philipse, Yonkers, 1732 to 1734.
Israel Honeywell, Yonkers, 1734 to 1737.
Israel Honeywell, Yonkers, 1740 to 1743. Samuel Purdy, Rye, 1734 to 1737. Samuel Purdy, Rye, 1740 to 1752.
John Thomas, Rye, 1737 to 1739.
John Thomas, Rye, 1765 to 1766.
John Ward, East Chester, 1737 to 1739.
John Ward, East Chester, 1752 to 1754.
Lewis Morris, Jr., Morrisiania, 1738 to 1739. William Leggett, West Farms, 1752 to 1754.
Nathaniel Underhill, Westchester, 1755 to 1774.
Jonathan Fowler, North Castle, 1769 to 1771.
Jonathan Fowler, North Castle, 1773 to 1775.
Caleb Fowler, North Castle, 1772 to 1776. No sessions of this court were held between the years 1776 and 1778.
Robert Graham, White Plains, 1778 to 1784.
Stephen Ward, East Chester, 1784 to 1791.
Ebenezer Lockwood, Poundridge, 1791 to 1794.
Jonathan G. Tompkins, Scarsdale, 1794 to 1797.
Ebenezer Purdy, North Salem, 1797 to 1802.
Elijah Lee, Yorktown, January. 20, 1802 to March 29, 1802.
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John Watts, New Rochelle, 1802 to 1807. Caleb Tompkins, Scarsdale, 1807 to 1820. William Jay, Bedford, 1820 to 1823. Caleb Tompkins, Scarsdale, 1823 to 1846. Robert S. Hart, Bedford, 1846 to 1847. Albert Lockwood, Sing Sing, 1847 to 1851. John W. Mills, White Plains, 1851 to 1856. William H. Robertson, Katonah, 1856 to 1868. Robert Cochran, White Plains, 1868 to 1872. Silas D. Gifford, Morrisania, 1872 to 1884. Isaac N. Mills, Mount Vernon, 1884 to 1896. Smith Lent, Sing Sing, 1896, now acting. Robert S. Hart took the oath of office as "First Judge" on April 20, 1846.
Surrogates of the County.
Like other officers, Surrogates were appointed prior to 1846. In accordance with a special act of the Legislature, passed April 10, 1833, the office and court of the Surrogate was established in the county building at White Plains on May 10, 1833. The first elected Surrogate in this county entered upon the discharge of his official duties January 1, 1848. The term of office of Surrogate is now six years. The salary is $6,000 per year, as fixed by an act of the Leg- islature, passed May 27, 1889. The office has been held in this county by the following named residents, in the years given:
Gilbert Willett, Harrison, 1730 to 1754.
John Barton, Westchester, 1754 to 1761.
Caleb Fowler, North Castle, 1761 to 1766.
David Daton, North Castle, 1766 to 1778.
Richard Hatfield, Westchester, 1778 to 1787.
Philip Pell, Pelham, 1787 to 1796. Elias Newman, 1796 to 1800.
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Samuel Youngs, Mount Pleasant, 1800 to 1802.
Edward Thomas, Rye, 1802 to 1807.
Samuel Youngs, Mount Pleasant, 1807 to 1808.
Ezra Lockwood, Poundridge, 1808 to 1810.
Samuel Youngs, Mount Pleasant, 1810 to 1811. Ezra Lockwood, Poundridge, 1811 to 1813.
Samuel Youngs, Mount Pleasant, 1813 to 1815.
Henry White, Yorktown, 1815 to 1819.
Samuel Youngs, Mount Pleasant, 1819 to 1821.
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Ebenezer White, Jr., Yorktown, 1821 to 1828.
Jonathan Ward, East Chester, 1828 to 1840.
Alexander H. Wells, Sing Sing, 1840 to 1844. Frederick J. Coffin, Somers, 1844 to 1848.
Lewis C. Platt, White Plains, 1848 to 1856. Robert H. Coles, New Rochelle, 1856 to 1862.
Silas D. Gifford, Morrisania, appointed in place of R. H. Coles, deceased, 1862 to 1863.
John W. Mills, White Plains, 1863 to 1871.
Owen T. Coffin, Peekskill, 1871 to 1895.
Theodore H. Silkman, Yonkers, 1895, now acting.
CLERKS OF THE SURROGATE'S COURT.
An act of the Legislature, passed in 1863, authorized the Surro- gate of Westchester County to appoint a Clerk to the Surrogate's Court in and for Westchester County. The salary attached to the office at the present time is $2,500 per annum. Following are the names of persons who have held the office, their place of resi- dence, and the years in which they have served:
Charles H. Earl, White Plains, 1863 to 1867.
David Verplanck, White Plains, 1867 to 1871.
William M. Skinner, White Plains, 1871 to 1889. Francis X. Donoghue, Yonkers, 1889 to 1892.
H. P. Griffin, White Plains, 1892 to 1895.
Leslie Sutherland, Yonkers, 1895, now acting.
Prior to the creation of the office of Clerk, Randolph Merritt, Benjamin S. Dick, John P. Jenkins and Charles W. Little acted at times as Clerk in the office of the Surrogate, under the several early Surrogates.
In the present Surrogate's office, besides the Clerk to the court, there are employed a Record Clerk, who receives a salary of $1,000 per annum; a Recording Clerk, at $840; an Assistant Recording Clerk, at $660; an Index and Accounting Clerk, at $750.
Regular sessions of the Surrogate's Court are held at White Plains on Monday and Saturday of every week; special sessions are held at Yonkers every Wednesday, and at Peekskill on fourth Thurs- day of each month, excepting on legal holidays and during the month of August.
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Justices of Sessions.
Following are names and addresses of persons who were elected and served as Justices of Sessions in this county, together with the years in which they acted, since 1858. The term of office was one year. While two had to be elected, no political party was permitted to name for the office more than one candidate; for this reason a nom- ination on the ticket of either of the two principal political parties was equivalent to an election. The office was abolished by Consti- tutional amendment, taking effect January 1, 1896:
Samuel Tompkins, Yorktown, 1858-59.
William Miller, Mount Vernon, 1858 to 1862, 1865-66.
James Parker, Morrisania, 1860-61-62.
L. Leonce Coudert, Pelham, 1863.
James Williamson, South Salem, 1863-64.
Thomas J. Byrne, Westchester, 1864-65.
David K. Conklin, Peekskill, 1866-67-68.
Myron B. Silkman, Bedford, 1867 to 1877.
Stephen Billings, Cortlandt, 1869, 1886. William C. Howe, Sing Sing, 1870 to 1886.
Cyrus Lawrence, 2d, Lewisboro, 1877 to 1881.
James S. See, North Tarrytown, 1881-82.
John H. Baxter, Peekskill, 1883 to 1891.
Hanford M. Henderson, Port Chester, 1887-88, 1891.
Henry J. Carey, City Island, 1889.
John J. Crennan, New Rochelle, 1890.
John C. Holmes, Cross River, 1891-92-93.
James C. Travis, 1891.
Walter H. Jones, Yorktown, 1892.
James Hyatt, Somers, 1893-94.
Walter H. Haight, New Castle, 1894.
Edward B. Kear, Yorktown, 1895 to 1896.
Robert J. Bellew, Tuckahoe, 1895 to 1896.
District Attorneys in the County.
The office of District Attorney was created in this State on April 4, 1801, and a certain number was apportioned to districts composed of several counties. In 1818, by an act of the Legislature, each county. was made a district. Until 1846, District Attorneys were appointed by Courts of General Sessions in each county; sub- sequently they have been elected by the people, for a term of three
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years each. By an act of April 14, 1852, Boards of Supervisors were authorized to make the office of District Attorney a salaried office and fix the salary thereof. The salary of the office at present is $6,000 per year, the amount fixed by the County Board of Super- visors in 1890. Since 1818 the office has been filled in this county by the following named residents:
Robert P. Lee, Yorktown, 1819 to 1820.
Aaron Ward, Sing Sing, 1820 to 1823.
William Nelson, Peekskill, 1823 to 1845.
Richard R. Voris, Sing Sing, 1845 to 1848.
William W. Scrugham, Yonkers, 1848 to 1851.
Edward Wells, Peekskill, 1851 to 1857.
William H. Pemberton, Mount Vernon, 1857 to 1863.
Pelham L. McClellan, Mount Vernon, 1863 to 1866.
John S. Bates, Bedford, 1866 to 1869.
Jackson O. Dykman, White Plains, 1869 to 1872. Daniel C. Briggs, Peekskill, 1872 to 1875.
Robert Cochran, White Plains, 1875 to 1878.
Nelson H. Baker, Sing Sing, 1878 to 1890.
William P. Platt, White Plains, 1890 to 1896.
George C. Andrews, Tarrytown, 1896, now acting.
ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEYS.
At the present time the District Attorney is allowed one deputy, to which the county pays a salary of $2,000 per annum. Prior to 1875 the business of the office of District Attorney did not require a regular lawyer assistant; in the latter year the office of Assistant District Attorney was created. The office has been filled by the following named persons, terms commencing on the years stated:
David Verplanck, White Plains, 1875.
Frederick E. Weeks, Tarrytown, 1896.
Frank M. Buck,* Mount Vernon, 1898.
*Frank M. Buck was appointed May 3, 1898, to succeed Fred- erick E. Weeks who resigned that he might accompany his regiment and take part in the war with Spain.
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County Treasurers.
In the early history of the county County Treasurers were appointed by Boards of Supervisors, and were usually those who also acted as Clerks of that Board. Under the State Constitution of 1846 County Treasurers are elected by the people. The salary of the office at present is $5,000 per annum and fees. Those who served in the position in this county since 1846 were:
Elisha Horton, White Plains, 1849 to 1852.
Robert Palmer, Scarsdale, 1852 to 1855.
Leeman B. Tripp, Tarrytown, 1855 to 1858.
Henry Willett, White Plains, 1858 to 1862.
Gilbert S. Lyon, White Plains, appointed in place of Willet, re- signed 1862; re-elected and served until 1867.
N. Holmes Odell, Tarrytown, 1867 to 1876.
George W. Davids, New Rochelle, 1876 to 1879.
David Cromwell, East Chester, 1879 to 1891.
John Hoag, Sing Sing, 1891 to 1897.
Francis M. Carpenter, Mount Kisco, 1897, now acting.
DEPUTY COUNTY TREASURERS.
An act of the Legislature authorizes the appointment of a Deputy County Treasurer. The salary of the office is $2,000 per annum. By appointment, the following named persons have served in the position in the years here mentioned:
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