USA > New York > Erie County > Buffalo > Memorial of the city and county hall opening ceremonies, Buffalo, N.Y. > Part 4
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THE TOTAL COST.
The total amount of expenditures for the work up to the first of March, 1876, according to the Secretary's books, was $1,328,675.78.
It is believed that the total cost, after removing the old city buildings, improving and beautifying the grounds, and paying all incidental expenses, will be considerably less than the authorized appropriation by the Legislature of $1,450,000. This circum- stance is so unusual that it deserves special mention, and reflects great credit upon the Building Commissioners.
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FROM THE OLD TO THE NEW.
CEREMONIES OBSERVED IN LEAVING THE OLD BUILDINGS AND ENTERING THE NEW HALL.
IN view of the completion of the City and County Hall, the Common Council, at its regular meeting held on the twenty-eighth day of February, 1876, appointed a special committee, consisting of President A. S. Bemis, and Aldermen A. L. Lothridge, Nathan C. Simons, and Elijah Ambrose, and Clerk R. D. Ford, to make suitable arrangements for a formal occupancy of the building.
ACTION OF THE BAR.
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Soon after the above mentioned action of the Council, Hon. G. W. Clinton, Chief Judge of the Superior Court, believing that some public demonstration should be made on the part of the legal profession in the matter, prepared and submitted to members of the bar the following paper:
"It is announced that on Monday, the 13th inst., the new City and County Hall will be open for the reception of all our Courts of Record. It seems: to us impossible that the gentlemen of our benches and bar can bid fare- well to the old Court House without a feeling of regret; and we venture to suggest the propriety of their assembling therein at two o'clock P. M., of Saturday next, for the purpose of a free interchange of memories and social intercourse.
BUFFALO, March 7, 1876.
To this document the names of a majority of the fraternity in Buffalo were soon attached, and a meeting of the bar, to consider the subject, was called, by notice in the daily papers, for Wednes- day, the eighth of March, in the Clinton street Court House.
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THE FIRST MEETING.
In response to the published call a largely attended meeting of members of the bar of the city and county was held for the purpose of making some arrangements preliminary to a proper observance of the abandonment of the venerable structures in which justice has for so long a series of years been dispensed, and the occupation of the splendid quarters provided for the courts in the new City and County Hall.
The meeting was called to order shortly after four o'clock, and Hon. James M. Humphrey elected chairman. Mr. George Gorham was appointed secretary.
Hon. H. S. Cutting, after the object of the meeting had been briefly explained by the chairman, moved that a committee of five be appointed to prepare a programme of exercises to be observed, and the motion was adopted.
Judge James M. Smith, referring to a paper which had been cir- culated among the members of the bar, said the explanation was due those who had not signed it, that it was drawn by Judge Clin- ton, and was intended only for the purpose of ascertaining whether the members were desirous of a public observance of the occasion or not. It simply contemplated that some meeting should be held for that purpose. After being quite generally circulated, the sig- natures to the paper evidenced that a large number of the lawyers favored the proposed celebration. The paper had thus accom- plished its purpose, and on its heels this meeting followed.
Josiah Cook, Esq., was in favor of instructing the committee to have the proceedings wind up with a grand supper, at which the entire bar of Buffalo might unite.
E. Carlton Sprague, Esq., warmly seconded the idea of a banquet. Never had the members of the bar of Buffalo got together in a social way, and he believed it time that a more social feeling, which would be beneficial all around, was inaugurated.
Hon. J. M. Humphrey suggested that the committee of which the appointment had been already ordered would have their hands full, and he advised the appointment of a second committee to ascertain if a supper were advisable, and, if so, to arrange for it. Mr. Cook put this suggestion in the form of a motion, and it was carried. Some discussion was entered into concerning the proposed banquet. The project seemed to receive very general favor, and Monday night was suggested as the proper time for it. 4
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Judge Smith read the paper, drawn by Judge Clinton, above re- ferred to, and asked those present, who had not already signed, to attach their signatures to it if its contents contained nothing ob- jectionable to them. He further stated that it was to be deposited with the Historical Society.
The paper was thereupon signed by those present who had not already done so.
The chair announced as the Committee of Arrangements, Messrs. H. S. Cutting, George Wadsworth, Spencer Clinton, W. C. Bryant and David F. Day; and as the Supper Committee, Messrs. E. C. Sprague, Josiah Cook, Asher P. Nichols, B. H. Williams and Wm. H. Gurney.
The meeting then adjourned to meet on Saturday, the eleventh inst., at 3 o'clock P. M.
THE PROGRAMME.
The Committee of Arrangements appointed on the eighth inst., subsequently published their report of the proposed programme, as follows:
The undersigned committee appointed at a meeting of the bar, held on the eighth instant, have arranged as follows, for taking suitable notice of the occasion of transferring the business of the courts from the old Court House to the new City and County Hall:
The members of the bar of the county are requested to meet at the old Court House, on Washington street, on Saturday next, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
Hon. George R. Babcock has consented to preside, and the fol- lowing named gentlemen have been invited, and have consented to address the meeting: Hon. George R. Babcock, Hon. James Shel- don, Hon. George W. Clinton, Hon. John L. Talcott, and Hon. James M. Smith.
It is recommended that at the close of the proceedings, the meet- ing be adjourned to Monday morning next, at 10 o'clock, and that the members of the bar then proceed in a body to the new City and County Hall.
BUFFALO, March 10, 1876.
HARMON S. CUTTING,
GEORGE WADSWORTH,
SPENCER CLINTON, DAVID F. DAY,
WILLIAM C. BRYANT,
Committee.
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THE SECOND MEETING.
The adjourned meeting of Saturday, March 11th, was largely attended by members of the legal profession, and others interested in the proposed transfer ceremonies. It was called to order by the Hon. H. S. Cutting, who stated its object briefly, and what had been done by the Committee of Arrangements, of which he was chairman. He closed by nominating the Hon. George R. Babcock as chairman, which was carried unanimously. Mr. Babcock then took the chair, and Mr. George Gorham was chosen secretary.
Judge James Sheldon, of the Superior Court, having been re- quested to prepare some historical statements with reference to the early history of the county and the old Court House, submitted the following paper :
ADDRESS OF HON. JAMES SHELDON.
The old county of Niagara, of which Buffalo was the county seat, was organized by an act of the Legislature, passed March 11, 1808. The present county of Erie was not organized until 1821. By the act of 1808, the erection of a court house and jail in the village of Buffalo, or New Amsterdam, was authorized, provided the Holland Land Company should erect the same within three years and con- vey the sites to the county. The same act provided that the first Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions for Niagara county should be held at the house of Joseph Landon, in the village of New Amsterdam. In pursuance of the law, the
FIRST COURT HELD IN BUFFALO
was held at Mr. Landon's public house in June, 1808. It was a well known and established tavern-stand, built of wood and situated on inner lot number one on the south side of Crow, now Exchange, street, and a little east of Main street, where the easterly part of the Mansion House now stands, and was destroyed by the British and Indians at the time of the burning of the village in December, 1813. Augustus Porter, of Niagara Falls, was the first judge, and Eras- tus Granger, of Buffalo, and Zattu Cushing, James Brooks and Martin Prendergast, of Chautauqua, were the puisne judges. Asa Ransom was the first sheriff, and Louis Le Couteulx the first clerk of the county. Buffalo, at that time, was a mere hamlet, with but a few hundred inhabitants, and known only as a western frontier settlement. No court had, before that, been held in Western New York, except at Batavia, and the opening of the first term of court at Buffalo was an event of interest and importance.
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In Turner's " History of the Holland Purchase," it is stated that " the attorneys of Niagara county, at the time of its organization, were Ebenezer Walden, Jonas Harrison, Truman Smith, John Root, Heman B. Potter, Allen Sharpe, Bates Cook and Philo Andrews. These are all that are recollected as practicing attorneys before the war of 1812." Jonathan E. Chaplin was here in 1812, Albert H. Tracy, James Sheldon and E. S. Stewart came in 1815, and Wil- liam Hotchkiss, Thomas C. Love, Ebenezer F. Norton and William A. Moseley soon after.
In pursuance of the act of 1808, the Holland Land Company
ERECTED A COURT HOUSE
building and jail in the year 1810. The jail was built of stone, and was situated on inner lots 184 and 185, on the east side of Washington street, between Clinton and Eagle streets, where the Darrow block now stands. The British fired it when the village was taken, but it suffered little damage, and was rebuilt after the war. Our old citizens well remember it, fronting on Washington street, and surrounded on three sides by tall, wooden pickets, sharp- ened at the top and set firmly in the ground. It was demolished about the year 1834, when Benjamin Rathbun erected the present jail, of which he became, not long after, an occupant as a felon.
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The Court House was a wooden structure, standing in front of the present Court House. The deed was executed by Wilhelm Willink and others, who composed the Holland Land Company, and who are therein described as residing in the city of Amsterdam, in the
REPUBLIC OF BATAVIA.
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It was dated November 21, 1810, and recorded December 8, 1810, in Liber one of Deeds, at page 62, and conveys to the Supervisors of Niagara County, the property described as follows :
" That certain piece or parcel of land situate, lying and being in the village of New Amsterdam, being one-half of an acre on which the Court House in said village has been erected by the Holland Land Company and accepted by the judges of said county for the Court House of said county, conformably to the fourth enacting clause of an act of the Legislature of the State of New York passed March 11, 1808; the said half an acre of land to be laid out in a circle, the center of the Court House aforesaid to be the center of the circle according to a plan on the margin" of the deed. On ref- erence to the record, the circle is seen, and its center is the center of North Onondaga street, now Washington street, directly in front of the present edifice. This point was the highest elevation of ground in the village of Buffalo, the land descending from it in every direction, and was undoubtedly chosen for a Court House site on account of its conspicuous situation.
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JOSEPH ELLICOTT,
the agent of the Holland Land Company, chose to convey the ground in the form of a circle, but no reason has ever been assigned for such a curious proceeding.
The building was built of wood, plain in every respect, but proper for the purposes designed. In addition to its use as a Court House, it was the only place for public assemblages and was gen- erally used for such purposes. The first church of any denomi- nation organized in Buffalo, and which is the one now known as the First Presbyterian Church, was organized in that court-room on the twelfth of February, 1812, by the Rev. Thaddeus Osgood, an itin- erant missionary. Judge Townsend, in his description of Buffalo in 1811, mentions " the old stone jail on Washington street and an unfinished wooden Court House;" and we find, by reference to the proceedings of the Board of Supervisors of Niagara County, which are on file in the archives of the Historical Society, that on the fifth of October, 1811, only a year after the buildings were accepted by the judges, it was voted that $500 should be raised by tax for the pur- pose of repairing them, and Nathaniel Sill, Jotham Bemis and Samuel Hill, Jr., were appointed a committee to superintend the work. This Court House continued to be used until its destruc- tion by the British in December, 1813, when the
WHOLE VILLAGE WAS LAID IN ASHES.
In the spring of 1814, the people gradually returned to the village and commenced the work of rebuilding with great ardor. Buffalo was the headquarters of the army, and dwellings, stores and taverns were erected in great haste for the transaction of business and the accommodation of the public. A notice appears in the Buffalo Gazette of June 7, 1814, of which this is a copy:
" NIAGARA COUNTY CLERK'S OFFICE, SS : Notice is hereby given that the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas of said county have appointed the house of John Brunson in the village of Buffalo to be the temporary Court House for said county.
May 23, 1814.
ZENAS BARKER, Clerk."
The house referred to was the wood tavern then just erected where the Academy of Music now stands on Main street, and subsequently known as the Farmer's Hotel, kept for many years by Manning Case, who was succeeded by Philip Dorsheimer.
On the seventh of April, 1815, an act was passed by the Legislature authorizing the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas to order and direct the place at which courts should be held until a Court House was erected. In pursuance thereof on the twenty-ninth of April, 1815, the judges "ordered and directed that the courts should be held at the house of Gilman Folsom, at present occupied by Moses Baker & Co. in the village of Buffalo." This house was situate as nearly as can be ascertained, on the east side of Main street, be- tween Mohawk and Genesee streets, and at that place all courts were held until the present edifice
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WAS OCCUPIED IN 1817 ..
On the twenty-fourth of March, 1815, the Legislature authorized the supervisors of Niagara county to raise the sum of four thousand dollars, by taxation, for the purpose of building a Court House, and Samuel Tupper, then first judge, and Joseph Landon and Oziel Smith, were appointed commissioners to contract for and superin- tend its erection. No action was taken under that law, but another act was passed on the seventeenth of April, 1816, by which the State loaned to the county of Niagara the sum of $5,000, for the purpose of building a Court House, and appointing Joseph Landon, Samuel Tupper and Jonas Williams, Commissioners.
The village authorities had resolved that Washington street should be continued in a direct line through the circle on which Mr. Elli- cott had erected the Court House, which left a segment of the circle on each side of the street. By some negotiation the county ac- quired the title to that part of the block bounded westerly by Washington street, northerly by Batavia street, and southerly by Clinton street, which is now, in part, occupied by this Court House, and the commissioners early in the spring commenced the work of building what was then considered the largest and most beautiful structure in Western New York. The remainder of the block fronting on Ellicott street was subsequently acquired by the county from Sheldon Thompson and others, for the purpose of erecting the present jail.
In the Buffalo Gazette of September 24, 1816, the following an- nouncement appeared:
" The walls of the Court House, which was commenced in the early part of the season, are erected; we learn that the carpenter and joiner work of the building are progressing. If the house is finished in the style it has com- menced, it will be an ornament to the village; uniting elegance with durabil- ity, and will be creditable to the judgment and taste of the commissioners."
Thus was commenced the venerable edifice in which we meet for the last time to-day. It was first occupied early in the year 1817, and the event probably attracted as much attention and elicited as much admiration as the occupation of the new City and County Hall in this centennial year.
THE COURT ROOM
was the same as now, except there was a gallery across the east end of the room for the use of spectators, which was removed in 1826. The stairway led directly up into the room from the hall below, and the jury rooms were finished off in the basement. In 1826, a gen- eral improvement of the building was undertaken. The gallery was removed, and the projection at the east end where the stairs now are was built, which added very much to the public conveni- ence. A platform extended the whole length of the front of the building, nearly on a level with the main hall, and the steps were at each end of the platform.' The present arrangement for access
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is comparatively modern. As one entered the main hall, the first door on the right hand opened into the county clerk's office, being the front part of the present sheriff's office. The second door to the right opened into the room occupied as the grand jury room, and by the board of supervisors at its annual meetings. On the left was the sheriff's office, where the district attorney's office now is, and the two small rooms were used for the deliberations of petit juries. On entering the court room, the sheriff's box was located between the doors, and the prisoner's dock was placed immediately adjoining the area reserved for the bar. These were both removed at the time the room was fitted up for the meeting of the old Court for the Correc- tion of Errors about the year 1841, when Lieutenant-Governor Luther Bradish presided. The original bench was not as large as the present one, and was calculated only for three judges, and it is believed that the one now here was built in 1847, to accommodate the General Term of the Supreme Court, then composed of four judges. In other respects, the arrangement of the court room is about the same as originally constructed, excepting that the petit jury box was of enclosed benches, in the same manner as the seats in the rest of the room.
At the time the Court House was erected, it was the finest and most imposing edifice in the village. Situated upon the highest point of land in the corporation limits, it was visible from every direction, and from the cupola or tower, an extensive view was pre- sented of the village and of Lake Erie and the surrounding country. It must be remembered that for many years the adjacent buildings were, with but few exceptions, only two stories in height, so that they offered no obstruction to the view of the splendid scenery which was spread before the observer. Indeed it was the custom of our hospitable people to escort all visitors to the tower, in order to point out for their admiration the
BROAD EXPANSE OF LAKE ERIE,
whitened by the sails of commerce, the beautiful river of Niagara and the shores of Canada where the historic ruins of Fort Erie were already growing gray with the decay of years. The Court House bell, which some of us have heard from infancy, not only rang to indicate the hours for the assembling of courts or religious or other public meetings, but pealed forth many an alarm when conflagra- tions threatened, and the villagers all hastened, carrying their leathern buckets from their houses, to aid in preventing the- de- struction of the homes and property of their neighbors.
This room, in which we are now assembled, has been the scene of the deliberations of the people of Buffalo upon unnumbered occa- sions of public interest. How many meetings have been held here to take measures to counteract the ambitious designs of those who would have made Black Rock the
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TERMINUS OF THE ERIE CANAL
and the emporium of the West. Sheldon Smith spoke here very eloquently, on the twenty-sixth day of October, 1825, when Buffalo triumphed, and the Erie canal was opened to the world, and the vast concourse of people who had assembled to witness the departure of the first boats, moved in procession to the Court House to celebrate the grand event. And since that day what anxious deliberations have here taken place with reference to the enlargement of the canal and the various harbor improvements and other matters deemed im- portant to ensure the commercial supremacy of the city.
A record of the political meetings, large, enthusiastic and de- termined, as if the welfare of the nation and the preservation of the constitution depended upon the fiery eloquence and solemn re- solves of the people assembled, would fill a volume. Clintonians and Bucktails, Masons and Anti-Masons, Whigs, Democrats, Loco-Focos, political Anti-slavery and Temperance men, Silver- Grays, Woolly Heads, Republicans, Free Soilers and Hard Shells, have each in turn, resolved and re-resolved, and the Republic yet lives. Here, for more than half a century, were held those annual
COUNTY CONVENTIONS
of the several political parties where the rival claims of patriotic men who were anxious to serve their country in offices of trust or emolument, were determined by the majority vote of the delegates, amid rejoicings and heart-burnings and animosities, the memories of which we all hope have perished.
At the time of its erection and for many years afterwards, there was no other large and commodious room in the village for public exhibitions and entertainments. Here it was that West's world-re- nowned picture of "Death on the Pale Horse," was shown to the admiring people, and in later days Dunlap's grand historical paint- ing of " The bearing of the Cross and the Calvary," or, as it was commonly called, the "The Crucifixion," attracted the wandering gaze of the untraveled villagers. The "Wandering Piper," celebrated for the harmonies of the strains drawn forth from the Irish and Scotch bag-pipes, as well as for the mystery surrounding his person, paraded in this room in full Highland costume, and entertained the multitudes with his uncouth music and original observations. Concerts of all kinds, instrumental and vocal have here afforded more delicious amusement to the lovers of melody and more gratification to the public, than is now derived from the nocturnes and arias of the modern classical school.
Different religious societies have here been organized, and at an early day, before the construction of any churches, this was the only place in which to assemble for
DIVINE WORSHIP.
Many now living will remember the " meetings" and the Sunday- schools of their youthful days held within these walls, but who shall
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tell of the good works wrought here, of the sweet influences that have fallen upon the weary and heart-suffering? How many a fevered bosom has here first found consolation and been lifted up by the the strong arms of Hope and Faith to endure with patience the sad realities of life ?
The record would not be complete without allusion to those mel- ancholy occasions in all these years, when the members of the bar have been called upon to assemble here and pay their last public tributes of respect to their departed
BROTHERS AND ASSOCIATES.
Some were called when the measures of their years and honors were full; others were taken in the meridian of life and at times of greatest usefulness, and many were cut down in the spring-time of youth, when the beautiful future was just opening before them. We need not recall the names of those who have gone before us and been lamented here in sincere and truthful eulogiums; their memo- ries are present with us this day, as we bid farewell to the scene of their labors. But this we do know, that the recurrence of such events, the saddening influences of the occasions, the contemplation of the near presence of death as it must come to all, were more than sermons to men who understand, and silently acknowledged by them as warnings of the inevitable fate of all humanity.
The history of an edifice of this character might not be complete without allusion to events of historical interest that have transpired within its walls or within the shadow of the lofty columns of the portico. In the year 1823, Ex-President
MILLARD FILLMORE
appeared here before the Court of Common Pleas and was admitted to practice as a member of the bar. Who then anticipated the course of events which culminated in his elevation to the highest position in the gift of his countrymen? In the summer of 1825 at the term of the Supreme Court over which Circuit Judge Reuben H. Walworth, afterward Chancellor of the State, presided, occurred that remarkable trial of the three brothers by the name of Thayer, who were here convicted and sentenced to be hung for the crime of murder. When the affair of the Caroline occurred at Schlosser in December, 1838, the body of Amos Durfee, who was murdered by the British, was brought before the Court House and Henry K. Smith, standing upon the portico, in presence of the excited multi- tude, delivered that most extraordinary and eloquent funeral ora- tion, which aroused the fury of the populace almost beyond the restraints of authority. These columns witnessed the proceedings of the people when
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