USA > New York > Tioga County > Our county and its people : a memorial history of Tioga County, New York > Part 16
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Charles P. Avery, the first county judge elected under the con- stitution of 1846, was a native of Owego, born in 1818, and was the son of John H. Avery, the second resident lawyer of the village. Judge Avery studied law with Thomas Farrington, his brother-in-law, and was admitted to the bar in 1840. He practised continuously until 1847, when he was elected county judge, and at the expiration of his first term of office he was re-elected.
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Judge Avery, it is well remembered, was deeply interested in the Indian and pioneer history of this part of the state, and from early settlers he gleaned many interesting and valuable reminescences of pioneer life in the Susquehanna valley. Indeed, his series of articles published in St. Nicholas, in 1853 and 1854, have made the existing copies of that magazine of much historic value. He also accumulated a rare collection of Indian relics, which after his death was taken to Rochester. In 1856 Judge Avery removed to Flint, Mich., where he practised law until the spring of 1872, then returned to Owego, in greatly impaired health, and in that village he died on the 31st of August following.
Thomas Farrington, who for more than forty years was a prac- tising lawyer in Tioga county, and a widely known public official in this state, was a native of Delhi, Delaware county, N. Y., born February 12, 1799. He was the son of General Putnam Farring- ton, a soldier of the war of 1812, and served as orderly on his father's staff during the service, then being but thirteen years of age. He was graduated at Union college in 1826, and two years later began the practice of law in Owego. He soon became promi- nent in public affairs, and in 1833 was elected to the assembly, in 1835 appointed surrogate, and re-elected to the assembly in 1840. He was one of the Owego village trustees in 1839 and 1857, and president of the village in 1850. From February 7, 1842, to Feb- ruary 3, 1845, Judge Farrington was state treasurer, and in the year last mentioned he was appointed adjutant-general of the state, holding until 1846, when, on February 2, he was re-appoint- ed state treasurer and continued in office until November 2, 1847. In November, 1859, he was elected county judge of Tioga county, and was twice re-elected, serving three terms of four years each, and being succeeded in 1871 by the late judge Charles A. Clark. From this it will be seen that Judge Farrington was in all respects a public man, and it is a fact that his professional life was much broken by his public services. Nevertheless he was a good lawyer, a sound judicial officer, and a faithful public servant, esteemed both at home and abroad. In Owego Judge Farrington lived at the northwest corner of Front and Ross streets, and there he died December 2, 1872. His wife was the daughter of John H. Avery, the second practising lawyer of Tioga county.
1 . 8-4
CharlesA. Clark
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Charles Austin Clark, who for twelve years, 1872 to 1884, was county judge of Tioga county, was a native of Guilford, Chenango county, N. Y. He was born May 28, 1830, the son of Austin Clark and Julia A. (Phelps) Clark. His grandfather, Gershom Clark, was a native of Tolland, Conn., a soldier of the Revolution who fought at Bunker Hill under General Putnam. He removed with his family from Tolland, Conn., in October, 1814, to Guilford, Chenango county, N. Y., where he purchased a large tract of land, upon which he and his five sons, then young men, settled, one of whom, Austin Clark, the father of Judge Clark, in the spring of 1835, removed with his family to South New Berlin, where he remained until the spring of 1856, when he permanently lo- cated in the town of Berkshire, this county. Here he died April 2, 1882, having reared to maturity five sons and six daughters. Charles A. was the eldest son. The family being large in num- ber and limited in finances, although he attended district school, he chiefly acquired his early education by study at night and at odd times when not at work with his father on the farm. At the early age of seventeen he was teaching school at Gilbertsville, Otsego county. Later he read medicine at South New Berlin with Dr. S. C. Gibson and completed his medical education at the Uni- versity of Michigan, from which he was graduated in the spring of 1853. Dr. Clark began the practice of medicine at Berkshire, in 1853,and soon removed to Bainbridge, Chenango county. The study of medicine and surgery he enjoyed, but the practice was not to his liking, therefore he discontinued medicine and returned to teaching, this time in a large and well-equipped select school at Bainbridge village. Here he was soon elected superintendent of schools, which position he occupied until 1856, when he removed with his family to New Jersey. In 1857 he returned to Berkshire and for three years following the spring of 1857 was in mercan- tile business there, and subsequently at Marathon and Oneonta. It had been his desire from childhood to study law, and he had acquired sufficient means to warrant the undertaking. He retired to his farmi at Ketchumville, in Newark Valley, where he lived during 1864 and 1865, spending the better portion of his time in the study of law. In 1866 he removed to Oneonta, continued his
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law studies in the office of General S. S. Burnside and on the 15th day of May, 1867, at Binghamton, was admitted to practice. He opened his first law office in Newark Valley, taking an active interest in his profession and as well in local politics, for in 1869 he was elected supervisor of the town and was twice re-elected, once without opposition. In the fall of 1871 he was the nominee of the republican party for the county judgeship and was elected. At the expiration of his first term, Judge Clark was renominated and re-elected. He served as county judge twelve years and declined to again be a candidate for the position. In the fall of 1883 he was a candidate for the Supreme Court bench, though de- feated in the convention. The duties of the office of county judge brought Judge Clark to Owego to reside in 1872, and at the county seat he afterwards lived. Judge Clark was twice married ; first, on May 30th, 1853, to Evelyn Amelia Hodge, of Oneonta, of which marriage two children were born : H. Austin Clark and Emily Lucretia Clark, now Mrs. Charles L. Noble, of Yonkers. Mrs. Clark died March 17th, 1878, and on December 28th, 1880, Judge Clark married Celestia D. Arnold, daughter of H. Nelson Dean and widow of Captain Thomas H. Arnold. For many years he was an elder of the First Presbyterian church of Owego and vice-president of the Tioga National Bank. January 1st, 1884, the law firm of C. A. & H. A. Clark was formed, the partnership comprising Judge Clark and his son, H. Austin Clark, the latter having been admitted to practice May 5th, 1876. The firm was known in active professional life through the Southern Tier until the death of the senior partner May 9th, 1891, and its business was succeeded to by the son. A leading journal of a neighboring county paid Judge Clark this tribute soon after his decease :
"The late Hon. Charles A. Clark, of Tioga county, was cast in a giant mould-large in stature, in mind and in heart. We refer to this now, not to emphasize a fact apparent to every one who knew him, but to call attention to the almost universal expression of sorrow from his associates and friends. It is no mean compli- ment to those who loved him longest and knew him best that they appreciated his manly and noble qualities,"
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Charles Edward Parker, present presiding justice of the Appel- late Division of the Supreme court, Third department, was born in the village of Owego on the 25th of August, 1836, and was the son of John Mason and Catherine Ann (Pumpelly) Parker. He was educated at the old Owego academy, and was graduated at Hobart College, class of 1857. He read law in the office of his father and was admitted to the bar in the fall of 1859. From that until the present time Judge Parker has been a member of the Tioga county bar, devoted to the profession, although during the last thirteen years the routine of office practice has been laid aside while he has filled the positions of county judge and justice of the Supreme court. In 1866 Judge Parker was elected a member of the constitutional convention of 1867, and was the youngest mem- ber, save one, of that body. In November, 1883, he was elected county judge of Tioga county and served until January 1, 1888, when he resigned and began the performance of his duties as jus- tice of the Supreme court, to which office he was elected on the 8th of November, 1887. Again on the 8th of October, 1895, Judge Parker was appointed, by Governor Morton, presiding justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme court, Third department, state of New York, which position he now holds.
David T. Easton was appointed county judge on December 31, 1887,to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Parker. Judge Easton was a native of Dover Plains, N. Y., and first came to Tioga county in 1843, and attended the old Owego academy. In 1848 he went to New York, where he read law and was admit- ted to practice January 1, 1852. He practised seventeen years in New York, came to Apalachin in 1861 and to Owego in 1871, in the latter place being law-partner with Col. N. W. Davis. This firm continued until the death of Col. Davis, July 31, 1874. Judge Easton has ever since 1861 been a member of the county bar, and now lives in the town of Nichols.
Howard J. Mead, present county judge and surrogate, was born in the town of Caroline, Tompkins county, March 7, 1848, and was the son of David P. and Mary C. (Green) Mead. His grand- father, Dr. Daniel L. Mead, was one of the first physicians of Tompkins county. David P. Mead and his family removed from
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Slaterville to Mottville, and in the latter place the young life of Howard was passed. He was educated in Tompkins county and taught school about four years. Later he read law with Lyman Donnelly and then entered Albany Law School, from which he was graduated February 10, 1871. In the same month he was admitted to practise law and located at Candor, where he remained until January 1, 1885, the date on which the former Owego law- firm of Mead & Darrow was formed. January 1, 1885, Judge Mead entered upon his duties as county judge and surrogate, hav- ing been elected to that office in November preceding; and in November, 1894, he was re-elected to a second term on the bench. While practising in Candor, in the fall of 1879, Judge Mead was elected district attorney of the county, and was re-elected in 1882.
THE OLD BAR.
The bar of Tioga county has ever been noted for its strength. On the bench and at the bar of the courts have been men of the highest professional character and of great moral worth. Of the leading legal minds of this state Tioga has furnished her full quota, many of whom have attained distinction and some have acquired eminence. They have been characterized by strict integrity and rare ability-qualities which have made for them a high place, not only in the courts, but as well in the legislative halls both of the state and of the nation.
All past writers of Tioga county history agree that the first practising lawyer of the county proper was Eleazer Dana, who came to Owego in the year 1800, but that there was no attorney residing within the county as now constituted previous to that time. It must be remembered, however, that the old town and settlement of Newtown (now Elmira) was within original Tioga, and that General Vincent Matthews, David Powers, and Peter Loop were lawyers residing and practicing there previous to 1792. Indeed, Vincent Matthews has been well called the pioneer of the bar in western New York, and who, according to O'Reilly's "Sketches of Rochester," left Orange county for Newtown about 1789, was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the state in 1790, and in Montgomery (meaning Tioga) and Ontario counties in 1791. In 1794-5 he represented Tioga county in the assembly,
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in 1796, and again in 1803, was state senator, and in 1809-11 was member of congress. In 1821 he settled in Rochester. Chenango, too, had its little coterie of lawyers after the settlement there be- came a half-shire town in 1803, but in 1806 the erection of Broome county separated them from Tioga. However, it is proper in this connection to briefly refer to some of the old and more prominent lawyers of Tioga county, who were the recognized leaders of the bar during the period of their practice.
Eleazer Dana, the first lawyer, was born at Ashford, Conn., August 12, 1772, and studied law and was admitted to the bar at Newtown (Elmira) in 1800. His father was Anderson Dana, a victim of the Wyoming massacre. Eleazer Dana came to Owego the same year in which he was admitted and in after life became prominent in public affairs. He was postmaster at Owego from 1802 to 1816, was appointed surrogate of Broome county in 1806, and represented the same county in the assembly in 1808-9. He was district-attorney of Tioga county from 1823 to 1826; was a member of the first board of trustees of Owego village, and also one of the original trustees of the old Owego academy. The office of trustee he held to the time of his death, May 1, 1845. Mr. Dana was one of the founders of the Presbyterian church in Owego village, and one of the trustees from its organization in 1810 until he died. His residence in Owego was in Front street, about on the site now occupied by J. C. Dwelle's house.
John H. Avery, the second lawyer, was born in 1783, and came to Owego to practice law in 1801. His residence was also on Front street, where Dr. E. D. Downs now lives. Mr. Avery was mem- ber of assembly in 1814, but, while a highly esteemed man and lawyer, he had little inclination for public life. He died at Owego, September 1, 1837, at the age of fifty-four years. His sons were Judge Charles P. Avery, mentioned elsewhere in this chapter, and Guy H. Avery, of New York City.
William Platt, the third practicing lawer of Owego and the fifthi in Tioga county. came to the local bar in 1814. He was born at Bedford, Westchester county. N. Y., October 29, 1791, and came to Nichols with his father, Jonathan Platt, Jr., one of the pioneers of that town, in 1793. He studied law with John H. Avery, and
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began his law practice in Owego village in 1814. He was for many years agent for the "Coxe Patent " land tract, and an active, ener- getic, straightforward business man and lawyer. Mr. Platt died in Owego January 12, 1855. His sons were Thomas C., Frederick E., and William H. Platt.
Ezra Smith Sweet, grandson of Silas Sweet and son of Paul Sweet, of New Bedford. Mass., and Bradford, Vt., was born in New Bedford, June 3, 1796. After teaching for a time, Mr. Sweet read law with Samuel Stevens, of Salem, N. Y., and in December, 1825, removed to Owego and began the practice of law in partner- ship with William Platt. In 1832 he became partner with Na- thaniel W. Davis, a relation which continued several years. Later he practiced alone, and when his son, Charles H. Sweet, was admitted to the bar (1847) the law firm of E. S. and C. H. Sweet was formed. For almost half a century Ezra S. Sweet was iden- tified with the legal profession in Tioga county, and was regarded as one of its best representatives. For several years he was jus- tice of the peace, and was district-attorney from 1838 to 1841, and again from 1847 to 1851. He represented the county in the assem- bly in 1849. Mr. Sweet died in Owego, October 16, 1869.
Nathaniel W. Davis, more familiarly known among his friends as Colonel Davis, was a native of Connecticut, born at Weston, Fairfield county, May 10, 1807. He was educated for the legal profession at Ithaca, N. Y., and became a member of the Tioga county bar in 1832, practicing at the county seat. Colonel Davis was a popular man both in professional and social life, and was interested in military affairs, being for several years colonel of the 53d and 54th regiments of state militia. He was surrogate from 1840 to 1844, and member of assembly in 1844 and 1863 ; was vil- lage trustee in 1839, 1842, and 1847, and president of the village in 1859 and 1860. Colonel Davis died in Owego, July 31, 1874.
John J. Taylor may be truthfully mentioned in this chapter as one of the giants of the legal profession in Tioga county and in the the southern tier, for he undoubtedly was one of the strongest and ablest lawyers of the region in his time, and during the long period of his practice he was connected with some of the most important cases tried in this county. John James Taylor was the son of
John & Taylor.
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English parents, John and Anne Taylor, who emigrated to this country from Oldham, near Manchester, England. He was born at Leominster, Worcester county, Mass., April 27, 1808. At about fourteen years of age he took a college preparatory course at New Ipswich academy, N. H., also one at the Groton academy in Mas- sachusetts, and entered Harvard in 1825. He was graduated in August, 1829, then taught school a few months, and in 1830 be- came a law-student in the office of Judge David Buell, of Troy, N. Y. Later on he pursued his studies with John A. Collier, at Binghamton, but soon afterward located at Greene, Chenango county, where he both studied and practiced law. December 31, 1834, Mr. Taylor came to Owego, and on the next day entered into partnership with Stephen Strong in the practice of law. This firm was dissolved in August, 1838. Among his later partners may be mentioned James B. Edmunds, 1853 to 1855 ; James P. Lovejoy, 1858-9, and George A. Madill, April, 1860, to April, 1865. As a lawyer, John J. Taylor occupied a position in the first rank in the county, and much of his success in practice was due to close study and application, for he was a perservering and industrious worker. In the preparation of his cases he was cautious and methodical, but hardly laborious, and he entered into every legal contest fully armed and equipped ; he struck no foul blow, and, victor or van- quished, he was still a knight, "without fear and without re- proach." On all of the political questions of the day he entertained clear and well settled convictions, and was perfectly frank in the expression of them. He was always a democrat, a "state-rights" believer and advocate, having full faith in the ability of each peo- ple to govern itself. In June, 1841, he was appointed district attorney of the county and filled that office until succeeded by George Sidney Camp in February, 1843. He was a member of the constitutional convention of 1846, and in 1850 was the demo- cratic nominee for congress, but was defeated at the polls. In 1852 he was re-nominated and elected by a fair majority over Charles Cook, of Havana. In congress he was a member of the committee on foreign affairs, also of that on the District of Colum- bia, and was in excellent favor with the administration. He was tendered an appointment as commissioner to settle the northwest-
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ern boundary of the United States, but declined, and his name was also favorably mentioned in connection with the collectorship of the port of New York. In 1858 he was nominated for the office of lieutenant-governor, on the ticket with Amasa J. Parker, but the party was defeated in the campaign of that year. In all local enterprises Mr. Taylor was looked upon as a generous and public- spirited citizen, and one who stood high in the estimation of his fellow townsmen. He was one of the organizers of the old Bank of Tioga, afterward the National Union bank, and was for many years its president. He was at one time vice-president and later president of the Southern Central railroad company. In religious preference he was an Unitarian ; his wife a Presbyterian. He married May 18, 1837, with Emily G. Laning of Owego, by whom he had two children, John L. Taylor, of Owego, and Sarah, who became the wife of L. Burr Pearsall, and is now dead. John J. Taylor died July 1, 1892.
George Sidney Camp was a native of Tioga county, born at Owego on February 5, 1816, yet his professional career in his native county did not begin until the latter part of the year 1841 ; and it terminated suddenly and unexpectedly on the 14th of February, 1888. By his death the Tioga county bar lost one of its most dis- tinguished and cultivated members. Mr. Camp acquired his early education at the old Owego academy, and entered Yale College in 1832. At the end of his sophomore year he changed to the Uni- versity of the City of New York, but left at the close of his junior year, and became a student in the law office of Judge Stephen Strong, in Owego. He subsequently continued his studies in New York city, and was admitted to the bar May 18, 1838. The first three years of his professional life were spent in New York, but in December, 1841, he returned to Owego and became a member of the local bar, partner with Stephen Strong, a relation which con- tinued to 1856, when the latter was elected county judge. After that time Mr. Camp practiced without a partner. George Sidney Camp, for by his full name he was generally called, was indeed one of the strongest lawyers of Tioga county, yet he was a man of conservative habits, of quiet and refined tastes, of companionable and naturally sympathetic nature, a genial associate, and always
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a gentleman. He inclined strongly to literary pursuits and was the author of several articles which attracted much attention both in this county and abroad. But notwithstanding these distinguish- ing characteristics, Mr. Camp was the peer of any lawyer in the Southern Tier during the period of his active practice ; and while he instinctively shrunk from the bitter legal contests frequently waged in the courts, he nevertheless proved equal to every emer- gency and was an opponent of no mean worth. Still he preferred the office and its quiet and less burdensome work. He sought no political preferment and his only service in office was as dis- trict attorney, to which place he was appointed in 1843, and in which he served one year. During the last fifteen years of his life, Mr. Camp combined farming with professional work, and in it found rest and recreation. He fancied live stock and was a breed- er of fine Jersey cattle.
Austin Blair, the old war-governor of Michigan, was a former member of the Tioga county bar, having studied law in the office of Sweet & Davis in 1839 and 1840, and was admitted to practice in 1841. In the same year he went to Michigan, locating first at Jackson but soon removed to Eaton Rapids for a brief period, where he was elected county clerk. However, he soon returned to Jackson, where he resided until the time of his death, August 9, 1894. Austin Blair was born at Speedsville, N. Y., February 8, 1818, and prepared for college at West Newark, under the instruc- tion of Benjamin Walter. He attended Cazenovia seminary and afterward entered Union college, from which he was graduated in 1839. He then came to Owego. In 1846 Mr. Blair was elected to the Michigan house of representatives as a whig, but in 1848 he declined to support General Taylor and attended the Buffalo con- vention which nominated Van Buren and Adams. In 1852 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Jackson county, and in 1854 was one of the organizers of the republican party in his state. Two years later he was elected to the senate, and after serving two terms was, in 1860, elected governor of Michigan, and in 1862 was re-elected. Beginning in 1867, he was three terms in congress, and as late as 1885 he was again elected prosecuting attorney of
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Jackson county. For seven years, also, he was a regent of the state university.
William Fiske Warner was born at Hardwick, Vt., January 18, 1819, but spent nearly all of his young life in northern Pennsyl- vania. His parents intended him for the ministry and began his early education to that end, but young Warner preferred other pursuits, left the school to which he had been sent, and in Novem- ber, 1834, came to Owego and found employment in William Pumpelly's store. In less than a year he had almost general charge of the business, but every leisure hour he devoted to study. March 18, 1843, he began a course of law-study in the office of Col. Nathaniel W. Davis, and after three years was admitted to the bar. He at once became law-partner with Col. Davis, con- tinuing such nine years, then for five years following 1853 he practiced alone. April 1, 1858, was formed the law firm of Warner, Tracy & Walker, comprising Mr. Warner, Benj. F. Tracy, and the late Gilbert C. Walker. This firm was dissolved in April, 1859, when Governor Walker removed to Chicago, and was succeeded by Warner & Tracy until April, 1860, when the partners separ- ated. In the early part of 1865 Mr. Warner opened an office in New York city, and removed his family to Montclair, N. J. Two years later the results of overwork necessitated a change, where- upon he made an extended European tour, and returned fully restored to health, and took up his residence in Niles, Michigan. In September, 1871, he was persuaded to return to Tioga county, residing at Waverly and resuming law-practice. For many years Mr. Warner was one of the most public-spirited men of Owego, and every measure tending to advance local interests found in him a generous supporter. He organized the Owego Gas Com- pany in 1856, and was its president, superintendent and treasurer for many years. He was chairman of the committee which built the Presbyterian church, supervising the work of construction and laying out and improving the grounds. Originally a whig, he became a democrat when the whig party disbanded. In local politics he held the office of village clerk several years, and was the first president under the village charter, holding that office three years. He prepared all the charter amendments from 1851
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