USA > New York > Niagara County > Souvenir history of Niagara County, New York : commemorative of the 25th anniversary of the Pioneer Association of Niagara County > Part 11
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lected for the great work of laying broad and deep the foun- dation of a successful school system for the village, which would have carried with them equal weight. The contract for the Union School (now the Intermediate School) build- ing was awarded to George and Walter Williams, by whom work was commenced early in 1847, and completed in the spring of 1848. The contract price was less than $12,000.
The schools were opened under the new system July 5, 1848-fifty-three years ago-with appropriate and imposing ceremonies. Frederick R. Lord, a son of President Lord, of Dartmouth College, and a graduate of that institution, was installed as principal of the Union School, with a full corps of competent and experienced teachers. The primary schools were free from the start; but in the secondary schools and the Union School a regular charge was made for tuition, and any deficiency was made good by a tax upon the Union School District. After a few years the taxes were deemed by many burdensome, and an amendment was obtained to the law forbidding the application of any money raised by tax to the payment of teachers' wages in the Union School, which was for a long time a source of embar- rassment to the Board and to the teachers. About the year 1850 the school became an academy ; the Board was au- thorized to appoint a superintendent and to increase the rates of tuition.
Sullivan Caverno had thus far been president of the Board, and really superintendent of the schools, devoting a large part of his time and an immense amount of labor to organizing them upon a good working basis. Our late townsman, M. L. Burrell, was the first superintendent. To him was due great credit for his wise counsel and the dis- creet and conscientious manner in which he helped to guide the new system through the brakers, which at that time threatened its destruction. The principals up to 1855 were F. R. Lord, Nathan Brittain and Moses H. Fitts. Com- mencing with the principalship of William P. Eaton, and during his administration, and those of Edwin A. Charlton and B. M. Reynolds, the school so grew in public favor, and the attendance was so large, that the Board of Education was enabled not only to pay the salaries of the teachers promptly, in full, notwithstanding they could raise no money for that purpose by tax, but to accumulate a surplus of some $3,000, which was turned over to the general fund, when. in 1867, under the operation of State law, tuition became free in all the schools.
About the year 1867 commenced the long and pros- perous administration of Principal Asher B. Evans, which was continued to the close of his life, in 1890. The school continued to grow in numbers and influence, and in 1890 the new Union School building was completed and occupied. The site, building, furniture and apparatus cost about $150,- 000. It is believed to be second to none in the State in its adaptation to the needs of a school. Professor Edward Hayward became principal in 1891, and served ten years. during which time the high standing of the school was fully maintained. He was succeeded by the present incumbent. Professor Morelock, under whose management continued success seems assured. The first class graduated, in 1858, numbered four graduates; the last one, 1902, fifty-four. Did space permit we would like to give the names of the teachers, self-sacrificing men and women, who, through all the years, bore aloft the proud banner of the Union School, and to whom the city owes a debt of gratitude which can never be paid.
It may not be amiss to name Belva A. McNall (now
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SOUVENIR HISTORY OF NIAGARA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Lockwood), the Washington lawyer, and Helen Holmes (Mrs. E. A. Charton), who is one of the editors and propri- etors of the Broadhead Independent, of Broadhead, Wis., each of whom was for a considerable period preceptress of the Union School. Also Miss Charlotte Cross, who has been for more than thirty years the popular and efficient principal of the Junior Department of the Union School. It is believed that her continuous term of service in the same school has never been equaled by any other teacher in Ni- agara County.
The earlier superintendents were M. L. Burrell, Hez- ekiah Scovell, George P. Germain, Samson Robbins, James Atwater and James Ferguson. Prominent among those of late years have been George Griffith, now superintendent of schools at Utica, New York, and Emmett Belknap, the pres- ent incumbent, who has served the city faithfully these many years. Conspicuous among the ardent friends of the Union School in the early days, not already mentioned, were John Van Horn, William G. McMaster, Dr. B. S. Delano and James Jackson, A. J. Mansfield and Horatio Kilborne, and in later years, as presidents of the Board of Education, Hon. John A. Merritt, H. S. Chapman and Hon. John E. Pound. The old Union School, after nearly fifty years of service, was for a few years unused, and there were those who advocated its sale for commercial or industrial purposes; but finally better counsels prevailed and it was reconstructed at more than its original cost; is now occupied as an intermediate school, and multitudes of men and women in middle life, who looked upon it with pride and affection as their alma mater, are rejoiced at the result and hope it may stand as a conspic- uous landmark for hundreds of years to come.
SUPERVISION OF SCHOOLS OUTSIDE OF CITIES.
About the year 1840, under the leadership of Horace Mann, in Massachuetts, Samuel Young, N. S. Benton, Sa- lem Town, Professor Davies and others in this State, there was a great revival of interest in popular education through- out the country. Normal schools, teachers' institutes, and town, county and State associations of teachers and friends of education were organized.
Time honored systems of organization, methods of dis- cipline and instruction were boldly challenged. Corporal punishment was called a relic of barbarism; rate bills were denounced and free education demanded. New, and what were claimed to be, improved methods, of instruction, were proposed and advocated with consummate ability. In 1840 a system of town superintendents was substituted for the three inspectors in each town. In addition to this super- vision in the year 1841 the office of county superintendents was created.
Moses H. Fitts, at that time principal of Lewiston Academy, was the first county superintendent. He was followed in succession by Samuel J. Mills and Joshua Cooke, of Lewiston, and George D. Lamont, a rising lawyer, of Lockport. Mr. Fitts was well known throughout the coun- ty, and afterwards became principal of the Lockport Union School. But little is remembered of the administration of Mr. Mills. Joshua Cooke was then a young man, ener- getic, ambitious and consicentious, and did much to elevate the common schools of the county. During his adminis- tration the Albany Normal School, the first Normal in the State, was established, and he appointed the first State pu- pils to that institution from this county. George D. La- mont would have made a model superintendent could he have given his time to the duties of his office. He was tal- ented, quick-witted and sometimes slightly sarcastic. Dur-
ing his term of office a teachers' institute for the county was held, under his supervision, in the old stone school house which stood on Walnut street, near the corner of Pine and Walnut streets, conducted by two graduates from the Nor- mal School. Oliver Dyer, who was born and educated in the Town of Porter, followed teaching for a while in the Vil- lage of Lockport, but had drifted to New York City, and had attained considerable eminence as a writer and re- porter for the New York press, and who afterwards became Swedenborgian minister, came before the institute and gave a lecture upon "Phonotypy."
He urged upon the teachers the great importance of the reform in spelling, and their responsibility in the mat- ter; dwelt upon the absurdities of the prevailing method, and closed by saying that the teachers could master the new system in twelve hours; but that he did not expect it to come into general use in less than fifty years. He made an appointment for the further discussion of the subject at the coming evening session.
At that session, for some reason, Mr. Dyer did not ap- pear, and Superintendent Lamont discussed the subject alone from his own standpoint. Among other things he said: "Suppose a party of explorers should start in row- boats to explore the Mississippi River, leaving New Or- leans and following all its windings, carrying their boats around the Falls of St. Anthony, until they finally reached its source; should then turn round and say, 'Weli, this is an awful crooked river ; let us go to work and straighten it.' You might as well," said he, "undertake to straighten the Mississippi River as the English language. Furthermore," the gentleman said, "you could learn this system in twelve hours, but it would not come into use in less than fifty years. Then I would advise you to wait forty-nine years, eleven months, twenty-nine days and twleve hours, then master phonotypy in twelve hours and be ready for its general in- troduction." This incident is given to illustrate a charac- teristic of Mr. Lamont, who afterwards became a Judge of the Supreme Court, serving in that capacity with great ac- ceptance during the remainder of his life.
By this time experience had demonstrated the fact that one man could not successfully supervise the schools of a county comprising two or more Assembly districts. The county superintendents were superseded by school com- missioners, one for each Assembly district. This system has been continued to this present time, and seems to meet the wants of our people. The first commissioners were Messrs. Bristol and Hewitt. The present incumbents are Mr. Van Cleve, of the first district, and Miss Adalaide L. Harris of the second. They have both served two terms, which indicates the approval of their constituents. Three of these commissioners, who may justly be called pioneers, are still living in the county. Esek Aldrich, of Somerset, John G. Freeman, of Lockport, and Ralph Stockwell, of Wilson, who was ten years a teacher and three or four years a town superintendent before becoming commissioner. William Gritman, Capt. D. L. Pitcher and Col. J. B. Baker all served with distinguished merit in the War of the Rebellion. D. L. Pitcher entered the service as a private in the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Infantry fought through the war, was twice wounded, four times promoted, and came home a Cap- tain of the Eighth Heavy Artillery. After his return he was for a time principal of the Tonawanda Union School, a po- sition which he resigned to accept a place in the Treasury Department at Washington, which he still holds.
Jonas Brown was many years a successful teacher,
SOUVENIR HISTORY OF NIAGARA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
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served two terms as commisisoner, and represented his dis- trict in the Assembly.
Norman P. Browning was school commissioner two terms and many years principal of the Union School at Suspension Bridge, now under charge of Professor Lovell. He has been for several years past principal of one of the largest schools in Buffalo.
The Rev. Charles Caverno, a nephew of Sullivan Ca- verno, obeyed the injunction of Horace Greeley, and went West. He has fine literary ability and has published sev- eral books, some of which are in the Lockport Union School Library. He resides at Lombard, Illinois.
CONCLUSION.
Niagara County has just reason to be proud of her schools, and of the work they have done for nearly a cen- tury past. During the last fifty years there have gone out from them a multitude of men and women who have made their influence felt in all the walks of life. The list is too large to enumerate of those who have filled, and are filling, important and responsible positions in church and state, in the army and navy, in schools and colleges, in legislative halls, in business, social and political life, not only in our own country, but in many distant lands. We think their
numbers and their successes are largely due to the excel- lence of our schools during the last fifty or sixty years. The increased usefulness of our schools is the only guaranty of the perpetuity of our form of government. Republics can only be perpetuated by the general diffusion of knowledge among all classes of the people.
This is emphatically a commercial, industrial and utili- tarian age. Millionaires and multimillionaires are in- creasing in numbers and influence, and this tendency must be modified, and to some extent neutralized, by increased intelligence and morality among the masses of our people. If the nation is to live, the vexed question of capital and la- bor must be settled by the present and the rising genera- tions, and it will require the highest order of intelligence and the most acute moral sense to settle it aright.
"Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, When wealth accumulates, and men decay."
Our schools are the bulwarks of our national safety. Stronger than armies and navies, they must have our con- stant and fostering care. Their success during the last cen- tury should be the assurance of greater success during the century to come,
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SCENE ALONG EIGHTEEN-MILE CREEK.
The Bench and Bar of Miagara County.
BY JUDGE DAVID MILLAR.
T IS less than 100 years since the first Niagara County was organized. Old Niagara County was organized in 1808. The present county was organ- ized in 1821, having in that year been created by act of the Legislature, which gave the old name to a part of the old county and the name of Erie and the old organization to the remainder of its territory.
In both forms the territory embraced in the limits of
JUDGE DAVID MILLAR.
the present County of Nagara contributed to the judiciary of the State as well its own judges.
The County of Niagara was almost wholly forest cov- ered when organized, and it is stated upon apparently relia- ble authority, that at its organization there were but ten lawyers who resided in its limits.
It was to be expected that under such circumstances both its judges and its lawyers should be immigrants from other counties or States, and it is worthy of note in this connection that all the judges of the county, as well as the judges appointed or elected from it as Circuit Judge and Justice of the Supreme Court, down to the year 1899, were men who were not natives of the county.
COURTS.
Prior to 1823 the courts of the county and the Circuit Court as well were held at Lewiston. In that year the county seat was located at Lockport by a commission ap- pointed by act of the Legislature.
A court house was erected in Lockport, which was com- pleted in 1825, and remained as the court house of the county till 1885 when the present court house was erected.
It is worth remembering that since the year 1823 the courts of the county and the circuit courts and courts of equity, as well the sittings of the Supreme Court, have uni- formly been held at Lockport, and that they have never been interrupted by war, pestilence or famine, and that during
that time there have been tried in the court house in Lock- port many important cases, some of which have brought to it lawyers of State and National reputation, and that in it, or in cases tried, there have been rendered decisions not only numerous, but of very great importance to the suitors and the profession.
There have sat as judges in the court house some men of great reputation, amongst whom were William L. Marcy and Noah Davis. Lawyers of wide renown have pleaded there, amongst whom may be mentioned John C. Spencer, Abram Stewart, Washington Hunt, Daniel S. Dickinson and Sanford E. Church.
FIRST JUDGES.
The act which created the present Niagara County ap- pointed Silas Hopkins of Lewiston first judge and James Van Horn of Newfane and Robert Fleming of Lewiston puisne judges.
The office of first judge of the county was filled as fol- lows : Silas Hopkins, 1823; Robert Fleming, 1828; Nathan Dayton, 1833; Washington 'Hunt, 1836; Elias Ransom, 1841 ; Jonathan L. Woods, 1846.
COUNTY JUDGES.
After 1846 the persons who filled the office which corres- ponded to that of first judge were known as county judges, and since that year the county judges and the dates of the taking the offices have been as follows: Hiram Gardner,. 1847; Levi F. Bowen, 1851 (resigned and Elias Ransom ap- pointed 1852) ; Alfred Holmes, 1857; George D. Lamont, 1855 (resigned and Hiram Gardner appointed in 1868); Levi F. Bowen, 1874; Frank Brundage, 1878 (resigned and Cyrus E. Davis appointed in 1883); Alvah K. Potter, 1884; David Millar, 1890, and Charles Hickey, 1896.
SURROGATES.
The surrogates of Niagara County and the dates of their respective appointment or taking office after election were as follows: Rufus Fleming, 1821 ; Willard Smith, 1822; Hiram Gardner, 1831; Joseph C. Morse, 1836; Henry A. Carter, 1840; Josiah K. Skinner, 1844; Thomas M. Webster, 1851 ; Mortimer M. Southworth, 1855; George W. Bowen, 1859; Henry D. Scripture, 1863; John T. Murray, 1867; Joshua Gaskill, 1871 ; George P. Ostrander, 1877; William J. Bulger, 1883 (resigned and Chauncey E. Dunkleberger ap- ponted 1889). In 1896 the offices of county judge and surrogate were consolidated, and since that time the office has been filled by the present county judge, Charles Hickey.
DISTRICT ATTORNEYS.
It is only since 1818 that each county in the State, with a single exception, has had its own district attorney.
Prior to that date district attorneys were appointed to serve as prosecuting officers in criminal cases in districts which were composed of more than one and generally of several counties.
Embracing part of the time of the existence of the old, and all of the new, county organization, the names of the dis- trict attorneys of Niagara County and the dates of their re- spective appointment or taking office after election were as follows: Charles G. Olmstead, 1818; Herman B. Potter,
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SOUVENIR HISTORY OF NIAGARA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
1819; Zina K. Colvin, 1821 ; Elias Ransom, Jr., 1830; Wil- liam Hotchkiss, 1833; Joseph C. Morse, 1836; Robert H. Stearns, 1836; Jonathan S. Woods, 1839; Alfred Holmes, 1843; Sherburne B. Piper, 1845-1847; George D. Lamont, 1850; John L. Buck, 1853; An- drew W. Brazee, 1856; Morti- mer M. Southworth, 1859; Frank Brundage, 1874; Ben J. Hunting, 1877; Eugene M. Ash- ley, 1880; Daniel E. Brong, 1886; Patrick F. King, 1890; Abner T. Hopkins, 1896; Burt G. Stockwell, 1902.
ATTORNEYS.
According to the best ob- tainable information there were at the time of the organization of the present Niagara County but ten attorneys living in the county. Their names and places of residence were as follows : William Hotchkiss, Zina H. Col- vin and Bates Cooke of Lewiston, John Birdsall, J. F. Mason, Elias Ransom, Hiram Gardner, Theo- dore Chapin, Sebridge Dodge and Harry Leonard, of Lockport.
The list given above en :- braces the names of some men of great importance and ability. Some of these men are still represented in this county by their relatives. Some of the grandchildren of William Hotchkiss and Silas Hopkins are now residing at the village of Lewiston and elsewhere in the county. A son of Bates Cooke, Rev. Joshua Cooke, is not only living, but is still a hale and hearty man, and has taken an active part in the preparation of the sketches which are embodied in this
JUDGE ALFRED HOLMI S.
Some have removed to other places and have there achieved prominence and success. The bar of Niagara County gave to the State a Governor, Washington Hunt; two Comp- trollers, Washington Hunt and Bates Cooke; two Justices of the Supreme Court, Levi F. Bowen and George D. Lamont : an hon- ored member of Congress, Rich- ard Crowley, who was also United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York : a United States Marshal for the Northern District of New York, Edward I. Chase; three Senators for the district of which Niagara County has been a part, Richard Crowley, Cuthbert W. Pound and Timothy E. Ellsworth; an Assistant United States Attor- ney for the Northern District of New York. John E. Pound; an Assistant United States District Attorney for the Western Dis- trict of New York. S. Wallace Dempsey.
Some of her lawyers have been men of mark in ways other than in the line of their profession.
Samuel De Veaux, of Niagara Falls, conceived and put in execution effectively by his will as noble a scheme for benefiting his fellow-beings as could well be conceived. To him alone we owe the existence and the good work and ex- ample of De Veaux College.
JUDGE HIRAM GARDNER.
work. The venerated widow of Hiram Gardner is still liv- ing in Lockport and in the enjoyment of good health.
Of the many lawyers who have followed in Niagara County's first quota of lawyers much might be said of a kindly and flattering nature.
The list is long and embraces the names of many who have attained much deserved prominence as lawyers and as citizens.
JUDGE A. K. POTTER.
Governor Hunt was beloved by the people of the county for his many amiable and manly qualities and distinguished himself by his large heartedness and liberality, which was manifested in a considerable and permanent fund given by him for benevolent purposes.
4.
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SOUVENIR HISTORY OF NIAGARA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
William Hotchkiss was first judge of the old county, and also district attorney of the new county. He was held in high esteem and was amongst the leading men of the county of his day.
Zina H. Colvin was celebrated as a witty, able and eloquent lawyer and filled a conspicuous place as a prosecut- ing officer of the county.
Bates Cooke, aside from being an able lawyer and prominent citizen, became Comptroller of the State and a member of Congress.
Hiram Gardner was for more than half a century a legal practitioner, and his conspicuous ability and talent was suc- cessfully directed to the elevation of the judicial office and of the legal profession. His ideas of political honor were of the most elevated character, and though he held public office for more than twenty-five years, he never sought offi- cial preferment or solicited the vote of any man. His be-
lishment of the Union School in Lockport, which was the first of its kind in the State, and the part Mr. Caverno took in this work entitles him to the gratitude and respect of every citizen of the county. He was late in life appointed one of the Commissioners to revise the Statutes of the State and served acceptably in that capacity.
Silas Hopkins, though judge of the county, was not a lawyer by profession. However he was possessed of a broad mind and rare judgment, and was a successful farmer and business man, as well as a good judge.
Cyrus E. Davis of Niagara Falls was a man of rare wit and eloquence and possessed of an attractive personality. He possessed great ability as a trial lawyer and long filled a place at Niagara Falls that only a man of rare talent could fill. He was the choice of his party in its nomination for public office on several occasions, and although no: elected he always came ahead of his (Democratic) party ticket.
NIAGARA COUNTY COURT HOUSE.
nevolence and devotion to the interests and prosperity of Lockport during his fifty years residence in the county en- deared him to the entire community. In his church he was a pillar of strength, reflecting in his life the beauty and power of Christianity.
Alfred Holmes practiced law and served as judge for the period of about fifty years. He was first Master in Chan- cery, then District Attorney, and later County Judge, in which latter office he served eight years. His greatest char- acteristic was a patient and laborious effort to reach just de- cisions, and it is said of him that but one of his decisions was reversed.
John L. Buck was a courtly man and able lawyer. He became District Attorney of the county and long filled a leading place in her public affairs. He was for many years a member of the Board of Education of Lockport, and also a United States Circuit Court Commissioner.
Sullivan Caverno was a man of the strongest character and of great devotion to the principles he espoused. Prob- ably his greatest work was that connected with the estab-
He was appointed County Judge to fill a vacancy caused by resignation, and served in that office with distinction.
Sherborne B. Piper is enrolled as one of the earlier and amongst the ablest lawyers of the county. He resided and practiced law at Lewiston for many years. He was dis- tinguished as the possessor of a large share of "horse sense," which he invariably had with him and used freely. He was member of Assembly twice, three times a candidate of the Democratic party for Congress, and was once District At- torney of the county.
Edward I. Chase, a brother of Salmon P. Chase, who was Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, ap- pointed by President Lincoln, came to Lockport in the early thirties. He was a lawyer of marked distinction. He was appointed United States Marshal for the Northern Distict of New York, in 1861, which position he held up to the time of his death. He was the law partner of Hon. Richard Crow- ley.
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