USA > New York > Westchester County > Rye > The bar of Rye Township, Westchester County, New York; an historical and biographical record, 1660-1918 > Part 3
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York; two justices of the peace associated with county judge to hold courts of sessions; ceased 1895. (See Appendix.)
Town and Justices' Courts :- During Colonial period, constable with at least five overseers of town held town court; causes to five pounds; 1683 and later, organization and jurisdiction modified; justices of the peace appointed until adoption of Constitution 1846, by which, office was made elective and their number regulated.
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"Rich as we are in biography, a well-written life is almost as rare as a well-spent one; and there are certainly many more men whose history deserves to be recorded than persons willing and able to record it."-CARLYLE.
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John Jay
The illustrious subject of this human document loved the border town of Rye and it is safe to assume, had he been consulted, he would have been born within its historic boundaries. His father, Peter Jay, a prosperous New York merchant and a Hugue- not, had, in 1744, purchased an estate on the Boston Post Road, Rye, but, in the delay of removal, John, the eighth child of Mary Van Cortlandt, was born in their New York home December 12, 1745, and was less than a year old when he became a resident of this township. He was taught the rudiments of English and the Latin grammar by his mother and prepared for college in a school in New Rochelle, conducted by the Rev. Peter Stoops, of the French Huguenot Church, a Swiss instructor of ability. Here he spent three years and then returned to Rye to receive the personal attention of a private tutor, George Murray. He was an apt student and at the age of fourteen, in 1760, entered King's, now Columbia, College. For admission he was required to read "the first three of Tully's orations, and the six first books of Virgil's Aeneid into English, and the first ten chap- ters of St. John's Gospel into Latin"; to be well versed in Latin grammar, and to be "expert in Arith-
3
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metick as far as Reduction." He graduated in May, 1764, and received his bachelor's degree.
He at once apprenticed himself as a student in the office of Benjamin Kissam, a barrister "eminent in the profession," binding himself to serve five years. In 1768 (some authorities say 1766) he was admitted to the Bar. At this period it was said of him that "he was remarkable for strong reasoning powers, comprehensive views, indefatigable application, and uncommon firmness of mind." Mr. Kissam was a leader at the New York Bar, stern and studious. He had few intimates and they only those prominent in the legal profession, and the intimacy that grew up between the instructor and the apprentice was the subject of comment among the other students before the close of young Jay's second year in the Kissam office. Responsibilities gravitated toward the young man and trust was reposed in him because he de- served it. At the end of five years, Jay had emerged from his apprenticeship quiet, modest, reticent. He was known as a safe and competent lawyer and stood high among his associates, for had not Mr. Kissam pushed him forward as associate counsel in many difficult cases, and had he not in return justified the confidence placed in him? It was not long afterward that Samuel Adams was prompted to get sufficiently close to the ear of John Adams to remark: "That man Jay is young in years but he has an old head."
In 1774 he married Sarah, youngest daughter of William Livingston, the famous Revolutionary Gov- ernor of New Jersey. One day in August of that
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year, we find John Jay leaving his office in New York in charge of a clerk, and riding horseback over to the town of Elizabeth, there joining his father-in- law, the two starting for Philadelphia. On the road to the City of Brotherly Love they fell in with John Adams,-he who kept a diary. The trio spent that night at a tavern. Here the keen-eyed Yankee recorded the fact of meeting these new friends and incidentally recorded this observation: "Mr. Jay is a young man of law and, Mr. Scott says, a hard student and a good speaker." Jay at the time was twenty-nine and Adams thirty-nine.
Jay was a delegate to the Second Congress, served on many important committees, and was entrusted with drawing up the statement addressed to the people of Great Britain; but was recalled to New York before the supreme issue was reached, and, thus, through accident, the Declaration of Independ- ence does not contain the strong signature of John Jay, and yet he appears in history at the very head of all movements originated to benefit his country- men in their struggle against British tyranny.
This distinguished resident was chosen a member of the Provisional War Committee, and of the Committee of Resistance, which convened immedi- ately after the battle of Lexington, in 1775. The address sent to England, giving notice that New York had "resolved to stand or fall with the liberty of the continent," was first signed by Mr. Jay. He was an active member of the Continental Congresses. He drafted the first Constitution of the State of New
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York in 1777, and was made the first Chief Justice of that State under that Constitution. In 1777 he assisted in devising a State seal, was Speaker of Congress in 1778, and United States Minister to Spain in 1779. He was one of the five Peace Com- missioners appointed in 1781 to arrange peace with Great Britain, and on his return was appointed Secretary of Foreign Affairs in President Washing- ton's Cabinet. In 1784 he served as a Boundary Commissioner and was also chosen a Regent of the State University. He was a member of the Con- stitutional Convention of 1788.
Upon Judge Jay's return to the United States in July, 1784, a great demonstration awaited him. The freedom of New York City was presented him with an exceedingly complimentary address, duly engrossed and signed by one hundred of the leading citizens of the city. Jay did not relish notoriety. He was eager to see his father at Rye. He spent one day in New York and then rode horseback to the Rye farm. That evening there was a service of thanksgiving at the village church, after which the citizens repaired to the Jay mansion, where a barrel of cider was tapped, and "a groce of Church War- dens" (long clay pipes) passed around, with free tobacco for all. John Jay stood on the front porch and made a short, modest speech.
President Washington appointed him as first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Sep- tember 26, 1789, employing these words in a letter conveying the honor:
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"There must be a court, perpetual and supreme, to which all questions of internal dispute between States or people be referred. This Court must be greater than the Executive, greater than any individ- ual State, separated and apart from any political party. You must be the first official head of this Court, just as I am now head of the Executive."
Jay accepted the great trust and set the judicial machinery of the young nation in motion. He held this office until June, 1795, the most important case in which he participated being Chisholm v. Georgia (2 Dallas, 419). In 1794, however, serious questions arose over the articles of settlement between Great Britain and the United States, growing out of the terms of peace made in 1783. Some one must go to Europe in order to preserve our honor. Washing- ton delegated this delicate errand to Jay, who, with- out resigning, but laying aside his judicial ermine, for the time being, became our Envoy Extraordinary to England. In April, 1795, he was elected the second Governor of New York, and in 1798 was elected for a second term, and at its close, April, 1801, President Adams tendered him for the second time the Chief Justiceship of the United States Supreme Court. This he declined in order that he might retire to private life.
Judge Jay's mission to England resulted in the famous Jay Treaty, signed November, 1794, and ratified in the following year. This treaty met with a storm of opposition when its terms became known in the United States and Jay was severely criticized.
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But his course and judgment have since been fully vindicated. One hundred years after its ratification observances were held throughout this country. Dr. William Everett, in an address made in Boston at the time, paid this encomium to Jay:
"If ever a man deserved to be remembered by Americans with that gratitude which does not stop short of affection, it is John Jay. His influence in the establishment of independence, in the negoti- ations of the treaty of 1783, in the adoption of the Constitution, to say nothing for the moment of later services, was derived from no one source, but bore testimony to an intelligence of vision to match with Franklin, a promptness of energy on a level with Hamilton, an ardor of patriotism not excelled by Adams. Jay could be silent as well as speak; he could wait as well as act; he could convince with his pen and persuade with his voice; he could resist his countrymen when their passions were sweeping them away, as well as inspire them when doubt had chilled them. And all these remarkable qualities, great in an age of great men, were modified and heightened, one might say created, by a spotless Christian virtue, an unfailing practice for right's sake, which refuted once and forever, the theory that men are either more useful or dearer to their fellowmen by having a suitable stock of weaknesses, faults, and virtues."
William Jay, a son, who served from 1820 to 1823, as a first judge of the Court of Common Pleas of this county, said of his father:
"His public and his private life, his professions and his conduct form one harmonious whole. His char-
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acter, simple and uniform, is perplexed by no eccen- tricities or contradictions. His advice to his sons was never to accept an office except from a conviction of duty."
And Daniel Webster said: "When the spotless ermine of the judicial robe fell on John Jay, it touched nothing less spotless than itself."
The following tribute was paid Judge Jay by Chancellor James Kent, in the Constitutional Convention of 1821 :
"He wrote the first Constitution of this State, but was absent at the time of its adoption, having been called to the bedside of his mother. Had he been present he would have added a clause against the continuance of domestic slavery and for the support and encouragement of literature. That Constitution, however, for forty-four years wonderfully fulfilled all the ends of civil government."
John Jay presided at the Constitutional Con- vention noted above, which was held in Kingston, and in his closing remarks to the delegates, among other things, said: "Let virtue, honor, and love of liberty and of science be and remain the soul of this Constitution."
Governor Jay had long desired to retire to his Bedford estate to enjoy the companionship of his wife of whom he was very fond. For twenty-eight years he had served his country and in its darkest hours. He sought rest. He was worn out with the
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fatigue of public life. He felt the strain and feared the danger of continued exertion. "My best work is done," said he; "if I continue I may undo the good I have accomplished. I have earned a rest."
Judge Jay rested at his Bedford home, now known as Katonah Woods, for twenty-eight years. During this period he led the simple life of a country gentle- man with experiments in farming and horticulture. He also maintained correspondence with Wilberforce in England, Lafayette and Vaughn in France, Judge Peters in Philadelphia, two of his college contemporaries, Peter Van Schaack and Judge Egbert Benson, of Kinderhook, New York, and with Washington until his death at Mount Vernon, Virginia.
The Jay estate comprises more than twelve hun- dred acres. The homestead is situated at the crown of a half-circle which is terraced at the termination of an extensive lawn. It is a fine old mansion generous in all of its details. It is long, slightly gabled, and has a wide veranda running its entire length. The Judge's study is situated in the lower left side of the entrance. The day that the ex- Governor and Chief Justice died, May 17, 1829, he had been engaged in writing with a quill pen, at a broad mahogany table in his study. As he left it, so it has remained to this day. Nothing has been removed. The chair in which he sat is still in position. It is a sacred shrine.
The interior of the residence develops unexpected
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beauties. Everywhere is to be found evidence of the highest culture. The surroundings suggest refinement, patriotism, and a home life strong and independent. In the rooms are to be seen paintings by Trumbull and Stuart, naturally most of them Federalists-Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, Rufus King, Judge Benson, John Marshall, and James Madison. The last named was one of the group who compiled the famous Federalist Papers, edited with consummate care by Mr. Justice Joseph Story in association with John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton, during the period between October, 1787, and June, 1788. The Federalist Papers were designed to recommend the cardinal prin- ciples of the new form of government as embodied in the Constitution. Of these papers Chancellor Kent said, "No Constitution ever received a more masterly and successful vindication." Jay was the author of the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixty- fourth numbers.
In his will Judge Jay remembered his servants, and gave his gold watch to his special attendant. He directed that there should be "no scarfs, no rings," provided at the funeral. "Instead thereof I give two hundred dollars to any one deserving widow or orphan of this town, whom my children shall select."
The funeral services were held at Bedford, but he was buried in the family graveyard, east of the Post Road, Rye. The monument erected to his memory bears the following inscription :
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IN MEMORY OF JOHN JAY, EMINENT AMONG THOSE WHO ASSERTED THE LIBERTY AND ESTABLISHED THE INDEPENDENCE OF HIS COUNTRY WHICH HE LONG SERVED IN THE MOST IMPORTANT OFFICES, LEGISLATIVE, EXECUTIVE, JUDICIAL, AND DIPLOMATIC, AND DISTINGUISHED IN THEM ALL BY HIS ABILITY, FIRMNESS, PATRIOTISM, AND INTEGRITY. HE WAS IN HIS LIFE AND IN HIS DEATH AN EXAMPLE OF THE VIRTUES,
THE FAITH, AND THE HOPES OF A CHRISTIAN. BORN DECEMBER 12, 1745, DIED MAY 17, 1829.
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Martin Jerome Keogh
No man in the county of Westchester is to-day more secure in the affections of his people, than is Mr. Justice Martin Jerome Keogh. Among the members of the Westchester Bar there exists for him an attachment, deep-rooted and abiding, which, with the passing of time, steadily augments and strengthens, and a pride is taken in the fact that his entire professional and judicial career, now covering a period of more than forty years, has been spent in this county. And it is with a peculiar sense of pride that the members of the Bar of the town of Rye, and particularly those of the village of Port Chester, recall that his earliest professional days were spent there.
The son of John and Margaret Keogh, Martin Jerome Keogh was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1853, and there he received his early education. It was his intention to enter the Catholic University which had been established in Dublin, under the manage- ment of Cardinal Newman, but the failure of that institution resulted in a change of his plans, in con- sequence of which, in 1870, he came to America and for the time located in Brooklyn. Having no capital, other than a rudimentary education, sound health,
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and the enthusiasm of youth, he was unable to immediately gratify his desire for a higher education, and so turned to work in order to support himself. It was not long after that that he reached the deter- mination to study law and he thereupon commenced his studies at the New York University Law School, being employed at the same time as a reporter for the New York Times. In 1875, he was graduated as valedictorian of his class and received the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In 1906, the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him by that University, and, meanwhile, in 1903, the same degree had been conferred upon him by Manhattan College.
Admitted to the Bar in 1875, he rapidly rose to a position of distinction and eminence in the profes- sion. He began practice in Westchester County and soon acquired a reputation as a fearless and masterful advocate. He frequently had as adver- saries such lawyers as Calvin Frost, W. Bourke Cockran, Isaac T. Williams, and Edward Wells. He developed into an ideal lawyer. He specialized in no particular branch of the law, or, better it may be said, he specialized in every branch. He confined his activities neither to the civil nor to the criminal law, nor did he make any distinction in the choice of his clients between the rich and the poor. Even in the midst of his greatest activity, he would never refuse or hesitate to come to the aid of the lowliest criminal. He defended prisoners in no less than twelve capital cases, and had the remarkable record of having secured the acquittal of every one of them.
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His industry was unceasing and the amount of work he performed was enormous.
Removing to New Rochelle, in 1875, he there formed a co-partnership with Charles G. Banks, under the firm name of Banks & Keogh. Later this firm associated itself with Cornelius E. Kene, under the name of Banks, Keogh & Kene. Both these firms maintained offices in Port Chester. From 1879 until 1881, Judge Keogh was associated with John William Boothby, the firm name being Keogh & Boothby, with an office in the Centennial Building, North Main Street, Port Chester. Later Maurice Dillon succeeded this firm.
Many offices of public trust have been held by Judge Keogh. For two years he acted as corpo- ration counsel of New Rochelle. He frequently represented the village of Port Chester and the town of Rye in legal matters. In 1892, he served as one of the Democratic presidential electors, and, at the meeting of the electoral college in Washington, opposed the passage of a resolution recommending the election by the New York Legislature of the machine candidate to the United States Senate, the proposed resolution having been intended as an insult to President Cleveland. Judge Keogh's pro- test was effective, but he was warned that it would be hopeless for him ever to aspire to public office. Nevertheless, in 1895, he accepted the Democratic nomination for Justice of the Supreme Court for the second judicial district of New York, and, although the State in that year's election went Republican
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by some ninety thousand majority, he was elected and was the only successful candidate on the Demo- cratic State ticket. The Bar, irrespective of party, and nearly the whole of the Republican press, sup- ported him. Judge Keogh soon took high rank as a jurist and was frequently assigned to try causes in the first judicial district. Had he so desired, he could have received an assignment from the governor to serve upon the appellate division. In 1909, he was elected for a second term of fourteen years to the Supreme Court bench, both the Republican and Democratic organizations uniting in his nomination and election. For many weeks in the early part of 19II, the New York Legislature was deadlocked over the choice of a United States Senator. Judge Keogh was urged to accept the appointment as a compromise candidate, being the choice of the Democratic leaders, but he declined. Judge Keogh has several times been prominently mentioned as a candidate for governor.
During his early life at the Bar, he was instrumen- tal in organizing the Westchester County Legal Aid Society, an organization formed to give aid to those in destitute or needy circumstances and too poor to employ competent counsel. Much good has been accomplished by this organization. Judge Keogh was also instrumental in organizing the New Rochelle People's Forum, at which, upon his invitation, have appeared some of the country's foremost thinkers and orators, men of science and statesmen in debate and speech.
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Judge Keogh first married Miss Whiting, the daughter of Dr. Alexander Whiting of Westchester. Of this marriage were born Alexander and Martin J., Jr. In 1893, Judge Keogh married Katharine Temple Emmet, a great-granddaughter of Thomas Addis Emmet, the patriot and lawyer. Of this marriage were born Richard Temple, Grenville Temple, John, Katharine, Hugh, Peggy, Terrence, Mary, and Bridget.
For many years Judge Keogh has resided on the Shore Road in the city of New Rochelle. Several years ago he erected on his property a building of attractive character and appointment, in which are located his chambers. Here he has of late years frequently held court, and here, too, on the last Saturday of each month, it has been his custom to sit at special term. At these terms many lawyers attend before him. The informality, the delightful surroundings, and the cordiality of Judge Keogh always render these occasions most pleasurable.
Judge Keogh is an honorary member of both the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the Westchester County Bar Association.
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Irving Lehman
Irving Lehman, the third son of Mayer Lehman, was born in New York City, January 28, 1876. He attended Dr. Sachs's Collegiate Institute, New York City, and thereafter Columbia University, from which he graduated in 1896, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1897, the same University conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. In 1898, he graduated from Columbia University Law School, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He took his Bar examination in New York City in 1898, and was admitted to the New York Bar in June of that year, in the first department. He was in the office of Marshall, Moran, Williams & McVickar from 1898 to 1901, was a member of the firm of Marshall, Moran & Williams from 1901 to 1906, and a member of the firm of Wormser, Williams & Lehman, from 1906 till 1909. He has been a Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, first judicial depart- ment, since January I, 1909.
On June 26, 1901, Justice Lehman married Sissie Strauss, the daughter of Nathan Strauss. For a number of years Justice Lehman has maintained a summer residence on Ridge Street, in the town of Rye, first coming here in 1905.
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Justice Lehman is president of the Young Men's Hebrew Association and chairman of the board of trustees of Jewish Communal Work, in New York City, and a member of the Manhattan, Democratic, Harmonie, Press, Century, and Port Chester Coun- try Clubs. He is also a member of the Bar Associ- ation of the City of New York and of the American Bar Association. 4
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William Allen Sawyer
Among those who have occupied the bench of the Surrogate's Court of Westchester County are enrolled the names of men conspicuous not only for their learn- ing and probity, but no less for the influence which they exerted upon the times in which they lived and wrought. Since the establishment of this court, in 1730, when it was known as the Court of Preroga- tive, probably as many as four of its judges have claimed the town of Rye as their place of residence or place of nativity, namely, Gilbert Willett, the first incumbent, Richard Hatfield, Edward Thomas, and William Allen Sawyer. This court of such ancient origin bears an honorable name and every man who has presided over its destinies seems to have striven to uphold its best traditions.
Since his accession to the bench of this court, in 1913, Mr. Surrogate Sawyer has made a record in which the people of Port Chester, his place of resi- dence, and especially his brethren of the Bar thereof, take very great satisfaction. He has doubtless had more difficult problems and novel questions to decide than any of his predecessors, and surely has had to deal with a greater number of important matters, because it was during the early part of his term
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SURROGATE WILLIAM ALLEN SAWYER
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that the present Surrogates' Courts act, containing numerous changes, and, among other things, con- ferring broader jurisdiction, became effective.
William Allen Sawyer was born at Pawling, Dutchess County, New York, August 3, 1873, the son of Orville Adelbert Sawyer, born in Kent, Litchfield County, Connecticut, February 27, 1834, died at Stamford, Connecticut, October 10, 1910, and Frances Jemima (Brown) Sawyer, born at Round Hill, Connecticut, June 6, 1837, died at Stamford, Connecticut, December 24, 1909. Judge Sawyer's parents were married at White Plains, in 1859. His father was a veteran of the Civil War, having enlisted in Company H, 19th Regiment, Connecticut Heavy Artillery. Herman Sawyer, the grandfather of Judge Sawyer, served in the War of 1812. He married Sally Green, who was a resident of Litchfield County and who lived to be ninety-eight years of age. Asa Sawyer, the great-grandfather of Judge Sawyer, served in the Revolutionary War, having enlisted from the State of Connecticut. His ancestors came from England in or about the year 1620, and set- tled in Massachusetts.
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