The bench and bar of New-York. Containing biographical sketches of eminent judges, and lawyers of the New-York bar, incidents of the important trials in which they were engaged, and anecdotes connected with their professional, political and judicial career, Part 11

Author: Proctor, L. B. (Lucien Brock), 1830-1900. cn
Publication date: 1870
Publisher: New York, Diossy & company
Number of Pages: 812


USA > New York > The bench and bar of New-York. Containing biographical sketches of eminent judges, and lawyers of the New-York bar, incidents of the important trials in which they were engaged, and anecdotes connected with their professional, political and judicial career > Part 11


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To assuage his grief, and to bring consolation to his wounded heart, he sought the redress which the law in such cases vouchsafes, and the lady was prose- cuted for the sum of five thousand dollars. She alleged that no thought of marrying the plaintiff ever entered her heart ; that the matter was concocted by the plaintiff and his friends to extort money from her.


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Mr. Wells fully believed the lady, and prepared to defend her with all his energies.


An issue was joined, containing these allegations in substance, and the cause came on for trial at Bath, before Hon. William B. Rochester, then one of the circuit judges, in October, 1823. On the trial the plaintiff attempted to prove the engagement by cir- cumstances, but failed. At length a witness was placed upon the stand, who testified distinctly to the circumstance of having been present at a conversation between the plaintiff and the lady, in which she stated the conditions of the engagement and the time when the marriage was to take place; his evidence, given with intelligence and much candor, seemed to fix the fate of our fair defendant, and her defense was regarded as hopeless. The lady in great distress of mind insisted to Mr. Wells, that the story of the wit- ness was a fabrication, that she had never seen the man but once before, and then he came with the plain- tiff to her residence for the purpose of purchasing a horse ; that she, with the two men, talked about the price of the animal for some time, and they left. Un- fortunately for her there was no other person present. Mr. Wells had no recollection of having met the wit- ness before ; and yet his countenance was familiar to him. The more he studied the features of the man, the more he was convinced he had somewhere met him before.


Suddenly it occurred to the puzzled lawyer that about the time when the fellow pretended he heard this conversation between the plaintiff and the lady, he was attending court at Angelica, and that a man bearing a strong resemblance to the witness was tried, convicted, and sentenced to jail for some offense. Mr. Wells believed the witness to be that person. But how could he make this appear? If he could do so, his client would succeed; if not, then she must be disastrously defeated. A moment's reflection decided his plan of action. After a close cross-


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examination of the witness, in which nothing favor- able to his client was elicited, the plaintiff rested in triumph. Before opening the cause for the defendant, Mr. Wells begged the indulgence of the court for a few moments, for consultation. He immediately des- patched a trusty person to Angelica with a subpoena for the sheriff of Allegany County, and for a copy of the record of the witness's conviction from the clerk of that county. He then proceeded to open the defense to the jury, and of course, he occupied considerable time. When he had finished his opening remarks, it was night, and the hour for the adjourn- ment of court had come. The next day, before the trial was concluded, the sheriff of Allegany, and the record of conviction were in court. The first, estab- lished the identity of the witness, the second, the fact that he was in jail at the very time he pretended he heard the admission of the lady.


This of course turned the tables, and the lady was triumphant. To the young lawyer, the result of this case was very gratifying, and added much to his repu- ,tation. Applying himself with untiring industry to his profession, he soon attained a very extensive prac- tice, not only in Steuben, but in the adjoining counties. Among the lawyers practicing at the Steuben bar, Mr. Wells commenced his practice, were Vincent Mat- thews, William B. Rochester, Edward Howell, Daniel Cruger, General Haight, Mr. Woods; names which distinguished and adorned the bar. Soon after, Mr. Matthews removed to Rochester. Early in 1823, Mr. Rochester was appointed a circuit judge, and Mr. Cruger was in Congress. Thus, many formidable competitors were removed, leaving Mr. Wells a more open field of labor.


In October, 1824, he was appointed District-Attor- ney of Steuben County ; an appointment which was highly complimentary to him as a lawyer. His pre- decessor was Daniel Cruger, who was distinguished throughout western New York as a lawyer and writer,


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eminent in Congress for legislative abilities of high order, and a politician of indomitable energy and power. His life appears in another part of these sketches.


Soon after Judge Wells was appointed District-At- torney, a case occurred which called into action all his professional and intellectual powers. It was the well known case of the People v. Douglas. The defendent in that case was charged with having mur- dered a citizen of Steuben county by the name of Ives, under circumstances of great atrocity and cruelty. The victim was found in a piece of woods mortally wounded, in a speechless and dying condition. Who the perpetrator of the foul crime was, remained for some time unknown. At length suspicion pointed to Douglas ; he was arrested, in- dicted, and in January, 1825, brought to trial. The matters relied upon for convicting him were merely cir- cumstantial, but they pointed to him as the guilty man. The prisoner had many friends, and some means. He prepared for a vigorous and determined defense. Hon. Edward Howell, Zibra A. Lealand, , and S. S. Strong, Esqs., of Bath, were retained to defend him, while the prosecution was of course conducted by Judge Wells. The trial occupied several days, and was exceedingly interesting. Hon. William B. Rochester presided, assisted by Hon. James Norton, then first judge of Steuben county. Every effort was made to save Douglas which his eloquent and able advocates could use. Many ab- struse and difficult questions of law arose, and were discussed, many thrilling circumstances developed, in all of which Mr. Wells exhibited ability and learning equal to the occasion.


Though he did not possess the highest order of talent, yet his mind was well-balanced, strong, and well stored with the learning of his profession. Nor was he an easy and fluent speaker ; but his calm judg- ment, good taste, and ready memory rendered him


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convincing and interesting. His argument to the jury was regarded as an able and powerful effort, and the accused was convicted. But on the trial, a circumstance occurred which set aside the verdict of the jury, and gave him a new hearing. While the trial was in progress, during one of its recesses, the jury visited a place where spirituous liquors were sold, and partook of refreshments, some of them drank intoxicating liquors, though not enough to affect them in the least. But the counsel for Douglas alleged this act of the jurors as a ground of error. The case was carried to the General Term of the Su- preme Court, and on the 25th of February, 1825, it came on for argument at Albany : the conviction was set aside, and a new trial granted to the prisoner. This case is reported in the 4th of Cowen.


In due time the new trial took place ; the counsel for Douglas again interposed a powerful defense. The dangerous tendency of circumstantial evidence was duly urged to the jury. A few years previous to this trial, a work entitled "Theory of Presumptive Proof," appeared in the legal world. It was a pro- found and able dissertation against this kind of ev- idence, and in the language of Judge Livingston it had furnished many criminals with a ready mag- azine of defensive armor.


This work was used with power and ability on the trial of Douglas ; its argument and theory, as well as that of the defendant's counsel, was met by the firm, clear, and flexible logic of Wells. The jury were made to understand that circumstantial evi- dence is often more convincing than positive proof ; as witnesses may be mistaken or mislead, whereas a concatenation and fitness of many circumstances, made out by different witnesses, can seldom be mis- taken, or fail to elicit the truth, and that although such evidence should be received with caution, never- theless, circumstances are often so strong as to amount to satisfactory proof. And thus it was in


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the case of Douglas ; no eye save Omniscience wit- nessed the deed : but there was a train of circum- stances which pointed indubitably to his guilt. He was therefore convicted and executed. In the dis- charge of his official duties, Judge Wells was called upon to conduct several important prosecutions for the people during his term of office, and he was success- ful in most of them. He never had an indictment quashed or set aside, notwithstanding the great tech- nicality of those instruments, and the care required in drafting them. He continued to discharge the duties of District-Attorney until the year 1829, when his increasing civil business compelled him to resign. Hon. Edward Howell was appointed in his place.


Mr. Howell is a resident of Bath, and the oldest member of the Steuben bar. Several years ago he retired from a large and distinguished practice. His career as District-Attorney, representative in Con- gress, his weight of character at the bar and in private life, his example as a Christian gentleman, has caused the esteem and regard of all to follow him into retire- ment.


After practicing at Bath ten years, Judge Wells removed to Penn Yan, where he continued to practice with success and distinction until elected a justice of the Supreme Court. As a lawyer, he was not one of those


" Who pit the brains against the heart,


Gloss misdeeds-and trifle with great truths."


At the bar, he gained the attention of the court and jury by the calm, candid manner in which he presented his case. Though not a rapid thinker, though sometimes slow in coming to conclusions, yet such was the perfect preparation which he gave his cases, that he was always formidable as an antagonist. He was like a heavy piece of artillery, not easily changed about, but always well and effectually aimed. Courteous and composed in his manner, when he arose to discuss a legal question or address a jury, he al-


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ways commanded respect and attention. And yet, as has been before stated, he was not an eloquent speaker, not one of those who engage the fancy of their hearers, without affecting their understanding. His arguments were solid and plain, bearing directly upon the point. He was once engaged in the trial of an important cause, at Waterloo, in which the counsel opposed to him, made an exhibition of his eloquence, and, in his conceit, a sarcastic allusion to the plain speaking of his opponent. In his reply, Mr. Wells simply re- marked that he never attempted the high flights of oratory which the counsel opposed to him did ; and he could only say of him as Junius did of the king, "The feathers that adorn him support his flight ; strip him of his plumage and you fix him to the earth," and that he should endeavor, in a quiet way, to take some of the gentleman's plumage from him, just enough, he trusted, to keep his good friend out of the clouds; and he succeeded to the admiration of all present.


The constitution which was formed in the conven- tion of 1846, made a radical change in the judicial system of the State. It provided for the election of judges by the people ; it abolished the Court of Chan- cery, and gave equity powers to the Supreme Court ; it annulled the old distinctions between actions, and provided for a Code of Procedure which abrogated all the nice mathematical rules which governed "the mutual altercation of parties," known as the plead- ings in a suit, and which had existed for ages. At first, the bar beheld these sweeping innovations with dismay. The Court of Chancery had come down from the days of the Aula Regia ; it had been sustained in England through the reign of every monarch from Henry II., to Victoria ; while the office of chancellor had existed from the days of Maurice, in the reign of William the Conqueror, to the present time ; its powers and duties gradually merging from the mere keeper of the great seal, to the highest judicial office in the nation ;


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and in this country, from the establishment of a colo- nial government, to the days of Walworth, who saw it pass away with its honors and dignities. The Court . of Chancery was one of the great tribunals of the State ; its power arising chiefly from supplying the defects of the common law by giving a remedy in a class of cases, for which that law provided none, and by disregard- ing certain arbitrary and absurd rules of the law courts. Thus it possessed many advantages, in a country like this. But it had become in some re- spects a tedious and expensive piece of legal machi- nery, with its chancellor, vice-chancellor, its masters, examiners, exception masters, taxing masters, &c. These offices were all abolished, and the new judges were given equity power.


An elective judiciary was regarded as the most dangerous innovation of the new constitution. "The character, influence, and position of American judges, are unlike those of any other nation. In many re- spects, their official influence is unbounded. They come more directly in contact with the people than the English or French judges, and thus their influence extends beyond the limits of courts. In the recreation of private life, as well as the turmoil of public busi- ness, abroad and in legislative assemblies, the judge is constantly surrounded by men, who are accustomed to regard his intelligence as superior to their own; and having exercised his power in the decision of causes, he continues to influence the habits of thought and the character of the individuals who surround him."


It was urged, that to bring the judiciary within the range of politicians, and party managers, would tend to its corruption, would render the judges dependent upon partizan manipulators. But fortunately, the selection of judges, is now almost exclusively commit- ted to the lawyers ; and as has been well said, "When the people are intoxicated by the impetuosity of par- tizan zeal, or of any ephemeral excitement, they are


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checked by the almost invisible influence of its legal counselors. Besides, the judge must be a lawyer, who, independently of the veneration and respect for the law, for regularity, and order, which he contracted in the study of his profession, derives an additional desire to maintain those legal attainments, and that high character, which commended him to his profes- sional brethren, and which thus elevated him to a distinguished rank among his fellow citizens." And thus the judiciary is silently, but powerfully pro- tected. Against the appointment of judges, it was urged that an ambitious executive, to perpetuate his own power, and promote his designs, could appoint corrupt and inefficient judges, on party grounds, or remove them, to subserve party interests, or preju- dices. Able and pure judicial officers, could be re- moved to promote the interests of demagogues. Hence, it is most prudent and safe to intrust the judiciary to the many, rather than the one man power.


In July, 1847, the first judicial election under the new constitution took place. In the seventh judicial district, Thomas A. Johnson, of Corning, Henry Wells, of Penn Yan, Samuel L. Selden, of Rochester, and John Maynard, of Auburn, were elected justices of the Supreme Court. These gentlemen were lawyers of the highest and purest professional character. As they had adorned the bar with their learning and talents, they added lustre to a bench, which, since the adoption of the first constitution had been the admira- tion of the nation and the world ; a bench, whose opinions are unquestioned authority wherever judicial decisions and opinions are known or respected. For twenty-two years and over the judges of the seventh judicial district have upheld the learning, the dignity, and purity of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, and what has been said of these judges, may well be said of those who at this time occupy the bench of the State; and thus an elective judiciary has


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been a success and a triumph in the State of New York.


Judge Wells discharged the duties of a justice of the Supreme Court, nearly twenty-one years. The legal reports of the State bear ample testimony to his ability and research. In the language of another, "He entered upon the discharge of his duties with great industry and directness of purpose, and the student of the earlier volumes of Barbour's and Howard's Reports will find the traces of his judicial labors to be quite as numerous, and quite as valuable as those of any other member of the court. His well considered and well reasoned opinions, both upon new questions of practice, and upon questions of princi- ples of law, may be reckoned by the hundreds, and his contributions thus made to our judicial lore would in the aggregate fill volumes. For clearness of ex- pression, thoroughness of discussion, for all practical purposes, calmness, impartiality, and all absence of pretension or show, they are certainly above me- diocrity. His opinion of the leading case of Field v. The Mayor of New York, may be cited as a fair illustration of his manner in this particular. It settled a new and important question by language just sufficient to express, in no ambiguous terms, the views of the court, and to indicate clearly, the limits and boundaries of the decision; and did all this, with a citation of authorities, not ostentatious, but sufficient to render his reasoning impregnable."


His decisions were distinguished not so much by boldness and excursiveness, as by clearness, steadi- ness, justice and right. They derived their strength from that fairness, rectitude and simplicity, that love of the true and the useful which entered so largely into his moral constitution. Accordingly they are characterized by impartiality, and graduated by an independence, which placed him far above the reach of influence from any source, and beyond the cor- ruption of politics, or the regard of party. He had


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strong partizan sentiments, and adhered to them with legitimate firmness. But, on the bench, in the discharge of his judicial duties, party, politics, and friends were alike forgotten, and he stood the High Priest of the law, in whose censer unhallowed incense never burned.


The modest firmness with which Judge Wells ad- hered to his opinions, is exhibited in the case of Newell v. The People, in the Court of Appeals. The case involved doubtful questions of law, and at- tracted public notice. He dissented from the opinion of all the members of the court, standing entirely alone, and wrote an opinion of which the following is the concluding part :


"In the conclusions to which I have arrived, I re- gret to find myself standing alone among the mem- bers of the court of dernier resort, who take part in this decision. This circumstance, perhaps, should lead to a distrust of my own judgment, even if it failed to shake my confidence in the correctness of the views I have expressed. However this may be, I yield to the decision, if not willingly, yet respect- fully."


He was in every sense, whether at the bar, on the bench, or in private life, the true gentleman. And he did much to establish those agreable amenities which now exist between the bench and the bar. The younger members of the profession will remember with pleasure the kindness, suavity and patience with which he listened to their first forensic efforts. Many who came, conscious of ability, but with shrinking timidity, were encouraged by him-their mental resources drawn out, and they were led up to a confidence and self-possession which now sustains them in the collisions of professional strife.


The faults with which, as a judge, he was charged, were principally that he was too slow in the dispatch of business at the circuit, and that he did not possess that rapidity of thought which was necessary for a


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judge at nisi prius. Without doubt there were some grounds for this complaint; and yet the correctness with which he disposed of business, was an ample offset for this fault; and it is remarkable that his de- cisions made on the trial of causes, were seldom re- versed by the appellate court.


His repeated election by the people sufficiently at- tests the esteem and confidence in which he was held in the district, and the record of those frequent elec- tions, is the highest encomium that can be paid to his memory.


Judge Wells died at Penn Yan on the seventh day of March, 1868, in the seventy-fourth year of his age. Mrs. Wells survives him. Their family consisted of nine children-two sons and seven daughters. Of those, four daughters only are living. They are Mrs. T. B. Hamilton, Mrs. T. A. Johnson, Mrs. S. B. Rob- bins, and Mrs. J. B. Welch. The late Samuel H. Wells, an eminent member of the Yates County bar, was a son of Judge Wells. He died on the eighteenth day of October, 1867, aged forty-eight years.


There is a melancholy interest attached to the his- tory of Mr. Wells. Within the space of a few years, his wife and all his children, three in number, were taken from him by the hand of death. His wife, an amiable, lovely, and accomplished woman, to whom he was tenderly attached, died a few months previous to her husband. The stricken husband and father thus beheld his household treasures torn from him, his earthly idols snatched away. In the depths of his heart he felt that they could never come to him, but that he should soon go to them. A few weeks he struggled with his sorrows, a few weeks he lingered around his desolated home, and then followed his loved ones, "where the beautiful fade not away."


For many years, Judge Wells was a conscientious and an undeviating member of the Presbyterian Church. His religion, though strong and earnest, was in unison with his whole character, calm and


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rational ; though of adamantine firmness, it was at- tractive, cheerful, lovely. He was a most severe and critical judge of his own conduct.


He looked upon religion as intended to regulate our intercourse with one another here, by adding the ordinary sanctions of temporal morality ; the rewards and punishment of another life, "according to the deeds done in the body." He was not satisfied with apparent religion, but was particularly interested in those instructions from the pulpit, which enjoin a deep, living, all pervading sense of Christian duty and responsibility; and he united with his Chris- tianity a deep interest in the history of good and great men, a veneration for enlightened legislators- for the majesty of the laws, a sympathy with philan- thropists, a delight in efforts of intellect, consecrated to a good cause. For he possessed that congeniality with spiritual and lofty truths, without which, the evidences of religion work no deep conviction, with- out which, faith cannot assert her heartfelt, her glori- ous work.


VINCENT MATHEWS.


His Birth .- Completes his Education with Noah Webster .- A Student in the Office of Colonel Robert Troup .- Burr .- Pendleton .- Yates .- Kent .- Spencer .- Con- test for Governor between Judge Yates and George Clinton .- Called to the Bar. -Removes to Elmira .- Elected to the State Senate .- Appointed with Judge Emott to the Onondaga Commission .- Elected to Congress .- Appointed Dis- trict-Attorney for Several Counties .- Daniel Cruger .- Mathews Removes to Bath .- His Success as a Lawyer .- Removes to Rochester .- His Popularity .- Elected to the Assembly .- Appointed District-Attorney for Monroe County .- His Politics .- His Manner as a Speaker .- His Character as a Lawyer .- Anec- dote .- His Private Character .- Letter from the Young Lawyer .- Anecdote .-- Scene of his Death.


VINCENT MATHEWS was born in the county of Orange, N. Y., June 29, 1766; hence his birth oc- curred in a solemn and eventful period ; a period which determined the character of ages to come- when powerful evils were struggling for the mastery ; when men gifted with great powers of thought and loftiness of sentiment-statesmen with broad and original views of human nature and society, imbued with self-denying patriotism, were summoned to the conflict. "Thus he was one of those through which one generation speaks its thoughts, feelings and ap- peals to another."


At an early age he was sent to a popular and flourishing high school, at Middletown, N. Y. Al- though fully prepared, he did not enter college, but finished his classical education under the instruction of Noah Webster. The acquisitions of that profound and accomplished scholar rendered him a proper tutor for a mind like that which young Mathews pos- sessed. The steady improvement, the cultivated and


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refined taste, the severe industry, and the courteous manners of the pupil, soon endeared him to his re- vered instructor.




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