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 53
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This provoked a laugh upon the plaintiff by the outsiders and jury, which was a pretty sure index of their verdict. He was master of invective, always honest, but sometimes carried to excess. A false and lying witness met with no mercy at his hands, and it required something more than ordinary cunning to hide a lie from his searching cross-examination. I think he delighted in hanging up the scalps of parties guilty of any kind of fraud, oppression, or overreach- ing, to dry in the smoke of his cabin. In a case he prosecuted for seduction, he quoted the lines, and it
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is the only poetical quotation I remember to have heard from him :
" Are there no lightnings in the vault of heaven, Red with uncommon wrath "
to blast the seducer and destroyer of female innocence ? In important causes, Mr. Noxon was sure to be en- gaged. In such contests he met the renowned men of his profession ; the subtle and witty Collier, and Ben Johnson, as full of sense and learning as of drollery and good nature ; John C. Spencer, of unrivaled acute- ness, and his no less able namesake-Joshua A. Spen- cer, whose very presence was a spell upon juries, hard to break ; Daniel Cady, a man whose clear and un- clouded intellect illuminated and made plain the most obscure questions ; these, and such as these, were the antagonists he was accustomed to meet, and he de- lighted in the shock of such encounters. It was the meeting of flint and steel.
One of Mr. Noxon's noticeable points was his love of nature. He took the greatest delight in the garden. I think, in the hight of his fame as a lawyer, he was more gratified to raise a good seedling plum which should bear his name, than to win the weightiest cause in court. Pope never had any higher enjoyment in Binfield or Twickenham than he found in his orchard and garden at Green Point. He was a keen sports- man, and Izaak Walton never had a more zealous or admiring pupil."
In the language of Judge Allen, - " He was a great man, worthy of all admiration; he was strong in his native sense and sound judgment ; strong in a knowledge of the law, in the rudiments and principles of which he was thoroughly rooted and grounded ; strong in his knowledge of human nature, and his ability and tact in the use of that knowledge; strong in his self-reliance ; strong in his affections and social ties, drawing to himself with the cords of love, respect, and affection, all who came to know him ; 44
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strong in his love of right and justice, truth and equity."
The most remarkable feature shown by Mr. Noxon in the trial of causes, was the strength he ap- peared to gather in difficult cases. The greater the doubt upon the questions in controversy-the stronger the opposition brought to bear against him by distin- guished counsel, the stronger, more beautiful and ex- traordinary were the efforts and talent exhibited by him in overthrowing his adversary. He seemed to excel himself when pressed hard by his opponent. He has gone to his rest, full of years and full of honors. His record is pure and untarnished in the courts, where he spent fifty years of his life in un- raveling the intricacies of the law. His good name and fame are justly appreciated by the judge, the bar, the juries of the country, who have so long wit- nessed his masterly efforts in a profession he loved so well. His genial nature, and his social qualities, have left behind him many pleasing anecdotes, illustrating the happiest traits of his character. While such in- cidents reflect in some measure the character and dis- position of the man, they rarely exhibit that true greatness which shines forth in that logical and close reasoning so necessary for a successful lawyer. We omit mention of the many anecdotes told, which would fill a volume ; we say nothing of the political life of him who never sought to shine in the political field. Our task is done, when we point with pride and pleasure to the achievements and laurels won in the battle-field of legal science. His life and success give the warmest encouragement to the young man enter- ing upon the profession, without means and without the benefit of a thorough education in the schools of the country. If his record is such as will awaken noble aspirations in the young man starting in the race for the highest honors in the legal profession, the admirers and friends of him whose life was so long
4
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spared for usefulness will be most abundantly re- warded.
Mr. Noxon was accidentally killed by being run over by the cars, at Syracuse, on the afternoon of May 13th, 1869, having at the time reached the ad- vanced age of eighty-one years.
SOLOMON K. HAVEN.
Interesting interview between Governor Young and two applicants for a Clerkship in his Office .- One is very poorly Clad, the other fashionably Attired .- Mr. Young decides to accept the poor young Man, much to the surprise of a fashion- able young Lady .- The young Man Commences his Studies .- A glance at his Career and his great Success .- This was Solomon K. Haven .- His Birth .- His want of early advantages .- The Common School .- Haven's Success as a Scholar. -A prize ofered for the best Reader .- " Does Sol Haven think he can win the Prize ?"-The Contest .- Haven Victorious .- Becomes a Teacher .- Decides to Study Law .- Enters Governor Young's Office .- Is Appointed Deputy Clerk of Livingston County, but continues his Law Studies .- His Popularity .- Offered the Ofice of County Clerk .- Magnanimous Reasons for his Refusal .- He leaves Geneseo and Enters the Office of Mark H. Sibley. at Canandaigua .- Character of Sibley .-- Haven gains the Friendship of Francis Granger .- Haven Admitted to the Bar and visits Buffalo .- Decides to remain there .- Rents an office, arranges it, and tries a Lawsuit on the day he arrives at Buffalo .- His Success as a Lawyer. His Marriage .- Enters into Partnership with Honorable Millard Fillmore and Judge N. K. Hall .- Success and Character of the Firm .- Haven's subsequent Professional Career .- Often opposed by H. K. Smith, G. P. Barker, James Mul- lett, and other brilliant Lawyers .- How he Succeeded with them .- The Case of Riall :. Pulsifer .- Haven in danger of being overthrown by Mullett's brilliant Speech .- Laughable manner in which Defeat is turned into Victory .- Haren Elected to Congress .- His Re-election .- Congressional Career .- Character as a Politician .- As a Lawyer and Citizen .- Falls a Victim to his great Professional Labors .- His Death.
IN the autumn of 1828, Mr., afterwards Governor Young, who was then a young lawyer of rapidly in- creasing practice, desired to engage a young man who wrote a fair hand to enter his office as a student, to whom he proposed to pay a small salary. Not long after making this announcement, two young men ap- plied to him at the same time for the position. One of them was coarsely and poorly clad, his appearance indicating the most indigent circumstances. But there was self-respect, self-reliance and a refinement
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in his manner which showed that he was far above his circumstances. His clear bright eye beamed with intelligence and honest earnestness, while his counte- nance gave indubitable evidence of thought, intellect and determination.
The other young man was fashionably attired, everything about his dress being in strict conformity to the beau monde. While addressing Mr. Young, he tapped one of his highly polished boots, .in the true Brummel style, with a light genteel walking stick, which he carried in his hand. He was easy, and even polished in his manner ; but his polish was of the veneering order, put on for the occasion, and worn in a sort of jaunty manner. The look with which he regarded his plebeian competitor attested the supreme contempt which he entertained for him, and seemed to say, "Sir, there is no opportunity here for you ;" it being understood that Mr. Young could accept but one of the applicants.
This interview took place at the residence of a gen- tleman where Mr. Young happened to be at the time. There were several persons present, among whom was Miss Harris, just from a fashionable boarding-school in Philadelphia, and who subsequently became Mrs. Young. She was a deeply interested spectator of this scene, and supposed, of course, that the fashion- ably dressed young man would be successful. But as Mr. Young himself was one of those who, with no adventitious advantages of birth or fortune, had won his way by the efforts of his own genius to the highest distinctions and honor, he never, even in his most brilliant career, failed to sympathize with struggling merit ; never looked with disdain upon those who were at the foot of the ladder, up which he had suc- cessfully ascended. After a few moments' conversa- tion with the candidates for his favor, he decided to accept the poorly clad applicant, much to the sur- prise of Miss Harris, who was then at an age when opinions are easily formed from appearances only.
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"Why did you prefer him ?" said she, after the young men withdrew.
" Because he has brains, and I doubt whether the other has ; because he will succeed against all ob- stacles, and the other will fail with no obstacle in the way," was the reply of Mr. Young.
A few days after this event, the young man com- menced his studies. The road before him was long, rugged, and filled with many asperities ; but the goal which he was seeking appeared in full view, thickly clustered with honors, and there ever came to him a consciousness, which throbbed through his whole being, and stimulated him to action, that he should reach this goal, and grasp the honor which surrounded it. In this consciousness of future suc- cess, he one day said to a young lady who is still living, "I am poor now, but in ten years I shall not be." With heroic self-denial, and a stern devotion to his purpose, he pursued his studies. Now with Bracton, Coke, Bacon, Blackstone, and the great American expounders of jurisprudence, treading the labyrinths of the law, and now visiting past ages, and gathering round him sages and heroes, prophets and apostles, brave warriors and gifted bards, inhal- ing inspiration and intellectual vigor from statesmen, orators and legislators of the past, whose works are stamped with "the high-born majesty of mind." Like Michael Angelo, in whose hands marble was flexible, he turned hard fortune into the tide of suc- cess, and struck enduring advantages from rocks against which others would have split.
Often he encountered purse-proud arrogance and frivolous gentility, creatures of an hour, swarmed into a useless life, in the sunshine of fortune, who de- rided his plain, unfashionable attire, his simple, un. pretending life. But, like the eagle, whose dull, gray garb is out-dazzled by ephemeral insects and summer birds, while pluming himself for a flight immeasura bly above their reach, he saw the devotees of fashion
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buzz around him, and felt only silent contempt, con- scious of his better destiny-conscious that struggles like his had scattered bright names along the pages of his country's history, as stars along the cloudless sky. And thus, with no regard for adverse circumstances, in anticipation of the future, he moved forward to the success that awaited him, to grasp the honors which he won, to be the center of many influences, to awaken through a large circle sentiments of esteem and affection, to exalt the standard and become the ornament of a profession to which the administration of public justice and the care of our civil institutions are peculiarly confided, to uphold and strengthen useful associations and institutions, to stand in the council of the nation the lawyer and the legislator, to win distinction amid accomplished and gifted com- petitors, to quiet the clamors of rivalry, hold in check the murmurs of jealousy, and finally to die amidst general, deep, unaffected grief. This was Solomon K. Haven.
He was born in the town of Butternuts, in the county of Otsego, New York, on the 20th day of Sep- tember, 1809. His parents were in humble circum- stances, and unable to give him any educational ad- vantages, except those afforded by the common district school. These, however, young Haven im- proved with so much success that he soon became one of the best scholars in his district. Among his early acquirements was excellence in spelling ; and before he was eleven years old he attained such per- fection in this art that he could "spell down" any pupil of his age in school ; and at length he was en- abled to challenge the best speller, no matter how old or how much advanced. In addition to this, he became one of the best readers in the town. In those days the principal reading book was the old English Reader, compiled by Lindley Murray, which will long be remembered for the purity, elegance and taste with which the extracts it contained were written.
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This pleasing acquirement he attained at a winter's school, taught.by a clergyman named Gould, who was an accomplished reader and scholar.
Mr. Haven, in speaking of this school, thus de- scribed the manner in which Mr. Gould encouraged his pupils to read :
"He would," said Haven, "appoint evening schools, which all his more advanced pupils were requested to attend-each one being allowed to select some piece, and stand in the center of the room, be- fore all the scholars, and read it. On certain evenings a piece was selected, and a prize offered by the teacher to the scholar who should read it in the most perfect manner. I recollect on one occasion the piece for which the prize was offered was The Death of Alti- mont, by Dr. Young. I had hitherto, owing to my youth, been debarred from the privilege of becoming a contestant. This time, however, I was permitted to enter the list ; and it was to me a more important event than any other which has occurred to me in my whole life. My election to Congress was nothing com- pared to it. There were many advanced scholars who were to contend, and my prospects of success were not considered by my friends as very bright. There was one boy in the school, a trifle older than myself, the son of one of the wealthiest men in the district, who from this fact often assumed a domineering manner over the boys, particularly over me. He too was one of the contestants for the prize. I remember per- fectly well the supercilious remark he made when he heard that I was to be a contestant.
"'I wonder,' said he, 'if Sol Haven thinks there is any chance for him to win the prize. He'll learn that he can't contend with me in this matter.'
"I made no reply, but every day I repaired with my book to the garret in our house, and there I read and re-read the chapter, particularly the following verse, which has never escaped my memory :
" 'If this is a man of pleasure, what is a man of
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pain ? How quick, how total is the transit of such persons ! in what a dismal gloom they sit for ever ! How short, alas ! the day of their rejoicing! For a moment they glitter-they dazzle! In a moment, where are they ? Oblivion covers their memories. Ah! would it did. Infamy snatches them from ob- livion. In the long living annals of infamy their tri- umphs are recorded. Thy sufferings, poor Altimont, still bleed in the bosom of thy heart-stricken friend ; for Altimont had a friend. He might have had means. His transient morning might have been the dawn of an immortal day,' &c.
"As the evening approached for the trial, I felt a sort of secret confidence that I was to succeed. The evening came at last. The school house was filled with spectators, who gathered there to witness the contest. It so happened that it became my turn to read next after the boy who had spoken so sneeringly of me. Oh ! how I watched every word that fell from his lips. Never at the bar, in the most exciting case in which I ever was engaged, did I watch my opponent more narrowly than I did that boy. When he fin- ished, I believed that I could exceed him ; and with this conviction, I took the floor. I saw nothing, cared for nothing, thought of nothing but the chapter before me. My heart swelled with the proud consciousness of superiority.
"Carefully, slowly, observing every stop, every modulation and inflexion, I proceeded ; and when I closed, a burst of applause followed, and I knew that I was victorious-that the prize was mine.
"To the success of that evening I am indebted for all that I am-all that I expect to be-for it stimulated in me not only ambition, but a confidence in my ability to succeed in the world, which never deserted me."
Such was Mr. Haven in his early youth. By hard study and great energy of character he prepared him- self for a common school teacher. Though teaching was not an occupation which exactly suited his taste,
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yet he was considered a successful teacher, always highly valued by the children. He was punctual and faithful to his employers ; and governed his school with a mild yet perfect supremacy. No such thing as disobedience was thought of, and during the first two years of his teaching he only chastised one boy, who had committed some crime which demanded a severe punishment, and Haven gave it to him. The next evening, as the teacher was returning to his boarding- house, the father of the boy met him in the road, and in great anger asked Haven why he whipped his son.
" Because he deserved it," was the reply.
"Well, I've come to thrash you to pay for it," said the man.
"Do you think you can do it ?"
"Yes, sir, I do, in just one minute," was the answer.
"Very well, try it," said the teacher.
"I'll teach you, sir, to whip my boy in the way you did."
The man was somewhat heavier and apparently stronger than Haven, but he did not possess his agility nor his muscular energy. Suiting his actions to his words, he sprang at Haven, and directed a heavy blow at his face. The next instant the assailant lay on his back in the middle of the road, with Haven's knees on his breast. For a moment the man struggled to release himself from his unpleasant position, but he was held as in a vise ; and at length he ceased his ef- forts to escape.
"What do you propose to do with me ?" said the man, at length.
"I propose to hold you here until you will prom- ise me, on the honor of a man, that you will behave yourself, and then I propose to let you up," said Haven.
"Well, I 'spose I might as well promise," said the man.
"So I am to understand that you make me that promise, do I," said Haven.
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"Certainly," said the man ; and he was released.
This encounter had a tendency to cool his ire ; and after talking the matter over a while, he acknowledged that the boy deserved the whipping, and that he him- self deserved being thrown on his back in the street. The next morning the boy came to school, and all trouble ended.
During the winter and summer of 1827 Mr. Haven taught school in the town of Bristol, in the county of Ontario. He was then eighteen years of age. About this time he decided to enter the legal profession. Such was the characteristic firmness of his nature, that, having once come to a decision, that decision was irrevocable ; and, as we have seen, he directed all his energies to the attainment of this object.
In the fall of 1828 he visited a friend residing at Geneseo. Pleased with that beautiful village, he de- cided to remain and pursue his legal studies there. From his friend's description of Mr. Young, he was exceedingly desirous to secure a place in his office. Accordingly, he applied to that gentleman for a studentship in his office, and with what result already appears.
He soon succeeded in gaining the confidence of his preceptor, who in various ways aided him to sustain himself while pursuing his studies.
Although he was very poor, yet his studious habits, his irreproachable character, his industry and un- assuming manners gained him many friends at Gen- eseo, all of whom felt confident that he had a bright future before him.
In September, 1832, he was appointed deputy clerk of the county of Livingston. So acceptable were his services to Mr. Bond, the clerk, and so popular did he become with the people, that he continued in this po- sition until January, 1835. During a large part of this time, owing to the ill health of the clerk, the en- tire duties of the office devolved upon him. He was
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in his office from 9 o'clock in the morning until 12, and from 1 o'clock until 5 in the afternoon ; and thus two years passed away. During Mr. Haven's term he made the acquaintance of many leading citizens of Livingston county, with whom he had become very popular, and he could easily have secured the office of county clerk for himself ; but, being aware that Mr. Bond desired it again, he refused to accept the nomination. This one circumstance exhibits the high- toned generosity of Mr. Haven's nature; and it was fully appreciated by Mr. Bond and all his friends. He continued carefully and laboriously to discharge the duties of deputy through Mr. Bond's second term.
While thus engaged, he continued his legal studies. As soon as his duties in the office were discharged for the day, he returned to his law books, which afforded him recreation and delight. To him there was nothing which had so deep a meaning as law. Like Hooker, he saw in it that which vindicated the harmonious necessity of the universe. To such a mind as his, there could be no rest until he fathomed its depths- inquired into "its fundamental grounds and original causes."
That he read with close and critical observance is evident from the manner in which, as a practi- tioner, he dealt with abstract legal principles, and hence he was always able to give a cogent reason for the position which he assumed.
During these days of study, he did not forget to cultivate his oratorical powers. With a view to im- provement in this respect, he subjected himself to the most persevering and laborious process of private study, being accustomed to debate imaginary ques- tions alone with as much earnestness as before a large audience.
It is related of Curran that he was in the habit of declaiming in solitude, and that the authors from whom he chiefly borrowed the matter of these solitary
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declamations were Junius and Lord Bolingbroke, but the poet he most passionately admired was Thomson. He occasionally declaimed from Milton, but in his maturer age came to think less of that great poet. It is also said that one of his favorite exercises was the funeral oration of Antony over the body of Cæsar, as given by Shakespeare ; the frequent recitation of which he used to recommend to his young friends at the bar to the latest period of his life.
Like Curran, Haven used to seek some solitary place in company with a young friend who acted in the double capacity of audience and critic. There he would address an imaginary jury, with close adherence to professional peculiarities and the customs of the bar, or rehearse some extract from his favorite authors. The selections which he was most accustomed to de- claim were Hamlet's Soliloquy on the Ills of Life ; Othello's Defense before the Venetian Senate; the Speech of Cicero against Verres, and Portia's Address to Shylock, in which she exhorts him to exercise "the quality of mercy."
In this way, Mr. Haven succeeded in cultivating some oratorical accomplishments, though he never became what might be called an accomplished speaker. Though he was always attractive, and gained the at- tention of his auditors, he did this more by the force of reason than by the blandishments of the perfect orator.
There was but little imagination in the mental or- ganization of Mr. Haven, and he took a practical view of the sentiments and utterances of his authors, re- garding them with the eye of a philosopher, instead of "the frenzy of the poet."
He left the clerk's office early in 1835 ; after that, he became a resident of Canandaigua, and a stu- dent in the office of Mr. Sibley. While there, he was fortunate in gaining the friendship of the late Francis Granger, who discovered in the young man those traits which had so strongly recommended him
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to Governor Young. Mr. Granger took a deep inter- est in his welfare, which was attested by many in- stances of friendly assistance and aid, which from his position in life, were of inestimable value to Haven. Mr. Sibley, too, regarded him with much favor; in fact, he was singularly endowed with the faculty of making friends, and "binding them to him with hooks of steel," but it cannot be denied that he possessed those qualities which sometimes begat enmity.
While at Canandaigua he was admitted to the bar ; this took place in July, 1835. He remained with Mr. Sibley nearly a year after this, perfecting himself in legal knowledge and learning the details of practice. Mr. Sibley was then one of the ablest advocates in the State. The supremacy of his elo- quence at the bar and in the popular assembly was universally acknowledged. His form was manly and commanding, his voice full, rich, musical, and vibrated to the very heart of the listener, while his expressive eye kindled in unison with his theme. He knew how to blend the natural language of genius and impassioned feeling with judicious sentiments and correct reasoning, uniting the rhetoric and logic of Fox with the brilliancy of Phillips. In his private life and character, he was high-toned, generous, and noble.
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