USA > New York > Saratoga County > The bench and bar of Saratoga County, or, Reminiscences of the judiciary, and scenes in the court room : from the organization of the county to the present time > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23
75
OF SARATOGAA COUNTY.
month's imprisonment in the county jail, and to pay a fine of $250. Howd escaped. there being a doubt whether he was a co-conspirator, or a dupe of the other parties.
At the May Oyer 1844, Abraham Speck was con- vieted of an assault with a gun on Reuben E. Sea- man, collector of district No. 7, Saratoga Springs, with intent to kill because Seaman had made a levy on his property to pay a school tax. District Attor- ney Beach prosecuted, and John K. Porter defend- od the prisoner. This case was at the commence- ment of the brilliant legal strife of those eminent advocates at our bar, in which they laid the foun- dlations of their future fame. Speck, who was the well known deformed colored man. was sentenced to ten years imprisonment. After serving about half of his time he was pardoned by Gov. Seward through the influence of the late Gen. James M. Cook, and lived to be the first of his race to vote at the polls held in the village of Ballston Spa, after the adoption of the fifteenth amendment, at the special judicial election held in 1870 to elect judges of the Court of Appeals.
Another murder trial darkons the minutes of the Oyer and Terminer. At the May term 1846, Abra- ham Wilcox was brought to the bar charged with the murder of Thomas Mckinstry, at the town of Saratoga December 2, 1845. Wilcox was a young man of a weak mind, induced by an unfortunate habit, and becoming enraged at the preference shown for Mckinstry by a certain young lady that both admired, he stabbed him several times so that he
76
THE BENCH AND BAR
instantly died. He then ran and was found soon after hanging in his barn. While the persons who found him. thinking him dead, were discussing whether to cut him down or await the arrival of a coroner, Dr. Oliver Brisbin arrived. As he was saying that it was usual to await the arrival of that officer, Owen M. Roberts o: Moreau, drove up and at once severed the strap, and Wilcox was found to be yet alive. He was brought to the jail in Balls ton Spa. Henry W. Merrill was engaged to defend him, and, after his indictment John K. Porter and Augustus Bockes were associated in the defense. Against this strong array, District Attorney Beach brought Wilcox to trial. The court was composed of Circuit Judge Willard, and judges Warren, Stone, Mandeville and Gilchrist. The jury im. paneled to try the indictment was William De Remer, Julius H. Rice, James H. Darrow, Gard- ner Edmunds, Nathaniel Seelye, Eliphalet Mer- chant, Win. H. Alexander, Albert Clute, Henry Mead, 2d, Nelson Cole, Gorham Dennison and Daniel Eddy. The trial was closely contested and lasted three days. The defense was insanity. In those days that was a new feature, and Wilcox was convicted and received the death sentence to be executed July 28, 1846. His counsel laid the case before Chancellor Walworth, who adjudged that Wilcox was of an unsound mind. On his repre sentations Gov. Wright commuted the sentence to imprisonment for life, and Wilcox died in Danne- mora.
Judge Willard had held every term in this county
77
OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
from the date of his appointment ; but the time now arrived when the provisions of the new con- stitution bid him lay aside his old robes of office and accept the ermine fresh from the people by an election to the new office of Justice of the Supreme court. The last Oyer and Terminer held in this county under the constitution of 1821 convened at the court house in May. 1847. Judges Willard, Warren, Stone and Gilchrist sat upon the bench ; James W. Horton was clerk : Thomas Low, sheriff and Hiram Boss, crier. None of these survive except the veteran clerk, who is now in the thirty- first year of his service.
CHAPTER VIII. INDICTMENTS TRIED IN THE COURT OF GENERAL SESSIONS, FROM 1819 TO 1847.
The Court of General Sessions of the Peace is one of the most ancient known to our constitution and the laws. It was first instituted in the colony of New York under the administration of Governor Thomas Dongan, by an act of the colonial assembly in 1683, but was abolished by order of Sir Edmond Andross, who superseded Col. Dongan, under whose administration King James II sought to unite the New England colonies with New York and the settlements in East and West Jersey. The experiment failed, for James was forced to leave England by the revolution of the same year, which placed William of Orange and Mary Stuart on the throne. The colonists soon made it too warm for his tyranical tool, Andross, to remain and he left the New World forever. In 1699, under the admin- istration of the colonial governor Richard Coote, Earl of Bellamont, the assembly again established the Court of Sessions. It received the royal sanc- tion in the first year of the reign of Queen Ann, 1702, Edward Hyde, lord viscount Cornbury, being the colonial governor. It was the same Lord Corn- bury who two years later issued the royal patent of the Kayaderosseras to Nanning Harmanse and
79
OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
twelve others, which forms the basis of the title of two-thirds of the land in this county, and which patent with its large waxen seal and quaint phrase- ology and chirography is now on file in our county clerk's office. Thus the decrees establishing local courts and the title to a large portion of the lands in this county are co-existent and bear the same seal an.l signature.
We have hitherto seen that the legislature of 1814 provided that thereafter the Court of Sessions in the several counties should be holden by the Judges of Common Pleas. This provision was con- tinued by the constitution of 1821, and it remained in their jurisdiction until the constitution of 1846 abolishing both courts, and reorganized the county courts on their present basis. Therefore, in pursu- ance of law and by the appointment of the Judges of Common Pleas, the first term of the Court of General Sessions held in the present court house, convened August 24, 1819. judge James Thomp- son presided, with JJudges Salmon Child, Abraham Moe, James McCrea and John Prior on the bench. The other court officers were those named in the last chapter at being present at the first Oyer and Terminer. During the ten years succeeding from 1819, this court was occupied in disposing of petty criminals, and no important trials were held at its bar. During that period, Samuel Cook of Milton, James Van Schoonhoven of Waterford, Doctor John H. Steel of Saratoga Springs, Nicholas B. Doe of Waterford and George Palmer of Still- water were successively commissioned as judges
SO
THE BENCH AND BAR
to fill vacancies. On the thirteenth of February, 1821. a change in the political whirligig compelled District Attorney Livingston to retire from office. and William L. F. Warren was appointed to suc- reed him. He made a fearless and worthy public prosecutor, and won the respect of all while he performed its duties.
During this period the first jury of this county which were fed in their room by order of the court was that impanneled to try an indictment found against one Teunis MeGinnis, for perjury alleged to have been committed in an action tried before Judge Granger. Whether it was owing to the want of evidence, the eloquence of counsellor Otis in his behalf, or the mollifying effects of the "square meal" provided by the court or not cannot be stated, but the jury acquitted Mr. McGinness.
At the April term 1830. John Smith, the individ- nal, who, next to John Doe, is the most numerous culprit in country, was heard by P. H. McOmber, his attorney, on an appeal from an order entered in justices court, requiring him to keep the peace towards the people of the state of New York, and particularly towards Henry Wilsey. The court, minutes do not disclose the gravamen of the offense charged against the doughty John, but the fact that the order was confirmed leads us to doubt not that he made some "threats full of imports dire, and actions fierce and sanguinary."
At this term was tried an indictment which created great interest from the high social stand- ing of the party accused. George Brown, a
81
OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
student at Union college, and a son of the famous lawyer, David Paul Brown, of Philadel- pha, was indicted for having disturbed a camp- meeting, held in Merrill's grove, in Malta, in the previous summer. Young Brown was defended by his father, Horatio Buel, of Glen's Falls, and Oran G. Otis, of Ballston Spa. An alibi strong enough to convince the elder Weller was proved. It was shown conclusively that George Brown was at his quarters in Union college, at the hour he was alleged to have been in Malta. Witnesses who had sworn positively to his identity were confused by the ap- pearance of his brother, Peter A. Brown, who, it afterwards appeared, was the real culprit. The jury retired under the charge of constable Rowland A. Wright, but after careful deliberation were dis- charged as being unable to tell whether George was Peter, or Peter was George. District Attorney Warren thereupon entered a nolle prosequi by per- mission of the court.
At the August term of the same year John Tip- pet was convicted on two indictments for horse stealing and jail breaking, and sentenced to Sing Sing for five years. This was the second case of "special jail delivery" from the present court house. It was not as successful as the first, whichi occurred in 1821, when Richard Worden and Eli- plalet Williams, alias Erastus Whitney, alias Charles Whitney, alias Charles Cleveland, conn- terfeiters, bade Gen. Dunning a surreptitious fare- well and left not even their regrets behind. Solita-
82
THE BENCH AND BAR
ry cells were then ordered for refractory prisoners. on the principle of putting up the bars after the cattle have wandered from the field. They were constructed in the basement of the jail under the common cells, and were long known as the "dun- geons." They have not been used in many years.
At the June term, 1831, Margaret Fulmer was con- victed for keeping a disorderly house in the village of Ballston Spa, and sentenced to sixty days in jail, and to pay a fine of $20. To the credit of the coun- ty seat, every effort on the part of parties of de- praved habits to maintain similar institutions there has been ground under the iron heel of the law.
Under the provisions of the constitution of 1821, the first judge held his office by appointment, for the term of five years, and on the expiration of Judge James Thompson's term, April 30, 1833. Governor Marcy appointed Hon. Samuel Young to the seat of the presiding judge of this county. Col. Young was one of the ripest scholars of the state, and was a lawyer of great acumen and deep read- ing. He had been a member of the state senate for several years, where his voice, both in the senate and the court of errors, had had great weight, and his reported opinions in the latter had become a part of established precedents of our courts, and are quoted not only in the courts of every state and United States, but also in the mother country. The first case of importance, brought before Judge Young, will be remembered by many of our older citizens. The late David F. White having been made the victim of the petty spite of Harvey Loomis,
83
OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
then landlord of the Sans Souci, cut a green withe and severely thrashed the latter in front of his hotel, on the public street in broad daylight. Loomis procured his indictment for an assault and battery, at the Angust term, 1834. Wit e plead guilty on being arraigned, but both Judge Young and Dis- trict Attorney Warren (who was a brother-in-law of White) refused to accept it. He was finally tried in August, 1835, and was fined thirty dollars, which doubtless acted as an emollient on the injured feel- ings and limbs of Loomis.
At the Angust term. 1836, one Thomas McGinniss was convicted of selling, contrary to statute, "one glass, if no more, of liquor." and fined $25. Sep- tember 6, 1836, the judges of Common Pleas ap- pointed Nicholas Hill jr. of Saratoga Springs to be district attorney. Mr. Hill was then at the head of the bar of this county, and was enjoying a lucrativo practice. He, however, very soon found that the duties of his office interfered with his clientage in an irreconcilable manner, and on the 25th of the next April he resigned, and Chesselden Ellis of Waterford was appointed by the court to the vacant position ..
In 1835 indictments were found against Reuben S. Clark, his son John S. Clark, Leander Lawrence and others of the "Snake Hill bank." for uttering counterfeit money. These cases occupied the atten- tion of both the Oyer and Sessions for several years, but for "deeds that were dark" John S. Clark was "peculiar," and evaded conviction on every indict- ment found against him, Several of his victims
.
84
THE BENCH AND BAR.
suffered terms of imprisonment, and his father-in- law, Ezekiel Lawrence, a worthy Stillwater farmer. was nearly ruined financially in paying the forfeited bonds of Reuben S. Clark and Leander Lawrence. Nicholas Hill jr. was Clark's attorney.
On the expiration of Judge Young's term in 1838, Gov. Marcy appointed Thomas J. Marvin of Saratoga Springs to be first judge ; and George G. Scott of Milton and John Gilchrist of Charlton were appointed judges. Judge Marvin had been ap- pointed one of the judges of Common Pleas two years previously. He served with good acceptance until the office was abolished in 1847.
At the August term, 1839, John L. Carpenter was convicted and fined $20 for selling lottery tickets ; since which time the law has been a dead letter in this county, as far as convictions for the crime show. At the same term Henry Storm, alias Henry Scott alias Henry Stone, was brought to trial for burglary and larceny. Having the letters "II. S." in India ink on his hand it was impossible for him to travel beyond that latitude in seeking a name, so he listened to the advice of counselor Abel Meeker and went to Auburn for five years on a plea of guilty of grand larceny. Also at the same term, Reuben Priest was convicted of procuring the sig- nature of Justice Benjamin K. Bryan of Mechanic- ville to a written instrument under false pretences. and was fined $100. .
At the April term, 1841, Oscar Brazee, Parker Thomas, Patrick Hart. Lemuel Rose and George Taylor, were indieted and tried for an attempt to
85
OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
break jail February 1, 1840, by sawing the window bars and removing stone from the base of a window. They were detected an l remanded to the custody of jailor Stebbins. Thomas, who was also held as a counterfeiter, was sent to the states prison for three years, and Ross was also convicted and sen - tenced to the county jail for six months.
At the August term, 1843, Sabine Harris was tried and convicted of the crime of burglary and larceny, in breaking into and robbing the store of Fellows & Viall, in Mechanicville, February 12, of that year. Notwithstanding he had the efforts of William A. Beach in his behalf, the proof was so direct that he was convicted and sentenced to four years at Auburn.
William A. Beach having been appointed dis- trict attorney, September 11, 1843 ; at the December term Edward F. Bullard was appointed special dis- trict attorney to try cases in which Mr. Beach had been engaged by the defense. Amos Alsdorf, a constable of Clifton Park, was fined $50 at this term for having corruptly allowed one John Philbrick, a prisoner committed to his custody by justice B. K. Bryan, to escape. At the April term, 1844, an order from Governor Bouck was entered on the minutes of the court, directing that thereafter all male prisoners from this county should be sent to the new states prison, now known as Dannemora.
The famous Empire Club of the city of New York, under the lead of Capt. Isaiah Rynders, a native of Waterford, will long be remembered by students of
4*
86
THE BENCH AND BAR
political history. It was formed about the year 1844, and did efficient service in the Clay and Polk presidential campaign of that year. It worked in the interest of the democratic party and was most heartily feared and execrated by the whig leaders on account of its Donnybrook tendencies. Gen. Bullard has kindly furnished the author with the following particulars of an occurrence in this county, in which the stalwart Rynders and his shoulder hitters played an important part, and which but for the shrewdness of his attorneys would have changed his field of operations to a more northern latitude for several years. Ryn-
ders' parents, brother and sister resided in Water- ford, where he was in the habit of visiting them occasionally. Frequently while there he would get into heated political discussions with a local They Whig champion named Russell Losee.
finally became bitter personal enemies. In April, 1845, Rynders came to Waterford in company with two prize fighters named Phillips and McCloskey, and they were present at the regular town meeting. Towards night a fight occurred in the street near the polls. John Akinson, (who was killed recently by the cars) a large and powerful Irishman and the only whig Celt in the place, stepped across the street to a shop and seizing a blacksmith's sledge came into the crowd and knocked down James Rynders (Isaiah's brother) and the two prize fighters. Before he reached Capt. Rynders the latter drew a pistol and fired into the crowd. During the stam-
87
OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
pede this occasioned the Captain retreated and had his pounded borne from the field, badly demoral- ized. In the melee the sheath of a dagger pistol was dropped by him and secured as evidence.
Isaiah and James Rynders were duly indicted by the next grand jury for riot in connection with Phillips and McCloskey. Isaiah was also indicted for assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill Russell Losee and William Campbell. After several escapades and forfeitures and estreatments of bail bonds they were brought to trial in Decem- ber 1846. William A. Beach was district attorney, but party spirit ran high and the leading whigs of the county assumed the prosecution. The election of Polk in 1844 had been carried by the vote of New York, and Rynders and his shoulder hitting Empire Club had been strongly instrumental in achieving that result. The whigs had now, they thought, the power to shelve him at Dannemora, so they engaged Judiah Ellsworth and John K. Porter, the most able and distinguished of their legal partisans in the county, to assist Mr. Beach. The latter stood aside and gave them full scope. Gen. Bullard defended the prisoners, and had Judge Hay associated with him. When the indict- ments were reached, the prosecution asked the defendants' counsel which of the two they prefer- red to try first. Gen. Bullard promptly responded the riot charge against the four prisoners. The trial was then moved and a jury was impaneled. Russell Losee was called and sworn as to the riot,
88
THE BENCH AND BAR
giving all the facts of the shooting, and testifying that Isaiah Rynders pointed a pistol towards him and discharged it. No objection was made to the testimony by the defendants' counsel. After the prosecution had closed, Judge Hay remarked that as a plain case had been made by the people the defense would offer no testimony. The jury retired and returned with a verdict against Isaiah and James Rynders. Judge Maryin thereupon passed sentence, fining the former $100 and the latter $50.
The prosecution then moved the trial of the indictment against the famous Captain for assault with intent to kill with a deadly weapon. The great crowd that surged into the court house now expected to see the proceedings that would in a few hours consign him to a felon's cell and termin- ate his wild political career. A jury was sworn and Losee again took the witness stand and began to repeat the evidence given on the former trial. At this point Gen. Bullard raised the constitutional objection that a person cannot be tried twice for the same offense, or act ; and claimed that Rynders had already suffered the penalty of the law for the offense the witness was delineating. If a bomb shell had exploded at this minute in the bar the distin- guished counsel for the people could not have been more astonished than at this unexpected upshot of affairs. They argued at length to overcome the objection. The horrid looking sheath (dropped by Rynders in his flight) was dramatically brandished before the court. But all to no avail, Judge Mar-
89
OF SARATOGA COUNTY ..
vin held the objection to be well taken and ordered the discharge of Rynders.
The latter was appointed to a lucrative office in New York by President Polk and held it until removed by Gen. Taylor. Once more he came into political notice. Twenty years ago he and the Empire Club were again active in the campaign that ended in the election of James Buchanan. He was appointed as a reward to the honorable position of marshal of the southern district of New York, and discharged its duties with credit. One of his exploits was his arrest of Lamar's famous yacht Wanderer which was fitted out in the harbor of New York for a slave voyage in the summer of 1860. Rynders dressed himself as a rustic and strolled along the wharf one forenoon. In this incognito he apparently blundered on board of the slaver, and amused the officers and men with his droll and uncouth expressions. Completely allaying their apprehensions, he gathered information which could in no other manner have been obtained, and probably by no other man. In the afternoon, in his character as marshal, he again boarded the yacht at the head of a file of marines and libelled the vessel. This one exploit went a great way towards wiping out with all parties the obloquy formerly attached to his name. He was always kind and generous to his aged parents and sup- ported them in their latter days in comfort. While holding his last office, he one day met Gen. Bul- lard on Broadway. After exchanging salutations,
90
THE BENCH AND BAR
he stated that he had never paid him for that "lit- tle service done for him in Ballston," and then handed him twenty five dollars. It was over ten years after the trial and all legal claim on him was barred. What he did therefore was a matter of honor and gratitude. He is yet living some- where in New Jersey. In his prime he was an earnest and magnetic speaker and had a wonder- ful influence with the uneducated masses whenever he addressed them. The author remembers hear- ing him speak in Choes in 1860.
At the September term 1845, Daniel D. Keeler was tried as an accessory to the crime of William S. Travis who entered the barn of Andrew Van Vranken in Clifton park, April 16, 1845, and took therefrom one horse, a wagon and a harness. Travis had previously been convicted and sent to states prison for five years. The people were represented by District Attorney Beach, John K. Porter and Edward F. Bullard. Keeler was de- fended by John Brotherson and William B. Litch. The jury retired under the charge of constable William B. Harris and returned with a verdict of guilty. Keeler was sent to share Travis' impris- onment.
At the September term 1846 the name of John Radford of Galway, appeared as one of the con- stables in attendance at court. He continued in offi e until his death in 1871, and was regularly summoned by the sheriff to attend all the courts of this county. His white head became to be regarded
91
OF SARATOGA COUNTY.
as much a fixture of the court room as did the four pillars of the bar against one of which he was accus- tomed to recline.
About this period William A. Beach and John K. Porter stood at the front of the bar of Saratoga county and their fame was fast widening and creating the demand for them to remove first to Troy and Albany, and finally to the great metropo- lis of our nation, where they still stand side by side with O'Conor and Evarts in the front rank of the bar of the United States. An incident in their early rivalry and strife to excel is related by an eye wit- ness to the author. At the December term, 1846, William R. Ford of Ballston Spa, and his cousin William H. Ford were brought to trial for an assault and battery on Thomas Mainhood, an Eng- lish giant who resided for many years in that village. The Fords were diminutive lads of their age, and, as their fathers refused to become interested in their behalf, Mr. Porter volunteered to defend them. He excited considerable merriment in court by a com- parison of the size of his "infants" with the her- culean Mainhood. This aroused the leonine energy of Mr. Beach, who pressed the matter to the jury and secured a conviction. Callender Beecher vol- unteered to aid Mr. Porter. The boys were fined $15 each, whereupon Mr. Beach acknowledged the receipt of the fines and in a trumpet tony told the lads to go home and keep out of such bad company. At the same term John McKnight was convicted of arson in firing the store of Samuel Irish, in Ballston
92
THE BENCH AND BAR
Spa, on the night of August 21, 1846. He was defended by Porter and Hay, but was convicted and sentenced to ten years in states prison. At the next term, held in March, 1847, Irish was convicted as an accessory of McKnight and sent up for a like term. His object, it was proved, was to obtain the insurance.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.