The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II, Part 146

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co
Number of Pages: 1345

USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II > Part 146

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"No man can, consistently with personal honor or professional reputation, misstate a fact or a principle to the court or jury. The man who would cheat a court or jury would cheat anybody else. Measured by the lowest standard, that of expediency, no lawyer can, in any case, afford to act meanly or speak untruly. He owes no such duty to his client; an honest client would not be safe in the hands of a lawyer who would do either."

The popular mind, in considering, as it delights in doing, the duties and the faults of the legal profession, dwells most fre- quently and most severely upon the problem of defending criminals known to be guilty. The fallacy involved in the preva- lent objection is in the notion that the interest of morality demands, always, the punishment of a bad man. This may be true; but the interests of morality and of social order demand, above all things, that a bad man shall not be punished unless he has violated some law, and even that a known violator of the law shall not be punished except by the forms of law; for those established and known laws, those fixed rules of procedure, are all that distinguish the institutions of civilization from the sav- age cruelty of an Oriental autocracy or the blind fury of a West- ern lynching mob. Every lawyer who interposes against an eager prosecutor, or a passionate jury the shield of a strictly legal defense, declaring, "you shall not hang or imprison this man, be he guilty or not guilty, until by the established course of procedure, by competent legal evidence, you have proved that he has offended against a definite provision of law, and that the precise provision which you have charged him with violating," is defending not so much the trembling wretch at the bar, as society itself, and the innocent man who may to-morrow be driven by clamor to crucifixion.

But if, in the excitement of controversy, the advocate quibbles with words, or perverts evidence to save his client, he becomes himself an offender; his offense being, not that he defends a guilty man, but that he does that which would not be honest if done in behalf of an innocent man.

In several important criminal cases tried at the Kings County

* De Legibus 2, Sec. 23.

* Numbers, xxx., 14.

t Genesis, xxxi., 39 ; Exodus, xxii., 7, 8, 12, 14, 15.

1232

HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

Bar, to which we have alluded in the course of this work, the counsel for the defense have been condemned, more or less severely, for attempting to shield guilty criminals. We might cite as an evidence of this the defense interposed on behalf of Gonzalez and Pellicier, and that of Fanny Hyde, and other cases. We think Mr. Silliman has disposed of this question in a manner which should carry conviction to all. He says:

" It needs but little thought to convince even the vulgar, that the idea that the vocation of lawyers is inconsistent with the strictest truth, is but vulgar error. In support of the charge, it is often said, that counsel will not refase to defend a prisoner whom he supposes to be guilty of the offense for which he is to be tried. The answer to this is plain: The accused person is not to be tried by the impressions, or even by the convictions, of any one man, whether Iswyer or layman. The law of the land requires, not only for the sake of the accused, but for the safety of every citizen, thst no man shall be tried and convicted except by a jury of twelve men. The question of his guilt or innocence calls for a division of labor in the process by which it is to be determined. It is made the duty of the counsel for the prosecution to conduct one, and of the counsel for the prisoner to conduct the other branch of the investigation; for the former to collect and present before the jury the evidence against the accused, and to state such views adverse to the prisoner as re- sult from the whole testimony; and for the latter to collect and present before the jury the evidence in favor of the prisoner, and to state all such views in his favor as result from the whole testimony."

"If counsel assumes the guilt of an accused person before that guilt has been judicially ascertained, if he determines at the out- set that the accused is guilty, he takes upon himself most un- justifiably the combined character and prerogative of accuser, witness, jury and judge; and if, because of such conclusions in his own mind, he refuses to conduct the defense of the prisoner, he throws the weight of his own character and convictions into the scale against him."

It was, perhaps, this view of the case that induced Rufus Choate to undertake the defense of Albert J. Tirrell for the murder of Maria Bickford, one of the most important criminal trisIs ever tried in Massachusetts, snd strongly analogous to Ogden Hoffman's defense of Richard P. Robinson for the murder of Helen Jewett. Mr. Choate deliberated a long time before entering on that defense, so desperate, so splendid, and so suc- cessful. He was severely criticised by the press for saving what the popular mind believed to be a guilty man from the gallows. "He threw doubts," said his critics, "upon the testimony of the Government, by subtly dissecting what seemed certsin, by artful evidence tending to show that the death of the woman wss produced by her own hand. His defense was so singulsr and audacious that it seemed almost to paralyze the Attorney- General," and yet, when the trial was over, and the public reflected candidly upon Mr. Choate's defense, the popular verdict was in his favor.

Here is an instance where Mr. Silliman's proposition, that counsel shall not throw the weight of his influence against a prisoner, by deciding in his own mind that he is guilty, and therefore refuse to defend him, is illustrated.

In reference to the immense business transactions, financial and otherwise, in which lawyers participate more or less, and the temptations which they in common with all business men are subjected to, he says that cases of fraud are only exceptional and rare.

In considering this subject, Mr. Silliman makes the following happy allusion to Wall street:

"Nothing is less just than the narrow imputations to ' Wall street' of merely overreaching, craft, and sordid lust for money. It would be difficult to overstate the extent of the dealings, or the amounts involved in them, which are had between men hourly at that great financial centre, where each acts exclusively in reliance on the honor and good faith of the other. Bad men, of course, are to be found there as everywhere, yet I believe that no piece of earth is daily trodden by more of honor, enterprise, intelligence, generosity, faith, integrity, than that on which the setting sun daily casts the shadow of the spire of Trinity."

We have referred to Mr. Silliman's Review of the Hymns of the Middle Ages. Of this production we may say that it exhibits not only the learning of the Bar, but the erudition of the scholar.

"Lawyers in full practice," he says, "are like omnibuses, which, when entirely full, can always make room for one more. Mr. Benedict, forever busy in the courts and at his chambers, so engrossed by clients and their causes of charter-parties, insur- ance, collisions, bottomry and respondentia, trusts snd sll other matters of admiralty, common law and equity, that further occupation would seem impossible, yet contrives to steal hours for literary labor and to hold learned converse with St. Hilde- bert, Jacobus de Benedictis, St. Ambrose, St. Thomas Aquinss, Pope Innocent the Second, Thomas of Celsno, Thomas A Kem- pis, Peter the Venerable, Prudentius, Dsmisni and many other mediaval worthies. It is well for the brsin-sick profession thst, from the time of Cicero down, its members have been able to find rest and variety in literary toil and research. Many of the most eminent lawyers in this country and in England havs been hardly less distinguished for their classicsl learning than for their achievements at the Bar."

Mr. Silliman then proceeds to give a long list of eminent American and English lawyers, who have united literary Isbors with professional success. He speaks of the growing taste in the profession for Latin poetry, and especially for the Latin hymns of the Christian Church during the medieval period.

"Some of these poems," he says, "are among the finest speci- mens of the wonderful compactness and power of expression of the Latin language, and no mesn laurels await him who can most nesrly render them in English word for word, and thought for thought. This can only be done, or rather approximsted to, by one who is master of both languages, and is inspired by the exquisite beauty, the pathos and the sublimity of the originsl. It is well remarked by Dr. Schaff thst no poem has so often challenged and defied the skill of translators and imitators, 88 the Dies Irae.

Of this matchless hymn, Mr. Benedict has given thres ver- sions, the second of which, more literal in rythm and translation, we regard as the best, and as among the best which have been made. All his versions have great merit. * * * * * *

In the earlier mines there is rich ore which should not be buried-gems well worthy the search of such skilled collectors as Benedict, Dr. Schaff, Slosson, General Dix, Dr. Coles, and the other accomplished scholars, here and abroad, who, by their translations into English, have excited such general interest in the subject.

The field for such explorations is indeed a brosd one, ex- tending over the long period in which the literature of the world was almost monopolized by the ecclesiastics, all whose writings aimed at the promotion of religion and the advancement of the Church. Besides an unlimited number of legends of the ssints, sermons, trestises, and commentaries, they produced devotional poetry, of which, though much hss perished in the lapse of time, much yet remains. The literature of the sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries especially, seems to have been of almost ex- clusively religious character. Among those of that period was St. Avitus (died 525), who wrote six poems in Latin hexameter, three of which, on the Creation, Original Sin, and the Expulsion from Paradise, not only possess great poetical merit, but bear a remarkable resemblance in plan and detail to Milton's Paradise Lost."*

Mr. Silliman then proceeds to review Mr. Benedict's work. We could wish to enter into a detailed examination of the great excellencies of this review, but our limits will not admit of it, or of more extended reference to the thorough scholar- ship by which it is characterized. We have, however, presented sufficient evidence, in these selections from Mr. Silliman's speeches, of the true manly spirit of loyalty to the best interests of society and to the honor of his profession which so eminently marks his career.

We have only to add, that Mr. Silliman is the President of the Brooklyn Club, an active member of the Long Island Historical Society, and a promoter of many other important institutions and interests which redound to the stability and welfare of the community of which he is so worthy a member.

* Chambers' Mediævai History.

N. B. Dungeon

Engª by AH Ritchie

Samuel Brune Suryear

1233

BENCH AND BAR OF BROOKLYN.

HARMANUS B. DURYEA.

HARMANUS B. DURYEA .- The history of the Duryea family in this country starts with Joost Durie, a Huguenot, who was born in 1650. In the year 1675, he emigrated from Man- heim, in the Palatinate of the Rhine, and was accompanied by his mother and wife, Magdalena La Febre. He settled first at New Utrecht, afterwards on land between Bushwick and Newtown, taking the oath of allegiance there in 1687. His death occurred in 1727. Jacob, the second son of Joost, signed bis name Durye. He was married, in 1708, to Katrina Polhemus, and resided first in Bushwick, afterward in Brooklyn. He died in 1758.

Joost, the eldest son of Jacob, was born in 1709. He was a farmer and millwright at Jamaica South, and married Willemtje Terhune. His brother Abraham was an influen- tial merchant of New York, and a member of the Committee of One Hundred during the Revolutionary War. He wrote his name Duryee, and still later it was changed to Duryea. John, the eldest son of Joost, was born in 1743, and was a flour merchant in New York. His first wife was Sarah Bar- kuloo. In 1771, he married his second wife, Jannetta Rapel- yea, daughter of Cornelius Rapelyea, of Hellgate. Rudolph, the second son of Joost, was Colonel in the Revolutionary Army.

Cornelius Rapelyea Duryea, the second son of John and Jannetta Rapelyea Duryea, was born July 12, 1779. He mar- ried, in 1805, Ann Barkuloo.

Harmanus B. Duryea, son of Cornelius R. Duryea, was horn at Newtown, Queen's; county, N. Y., July 12, 1815. In 1825, the family removed to New York city, and later to Brooklyn. Harmanus commenced the study of law in the office of Thomas W. Clerke, afterwards a Judge of the Su- preme Court of the First Judicial District. He completed his studies with those eminent jurists of Brooklyn, Judges John Greenwood and John Dikeman. At the age of 21, he was admitted to the Bar, and hegan practice as the partner of Judge Greenwood. In 1842, Mr. Duryea was appointed a Supreme Court Commissioner for Kings County, an office of high judicial importance, charged with all the duties of a Judge of the Supreme Court at Chambers. This office was aholished by the constitution of 1846. Soon after assuming the duties of this office, he was appointed Corporation Coun- sel for the city of Brooklyn.

In June, 1847, he was elected District Attorney of Kings County, serving, by re-election, two terms of three years each. In the fall of 1857, Mr. Duryea was elected member of Assembly from Kings County, from the Third Assembly District. In the following year he was re-elected. In 1858 he was the only Republican member of the Assembly south of Alhany.

In recognition of Mr. Duryea's zeal and ability in advanc- ing educational interests, he was appointed a member of the Board of Education in Brooklyn, and served for many years in that capacity.

In 1831, Mr. Duryea became a member of the Hamilton Literary Association. In 1842, he drew and secured the passage of the act of its incorporation, and held the position of its President for a number of terms. Throughout the half century and more of its existence, this association has exercised a powerful influence upon the destinies of the vil- lage and city of Brooklyn. It has now been merged into the Hamilton Club, which proposes to hold a distinctly literary and artistic place in the community.

As early as 1836, Mr. Duryea became connected with the military organizations of Kings county, serving as Lieuten- ant, Captain, Colonel, Brigadier-General, and finally, as Major-General of the Second Division of the National Guard

of the State of New York. This position he held for many years, and at the time of his resignation, in 1869, was the senior Major-General of the State. From 1845 he was ac- tively engaged in the improvement of tbe militia, attending the Legislative sessions in this interest, serving on the State Boards for Revision of Laws and Regulations, and for three terms acting as President of the State Military Association.

Among other marked advances inaugurated by General Duryea, was that of the system of brigade encampments. He also secured the passage, in the New York Legislature, of the act for the establishment of the magnificent parade ground at Prospect Park. When the Civil War opened in 1861, the Second Division was strong in numbers, and among them were military enthusiasts, successful organizers, skillful instructors and accomplished military advocates, 80 that whenever the division was called upon, during the war, for militia or volunteers, it was ready to furnish its quota promptly and without any failure. The militia regi- ments were among the first to rally to the defense of Washington. Among them the 13th, 14th and 28th, of Brooklyn. They furnished officers for the volunteers. The 14th early volunteered for the war, and in emergencies all the regiments of the division, except one, were called to the seat of war. That one was sufficient to preserve order in the division limits, which no riot ever disturbed. General Duryea's talents for organization, and long fa- miliarity with the militia rendered invaluable his services in drilling and forwarding the volunteer regiments, and in re- plenishing the constantly wasting force of the militia. These duties he discharged with a faithfulness and efficiency characteristic of the man; and throughout the dark days of the Rebellion was energetic in serving his country.

As a member of the Bar of Kings county, he always prac- ticed those professional amenities so characteristic in a high- toned lawyer; therefore, his relations with the Judiciary, and with his brethren of the Bar, have always been pleasing and instructive. His retirement from practice was a subject of regret, not only to them, but to those who were accus- tomed to rely upon his professional learning, sound and thoughtful advice, and his acknowledged ability.

SAMUEL BOWNE DURYEA.

SAMUEL BOWNE DURYEA, son of Harmanus B. Duryea and Elizabeth A. Bowne, daughter of Samuel Bowne, was born in . Brooklyn, March 27, 1845. He was a student at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, from which he entered the sophomore class of the New York University, and graduated with honors in 1866. For a time he was a student in the Yale Theological Sem- inary, but decided not to pursue the course intended, on account of special interests demanding his attention.

Mr. Duryea is actively connected with Brooklyn's representa- tive literary and charitable institutions, such as the Brooklyn Library, the Art Association, Children's Aid Society, Young Men's Christian Association, Kings County Temperance Society, Franklin Literary Society, Hamilton Club, and Tree Planting and Fountain Society.

He is in politics an independent Republican, and has given much thought and time to the best interests of the city, as affected by legislative action, in regard to education and taxa- tion; as well as to matters of importance to the State, such as the preservation of its game and fish, and the protection of its forests and streams.

In the year 1869, Mr. Duryea was married, at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Kate, daughter of Walter P. Flanders, Esq.

Mr. Duryea's varied education, public spirit, and zeal for good government in the city of his birth, render him one of Brookyn's valued citizens. His wide acquaintance with literature gives force to his written and spoken productions, among which we mention a paper on The Rightness of Self-love as a Ground of Action, read before the Franklin Literary Society, Nov. 18, 1878; and an Address on Education, delivered before the same asso- ciation, Nov. 24, 1879. These essays are thoughtful and direct in purpose, and exhibit felicity of expression, delicacy of taste and a pure diction.

1234

HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

ALEXANDER McCUE.

JUDGE MCCUE became a resident of the city of Brooklyn so early in his life that he may almost be regarded as a native of the city. He was born at Matamoras, Mexico, in 1827; his parents were natives of Ireland, and before the birth of their son became residents of Matamoras. His father was a merchant of high standing, of considerable enterprise and talent. These qualities were fully recognized by his fellow-citizens, and he became one of the most influential of their number. At the time he settled there, there was not a brick house in the city; it was not long, however, before Mr. McCue erected a tasteful brick house, and his example was soon followed by very many of the leading citizens. When young McCue was seven years of age his parents sent him to Brooklyn to be educated. He had been at school but a short time when he received intelli- gence of his father's death. His mother, a woman of uncommon mental powers, added to those other virtues which make up the exemplary wife and mother, prepared to become a resident in the city where her son was being educated. Accordingly, she disposed of the real property left her by her husband in Mata- moras, and, with her other means, became a resident of Brooklyn.

Young McCne early exhibited scholarly traite; to him the acquisition of learning was easy and natural. Soon after his arrival in Brooklyn, he became an attendant, and we believe a member, of St. James' Catholic Church, in Jay street. So rapid- ly had he advanced in his education that, while yet a mere boy, he became an acceptable Sabbath school teacher in the school of that church. Among his brother teachers at that time, were many of the best-known citizens of Brookyn.

His mother, in the meantime, whose watchful care was con- stantly over him, decided to send him to Columbia College; after a thorough examination, he was found to be well qualified to enter that institution, from whence, in 1846, he graduated with high honors.

As his friends did not consider his education complete, he was sent to Europe to finish it, and he became a student in one of the German universities for a term of two years. After a faithful studentship he returned to this country, prepared to enter upon his chosen profession, the law. He selected for his legal preceptors Hon. John Greenwood and Gen. H. B. Duryea, then partners in the practice of law, and one of the most eminent legal firms in the county of Kings. He was in due time prepared for his examination; this successfully took place, and he was called to the Bar of the State of New York. So closely had he applied himself to his studies, so useful had he become in the office of his accomplished preceptors, that imme- diately after his admission they offered to make him a partner; although the offer was very advantageous, the young lawyer decided to begin practice alone, and this he did with satisfac- tory success.

Mr. McCue had early attached himself to the Democratic party, and he soon became conspicuous among the politicians of the city and county. In 1853 he received the appointment of Assistant District Attorney. He discharged the duties of this office so acceptably that in the autumn of 1856 he was nominated by the Democrats of the county as their candidate for District Attorney. At that time the " Know-Nothing" agitation was at its height, and Mr. McCue and all the nominees on the Demo- cratic ticket, with the exception of James Hutchins-who was elected State Senator-were defeated. In the autumn of 1857 he accepted the nomination as the independent candidate for Con- gress, against George Taylor, tho regalar Democratic nominee. He was defeated and Taylor was elected, but afterwards the Democrats of the district strongly regretted that they had not nominated and elected McCue. He now devoted himself closely to his profession, and so rapidly did his reputation as a lawyer increase that in 1859 he was elected by the Board of Aldermen

Corporation Counsel. At the expiration of his official term he was re-elected, and when his second term expired he was suc- ceeded by Hon. JOHN G. SCHUMAKER, an eminent lawyer of the Brooklyn Bar. At the expiration of Mr. Schumaker's term, Mr. McCue was again appointed Corporation Counsel. The evidence of the distinguished abilities which he brought to this office is his repeated election to it, and those records in which his official acts are recorded. The Brooklyn Eagle said of him : "As a lawyer, Mr. McCue bears the highest reputation, and his judgment on intricate knotty points of law is second to no other lawyer in the State." The history of his career at the Bar abounds in important cases in which he was counsel for one or the other of the parties litigant. In consideration of his abilities as an advocate, he was assigned as one of the counsel in the celebrated case of the People v. Gonzales; and when that case reached the Court of Appeals he conducted the argument of the appeal in that tribunal with marked learning and ability.

When, by the amendment of the Constitution, it became cer- tain that two additional judges were to be added to the Bench of the City Court, Judge McCue was very early solicited to become a candidate; but he thought proper to decline, and with his family visited Europe. But when the time came for nominat- ing candidates for that office, he, with Hon. Joseph Neilson, was nominated by the Democrats of the city, and, as we have seen, he and Judge Neilson were elected for the term of fourteen years. On his return from Europe, he entered upon the duties of his office-how ably and learnedly let the profession and the public answer. We venture the assertion, however, mak- ing it a matter of history, that the answer must be in every sense gratifying to Judge McCue and to his friends.

We recall an instance in his judicial career in which his charge to a jury became a matter of much favorable comment by the press, the profession and the public. It was his charge to the jury in the case of The People v. Perry, a physician, or a pretend- ed physician, who had been indicted for producing the death of a woman by malpractice in an attempt at abortion. In the course of his charge the Judge said that "a medical practitioner, regular or otherwise, must be held as bound to be able to per- form the functions he professes to discharge, and that he is not only responsible for the commission of errors in his practice, but he is liable for any avoidable injurious omissions of duty. Heretofore in practice, if not in law, charlatans and irreg- ulars have been employed by patients at their own risk, and such a thing as malpractice has hardly been thought of." Judge McCue's rulings, said the New York Times, commenting upon his charge, " whether it be new, or an anomalously luminous putting of the law, as it is, is in the interest of sound and regular medicine and surgery and the preservation of human life."

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The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II, Part 146

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed Publication date: 1884 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co Number of Pages: 1345

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co
Number of Pages: 1345