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 148

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 148

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).

* See The People v. Toynbee (20 Barb., 168 ; S. C. 13 N. Y., 378).

1238

HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

JOHN C. PERRY.

No circumstance in the history of the Bench and Bar of Brook- lyn, or of Kings County, is fraught with more mournful interest than the sudden termination of the life of this eminent and widely esteemed lawyer.

He came to Brooklyn in 1854, a young and ardent lawyer, and entered upon the duties of his profession, having thoroughly studied the principles of law in the writings and productions of the great masters of jurisprudence with a strong, though quiet, determination to succeed in his profession. Without display, with unpretending ability, and undoubted legal accomplish- ments, he succeeded to an extent that would be gratifying to many more ambitious men. One of his strong endowments was his intuitive faculty of making friends, and of inspiring all who knew him with the highest confidence in his integrity and honor.

It would, however, be the work of supererogation for us to enter upon any extended eulogy of Mr. Perry, after the beautiful tribute of respect paid to his memory by the Brooklyn Bench and Bar soon after his death.

John C. Perry was born at Forrestburg, Sullivan County, New York, on April 21, 1832. Having passed through an ele- mentary course at the common school, he entered Monticello Academy, where he acquired an excellent practical education, and while very young he entered on the study of the legal pro- fession. He pursued his studies with such industry and success that he was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of the State as soon as he attained the age of 21 years, as by the Con- stitution he could not have been admitted before that time. After practicing three years, he was appointed Assistant Distriet Attorney of Ulster County, having removed to that county from Sullivan County after his admission.

In the autumn of 1857 he removed to Brooklyn, and began the practice of his profession in the city of New York; but, like many other lawyers whose residence is in Brooklyn, he practiced in both cities.

Mr. Perry soon took a prominent position at both Bars, and in the city of Brooklyn he secured the confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens in a marked degree. Whatever tended to the interests of Brooklyn he always warmly advocated.

He early became a political partisan and a member of the Republican party, conscientiously and firmly upholding or maintaining the principles of his party ; he felt it to be as much a man's duty to take an interest in politics as was the advancement of his own individual affairs ; that the good order and welfare of society is subserved by the interest which respectable and responsible men take in politics. Thus Mr. Perry came to a position so prominent in the Republican party in Kings County that, in the autumn of 1863, he was nominated and elected member of Assembly by his party, taking his seat in the Legislature January 5, 1864. In the fall of that year he was returned to the Legislature, serving in that body from January 3rd to April 28th, 1865. The late Gen. Philip S. Crooke was one of his colleagues in his first legislative ses- sion.

In the spring of 1865, Mr. Perry was appointed Assistant United States District Attorney for the Eastern District of New York by Hon. Benjamin D. Silliman, a name conspicuous in the history of the State, who was at that time United States District Attorney for the Eastern District. This was an ex- ceelingly high compliment to Mr. Perry as a man and as a lawyer. The manner in which he discharged the duties of his office greatly enchanced his professional reputation.

Mr. Silliman resigned the office in the fall of 1866, and was succeeded by Hon. Benjamin F. Tracy. Although it was the wish of Judge Tracy that Mr. Perry should continue as his assistant, such were his professional duties that he declined.

In 1871 Mr. Perry was elected State Senator in the Second

District; his Democratic opponent was James F. Pierce, who entered the canvass backed by a Democratic majority of over one thousand. Nothing in the life of Mr. Perry so thoroughly illustrates his popularity as a man, and the strong hold he had upon the confidence and esteem of the people, than the result of this election: he was elected-to use the expression of politicians, he ran more than one thousand votes ahead of his ticket. At the close of his Senatorial term, he declined a tendered re- nomination, determined to devote himself entirely to the duties of his profession. In 1880 he was appointed Counsel to the Brooklyn Police and Excise Department, a position which he held until he resigned it, a short time previous to his death.

About the last of March, 1884, he was tendered, by President Arthur, the position of Chief Justice of Wyoming Territory, on the recommendation of nearly all the judges and ex-judges of his district. He accepted it, and there are very few who would not; and at the time of his death, which occurred on the 14th of April, had completed his arrangements for his departure to enter upon the duties of his office. One of the pleasant incidents connected with his anticipated departure was a reception ten- dered him by the Brooklyn Club. Many other agreeable cir- cumstances exhibited the anxiety of his numerous friends to testify of their esteem for him, and give him a heartfelt farewell. "The congratulations showered upon him," said the Brooklyn Eagle, "had the value of perfect sincerity. A life of hard labor lay behind him; before him, according to all human foresight, were honor, distinction, comparative ease and comfort. He, with his family, were looking forward to the enjoyment of his reward; was engaged in preparation for his journey to the scenes of his new activities. The very day before his departure, apparently in full and vigorons health, while on the street with his daughter making his final arrangements, he suddenly and with- out any warning fell senseless, and, without speaking a farewell word to his family, a few hours after died. An hour had worked an awful change in his household, and all his friends were benumbed with the suddenness of the stroke."

The sudden death of one so conspicuons in Brooklyn, under such circumstances, produced a profound sensation, which was attested by many public and private demonstrations; the most prominent of which was a large meeting of the Brooklyn Bench and Bar, which convened on the 16th of April, to give cxpres- sion to the high esteem in which they held his memory, of their past appreciation of his character, and of their sorrow for his death. We have already referred to this meeting; it was one of unusnal interest and solemnity, attended by the ablest members of the Brooklyn Bench and Bar. The following is a description of the proceedings of the meeting, which we give as an incident worthy to enter the legal history of Kings County and of Brook- lyn:

Members of the Benoh and Bar met in the General Term room of the Supreme Court, to take action on the death of the Hon. John C. Perry, Chief Justice of Wyoming Ter- ritory. In attendance were Justices Pratt, Cullen and Bartlett, of the Supreme Court; Chief Judge McCue, and Judges Rey- nolds and Clement, of the City Court; Judge Moore, of the County Court; Surrogate Bergen, ex-Chief Judge Neilson, ex- Justice Gilbert, ex-Judge Tracy, ex-Judge Morris, ex-Judge Troy, ex-Judge Towns, ex-Judge Dailey, Corporation Counsel Taylor, ex-Judge Jesse C. Smith, ex-Judge Lynch, Hon. W. C. De Witt, Hon. Theodore F. Jackson, Hon. Isaac S. Catlin, ex-Judge Livingston, Hon. John Winslow, District Attorney Ridgway and Assistant District Attorneys Shorter and Jenks, Charles J. Patterson, F. E. Dana, William B. Davenport, Robert Johnstone, Henderson Benedict, Charles Ridgway, H. B. Hubbard, Henry A. Heirs, James Glendenning, Joseph M. Green- wood, F. L. Backus, J. J. Rogers, A. E. Lamb, A. Simis, W. E. S. Fales, A. H. Gelting, A. P. Hermann, W. L. Whiting, George W. Mead, Hugo Hirsch, J. J. Leary, Edgar Bergen,

1239

BENCH AND BAR OF BROOKLYN.

William Shields, John C. McGuire, John R. Kuhn, William Hemstreet, H. B. Hubbard, Benjamin Baker, Robert Connolly, Georgs T. Walker, Edward Reilly, F. A. Ward, Abraham Lott, William H. Green, Robert Pinckney, J. Z. Lott, Mark D. Wilbur, James D. Bell, J. B. Hurd, George W. Roederick, Alex. T. Car- penter. Hassan H. Wheeler, P. J. O'Hanlon, Patrick Keady, Judah B. Voorhees, John U. Shorter, Jesse Johnson, Thomas E. Pearsall, David Barnett, F. W. Catlin, E. C. Lowe, F. N. O'Brien, W. C. L. Thornton, N. W. Hewlett, H. R. Cruikshank, Arthur C. Salmon, John Hess, Edward B. Lansing, W. G. Cook, A. P. Carlin, Charles E. Lowery, John B. Meyenborg, Henry S. Bellows, George Elliott, Charles Wills, John D. Pray, Richard C. Curren, H. M. Birkett, R. O. Catlin, H. D. Birdsall, William Sweetzer, Assistant District Attorney Clark, and Michael Furst.

THE PROCEEDINGS.

The meeting was called to order by W. C. De Witt, who pro- posed Judge Reynolds as chairman, with Mr. Justice Cullen, Mr. Justice Bartlett, County Judge Moore, Chief Judge McCue, Judge Reynolds, Judge Clements and Surrogate Bergen associated. Charles J. Patterson and F. A. Ward were nomi- nated as secretaries.

Mr. F. E. Dana, by request, offered for adoption the follow- ing:

"The members of the Kings County Bar, represented in a gene- ral meeting convened for that purpose, at the Court House in the City of Brooklyn, on the 16th day of April, 1884, hereby publicly express their respect and esteem for the character of the late John C. Perry. In his professional, official and private life he was alike faithful, upright and modest, and in the dig- charge of his public duties he was able, diligent and singularly courteous. The judicial career which was he about to begin, as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Wyoming, would have made those merite more widely known, but the promotion was not needed to secure their recognition hero. This expression of regard from his associates in the legal profession, attested by the signatures of the judges who have presided at the meeting, will be transmitted to his family to signify the sympathy which the Bar extends to them in their deep affliction."

Mr. Robert Johnstone seconded the resolution, and Judge Reynolds called for remarks, and named Judge Tracy.

Judge Tracy said that the unexpected death of their friend reminded them all how vain and uncertain was life. In the prime of manhood John C. Perry was stricken down while in the pursuit of ordinary business, and while making arrange- ments to depart to assume an honorable and exalted judicial position. Of the esteem and respect which he possessed in this city, and especially among his professional brethren, the meet- ing was sufficient proof. It was the speaker's good fortune to know Judge Perry long and intimately. He was a noble man, a true and generous friend, fulfilling faithfully every duty of life, pursuing his profession in an honorable way and in a high- ly successful degree. Living among them as he had for thirty years, he thought he might say that John C. Perry was without an enemy, which could be said of very few men, and that was certainly a proof that he had not lived in vain. He was honored not only by his professional brethren, but by the City of Brook- lyn, which he had represented in both branches of the Legisla- ture. He had filled public positions which few filled without escaping criticism, but against him not a word had ever been uttered. He had filled those positions and discharged all the duties they imposed without a breath of suspicion against his name. It was fitting that the members of the Bench and Bar should in such a manner commend such a life.

Corporation Counsel John A. Taylor thought that it was highly creditahle to the Bar, as a profession, that when a mem- ber fell out of the ranks by death, they should meet and, leav- ing their business for a time, consider the character of the man who had passed from among them. Judge Perry carried with

him at all times the manner of a gentleman. His chief characteristic was his true manhood. His memory would dwell in the affection of all who knew him, and it was proper that by common impulse they should thus meet and testify to the eolid worth of their dead friend.

Mr. Charles J. Patterson said that the genius of John C. Perry was of the quiet kind. For the last two years he had been in close contact with him, and could testify, though with a sad heart he did it, to his worth and nobility as a man. Under a modest ex- terior was hidden a large knowledge of his profession iu all its branches. He was most careful and conscientious in the daily business of life, painstaking and faithful in the most minute matters as well as in the greater. On all he did was shed a spirit of kindness, of courtesy, of self-denial, and he would always rather confer a benefit than seek to receive one. He felt that he. was a better man for having known Judge Perry.

Mr. H. Benedict indorsed the sentiments of the speakers, and was followed by Mr. M. L. Towns, who eulogized the dead man, and epoke feelingly of the pleasant relations existing between them.

Hon. M. D. Wilber said that he had been a friend of John C. Perry ever since he was admitted to the Bar. He served with him at Albany, and on the same committee, and his influence there was the same as it was in social life. His life was pure and free from any taint of wrong doing. It reflected honor on his constituency there, as it reflected honor on the Bar here, when the President named John C. Perry as Chief Justice of Wyoming Territory.

Judge Reynolds said that it seemed to him appropriate that they should pause a moment in the midst of the excitement and pressure of business, and take notice of the admonition which had come so suddenly. Judge Perry told the speaker that he intended to open court on Monday next, the 52d anniversary of his birth. He had not only been held in high esteem by the Bar, but had been repeatedly indorsed by his fellow-citizens, and when he was named for the high position to which he was appointed, every judge in the city of Brooklyn signed a letter indorsing him.

On motion, it was ordered that the resolutions be signed by the judges presiding, and that a copy be sent to the family.

THOMAS G. SHEARMAN.

THOMAS G. SHEARMAN, though not native born, is by nature as well as by the education of a long residence in this country thoroughly American in political creed and in loyal devotion to her general interests. He was born in Birmingham, England, in November, 1834, and at the age of nine years came to New York, with his parents. His father was a practicing physician; his mother a lady of superior talent and character, under whose supervision his education was completed at home.

Early in 1857, he took up his residence in Brooklyn, which has ever since been his home, and where he is now, as he has been for some years past, well known throughout the community for his abilities as a leading lawyer and his public services as a citizen.

Mr. Shearman was admitted to the Kings County Bar in 1859, but before completing his studies preparatory to his admis- sion to practice, his literary tastes led him to engage, in connection with the late John L. Tillinghast, in the prepa- ration of a treatise on practice, the first volume of which was published early in 1861, under the general title of " Tillinghast and Shearman's Practice." The second volume was written by Mr. Shearman alone; and the treatise thus completed was at once recognized by the profession as in every way an admirable piece of work. It is understood that the book is now out of print.

1240

HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

Pursuing his taste in this direction still further, Mr. Shearman devoted some years, after his admission to the Bar, to the prepar- ation of briefs, the codification of certain branches of the law, and other work of a studious and somewhat retired character.

Subsequently, in the year 1869, Mr. Shearman, in association with A. A. Redfield, Esq., published a treatise on the Law of Negligence, of which four editions have been published to this time. This was a pioneer work on this subject, in this country as well as in England; and, in the estimation of the Bench and Bar, has held its own with several works on the same subject since published by distinguished and able writers.

After the publication of this book, Mr. Shearman seems to have abandoned any literary ambition he may have had, and entered actively into the practice of his profession. His great knowledge of cases, English and American, his comprehensive grasp of legal principles, and the clearness of his style, gave him repeated successes in the General Term and Court of Appeals, in cases which were considered desperately hopeless even by the lawyers who retained him, who had been beaten in the court below.

The Civil War gave rise to many important and difficult ques- tions of law, not the least of which was whether the Rebellion constituted a "war " within the strict legal meaning of that term, and therefore whether insurance companies were exempt, under the old-fashioned war-risk clause in their policies, from liability for the destruction of Northern vessels by Southern cruisers.

The case of Swinerton v. Columbian Ins. Co., in the Superior Court of New York City, was one involving this novel question. It appeared that a vessel was captured by an armed band of Virginians, two days after Virginia had passed an ordinance of secession, but before the fact was officially published. No evi- dence could be procured by the company that the capture was made under any regular official authority; and the General Term of the Superior Court unanimously held that the capture was not such an act of war as exempted the insurance company from liability under the war risk clause of its policy. The in- surance company's counsel, as a forlorn hope, engaged Mr. Shearman to argue an appeal to the Court of Appeals from this decision, which he did in September, 1867, and with com- plete success, as appears by a report of the case, reversing the judgment below, reported in the 37th volume of the New York Reports. .

In 1868, Mr. Shearman went into partnership with the dis- tinguished advocate, David Dudley Field, and his son Dudley Field, under the firm name of Field & Shearman, into which firm, later in the same year, Mr. John W. Sterling was admitted a partner. During the whole existence of this copartnership, its business was one of the largest of any firm of practition- ers in New York.

The new firm was almost immediately called upon to take charge of the legal business of the Erie Railway Company, Mr. Shearman being appointed to the responsible position of office counsel. Assuch, he had personal supervision of the company's law business throughout the State, and for several years devoted his entire time to their service. The great law-suits growing out of the contest for the control of the Erie Railway Company, the Atlantic and Great Western, and the Albany and Susque- hanna Railway Companies, attracted universal public attention, and greatly extended Mr. Shearman's reputation as not only a skillful advocate, but as an inventor, or, rather, a re-discoverer of some lost and forgotten remedies applicable to the cases in hand, and which proved to work with admirable success for his clients. Chief among these was the use of a writ of assistance, as a means of putting a Receiver, appointed pendente lite, into possession of the property, and also the service of an in- junction in a distant part of the State by telegraphic copies. This last procedure called forth loud complaints on the part of some of the leading newspapers of the day, and even of some lawyers. But the same practice, in both respects, was quickly adopted by his opponenta in the same cases. Since that time

the English Courts of Equity have unanimously decided that it is not merely proper to telegraph an injunction or similar writ, but also that a copy of such a writ sent directly over the tel- egraph to the adverse party or his attorney is a perfectly good service, and that disobedience of an injunction thus served is a contempt of court; and thie decision being appealed from, has been unanimously affirmed.

In the fall of 1873 Mr. Shearman and Mr. Sterling formed a new firm by themselves. In the now famous trial of Theodore Tilton against Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, which lasted six months continuously in open court, and involved the labor ef several months in preliminary and collateral proceedings, Mr. Shearman, as a warm personal friend of Mr. Beecher of many years' standing, was actively engaged as counsel for the defense, his firm of Shearman & Sterling being the attorneys of recerd for the defendant. His application in that case for a bill of par- ticulars had no precedent in this country, and was generally considered by the Bar as hopeless; and a majority of the court before which the motion was first argued would seem to have been of the same opinion; but McCue, J., dissented; and, en appeal, the Court of Appeals created a genuine sensation by re- versing the decision below, in an elaborate opinion by Rapallo, J., which has been followed in all American courts, and has settled the law on this point.

Mr. Shearman's new firm were, from 1874 to 1876, attorneys and counsel for Mr. Jay Gould in about 100 actions for damages brought against him and others, who were believed to be inter- ested in creating the gold panic of 1869. The trial of these actions attracted a large share of public attention, and popular feeling ran strongly against Mr. Gould and the other defend- ants. The cases were tried before several different judges; but in every instance the defendants were successful.

The case of Black v. The Continental Bank arose out of exten- sive forgeries committed by one Ross, who fled to Brazil with $400,000 in gold, and was never captured. He obtained $60,000 from Mr. Black on a certified check, which the hank declared to be a forgery. On the first trial, ten of the jury favored a verdict for the plaintiff, believing the certification to be genuine. After this, Shearman & Sterling were substituted as attorneys and counsel for the defendant. The second trial (before Van Brunt, J.) was hotly contested, and many new scientific tests were in- troduced on behalf of the defendant, which won the verdict.

Mr. Shearman still continues in the active practice of his profession, being yet a comparatively young man. There are other lawyers in Brooklyn who have doubtless tried more cases in the courts than he has ; but it is well understood that his business out of court, or "chamber business," as it is called, has largely increased in recent years, and that in substantial value it exceeds that of any other lawyer residing in Brooklyn. His connection with cases which have attracted so large a share of public attention and newspaper controversy has made his name more widely known than that of almost any other Breek- lyn lawyer.

In politics, Mr. Shearman has always been a Republican, hav- ing been one of the young men who came of age when that party was formed, and so cast their first votes for its first can- didate, Fremont, and having voted for every Republican Presi- dent since. Originally, he was a decided protectionist ; but he changed his views upon this point about twenty years ago, as the result of more careful study, and has - ever since been a believer in free trade. It is safe to say that no one has done more to forward its interests, and to diffuse a better under- standing of it among the community, than Mr. Shearman. With an ardor and foree peculiarly his own, and with a most earnest conviction of the advantages which would accrue to the country from a free trade system, he has unflinchingly advo- cated its adoption. Being of opinion that the questions grew- ing ont of slavery, the war and the currency were, however, more important than the issue of free trade, he took no part in

Jad & Theamman

1241

BENCH AND BAR OF BROOKLYN.

bringing it into politics, until after the Presidential election of 1880. Since that period he has devoted most of his time and energy, outside of his professional engagements, to the organi- zation of the free trade movement. He was the originator of the Brooklyn Revenue Reform Club, which has become famous throughout the country as the first organization which opened a platform for the free discussion of the great economio issues of the day, instead of confining it to the advocacy of one side or tha other exclusively. As chairman of its Executive Com- mittee, hs has superintended all its work. He has also had a larger ahars than any other Eastern man in organizing the free trade movement in Iowa, where it has made a progress so re- markable as to have attracted general interest, the revenue re- formara having gained four or five members of Congress in that Stata.

Mr. Shearman represents the most advanced views on this sub- ject, being an advocate of absoluta, immediate and uncondi- tional fres trade, with the repeal of all tariffs and all methods of indirect taxation. Of course, these extreme views are accepted by only a small minority of the people at present; but as Mr. Shearman always declined office when among the majority, he is probably not concerned to find himself in a minority. But he is alao a thoroughly practical man, ready to accept whatever conces- siona he can secure. He has, therefore, been able to exert con- aiderable influence upon the course of economic discussion; and ha wasaelected by the principal free trade societies of the country as the leading representative of the cause before Congress on the hearings lately given upon the proposed reduction of the tariff. Ha has made numerous speeches on this subject, not only in Brooklyn, but alao in the principal cities of this State and in Michigan and Iowa.

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.

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 148

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