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 153

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 153

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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

of the evidence, and with part of the preparation and ar- rangement of the authorities relied on by the plaintiff's counsel in the many mighty law questions affecting the litigation. That he discharged this onerous and not pub- licly apparent duty with great research and with exhaustive skill, his professional associates and opponents abundantly attested by their labors upon the subject, and their elaborate and prolonged development in the public trial of the case. Though the junior of any of the other legal gentlemen in this controversy, Mr. Pearsall had at the time been in active practice at the Bar for twelve years, and had become identified with many leading cases in the Second Judicial District.

On April 20, 1865, Mr. Pearsall was united in marriage to Miss Henrietta, daughter of Archibald Hardie, Esq., of Brooklyn.

Mr. Pearsall takes much interest in politics, exercising con- siderable influence in the political arena, and maintaining the principles of his party on the stump, and is regarded as a successful political orator.

He has been a prominent member of the regular Democratic General Committee for many years; he has never yet held any office, and we are not aware that he was ever a candidate for office.

Mr. Pearsall's social relations are very pleasing; among the organizations, social and otherwise, to which he helongs, are the Oxford and Carlton Club, Peconic Council, Royal Arcanum, and Legion of Honor.

ISAAC S. CATLIN.

ISAAC S. CATLIN was born at Owego, New York, in 1832. He was very early fitted for a collegiate course, and entered Hobert College, at Geneva, from which he was graduated at an age when most boys enter college, and immediately began his legal studies in the city of New York, and was called to the Bar soon after attaining his majority; when but twenty-three years of age he returned to Owego. At this time, Hon. Benjamin F. Tracy and Hon. Gilbert Walker were practicing law as partners at Owego, forming one of the most brilliant and successful law firms in Southern New York. Soon after his return to Owego, Catlin became the junior member of this firm, entering actively and ardently into the practice of his profession. He continued a member of the firm until the breaking out of the Rebellion, when the lawyer was lost in the soldier. Catlin was one of the first to enlist in the service of his country. He entered the service in the 3d N. Y. S. Volunteers, and was soon at the seat of war. Under drill and discipline, he soon acquired that knowledge of the profession of arms which, with native valor, inspired by pa- triotism, prepared him for the rapid promotion that awaited him. He was soon-for gallant and meritorious services-advanced to the rank of colonel of the fighting 109th N. Y. S. V's. He par- ticipated in many of the most important battles of the war, in- cluding the battle of Big Bethel, and the long series of sangui- nary contests in the Wilderness.

While gallantly leading his command to the assault of Peters- burg, he was so terribly wounded by the explosion of a mine that the amputation of his right leg was necessary.

Upon the cessation of hostilities, Catlin, who had been bre- vetted a brigadier-general, returned to Owego and resumed the practice of his profession.

In November 1865, he received the nomination for District Attorney of Tioga County, and was elected by a very large majority.

When it is remembered that his predecessors were such men as Ezra S. Sweet, Benjamin F. Tracy and Delos O. Hancock, it will be seen how responsible was the position which he assumed. That the administration of his office was successful, is sufficient evidence of the learning and ability he brought to it. But he could not overcome his love for the life of a soldier; civic honors were not sufficient to attract him from it, and at the conclusion

of his official term he entered the regular army, and was soon after appointed to the command of the Freedman's Bureau, at Louisville, Ky. At the end of seventeen months he resigned his commission, and became a resident of Brooklyn, and as the law partner of Gen. B. F. Tracy, who had also become a resident of the city, resumed the practice of his profession. He soon took an active and influential part in politics as a member of the Republican party. In the fall of 1874, he was nominated for District Attorney by his party, but declined in favor of Gen. Philip S. Crooke, who accepted the nomination, but was defeated in the canvass. In 1876, Gen. Catlin was nominated for Congress for the 3d Congressional District, but was defeated in the election.

In the meantime he continued in the active duties of his pro- fession, having reached a commanding position at the Bar. He has often been called upon to contend with the best and strongest legal minds in the State, while many of the causes in which he has been engaged were of that superior prominence which renders them established precedents.

Space will not permit us to give any description of the large number of important trials in which he was engaged; we can- not, however, refrain from briefly alluding to the prominent part he took as one of the counsel in the celebrated case of The People v. Fanny Hyde, tried at Brooklyn, April 15, 1872 (see Important Trials). There was a brilliant array of associates with Gen. Catlin in this defense, but the duty of opening the case to the jury fell to him. Whoever reads his opening address to the jury will be profoundly interested and instructed by it, and we feel sure all who heard it, and all who have read it, will agree with us in saying, if this was the only effort Gen. Catlin ever made at the Bar, it would alone have established his reputation as an advocate of high standing.

The opening of a case to a jury, though not always so under- stood, is one of the most difficult and responsible duties which can be assigned to a lawyer. It is the first presentation of the case after the affirmative has been in communication with the jury. It breaks in upon the theory and the relation of the prose- cutor, and for the first time convinces the jurors, if rightly done, that there are, indeed, two sides to the case; and it estab- lishes the theory designed to overthrow the hypothesis on which rests the prosecution. Hence an eloquent, careful and ingenious narration of the defense, in analytic order, in a measure neutralizes the effect of the affirmative evidence in the minds of the jurors, paving the way for successful defensive evidence.

The manner in which Gen. Catlin opened the defense for Fanny Hyde is sufficient evidence of his accomplishments in this branch of practice. His appeal to the intelligence of the jury was of high tone, broad in scope, deep in power, proving him an accomplished verbalist.

In 1877, Gen. Catlin received the nomination for District Attorney, and was elected by a large majority; his term expired December, 1880, and on October 22 of that year he was renomi- nated, and at the ensuing election was elected. His second term of office expired December 31, 1883; he wss succeeded by James W. Ridgway.

The history of his official duties are so freshly and so promi- nently before the people, that it needs no repetition by us. He has returned to the practice of his profession with an experience in all its branches that cannot fail to render his future career at the Bar eminently successful.

JAMES W. RIDGWAY.

MR. RIDGWAY has been at the Bar about thirteen years, in which time he has attained the reputation of a very vigilant, well-learned and successful lawyer. He tries a cause with great dexterity, presents his case to the jury attractively, and if elo- quence consists in the art of convincing, then we may say

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eloquently. He always succeeds in putting the jury in posses- sion, in a well-reasoned manner, of all the facts and circumstances on which he relies to gain their verdict; if he does not always convince them, he most certainly gains their most respectful attention; he is equally successful with the court in making a legal argument. He has given much attention to criminal law, and has been very successful in that branch of practice; his ability in this department has been so generally recognized that he now occupies the position of publio prosecutor of the County of Kings.

Mr. Ridgway is a native of North Branch, N. J., and is a son of Joseph S. and Margaret Ridgway. When a boy he was placed at school in Brooklyn, where he prepared to enter Moravian College, at Nazareth, Pa. Having completed his classical educa- tion, he went to New York, and was regularly entered as a law student in the office of J. S. Ridgway, Esq., under whose in- struction he prepared for the Bar. He took his degree as an attorney and counselor-at-law at a General Term of the Supreme Court held at Brooklyn, September, 1871, and soon after began his practice in this city, under circumstances we have already described.

We have spoken of his position as public prosecutor, the suc- ceasor of Gen. Issac S. Catlin. In the fall of 1883, he was nomi- nated by the Democratic party for the office of District Attorney. His opponent was ROBERT PAYNE, Esq., a lawyer of vigorous and cultivated understanding, of much deliberation and candor, well versed in the learning of his profession, and is conceded a very high position at the Bar. Mr. Payne received the Republi- caa nomination for District Attorney of Kings County, in recognition of his standing as a lawyer, a citizen, and his well- known qualifications for the office to which he was nominated. But his party was in the minority and he was defeated, but under circumstances which exhibited how highly he was ap- preciated by the electors of the county.

Mr. Ridgway entered upon the duties of his office January 1, 1884, and at this writing has discharged them for over four months. The duties of District Attorney in Kings County are peculiarly arduous and of great responsibility; thus far Mr. Ridgway's great industry and happy faculty of dispatching business, and untiring adherence to all his duties, have been manifested.

It is ssid that a public man never exhibits his strength of mind more substantially than in selecting proper assistants- mea whose abilities blend with his in the discharge of his duties. In this respect Mr. Ridgway has shown peculiar sagacity. His assistants are John U. Shorter, John F. Clarke, and Albert F. Jenks, three accomplished members of the junior Bar of Brook- lyn, who bring to their office those abilities and that learning which must largely subserve the interests of the people.

SEYMOUR S. PELOUBET.

THOUGH Mr. Peloubet is not strictly a member of the Brooklyn Bar, he is intimately connected with it as an extensive law book publisher, who furnishes for lawyers and judges the libraries in which they prepare, and keep themselves prepared, for the duties of the Bench and the Bar. Perhaps his general knowl- edge of law and law books is equal to any lawyer in practice, and perhaps no man knows how to select a library better than he.

In speaking of the great increase of law books, Mr. Peloubet BBys: "The multiplication of law books has been so rapid of late years, that few lawyers can procure, by their own private resources, all they need for the work of their profession. This multiplication has correspondingly increased the number of volumes it is necessary for every lawyer who would be thorough and accurate in the discharge of his professional duties to con- sult. For this reason, public law libraries have become indis- pensable to the legal profession. The expenditure simply for

the purchase of the annual law reports of England and America is so great that but few members of the profession, and only the stronger public libraries, are able to procure them. The number of pages of reported cases of the English and American Courts published yearly is not less than 90,000; add to this the yearly volumes of statute law, works on elementary law, and different law treatises, and it is obviously only a problem of arithmetic to ascertain the time when the walls of our great public libraries will not longer afford space for the load."

A report of the Bar Association of the City of New York shows that, from the year 1794 to 1873-a period of seventy-nine years -there were published in the State of New York alone 500 volumes of reported cases, more than one-third of the reports of Great Britain for 565 years. Mr. Peloubet prepared a statement showing the age and number of volumes of some of the libraries of the world, from which we take the following:

The Law Library of Lincoln's Inn, of London, is one of the oldest, dating its beginning from 1497; that of the Middle Temple, from 1641; and the Library of the Faculty of Advocates, in Edinburgh, from 1680.

Our American law libraries are products of the present cen- tury; very few have had an existence of over fifty years. The following is a list of the law libraries in the State of New York, the date of their origin, and number of volumes:

Attorney-General's, at Albany, founded in 1850, containing 2,600 vols .; Court of Appeals Library, at Albany, founded in 1849, 2,000 vols .; Law Library, at Belmont, Allegany County, founded in 1860, 2,500 vols .; Brooklyn Law Library, founded in 1850, 5,325 vola .; Supreme Court Library, Eighth Judicial Dis- trict, Buffalo, founded in 1863, 5,250 vols .; Hamilton Law School Library, Clinton, N. Y., founded 1864, 5,000 vols .; Mon- ticello, Sullivan County, Law Library, 1869, 2,156 vols .; New York Bar Association Law Library, founded in 1870, 9,077 vols .; Columbia College Law School Library, New York City, founded in 1860, 4,500 vols .; Law Institute Law Library, New York City, founded in 1828, 20,000 vols .; The Supreme Court, First Depart- ment, First Judicial District, Law Library, New York City, founded in 1852, 2,000 vols .; Court of Appeals Library, Roches- ter, N. Y., founded in 1849, 10,000 vols .; Fourth Judicial District Law Library, Schenectady, N. Y., founded 1866, 2,500 vols .; Court of Appeals Law Library, Syracuse, N.Y., founded in 1849, 8,500 vols.

The State of New York has more than double the number of law libraries than any other State in the Union; the aggre- gate number of volumes in the law libraries being about 81,408; the oldest library being founded only a little over fifty years ago. The enterprise which has characterized the growth of our State has been, in no department, more manifest than in that of our public law libraries.

Mr. Peloubet, and the firms with which he has been con- nected, have furnished a large number of the books found in these libraries.

Mr. Peloubet was born in Bloomfield, N. J., in 1844, and is a son of Chabrier Peloubet, the extensive and well-known manu- facturer of reed organs. Inheriting in a large degree his father's energy, integrity and fixedness of purpose, his success is due largely to these characteristics.

Mrs. Peloubet, his wife, formerly Miss Mary E. Johnson, is a grand-daughter of Gen. Jeremiah Johnson, and is said to be a direct descendant of the first white child born on Long Island.

After receiving a liberal education in 1860, he became clerk for George Diossy, an extensive law book merchant of New York City; in 1868, he became a partner with Mr. Diossy, under the name of Diossy & Co. In 1876 Mr. Diossy retired, and Mr. Peloubet associated with himself Mr. E. G. Ward, who con- tinued a member of the firm for three years, when he retired in favor of Mr. Diossy. In 1867, Mr. Peloubet became a resident of Brooklyn, where he has resided ever since. He has been

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favorably connected with, and largely published, the works of several legal authors; among these works are Abbott's National Digest, in eight volumes, hy Benjamin Vaughn and Austin Abbott ; Abbott's United States Practice, 2 volumes, hy Benjamin V. Abbott ; Commentaries on American Law, 2 volumes, by Francis Hilliard ; Reports of Cases under the New York Civil Procedure, 5 volumes, and continued monthly, by Henry H. Browne; Lives of Eminent Lawyers of New York, in 2 volumes; Lawyer

and Client, or Trials and Triumphs of the Bar, hy L. B. Proctor; Reports of Cases in the Supreme Court of New York, in 2 volumes, by Hon. John W. Edmonds.

Mr. Peloubet has compiled two books which have been generously received-Students' Law Dictionary of Words and Phrases, and Common Law Definitions; A Collection of Legal Maxims in Law and Equity, with English Translations.

IMPORTANT TRIALS.

TRIAL OF GONZALEZ AND PELLICIER FOR THE MURDER OF JOSE GARCIE ORTERO.

IN the course of this work we have occasionally referred, briefly, to this celebrated case, the history of which reveals one of the most startling and barbarous murders in the record of crime. We shall now give a condensed history of the whole case, as the legal history of Kings County and Brooklyn would be incomplete without it.

J. Garcie Ortero was a native of Havana, in the island of Cuba, belonging to a highly respectable family of that city, and was himself held in high esteem for his many estimable qual- ities. He had been well educated, and had given some attention to the fine arts and the drama. As he was possessed of consid- erable wealth, he had the means for indulging his tastes. He was at the time of his death ahout thirty-six years of age.

During the year 1865, he erected and tastefully adorned a theatre in Havana. Early in November of that year, he visited New York City for the purpose of purchasing materials for the completion of his theatre, taking with him a considerable sum of money, with letters of credit and drafts.

Among the passengers on the steamer which brought Ortero to New York, was Gonzalez, & Spaniard, who left Havana for New York without baggage, and without any apparent object. As there were but two or three of Ortero's countrymen on board, he soon made the acquaintance of Gonzalez, and, notwithstand- ing his rough and rather forbidding appearance, Ortero seemed to take an interest in him. His sympathy was aroused hy the pitiful story which Gonzalez gave him of his misfortunes and sorrows, and the high-bred and wealthy gentleman admitted his impecunious countryman to his friendship.

They reached New York on the 15th of November, and went immediately to the Barcelona Hotel, in Great Jones street, where Ortero took rooms. Such was the forbidding appearance of Gonzalez, and as he was without baggage, the clerk of the hotel refused to give him a room. Ortero, however, informed the clerk that Gonzalez was & poor unfortunate, but he believed honest man, who had come to New York to find employment; and, at his solicitation, a room was given the man. At this time Salvadore, or Pellicier, a Cuban, occupied a room at the Hotel de Cuba, with one Frank Viels, hoth of whom had recently come from Havans; the former was very poor, serving sometimes as a waiter at the Barcelona, and sometimes as an itinerant glazier. Soon after Ortero became a guest at his hotel, Pellicier made his acquaintance and that of Gonzalez, and these three Cubans hecame quite intimate. It was noticed that Gonzalez and Pellicier had many interviews by themselves. It was well known that hoth these men were entirely without means.

On the 18th of November, Ortero went to Philadelphia, leav- ing Gonzalez at the hotel an occupant of his rooms; this was on Saturday. During his absence Gonzalez exhibited a degree of restlessness and anxiety for the return of Ortero that attracted

the attention of the clerk and others about the hotel. He would walk about hy himself, and frequently inquire of the clerk if Ortero was really coming back.

On Monday, the 20th, Ortero returned, and Gonzalez received him with apparent marks of joy, but to the people about the hotel Gonzalez was a person of such doubtful character that, during Ortero's absence, the clerk presented his bill, although he had been at the hotel but a few days. He declared his inability to pay, but said he would pay on the return of Ortero. As Ortero and Gonzalez were going to dinner, on the day of the former's return, the clerk stopped Gonzalez and again requested the payment of his hill. Ortero replied, " I will pay mine too," and at the same time took from his pocket a handful of gold coins, from which he paid his bill. Although Gonzalez did not pay, he was permitted to pass into the dining-room, probably on the assurance of Ortero that his hill would be all right. The manner in which Gonzalez watched Ortero, while paying his bill, attracted the attention of the clerk.

When Ortero was making his purchases about the city Gon- zalez, and sometimes Pellicier, accompanied him, and the great contrast in the appearance of the three men occasioned much comment. Ortero was a large and elegantly formed man, with the dress and manners of a gentleman, and according to appesr- ances & man of means and culture. His companions were quite the reverse; their appearance indicating a degree of stand- ing much henesth that of their companion; there was a sinister, almost brutal expression in their countenances, and their cloth- ing indicated their impecunious circumstances. It is strange, indeed, that & gentleman like Ortero should become thus inti- mate with men like Gonzalez and Pellicier, but he was young, ardent and generous; the sorrowful story which Gonzalez hsd related to him quite disarmed all suspicious thoughts, and it is very probable that he was determined to assist him in some way into business. So unsuspecting was he of his companions that he often, in making his purchases, showed large sums of money, which always attracted their attention, and their secret consul- tations were often remarked. Ortero was frequently cantioned against the careless manner in which he exhibited his money, but he paid no heed to the caution.

On November 21st, Ortero and Pellicier dined together at about 6 P. M., after which they went to the Hotel de Cuba, where Gonzalez soon joined them. On his way there he pro- cured two razors of Viela; he had previously procured a poniard of Pellicier. After remaining awhile at the hotel, Ortero, Gonzalez and Pellicier went out, and by the way of Fulton Ferry proceeded to Brooklyn, going directly to Evans' Hotel, at the corner of Clinton and Myrtle avenues, where they remained until about half-past nine in the evening. At the hotel both men drank quite heavily, endeavoring to intoxicate Ortero, who, though somewhat excited, was in no way over- come by the liquor. Finally, it was proposed by Gonzalez or Pellicier to visit the City Park, which is no great distance from

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thet place. The night was very dark, and it will never be known by what inducements Ortero was led to accompany these men at that hour to this deserted place. He had never before heen in Brooklyn, and was of course a stranger to every body. They entered the park at the Canton street corner, and took a path which crosses it diagonally, and proceeded to the centre or most sequestered part of it. Perhaps a more fitting place for "dark and midnight murder" could not have been found in Brooklyn, and surely a more gloomy night could not have been selected. The wail of the November wind which swept through the trees and over the park prevented all outcry from being hasrd, and in this spot the party halted. With the spring of tigers, the two ruffians grappled their unarmed victim, and with their razors attempted to cut his throat; but, as we have said, ha w88 a man of powerful physical strength, young and active, and & daaparate and mortal strife began. There was something appal- ling in this terrible struggle-the tug, the grip, the blow-the swift stroke of the deadly weapons-and, no doubt sensible of the unequal contest, Ortero's cries of murder went up from the scene; but at that hour, and stifled by the wind, there was nona to hear it, and the contest went on. From all appearances, Ortero succeeded in wrenching a razor from the hand of one of the assassins, and with it he inflicted a deep wound on the hand of Pellicier .* Failing in their efforts with the razor, though inflicting terrible wounds upon their victim, thay resorted to the poniard; with this they succeeded in giving him several wounds, either of which would have proved mortal. One thrust of the poniard entered his back and pierced the spinal column, and soon Ortero lay at their feet a ghastly corpsa, gashed with twenty-eight wounds. The deed was done. Early the next morning a citizen, in passing through the park, discovered the body of Ortero, still warm and bleeding. The alarm was instantly given and the police notified. The victim was of course unknown, but he had the appearance of a gentleman, and in one of the pockets of his pantaloons was a large eum of money, in gold; the other was turned inside out, showing that the victim had been robbed, and that the robber had been frightened away before securing the contents of this pocket. In one of his pockets hia receipted hotel bill was found, which soon led to his identification.

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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 153

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