USA > New York > Ulster County > The old court houses of Ulster County, New York, and interesting incidents connected with their history > Part 3
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Additional money was required, and on the 6th of April, 1782, the Board of Town Trustees took the initiative and directed Andries DeWitt, junior, and Christopher Tappen, in consultation with John Addison, prin- cipal of Kingston Academy, to prepare a petition to the State Legislature craving additional aid. It accomplished its purpose, and an Act, passed on the 6th of April, 1782, the preamble of which once more declared that "the court house and gaol in the county of Ulster was destroyed by the enemy," required the supervisors to levy a tax not exceeding £200. for "rebuilding the court house and gaol." It also required the supervisors and justices of the county to "meet at the house of Ann Dubois [DuBois], in the precinct of New Paltz," for the purpose of appointing three persons as trustees to receive the proceeds of the tax and "to superintend the re- building of the said court house and gaol." These trustees, moreover, were authorized "to make use of such and so many of the materials re- maining of the old gaol as can be applied to the rebuilding of the said court house and gaol." A subordinate preamble of the Act stated that "the inhabitants of Kingston and its vicinity have procured a quantity of timber for the purpose of rebuilding the said court house and gaol," and its use was authorized, with the proviso, however, that "the same shall not be charged to the county."
What remained of the walls of the courthouse and jail after their destruction by the British was finally restored and rebuilt and served its purpose for about thirty-five years. One of Kingston's most honored citizens and lawyers* who well remembered the structure thus describes it: "It contained family rooms on the first floor, court-room on the second floor. The Judges' bench was against the rear wall of the building, and behind it was a large frame containing the coat-of-arms of the State. The bar was directly in front of the judges' bench, with grand jury benches on one side and the petit jury benches on the other. An aisle led from the entrance along the jury benches and bar to the north wall; from that aisle back to the front of the building were the seats of the spectators rising one above the other as you proceeded back, so that the rear bench came within seven or eight feet of the ceiling. There were two jury-rooms on the same floor with the court-room. The jail and dungeons were in the south end of the building. The Court House was set back
*The late Hon. Marius Schoonmaker, on page 372 of his History of Kingston.
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THE OLD COURT HOUSES OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
from the street about the same distance as the present one." Another authority; states that this courthouse was "disfigured by a great red kitchen on the north side, in front of which was a well used generally by the people, and making a sloppy, unhealthy spot."#
With the passing of the years and increase of the business, wealth, population and political and material importance of the county, the court- house that rose from the ashes of the Revolutionary period was deemed wholly inadequate, and a movement was accordingly launched to secure a new one. As an aid to this project, a meeting of the inhabitants of the town of Kingston was convened on the 1st of November, 1815, at the Kingston Coffee House, now the old Kingston Hotel on Crown street, to "take into consideration the propriety of erecting Public Buildings for a Court House, fire-proof Clerk's Office, &c." The chairman of the meeting was Col. Tjerck DeWitt, and Abraham Myer, a Kingston lawyer and county surrogate, was its secretary. At this meeting Peter Marius Groen, Thomas Van Gaasbeek, Severyn Bruyn, John Sudam, Abraham B. Has- brouck, Benjamin Ostrander and Benjamin I. Moore were appointed a committee "to deliberate on the business of the meeting," and to report on the following Saturday. This was the initial step that resulted in the erection of the present edifice. At the adjourned meeting held on the 4th of November, this committee reported "that the present Gaol and Court House are not sufficient for the purposes intended by law, being insuffi- cient for the safe-keeping of Prisoners, and very inconvenient for the public purposes to which such building ought to be appropriated." This committee, accordingly, recommended the Board of Supervisors to petition the legislature for authority to raise $10,000 with which to erect upon the same site a new courthouse and jail with such public offices as might be necessary. It recommended, moreover, that the proposed Act should name the commissioners and authorize the supervisors to raise such a sum of money to erect the proposed edifice as both the committee and the supervisors should deem necessary to "complete the same substantially and beneficially for the County." This meeting of citizens recommended that Thomas Van Gaasbeek, John Sudam, Peter Marius Groen, Abraham Hoffman and Benjamin Ostrander be a committee to consult with the
tThe late Gen. George H. Sharpe, based on recollections of his father-in-law, the late Hon. A. Bruyn Hasbrouck.
#Attached to the front of this courthouse was a wooden tablet, bearing the inscrip- tion : "KINGSTON BURNED BY BRITISH CRUELTY OCTOBER 16, 1777." It disappeared with the demolition of the old courthouse in 1817, and is believed to have been destroyed. At the meeting of the Ulster Historical Society, (which long ago ceased to exist), held on the 17th of October, 1859, Reuben Bernard, General Joseph S. Smith and Major Peter Van Gaasbeek were appointed a committee to search for this historic relic. At the next meeting of the society held on the 20th of March, 1860, General Smith, on behalf of the committee, reported that "so far he had not been able to find any trace of it." (Collections of Ulster Historical Society, pp. 19, 73).
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THE OLD COURT HOUSES OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Board of Supervisors in regard to certain details of the project. The action of this meeting was presented to the Board of Supervisors at its annual session hield four days later, (November Stli), and its consideration was postponed until the 23rd instant in order "to consider upon the sub- jects themselves more maturely" and "to ascertain as far as possible the sense of the freeholders of the county on this interesting subject."
In connection with the record of these proceedings, in the "Ulster Plebeian" of the 14th of November, 1815, was a communication which says in part: "All, we presume, will agree in the necessity of a more competent building than the present as a court-house and gaol. It is well known that the gaol has been repeatedly presented as unsafe by the Grand Jury of Ulster. This alone would be sufficient to satisfy the public that an appropriation of money for building a new court-house and gaol was necessary-no one will believe that the Grand Jury, under their oaths, and acting from an inspection of the prison, would present it as unfit and unsafe, unless they were fully convinced as to the fact. It is equally well known, that with the most careful keepers, the gaol is easily broken and criminals escape; and the money annually appropriated for repairs and for bounties in retaking the felons, is thus thrown away. The Court-House itself is inconvenient-there is no Jury Room with a fire place in it. There is none in the Court Room itself; and all Jurors who attend at the December term, feel the extreme inconvenience of the present building. The gaoler is also so situated, that it will be soon impossible to procure any one to inhabit the court-house. The gaols open into the hall, which communicates with the Dwelling room. It is needless to say, that in Summer the room can scarcely be used, and this is getting worse every year. There is another subject of great import- ance. There is no county in the State where papers of suchi consequences are deposited as in our Clerk's office, in which they have not a fire proof Office. It is proposed for the public convenience to connect the Clerk's Office with the court-house. All persons are interested in preserving these records; and it may be added, that a county of such substantial wealth as Ulster ought in her public business to display a taste which would combine security with beauty and durability. These remarks are thrown out that the citizens of Ulster may consider of the same, so that the Supervisors shall in some measure ascertain the opinions of the respective towns before their next meeting. And it is but just to remark, that what is now proposed, must at all events be done in a few years: Why then postpone the re-building of a Court-House and Gaol, while other objects of a public nature meet immediate attention ?"
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The state legislature responded favorably to the requirements of the situation, and by the provisions of an Act, passed on the 12th of April, 1816, the supervisors were required at their next annual meeting "to raise the sum of one mill on the dollar * * for the purpose of building a court-house and gaol in the village of Kingston, in said county, and a fire proof clerk's office." The Act also required the county super- visors "annually thereafter, to raise such further sum of money, not exceeding in the whole the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, as shall be requisite to complete the said buildings, not less in any one year than one mill on the dollar, nor exceeding two mills on the dollar, in any one year."
This Act constituted Jacob Ten Broeck, John Beekman and James Cockburn commissioners "to superintend the said buildings," each of whom was to be paid two dollars and fifty cents for every day's "actual attendance" upon the duties of his office. They were authorized, more- over, to receive and disburse the money raised by taxation for the erec- tion of the courthouse and its adjuncts,* to render an account to the Supervisors of all monies received and disbursed by them, and to deposit their joint and several bonds with the county treasurer in the penal sum of ten thousand dollars for the "due performance and expenditure of all monies which shall or may come to their or either of their hands." The Supervisors on their part were authorized by this Act, in case of death, removal or delinquency of any or all the commissioners, to
fill the vacancy or vacancies thus occasioned. The Act also made it lawful for the commissioners, "by and with the advice and consent of a committee of three persons, to be appointed by the board of Supervisors of the said county, or the major part of them, to contract for the erection of the said buildings, in the whole or in part, and upon such terms as to them shall seem fit and proper: And the said court-house, gaol and fire proof clerk's office shall be built on the lot on which the present court-house and gaol are situated, according to such plan as shall have been previously agreed upon by the board of supervisors." This Act, moreover, placed it within the discretion of the Supervisors to postpone for one year the "raising, assessing, levying and collecting the tax to be raised for the before mentioned purposes;" and also conferred upon the sheriff author- ity "to use the court-house and gaol of the county of Dutchess, for the safe keeping of felons and other prisoners" of Ulster county; and when so used the former should be regarded as the jail of Ulster county, and its sheriff be liable for all escapes of its prisoners.
*The courthouse, jail and county clerk's office were embraced in one building.
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An Act of the Legislature, passed on the 15th of April of the fol- lowing year, (1817), repealed the provision of the former law which authorized the commissioners, with the advice and consent of the com- mittee of three, to contract for the erection of the proposed courthouse and its adjuncts, and also revoked the authority of the Supervisors "to appoint commissioners in the place and stead of the commissioners named in the said act." This authority was, by this new Act, vested in "the person administering the government of this state;" and the appoint- ment of any commissioner hitherto made by the Supervisors was revoked. A few weeks later, early in June, 1817, the work of demolishing the old courthouse was commenced, ; and on the 5th of the same month the prisoners were removed to the Dutchess County jail in Poughkeepsie.#
It was not long, however, before the same old story was repeated. Additional money was required, and an Act of the Legislature, passed on the 31st of March, 1818, empowered the supervisors to borrow a sum, not exceeding twelve thousand dollars, for the purpose of completing the courthouse and its adjuncts, and "to raise from time to time such sums of money, as shall be necessary to pay off the principal and interest accruing on such loan." The Act also repealed all previous legislation relating to the appointment and removal of the commissioners and their compensation, and provided that "hereafter, the power of appointing and removing the commissioners to superintend the building of the said court-house, gaol and fireproof clerk's office * * shall be exclusively vested in the supervisors," who should determine, at their annual meet- ing, the compensation the commissioners should receive. The Sheriff, moreover, was empowered by this Act to use the Greene county jail for the confinement of prisoners, "in the same manner as is provided in the acts hereby amended for using the gaol of the county of Dutchess."
The courthouse and its adjuncts were sufficiently finished in 1818 to accommodate the courts, but still more money was needed to complete them, and the demand was met by the Legislature in an Act, passed on the 28th of January, 1820, empowering the supervisors to borrow for this purpose a sum not exceeding ten thousand dollars, and requiring them at the next annual meeting, and yearly thereafter, to raise a sum not
"The building was removed by Jacob Ten Broeck. (Hon. A. Bruyn Hasbrouck, in "Collections of Ulster Historical Society,"' 1859, page 19). #During at least a portion of the time, and probably the whole time, after the demolition of the old courthouse, the courts were held in the tavern of William Dewaal, the large stone house still standing on the south side of North Front street, between Crown and Green streets; and the office of the county clerk was located in the residence of the deputy county clerk, Christopher Tappen, brother-in-law of Gen. George Clinton, on the south-west corner of Wall and North Front streets. ( "Ulster Plebeian," Nov. 29, 1817, and Feb. 21, 1818).
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THE OLD COURT HOUSES OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
exceeding two mills on the dollar in any one year, to discharge the prin- cipal and interest of the debt. In case such a loan should not be effected before their next annual meeting, the supervisors were required by this Act to raise a sum not exceeding ten thousand dollars "in the manner hereinbefore directed and prescribed."
Such Mr. Chairman, is the story of our old courthouses, as far as it can be pieced together from various sources of authentic information. As to the present edifice, none of us, of course, can remember its birth, but some of us easily recall it in its maturity, while thousands of others have viewed it with admiration in its dignified old age. It stands on honored ground, hallowed by colonial, revolutionary and later associa- tions, and commands today our respect and veneration, not only in view of these significant reminders of other times but also as a monument and promise of legal, civil and political stability. Its walls have re-echoed with the voices of famous statesmen and orators, of eminent jurists and lawyers. During our Civil War, when it was the chief place of public assembly, it rang with the eloquence of men, irrespective of political creed, whose one chief thought was the preservation of the Union; and before and since that period it has witnessed the heated but honest rivalries of staunch political foes. You, gentlemen, forming as you do the legislature of this county, are the custodians and guardians of this venerable edifice. Well may you and your successors protect its every stone from desecration or destruction, for no more modern structure can appropriately take its place, except perhaps in the matter of interior convenience which may easily be remedied. The expenditure of unlimited wealth might doubtless result in a structure appealing more keenly to the commonplace and utilitarian atmosphere of the day, but no outpouring of treasure can produce an edifice which could command the approval and admiration of posterity to such a degree as the grand old temple of law and justice in which we are now assembled, which for quiet and un- affected dignity and harmonious architectural lines is probably excelled by no other building, used for similar purposes, in the whole of the Empire State. Thus it stands before us, the witness of honest days' labor performed by honest hands, a monument of impressive endurance. It presents no apology for its existence, but appeals to you and your successors for watchful protection; and if you and those who shall follow you are true to your responsible trust, the close of another century will see it still facing yonder hallowed graveyard where your Revolutionary sires repose, with its substantial walls unaffected by the ravages of time, a memorial to the discriminating taste and enlightened judgment of this historic county. It is true that we may not, under all circum-
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THE OLD COURT HOUSES OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
stances, feel ourselves obliged to regard every monument of the past with veneration, simply because it bears the stamp of antiquity; but when one presents itself that is a constant reminder of memorable deeds and noble endeavors, we may well pause before we permit a careless indiffer- ence to encompass its destruction. It would seem difficult to believe that this can ever occur in the case of the venerable edifice where we are now gathered, for there is certainly too much sentiment and common sense in Ulster County to permit such an historic monument as this to perish.
ADDENDA
TO HISTORICAL ADDRESS OF CHAPLAIN HOES
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THE OLD COURT HOUSES OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
I.
Copy of Proclamation read at the Inauguration of George Clinton as the first Governor of the State of New York in front of the Court House, in Kingston, on the 30th of July, 1777.
IN COUNCIL OF SAFETY for the STATE OF NEW YORK, July 30, 1777. A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, his Excellency, GEORGE CLINTON, ESQ., has been duly elected Governor of the State of New York, and hath this Day qualified himself for the Execution of his Office, by taking in this Council the Oaths required by the Constitution of this State, to enable him to exercise his said Office; this Council doth therefore, hereby in the Name and by the Authority of the good People of this State, Proclaim and Declare the said George Clinton, Esq., Governor, General and Commander-in-Chief of all the Militia, and Admiral of the Navy of this State, to whom the good People of this State are to pay all due Obedience, according to the Laws and Constitution thereof.
By order of the Council of Safety,
PIERRE VAN CORTLANDT, President.
GOD SAVE THE PEOPLE.
KINGSTON: Printed by JOHN HOLT, Printer to the STATE OF NEW YORK.
(See "Olde Ulster," 1905, page 184 ,and "Collections of the Ulster Historical Society," page 66.)
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II.
Congratulatory letter of the Minister, Elders and Deacons of the Old Dutch Church of Kingston to George Clinton upon the occasion of his inauguration as Governor of the State of New York, in Kingston, on the 30th of July, 1777, together with the Governor's reply.
To his Excellency George Clinton Esq., Governor, General and Com- mander in Chief of all the Militia, and Admiral of the Navy of the State of New York:
May it please your Excellency :
At the commencement of the new constitution and at the very hour of your inauguration, the Minister, Elders and Deacons of the Reformed Dutch Church of Kingston, in consistory assembled, beg leave to con- gratulate your Excellency upon the highest Honors the Subject of a free State can possess and to assure you of the part they bear in the public happiness on this Occasion.
From the beginning of the present war, the consistory and people of Kingston have been uniformly attached to the cause of America, and justify upon the Soundest Principles of Religion and morality, the glorious revolution of a free and oppressed country. Convinced of the unrighteous designs of Great Britain upon their civil and religious priviledges they chose, without hesitation, rather to suffer with a brave people for a Season, than to enjoy the luxuries and friendship of a wicked and cruel nation.
With an inflexable perseverance which they trust the greatest adversity and persecution will never change, they profess anew to your Excellency their Interest in the Continental union and Loyalty to the State of New-York.
While the constitution is preserved inviolate, and the Rulers Steer by that conspicuous Beacon, the people have the fairest prospects of happiness, unanimity and Success, with you they chuse [to] launch, that future pilots may form a precedent from your vigilance, impartiality and firmness, and the System obtain an establishment that Shall last for ages; for as nothing can be more agreable to the conscious patriot than the approbation of his country, so nothing can more promote the general good than placing confidence in established characters & raising merit to distinguished power.
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Take then, with the acclamations and fullest confidence of the public. Take Sir, the government into your hands and let the unsolicited voice of a whole State prevail upon you to enter upon this arduous task.
All ranks in placing you at their Head, have pledged their lives and fortunes to support and defend you in this exalted Station, and the con- sistory of Kingston chearfully unite in the implicit Stipulation and promise you their prayers.
As a reformation in morals and the prevallance of virtue is the immediate object of the consistory of Kingston, they esteem themselves especially happy in having cause to believe, that religious Liberty (with- out which all other priviledges are not worth enjoying), will be Strenuously Supported by your Excellency, and they congratulate themselves and the State, that God has given them a governor who understands and therefore loves the Christian Religion, and who in his administration will prove a terror to evil doers and an example and patron to them that that do well.
Signed by order of the Reverend Consistory,
G. J. L. DOLL, praeses, [president ]. (Public Papers of George Clinton, II, 161-163.)
[REPLY ]
Gentlemen:
While I receive with the highest Pleasure this Testimony of Esteem from your respectable Body and acknowledge with Gratitude the Honor which the Suffrages of a free People have conferred upon me; I cannot but express apprehensions of my Inability to answer the Expectations which they are pleased to form of me. It shall however be my earnest Endeavor by a sedulous attention to the important Duties of my Office, to meet their approbation and I rely firmly on Divine Providence and the Prayers which you offer to put up in my Behalf, to render my Services effectual in promoting the happiness of the People committed to my Charge.
I agree with you Gentlemen in thinking that the Constitution gives the fairest Promises of Happiness. I shall study to preserve inviolate and thereby secure to the People those Civil and religious Liberties which it has with the utmost Liberality and Wisdom been attentive to establish and guard. And as unjust Suspicions and Fondness for Novelty have been ruinous to many States you justly observe that a Confidence in established Characters and the Promotion of tried Merit must contribute
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THE OLD COURT HOUSES OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
to the General Welfare. By this salutary Principle therefore I wish to be governed in the Part I have to take in the Distribution of Public Offices.
Gentlemen, I cannot dismiss you without giving my public Testimony of the Patriotism of the Consistory and People of Kingston who in Imi- tation of their brave ancestors have shewn themselves worthy of the inestimable Privileges they enjoy by the Spirit and alacrity they have early and uniformly manifested in their Defence. May it please the Supreme Ruler of all Events to Crown them with equal Glory and Success. (Public Papers of George Clinton, II., 175, 176).
III. Alterations and Improvements made to the Courthouse in 1897.
At a meeting of the Supervisors, Dec. 15, 1896, the following reso- lutions were passed :
Resolved, That there be appointed a committee of five in which the chairman shall be included, who shall have full power to receive pro- posals for enlarging the present Court House according to the plans and specifications submitted to the board at the annual session of 1895, and award the contract to the lowest responsible bidder who shall enter a contract for the faithful performance of the same, in a sum not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars for such extension. Be it further
Resolved, That said committee shall consult with the different county officers interested, as to their requirements, conforming to their suggestions in endeavoring to meet the requirements of the different offices. Be it also
Resolved, That said committee shall have charge of the work of said enlarging and extension, and shall see to the faithful carrying out of the contract, and it is also provided that in the alterations heretofore mentioned they shall not change or deface in any manner the architectural lines of the front or ends of the present Court House. (These resolutions were carried by a vote of 22 yeas against 1 nay).
At the same meeting Eugene F. Patten, Harcourt J. Pratt, William H. Kolts, William Fowler and John D. Fratsher, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, were appointed a committee "to receive bids for extension
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THE OLD COURT HOUSES OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
to the Court House, and superintend the erection thereof," pursuant to the above resolutions.
The contract was awarded May 3, 1897, and provided that the exten- sion should be fully completed by October 15, 1897. Owing to unavoid- able delays, it was not completed by that time, and an extension was granted to February 1, 1898. The original contract was for $21,887, and the extra work cost was $4,539, making the total outlay $26,426. The architect was Mr. Andrew F. Mason of Kingston.
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