USA > New York > Washington County > Washington county, New York; its history to the close of the nineteenth century > Part 57
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In politics Mr. Van Wormer has always been a staunch and active Republican, and in the fall of 1888 he was nominated and elected Clerk of Washington County and took up his residence in Argyle. N. Y., entering upon the duties of his office January 1, 1889. He proved to be a very popular and efficient county official and was thrice re-nominated by acclamation and re-elected in the years 1891, 1894 and 1897, and will close his fourth and last term of office as County Clerk with the present century, when he will resume the practice of
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law. During his incumbency in office he has made many improve- ments in the system of keeping the records of the office, which will prove of value to future generations.
In 1871 Mr. Van Wormer was united in marriage to Cornelia L., daughter of Samuel and Emma Lamb, of Fort Ann, N. Y. To their union has been born a daughter, Miss Letta, who graduated from the Fort Edward Collegiate Institute, class of 1894, and was deputy County Clerk, 1898-1900.
Mr. Van Wormer is a member of the New York State Historical Association and a 32d degree Mason. He has crossed the sands of the desert with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and is a member of the following masonic bodies :
Mount Hope Lodge, No. 260, F. & A. M., Fort Ann, N. Y .; Fort Edward Chapter, No. 171, R. A. M .; Cryptic Council, No. 37, R. & S. M., Saratoga Springs, N. Y .; Washington Commandery, No. 33, K. T., Saratoga Springs, N. Y. ; Delta Lodge of Perfection, A. A. S. Rite, 4º -14º, Troy. N. Y .; Delta Council Princes Jerusalem, 15 ° and 16 °, Troy, N. Y. ; Delta Chapter Rose Croix, 17 º and 18 °, Troy, N. Y .; Albany Sovereign Consistory, S. P. R. S., 19 º-32 º, Albany. N. Y. ; Oriental Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., Troy, N. Y.
HON. THOMAS A. LILLIE, the subject of this sketch, although only in the prime of his years, has attained a reputation as a jurist which places him in the front rank of the legal profession of New York State. He was born in the town of Putnam, Washington County, N. Y., in 1852, and received his preliminary education at the academy in his native town. He then took a course in the Albany Normal College at Al- bany, N. Y., from which he was graduated in the class of 1871, after which he completed his literary education at Union College from which, after an unusually creditable course, he was graduated in 1875. While pursuing his educational career he also did considerable teach- ing and was principal of the Cedar Grove Academy at Montclair, N. J., for two years. His tastes and inclinations were toward law and for this profession his abilities peculiarly fitted him. He read law in the office of Judge Harris at Albany and was admitted to the bar in 1875. He then began the practice of his profession at Whitehall and rapidly came to the front as one of the leading lawyers of the county.
DORMEV VAN HADAII'D
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Judge Lillie is a Republican in politics and his voice and views al- ways command the attention and respect of his party. He was Su- pervisor of the Town of Whitehall for three years and was Chairman of the Board during the last year. In 1887 he was nominated for County Judge by the Republican party and was elected for a term of six years by a splendid majority. At the expiration of his term he was re-elected for a second term of six years which expired December 31, 1899. He was an exceptionally able judge and was highly popu- lar on the bench because he combined an exceedingly fine sense of justice with a profound knowledge of the law. His mind is naturally judicial, he is deliberate and concise in his reasoning and logical in his conclusions. His ability on the bench is well indicated by the fact that he held court in ten different counties in New York State including Westchester, Albany and Rensselaer, during his regime as Judge of Washington County.
As a lawyer he has also been highly successful, although half of his time since his admission to the bar has been spent on the bench. He has conducted many important cases as a trial lawyer, including six murder cases, three of which were from the State of Vermont.
In 1886 the partnership of Potter & Lillie was formed, including Judge Lillie and Mr. J. S. Potter, son of Hon. Joseph Potter, late of the New York State Court of Appeals.
In 1879 Judge Lillie married Florence L. Broughton and they have four children, viz: Louise J., Alice, Annie and Thomas A. Lillie, Jr.
Judge Lillie's father, Thomas Lillie, was also a native of Putnam, Washington County, N. Y., and his grandfather, also Thomas Lillie, was a native of Edinburgh, Scotland. He was the progenitor of the Lillie family in this country and was a graduate of Edinburgh Uni- versity and came to America about 1820 and settled at Putnam, N. Y., and was a physician and farmer. The remote ancestors of the family were French Huguenots, who left that country and went to Scotland in the sixteenth century.
JOSEPH B. MCCORMICK is a son of James and Katherine (Keating) McCormick, and was born in the town of Fort Ann, Washington County, N. Y., March 3, 1863. He read law with the late Judge [67 ]
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Royal C. Betts of Granville, and was admitted to the Washington County bar May 4, 1888, and since then has been engaged in the active practice of his profession in the courts of his native county, and also in all the courts of the State of Vermont. In January, 1894, he was admitted to practice in the United States court.
CHARLES O. PRATT was born in the town of White Creek, Washing- ton County, November 15, 1863. He attended the district school and was an earnest student evincing the spirit of application and indicating the ability which has since made him one of the brightest legal minds in northern New York.
He completed his literary studies in the Troy Conference Academy at Poultney. Vermont, and Fort Edward Collegiate Institute. He then read law for two years in the office of Westfall & Whitcomb at Cambridge, N. Y., after which he entered the Albany Law School and was elected President of his class. He was admitted to the bar February 8, 1889, and immediately began the practice of his profes- sion with John Warren at Granville, N. Y. After a brief residence in Granville he became a partner with Willis E. Heaton, of Hoosick Falls, N. Y., who is a prominent attorney and politician of that place. This partnership was dissolved in 1891 and Mr. Pratt opened an office in the Crocker building, Main street, Cambridge. On No- vember 12 of that year he was appointed Justice of the Peace to fill the vacancy caused by the death of R. King Crocker and held this office until December 28, 1898, when he resigned. From February 12, 1893, to February 12, 1894, he was managing clerk in the office of Hon. D. M. Westfall. In 1892 he was elected Police Justice for the Village of Cambridge and held this office concurrently with that of Justice of the Peace until December 28, 1898, when he resigned both offices to accept the nomination for District Attorney. He was unani- mously nominated March 16, 1898, at the Republican Convention held in Salem. N. Y., for the office of District Attorney, and was elected by a large majority.
Mr. Pratt's record before the courts as District Attorney would be very flattering to any man and therefore particularly so to a man on the youthful side of his prime. He is well versed in the law and is
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eminently able as a public prosecutor, but withal is such an ardent lover of justice that he makes an ideal prosecuting attorney. His present office is in the Cambridge building on Broad Street where he has a large and well selected library to which he is constantly adding.
Mr. Pratt is an enthusiastic agriculturist, and to the gratification of his taste for this pursuit he devotes his spare time.
On June 26, 1889, Mr. Pratt married Lilla, R. Clark daughter of Harry G. and Florence (Sherman) Clark. They have three children, viz: Flora M, Charlotte and Daniel Harry. Mr. Pratt's parents were Daniel H. and Charlotte A. (Conant) Pratt. Daniel H. Pratt was an influential man in the Town of White Creek where he held several public offices. Among them that of Justice of the Peace for a term of sixteen years. His grandfather, also Daniel H. Pratt, when a boy of fourteen years, carried an important dispatch from General Stark at Bennington to one of his outposts at Hoosick Corners, a dis- tance of ten miles, which fact is on record at Washington, D. C. Charles O. Pratt's father was a farmer, carpenter and builder and aided in the construction of nearly all the lattice bridges over the many creeks in and around the old town of Cambridge and the town of Hoosick. Mr. Pratt's maternal grandfather, John Conant, was a soldier in the war of 1812.
Charles O. Pratt is a member of Cambridge Valley Lodge No 491. F. & A. M.
EDGAR HULL was born in Berne, Albany County, January 16, 1840. He began business as a "printer's devil " in the office of the Berkshire Courier in Great Barrington, Mass. He was educated in the Great Bar- rington Academy, and at the Jonesville (N. Y.) Academy. He com- menced the study of law in the office of Clement C. Hill at Ballston Spa, N. Y., in 1859, and located in Fort Edward in the fall of 1860, earning a livlihood by practice in the Justice Court until 1864 when he was admitted to the bar as attorney and counselor.
In politics he was an ardent admirer of Stephen A. Douglass, and although not old enough to vote, yet made many speeches at the pub- lic meetings of the Douglass Democracy, during the campaign of 1860. Subsequently he advocated the election of General Grant as President, and has acted with the Republican party ever since. During the years 1875, 1876 and 1877 he was Supervisor of the town of Fort Ed-
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ward. In 1883 the Republican party nominated him for District At- torney; he was duly elected and discharged the duties of the office for fifteen years from 1884 to 1898 inclusive. At the expiration of his term the bar of Washington County at a Term of Court held at Sandy Hill, N. Y., presented him with a diamond pin and adopted resolutions highly commendatory of his official career. In 1899 he ran as an Independent candidate for County Judge, polling a remark- ably large vote, and although carrying six of the seventeen towns of the county was defeated by a small majority. He is a member of the Masonic and Royal Arcanum societies.
He married Amelia E. Possons and they have had three children, namely: Frank, Nellie and Jennie. His, parents were Erastus Hull and Eliza (Race) Hull, and he is a descendant of the Hulls who fig- ured so prominently on land and sea in the war of 1812.
HON. DANIEL M. WESTFALL, one of the most prominent members of the bar of Washington County, was born at Lewisburgh, near Decker- town, in the township of Wantage, Sussex County, N. J., December 11, 1830. His father was a farmer and he grew up amid rural sur- roundings and received his early education at the Lewisburgh District School and Deckertown Academy. At the early age of sixteen years he began teaching school in his native district and between teaching and attending the Deckertown Academy, he passed the time until the spring of 1852, when he entered Union College, in the third term as a sophomore. He made a specialty of the classical course and read Blackstone and Kent while in college. In the spring of 1854 he ac- cepted a position as teacher in the Washington Academy at Cam- bridge, N. Y., of which John. H. Burtis was at that time principal. In July, 1854, he was graduated from Union College, taking the degree of A. B., and was admitted to the Society of Phi Beta Kappa, because of his high standing. In the fall of the same year he began to read law in the office of Judge Howe, at the same time continuing to teach three hours a day in the Washington Academy of which he was prin- cipal for the spring term of 1855.
He was admitted to the bar in January, 1856, and during a part of that year taught the languages and higher mathematics in the Acad-
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emy at Greenwich, N. Y., and at the same time reading law in Judge Ingall's office.
In August, 1856, Hon. D. M. Westfall entered into partnership with Judge Howe, of Cambridge, N. Y., who died in August, 1857. He was one of the first incorporators of the Woodland Cemetery Associa- tion in 1856 and acted as secretary of the preliminary meeting of that organization, prepared its charter and title papers and was one of its Trustees and Secretary of its Board until he resigned, after many years of service. He was also, for a number of years, and until he resigned, one of the Trustees and Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Cambridge Washington Academy.
Hon. D. M. Westfall had not been practicing law many years before he assumed his legitimate position as a leading member of the bar of Washington County, and from 1866 to 1873 he held the office of special Surrogate.
In politics Hon. D. M. Westfall has always been an ardent Repub- lican whose voice and views are valued in the councils of his party.
He represented his district in the State Assembly in 1884 and again in 1886. While in the Legislature he did a large part of the work of the Judiciary Committee and in 1886 was the first Chairman of the First Revision Committee. His associates on that committee were Baker, Kruse, Sheehan and Cantor. During the years 1885 and 1886 Hon. D. M. Westfali was one of the Examining Committee of the Supreme Court, General Term, Third Department, and examined and certified Mrs. Stoneman, the first woman admitted to the legal profession in the State of New York. She was admitted under an amendment of the Code enacted after she was examined (Laws 1886, Chap. 425.)
During his professional practice Hon. D. M. Westfall has been the means of settling some important questions of law, evidence and practice ; as notable instances we refer to the following cases: People vs. Shaw, 63 N. Y. 36; Wilkinson vs. First National Fire Insurance Company of Worcester, 72 N. Y. 499; Baucus vs. Barr, 45 Hun., 582, affirmed, 107 N. Y. 624; Hoag vs. Town of Greenwich, 133 N. Y. 152.
Hon. D. M. Westfall besides bestowing attention upon all legal matters entrusted to him also takes a lively interest in all public questions and especially in legal legislation and has been trustee of the Cambridge Valley National Bank since 1883.
On February 8, 1860, Hon. D. M. Westfall married Susan M.,
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daughter of Judge Luther J. Howe. Their children are Daniel M. Jr., and Bertha Grace.
Daniel Westfall, Jr., is a graduate of Union College and an attorney at law.
Hon. D. M. Westfall traces his ancestry upon his mother's side from Captain Westfall of the Continental Army and also from Peter Decker, the founder of Deckertown, whose wife was a daughter of Captain Westfall. His father was also a descendant of the same Westfall family.
ELIOT BLIVEN NORTON, the subject of this sketch, one of the best known and most prominent lawyers of Washington County, was born in Cambridge, Washington County, N. Y., in the year 1864. He at- tended the Putnam Institute and the Cambridge Washington Academy in Cambridge, after which he entered the State Normal School at Albany to fit himself for teaching. Soon after graduating from the Normal School he secured a position as teacher in the Institute for the Blind in New York City. Later on he became principal of the school at Eagle Mills, N. Y., which position he finally resigned to be- come chief accountant and cashier for the Jerome B. Rice Seed Com- pany at Cambridge.
During his seven years service with the above named company, he resolved to become a follower of Blackstone and Kent, and in Sep- tember, 1894, he took up the study of Law in the office of Hon. D. M. Westfall where he remained two years. He then took a course in the Albany Law School, from which he was graduated in June, 1897, and was duly admitted to the bar in the following July, since which time he has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession at Cam- bridge. His office is located in the B. P. Crocker building on Main street.
In 1883 Mr. Norton married Helen McFadden of Cambridge, and they have one son, Harold M. Norton.
Mr. Norton's father, Warren Norton, was a native of East Salem, N. Y. His great grandfather, William Norton, and great great grandfather, George Norton, were both Revolutionary soldiers. The latter received a wound at the Battle of Trenton from which he died in a few days.
Mrs. Norton's great grandfather, Micah Blackwell, was a private in
Pandolfithe Players andel
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Capt. Ward Swift's Second Sandwich Company and marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775. He was also Quarter-Master in Major Dim- ock's Regiment, and also in Col. John Cushing's Regiment at New- port, R. I.
The history of the Norton family is contemporaneous with almost the entire history of America, as the original settlers of this name were among the earliest emigrants to this country.
RANDOLPH ROGERS first saw the light of day at Sandy Hill, Wash- ington County, N. Y., February 24, 1841, which village by the river has been his home ever since. His father, Charles Rogers, was a leading public man and politician of the Clinton-Seward Whig party of Washington County, having served with distinction two terms in the Legislature of New York State, and once having been called to the Congress of the nation at Washington. His mother was the daughter of Russell Clark, a prominent physician and surgeon of Northern New York in the early days of the country, when a doctor was not located at your very door.
His parents took a deep interest in young Randolph's early train- ing. His first instructor was Jesse K. Sanborn, who taught him all the letters of the alphabet when but five years old. He attended the district school a while, and in due time was transferred to the " Mathe- matical and Classical School." presided over by William McLaren, a Scotchman of much learning and ability in his chosen profession. Under his inspiration he mastered the Latin of Caesar, read fluently l'irgil and the odes of Horace, and became proficient in algebra and the science of geometry.
While attending this school, Randolph was instrumental in organ- izing the Young Men's Literary Association of Sandy Hill, known as the "Y. M. L. A.," and was made its first president. This was a de- bating Club composed of thirty-five of the best and most talented young men of the village. Its first meeting was held December 3, 1858, and it convened weekly in the hall over the law office of Henry B. Northup, which rang with the eloquence of youthful oratory.
During this period the War Cry sounded throughout the land, and Randolph was uneasy. He could no longer remain quiet in front of a school desk, and soon was on his way to Washington as a member
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of the 22d Regiment N. Y. S. Infantry Volunteers. This regiment was one of the number that formed the celebrated "Iron Brigade," and fought well and nobly at Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam and Fredricksburgh.
At the expiration of their term of enlistment, the soldiers of the "old 22d," who had not made a sacrifice of their lives in their country's cause, returned to their homes in New York State, and Randolph enjoyed a season of rest and recreation from the bloody scenes of the battle field. He soon recuperated enough to enroll him- self as a student of the Fort Edward Collegiate Institute, and completed his education there under the inaster hand of Rev. Joseph E. King. From the Institute, he entered the law office of Hughes and Northup at Sandy Hill, and was admitted to practice as an attorney and coun- selor at law at a General Term of the Supreme Court held in Schen- ectady in May, 1865.
An appointment in the service of "Uncle Sam" awaiting him, Randolph laid aside the Diploma calling him to the bar as a full- fledged lawyer, and during the month of May, 1865, removed to New York City and entered upon the discharge of his duties as "Special Aid to the Revenue," in the office of Hon. Abram Wakeman, Sur- veyor of the Port of New York. The knowledge he acquired of city life and customs while in New York has been the best school to him he ever attended and rightly perfected the education he had previously obtained.
At the close of President Johnson's administration, Surveyor Wake- man resigning his office under the government, Mr. Rogers followed his chief into retirement and returned to his home in Sandy Hill. Never idle, we now find him at a desk in the office of his brother-in- law, Hon. U. G. Paris, reading up in old law books, and doing some good law work himself. We also see him with hoe and spade in hand, beautifying his father's grounds and sowing choice seeds in the garden spot which spring up under his careful cultivation to afford luxuries for the family table, and the bright beds of flowers, nurtured with his best care, to shed luster and perfume far around. For more work to come, he opens a law office in his native village, and is found early and late at his desk, and always busy.
In the fall of 1872 Charles Rogers cast his vote for Horace Greeley for President, and Randolph performed the same, as he believed, true and meritorious act. This son of a noble father has ever since
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remained a firm believer in the tenets of Democracy, and during Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock's canvass for the Presidency did some ef- fective speaking on the stump. In the spring of 1885 he was elected Justice of the Peace by a good sized majority in the town of Kingsbury, which usually sends the Republican ticket half a thousand ahead. Leniency and moral suasion characterized his discharge of the duties of this office. The tramp element of the neighborhood knew him as their best friend and adviser, and willingly skipped his town for the more fertile fields beyond.
Mr. Rogers has a reputation, where he is known, as a public speaker and poet. At the dedication of the Soldiers' Monument at Sandy Hill, June 30, 1887, and at the first Reunion of the 22d Regiment Veteran Association, of which he is a member, held at Glens Falls, the following year, where were assembled ten thousand citizens and soldiers, he was given first place on the speakers programme and carried off the honors on both occasions.
He has held the office of President of the Veteran Association of the Regiment, to which he belongs, for three successive terms, and always at its Annual Reunion greeted his comrades with an address of welcome, flowing over with words of mirth and cheer, and delivered a poem full of war incidents, of story and song. He has written over one hundred short poems, songs and melodies, some of which have been published in the village papers. A few of his campaign songs were printed by the Democratic press and justly admired, especially his "Song of Victory." composed to the tune of " Marching Along."
Mr. Rogers was a favorite with the young ladies of Sandy Hill, but his heart was never touched until he met Miss Jessie Boone Harris, to whom he was married December 16, 1886, the Rev. Arthur B. Moorehouse of Zion Church performing the ceremony. Her father was the son of Moses Harris, who rendered distinguished military service for the country under General Schuyler during the early days of the Revolutionary War. Her mother, whose maiden name was Arilda Ann Boone, was a descendant of Daniel Boone, the renowned pioneer and hunter of America. One daughter has been born to them, named Ethel, who celebrated her thirteenth birthday Novem- ber 5, 1900.
Mr. Rogers has a law office and sanctum at his residence on Clark street, where he spends many a quiet hour in study and reflection.
[ 68 ]
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His time is principally occupied in overseeing the four farms owned by him in Washington and Saratoga Counties, which he has made productive and a sourse of income to him.
He was a member of the Sons of Temperance when a large and flourishing division was located at Sandy Hill. He is a Veteran of William M. Collin Post, No. 587, G. A. R., and has a seat in the Pres- byterian Church of his native village, from which he listens to the "stated preaching of the gospel " by his pastor, the Rev. Charles D. Kellogg.
Randolph Rogers was born under a lucky star, Pisces is his sign, and his ruling pianet is Mars, and his favorite gem the Amethyst, the symbol of temperance and chastity ; which assure him riches and long life, and a name and reputation that can never be assailed.
CAPT. OTIS ALONZO DENNIS was born in Norwich, Conn., but was brought to Whitehall by his parents when quite young. He received a liberal education in the public schools of this village and having decided to enter the legal profession he read law in the office of Tanner & Potter from 1877 until his admission to the bar September 10, 1880. For the next nine years he was actively engaged in the practice of his profession.
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