USA > New York > Westchester County > Westchester county in history; manual and civil list, past and present. County history: towns, hamlets, villages and cities, Volume II > Part 12
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Prior to this, in 1896, he reluc- tantly consented to become a candi-
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date for Congress. One term was | sufficient; he declined a re-election; his business, rapidly growing, needed his undivided attention at home. Politics as a recreation might be well enough, but as a business- never. His stay in Congress was pleasant; he was given place on some of the more important com- mittees, and he made many valuable acquaintances of men who are now classed among his most esteemed friends.
In Congress Mr. Ward introduced and had passed the bill for the forty foot channel, now called the Ambrose Channel, in New York Harbor. Pub- lic credit has always been given to others, but the records show that Mr. Ward introduced and had passed this important measure.
He was elected a Presidential Elec- tor in 1896.
That he is a member of the Na- tional body in his political organiza- tion is a special honor justly appre- ciated by him. He has held this po- sition eight years.
He is not an office seeker for his own benefit, therefore he is a suc- cessful political leader. He recog- nizes the fact that no leader can be a success in Westchester County who tries to further his personal inter- ests. He must absolutely close every avenue that might bring him gain. His strength with the people lies in working for the party and be- ing straight and making his word as good as his bond. Relating to his own position as leader, Mr. Ward recently said in an interview, " In some counties a leader has been suc- cessful by imposing upon the loyalty of his friends to advance his own in- terests, but he has not lasted long. Often my friends have come to me and wanted me to be a director of this or that institution. It is all perfectly legitimate business and I could have made considerable money, but in every case I have refused to have anything to do with them. An- other requisite for a leader is that he must have the confidence of the people. It takes time to get this, but after a man proves himself it is his greatest asset.''
Mr. Ward practices what he preaches, and proves that a success- ful business man can be a successful political leader. Certainly the Re-
publicans of Westchester County are fortunate in having him for leader. Mr. Ward was married September 15, 1880, to Miss Madge Leland, daughter of Warren Leland, of Long Branch. Four children have blessed this union; two sons, Evans and Warren, and two daughters, Dorothy and Winifred. The sons are learning the trade of grandfather and father.
JOHN Q. UNDERHILL.
John Quincy Underhill, a former Congressman, etc., was born in the town of New Rochelle, on February 19, 1848, a son of George W. L. and Julia Ann (Barker) Underhill.
He held numerous political offices in his native town and village.
Was Village Trustee in 1877, and was Village President in 1878 and was re-elected; in 1880 was elected a Town Auditor; for several years was a member of the Board of Edu- cation; for ten years was president of Commissioners of Sewers and Drainage of the village of New Ro- chelle.
Was elected Representative in Con- gress in 1898.
At the time af his death he was vice-president and treasurer of the Westchester Fire Insurance Com- pany. (See biography, page 232, volume 1.)
Mr. Underhill died May 21, 1907.
CORNELIUS A. PUGSLEY.
Hon. Cornelius Amory Pugsley was born about fifty-five years ago at Peekskill, a thriving Westchester County town, even in the days of the Revolution, when it was a base of supplies and a center for the mob- ilization of troops for the Continen- tal Army. His maternal grandfather was Cornelius Meeker, a son of Ben- jamin Meeker (a soldier of the Revo- lution), and a descendant of William Meeker, a founder of the town of Elizabeth, N. J., who was supposed to have come to Massachusetts Bay about 1630; and his father's Ameri- can ancestor was James Pugsley, who came from England about 1680 and settled in Pelham Manor, Westches- ter County. The great-grandfather of Mr. Pugsley, Samuel Pugsley, a
WILLIAM L. WARD
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soldier in the Revolutionary War, gress in December, 1901, his ability married Elizabeth Drake, daughter of Jeremiah Drake, a brother of Colonels Samuel and Gilbert Drake, who commanded Westchester County regiments in the Continental Army.
When a young man, Mr. Pugsley entered the Westchester County Na- tional Bank at Peekskill, in a cleri- cal position, and is now President of this well known institution, which is one of the oldest and strongest of the financial institutions in the State. He was made the first chair- man of Group VII of the New York Bankers' Association when it was or- ganized, and has twice been elected a member of the Executive Council of the American Bankers' Associa- tion, and is well known in banking circles throughout the United States.
Mr. Pugsley is greatly interested in the patriotic work or the Sons of the American Revolution, and has been President of the Empire State Society, S. A. R., and Treasurer- General, Vice-President-General, and President-General of the National Society. He is also an honorary member of the John A. Dix Post, G. A. R., of New York; honorary member of the Harris Light Cavalry Association; a member of the Patria Club, of New York City; of the New England Society, the Chamber of Commerce, of New York, and many other organizations.
At the time of the Tercentenary celebration of the discovery of the Hudson, he was one of the original commissioners, and served upon many of the committees.
Mr. Pugsley has travelled exten- sively both abroad and in this coun- try. He enjoys an enviable reputa- tion as an orator and after-dinner speaker, and has been the orator of the day at prominent commemor- ative celebrations, and among the principal speakers at National and State Bankers' conventions and other large gatherings.
While always interested in poli- tics and public affairs, he was never a candidate for office until the fall of 1900, when he was elected to the 57th Congress from the old XVIth District of New York, including his native County, then possibly the larg- est in point of population of any Congressional district in the United States. Upon the convening of Con-
and knowledge of financial matters was recognized by the Speaker of the House, and he was honored with an appointment on the Banking and Currency Committee. At the close of the Congress, the Speaker re- ferred to him in a magazine article as one of the best informed Demo- crats in the House on financial mat- ters.
Mr. Pugsley has been a delegate at State conventions; in 1904 he was the choice of his County for nomination as Democratic candidate for Governor, and in 1908 was a dele- gate to the national convention in Denver, being at that time one of the Eastern men who was prominently mentioned for the Vice-Presidency.
JOHN E. ANDRUS.
John Emory Andrus, Congress- man, former Mayor, etc., was born in Pleasantville, this County, on February 16, 1841.
He was fitted for college at Char- lotteville Seminary, Schoharie Coun- ty, N. Y .; was graduated from Wes- leyan University, Middletown, Conn., with the degree of A. B. in the class of 1862; taught school in New Jersey for four years.
He came to Yonkers when quite a young man. Engaged in the manu- facture of medicinal preparations, which business he still continues in his home city of Yonkers; is presi- dent of the New York Pharmaceu- tical Association and of the Palisade Manufacturing Company; treasurer of the Arlington Chemical Company ; trustee of Wesleyan University; treasurer of the Ocean Grove (N. J.) Association; trustee New York Life Insurance Company, and officer in other associations.
Was elected Mayor of Yonkers in 1903; was first elected to Con- gress in 1904 and re-elected in the years 1906, 1908, 1910, serving in the Fifty-ninth, Sixtieth, Sixty-first and Sixty-second Congresses.
In the Sixty-second Congress, 1911, Congressman Andrus was named as the ranking minority member of the Committee on Public Buildings and also as a member of the Committee on Irrigation.
During his career in Congress he has done much to benefit his con- stituents. Secured liberal appropria-
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tions for river improvements and for erection of Post-office buildings amounting to over a million dollars.
Congressman Andrus is known to be a liberal contributor for the main- tenance of public institutions and charities; he is credited with provid- ing funds for the construction of a new principal building for the col- lege from which he was graduated. He has been a large contributor to the Methodist Church building fund
and he recently subscribed $50,000 to a fund to aid ministers of the gospel connected with the Methodist Church.
Congressman Andrus' wife died in January, 1910. He has seven chil- dren, three sons and four daughters. The eldest son, William, is in busi- ness with his father. One daughter is the wife of former State Senator Frederick M. Davenport of Onondaga County, N. Y.
ITEMS OF INTEREST.
The Chamber of Commerce of Westchester County was duly incorporated by certificate signed by a Justice of the Supreme Court, in 1909.
Judges in this County have never worn gowns when sitting on the bench, in fact they have always shown strong aversion to wearing same.
In October, 1911, members of the Westchester County Bar Association presented to Supreme Court Justice Martin J. Keogh a life-like painted portrait of himself. The presentation being made at the home of the Justice, in New Rochelle.
The Westchester County Volunteer Firemen's Association is an active society whose large membership is united for the gen- eral good of the firemanic fraternity. It has already lived many years of usefulness.
Washington's first inauguration took place in New York city, and his second in Philadelphia. John Adams in Philadelphia ; Jefferson and the Presidents following, elected by the people, were inaugurated in Washington, D. C.
A life-size portrait, painted in oil, of former County Judge Silas D. Gifford, who served from 1872 to 1884, was presented in October, 1911, to the County by his relatives; the portrait is to hang in the County Court Chambers alongside of the por- traits of other Judges who sat in that Court.
OUR COURTS, NATIONAL AND STATE.
(Continued from Volume 1.)
The Supreme Court of the United States was organized, pur- suant to a law enacted by Congress, in the year 1789, known as the Judicial Act, and at first was composed of one Chief Justice and five Associate Justices. Since that time changes have been made in the organization of the Court as necessity has required, and it is now composed of one Chief Justice and nine Associate Justices. All of these judges are appointed by the President, and, with good behavior, hold their respective offices for life; they can be removed by impeachment proceed- ings only. The Court holds daily sessions, Saturdays and Sun- days excepted, in the Capitol building in Washington, D. C., commencing in October of each year and continuing until the month of May, when it adjourns until the ensuing October.
During the first years of its existence, the Supreme Court had but little work to do, and for many years not more than twenty- five cases were pending before it each year; but within the last half of a century the business of the Court has increased enor- mously. At the present time cases disposed of annually run up into the thousands. The United States Supreme Court stands at the head of the judicial system, and its decisions are final.
The judicial power of this Nation is now vested in one Supreme Court and in such inferior courts as Congress may, from time to time, establish. Under the power thus given to establish courts, Congress has created the Circuit Court of Appeals, the Circuit Court and the District Court, which, speak- ing generally, comprise our judicial system, but in addition to these there are also the Court of Claims, created by act of Con- gress in 1891, the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, the Territorial Courts, the Court of Customs Appeals, and the Commerce Court, created by act of Congress in 1909.
That judges may be secure in their tenure of office and free from all influences which would tend to hinder them in the impartial discharge of their duties, the appointment is for life, provided the incumbent properly performs the duties of his
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office. The Constitution also provides that the judges shall receive for their services a compensation which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. Thus it appears that these two provisions place a judge of a Federal Court in an absolutely independent position, the first giving him prac- tically a life tenure in office, and the second guaranteeing him ยท an income which cannot be diminished.
The suggestion that judges be made subject to " recall," if their views do not coincide with those of the majority, should be defeated most positively.
As the result of the English Revolution of 1688, it was decreed that judges should no longer hold office at the pleasure of the Crown but during good behavior. It was written into the Constitution of the United States that judges should hold office during good behavior. In the State constitutions the same provision is made even when the judges are elected. They hold office for the term for which they were chosen, or during good behavior, and bad behavior is to be determined by the orderly processes of impeachment.
The Federal Courts deal only with cases coming within the scope of the enumeration contained in the second section of the third article of the Constitution, and these courts must not be confused with the courts which form a part of the govern- ment of each of the States, in which the ordinary disputes between citizens are settled.
So much has been written in praise of the judicial system of our government that it is difficult to find language which will exceed in the extravagance of its terms the utterances of dis- tinguished writers in Europe and America upon this subject. One writer, in speaking of the United States Supreme Court, says :
" No product of government, either here or elsewhere, has ever approached it in grandeur. Within its appropriate sphere it is absolute authority. From its mandates there is no appeal. Its decree is law. In dignity and moral influence it outranks all other judicial tribunals of the world. No court of either ancient or modern times was ever invested with such high pre- rogatives. Its jurisdiction extends over sovereign States, as well as the humblest individual. It is armed with the right, as well as the power, to annul in effect the statutes of a State whenever they are directly against the civil rights, the con- tracts, the currency or the intercourse of the people.
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" Secure in the tenure of its judges from the influence of politics and the violence of prejudice and passion, it presents an example of judicial independence unattainable in any of the States and far beyond that of the highest court in England. Its judges are the sworn ministers of the Constitution and are the high priests of justice. Acknowledging no superior, and responsible to their consciences alone, they owe allegiance to the Constitution and to their own exalted sense of duty. No insti- tution of purely human contrivance presents so many features calculated to inspire both veneration and awe."
Another writer on the subject says : " In ancient and medieval times, the courts of law were instruments of oppres- sion and injustice quite as frequently as they were a protection to the rights of individuals, but in the judicial system of the United States we find that the framers of the Constitution secured results which had before that time existed only in the theoretical and speculative writings of philosophers.
" By the creation of the United States Supreme Court there was effected a practically complete separation of the legislative- executive and judicial departments of the government, a condi- tion to which we have now become so accustomed as to render it difficult for us to realize to what extent the few paragraphs of the Constitution producing this result have excited the admira- tion of political and philosophical students."
John Jay, who spent his youth and many years of his useful life as a resident of Westchester County, and after his retire- ment from public office lived (and died) on his estate in Bed- ford, one of the townships of this county, was the first Chief Justice of the United States, receiving his appointment from President Washington. When Justice Jay resigned, in 1796, to take up diplomatic duties in Europe, President Washington nominated Associate Justice William Cushing, of Massachu- setts, to fill the vacancy; Justice Cushing, however, declined the appointment, preferring to remain as Associate Justice to being the Chief Justice. Cushing remained as Justice until 1810.
In looking about for a suitable person to succeed Justice Jay, President Washington selected John Rutledge, of South Caro- lina. Rutledge had declined in 1789 to accept appointment as an Associate Justice, but later was willing to become Chief Justice. President Washington commissioned him during a recess and he presided over the court at the summer term, but
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his nomination was rejected by the Senate the next winter. It would appear that for the reason he would not serve when he was wanted at the early date, the Senate did not want him when he was willing to serve.
Not since Justice Cushing's day, until 1910, has a President nominated an Associate Justice for the Chief Justiceship. Asso- ciate Justice Field felt sure that President Cleveland would elevate him, in 1888, to succeed Chief Justice Waite. Instead, President Cleveland selected Melville W. Fuller, who was then 55 years of age.
In 1910 President Taft broke the rule, by advancing an Associate Justice to the Chief Justiceship, when he appointed Associate Justice Edward D. White, of Louisiana, to be Chief Justice. At the time of his last appointment Justice White was sixty-five years of age. In politics the new Chief Justice is classified as a Democrat. Ability, not politics, was considered when President Taft made the selection.
Oliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut, was nominated for Chief Justice, after Rutledge, in 1796, and he served four years. John Marshall, of Virginia, was appointed to this office in 1801, and he held it 31 years; Roger B. Taney, of Maryland, held it 28 years; Solomon P. Chase, of Ohio, held it nine years; Morrison E. Waite, of Ohio, held it 14 years; Melville W. Fuller, of Illi- nois, held it 22 years.
Of the recent-day judges, Chief Justice Melville W. Fuller, of Illinois, appointed by President Cleveland in 1888, was born in 1833, and served on the bench twenty-two years; Justice John M. Harlan,* of Kentucky, a soldier and statesman, appointed by President Hayes in 1877, was also born in 1833, and is now 77 years of age, and has served thirty-three years on the bench ; Justice David J. Brewer, of Kansas, appointed by President Benjamin Harrison in 1889, was born in 1837 and died in 1910, after serving twenty-one years; Justice Edward D. White, of Louisiana, appointed by President Cleveland in 1894, was born in 1845, and has served seventeen years; Justice Rufus W. Peckham, of New York, appointed by President Cleveland in 1895, was born in 1838, died in 1909, after serving fourteen years on the bench; Justice Joseph McKenna, of California, appointed by President Mckinley in 1898, was born in 1843, and has served twelve years ; Justice Oliver W. Holmes, of Massa- chusetts, appointed by President Roosevelt in 1902, was born
* Justice Harlan died in October, 1911.
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in 1841, has served eight years; Justice William R. Day, of Ohio, appointed by President Roosevelt in 1903, was born in 1849, and has served seven years; Justice William H. Moody, of Massachusetts, appointed by President Roosevelt in 1906, was born in 1853, has served four years.
The terms of Justices Taney, Marshall, David Davis, of New York, and Harlan overlapping, with the exception of a gap of one year in 1835-6, cover the life of the Republic from the end of John Adams's term as President in 1801 to the present day.
It is not strange that every lawyer looks upon a place upon the United States Supreme Court bench as the summit of his profession; that President Taft, who was a Circuit Justice, turned with regret from it when he accepted a place in the Cabinet of President Roosevelt, and that great lawyers who in private practice could earn many times the judicial salary, who are fitted to command and framed to enjoy social amenities of the highest order, are more than willing to devote their time exclusively to the duties of the Court, and that lawyers of the highest standing are frequently mentioned as willing candidates for appointment to this coveted judgeship without thought of the possibility of their refusal to accept.
It has always been the popular assumption that no person has ever declined the offer of the Chief Justiceship. But the popular belief is erroneous. United States Senator Roscoe Conkling, of this State, declined it when offered to him by President Grant in 1874; John G. Carlisle, of Kentucky, at the time he was Speaker of the House of Representatives, declined when President Cleveland offered it to him in 1888.
It is a venerable bench. The average term of United States Supreme Court Justices has been fifteen years, but many have passed that post and continued valuable services for longer periods.
Chief Justice Taney lived to be 89 years old, and served twenty-eight years ; Justice Gabriel Duval reached the ripe age of 92 years, serving twenty-five years; Justice William Strong, who was 87 when he died, served ten years; Justice John Marshall died when 80 years old, and after he had served thirty-four years on the bench; Justice Joseph Story, who died aged 86 years, served thirty-four years on the bench; Justice Stephen J. Field served thirty-four years and died in his 83d year; Jus- tice Bushrod Washington served thirty-one years, and died when
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89 years old; Justice Noah Swayne died when 80 years old, serving thirty years; Justice William Johnson was on the bench thirty years, dying at the age of 83 years ; Justice Samuel Nelson died at the age of 81 years, serving twenty-nine years; Justice MacLean served on the bench thirty-two years, and died at the age of 85. Justice Wayne, who lived to be 87 years old, also served thirty-two years.
As a general rule, an appointment of Justice of the United States Supreme Court by the President is promptly confirmed by the United States Senate, but there has been one or more exceptions. An instance of this kind is recalled; in the year 1894 certain Senators took exceptions to the nomination of a noted lawyer from New York, on political grounds only, claim- ing that he did not sufficiently represent the political party to which he was credited. The President finally withdrew the nomination and substituted another, taking the latter from a different State.
The death of Justice Rufus W. Peckham, in 1909, left for a time New York State without a Justice on the United States Supreme Court bench.
President Taft, on December 13, 1909, nominated, and the Senate confirmed the appointment of, Horace H. Lurton, of Tennessee, as an Associate Justice, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Justice Rufus W. Peckham, of New York. Mr. Lurton was born in 1844.
On March 28, 1910, another vacancy occurred, caused by the death, on that day, of David Josiah Brewer, Associate Justice. He was found dead in his bathroom at his home in Washington; physicians announced that he had died suddenly of apoplexy. He was born on June 20, 1837, in Smyrna, Asia Minor, where his father was a pioneer missionary. The family came from Massachusetts; at the time of his appointment he was credited to Kansas.
The full number of Justices is nine, when the bench is full. The death of Justice Brewer reduced the active court to seven; Justice Moody being ill and confined to a hospital. In 1910 Congress passed a special act providing that in case Justice Moody resigned, within a certain period, his full salary be paid him for life.
Chief Justice Melville W. Fuller died in July, 1910, at the age of 77 years. As a general thing, Justices of the United States Court have not been over-burdened with wealth; in fact,
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they were never over-paid for their services. Their salary being less than a Supreme Court Justice in our own Ninth Judicial District. Chief Justice Fuller was a wealthy man before his appointment; at his death his estate was estimated to amount to nearly $1,000,000.
President Taft, on April 25, 1910, nominated for an Asso- ciate Justice, Charles E. Hughes, then Governor of the State of New York. The Senate promptly confirmed, and Gov. Hughes was appointed. On October 1, 1910, Mr. Hughes resigned the office of Governor and took his place upon the bench. At the time of appointment, Gov. Hughes was 45 years of age.
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