>-**, --^ (forn? U Ham ^t\\m\ Hibrary Cornell University Library KF 355.C6M64 A group of great lawyers of Columbia Cou 3 1924 018 821 698 The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924018821698 A GROUP OF GREAT LAWYERS OF COLUMBIA COUNTY NEW YORK A GROUP OF GREAT LAWYERS OF COLUMBIA COUNTY, NEW YORK BY PEYTO]^ F- MILLER, COUNSELOR AT LAW WITH PORTRAITS PRIVATELY PRINTED 1904 Copyright, 1904, by Peyton F. Miller THE DEVINNE PRESS This volume i^ dedicated to the memory of my father, Theodore Miller, from whom f have learned many of the facts recorded, and to whom an acquaintance with some of the originals of these sketches and knowledge of the lives and achievements of others were an iticen- tive and inspiration ?w his ow7i career. CONTENTS FACE Martin Van Buren 3 Samuel J. Tilden 17 Robert Livingston . . v 31 Robert R. Livingston (Judge) 48 Peter Silvester 55 John Bay 58 Robert R. Livingston (Chancellor) 61 Peter Van Schaack 75 Edward Livingston 84 Ambrose Spencer 104 Jacob Rutsen Van Rensselaer 114 Elisha Williams 118 Daniel Cady 126 The Van Nesses 128 John P. Van Ness 130 William P. Van Ness 133 Cornelius P. Van Ness 136 William W. Van Ness 138 Thomas P. Grosvenor i44 vii vlii CONTENTS PAGE Joseph D. Monell 147 James Vanderpoel 151 Aaron Vanderpoel 152 John C. Spencer 154 Ambrose L. Jordan 159 Benjamin F. Butler 163 John W. Edmonds ... 172 Henry Hogeboom . . 180 John Van Buren ... 184 Theodore Miller 197 Aaron J. Vanderpoel 210 The Anti-Rent War (By Theodore Miller). 214 LIST OF PORTRAITS FACING PAGE Martin \^an Buren 3 Samuel J. Tilden 17 Robert Livingston 31 Robert R. Livingston (Judge) 48 Robert R. Livingston (Chancellor) 61 Peter Van Schaack 75 Edward Livingston 84 Andrew Jackson 93 Ambrose Spencer 104 Elisha Williams 118 John P. Van Ness 130 Cornelius P. Van Ness 136 Joseph D. Monell 147 Ambrose L. Jordan 159 Benjamin F. Butler 163 John W. Edmonds 172 John Van Buren 184 Theodore Miller I97 Aaron J. Vanderpoel 210 PREFACE These sketches have been prepared partly for the enjoyment of the author, but chiefly to arouse interest in and to preserve and proclaim the history of some of the men, who by their intellectual gifts and achievements have made Columbia county illustrious, and have helped to build the State and Nation. I have availed myself of such books, letters, and manuscripts as I possessed and have found in the State libraries, the libraries of my friends, and elsewhere, though no formal references to authorities are given. I must express my gratitude to the descend- ants of some of the distingnished personages, sketches of whom appear in this book, for their assistance in furnishing me facts and helping me collect the portraits. A paper on the Anti-rent War, prepared by Hon. Theodore Miller, after his retirement from the bench, has also been included in this volume. P. F. M. Hudson, New York, October, 1904. A GROUP OF GREAT LAWYERS OF COLUMBIA COUNTY NEW YORK 'Cf'^ AiAKIIX \A\ ]a'ki-:x MARTIN VAN BUREN EIGHTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES M^ [ARTIN VAN BUREN was born at Kin- derhook, in Columbia county, December 5, 1782, and was descended from one of the earliest settlers of that town. These people were from Holland and were of a very superior class, hav- ing left their native land to escape religious persecution and the horrors and confusion of constant warfare. It is said his father kept a tavern. This is not improbable, as most of the people who then lived on the post-roads were pre- pared to entertain travelers and so might have been called tavern-keepers. We do know that he owned a farm, was possessed of moderate means, and reputed to be a man of intelligence, good sense, and the strictest integrity, and that he was always an active and enthusiastic Demo- crat. The Van Burens were on an equality with their neighbors, the Hoeses, Pruyns, Van Aliens, Vanderpoels, Van Schaacks, Van Vlecks, Vos- burghs, and the other farmers of the vicinity. 4 MARTIN VAN BUREN No one assumed to be an aristocrat in those days, not even the great landlords, the Living- stons and Van Rensselaers. The whole land fairly pulsated with the love of liberty and a de- sire to establish the rights of people who had fled from tyrants to find freedom and peace. In an old house in Claverack I have often sat and gazed at a pair of andirons that were purchased about that period. Each is surmounted by a liberty-cap, and on the front of each there is a flag with thirteen stars, above which is the word " Liberty " and underneath the words " or Death." This was the spirit of that time, and the men who felt it were brave, earnest, honest, and strong. In the words of a recent writer of distinction : " Those who farmed the rich lands of Columbia county were pretty thorough Americans; their characteristics were more im- mediately drawn from the soil they cultivated, and from the necessary habits of their life, than from the lands, Dutch or English, from which their forefathers had emigrated." Mr. Van Buren's mother was, at the time of her marriage to his father, a widow. Her maiden name was Hoes, and she was distantly related to the Van Buren family. She was said to be a woman of unusual wisdom and ability, and deeply religious. James I. Van Allen, a son MARTIN VAN BUREN 5 by her former marriage, was a lawyer of high standing. He was a member of the Constitu- tional Convention of 1802, twice surrogate of Columbia county, a judge of the county court, and, in 1808, a Member of Congress. He en- couraged and, being possessed of means and a lucrative practice, assisted his half-brother, Martin, in his education. They were opposed to each other in politics, Mr. Van Buren being, as he was born, a Democrat, and Mr. Van Allen a Federalist. Martin Van Buren was educated at the Kin- derhook Academy, which was then and after- wards a school of high standing. At the age of fourteen he commenced his legal studies in the office of Francis Silvester, in Kinderhook. At that time seven years of study were required before admission to the bar. At an early age Mr. Van Buren showed a keen interest in public affairs, and refused to form opinions upon them until after thorough investigation. His ability to engage in argu- ments was far beyond his years. From the com- mencement of his legal studies he was fre- quently employed in trials in justices' courts, which were then the schools for all young law- yers, and which gave scope for his talents and established for him a reputation of great ser- 6 MARTIN VAN BUREN vice in future years. His taste for politics de- veloped at an early age, and he was most active in making speeches and in other efforts to fur- ther the cause of his party and aid his political allies. His last year as a law student was spent in the city of New York, in the office of William P. Van Ness, a distinguished lawyer, a native of Kinderhook, and one of the leading Democrats of the day. He was admitted to the bar in 1803, and then returned to Kinderhook, where, as a partner of his half-brother, Van Allen, he found himself engaged in an extensive prac- tice. He entered into it with characteristic en- ergy and industry. His interest and activities in politics were unabated, and his influence increased. In February, 1807, he was admitted as a coun- selor of the Supreme Court. Shortly after this he married Miss Hannah Hoes, of Kinderhook, who was a relative of his mother. Mrs. Van Buren died in 1819, leaving four sons. Her husband, who had always been affectionate and devoted, never remarried. In 1808 he was appointed surrogate of Co- lumbia county, which office he retained until 1813. Early in 1809 Mr. Van Buren removed to Hudson and formed a partnership with Cor- nelius Miller, the father of the late Hon. Theo- MARTIN VAN BUREN 7 dore Miller. They did a large and lucrative business from the start, and the partnership con- tinued until the death of Mr. Miller, although prior to that date Mr. Van Buren had removed to Albany. During Mr. Van Buren's residence in Hud- son the bar wsls especially distinguished for the brilliancy and ability of many of its members. Foremost among them was Elisha Williams, who as a popular speaker or before a jury was without a rival. He was an active politician and a leading Federalist, as Mr. Van Buren was a leader of the Democratic party. Benjamin F. Butler, who was a native of Columbia county, was a student in the office of Van Buren & Miller, and resided in the family of Mr. Van Buren. He became a most distinguished law- yer, and was Attorney-General in the cabinets of General Jackson and Martin Van Buren, act- ing Secretary of War from 1836 to 1837, and a lifelong friend of Mr. Van Buren's. In con- trasting Mr. Van Buren and Mr. Wilhams he said : " Never were two men more dissimilar. Both were eloquent; but the eloquence of Wil- liams was declamatory and exciting; that of Van Buren insinuating and delightful. Wil- liams had the livelier imagination; Van Buren the sounder judgment. The former presented 8 MARTIN VAN BUREN the strong points of his case in bolder relief, invested them in a more brilliant coloring, in- dulged a more unlicensed and magnificent in- vective, and gave more life and variety to his arguments by his peculiar wit and inimitable humor; but Van Buren was his superior in analyzing, arranging and combining the insu- lated materials, in comparing and weighing testimony, in unraveling the web of intricate affairs, in eviscerating truth from the mass of diversified and conflicting evidence, in softening the heart and moulding it to his purpose, and in working into the judgments of his hearers the conclusions of his own perspicuous and per- suasive reasonings." During the years Mr. Van Buren resided in Hudson he industriously devoted himself to his profession, and while he entered into the social life of the town and was accessible to those who had business with him or desired to consult him, he spent much time in study, and burned the midnight oil with a student's enthusiasm. His reputation as a lawyer soon became firmly es- tablished, and his political influence grew more powerful. In 1812 he was elected a State Sena- tor, and in 181 5 was appointed attorney-gen- eral of the State and discharged the duties of that office for five years. In 1816 he removed MARTIN VAN BUREN 9 to Albany and was reelected to the State Sen- ate for a term of four years. Upon the death of his partner, Cornelius Miller, he formed a partnership with Benjamin F. Butler and con- tinued in active practice until 1828, when the demands of his political career forced him to abandon his profession. He was at that time the most prominent lawyer in the State, and at the age of forty-six, after twenty-five years of untiring industry, patient research, and brilliant achievements, he retired, having amassed a comfortable fortune. He was elected a member of the Constitu- tional Convention of 1821. On February 6, 1 82 1, he was elected United States Senator. From the beginning of his term he exercised in the Senate the commanding influence he had wielded in his official life in his native county and State, and in February, 1827, he was re- elected. On the death of Governor De Witt Clinton in February, 1828, Mr. Van Buren was elected governor, and entered upon the duties of that office January i, 1829. He resigned the office of governor March 12, 1829, having been appointed Secretary of State in the cabinet of General Jackson. In April following he commenced his official duties as Secretary of State, and on April 11, 1831, differences among 10 MARTIN VAN BUREN the members of the cabinet having arisen, he informed the President that he had determined to withdraw, but, at the request of General Jackson, continued to perform the duties of the office until in June, when he resigned. The President immediately pressed him to accept the mission to the court of St. James, which he did, and arrived in England in Sep- tember, 1 83 1, where he was received with dis- tinguished favor. Washington Irving was at that time in charge of the London legation, and although he had sent in his resignation, with- drew it at Mr. Van Buren's request. Together they drove through portions of England, visit- ing places made immortal by Irving's pen. During Mr. Van Buren's official sojourn in England he evinced great ability as a statesman and diplomat, and by the grace and charm of his manner, his well-bred air, his ability to know how and when to do and say exactly the right thing, he impressed those he met as a most polished and cultivated gentleman and an ac- complished man of the world. His nomination as Minister to England was submitted to the Senate January 7, 1832, and on the 26th of that month was rejected by the casting vote of the Vice-President. In reply to a letter from the Democratic members of the MARTIN VAN BUREN u Legislature of New York to the President, ex- pressing, in the strongest language, their indig- nation at the act of the United States Senate and their high respect for the pubhc and pri- vate character of Mr. Van Buren, General Jackson relieved him from any blame on ac- count of the dissolution of the cabinet, and said: " During his continuance in the cabinet his exertions were directed to produce harmony among its members, and he uniformly endea- vored to sustain his colleagues. His final res- ignation was a sacrifice of official station to what he deemed the best interests of the coun- try." He also stated that Mr. Van Buren had reluctantly consented to his selection as Min- ister to England, and that those parts of the instructions to him which had been used to jus- tify his rejection he (General Jackson) had suggested, and they were the result of his own deliberate investigation and reflection, and still appeared entirely proper and consonant to his public duty. In May, 1832, General Jackson was renomi- nated for the Presidency, and Mr. Van Buren nominated for the Vice-Presidency, and they were elected by a large majority. A few days before General Jackson died, in conversing of Mr. Van Buren with a visitor, he said: " I have 12 MARTIN VAN BUREN enjoyed a long and happy acquaintance with Mr. Van Buren and have ever found him per- fectly honest; as a statesman, quick and pene- trating, possessing a powerful mind governed by strict integrity; ever ready to sacrifice personal feelings for the good of his coun- try and totally regardless of individual popu- larity when his duty called him to defend the rights of the people. . . . There is no man in the country that has ever been in public life, to my knowledge, who has passed a life with more purity in all his public and private duties. . . . He, like myself, has suffered, very unjustly, much persecution, but conscious of having done our duty here below, we must leave to a merci- ful Providence and an honest and enlightened public to render what is due to our memory when we are no more. . . . Say, sir, to Mr. Van Buren I would write to him if I could, but I cannot. I shall write no more." In 1836 Mr. Van Buren was elected Presi- dent, being the first man of Holland Dutch an- cestry to hold that office, Mr. Theodore Roose- velt, the present incumbent of the office, being the second. In 1840 he was again a candidate, but was defeated by General William Henry Harrison. In 1844 he received a majority of the votes in the Democratic National Conven- MARTIN VAN BUREN 13 tion, but not two thirds, as was required. In 1848 he was the candidate of the Free Soil, or, in other words, the party opposed to the further extension of slavery; the convention which nominated him declaring that " Congress has no more power to make a slave than to make a king." He was defeated by General Zachary Taylor. About the year 1841, after his term as Presi- dent had expired, Mr. Van Buren purchased an estate called Lindenwald, on which a fine house had been erected by Peter Van Ness, the father of those three great men, John, William, and Cornelius Van Ness. This house was en- larged and extensively altered by Mr. Van Buren and is still standing. A wide hall runs through the center, on the walls of which there is a paper representing an English hunting scene. Spacious rooms are on either side. In this house Washington Irving lived twenty years before as a tutor in the Van Ness family, and wrote some of his best-known sketches. Here Mr. Van Buren settled down in dignified retirement, except at such times as he was called by his party to lead it, and two years spent in European travel. He usually had about him the members of his family, and the old halls and stately apartments rang with the merry voices 14 MARTIN VAN BUREN of happy children. He dispensed a gracious hospitahty to his relatives and neighbors, and entertained some of the most distinguished peo- ple of this and other lands. Henry Clay, Gen- eral Scott, Washington Irving, Thomas H. Benton, William L. Marcy, and Silas Wright were among his guests. Betv^^een the President and his only brother, Laurence Van Buren, -who lived in the village at Kinderhook, there existed an intimacy of uncommon depth. Scarcely a day passed with- out their meeting and spending some time to- gether. They were a noticeable pair; they looked much alike, and with their whitened hair, fresh complexions, and clear-cut features, were sure to attract the eye and arouse one's admi- ration and respect. The President had the faculty of remember- ing the name and face of every one he met. His manners were affable, and he carried him- self with quiet dignity. He had been honest in all the high places he had occupied, and his career had been unparalleled in its success. His neighbors loved, admired, and respected him. They delighted to meet him on his drives and see him cantering along on his favorite saddle-horse, Duroc, being always certain of a courteous recognition, and frequently of a quiet MARTIN VAN BUREN 15 little talk, which they would treasure in mem- ory. The months that preceded the attack on Fort Sumter were to Mr. Van Buren full of gloomy forebodings. He foresaw some of the trials we would as a nation be called upon to bear. His patriotism never wavered ; he declared him- self boldly in favor of the preservation of the Union, and he watched events with the keenest interest until his death. He died at Lindenwald, July 24, 1862. His funeral, which was unostentatious, was at- tended by large crowds of people from the neighborhood, and many distinguished persons from different parts of the country. He was buried in the cemetery at Kinderhook, where he lies among his kindred and old neighbors. His grave is marked with a simple granite shaft. His will was executed in i860, and makes what seems to be an equal division of his prop- erty among his children, giving to each of his grandchildren and some of his kin legacies as souvenirs, and committing to the care of his family certain relatives he had felt called upon to assist. The first clause of the will is in these words : " I, Martin Van Buren, of the Town of Kinderhook, County of Columbia and State of i6 MARTIN VAN BUREN New York, heretofore Governor of the State, and more recently President of the United States, but for the last and happiest years of my life a Farmer in my native town, do make and declare the following to be my last will and Tes- tament." Martin Van Buren was certainly gifted with talents of the highest order, which he had de- veloped in the highest degree. His integrity, the purity of his life, his kindness of heart, — for he was indeed without malice, — and the charm of his manners endeared him to all who knew him. Columbia county may justly be proud of having given such a man to the world. His only living male descendant bearing the name of Van Buren is his grandson, Martin, a son of Smith T. Van Buren, who resides at Fishkill in this State. / SAMIICI. J. I ILIllCX SAMUEL J. TILDEN SAMUEL JONES TILDEN was born at the Tilden homestead in New Lebanon, in Columbia county, on February 9, 1814. His ancestors were Puritans, who came to this country in 1634. His father, Elam Tilden, moved from Lebanon, Connecticut, in 1790, and named his new home in honor of the one he had left. He owned a farm and was also a mer- chant. His letters indicate that he had received a good education. He was possessed of con- siderable influence, and was widely known and respected as a man of integrity and enterprise. While seldom a candidate for office, he was es- pecially active as a politician, and his opinions on political questions were highly valued. His son Samuel was a very delicate child, and at the age of three had an illness the ef- fects of which he seemed to feel until his death. Physical weakness set him aside from people of his own age and debarred him from many out- door pleasures and sports. He learned quickly, and was remarkably studious. When sixteen 2 17 i8 SAMUEL J. TILDEN he went to the WilHamstown Academy, but was prevented from remaining there long by his ill health. He was sent to New York in 1832 to live with an aunt, but the climate not agreeing with him, he returned home. During the Presi- dential campaign of Jackson and Van Buren, an uncle came to visit his father, and there were many discussions between the two brothers about politics. Samuel was usually present and an attentive listener. After a few days he brought his father an address to the Democracy he had secretly prepared, which seemed to cover the issues of the campaign. Martin Van Buren, who had long been a friend of Mr. Til- den's, was at that time staying at Lebanon Springs. The latter took his son Samuel to call upon him, and submitted the address. Mr. Van Buren advised that it should be signed by several prominent Democrats and published in the Albany Argus. This was done, and the Albany Evening Journal, the opposition paper, announced that Mr. Van Buren was the author. The acquaintance thus formed ripened into a strong friendship which was unbroken, except by the death of Mr. Van Buren. Young Til- den's interest in politics continued and increased with his years. At the age of nineteen he made his first political speech. SAMUEL J. TILDEN 19 In 1834 he entered Yale College, but re- mained only a short time, his health being in such a condition he was obliged to leave. In 1835 he entered the University of New York, but ill health again prevented him from com- pleting the course. He wrote many articles upon political questions from time to time. He entered the Law School of New York Univer- sity in 1838, the year it was organized. At the same time he was a student in the office of John W. Edmonds. He was admitted to the bar in 1 84 1, and opened an office in New York at 11 Pine Street. During the early years of his pro- fessional career Mr. Tilden gave much atten- tion to politics. In 1846 he was elected a member of Assembly, and also a member of the Constitutional Con- vention of that year. He was active in the Free Soil campaign of 1848, and upon the formation of the Republican party by the Antislavery Democrats and Whigs in 1856, although im- portuned to join those who left the Democratic party, he declined, saying he felt he could do more good for his country by remaining in his party. His increasing practice absorbed his atten- tion, for he found himself retained in many im- portant cases. He avoided taking small or un- 20 SAMUEL J. TILDEN important ones. His success as a lawyer was remarkable; out of circumstances most disad- vantageous and materials most meager he seemed able to secure victories for his clients. The contest over the election of Azariah C. Flagg as comptroller of the city of New York, and the establishing of his rights to the office, and the defeat of the claim of Mrs. Cun- ningham to be granted letters of administra- tion of the estate of the murdered Dr. Bur- dell, on the ground that she was his widow, and his victory in defending the suit of the Dela- ware and Hudson Canal Company against the Pennsylvania Coal Company established his reputation, and he ever afterwards was over- whelmed with clients and business of the most desirable and profitable character. He seemed to have had an especial talent for relieving cor- porations from needless litigations, and in reor- ganizing them in such a manner that they could be conducted with profit. He had unusual op- portunities for the accumulation of wealth, and while he built up a large fortune, he seemed to take pride in doing so in a strictly honorable manner. The services he rendered were most valuable, still his charges were not exorbitant. He declined all contingent fees, and studiously avoided mixing himself up with questionable SAMUEL J. TILDEN 21 people or cases. When Jim Fisk informed him he had paid one man $125,000 in a year for legal services, Mr. Tilden ended the interview at once, feeling that no such sum could be earned within the period stated for legitimate services to a single client. In a letter defending himself from an unwarranted assault he closed with these words : " If the bar is to become merely a method of making money, making it in the most convenient way possible, but mak- ing it at all hazards, then the bar is degraded. If the bar is to be merely an institution that seeks to win causes, and to win them by back- door access to the judiciary, then it is not only degraded, but it is corrupt. ... I believe that there will come a sounder and a better public sen- timent, in which speculation and gambling, and jobbing and corruption, will lose their power, and in which free government will vindicate its right to the confidence of mankind. . . ." Mr. Tilden's power as a lawyer arose from his learning and the force of his intellect. He indulged in no theatrical displays, did not de- pend upon technicalities, but brought all his strength to bear upon the weak point in his opponent's case. He was always cool and self- contained, and, as far as one could see, never lost his presence of mind, was never surprised, 22 SAMUEL J. TILDEN and never embarrassed. He was a difficult per- son to find at his oflice, being in no sense punc- tual. Mr. Tilden attended the adjourned mecliii!4' of the Democratic National Convention of icS6o at Baltimore, filling a vacancy in the delegation from New York. He made two speeches there, in which he predicted civil war in case there was a sectional division of the Democratic party. He did all in his power to avert war, but when it came he was an entirely loyal, un- wavering Unionist. His position was " that of patriotic, constitutional opposition to supposed errors of administrative policy, openly cocipcr- ating with all tlie measures of the government of which he approved, and privately discourag- ing those of which he disapproved." In 1867 he was elected a member of the Con- stitutional Convention. In icSf)() he succeeded Dean Richmond as chairman of the Demo- cratic State Central Committee. The Tweed Ring, knowing that Mr. Tilden distrusted them, tried unsuccessfully to have him (k'])()se(l in 1869. What is known as the Tweed charter for the city of New York was passed in 1X70. Mr. Tilden publicly stated that $1,000,000, stolen from the taxpayers, was taken to Albany to secure its passage. Tweed and his eon- SAMUEL J. TiLDEN 23 federates managed to obtain appointments to the various oflicos, and under its provisions started upon their career of plunder. Within a month after its passage the Board of Special Audit created by it had signed orders for the payment of over $6,000,000, of which Tweed received twenty-four per cent, and the city re- alized about ten per cent., the balance being divided among the other members of the Ring, except $-;50,ooo which was sent to Albany to corrupt the Legislature. The percentage of theft reached sixty-six per cent, in 1870, and later eighty-five per cent. Fraudulent bills to the amount of $1 -',250,000 were audited in 1S70, and ^3.400,000 in 1871. At a meeting of the Bar Association of the citv of New York, in December, 1869, called to devise measures by which this wholesale rob- berv could be stopped and the robbers punished. ]Mr. Tilden made a speech, and the campaig-n against the robbers was opened. \Xs.v was af- terwards declared by the Democratic State or- ganization against Tammany Hall, of which the Ring had obtained absolute possession, and which controlled in New York City a majority of forty or fifty thousand votes. The thieves were betra^•ed b\- one of their number, and a copy was obtained from a clerk in the comptrol- 24 SAMUEL J. TILDEN kr's office of a series of entries, known as " se- cret accounts," which was published in the news- papers. On September 14 the comptroller of the city of New York applied to Mr. Tilden for an interview, and after going over the matter, under an enactment which authorized the comp- troller to appoint a deputy and confer upon him for a definite period all his own official powers, he consented to and appointed Mr. Andrew H. Green. This was a fatal blow to the Ring. Mr. Tilden was elected a member of Assem- bly in 1 87 1, for the purpose of reforming the judiciary and procuring the impeachment of the judges who had assisted Tweed and his con- federates, and to secure legislation to insure the punishment of the thieves and a restoration of their plunder. He cast aside all other occupa- tions and devoted himself to this work. The leading members of the Ring were tried and con- victed and much of their spoils recovered. Mr. Tilden had covered himself with glory, and stood before the world as a fearless reformer. The cooperation of his party and the honest men of New York City made success possible, but his leadership was marked with such ability, energy, and sagacity that he received, and richly deserved, the admiration and gratitude of all. He spent the summer of 1873 in Europe, in SAMUEL J. TILDEN 25 search of much-needed rest. His services to the pubHc had been so great, and he had performed them in such a brilHant manner, he had become a prominent figure in his State. In 1874 he was elected governor. He found himself confronted by another gang of thieves, the Canal Ring. This v^^as a band that by- means of fraudulent contracts had plundered the State for many years. They had grown rich on their spoils and bold in their deeds. Their leaders, one a Republican and the other a Democrat, were adroit and able men. They took turns at the helm according to which party had the ascendancy. Mr. Tilden found them strongly intrenched. He entered boldly into the contest and succeeded in exposing their thefts, breaking up their organization, and in- troducing an honest administration of the canals. This, of course, added to Mr. Tilden's laurels, and, with the reputation he had already established as a man of ability, integrity, and determination, he became the logical nominee for the Presidency. In 1875 the degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by Yale College. At the Democratic National Convention held at St. Louis June 27, 1876, he was nomi- nated for the office of President of the United States on the second ballot. The campaign was 26 SAMUEL J. TILDEN characterized by great bitterness, and at the election 4,300,316 votes were cast for Tilden and 4,036,016 for Hayes. The country was in a state of suspense until the matter was finally settled. Mr. Tilden conducted himself with the greatest dignity, and suggested a course, which, if it had been followed in the solution of the problem, would have been constitutional and meted out exact justice. I recall a conversation, at which I was pres- ent, between General George B. McClellan and a distinguished Democrat from the city of New York, who had been a Member of Congress and for many years active in military affairs, and an intimate friend of Mr. Tilden. He told us that immediately after the election, when the excitement was at the highest, he called upon Mr. Tilden and said that, in case of trouble, he begged he would command his services. Mr. Tilden turned, and with great solemnity said to him substantially: Colonel, there will be no trouble. I would rather yield all claim to the Presidency than be the cause of one drop of my countrymen's blood being shed. I shall rely on the honor of the American people and the justice of our laws. He had not reckoned with what sort of peo- ple he would have to deal. Of the three hun- SAMUEL J. TILDEN 27 dred and sixty-nine electors, one hundred and eighty-four Tilden electors had been unques- tionably chosen. He needed one hundred and eighty-five. The four Tilden electors in Flor- ida and the eight in Louisiana had received a majority of the votes cast and returned. A majority was claimed for the seven Tilden elec- tors in South Carolina. The elections in these three States and the State of Oregon were con- tested by the Republicans. The returns from the doubtful States were manipulated in vari- ous ways so as to favor the Republican candi- date. The matter came before the Electoral Commission, as it was called, which was com- posed of eight Republicans and seven Demo- crats; the Republicans being three Judges of the United States Supreme Court, three Sen- ators, and two Members of Congress, and the Democrats, two Judges of the United States Supreme Court, two Senators, and three Mem- bers of Congress. The proceedings of the Com- mission were characterized by a disregard of law and justice and a spirit of unfairness. The Republican members voted every time to sustain the State returning boards where the majorities in favor of Mr. Tilden had been re- versed, and to receive the vote of every dis- qualified elector. The end of the matter was 28 SAMUEL J. TILDEN that the certificate of election was given to Mr. Hayes, and Mr. Tilden defrauded of an office to which he had been elected. This, I feel jus- tified in asserting, was the opinion of all intel- ligent Democrats who were conversant with the facts and participated in the public events of that time, and many of the Republicans, not- withstanding their partisan prejudices. This base outrage was perpetrated by members of the Republican party. I am confident the rank and file of that party would have repudiated the act and shown their disapproval of it had they been permitted to understand the facts of the case. Mr. Hayes was inaugurated, and, with indecent haste in some instances, the persons who had directly assisted in the perpetration of the fraud, by falsifying the returns and other- wise, were rewarded with gifts of offices and other governmental favors for the dirty work they had done. Vicious persons at times gain control of political parties and do foul deeds for which the party as a whole should not be blamed. The Tildens were, as a family, warm-hearted and affectionate people, and the family tie bound them more closely together than is usual. If Mr. Samuel J. Tilden had been endowed with the lovable and attractive qualities of his bro- ther Henry, his hold upon the affections of the SAMUEL J. TILDEN 29 people would have been so great this fraud would never have been attempted; but he was by nature cold and unsympathetic, he possessed no charm of manner, he inspired awe and not affection. In 1877 the severe strain that he had borne for years began seriously to affect his health, and he went abroad for several months. He was not materially benefited by his travels. In 1880 and in 1884 he declined to be the Demo- cratic nominee for President, not feeling suf- ficiently strong to enter again the arena of politics. He lived a semi-retired life at his beau- tiful residence on Gramercy Park in New York, and his fine country seat, Greystone, a short distance above Yonkers. There we hear of him with his relatives and friends, and receiving frequent visits from the most distinguished Democrats in the land, who revered him as a political sage, and bowed before him as the vic- tim of a vile fraud. His health gradually weakened, and on Au- gust 4, 1886, he died. He left a fortune of sev- eral millions. One million he distributed by his will among his relatives and friends, and in charity. The remainder of his estate he gave, by the thirty-fifth clause of his will, to trustees, "... to establish and maintain a free library and reading-room in the city of New York, and 30 SAMUEL J. TILDEN to promote such scientific and educational ob- jects as my said executors and trustees may more particularly designate." He had never married, and his only heirs were nephews and nieces. His will was contested on the ground that the clause establishing the library trust was void for indefiniteness. Although the will had been drawn under Mr. Tilden's personal super- vision, by one of the greatest lawyers in this country, and after consultation with another of equal reputation, the claim of the contestants was sustained and the estate was divided among his heirs, except about one third, which, on a compromise, before the decision, with a grand-niece, who was entitled to one half, was turned over to the trustees of the library fund. On the division of the estate the trustees ac- quired Mr. Tilden's library of twenty thousand volumes, and his manuscripts and pictures. A consolidated corporation was formed May 23, 1895, called " The New York Public Library, The Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foun- dations." The city has contributed as a site the property on Fifth Avenue, between Fortieth and Forty-second streets, on which the reser- voir formerly stood. That has been removed, and a suitable building is now being erected at the expense of the city, ROBERT Ll\INGST(.tN FIRST LORD OF THE MANOR ROBERT LIVINGSTON THE FIRST LORD OF THE MANOR THE Rev. John Livingston was born, June 21, 1603, in Monyabrock, Sterlingshire, Scotland, where his father and grandfather had been ministers. They belonged to the Living- stons of Callendar, the head of which family was, in 1600, created Earl of Linlithgow. " Mess " John, as he was called, was appointed by Parliament one of the commissioners to ne- gotiate with Charles II the terms on which he should be restored. He was subsequently pros- ecuted for nonconformity and his estates con- fiscated, and, with a number of his congrega- tion, sailed for America. A great storm was encountered, and he set apart three days for fasting and prayer, resolving that if the storm did not soon abate they would return home. The storm continued, and they went back to Scotland. In 1666 he was banished, and fled to Rotterdam, where he lived until his death, August 9, 1672. 31 32 ROBERT LIVINGSTON His son Robert, the subject of this sketch, was born at Ancram, in Teviotdale, Roxburgh- shire, Scotland, December 13, 1654. He hved in Rotterdam for several years with his father, until the latter died, leaving a widow and many- children. Robert had acquired a perfect know- ledge of the Dutch language as spoken in Hol- land, and had received a thorough education, for those days, from his father. On April 28, 1673, he sailed from Greenock, Scotland, for Charlestown, New England. In 1674 he ap- pears to have settled in Albany, and was at once given a position in the Council, and in 1675 was made town clerk, and also appointed secretary for Indian affairs by Governor Andros. He retained that office for fifty years. The know- ledge obtained as such official was of great as- sistance to him in his investments in real estate, and as an adviser to the successive governors of the colony. In 1678 the Rev. Nicholas Van Rensselaer, having become suddenly and seriously ill while away from home, begged to be taken back to his own house in Albany to die. They suc- ceeded in reaching there, and as he desired to make his will, Robert Livingston was sent for and appeared in his lawyer's gown, a handsome, strong young man, who by his own ability and ROBERT LIVINGSTON 33 efforts, by his willingness to seek his fortune in all the avenues that were open, by perseverance, prudence and never-tiring industry, had in a few years so advanced himself as to be called upon by the most prominent people in the col- ony to perform the important and confidential service of drawing a will. As soon as he en- tered the room where the sick man lay, the lat^ ter became much excited and demanded that he should be taken away, refusing to have any- thing to do with him. His brother-in-law, Major Peter Schuyler, remonstrated with him in vain, and upon his wife, who had been Alida Schuyler, the daughter of Philip Petersen Schuyler, begging him not to treat the young man so unkindly, he said : " Take him away ! Take him away ! I know. That young man shall not make my will; he will be your second hus- band." Mr. Van Rensselaer, died, and in due time the prophecy was verified, for on July 9, 1679, Livingston married his widow. Follow- ing the record of his marriage, made by him in the family Bible, are the words : " May God be with us and bless us." On July 12, 1683, he purchased of the Indians two thousand acres along the Hudson River and the Roelof Jansen's Kill. This purchase was confirmed by a patent from Governor Don- 34 ROBERT LIVINGSTON gan, November 4, 1684. On August 10, 1685, he bought of the Indians six hundred acres of meadow-land in Taghkanic, which purchase was confirmed by patent August 27, 1685. On July 22, 1686, Governor Dongan granted to Robert Livingston the remaining and adjoining lands, and for those, and the lands already purchased, issued a patent erecting them into a lordship or manor, to be recognized as the lordship and manor of Livingston, and authorizing the pro- prietor to hold a court-leet, which was a court of criminal jurisdiction, and a court-baron, the chief business of which was to determine all controversies relating to the right of lands within the manor, and giving him the advow- son, that is, the patronage of the churches within the manor. This estate commenced at a point on the east bank of the Hudson River at the mouth of a small creek called by the Indians Wockankossick, a short distance south of Cats- kill station, or Greendale, as it is now known, and extended south along the river until about one mile north of Tivoli station, and easterly to the boundaries of Connecticut and Massa- chusetts. It comprised the townships of Cler- mont, Germantown, Livingston, Taghkanic, Gallatin, Ancram, and Copake, and contained, according to the survey made at the time the ROBERT LIVINGSTON 3$ patent was granted, about 162,240 acres. The manor extended twelve miles along the Hud- son and from twelve to seventeen miles east- ward. On October 26, 1694, Robert Livingston conveyed to Derick Wessels Ten Broeck six hundred acres lying on the Hudson, and twelve hundred acres on both sides of the Roelof Jan- sen's Kill, east of the present village of Cler- mont. In 1686 Robert Livingston and his brother- in-law, Peter Schuyler, were sent by the citizens of Albany to New York as commissioners to re- ceive from Governor Dongan the charter of Albany as a city. They reached Albany with it four days after it was signed — very rapid traveling for those days. In it Peter Schuyler was named as mayor and Robert Livingston confirmed as town clerk. He was also ap- pointed, later in the year, by Governor Dongan, collector of excise and quit-rents. In 1688 Governor Dongan borrowed of him large amounts to enable him to carry on war with the French in Canada. Livingston had great difficulty in getting this money repaid, and was obliged to visit England in 1695 before he suc- ceeded in doing so. As soon as news of the landing of the 36 ROBERT LIVINGSTON Prince of Orange in England, November 5, 1689, was received in New York, Jacob Leisler, who was a captain of one of the train-bands, taking advantage of the disturbed condition which ensued after the dethroning of James II, usurped the office of governor, which had been abandoned by Governor Nicholson, who had sailed for England. After continuing in the office some time, Leisler was tried and convicted of treason, and he and his son-in-law. Mil- borne, were executed, being the only persons ever executed for a political crime in what is now the State of New York. Leisler was a bit- ter foe of Robert Livingston, and after he came into power joined forces with other enemies of Livingston. The latter was obliged to fly from the colony, and went to Hartford, where he lived for a while in the family of Governor Winthrop. During his absence his house was searched, and Mrs. Livingston was subjected to many annoyances until she was able to join her husband. Upon the downfall of Leisler, Livingston was restored to favor and to his offices, which then included, besides those al- ready enumerated, clerk of the peace and clerk of the Court of Common Pleas at Albany. In 1695 he went to England to collect his claims against the Crown. The voyage proved ROBERT LIVINGSTON 37 very tempestuous, and ended in his being ship- wrecked on the coast of Portugal, and he was obhged to travel across that country, Spain, and France in order to reach his destination. Prior to this time the Livingston coat of arms had been surmounted by a demi-savage as a crest and the motto had been, " Si je puis " (If I can). Robert changed the crest to a ship in distress, and the motto to " Spero mehora " (I hope for better things). The family have re- turned to, and now use, the original crest and motto. \\'hile in England, Livingston and Captain William Kidd preferred charges against Gov- ernor Fletcher. Kidd was a bold and skillful navigator, and a man of standing and char- acter in the city of New York, where he lived, and had been, in 1691, rewarded by the council of that city for his services to the colonies. Governor Fletcher suspended Livingston from all his offices except that of town clerk. At the solicitation of Lord Bellomont, the king re- instated him, and in the following year, on Lord Bellomont becoming governor, he made Liv- ingston a member of his Council. On October 10, 1695, in England, an agreement was en- tered into by Lord Bellomont with Robert Liv- ingston and Captain William Kidd to equip a 38 ROBERT LIVINGSTON vessel to be used as a privateer and to fight and subdue pirates. Lord Bellomont furnished the funds, Livingston the plan, and Kidd the nau- tical skill, etc. Captain Kidd was placed in command of the ship Adventurer, with thirty guns and one hundred and fifty-four men, and shortly afterwards joined the pirates. The opinion of people living at that time, and of historians, is that Lord Bellomont and Living- ston were basely deceived, and in no way privy to the designs of Captain Kidd. He suffered for his crimes, for in 1699 he returned to New England and was captured and sent to England, where he was tried, convicted, and hung. In 1 70 1 a demand was made upon Living- ston by his former enemies, the Leisler party, for an accounting of certain moneys which had passed through his hands. He refused to com- ply with their demand, which he characterized as unwarranted, and the General Assembly, in which they then had controlling power, passed an act confiscating his lands. He at once made preparation to go to England and appeal to the king. Before leaving he obtained from the In- dians, with whom he had great influence, au- thority to represent them at the court. This act the General Assembly characterized as con- trary to his duty and allegiance to the king and ROBERT LIVINGSTON 39 the peace of the government, and he was sus- pended from the Council April 20, 1702. He sailed for England, and was captured by pirates in the British Channel, but was rescued, not, however, until he had been robbed of all the property he had with him. In 1705 he obtained a royal warrant restoring his lands and offices. The Council refused to pay his salary as repre- sentative of the Indians at court, declared the office a useless one, and demanded that it should be abolished. Mr. Livingston continued to act as Indian representative, and finally received full pajonent for his services. While in England he contracted with the government to provide subsistence for the Palatines, and on September 29, 17 10, con- veyed to Queen Anne six thousand acres along the Hudson River for their use, for the sum of two hundred and sixty-six pounds sterling. This land included almost the whole of the present town of Germantown in Columbia county. The Palatines were Germans from the Lower Palatinate of the Rhine; they were mostly Protestants, and had fled to England to escape religious persecution. They had at one time been hired by England as soldiers, and the colony was established by Queen Anne for the purpose of providing them with a home and 40 ROBERT LIVINGSTON manufacturing turpentine, rosin, pitch, and tar and other naval stores for the government, and they had agreed to repay the money expended in their behalf. It was not a success, and most of the people were dissatisfied and moved away, some settling in the Mohawk valley, in Scho- harie county and elsewhere. Sixty families re- mained in Columbia county, and in 1724 letters patent were issued to certain trustees, and the lands granted by Livingston to Queen Anne were divided among those who had remained, subject to certain quit-rents and conditions, and their titles finally became absolute. The courts held, that, although Robert Livingston had sold the title to the six thousand acres of land, it was, in respect to all the other conditions of the original grant to him, a part of the manor. This authority existed until 1775. Robert Livingston was elected a representa- tive for Albany in the General Assembly in 1709, and served until 17 14. In 171 5 the manor was resurveyed and the provincial grants confirmed by royal charter of George I, which erected the estate into a lordship, to be known as the " Manor of Liv- ingston," and conferred upon it a court-leet and a court-baron, to be presided over by the Lord of the Manor, and also the privilege of ROBERT LIVINGSTON 41 electing a member of the General Assembly and two constables. Robert Livingston in 1716 was elected representative for the manor and con- tinued to occupy such office until 1726, when he retired from public life. He was speaker of the Assembly from 171 8 to 1725. In 1699 he built a manor-house on the north bank of the Roelof Jansen's Kill, a few rods northeast of the Linlithgo station. This house was built more as a defense than for a residence, and was not occupied by him, except tempora- rily, until 171 1. On June 21, 1721, Governor Burnet, of the province of New York, issued to Robert Liv- ingston a license to collect money " towards carrying on and finishing " a church in the Manor of Livingston, which it recited would " require a larger sum than can be reasonably expected to be advanced by any one particular person." In the autumn of 1721 the building was erected largely at the expense of Robert Livingston. It was a substantial structure, stood on the site of the Livingston Memorial Chapel at Linlithgo, was the first church in the southern part of the Columbia county, and was known as the Dutch Reformed Church of Lin- lithgo. Under it was the vault of the Living- ston family, and about it a graveyard which was 42 ROBERT LIVINGSTON used by the tenants. The will of Robert Liv- ingston was executed February lo, 1722, and devised forty acres of land opposite the church for the minister's home farm, sixty acres the returns from which were to be applied on his salary, and a house and twenty acres east of the churchyard for the use of the clerk of the church, who was also to act as pedagogue for the youth of the manor. In 1814, this church having become dilapidated, a church was built in the village of Johnstown, and after that, until 1870, Linlithgo became a preaching station, when a building was erected on the site of the original church, chiefly by members of the Livingston family, which is called the Liv- ingston Memorial Chapel. The old vault, over which the chapel is built, and in which the bodies of eight generations of Livingstons have been placed, has been bricked up. In 171 1 Robert Livingston moved to the manor-house and continued to reside there un- til his death, which occurred in Boston in 1728. The manor-house was never occupied by Philip, who succeeded his father as Lord of the Manor, and lived in Albany and the city of New York. His son Philip, who was born in 1716 and was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, lived in Albany on the west side of North Pearl ROBERT LIVINGSTON 43 Street, one door north of State Street. The old elm tree which stood on the corner of State and North Pearl streets was planted by him over one hundred and fifty years ago. The manor-house was taken down about the year 1799 by Robert Tong Livingston, who inherited it from his grandfather, Robert, the third Lord of the Manor, and the doors and arches and much of the woodwork were used in the con- struction of the house now standing a few rods from the site of the original building. This house has been owned and is now occupied by the family and descendants of Alexander Crofts, who married the only child of Robert Tong Livingston. Robert Livingston was an able, bold, ener- getic, and enterprising man. He had been edu- cated in the school of adversity, for his family had been reduced in wealth by a too earnest and loyal adherence to the cause of a sovereign, and his father had been exiled and his estates confiscated on account of religious convictions. He had been brought up in a foreign land — A stranger 'mongf strangers, Estranged from his own. He came to this country to seek his fortune, and his worth and ability were quickly recog- 44 ROBERT LIVINGSTON nized. We find him immediately after his ar- rival at Albany occupying a place in the Council, and that afterwards offices of value and impor- tance were from time to time heaped upon him. Not satisfied with the profits of his profession, we also find him engaged in various occupations of a commercial character, which were sure to bring money to his purse. That he occupied a position of importance is shown by the fact of his having been called upon to draw the will of a Van Rensselaer ; and both his position and personal attractions are established by his mar- riage to the widow Van Rensselaer, who was a Schuyler. He naturally aroused envy and en- mity in his career, and was assailed by those unfriendly to him with that bitterness which characterized those days. In each instance he seems to have triumphed over his foes, and in- stead of being injured by their attacks, on every occasion, when driven to a personal appeal to the Crown, he returned ladened with more hon- ors and opportunities to acquire greater riches. It is of course difficult to obtain more than meager facts in relation to his life and achieve- ments, but we must judge him according to what he accomphshed, and we must conclude that a man who started with nothing but his brains, breeding, and education, and was able ROBERT LIVINGSTON 4; to lay the foundations of a great fortune and found a family of distinguished rank, mem- bers of which have rendered services to our Na- tion and State the value of which can hardly be calculated, and who rose from one position of honor to another until he became one of the most influential men in his adopted country, must have possessed great ability. We know that he could not have accomplished this through dishonesty, for such practices are sooner or later exposed, and it would have been impossible for him to have so often met the accusations of traducers and come out victori- ous. Besides, dishonesty has never been a trait of his family. As far back among his ancestors and as far down among his numerous descen- dants as we can go, we find them honest, almost without an exception. It has been in all ages the custom for certain envious or thoughtless persons to defame those who have risen to places of distinction, or have acquired vast wealth, and to repeat old slanders, usually born of political hatred and prejudices, that should have been forgotten ; but while this has been a practice common to all ages and peo- ples, we must confess it displays a lack of judg- ment, principle and thought. Robert Livingston had nine children, five of 46 ROBERT LIVINGSTON whom survived him. The manner in which he brought up and educated his children shows how highly he appreciated education. John, his oldest son, who married a daughter of Gov- ernor Winthrop, died in the lifetime of his fa- ther without children. His son Philip, who suc- ceeded him as Lord of the Manor, was a man of fine ability. Robert was born July 24, 1688; his father, in recording his birth, wrote in the family Bible: "On the 24th of July, being Tuesday, at five o'clock in the afternoon, my worthy spouse was delivered of my third son, Robert. May the Lord bless him that he may grow up in the Presbyterian religion." He sent Robert to Scotland. It must have been done at considerable personal sacrifice, for everything of that sort was most expensive then. The money was well invested, for he returned an accomplished scholar, speaking and writing Latin, French, and Dutch fluently. He learned German the year before his death, which oc- curred in 1775, in his eighty-sixth year. His father's appreciation of him was shown by de- vising to him the Clermont estate, about eleven thousand acres, as a reward for his vigilance in frustrating a plot on 'the part of the Indians to murder the whites. To his son Gilbert he devised an estate in Saratoga county. There ROBERT LIVINGSTON 47 is a portrait of Robert Livingston, the first Lord of the Manor, owned by his descendant Her- man Livingston, which is at his residence, Oak Hill. Some confusion has arisen from the fact that, in 1687, Robert Livingston, a nephew and namesake of the first Lord of the Manor, came from England and settled at Albany, where he subsequently married Margaretta, the daughter of Peter Schuyler, the brother of the wife of the first lord of the manor, who was one of the most influential persons in the colony. Many of their descendants are now living in the State of New York. JUDGE ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON A LOVER OF LIBERTY THE first Lord of the Manor of Livingston was a member of the legal profession, as was his third son Robert. The latter, soon after his return from Scotland, where he had been sent to be educated, had his attention one day aroused by the unusual number of Indians he saw skulking about the edge of the woods near the manor-house, which was built on the Roelof Jansen's Kill, just east of Linlithgo station on the New York Central and Hudson River Rail- road. That night he was awakened by a noise in the chimney. He sprang from his bed and rushed forward just in time to seize by the legs an Indian who was coming down the chimney. The latter, terrified by the sudden and unex- pected attack, and finding himself in the hands of young Livingston, who cried out, " Villain, confess ! " admitted that he was one of a band who had arranged to rob and murder all the whites that night. An alarm was given and the plot frustrated. The Lord of the Manor 48 JUDC.E KollERT K. LIVIXCSIOV JUDGE ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON 49 was so pleased with the boldness and bravery of his son in discovering and defeating this plot he gave him as a reward eleven thousand acres, being the southern end of the manor, which has since been known as the Manor of Clermont. He early in life showed ability, and became a man of great learning and influence. He foresaw the Revolution, and was full of patriotism and faith in the success of the Colo- nies. He died June 27, 1775. His son Robert R., the subject of this sketch, was born in 171 8, and lived most of his life at Clermont, the lower manor-house, which was built by his father in 1730. He received a lib- eral education and was admitted to the bar. In addition to his law practice, he gave consid- erable attention to the management of his fa- ther's estate, and actively participated in public affairs. In 1760 he was appointed a judge of the Admiralty Court. He was elected a mem- ber of the General Assembly of the province for Dutchess from 1759 to 1768, and for the manor from 1768 to 1774. He was appointed by the Crown a Judge of the Supreme Court in 1763. He is said to have been a man of great energy, strong character, strict integrity, and deeply religious. He was a firm believer in the rights of the Colonies and watched with anxiety the 50 JUDGE ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON policy pursued towards them by England, and, although in an official position, he was fearless in his activity to maintain what he and other patriots considered their rights. He was opposed to separation by the colonies from the mother country, but believed in hav- ing their wrongs redressed, and was ready to assist in doing so. The historian Bancroft, in speaking of the resentment felt by the colonists at the imposition of duties by the mother coun- try on articles of daily consumption, refers to " the gentle Robert Livingston " as saying, in 1764: " It appears plainly that these duties are only the beginning of evils. The stamp duty, they tell us, is deferred till they see whether the Colonies will take the yoke upon themselves and offer something else as certain. They talk, too, of a land tax, and, to us, the ministry appears to have run mad. . . . We in New York shall do as well as our neighbors ; the God of Heaven, whom we serve, will sanctify all things to those who love him and strive to serve him." Mr. Bancroft quotes a letter showing he be- lieved in freedom for the colonies without entire independence. He was the only person who held a lucrative office under the Crown, who, though as such he was especially exempted, signed the " Asso- JUDGE ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON 51 ciation of the United Colonies," whose object was to induce all the colonies to enter into a nonimportation, nonconsumption, and nonex- portation agreement or association. His son, the Chancellor, said, he " scorned to avail himself of that exception, and went voluntarily and signed, being the first and, I believe, the only- person holding a lucrative office in the govern- ment who associated." In 1764 he was the chairman of a committee appointed by the General Assembly of New York to correspond with other Assemblies in relation to grievances and apprehensions of the American colonies. No delegates having been appointed by New York to the Stamp Act Con- gress of 1765, Judge Livingston and the other members of his committee were admitted, and participated actively in the proceedings of that body. While it was in session he wrote to his father : " See the three great points we have to contend for, and of what importance they are: trials by juries, a right to tax ourselves, and the reducing admiralty courts within the proper limits." He prepared the address of the Con- gress to the King, praying for " the invaluable rights of taxing ourselves and trials by our peers." From that time until his death he be- came more and more convinced of the wrongs 52 JUDGE ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON of the colonies and the folly of the policy of the mother country. His acts were so fearless, and his views so pronounced, that he was removed by the Crown from his judicial office. In June, 1775, in a letter to his son Robert, afterwards the Chancellor, he writes : " I con- clude from the King's answer to the Lord Mayor that if American liberty is maintained, it must be by the greatest exertion of force, under the favor and direction of Providence. In this situation I am under no apprehension but from the enemies we have amongst our- selves. A hearty and united opposition would render us, to all appearances, invincible. ... It seems to be absolutely necessary that we should be in a state of defense. . . . The object of first consequence is union. My powder-mill will be set agoing, I hope, by the beginning of next week." He concludes with these words : " I am convinced they don't know America yet. I don't wonder at it; we are hardly yet ourselves apprised of the power we are able to exert, and that makes many afraid to join in the cause." The powder-mill referred to was run by his son John R. during the Revolutionary War, and supplied much powder to the patriots. Judge Livingston died at Clermont in De- cember, 1775, and is buried there, His widow JUDGE ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON 53 survived him until June, 1800, when she died, instantly, in the dining-room at Clermont, from a stroke of apoplexy. Portraits of Judge Livingston and his wife, by Copley, are now in the possession of Mrs. Robert R. Livingston, the widow of a great- great-grandson, at Northwood, her residence near Tivoli, which is a portion of the estate given by the first Lord of the Manor to his son Robert. Judge Livingston married in 1742 Margaret Beekman, who was a woman of strong char- acter and of devoted patriotism. They had eleven children, one of whom died in infancy: Janet, the eldest, married an Irishman, the celebrated General Richard Montgomery, the hero of Quebec; Robert R., the first Chancel- lor of the State of New York; Henry B., a Colo- nel in the Revolutionary War; John R., who was also an active patriot; Gertrude, who mar- ried Morgan Lewis, who was Chief Justice of New York from 1801 to 1804, and Governor from 1804 to 1807, a major-general in the Niag- ara campaign, and commander at Sackett's Harbor and French Creek; Joanna, who mar- ried Peter R. Livingston, an influential and distinguished politician; Alida, who married General John Armstrong, who was Secretary 54 JUDGE ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON of State for Pennsylvania, Minister to France under Jefiferson, and Secretary of War under Madison; and Edward, the author of the Lou- isiana Code and holder of many ofificial posi- tions of the highest grade; Margaret, who married Thomas Tillotson, who was a captain in the Maryland line. Secretary of State of New York, the successor of Alexander Hamilton as agent of the Federal government in New York, and surgeon-general of the Northern De- partment in the original organization of the Society of the Cincinnati; and Catharine, who married the Rev. Freeborn Garrettson, an em- inent Methodist preacher. The four sons lived from sixty-six to ninety- eight years. PETER SILVESTER THE FIRST LAWYER IN KINDERHOOK WE first learn of Peter Silvester as prac- ticing law in Albany. He was evidently a man of high position in the community, for in the charter of incorporation, granted by King George III on April 25, 1769, to St. Peter's Church in Albany, his name is mentioned as a vestryman. He was also a warden of that church in 1773. In 1763 he seems to have moved his family to Kinderhook. Peter Van Schaack was a student in his office in Albany in 1766. Peter Silvester was an active politician, and seems to have held many offices. He was a member of the Albany Committee of Safety, in 1774; and of the first and second Provincial Congress, in 1775 and 1776; and of the first Congress under the Constitution, in 1789; and a member of Congress also in 1791; the first judge of Co- lumbia county; a State senator, in 1796 and 1799; and a Member of Assembly from Co- 55 56 PETER SILVESTER lumbia county, in 1788, 1803, 1805, and 1806. His son Francis Silvester was born in Kin- derhook, July 22, 1767, and died there January 31, 1845. After graduating from Columbia College he studied law in his father's office, and practiced all his life in his native village, hav- ing established a reputation as a scholar, a law- yer, and an honest man. He was frequently engaged in legal contests in which Aaron Burr was his adversary. He married Lydia .Van Schaack, a niece of Peter Van Schaack, and lived in a house in Kinderhook which is still standing and has been always occupied by the I Silvester family, until within a few months, I when his daughter. Miss Margaret Silvester, [died, being over ninety years old. She was a i person of fine mental gifts and engaging man- ners, and lived a dignified life, dispensing a generous hospitality, surrounded by many in- teresting family portraits and heirlooms, and keeping up, even to the last, interest in her books and music. It was at this house Martin Van Buren, who had studied in Francis Sil- vester's office, was a frequent visitor when liv- ing at Lindenwald. Mr. Silvester was a member of the Consti- tutional Convention of 1821. PETER SILVESTER 57 Peter Henry Silvester, his son, was also a lawyer and was twice a Member of Congress. He died, leaving two sons, one of whom, Fran- cis, was also a lawyer, and died recently. John L. B. Silvester, the only survivor of the family, resides in Albany. JOHN BAY THE FIRST LAWYER IN CLAVERACK JOHN BAY was descended from a Hugue- not family, De Bai, which, after the revo- cation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685, fled from France to Holland, and later went to Ireland. The head of the family having died, his widow, in 1720, came to this country and settled in Maryland, bringing with her two sons, Andrew and William. The former was a Presbyterian minister and died, leaving a son who became Chief Justice of South Carolina. William re- mained in Maryland, where, in 1743, John Bay, the subject of this sketch, was born. He grad- uated at Princeton College in 1765, and settled in Albany, where he studied law. Shortly after being admitted to the bar he married Ann Wil- liams, who is described as possessing " great intelligence, sterling worth and Christian vir- tues," and who died in Albany in 1845 at the age of one hundred. John Bay was active in politics from the be- ginning of his professional life, being always a 58 JOHN BAY 59 strong Federalist. In 1775 he was secretary of the Committee of Safety, which was charged with the necessary preparations and measures for defense, and in furtherance of miHtary operations, and had the entire executive control of the county of Albany, which then included what is now Columbia county, and much other territory. In 1779 and 1780 he was a Member of Assembly from Albany county. In 1781 he moved to Claverack, where he owned a large tract of land, and opened a law office. He en- listed as a private in Captain Jeremiah C. Mil- ler's company, which was part of what was known as the First Claverack Battalion. He was a Presidential Elector in 1792, and a Mem- ber of Assembly from Columbia county in 1788, 1794, and 1795. He was an industrious lawyer and had a large clientage, and was a man of in- tegrity, superior ability, eloquence, and educa- tion. His manners were unusually polished and he was noted for his generous hospitality. Am- brose Spencer and William W. Van Ness were among the lawyers who were educated in his office. He died in 1818. His son, Thomas Bay, practiced law in Hud- son. He was a Member of Assembly in 1818. July 9, 1819, he was appointed District Attor- ney, and held that office until 1821, and he was 6o JOHN BAY Mayor of Hudson from 1825 to 1827. He died when quite young. Another son, WilHam Bay, who married a sister of WilHam W. Van Ness, was a physician and practiced in Claverack until 1810, when he moved to Albany and became the most distin- guished physician in that part of the State. He died at the age of ninety-two. Another son, John, was educated as a physician, but when quite young retired from practice and died at the age of eighty-two. ri-lANC ELLOR L1\"INGST0N CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON CHANCELLOR ROBERT R. LIVING- STON was born November 27, 1746, at the winter residence of his father, Judge Robert R. Livingston, in the city of New York. His youth was spent at Clermont, the lower manor- house in the south part of Columbia county. He entered King's College (now Columbia) and graduated in 1764, when he delivered an oration in praise of liberty, which was referred to in a notice in the New York Gazette in most complimentary terms, which closed with this sentence: "And many of the audience pleased themselves with the hope that the young orator may prove an able and zealous asserter and de- fender of the rights and liberty of his country, as well as an ornament to it." He commenced the study of law in 1765, in the office of William Smith, the historian, an eminent lawyer, who was afterwards Chief Jus- tice of Canada. His studies were continued in the office of his relative, William Livingston, the Governor of New Jersey. He was admitted 61 62 CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON to the bar in 1773 and formed a partnership with his intimate friend, John Jay, who was afterwards Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Minister to Spain, and Special Envoy to England. Mr. Livingston's ability as a lawyer was quickly recognized. He was appointed Recorder of New York City. The Stamp Act aroused his patriotism, and he so openly expressed his views and protested so strongly against the wrongs being perpetrated on the Colonies by England, that he, like his lib- erty-loving father, was removed from office. He threw himself with enthusiasm into the battle for liberty. His ability and his position as a member of a wealthy, powerful, and distin- guished family were of great assistance to the patriots' cause. In 1770 he married Mary, daughter of Hon. John Stevens, of New Jersey. He was a Mem- ber of the Second Continental Congress, which met in May, 1775, and one of a commit- tee to prepare and report a plan of federation for the Colonies. He was also, with Benja- min Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sher- man, and John Adams, appointed on the com- mittee to draft the Declaration of Independence, and was made chairman of that committee. He was prevented signing, although he helped pre- CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON 63 pare, and had strongly advocated it, by being called to New York to attend to duties as a member of the Provincial Congress in prepara- tions for the defense of the Hudson River. After the adoption of the Declaration of Inde- pendence the General Assembly of New York changed its name to the Congress of Repre- sentatives of the State of New York. It first met at White Plains, then at Harlem, Philipse Manor, Fishkill, and Esopus (Kingston). At the latter place the Constitution was adopted April 20, 1777. In the autumn of 1777 Sir Henry Clinton sent Sir James Wallace up the Hudson River with a flying squadron of about four thousand men, to burn, destroy, and pillage, and eventually join General Burgoyne. They proceeded on their voyage until they reached Kingston. Having failed to raise a sufficient force to protect them, the Governor and Legislature fled to Hurley. The British burned Kingston, and then sent a detachment of troops to Rhinebeck, where, after burning several houses, they started up the river to punish " The Rebel," Chancellor Livingston. His mother had had as guests for several weeks a wounded British captain and his surgeon. On being warned of the approach of the soldiers, they offered to protect the house 64 CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON and its occupants, but Mrs. Livingston declined, saying she did not desire any such advantage over her neighbors and countrymen. Mirrors and other furniture, and china and silver vi^ere hastily buried or loaded on v^agons, and Mrs. Livingston and her family and servants fled to- wards Massachusetts. They had not proceeded far when a column of smoke made known to them that their loved home was burning. The house was destroyed except the north and south walls. A house a few hundred yards to the south, which the Chancellor, being unwilling to disturb his widowed mother in her old home, had built for himself, was also burned. The British, having received news of Burgoyne's surrender, returned to New York. Mrs. Livingston at once wrote to George Clinton, who was at that time Governor of the State, and obtained leave of absence from mili- tary duty for a number of men to act as brick- makers, carpenters, etc., to assist in the rebuild- ing of her house. The north and south walls, which were uninjured, were made a part of the new house, which was a reproduction, as far as possible, of the original building. The site se- lected for this mansion evinces remarkable good taste on the part of the first Robert Livingston of Clermont, the Chancellor's grandfather. At no point along the Hudson is there a finer view CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON 65 of the Catskill mountains, and the long stretch of river which is seen from the south windows of the house is most beautiful and unusual. I know of no place in this country where culti- vated taste and intelligence on the part of its early proprietors are so much displayed, and which has been so carefully preserved. Many of the trees planted by the first Robert of Cler- mont are still standing, and are looked after and enriched with reverent care. Each suc- cessive owner has seemed to appreciate the priv- ilege of possessing and the duty to preserve and embellish this fine old place. The house re- mains as it was when Mrs. Livingston rebuilt it, except it has been equipped with the con- veniences of our luxurious modern life, and has had added to it a wing on either side and been raised a storey. The rooms are spacious, with lofty ceilings and large windows extending to the floor or with deep seats, and commanding views of uncommon beauty. Mr. John Henry Livingston, the present proprietor, the great- great-great-grandson of the builder of Cler- mont, when not absent on foreign travels, spends most of his time there, and has main- tained for Clermont the reputation for gracious and graceful hospitality it has for so many gen- erations possessed. In 1 78 1 Chancellor Livingston was appointed 66 CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON Secretary of Foreign Affairs, which corre- sponded with the office of Secretary of State, and served until 1783, when he retired, receiving the thanks of Congress. He was appointed Chan- cellor of this State in 1783 and served until 1801, his administration being distinguished for abil- ity, promptness, and efficiency. Hewas chairman of the convention held at Poughkeepsie in 1788 which ratified the Constitution of the United States, which met with great opposition, but was carried by a majority of three votes after six weeks of debates by the fifty-seven dele- gates, among whom were many of the most dis- tinguished men in the State, Mr. Livingston being untiring in his efforts for, and largely instrumental in securing its adoption. In April, 1789, he administered in the city of New York the oath of office to George Wash- ington, first President of the United States. In 1794 President Washington offered to appoint him Minister to France and he declined. The University of New York conferred on him the degree of LL.D. In 1790 Mr. Livingston, who, before that had acted with the Federalists, be- came a Democrat. In the Presidential election of 1800 Thomas Jefferson was with one accord the choice for the office of President. Three men were prominent candidates for Vice-Presi- CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON 67 dent, Robert R. Livingston, Aaron Burr, and George Clinton. Mr. Livingston was af- flicted vifith deafness, w^hich, it was deemed, would impede him in presiding over the Senate, and the choice was narrowed down to two and Burr was chosen. Mr. Jefferson offered to ap- point Mr. Livingston Secretary of the Navy and, on his declining, appointed him Minister to France. His negotiations while in that office resulted in the Louisiana Purchase, which gave to the United States for about $15,000,000, $3,- 750,000 of which was reserved to satisfy claims of United States citizens against France, a ter- ritory nearly equal to the area of the thirteen original States. While in France he formed a friendship with Napoleon, who was then first Consul, and who treated him with marked attentions, presenting to him, on his departure, a gold snuff-box, on the lid of which was the first Consul's portrait by Isabey, a celebrated French artist. He left Paris in 1804, and after travelling extensively in Europe, returned to this country. He was the principal founder of the Ameri- can Academy of Fine Arts in 1801, and in 1808 its president. While abroad he added to it a fine collection of statues and busts, and procured for it from Napoleon some fine paintings and 68 CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON prints. He was also chiefly instrumental in founding the Society for the Promotion of Use- ful Arts, to which he contributed many papers on agriculture and other subjects, showing great learning and research. He had inherited a large estate in land and personally interested himself in developing it. He imported fine cat- tle, introduced merino sheep, and clover and other grasses, and devoted much attention to the cultivation of fruit trees. He was the first to use gypsum as a fertilizer. For many years he had been much interested in the application of steam for purposes of navi- gation, and had made inventions in that line. As early as 1797 he had employed a man to build a steamboat, which was not successful. In 1798 he obtained from the Legislature a grant of the exclusive right to navigate the waters within the limits of the State of New York with steam for twenty years, on condition that he should run at regular convenient inter- vals, a boat that would average not less than four miles an hour. In 1799 he wrote a long letter to Thomas Jefferson on the subject, detailing his inventions and experiments. While in Paris he met Robert Fulton, who had also been ex- perimenting in the same line. Mr. Fulton was of Irish descent, and was born in Pennsylvania CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON 69 in 1765. He had gone to England and was studying art with Benjamin West, who was also a Pennsylvanian by birth. After pursuing his art studies for several years, he turned his at- tention to steam navigation in Paris. Mr. Liv- ingston supplied him with the funds necessary to continue his experiments; a boat was con- structed and launched upon the Seine, which, al- though a failure, was sufificiently successful to warrant further experiments. These were con- tinued in the United States at the expense of Mr. Livingston, who also contributed his own plans and inventions. In 1803 Mr. Livingston procured a renewal of his grant from the Legis- lature, on condition that he and Robert Fulton should, within two years, produce a boat of the speed required. This grant was again renewed. In 1806 a boat was commenced by them of larger dimensions than the one built in France. It was called the Clermont and was launched in August, 1807, and on September 7 started for Albany. The trip was made at an average rate of five miles an hour, a stop being made at the Chancellor's dock at Clermont to take on wood for fuel. This boat was one hundred feet long, twelve feet wide and seven feet deep. In 1808 she was lengthened to one hundred and fifty feet and made eighteen feet wide, and 70 CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON her name changed to the North River. The fare from New York to Albany was $7; to Poughkeepsie, $4; and to Hudson, $5.50. The boat was commanded by Captain Wiswall. Chancellor Livingston, on his return from France, retired from public life. His property, which he had increased by intelligent care and judicious investments, was still more increased by the success of his venture in steam naviga- tion. He had built himself, in 1783, a house about a quarter of a mile south of Clermont, his old home. It stands on a high bank over- looking the Hudson River for miles, and com- manding an unsurpassed view of the Catskill mountains. North and south and in front are rolling lawns descending to the bluff which overhangs the river, and along this there is a fringe of trees which quite completes the pic- ture. At the rear is a small forest, covering a slight elevation, and extending east, which furnishes a fine background for the house. The Chancellor was especially fond of the yellow locust, and along the drive connecting the Chan- cellor's place, " Idele," as it is now called, with Clermont, there is an avenue of them. They, and some horse-chestnuts, and several trees of rare varieties, are of gigantic size, and add greatly to the dignity and grandeur of the estate. CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON 71 The house, which is 104 feet front by 91 feet deep, is built of brick, and is in the form of the letter H. The main body is two storeys high and is surmounted with a balustrade of remark- able beauty, and there are two pavilions. The details of the house are beautiful and artistic, and display the most cultured taste. In one of the pavilions was the Chancellor's library of over four thousand volumes, many of which, as well as the furniture and tapestries, he had brought from France. He was very fond of reading, and read and spoke several languages. He especially delighted in the Greek and Latin poets. He was a man of cultivated tastes, and had surrounded himself with the beautiful and artistic, and lived in a stately way. His silver dinner service was valued at $25,000. The pieces are very large and massive, each one be- ing apparently moulded in four separate parts and then welded together, the decorations, which are elaborate, being skillfully hammered and carved. It was purchased by him in Paris at a sale of articles left with Gouverneur Morris, our representative during the French Revolu- tion, by Frenchmen who undoubtedly were af- terwards victims of the guillotine. These things, not having been called for at the expiration of a given period, and after diligent search for 72 CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON their owners had been made, were sold, accord- ing to the terms of the agreement under which they were left, and the proceeds applied for the benefit of impoverished French refugees. The Chancellor was an able writer, and his oratory was classical and persuasive, appeal- ing to the sympathies of his hearers. His figure was tall and commanding, his manners were gracious, his morals above reproach; he was religious, generous, and benevolent, his indus- try was untiring, he rose every morning at five o'clock and read until the breakfast hour ; work was his relaxation, except such hours as he spent with his gun and dog or fishing-rod. In 1874, under an act of Congress, his statue, with one of George Clinton, was placed in the Capitol at Washington, representing the two most distinguished citizens the State of New York had furnished the Nation. This statue is in bronze, of heroic size, by Erastus Palmer of Albany, and was exhibited at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. A dupli- cate of it is in the Court of Appeals room in the Capitol at Albany. Chancellor Livingston was an honorary mem- ber of the Society of the Cincinnati, not having been in the army. A few years ago a resi- dent in the neighborhood of Idele, in examin- CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON 73 ing an old secretary he had purchased many years before at an auction of some of the Liv- ingston furniture, discovered a secret drawer, and in it he found the certificate of membership of the Chancellor in the Cincinnati, and had the pleasure of returning it to one of his descen- dants. The Chancellor died at Idele, February 26, 1813. His funeral was the largest that had ever taken place in that part of the country. The farmers, with whom he had kept so closely in touch, assembled from all directions, and he was laid away among his kindred at Clermont, sur- rounded by crowds of people, who felt that in the death of this great man they had lost a friend. He was survived by two daughters. Eliza- beth Stevens, the elder, married Edward P. Livingston, who was Lieutenant-Governor of this State in 1831, and the grandfather of John Henry Livingston, the present owner of Cler- mont ; and Margaret Maria, who married Rob- ert L. Livingston and inherited Idele, both resi- dences having been formerly known as Cler- mont. Judge Robert R. Livingston, the Chancellor's father, died intestate, and his eldest son in- herited the Clermont estate, which was entailed, 74 CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON subject to the dower of his mother. He subse- quently inherited from his mother, who was the only child of Colonel Henry Alexander Beek- man, about two hundred thousand acres of land, situated principally in the county of Dut- chess. This he divided among his brothers and sisters, giving to each of his brothers thirty thousand acres, and to each of his sisters twenty thousand. A portrait of the Chancellor, by Gilbert Stu- art, hangs in the dining-room of his old home, Clermont. This portrait has been photographed for the United States Government for the pur- pose of using it on the one-cent stamps of the series, issued in commemoration of the Louisi- ana Purchase, in recognition of the great ser- vices of Chancellor Livingston in helping to accomplish it. \ SiMK '■\i' '.iV'/r/ I'lrri'.K \AX >( I I \At K PETER VAN SCHAACK THE BANISHED SCHOLAR, UNJUSTLY CALLED A TORY PETER VAN SCHAACK was born in Kin- derhook in March, 1747, and received his early education there. For two years he pur- sued his studies on Staten Island with Rev. Richard Charlton, who was a graduate of Trin- ity College, Dublin, and an accomplished Latin scholar. In 1762 he entered Kings (Columbia) College. In the autumn of 1765, although he had not yet graduated, he eloped with Miss Elizabeth Cruger, who was the daughter of Henry Cruger, a wealthy merchant of the city of New York. The latter was seated in front of a blazing fire in his library when he heard of the elopement, and was so carried away by his rage that he tore off his wig and threw it into the fire. The Crugers shortly afterwards became recon- ciled to the njarriage, and Peter Van Schaack commanded the respect and won the confidence of his father-in-law, who appointed him one of the executors of his will. In college he received 75 76 PETER VAN SCHAACK several prizes and stood first in his class. He formed friendships then with John Jay, Egbert Benson, Robert R. Livingston, Gouverneur Morris, and others, which were kept up through his life and were of great service and a lasting solace. On graduating he commenced studying law in the office of Peter Silvester in Albany. At the end of eighteen months he moved to New York and entered the office of William Smith, the historian. In 1769 he was admitted to the bar and opened an office in Cedar Street. His ability, reputation as a scholar, industry, and family connections enabled him to quickly build up an extensive and lucrative practice. In 1 773 he was appointed Reviser of the Statutes of the colony of New York. In May, 1774, after news of the passage by Parliament of the act closing the port of Boston, Mr. Van Schaack was appointed on a commit- tee of fifty-one, " to correspond with their sister colonies upon all matters of moment." This was the first body organized in the colony of New York in opposition to the measures which res.ulted in the Revolution. In November fol- lowing, a committee of sixty chosen by the " freeholders and freemen " of New York City, was appointed to succeed the committee of May, which was called " The committee for carrying PETER VAN SCHAACK 77 into execution the association entered into by the Continental Congress." Of this Mr. Van Schaack was also a member. He opposed fur- ther importation of tea and refrained from us- ing it in his family, and believed in exerting every effort to obtain a redress of the griev- ances of the Colonies short of armed resistance. In May, 1775, he moved with his family to Kinderhook. He had lost four children and was alarmed by the ill health of his wife and eldest son, who died a few months later. The approaching war with England caused him great anxiety, and after long and labored con- sideration of the subject he decided to remain neutral. About this time he lost the sight of one eye, his wife's health commenced to fail, and his father died. He was much alarmed lest he should lose the sight of his other eye, and desired to go to London to consult an oculist. Although he had maintained a strict neutrality, and had in no way obstructed the acts of the patriots, he and his brother and John Stevenson and Hugh Glen of Albany were, in December, 1776, required to take the oath of allegiance, and he, having refused to do so, was ordered to go to Boston and remain there until further orders from the committee. He went, and in April, 1777, was ordered before the Provincial 78 PETER VAN SCHAACK Convention at Fishkill, and allowed to return to Kinderhook on parole. His wife's health be- came much worse. Permission for her to visit New York, which was then in the hands of the British, was refused, and also a request to be attended by an English physician, whom she had already consulted about her malady, and who, although a prisoner, had been employed by the residents of Albany, where he then was, in a number of cases. She died soon afterwards. In June, 1778, Mr. Van Schaack obtained from Governor George Clinton permission to visit England. On July 18, he was again sum- moned before the committee to take an oath acknowledging New York to be a free and inde- pendent State. On refusing to do so his prop- erty was charged with double taxes and he was banished, a return to the State making him sub- ject to misprision of treason. In August he sailed for England and remained there until June, 1785. His brother-in-law, Henry Cruger, being a member of Parliament from Bristol, Mr. Van Schaack enjoyed superior advantages in attending the debates in the Houses of Lords and Commons. He was also a frequent visitor at the courts, and travelled extensively through the country. His numerous letters, while in England, are filled with his impressions of the PETER VAN SCHAACK 79 scenery, the beauty of some of the show places, the magnificent works of art, and the artistically planned gardens. He also wrote at great length of the debates in Parliament. His letters soon indicated how wrong he considered the attitude of England towards her American colonies. Those to his children were full of advice as to their education, and showed what a high stan- dard he believed in. I\Ir. A''an Schaack was a great scholar. His knowledge of Latin was most perfect, favorite authors in that language being his daily com- panions to the end of his life. The perfect pu- rity of his English was celebrated. He wrote with great elegance and simplicity, and spoke with the most perfect accent and intonation. He frequently said that people of Holland ex- traction spoke English more exactly than others. His knowledge of law was profound, and his writings on legal subjects remarkable for clear- ness and beauty of style. In 1784 an act was passed by the Legislature, restoring to Peter Van Schaack and three other individuals, " all their rights, privileges, and immunities, as citizens " upon their taking the oath of allegiance prescribed by law. Mr. Van Schaack, on learning of the passage of this act, and after conferring with his friends and 8o PETER VAN SGHAACK family, prepared to return home. He did so in 1785. On arriving, he received tidings of the death of his mother, for whom he had always shown affection of unusual depth. In a letter written from New York just after he landed he said: " Mr. Jay has behaved like a true friend. He came on board the ship immediately, brought me on shore, took me to the Governor's, Chief Justice's, etc., and seems determined to do every- thing for me that he can. All descriptions of people show me every attention and kindness." Such was the reception he received, and such treatment was accorded to him through the rest of his life. He was readmitted to the bar in April, 1786, and resumed practice in Kinderhook. The fail- ure and loss of the sight of his remaining eye hampered him greatly in his professional duties. He was finally obliged to relinquish them, and opened a school for law students. He received only a few at a time, and the privilege of being instructed by him was highly appreciated. Among his students were sons of Theodore Sedgwick, Rufus King, William W. Van Ness, James Kent, Ambrose Spencer, and also Cor- nelius Miller, the father of the late Hon. Theo- dore Miller. PETER VAN SCHAACK 81 On April 27, 1789, he married Miss Elizabeth A^an Allen of Kinderhook. During the last few years of his life he seldom left home, but con- tented himself with his books and pupils and his family. His eldest surviving son died in 1797, at the age of twenty-nine, and a son by his sec- ond marriage, in 181 1, in his twentieth year. His second wife died in 18 13. In 1826 Colum- bia College conferred on him the degree of Doc- tor of Laws, Samuel Jones and DeWitt Clinton being similarly honored at the same time. The house occupied by Peter Van Schaack's father, and in which he at one time lived, was subsequently so undermined by the waters of Kinderhook creek that it had to be taken down. A house built by his brother Henry in 1774, and called " Sparren Roede," is still standing. It is a commodious brick mansion, on the main street of the village of Kinderhook, surrounded by ample grounds. Its large rooms are finished with more elegance than is usually seen in houses of that period. One cannot fail, on see- ing it, to be impressed with the cultivated taste of the builder. It was for several years used as a summer residence by the late Aaron J. A^'anderpoel, and is now owned and occupied by his widow, who is a granddaughter of the sub- ject of this sketch. 82 PETER VAN SCHAACK The loss of sight, and the numerous afflic- tions with which Mr. Van Schaack Avas visited, might have overwhelmed a man of less sturdy character, but he bore all with heroic patience, and cheered and encouraged those about him by his wisdom, wit, and genial and genuine man- ners. He died at Kinder hook September 17, 1832. It is difficult, without having known and as- sociated with him, to form a correct opinion as to the motives that induced him to take the posi- tion he did in regard to the Revolutionary War. He possessed a peculiar personal power over his friends that seemed to make them overlook and forgive what they might regard as mistakes of judgment. This magnetism he appears to have had over all with whom he was brought in contact. He was a man of warm attachments, and charitable in construing the acts of others. He was perfectly consistent in his neutralit}', and pursued it with the dogged determination of a Dutchman. He does not seem to have gained anything by it, and certainly was put to great inconvenience, and lost opportunities of advancing himself and his family to almost any height, by the great services he could have rendered. When Ave consider how much we lost by the withholding of these services, we PETER VAN SCHAACK 83 cannot but regret our loss and feel that, if, in- stead of looking at the question from a purely intellectual point, he had allowed his heart to assist his judgment, his course might have been different. Peter Van Schaack was the father of eighteen children, the descendants of several of whom who survived are people of prominence. One of his sisters married a Mr. Roosevelt, who kept a store at Chatham in Columbia county, who removed to the City of New York and engaged in the iron business in which he accumulated a fortune. He was the great- grandfather of President Theodore Roosevelt. EDWARD LIVINGSTON _ OF NEW YORK AND LOUISIANA EDWARD LIVINGSTON was the son of Judge Robert R. Livingston of the Su- preme Court of the colony of New York, and was born at Clermont, the lower manor-house, in Columbia county, on May 26, 1764, being the youngest of eleven children. His father died in 1775, but had, notwithstanding he was hold- ing office under the Crown, shown himself to be a strong lover of liberty and a devoted pa- triot, and anxious to do all he could to protect the rights of the Colonies and advance their in- terests. The Livingston family was large, in- fluential, and wealthy, and its members were, almost without an exception, enthusiastic pa- triots. Edward was educated at home by a tutor, a minister of the Dutch Reformed church, known as Dominie Doll. After the death of his father, being then in his twelfth year, he was sent as a boarder to a school opened by his former tutor at Esopus (Kingston), which was 84 -^ . '•frx^.^— EDWARD LlVINi;STt)X EDWARD LIVINGSTON 85 the first Capitol of the State, and had a popula- tion of about thirty-five hundred. On Saturday and Monday in each week he walked the dis- tance between there and Clermont, eighteen miles. He was not especially studious, but was regarded as a good, straight boy, who wished to do his duty, and was prepared to stand up for his rights. One day, after having related to the boys that at home they had an ice-house, in which ice was kept all the year round, on being told he lied, the young lad then and there avenged himself in a manner which thereafter forbade the expression of doubts as to his state- ments. This ice-house is still in use at Cler- mont. The school Edward attended at Kingston having been destroyed when the British burned that place in the autumn of 1777, he immedi- ately left for home and arrived just before the burning of Clermont by the British, and ac- companied his mother and her household in their flight towards Massachusetts. In the midst of the disturbances caused by the Revolutionary War he was prepared for college and entered as a junior at Nassau Hall, Princeton, in 1779, and was graduated two years later. He immediately commenced studying law in the ofiice of Chancel- lor Lansing in Albany, having among his fellow 86 EDWARD LIVINGSTON students and intimate friends Chancellor Kent, Alexander Hamilton, and Aaron Burr. After New York was evacuated by the British, in 1783, he pursued his studies there, his family having a winter residence in that city at No. 51 Queen Street, which was part of the present Pearl Street. He was admitted to the bar in 1785 in New York, and commenced practice. He had many wealthy and influential friends and soon attained to a high standing in his pro- fession. On April 10, 1788, he married Miss Mary McEvers of New York. In 1794 he was elected a member of the Fourth Congress, on the Democratic ticket, and was reelected in 1796 and 1798. At that time the State had ten members of Congress, and New York City was a single district. Mr. Livingston's career in Congress was brilliant, and, although his party was in the minority, his influence was widely felt. At the close of his third term, Mr. Jef- ferson was elected to the Presidency by the House of Representatives, after thirty-six bal- lots, which consumed five days. Livingston was Jefi^erson's constant adherent, although at- tempts were made to induce him to support the candidacy of Aaron Burr. On March 13, 1801, Mr. Livingston's wife died. A few days later he was appointed by EDWARD LIVINGSTON 87 ]\Ir. Jefferson, Attorney of the United States for the district of New York, which comprised the whole State, and in August following he was appointed by Governor George Clinton, Mayor of the city of New York, which then had a population of fifty thousand. Both of these appointments were renewed the following win- ter. The Mayor, in addition to presiding over the Common Council, was the chief judge of a court of record, having civil and criminal ju- risdiction. His official duties were exacting, and, to a man of less energy and industry, would ha^'e been overwhelming. In addition he was, as Mayor, obliged to devote much time to the public and private entertainment of strangers at his house. No. i Broadway. On July 20, 1803, yellow fever appeared in New York and raged until the end of October. The greatest consternation prevailed. The city was deserted by all who could leave. Mr. Liv- ingston remained, and, in addition to his official duties, visited and ministered to the sick and dying, and comforted those who mourned. He had a list of the houses in which there were sick, and visited them and the hospitals every day, ascertaining those who were needy and those who had been deserted by their friends, and supplying their wants. He became a victim 88 EDWARD LIVINGSTON of the disease, but after a short and violent at- tack, quickly recovered. When his physician pre- scribed Madeira for him, not a bottle of any wine could be found in his cellar, he had given it away to the sick. Upon this being known, the best wines were sent to him, the streets about his house were thronged with anxious inquirers, and the young people of the town struggled for the privilege of watching beside his bed. During the continuance of the scourge, Mr. Livingston was obliged to delegate the clerical duties of the two important offices he held to his chief clerk. At that time moneys of the United States collected by legal proceedings and cer- tain collections of custom-house bonds, small in amounts, but great in number, were received and accounted for by him at stated periods. When the fever was at its height, his attention was called to his accounts, and he discovered that he was indebted to the United States, and was without funds. The clerk, whom he had trusted, had fled. Without waiting for an ac- counting, Mr. Livingston voluntarily confessed judgment in favor of the United States, and conveyed all his real property to a trustee to sell and apply the proceeds to pay the indebted- ness. This was afterwards fixed at $43,666.21, the real estate being valued by Mr. Livingston EDWARD LIVINGSTON 89 at enough to secure the debt. He immediately resigned both offices, his resignation of the may- oralty being accompanied by an offer to con- tinue to perform the duties of the office until the yellow fever subsided. It was not accepted until two months later, and then DeWitt Clinton was appointed. In an introduction by George Bancroft, to a Life of Edward Livingston by Charles Ha- vens Hunt, speaking of this misfortune, he says : " Simple and frugal in his personal habits, he yet was overtaken by the severest calamity in his fortunes. Struck down by yellow fever, caught from his visits of consolation and mercy to the sufferers among the poor ... he recov- ered from a desperate illness to find that he had been defrauded by a clerk, and that he was a debtor to the government beyond his means of immediate payment. Without a word of com- plaint, crimination, or excuse, he at once de- voted his inheritance, his acquisitions, the fruits of his professional industry, to the discharge of his obligation to the government, and, for near a score of years, gave himself no rest, till he had paid it, principal and interest, without de- falcation." In April, 1803, Louisiana, or the province of Orleans, comprising Louisiana, Arkansas, Mis- 90 EDWARD LIVINGSTON souri, Iowa, Minnesota, except a small portion, Nebraska, Kansas, and the Indian Territory, was purchased of France by the United States, very largely as a result of the diplomacy of Chancellor Livingston. Edward resolved to go to New Orleans and begin life anew, and within two months after his retirement as mayor, he sailed for that place with one hundred dollars in gold and a letter of credit for one thousand dollars, being all he had reserved of his property, leaving his son and daughter with his relatives. He threw himself into the life of his new home and soon became immersed in a large and exacting practice, his position at the bar being conspicuous from his arrival. Land was more abundant than money, and he soon found himself possessed of property, con- veyed to him as payment for professional ser- vices, which promised to quickly make him a rich man, but which involved him in a litigation, endless in delays, and in a controversy with Thomas Jefferson, the President of the United States. The land in c[uestion was known as the Batture, and consisted of new ground which formed from year to year along the river bank in front of New Orleans, outside of and lower than the levees, and which was submerged dur- ing the time of the annual flood, so that it could EDWARD LIVINGSTON 91 serve as an anchorage for A-essels, and as a quay, and had been much used as such without ques- tion. Mr. Livingston brought an action against the city to quiet the title, which was decided in his favor. He entered into possession, and upon trouble ensuing and the matter being referred to the government at ^\'ashington, the marshal of the district of New Orleans was directed to remove him. Mr. Livingston brought an action for damages and to recover possession against the marshal, and later an action for damages against Thomas Jefferson, in the district of the latter's residence, in which the plaintiff was turned out of court by a demurrer by defendant to the jurisdiction of the court. About the time the suit against the marshal was approaching decision, JNIr. Jefferson, his term of office having expired, published a pamphlet of ninety-one pages entitled : " The Proceedings of the Gov- ernment of the United States in maintaining the Public Right to the Beach of the Mississippi, Adjacent to New Orleans, against the intrusion of Edward Livingston. Prepared for the use of counsel by Thomas Jefferson." Mr. Living- ston replied to this in a pamphlet of one hundred and ninety-five pages. The litigation dragged along for many years and terminated in a com- plete moral triumph for Mr, Livingston, but 92 EDWARD LIVINGSTON through the law's delay, and the vacillating ac- tion of a lower court, the venture was not as profitable as there was reason to expect it would be. Afterwards a complete reconciliation with Mr. Jefferson took place as was evidenced by many letters from him to Mr. Livingston. During the height of this bitter controversy he was summoned to New York on account of the illness of his daughter, who had grown to be a beautiful young woman. As soon as he arrived he hastened to his brother-in-law's house and asking the servant who opened the door: "How is Miss Livingston?" was in- formed, " she was buried yesterday." On his return to New Orleans he brought his son Lewis with him. He had, on June 3, 1805, mar- ried Madame Louise Moreau de Lassy, a young widow born Davesac de Castera. Her family had emigrated from France to San Domingo, where they became wealthy and influential, until the revolution there, in which her father, two brothers, and her grandmother were murdered, while she, a widow at seventeen, her mother, a brother, and younger sister escaped by different vessels and were reunited at New Orleans, re- duced from affluence to poverty. She was a woman of extraordinary beauty and grace, with a brifliant intellect. ;?7S^.:, A,\DU1£\V JACKSdV EDWARD LIVINGSTON 93 Mr. Livingston's enforced exile enabled him to render great services to his country and to General Jackson during the campaign that pre- ceded his victory at the battle of New Orleans, and during that battle he served as aide-de- camp, military secretary, interpreter, and con- fidential adviser, and there cemented and strengthened a friendship which had com- menced years before when they were both mem- bers of the same Congress, and which was only ended by death. One of the most interesting cases in which Mr. Livingston was engaged while in New Or- leans was the successful defense of Jean La- fitte, the pirate, the celebrated John Randolph Grymes being associated with him. When their fee of $16,000, which was enormous for those days, became due, it was a question which should go to Barataria to collect it. Mr. Livingston, who was Mr. Grymes' senior, and an inveterate joker, told him he had better make the pilgrim- age, as he was sure to find himself at home in the pirates' lair. Mr. Grymes went, and while ' in this nest of pirates, was taken very ill and Lafitte tenderly cared for him until he was able to return to New Orleans. Lafitte was the head of a band of smugglers called the " pirates of Barataria," from a place 94 EDWARD LIVINGSTON on the island of Grand Terre, whom the British had tried to persuade to join them in invading Louisiana. Lafitte told them time and mj^stery would be necessary, and immediately informed Governor Claibourne and the Legislature of Louisiana, and offered the services of himself and band, on condition that their past deeds should be pardoned. This offer was not ac- cepted until martial law was proclaimed and General Jackson in control, when on the advice of Mr. Livingston and many other prominent citizens the Baratarians were welcomed and formed two companies of artillery and fought with effect and bravery on our side. Mr. Livingston's son Lewis, having been sent north to finish his education, his father wrote him a series of letters which indicated a breadth of view and profoundness of learning and an ideal of scholarship seldom met with. They were full of affection, and laid down principles of life and lines of study of the highest order. In one he writes : " Preserve a rigid, an inflex- ible regard for truth; it is the foundation of almost every virtue. He who always tells the truth can neither be a knave or coward. The reputation of always adhering to it gives a re- spectability which neither riches nor talents can procure; whereas, he who has unfortunately EDWARD LIVINGSTON 95 acquired a contrary character can neither be esteemed, Joved or trusted." Lewis lived quite up to the precepts of his father and returned to New Orleans, having more than fulfilled the hopes of his family. His health failed later, and he went to France for medical advice. After a few months absence he sailed for home, and as soon as the vessel arrived Mr. Livingston went on board to find his son had, about three weeks before, been buried at sea. Mr. Livingston, in 1820, was elected a mem- ber of the lower house of the Louisiana Legisla- ture. In 1 82 1, by joint ballot of the General Assembly, he was elected to revise the Criminal Code of the State. Lie commenced this work with enthusiasm, and two years after had re- ported his plan to the Legislature. It was styled, " A System of Penal Law," and was divided into a " Code of Crimes and Punishments, a Code of Procedure, a Code of Evidence, and a Code of Reform and Prison Discipline, besides a Book of Definitions." Mr. Livingston had taken his manuscript to New York to be printed, and was at work until very late one night in comparing the original draft with an engrossed copy prepared for the printer. He was awak- ened later by an alarm of fire, and rushing to his library found both draft and copy reduced 96 EDWARD LIVINGSTON to ashes. He had nothing left but a few pages then in the printer's hands, and a few notes from which to reconstruct his work. He commenced the morning after the fire, and in two years had accomphshed the undertaking. His Code was not accepted by the Louisiana Legislature, but it was received by the world with heartiest praise. Many of his recommen- dations have been incorporated in the laws of our States and foreign lands. His reputation as a philosopher and reformer, and a writer of terse and polished English was established throughout the world. In the Code he advo- cated the abolishment of capital punishment, and sought " to bring under one central direc- tion crime, vagrancy, beggary, and all forms of pauperism — in short, to blend into a single sys- tem the whole machinery of poor-house, work- house, and bridewell." It was reprinted in full in England and in France, and almost entirely by the reviews in Germany. Victor Hugo wrote to him : " You will be numbered among the men of this age who have deserved most and best of mankind." Jeremy Bentham proposed that a measure be in- troduced in Parliament to print the work in full for the use of the English nation. The Emperor of Russia and the King of Sweden wrote him EDWARD LIVINGSTON 97 autograph letters. The King of the Nether- lands sent him a eulogistic gold medal. Gua- temala translated and adopted the Code of Re- form and Prison Discipline, and named a city and one of its provinces Livingston. The great public men of the United States, among them Kent, Story, Marshall, Madison, and Jefferson, expressed to him their admiration and respect. The latter saying at the close of a long letter on the subject: "Wishing anxiously that your great work may obtain complete success and become an example of other States, I pray you to be assured of my unabated friendship and respect. ... It will certainly arrange your name among the sages of antiquity." Mr. Livingston was elected a Member of Con- gress from Louisiana in 1823 without opposi- tion, and was reelected for the two succeeding Congresses. Two years of this term General Jackson was a Senator, and their old intimacy was renewed. In 1826 he paid his debt to the government, which had more than doubled, by conveying to it lots in New Orleans for $100,- 014.84, which shortly after were sold by the government at a profit. On the day General Jackson was inaugurated Mr. Livingston was elected a United States Senator. The President almost immediately offered him the mission to 98 EDWARD LIVINGSTON France, but on account of his private affairs he was obhged to decHne it. In 1828, Mr. Livingston's sister, the widow of General Montgomery, died, and by her will he received most of her fortune and Montgom- ery Place on the Hudson River, near Barry- town. This was an estate of four hundred acres, which had originally been included in the Schuyler patent, and has an extended frontage on the Hudson River. The ground is rolling and planted with fine trees placed with intelli- gence and taste. A part of it is covered with a wood in which there are giant oaks, chestnuts and hemlocks, which is full of ravines and glades and interspersed with paths, leading through moss-covered banks along which you see beds of ferns, laurel, juniper and periwinkle, ar- ranged so artistically, as in no way to disturb or dispel the sylvan beauty of the scene. These paths lead to a stream and then to a water- fall of about fifty feet, whose rush and roar break the woodland silence, but add to the charm of this retreat. A short distance above is another fall of less height but of much beauty. The day I wandered through these woods there was an October haze in the air, the trees were still blazing with autumn tints, and -the freshly fallen chestnuts and maple leaves rustled under EDWARD LIVINGSTON 99 our steps and helped fill the place with that golden light which is one of the delights of our fall days. In these woods, along these paths, the great and good Edward Livingston often strayed, with his favorite books and faithful dogs. The house was built in 1802 by Mrs. Mont- gomery, who had sent to Ireland for her hus- band's nephew, the Hon. William Jones, a son of Viscount Ranelagh, to come and live with her. He assisted in building the house, and showed rare taste in doing so.^ One cannot fail to be impressed by the long avenue of ancient trees through which you drive on entering Montgomery Place. At its end a beautiful lawn spreads out, and in the distance you see the house, which is of chaste and simple archi- tecture, but tastefully ornamented. You enter a large, square hall; on the left is a sleeping-room and on the right the library, and beyond these the drawing- and dining- rooms, with wide windows extending to the floor, and facing the Hudson and the Catskills. 1 He survived its completion only a short time. One day, when apparently in good health, he announced to the family that he would soon be dead. They tried to persuade him to the con- trary and called in a physician who pronounced him in good health, but the patient insisted that his death was near and told them that for three nights the Banshee had cried beneath his window. His death soon followed. This is the only ghost story I can connect with Montgomery Place. loo EDWARD LIVINGSTON The rooms are spacious, with lofty ceihngs and woodwork of great beauty. They are filled with furniture, much of which was purchased by Chancellor Livingston, for his sister Mrs. Mont- gomery, when he was Minister to France. The walls are adorned with portraits of the Chancel- lor and his mother by Gilbert Stuart, Edward Livingston by Inman, his beautiful daughter, Mrs. Barton, General Montgomery, Andrew Jackson, and many members of the family. There is also a bust of Edward from which the illustration at the beginning of this sketch is copied, and one of General Jackson, and also a miniature of the latter, of which the illustra- tion opposite page 93 is a copy. About 1840 Mrs. Barton renovated the house and added to it an Italian pavilion and a piazza, the balustrade of which is ornamented with urns in terra-cotta of antique pattern. She also added a wing to the south end of the house. At the end of the session of the Senate, in March, 1 83 1, Edward Livingston returned to this de- lightful retreat and threw himself with charac- teristic enthusiasm into the cultivation of his garden and trees and shrubs. While thus occu- pied he was summoned to Washington, and of- fered by President Jackson the office of Secre- tary of State in his Cabinet. He accepted, and EDWARD LIVINGSTON loi served as such for about two years with dis- tinguished success. He had been chosen a foreign associate of the Institute of France (Academy of Moral and Political Sciences), a distinction conferred on few Americans, on ac- coimt of the reputation he had attained to through his Code. On May 29, 1833, he was appointed Minister to France. He failed to effect the purpose for which he was sent, but through no fault of his own. His acts while there, many of them per- formed under the most delicate and trying cir- cumstances, and his final withdrawal from France and return to the United States insured him an ovation on his arrival, and the unquali- fied admiration and approval of the whole country. He had been for many years a Free Mason, and from the death of DeWitt Clinton, in 1829, until his own death, he was the official head of the Masonic General Grand Chapter of the United States. After his retirement from the French Mission he spent most of his time at Montgomery Place, entering into the pleasures of country life with enthusiastic zest, and in- dulging in the simple tastes in which he had so much delighted. In May, 1836, having always enjoyed robust health, he was taken suddenly ill. 102 EDWARD LIVINGSTON and in a few days died of an intestinal trouble. His wife survived him for twenty-five years, and she was survived by her only child, Mrs. Cora Barton, who died in 1872, leaving no chil- dren. Montgomery Place seemed to have lost its light in the death of Edward Livingston. It was kept up, and the house left as near as pos- sible in the same condition as when its master departed. His gun with its rusted flint-lock still stood in its accustomed corner, and not far from it is his fishing-rod. The Misses Hunt, Mrs. Barton's nieces, who now own the place and reside there, have preserved the atmosphere of the house and its beautiful grounds most charmingly. Edward Livingston was one of those great yet simple natures we wish might be more fre- quently bestowed on the world. His intellect was brilliant, strong, and well balanced, his courage was undaunted, although assailed by misfortune after misfortune for many years; he seemed to gather from sorrow strength, and from adversity sweetness. His affection was deep and his friendships unbroken, save in the case of Thomas Jefferson, who seemed in his later years to delight in honoring one to whom he had been unjust. With Martin Van Buren, whom he succeeded as Secretary of State, there EDWARD LIVINGSTON 103 was a friendship which even death did not ex- tinguish, for many years after, Mr. Van Buren, when given the privilege of naming a grandson, called him Edward Livingston Van Buren. From boyhood an intimacy had existed with General Lafayette, and the last letter dictated by the Marquis, just before his death in 1834, was to Edward Livingston. In it he refers to the abolition of slavery in the United States, in which many of the Democrats at the North believed, considering its existence under our government an incongruity. He was a loyal and consistent Democrat throughout his entire life. He was a true Dem- ocrat, always measuring himself according to his own abilities. He never seemed to feel that any advantage over others came to him through the distinction of his birth, and the wealth and power of his family. His manners were genial, and he at times showed almost boyish glee. He was of more than usual height, and until the end of his life carried himself with youthful ease and grace. AMBROSE SPENCER A MBROSE SPENCER was born in Salis- jLx. bury, Connecticut, December 13, 1765. His father, Philip Spencer, was of EngHsh de- scent, his great-grandfather having come from the west of England, and settled in Connecticut at an early day. Philip Spencer's wife was the daughter of Jonathan Moore, and was also of English extraction, and, although living in the land of the Puritans, she had her son Ambrose baptized in his infancy by a clergyman of the English established church, indicating strong convictions, and a spirit which enabled her to maintain them. Philip Spencer was a worker and dealer in iron, and soon after the birth of Ambrose removed with his family to the town of North East in Dutchess county. In 1770 he gave up the iron business and became a farmer. He was firm in his devotion to the cause of the Colonies both before and during the Revolution- ary War. His means were limited, and he made great sacrifices for the education of his children. His two sons, Philip and Ambrose, were given 104 - -^»- fli pi- .'- ;,-!.,. W ^H ^R / ^^ ^^■■^ K ,i IH' H u R^^P i :^% 1^ ...Jk' s ■■';•■ ^ ■,.-'■ 'JiS^SBKm- •■■ ^ ^WM: .V ' ^^ 1 ■^^;c' -' ■■": ^ 1 1 Ti dlk ■'*i;. __ ^ AMISKIlSK SI'E.N'CEK AMBROSE SPENCER 105 such educational advantages as the neighbor- hood afforded and were then sent to Canaan, Connecticut, where, under the charge of the Rev. ]\Ir. Farrand, a Presbyterian minister, they were prepared for college. In the autumn of 1779 they were admitted to the freshman class at Vale College. At the end of their junior year, in consequence of the college being disturbed by the Revolutionary War, they left, and finished their course at Har- vard, graduating in July, 1783. Ambrose soon afterwards commenced studying law in the office of John Canfield, a distinguished lawyer of Sharon, Connecticut. He was studious in his habits, and, for his age, very self-reliant and matured. His legal preceptor had a very beau- tiful and attractive daughter, who was called, on account of her charms, " The Rose of Sha- ron." She was a year or two the junior of \oung Spencer. These two soon became in- terested in each other, and after a courtship full of romance, when Spencer had just passed his eighteenth birthday, they decided to take matters in their own hands and went away quietly and were married. Elopements were not unusual in those days among people of the best class. On the return of the newly wedded pair to the Canfield home the mother of the bride io6 AMBROSE SPENCER was, on account of their youth, very indignant, and threatened to punish her daughter, calling her " Laura Canfield." The bride retorted, " Laura Spencer, if you please. The Spencers do not sufifer people to punish them." The Can- fields were soon reconciled to the marriage, which turned out a very happy one. Mrs. Spen- cer was endowed with a lovely nature and a fine mind. She was the mother of six sons, all of whom were born in Hudson, and two daughters, who were born after the removal of the family to Albany, one of whom married John Town- send, one of Albany's most distinguished and honored men. Several of their descendants are still living in Albany, and are among its most prominent citizens. Some time in 1785, Ambrose Spencer found that in order to be admitted to the bar of the State of New York he would be required to study for three years in that State. He had commenced his studies, intending to practice there, and at once decided what to do. Leaving his young wife with her parents, he went to Claverack and entered the office of John Bay, a lawyer of excellent standing, who had been clerk of the city of Hudson. This office Mr. Bay relinquished and procured the appointment of Mr. Spencer in his place, thereby giving AMBROSE SPENCER 107 him an opportunity to earn some money and to familiarize himself with public affairs. The young student pursued his legal studies with enthusiasm and made such rapid progress that in 1788, when he was admitted to the bar, his ability was already recognized and he was not obliged to wait for clients. His reputation grew with the years, and he found himself almost overwhelmed with cases of the gravest im- portance from all parts of the country, and con- stantly before the courts. His name is fre- quently found in Johnson's Cases, the earliest printed volume of reported cases, printed in 1799. He took an active part in politics from the commencement of his law studies. In 1793 he was elected a Member of Assembly from Colum- bia county, in 1795 Senator from the eastern district, and in 1798 reelected from the middle district, which then included Columbia county. In 1796 he was appointed assistant Attorney- General from the Columbia and Dutchess judi- cial district. He was appointed a member of the Council of Appointment in 1797. This was originally composed of the Governor and one member from each of the four senatorial dis- tricts, who were chosen from the six Senators of the district by the Assembly. It was author- io8 AMBROSE SPENCER ized to appoint almost all officials, both State and local. Prior to 1801 the Governor had the power to appoint, by and with the consent of the council, but after the amendment of the Consti- tution in that year any member of the council could nominate, an appointment being made by a majority. It is said Judge Spencer dominated the council, and for over twenty years ruled it like an autocrat. In February, 1802, he was appointed Attor- ney-General, and in 1803 removed to Albany. He was appointed a Supreme Court Judge in 1804, and in 18 19 Chief Justice, and retired in 1823. In 1808 he headed the electoral ticket, the vote being cast for James Madison. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1 82 1 and active and useful in its deliberations. The degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by the University of Pennsylvania in 1819, and by Harvard College in 1821. He was appointed Mayor of Albany in 1824, and re-appointed in 1825. In 1829 he was elected a Member of Congress from Albany. As we have seen from the enumeration of the offices held by Ambrose Spencer, and as we may conclude when we consider their importance, the influence he exercised in the political world was most potent. In 1798 he formed a strong AMBROSE SPENCER 109 personal and political friendship with DeWitt Clinton, which continued for several years, and in 1808 was strengthened by his marriage to a sister of ]\Ir. Clinton, his first wife having died. From 1807, the year the Embargo was laid, to 181 2, these two men really controlled the State government. Differences in regard to the granting of the charter of the Bank of America, and the War of 1812, of which Mr. Spencer strongly approved, and his belief that a change of administration. National or State, would be unwise, to all of which Mr. Clinton was in op- position, he being himself a candidate for the Presidency against Mr. Madison, separated them. They however became reconciled after the war ended, and renewed their former rela- tions. These were further strengthened by Mr. Spencer, who, after the death of his second wife, married another sister of Mr. Clinton, and con- tinued until the death of DeWitt Clinton in 1828. On the formation of the Whig party, Mr. Spencer became a member of it, and was largely instrumental in procuring the nomination of Henry Clay for the Presidency in 1844, being the presiding officer of the convention at which the nomination was made. Mr. Clay's defeat robbed him of all interest in politics, and he no AMBROSE SPENCER thereafter absolutely refused to take any part in them. In 1804, when he was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court, he had as associates James Kent, who was made Chief Justice that year, Brockholst Livingston, and Smith Thompson, who became Secretary of the Navy in Mon- roe's Cabinet in 1818. In 1807 Wm. W. Van Ness took the place of Judge Livingston, and in 1 8 14 Judge Kent was made Chancellor, and was succeeded by Jonas Piatt. These men were all judges of marked ability and learning, and have helped to make our bench illustrious and our State renowned. Until Judge Kent's appointment in 1798 it had not been customary for our judges to write opinions. He introduced the custom in impor- tant cases. No attempt was made to regularly report the cases coming before the Supreme Court until 1803, the first reporter, William Johnson, being appointed under a statute passed shortly after Judge Spencer commenced his judicial career. The first volume of Cranch's United States Supreme Court Reports was not published until 1804. He thus found himself in a position where little aid could be obtained from the decisions of the judges in this country, who had preceded him, and with the American AMBROSE SPENCER in common law to be constructed from its founda- tions. During the term of his judicial service, from 1804 to 1 819 as Justice, and as Chief Jus- tice of the Supreme Court from 1819 to 1823, when the Constitution of 1821 retired the mem- bers of the judiciary and other officials, a com- prehensive system of American common law was built up, adapted to the circumstances of the people of this country, which was in many re- spects novel, and was from our standpoint an improvement over that of other countries where the common law had been applied. The twenty volumes of Johnson's reports show that the principal share of this gigantic and invaluable work was done by Judge Kent and Judge Spencer. In summing up the character of Ambrose Spencer, one who knew him well spoke of him as " great in his whole nature, and that in his original constitution, the intellectual, the moral, the physical, were brought together in admir- able proportions. . . . The operations of his in- tellect outstripped the lightning. More would be revealed to him by a single glance at a diffi- cult subject than most minds would gather from a process of diligent and practical research." He possessed wonderful perception in measur- ing and weighing the intellectual and moral 112 AMBROSE SPENCER qualities of those he met, and when he discov- ered anything that savored of meanness his vi^rath would be aroused in an instant, and it was terrible. He was over six feet in height, with broad shoulders, and carried himself erect, and moved with energy and rapidity. He spoke and wrote with great clearness and impressed one with the depth and sincerity of his convic- tions. One of the most marked qualities of his character was his strength, mental, moral, and physical. He was a stern judge, but always just. After his retirement from the bench he, for a brief period, practiced his profession in Al- bany, and then purchased a farm just out of the city where he became much interested in agri- culture. His third wife died in 1837, shortly after their marriage. In 1839 he removed to the village of Lyons, in Wayne county, where he devoted himself to the beautifying of the ex- tensive grounds about his house, and to horti- culture. He was much alone; his health, until within a few months of his death, was perfect, and his mind active. He had lead a most ex- emplary life and during these last years he be- came interested in religion, and was received into the Episcopal church. After this he wrote to his two lifelong friends. Chancellor Kent and AMBROSE SPENCER 113 General Armstrong, with the latter the ties of friendship having been since 1797 of the strong- est, and advised them of his experiences, and begged them to follow his course. This was done, both making public profession of their religion. After an illness of several months' duration, Judge Spencer died on March 13, 1848, in his eighty-third year. There is a portrait of him in the Court of Appeals room in the Capitol at Albany. JACOB RUTSEN VAN RENSSELAER A DISTINGUISHED MEMBER OF AN HISTORIC FAMILY KILLIAN VAN RENSSELAER, the sec- ond Lord of the Manor of Rensselaer- wyck, and the fourth Patroon, conveyed in 1704 to his brother Hendrick, sixty-two thousand acres of land in the southern part of his manor, on the east side of the Hudson River, in which the town of Claverack was included. What is called the " Van Rensselaer outpost," was built by Hendrick Van Rensselaer and used by him from time to time, and is the house for many years occupied by Peter and Frederick Mesick, opposite the Van Wyck property in Claverack village, and is probably the oldest house in that vicinity. Hendrick's permanent residence was built on the river bank opposite the lower part of Albany, on land conveyed to him by his brother in 1704, which commenced below where Bath is now built and extended south along the river and back to the top of the hills, and em- braced fifteen hundred acres. It was called 114 JACOB R. VAN RENSSELAER 115 Crailo, and was constructed so that it could be defended from Indians and bands of French marauders in their incursions from Canada. This house is still standing. His son, Johannes, was born at Crailo and lived there. He had the territory in Columbia county conveyed to his fa- ther erected into a manor, and was known as the first proprietor of Claverack. Catherine, his daughter, became the wife of the celebrated General Philip Schuyler. Her son married a sister of the seventh Patroon, one daughter be- 'came the wife of Alexander Hamilton, another married Stephen Van Rensselaer, the eldest son of the last Patroon, another the grandfather of Colonel Walter S. Church, whose bravery and determination in putting an end to the anti- rent troubles in Albany county are matters of history, and another Washington Morton of New Jersey; Mrs. Hamilton was the only one of the four who was married at the Schuyler mansion, the other three having eloped. The youngest daughter, who was named for. her mother, Catherine Van Rensselaer, was known as " the godchild of Washington," General and Mrs. Washington having been sponsors at her baptism in Albany in 1781. Jeremias, the eldest son of Johannes, was born and lived at Crailo. His eldest son, John ii6 JACOB R. VAN RENSSELAER Jeremias, or John I., as he is improperly called, was also born and lived at Crailo. His second son Robert came to Claverack and built what is known as the manor-house, about a mile east of Claverack village, a handsome brick struc- ture, which is now occupied by the widow of Allen S. Miller. I cannot learn that Hendrick or any of his descendants were entitled to be called Patroon. All such titles were done away with upon the establishment of the United States government, and when John Jeremias (John I) disposed of such manorial rights as he possessed, no such title passed to the pur- chaser. The inscription on the base of the statue of St. Winifred, on Promenade Hill in Hudson, in which the donor, who is not a mem- ber of the Van Rensselaer family, describes him- self as " the last Patroon of the Lower Claver- ack Manor," is, to say the least, misleading. Jacob Rutsen Van Rensselaer was born in the manor-house at Claverack, in 1767. After being admitted, to the bar he practiced there, and was regarded as a lawyer of ability. He seems to have delighted in the excitement attend- ing the career of a politician, and became so engrossed in politics and other affairs, he was obliged, to a large extent, to give up his prac- tice. He was one of the leading Federalists of JACOB R. VAN RENSSELAER 117 his time, and is described as a bold, active, and zealous politician, a man of talents, liberal, gen- erous, patriotic, and one of the most popular men in the State. He was elected a Member of the Assembly nine times, and in 1812 was the Speaker. He was appointed Secretary of State in 1814, and was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 182 1. In that body he exercised great influence, being a frequent and ready de- bater. In the war of 1812 he commanded the men drafted from Columbia county, which were ordered to the defense of the city of New York, holding the rank of Brigadier-General. Letters from him in my possession indicate a man of education, broad views, and liberality. It seems as if more of an effort should have been made by the members of his family to preserve the facts of his life, and a detailed account of the services he rendered as a statesman in help- ing to build the State, for his abilities were of a high order, and his energy, activities, and achievements sufficiently great to merit an ex- tended record in history. He died September 22, 1835, and is buried in the cemetery at Claverack. ELISHA WILLIAMS Hudson's greatest orator ELISHA WILLIAMS was the son of Colo- nel Ebenezer Williams of Pomfret, Con- necticut, and was born there August 29, 1773. His ancestors were very remarkable people and took so important a part in public affairs in the early days of New England, and bore their privations and trials with such fortitude, they deserve more than a passing notice. Robert Williams was the first to arrive in this country, coming from Wales in about 1638, and settling at Roxbury, Massachusetts. He immediately became a person of importance in the colony. His grandson, Rev. John Williams, the first minister of Deerfield, was born at Rox- bury, in 1664. He is known in history as the " Redeemed Captive." In February, 1704, an attack was made on Deerfield by the French and Indians, in which two of his sons were mur- dered, and he and his wife and four children were taken captive. After burning the town, a march through trackless forests, almost im- 118 ELISHA WILLIAMS ELISHA WILLIAMS 119 passable on account of ice and snow, was com- menced toward Canada. Mrs. Williams and the children were separated from her husband, and on the second day of the march she and one of the boys were murdered. After many days and nights of most cruel treatment and greatest privations, those of the captives who had not perished by the way, or been murdered, arrived in Canada. Mr. Williams remained there about two years a prisoner, and was then, with two of his children, redeemed and brought back to New England, where he preached for many years. His other son was subsequently redeemed and became a minister of great celeb- rity. A daughter, who was ten years old when cap- tured, the Indians refused to give up. After- wards, when she was permitted to return, she refused to do so, married an Indian, having adopted their customs, and lived among them until her death at the age of ninety. Late in life she and her children from time to time visited her relatives in New England. Her grandson, Eleazer Williams, the Indian mis- sionary, born in 1787, was known as the " dau- phin," and was believed by many to have been the son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Louis XVII of France, whose death was pro- 120 ELISHA WILLIAMS claimed in Paris, June 8, 1797. He believed this to be true, and related that in October, 1841, he was approached, while on a steamboat, by the Prince de Joinville, a son of Louis Philippe, who assured him of his identity with the dau- phin and made him splendid offers, provided he would relinquish his rights to the crown of France. Elisha Williams, born in 1694, a member of the same family, was the fourth president or rector of Yale College. Hon. William Williams, another relative, was a signer of the Declara- tion of Independence and had a brilliant military career upon the staff of his uncle, Colonel Ephraim Williams, the founder of Williams College. The Williams family was very nu- merous and furnished many other ministers, sol- diers, and ofificials of distinction. Colonel Ebenezer Williams, the father of Elisha Williams, the subject of this sketch, died while his son was still very young, and Captain Seth Grosvenor of Pomfret was appointed his guardian. His early education was not very thorough, and when quite young he commenced the study of law in the school of Hon. Tap- ping Reed, LL.D., at Litchfield, Connecticut, an ex-Chief Justice of the State. Judge Reed had been the tutor of Aaron Burr and his sister, ELISHA WILLIAMS 121 who had become his wife. The students at his school Hved in his family. Mr. Williams was admitted to the bar in 1793, before he was twenty, and immediately started forth to seek his fortune. His horse, a portmanteau, which contained his clothes, and less than twenty dol- lars represented his capital. He located at Spencertown, in Columbia county, a place of im- portance at that time. In 1795 he married Miss Lucia Grosvenor, a daughter of his former guardian. He removed to Hudson in 1799, and remained there during his subsequent profes- sional life. One who knew him described him in sub- stantially these words: He was a man of re- markable personal appearance. His figure was imposing, his countenance full of manly beauty and beaming with intelligence; his voice was clear and melodious, and his manner engaging and gracious. There was about him a superior mien that enchained the attention of all. Pos- sessed of so many advantages of person, which were combined with a brilliant wit, a profound knowledge of human nature, a beautiful and ready flow of language, a vivid imagination, and often in his speeches " a soul-subduing pa- thos," it is not to be wondered at that his suc- cess at the bar was great from the start. 122 ELISHA WILLIAMS He found for legal adversaries Martin Van Buren, William W. Van Ness, Ambrose Spen- cer, Jacob Rutsen Van Rensselaer, and many- other eminent men. His practice extended far beyond the confines of the county, through the State, and into other States. So great was his reputation as a brilliant lawyer and orator that when it became known he was to take part in the trial of a case or speak in public crowds would assemble to listen with awe to his in- spired eloquence. Like all great orators, he was to a certain extent the idol of his time and lo- cality. His other attractive qualities naturally added to the esteem in which he was held. I can recall to mind no individual in this part of the country who has always been spoken of to me with such affectionate and reverent homage. Oliver Wendell Holmes, in his " Poet at the Breakfast Table," relates that he once asked the distinguished Gulian C. Verplanck : " Who on the whole seems the most considerable per- son you ever met ? " and he replied without hesi- tation, " Elisha Williams." It seems especially strange that one whose career was so brilliant, and who was so beloved by all, should have left so little material from which the tale of his life may be told. No son survived him to write his history, and no one ELISHA WILLIAMS 123 else seems to have taken up the task. Like most people gifted with eloquence, the splendor and power of his mental and personal qualities were appreciated most by those who saw and heard him. In 1801 IVIr. Williams was elected a Member of Assembly, and from that time he was one of the leaders of the Federal party in this State. He declined to accept other offices, although some of the highest were offered to him, except that of Member of the Constitutional Conven- tion of 1 82 1. He was active in its deliberations, and made several speeches, in one of which oc- curs this passage : " The votes we are to give on this occasion will be placed on never-dying records; it behooves us, therefore, to transmit to posterity something which may be worthy of future remembrance. If the demon of party is suffered to prevail, in a few short years it may be said of our doings that they were the result of a party convention, that our proceed- ings were dictated by the tyrant of party; that under its influence we had effaced the fairest feature in the Constitution, and destroyed the proudest pillar in the fabric of our government. Party, sir, is the gourd of a day; it flourishes in the night of deception, but withers when the full rays of investigation are brought to beam 124 ELISHA WILLIAMS upon it. A good constitution is the heart of the body politic; its influence flows through all the veins and arteries, and warms and animates the extremities; it is the sun of our system, around which revolve in harmonious order the execu- tive, judicial, and legislative departments." Some one said of him : " He was, indeed, the most noble, perfect, and Godlike form I ever beheld ; it seems as if the Creator, in the forma- tion of his body and mind, designed to make a magnificent display of his superior skill and workmanship." Chancellor Kent wrote of him : " While I was judge, until 1814, he frequently tried cases be- fore me at the Circuit, and he was eloquent, ingenious, and impressive, and showed espe- cially his sagacity and judgment in the exam- ination of witnesses at the trial, and his ad- dresses to the jury were always forcible, pithy, argumentative, and singularly attractive, and heightened by a volubility of his language and melody of his voice, and his commanding eye and dignified and attractive person." He was president of the Bank of Columbia of Hudson for several years. This was the third bank chartered in this State; its capital was $160,000. He resided for a long time in the place now owned by Richard Aitkin in that city. ELISHA WILLIAMS 125 His extensive and lucrative practice and ju- dicious investments made him a man of large wealth for those days. He was genial and gen- erous, his life was not darkened with evil, and while he was at times assailed by sorrows, he bore them with manly resignation. The forty years spent by him in the city of Hudson were a distinct advantage and a source of constant satisfaction to its citizens. He died in the city of New York, June 29, 1833. Meetings of the bar were held in New York, Albany, Utica, and Hudson, at which appropriate resolutions were passed and eulo- gies pronounced. DANIEL CADY DANIEL CADY was born on April 29, 1773, in that part of the tovv^n of Chatham in Columbia county which is now Canaan. He learned the shoemaker's trade, and when about fifteen years of age, while at work, met with an accident which destroyed the sight of one of his eyes. He then decided to study law, and commenced in the office of Judge Whiting at Canaan. About two years afterwards he went to Troy and finished his studies in the office of John Woodworth, who afterwards was Attor- ney-General and a Judge of the Supreme Court. He opened an office in Florida, Montgomery county, in this State, and remained there one year and then moved to Johnstown, the county seat. His success at the bar was marked from the beginning. He had won the confidence of his clients and the people among whom he lived, and he was esteemed for his ability, energy, and honesty. In the reports, we find his name in many cases of importance, associated with or 126 DANIEL CADY 127 opposed to the prominent and leading lawyers of the day. He was regarded as one of the best authorities on the law of real estate. He served several terms in the Assembly and one in Con- gress. In 1847 he was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court by Governor Young, and after seven years' service on the bench, which placed him in the foremost rank among our judges, he resigned. His death occurred in 1859. There is a portrait of him in the Court of Ap- peals room in the Capitol at Albany. He mar- ried a daughter of Colonel James Livingston. His daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, has been well known for her strong mind and her earnest and continuous struggle to advance the rights of women. Hon. J. Rider Cady of Hudson is descended from the same family. THE VAN NESSES OF LINDENWALD PETER VAN NESS, who was a descendant of the family to which the celebrated Dutch Admiral belonged, lived in that part of the town of Claverack which is now Ghent. His ances- tors came to this country at an early day. He was a man of fair education, fine taste, and large means, and an uncle of Judge William W. Van Ness. He commanded a regiment at the time of Burgoyne's surrender. About 1780 he removed to Kinderhook, and built Lindenwald, which for many years, during the residence of the Van Ness family, was celebrated for its hospitality, and afterwards became widely known as the home of Martin Van Buren. Washington Irving spent much time with the Van Nesses at Lindenwald, and with General John P. Van Ness at Washington, and while stopping with them wrote some of his best- known books. On April 13, 1786, Peter Van Ness was ap- pointed a first Judge of the Court of Common 128 THE VAN NESSES 129 Pleas. He was a member of the convention which met at Poughkeepsie and adopted the Constitution of the United States. In 1789 he was appointed a member of the Council of Ap- pointment. He died at Lindenwald in 1804, and is buried there. It is said that his ghost haunts his old home, I have not, however, received proofs suffi- cient to justify me in stating this as a fact. He had three sons of remarkable ability, who rose to positions of great distinction. JOHN P. VAN NESS THE eldest of Peter Van Ness's sons, John P., was born in the town of Ghent in 1770. After graduating at Columbia College, he en- tered the law office of Brockholst Livingston, in New York, as a student. He commenced practicing law in Claverack in 1799, but was soon obliged to retire on account of his health. In 1 801 he was elected a Member of Congress from this district. While in Washington he became engaged to Miss Marcia Burns, who was beautiful, charming, and wealthy. Her fa- ther, David Burns, had recently sold to the United States the land on which the White House and government buildings, and the larger part of the city of Washington now stand, and from the rise in value of the land he kept, had become enormously rich. In 1802 Mr. Van Ness married Miss Burns, and after- wards resided in Washington. President Jef- ferson appointed him Brigadier-General of the Militia of the District of Columbia, and Presi- dent Madison promoted him to be Major-Gen- 130 Ji )H.\ I'. \'AX XICSS JOHK P. VAN NESS 131 eral. He was Mayor of Washington for many- years, until he dechned to be reelected. The Bank of the Metropolis was established through his efforts, and he became its president and re- mained in office until his death. He lived in a fine mansion, which is still standing back of the White House, and there for many years he and his charming wife dispensed a generous hos- pitality. His wife was noted for her delightful man- ners, attractive appearance, and sweet disposi- tion ; she was generous and benevolent, and uni- versally beloved and respected. She was regarded almost as a saint, and on the day of her funeral both houses of Congress adjourned, a mark of respect never shown to any other wo- man. The orphan-asylum in Washington was founded by her. In the hall as you enter hangs an admirable portrait of her by Rembrandt Peale. Her sweet face gazes out at you from a beautiful old-fashioned cap, and about her are some pretty children; the whole effect makes one feel she is a real benefactress. The ground on which St. John's Episcopal Church in Wash- ington is built was her gift. Many years ago, when improvements were made in its interior, all of the pews were removed and rearranged except the one occupied by General and Mrs. 132 JOHN P. VAN NESS Van Ness, which was left as originally built, and is still owned and used by their heirs. Gil- bert Stuart, the great artist, whose portraits of Washington are so highly prized, painted the portraits of General and Mrs. Van Ness, and they are among the finest specimens of his art. General Van Ness had but one child, a daughter, who married Mr. Middleton, a Member of Con- gress from South Carolina. She died without children. He afterwards went to live in Italy, married an Italian, was made the Count de Mid- dleton, and became Chamberlain to the King of Italy. Colonel William Henry Philip, who was a grand-nephew of General Van Ness, went to Washington and lived in his family, spending his summers in Claverack, at Talavera, which place is now owned and occupied by his children. General Van Ness died at Washington in 1846, and he and his wife are buried there. WILLIAM P. VAN NESS THE second son of Peter Van Ness, William P., was born in Ghent in 1778. He was educated at Columbia College, and studied law in the office of Edward Livingston in the city of New York. After being admitted he com- menced practice there in 1800. In 1802 Martin Van Buren completed his legal studies in his office. Aaron Burr was on terms of great in- timacy with Van Ness, and at that time was a candidate for the office of President. He and Thomas Jefferson each received seventy-three electoral votes, and the election having been thrown into the House of Representatives, Mr. Jefferson was chosen President and Mr. Burr Vice-President. Mr. Van Ness had par- ticipated in the campaign with enthusiasm and did all he could to further the success of his friend Burr. He wrote a pamphlet in which the Clintons and Livingstons were bit- terly arraigned, and accused of dividing the best and most important offices among their families. 133 134 WILLIAM P. VAN NESS This was a production of such remarkable lit- erary merit, and evinced such wonderful mental power on the part of the writer, that, although it was signed Aristides, its authorship was soon found out and Mr. Van Ness received the great- est homage. On July II, 1804, he was Aaron Burr's second in his duel with Alexander Hamilton. The challenge was carried by Jacob Van Ness, who was at the time a student in the office of Wil- liam P. Van Ness, his cousin. After the fatal termination of the duel the indignation of the public was so aroused that Burr was compelled to flee. He went to Red Hook, and was for some time concealed there in the house of Gen- eral David P. Van Ness, who was an uncle of William P. Van Ness. This house, which is a fine, spacious mansion, was built about 1735, and is now owned and occupied by Captain Law- rence Timpson. His position as a lawyer and writer had be- come firmly established, and until about 18 10, when he was appointed Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York by President Madison, he had an extensive practice. His career as a judge was marked by great ability, and his decisions dis- played breadth of mind, wisdom, and shrewd- WILLIAM P. VAN NESS 135 ness. In 1813 he was appointed, with John Woodworth, to revise the laws of the State. On September 6, 1826, while in apparently perfect health, he died in an instant. It was supposed from apoplexy. CORNELIUS P. VAN NESS THE third son of Peter Van Ness, Cornelius P., was born at Lindenwald, January 26, 1782. He was fitted for college, but did not enter, having decided not to study a pro- fession. When eighteen years of age, he changed his mind and entered his brother Wil- liam P. Van Ness's office as a student. He was admitted to the bar in 1804, and in 1806 moved to St. Albans, Vermont, where he commenced practice. Three years later he removed to Bur- lington. In 1809 he was appointed postmaster at Burlington, and President Madison also ap- pointed him United States District Attorney for Vermont. He resigned in 181 3, having been appointed Collector of Customs, an office of great importance during our war with England. In 1816 he was appointed a commissioner to settle the northeastern boundary. In 1818 he was elected a Member of the General Assembly, and reelected the three succeeding years. In 1 82 1 he was appointed Chief Justice of the Su- preme Court, and in 1823 elected Governor of 136 \ (_iil;\i:i,|i S 1'. \ W XIC CORNELIUS P. VAN NESS 137 the State. He was twice reelected, and then, dechning to run again, resumed the practice of his profession. In 1829 President Jackson appointed him Minister to Spain. He remained abroad ten years, and in 1841 returned to the city of New York, where he resumed his prac- tice. While in the Vermont Legislature he was largely instrumental in procuring charters for two banks, of one of which he was president until he was elevated to the bench. His career was most brilliant, and his devotion to his pro- fession lasted throughout his life, whenever he withdrew from official life he would resume his practice with an alacrity which showed that he loved the law. One of his daughters married Judge James Roosevelt of the Supreme Court, a great-uncle of President Theodore Roosevelt, and thus we may once more associate old Lindenwald, in a way, with the highest official in the land. Mrs. Roosevelt was long a leader of New York so- ciety, and noted as a charming and gifted wo- man. Another daughter married the Minister to the United States from England, Sir William Gore Ousley, and went to live there. WILLIAM W. VAN NESS WILLIAM W. VAN NESS was born in 1776, at Claverack in Columbia county, in the house adjoining the Dutch church prop- erty on the north, which had been built by his father, William Van Ness, many years before. This is a very interesting old mansion, and in the arrangement of its spacious rooms and long piazza are shown the good taste and comfort en- joyed by the people of those days. He was edu- cated at the celebrated Washington Seminary in Claverack, which was a school of high standing, numbering some years a hundred pupils, and presided over by Andrew Mayfield Carshore, who, having come here with General Burgoyne, after the surrender of the latter, established a school at Kinderhook. He was subsequently a tutor in the family of Dominie Gebhard, at Claverack, and while there became proficient in Greek and Latin. He afterwards started the Washington Seminary, and at the end of twenty-five years, the Hudson Academy 138 WILLIAM W. VAN NESS 139 having been built for him, he removed to that city. At the age of fourteen, Mr. Van Ness com- menced his legal studies in the office of John Bay of Claverack. These were continued in the oflBce of Chancellor Livingston in the city of New York. In 1797, on being admitted to the bar, he opened an office in his native town, and two years later, when he was admitted as coun- selor, he married Jane, the daughter of John Bay, and moved his office to Hudson. He built a residence on land adjoining his father's on the north. This place is called Talavera, and is now owned and occupied by the children of Colonel William Henry Philip, who was a descendant of the Van Ness family. After several years of successful and lucra- tive practice, in which he had established his reputation as a lawyer of unusual ability, he was, in 1805, elected a Member of Assembly, and became the Federalist leader in that body. He was reelected in 1806. Governor Morgan Lewis appointed him a Judge of the Supreme Court in 1807. He remained upon the bench about fifteen years, when he resigned and opened a law office in New York. He had been some time afflicted with dyspepsia, which grew much worse, and being advised to go South, 140 WILLIAM W. VAN NESS went to Charleston, South Carolina, where he died, February 27, 1823. He is buried in the cemetery at Claverack. He was the first president of the Columbia County Bible Society. His career as a judge was most brilliant. To- wards its close an attack was made upon him by his political adversaries in the New York Amer- ican, in which it was alleged that he had been bribed in the securing of a charter for the Bank of America. A committee was appointed by the Legislature to investigate these charges with a view of impeaching him if they were found to be true. After a long and thorough investiga- tion, in which witnesses were examined, a re- port was made by the committee, which was adopted by the Legislature, and entirely exon- erated Judge Van Ness from the charges made. One of the leading newspapers of the day, in referring to the case, said : " The report, though brief, is full, satisfactory, and conclusive. He has passed the ordeal unharmed, and that, too, at a period of party excitement almost without a parallel ! Every engine that party rage, wealth, and influence could command has been set in motion to impeach his conduct, with certain charges preferred against him by the editors of the American, but, after the strictest scrutiny. WILLIAM W. VAN NESS 141 nothing could be proved against him. On the contrary, his innocence has been completely es- tablished." Judge Van Ness was undoubtedly a man of an extremely sensitive nature, and from the base attack upon him by his political foes, al- though he was entirely exonerated, he never rallied. Those summing up his character and quali- ties as a judge, a lawyer, and a man, who per- sonally knew him, express their admiration, af- fection, and appreciation in such intense and glowing terms that one hesitates to quote their words in an article written for readers of the present somewhat prosaic and matter-of-fact days. He certainly seems to have found a place in their affections and to have fulfilled their ideals in a most surprising manner. At a meeting of the members of the Columbia County Bar, on March 22, 1823, Elisha Wil- liams, in seconding the resolutions submitted on the death of Judge Van Ness, spoke as follows : " My heart is full of grief ; I have lost in him whose death we lament one of Heaven's great- est gifts to man — an afifectionate, disinterested friend. The ligaments which unite kindred hearts are nourished with the issues of the vital fountain. ,We all mourn this deep affliction. 142 WILLIAM W. VAN NESS Our common friend has been summoned to an- other and a better world. He was indeed the pride, the ornament, the patron, of our bar. How often has he animated and admonished those who now hear me to strive for honorable profession! How has he encouraged the retir- ing, timid youth, how pruned the luxuriant shoots of genius, careful to detect and faithful to disclose to each his errors! The heart of our brother was a stranger to that jealousy which narrow minds feel at a rival's success. His soul exulted in the rising fame and increas- ing prosperity of his professional brethren. The honor of the bar he considered as the property of the State, and he who contributed most to swell this common fund he regarded as the greatest public benefactor. " Careless of the acquisition of wealth, he has left little of it to his bereaved family. But he has left to them and to posterity a legacy more valuable than riches, more durable than mar- ble. Let us, while deploring this afflictive providence, profit by his bright example. Let us, upon the altar of friendship, as over his urn, and in the presence of his departed spirit, swear that we will, like him, tenderly respect and af- fectionately nourish each brother's fame and be- come mutual helpmates in our professional ca- WILLIAM W. VAN NESS 143 reers. Let us remember, too, that soon, very soon, we may be called upon to unite our spirits with his, and that character — a character which ennobles the dead and rebukes the living— is all that is valuable that will be left of us this side of the grave." THOMAS P. GROSVENOR THOMAS P. GROSVENOR was born in Pomfret, Connecticut, in 1780. He was two years at Williams College, and at the age of sixteen entered Yale College, where he grad- uated with the highest honors. In 1800 he com- menced the study of the law in Hudson, in the office of his brother-in-law, Elisha Williams, and was admitted to the bar in 1803. He opened an office in Catskill. His thorough education, great intellect, and the fact that he was a bril- liant orator, quickly brought him clients, and he rapidly rose in his profession. In 1807 he removed to Hudson, where, in partnership with Thomas Bay, Esq., he continued to prac- tice law. He was very active in politics. In 1809 he was nominated by the Federalists for the As- sembly. The campaign was characterized by bitter personalities and calumnies such as would not now be tolerated, everything was resorted to to defeat Mr. Grosvenor. He was, however, 144 THOMAS P. GROSVENOR 145 elected, and his services in the Legislature were so great, and his eloquence, which was extraor- dinary in its character and power, gave him so conspicuous a position, that he was reelected in 1810 and 181 1. His traducers had been si- lenced by their inability to prove their accusa- tions and his able and brilliant career as a lawmaker. During part of his legislative service he was District Attorney of Columbia county. Colonel Robert Le Roy Livingston having resigned as a Member of the Twelfth Congress, Mr. Grosvenor was elected to fill the vacancy, and also as a Member of the Thirteenth Con- gress. He was reelected in 1814 and 1816. His Congressional services were rendered at a time of great excitement, and he became so conspicu- ous among many able men that his district felt honored in having such a representative. In 181 5 he married a daughter of Judge Hansen of Baltimore, Maryland, and afterwards, until his death in 181 7, spent most of his time in that city. Mr. Grosvenor's wife died six months after their marriage, and he followed her in about fifteen months. They are both buried in the Hudson cemetery. His associates in Congress paid tributes to 146 THOMAS P. GROSVENOR his memory in glowing terms. They lauded his intellect, his eloquence, and his personal char- acteristics. It was said that " for readiness and strength on any and every topic that arose in debate, for rough-and-tumble argument, Grosvenor had not an equal in Congress." i( isi.ni I), \i( i.\i-:i,i. JOSEPH D. MONELL JOSEPH D. MONELL was born in Clav- J erack, December 17, 1781, where his father Hved and practiced medicine with distinguished success for many years. His paternal ances- tors were from Ireland, and settled in Orange county in this State. His mother, Catherine Dwight, was a cousin of President Dwight of Yale College. He was educated at the school of Andrew M. Carshore in Claverack. This school had a wide reputation, and among its pupils were many who in after life became men of distinction. Mr. Monell commenced his legal studies in the office of General Jacob Rutsen Van Rens- selaer of Claverack, and completed them in the office of Peter Van Schaack, Esq., of Kinder- hook. Upon his admission to the bar he com- menced practicing in Cherry Valley, but in a year or two returned to Claverack, which was at that time the county seat. In 1806, when Hudson became the county seat, he removed to 147 148 JOSEPH D. MONELL that city, where he continued to practice his pro- fession almost without interruption until his death on September 17, 1861. He was a Democrat and was actively inter- ested in politics, and throughout his life par- ticipated as an orator in the political campaigns in Columbia county, and his speeches were re- markable for their eloquence and ability. In 181 7 he formed a partnership with Abra- ham A. Van Buren, a brother of Martin Van Buren; in 1831 he associated himself with Hon. John W. Edmonds, and subsequently with Hon. Henry Hogeboom. All of these firms did a large business and occupied a high rank. From 181 1 to 1813, and from 1815 to 1821, he was Recorder of the City of Hudson, an office of much importance at that time. He was a Presi- dential elector in 181 6 and voted for James Monroe. He was District Attorney of Colum- bia county, in 1818, and a Member of the As- sembly in 1824. Mr. Monell, having amassed a considerable fortune, about this time gave up practice and re- tired to a farm. He had endorsed the paper of a friend for a large amount, and these obli- gations he found himself called upon to pay. With characteristic integrity he turned over his JOSEPH D. MONELL 149 entire property in payment, and recommenced his professional life. He was elected County Clerk in 1828, in spite of the fact that his party was largely in the minority, and that he ran against Jacob Rutsen Van Rensselaer, one of the strongest and most influential men in Columbia county. He was reelected in 1831 without opposition. He was appointed Surro- gate by Governor Silas Wright in 1845. He was a man of strict integrity, of untiring industry; his mind was not only logical, but he possessed a great quickness of perception; his opinions on legal questions were sound and re- liable, he was fertile in resources, and his accu- rate knowledge of human character enabled him to exercise great influence in harmonizing differences and promoting good feeling. It was his own choice that he attained no higher official position, places of distinction having been offered him, but he preferred that the field of his labors should be in the more quiet walks of the profession. He was a firm patriot, and the last few months of his life were distressed by the horrors of the Civil War, but his faith in and loyalty to the Union never wavered. He died universally beloved and respected. His son Claudius L. Monell, after practicing 150 JOSEPH D. MONELL law in Hudson several years, moved to New York and became a judge of the Superior Court of the city of New York. Robert D. Monell, another son, practiced law in Hudson for many years, and was Surrogate of Columbia county in 1855. JAMES VANDERPOEL TAMES VANDERPOEL was born January J lo, 1787, in Kinderhook. He was the son of Isaac Vanderpoel, a farmer of Holland Dutch ancestry, and received his education at the Kingston Academy. He commenced his legal studies in the office of Francis Silvester in Kin- derhook, and was admitted to the bar in 1808. He served three terms in the Assembly, and in 1 81 2 was appointed Surrogate of Columbia county, which office he held for two years. In 1826 he was appointed a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and in 1830 a Judge of the Su- preme Court. He removed to Albany in 1832. In 1838 he resigned from the Supreme Court, having been incapacitated by a stroke of paral- ysis, of which disease he died in 1843. Until 1827 he had been a leader among the Federalists in Columbia county. He then be- came a Democrat and afterwards acted with that party. His career on the bench reflected credit on his native county. He lived much respected, and his death was widely lamented. 151 AARON VANDERPOEL AARON VANDERPOEL, who was also a ^son of Isaac Vanderpoel, was born Feb- ruary 5, 1799, on his father's farm in Kinder- hook, about three miles north of the village. He was educated at the Academy there, and also attended school at Lenox, Massachusetts. He was fortunate enough to receive his instruction in the classics from the great scholar Peter Van Schaack. He studied law in the office of his brother James, and on being admitted to the bar formed a partnership with him. He served two terms as Member of Assembly and three terms in Congress, where he was a loyal supporter of Presidents Jackson and Van Buren. He was a man of large frame and strong physique, and possessed a voice of great volume. He was very ready, and a constant participator in debate, and was familiarly known as " the Kinderhook Roarer." He retained his residence in Kinderhook un- til 1839. During the recesses of Congress he spent his time in Europe, and in 1841 settled in 152 AARON VANDERPOEL 153 New York and resumed practice. He was ap- pointed a Judge of the Superior Court of the City of New York and remained on the bench seven years. He married a daughter of John McBride, Esq., who brought him a large fortune. JOHN C. SPENCER TOHN C. SPENCER, the eldest son of Chief J Justice Ambrose Spencer, was born in Hud- son, January 6, 1788. His mother was a Miss Canfield, and he was named after her father. He was educated at the school of Mr. Hedges in Hudson, and at the Kinderhook and Kingston academies, which were at that time taught by Rev. David B. Warden, who was afterwards Consul General at Paris. Mr. Spencer spent a year at Williams College and then went to Union, entering as a junior, and graduated in 1806 at the head of his class. He studied law in Albany in the offices of Daniel Jones and Daniel Rodman, Esquires. In 1807 he was ap- pointed private secretary by Governor Tomp- kins. The same year James Madison was elected President of the United States, young Spencer was selected by the electoral college to carry its vote to Washington, and then formed a friendship with Mr. Madison which continued until the latter's death in 1836. He was admitted to the bar in 1809, and mar- 154 JOHN C. SPENCER 155 tied Miss Eliza Scott Smith, a daughter of James Scott Smith, and moved to Canandaigua, where he commenced practicing his profession. In 1 81 1 he was appointed a master in chancery for Ontario county. He strongly advocated President Madison's policy in regard to the war of 18 1 2, wrote many pamphlets on political questions, which were so able that they gained for him a national reputation. In December, 1813, he was appointed Judge Advocate of General McClure's militia brigade and served with it on the Canadian frontier. In January, 1814, he was appointed postmaster of Canandaigua, and held that office for one year, and in 181 5 Governor DeWitt Clinton ap- pointed him District Attorney for the five coun- ties in the western part of the State, and he served as such three years. In 1816 he was elected a Member of Congress, and made him- self conspicuous by instituting an inquiry into the condition of the United States Bank. This was the first attack upon that institution, and antedated by fifteen years the final attack by President Jackson, when Mr. Spencer was on the other side of the question, being unfriendly to General Jackson. He declined a renomi- nation for Congress, and in 18 19 was elected a Member of Assembly and served as Speaker. 156 JOHN C. SPENCER He was reelected the next year, but his party- was in the minority. In 1824 he was elected a State Senator, and Governor DeWitt Clinton appointed him a Reviser of the Statutes, in place of Henry Wheaton, who, having been sent as Minister to Germany, had resigned. His associates were John Duer and Benjamin F. Butler. Governor Martin Van Buren appointed him, in March, 1829, special counsel to prosecute the abductors of William Morgan, a bricklayer, liv- ing at Batavia in this State, who had been taken by an armed mob from the jail in Canandaigua to the Niagara River, where all trace of him was lost. It was said that Morgan, while a member of the Masonic order, had threatened to disclose the secrets of Freemasonry, and it was also alleged that he could account for the disappearance of Chancellor Lansing, a man of great distinction, who had occupied various official positions including that of Chief Justice, and whose mysterious disappearance had stirred the entire community. It has never been known what became of either Judge Lan- sing or Morgan. Mr. Spencer resigned as such special counsel in May, 1830. An Anti-Ma- sonic party was formed in many of the free States, and in 1831 William Wirt was nomi- JOHN C. SPENCER 157 nated by it for President, and this party after- wards joined with other opponents of the admin- istration and became the Whig party, which Mr. Spencer joined. He was elected a Member of Assembly in 1830 and 1831, and appointed Sec- retary of State in February, 1839, and in Febru- ary, 1840, was made a Regent of the University. President Tyler in October, 1841, appointed him Secretary of War, and in 1843, Secretary of the Treasury, which office he subsequently resigned. The degree of LL.D. was conferred on him by Union College in 1849. He returned to Albany in 1837, where he practiced law until his death. May 20, 1855. He secured the founding of the Albany Hos- pital. When De Tocqueville visited this coun- try in 1838, before writing his book on " The American Democracy," he formed an intimate friendship with John C. Spencer, and the latter annotated the first American edition of his book. Among his legislative acts he was the author and secured the passage of the law of 1820, which abolished absolute sales of real estate on executions at short notice, and gave the owner an opportunity to redeem, or, failing to do so, provided for a sale to the highest bidder. The effect of this law was to increase the value of 158 JOHN C. SPENCER farm lands. He was also chiefly instrumental in having the law abolishing imprisonment for debt enacted. He was said to be a man of indefatigable in- dustry and intense application. His official duties were performed with faithfulness and honesty. His convictions were deeply rooted, and he was positive and stern in asserting them. He was a man of iron will and fearless in the performance of duty. He always appeared to be immersed in deep thought, to such an extent as to pass his most intimate friends on the street without recognition. AMIlKli^l', I. IIIKD.W AMBROSE L. JORDAN AMBROSE L. JORDAN was born in the JTx. town of Hillsdale, Columbia county, on May 5, 1789. He received a fair education and studied law in the office of General Jacob Rutsen Van Rensselaer. After he was admitted to the bar he removed to Cooperstown, where he prac- ticed his profession for several years. He quickly rose to a distinguished rank as a lawyer, and became the District Attorney and Surro- gate of Otsego county. In 1820 he was in- duced to move to Hudson, where he continued the practice of his profession. It is said he was invited to come to Hudson to meet as a rival the great orator and lawyer, Elisha Williams. A member of the Columbia county bar who knew him well, in an article written about the time of his death, describes him in these words : " Mr. Jordan was distinguished for his manly beauty, with an erect, commanding form, an ex- pressive face, and an eye which, in moments of excitement, flashed like an eagle's, his appear- ance never failed to attract attention and to •59 i6o AMBROSE L. JORDAN create a most favorable impression. I have often thought that in the prime of his Hfe he was the perfection of physical and intellectual man- hood. His style of oratory was of the best order of forensic eloquence, his voice was as soft and musical as the tones of the flute, his manner dignified and commanding, his elocution most fluent and graceful, and his diction in the high- est degree terse, vigorous and elegant. Al- though cool and deliberate in the trial of causes, he was quick at repartee and keen and unspar- ing in invective. He was the possessor of rare wit and bitter sarcasm, qualities which were often displayed in his addresses to juries as well as in the cross-examination of witnesses. Un- fortunate indeed was he who became the sub- ject of his scathing rebuke. No speaker had greater power of scornful expression than he possessed." In 1824 Mr. Jordan purchased the Columbia Republican and changed its politics, it having before that been a Democratic paper. In 1845 it was purchased by William Bryan, and is now owned by his son. In 1824 Mr. Jordan was elected a Member of the Assembly, and in 1825 Senator, but resigned after serving three years of the term, which at that time was four years. He seemed to prefer the activities of profes- AMBROSE L. JORDAN 161 sional life to those of official. He was a man of great industry and devoted himself to the cases entrusted to him with enthusiastic zeal. In 1838 he removed to the city of New York, where he became engaged in an extensive practice. In 1846 he was elected a member of the Con- stitutional convention from Columbia county, and in 1847 elected Attorney-General. He was employed as counsel for the anti-renters and was made conspicuous by the part he took in their trials. During his residence in Hudson his house was the social centre of the place. His family enjoyed entertaining, and contributed much to the brilliancy and pleasure of the life there. In private life he was esteemed by all, and had established a character for just dealing, honesty, and generosity. On removing to New York, Mr. Jordan formed a partnership with his son-in-law, Ed- ward Clark. Among their clients was Singer, the inventor of the sewing-machine, who was at that time cramped in means and annoyed with litigation which assailed his patents. The sound advice and sagacity of his lawyers helped the inventor to maintain his rights and to sup- ply the people with what has proved one of the most useful machines of modern life. The i62 AMBROSE L. JORDAN stock of the Singer Sewing Machine Company- became immensely valuable, and the fortune left by Edward Clark, who succeeded Mr. Jordan after his retirement from practice and pur- chased an interest in the Singer Company, is now one of the largest in this country. Mr. Jordan was stricken with paralysis about five years before his death, which occurred in 1865, and was obliged to retire. He is buried in the cemetery at Hudson, and in the adjoin- ing lot repose the bodies of his son-in-law and former partner, Edward Clark, and the latter's son. The care the family bestow upon this rest- ing-place and the taste displayed in embellishing it and neighboring portions of the cemetery is most noticeable. )!E,\J.\M I X !•'. IlL'TLER BENJAMIN F. BUTLER OF NEW YORK BENJAMIN F. BUTLER was a son of Colonel Medad Butler, and was born De- cember 14, 1795, at Kinder hook Landing (now known as Stuyvesant) on the Hudson River. His father was of Irish and Puritan extraction, and came to this State from Connecticut in 1787 and started in business at Kinderhook Landing. Through his efforts a good school was established there, which young Butler at- tended, and at an early age developed an ex- traordinary love for books and study. He was thoroughly instructed in the classics, and read them almost every day throughout his life. In 181 1 he entered the law office of Van Buren & Miller at Hudson. Martin Van Buren was a friend of Colonel Butler, and the young stu- dent became an inmate of his family and re- mained so until he married. When Mr. Van Buren moved to Albany, Mr. Butler accom- panied him, and shortly after he was admitted to the bar they formed a partnership, which 163 164 BENJAMIN F. BUTLER continued until Mr. Van Buren retired from practice in 1828. The early promise Mr. Butler had given of being a diligent student was fulfilled while he was studying law, and he started his practice with a much finer equipment than many young lawyers possess. In addition to his studious habits and well-stored mind, he was endowed with activity, enthusiasm, and endurance. In those days he took great interest in poli- tics. I have just been looking over some letters written by him in the spring of 1817 to one of his political friends, which show a vim and an entire absorption in the questions of the hour, and the necessary steps to be taken, that is de- lightful. We usually think of him as the Re- viser of the Statutes, and the one who did the greater part of that great work; or as the able Attorney-General in Jackson's and Van Buren's cabinets ; but I feel as if I had just had a glimpse of him in all the strength and power of his youth. In 1818 he married Miss Harriet Allen, whose sister, Mrs. Nathan Chamberlain, for many years lived on Allen Street, in Hudson, after whose family that street was named, and who will be remembered by many of the older people here. The bravery of her brother. Lieu- BENJAMIN F. BUTLER 165 tenant William Howard Allen of the Navy, who was killed in an attack upon pirates off the coast of Cuba, and whose body now rests in our cemetery beneath a monument reared in his honor by our citizens, is a part of our history. Mr. Butler's life in Albany was a busy one; his partnership with Mr. Van Buren plunged him into a practice large and lucrative and in- volving much responsibility, in addition to which his political associations and activities must have consumed much time. We find that he was appointed District Attorney of Albany county in 1821, and served as such until 1827. He was a Member of Assembly in 1828. The official position which seems to have been most valued by him and his descendants came to him in 1824, when he was appointed a Commissioner to Revise the Statutes. Men from Columbia county appear to have had an especial lien on this office, and among the Revisers we find Peter Van Schaack, in 1773; William P. Van Ness, in 1813; and Benjamin F. Butler and John C. Spencer associated in the same task, in 1824. The greatness of the undertaking cannot be appreciated by people outside of the legal pro- fession ; even the lawyers have become so accus- tomed to the convenient form in which the stat- utes were arranged by the Revisers that they i66 BENJAMIN F. BUTLER do not stop to think of the extent of the work, the industry required, and the wisdom and ge- nius displayed by these great men to whom we are so deeply indebted. In 1889 Mr. William Allen Butler, a son of the subject of this sketch, who had greatly distinguished himself at the bar and as an author, and who was looked up to by all, presented to the Association of the Bar of the City of New York portraits of the three Revisers, Judge John Duer, Benjamin F. Butler, and John C. Spencer, and at the same time de- livered an address of remarkable beauty and learning, in which he detailed the scope and effect of the revision, and the manner in which it was accomplished. While due credit is given to each Reviser, it is apparent that the greater part of the work was performed by Mr. Butler ; he being located in Albany the burden naturally fell on him, and he seems to have been hampered by fewer impediments in the way of other occu- pations, and, above and beyond all, to have pos- sessed the ability to originate and carry out plans for the work that were accepted and ap- proved by his associates. The revision was not completed until in December, 1828. His son might well be proud of such achievements, and it is a pleasure to think that, by his father's direction, the inscription on his monument in BENJAMIN F. BUTLER 167 Woodlawn cemetery, after mentioning his po- sitions in the cabinets of Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren, reads : " A Commissioner to Revise the Statute Laws of the State of New York." On the retirement of Martin Van Buren from active practice, Mr. Butler found himself en- gaged in a business of enormous proportions, and he was employed in many of the cases of most importance which were in the courts at that time. He was appointed a Regent of the University in 1829, and resigned in 1833. The same year he was appointed one of the Commis- sioners to settle the boundary between New York and New Jersey. When he removed from Albany to New York, the latter part of 1833, he received a letter signed by eighty-nine of the leading citizens of Albany, expressing their homage and regret at his departure. In 1833, ^^ William L. Marcy's retirement from the United States Senate, to become Gov- ernor of this State, Mr. Van Buren, who was then Vice-President, and other leaders in the Democratic party tried to persuade Mr. Butler to accept the office of Senator, but he refused to do so, declining any office that was not in the line of his profession. An offer of a seat on the Supreme Court bench from Governor Marcy i68 BENJAMIN F. BUTLER was also declined, on the ground that, in justice to his family and himself, Mr. Butler could not give up his very lucrative practice for the small salary of a judge, however congenial the duties might be. Mr. Butler's long intimacy with Martin Van Buren had brought him into close relations with the leaders of the Democratic party, William L. Marcy, Edwin Croswell, Azariah C. Flagg, Silas Wright, John A. Dix, and others, who were known as the " Albany Regency." They desired to see him in the cabinet of Jackson, but it was only after repeated offers and a long letter from Mr. Van Buren that he was per- suaded to accept the office of Attorney-General of the United States. He served with great ability and brilliancy from 1833 to 1838, when he resigned. In 1836 General Cass, having re- tired from the office of Secretary of War and been sent as Minister to France, Mr. Butler, at the request of President Jackson, performed, in addition to his other duties, those of Secre- tary of War until Mr. Van Buren was inaugu- rated, when the latter bestowed the office upon Joel R. Poinsett. Mr. Butler was appointed United States District Attorney for the South- ern District of New York in December, 1838, and held the office until March 4, 1841, when BENJAMIN F. BUTLER 169 he was removed to be replaced by one of Presi- dent Harrison's followers. President Polk ap- pointed him to the same ofifice, and he served until September, 1848, having refused the po- sition of Secretary of War in his cabinet. He resumed his practice in New York city, and be- came the head of and chief lecturer at the law school there which he was instrumental in es- tablishing. He had lived all the years since he had com- menced his law studies a firm and devoted friend of Martin Van Buren, and had entered the lists and fought for him throughout the most stormy periods of his career, but on the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, which re- pealed the Missouri Compromise, brought about by Henry Clay in 1820, which shut out slavery from territories in the Louisiana Purchase north of 36 degrees 30 minutes, Mr. Butler felt he could no longer tolerate the aggressions of the Slave Power, and in 1856 he voted for Fre- mont. He was a man of such honest motives and lofty ideals that his former political allies felt he had acted according to the dictates of his conscience. This withdrawal from politics, and the quiet life he led in his later years, which were devoted to the exacting duties of his profession, com- lyo BENJAMIN F. BUTLER bined with the appearance in public life, during the exciting days of the Civil War, of an in- dividual from Massachusetts of the same name, but of entirely different and inferior qualities and capacity, who made himself conspicuous in the war in various positions, and notorious at New Orleans, have done much to detract from the fame of this great son of Columbia. Few of our public men have been gifted with such abilities, been so elevated in aims, and so pure, and of so high a tone in every respect. Those who remained in the Democratic party bewailed his departure, feeling the fire-eaters of the South and their Northern tools had driven out of the party one of its best and brightest mem- bers. It was the old story, so often recorded in history, of a political party having been duped into following false gods by false leaders, and some of its most useful and valuable members being driven elsewhere. Both Mr. Butler and his wife had very posi- tive views upon the temperance question, which were quite widely known. I have been told that, during a visit by him to Mr. Van Buren at Lindenwald, they drove over to Claverack to call upon the aged widow of an old friend and client and political ally. On the sideboard stood decanters of wine and spirits, and custom BENJAMIN F. BUTLER 171 demanded that their contents should be offered to the visitors, and also that the offer should be accepted. The hostess, knowing Mr. But- ler's prejudices, hesitated for a moment, and then made the customary proffer of a glass of wine. Mr. Van Buren took the wine, but Mr. Butler, true to his principles, declined. No one can doubt the honesty of his convictions or his willingness to set himself up against the customs of the day or the dictates of his party, if his conscience approved. He certainly was one of the most gifted and high-principled men the nation has produced; his memory should be cherished and his fame preserved. He died in Paris, November 8, 1858. JOHN W. EDMONDS THE first settler in the vicinity of Hudson was Jan Francis Van Hoesen, who in 1662 purchased lands from the Mohicans. On May 14, 1667, a patent was issued by Governor Nicolls to him of these lands, which included the ground on which Hudson stands and part of what is now the town of Greenport. It com- menced about a mile north of the north line of Hudson and ran south along the river to the mouth of Kishna's Kill, which empties into the South Bay, a short distance north of Mount Merino, and extended east to the Claverack creek. This property was subsequently claimed by the Van Rensselaers, and after a long liti- gation with Van Hoesen, the courts decided that it belonged to the latter. Early in 1783 Thomas Jenkins, with three other men from New England, anchored in front of what is now the ferry slip in Hudson. After coming ashore and looking over the land they entered into negotiations with the heirs 172 JOIIX W , I'J l.\llj\ 11.^ JOHN W. EDMONDS 173 of Jan Francis Van Hoesen, who were then represented by the Van Hoesens, Hardicks, and Van Aliens, for the purchase of a site for the city of Hudson, which ended in a transfer to them. Settlements were made in the following autumn and spring, the newcomers being cor- dially welcomed by the original proprietors. Colonel John Van Allen, who was the most prominent person among them, going on board their ships and offering them the hospitality of his home. Colonel Van Allen had a store on the south side of the ferry slip, and had in his em- ploy a young man, Samuel Edmonds, who was born in the city of New York in 1760, and was at college in Rhode Island when the Revolution- ary War commenced. He enlisted as a private and served throughout its continuance, having been present at the battles of Yorktown and Monmouth, and at its close was discharged, having risen to the rank of a commissioned offi- cer. All he possessed was a horse, with sad- dle and bridle, two blankets and a small amount of Continental money. Thus equipped he started out to seek his fortune, and finally set- tled at Claverack Landing, as Hudson was then called, and became the clerk of Colonel Van Allen. Upon the death of the latter, young Edmonds started in business for himself. He 174 JOHN W. EDMONDS married Lydia, a daughter of Thomas Worth, who was one of the founders of Hudson, and an uncle of the renowned Major-General Worth, a monument in whose honor was erected by the city of New York, and now stands in Madison Square in that city. Samuel Edmonds was sheriff of the county of Columbia in 1801, a Member of Assembly in 1803, a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1810, and Paymaster General of Militia in the War of 1812, besides holding many important offices in the city gov- ernment. His son, John W. Edmonds, was born in Hudson, March 13, 1799, and was prepared for college at the Hudson Academy. He entered Williams College, but went to Union later, and graduated in 1816. He commenced studying law in Cooperstown, but returned to Hudson and became a student in the office of Van Buren & Miller, and was admitted to the bar in 1820, having spent one year in the office of Martin Van Buren in Albany. In 1820 he commenced practice in Hudson. When nineteen years of age he received his commission as lieutenant of militia, and at the end of fifteen years he had risen to the rank of colonel, when he resigned. He was very successful as a lawyer and active JOHN W. EDMONDS 175 in politics; in those days the lawyers were the political leaders. In 1824 the Hudson Gazette was purchased by Oliver Wiswall, Solomon Wescott, Jehoiakim A. Van Valkenburgh, Ru- fus Reed, Moses Younglove, and Jeremiah Storm, who were leading Democrats. The pur- chase price was five hundred dollars, and John W. Edmonds was engaged as editor, at a salary of three dollars a week. In 1827 he was appointed city recorder, and in 1 83 1 elected a Member of Assembly. He was elected to the Senate in 1832 by a majority of over seven thousand five hundred votes, but after serving three years of the term, which was then four years, he resigned. In 1835 he was one of the commissioners to build the court- house. The building erected and the grounds surrounding it showed a high order of taste on the part of the commissioners. In 1836 he was appointed by President Jackson a commis- sioner to enforce the terms of the treaty between the United States and the Ottawa and Chip- pewa tribes of Indians, and he spent that sum- mer at Michilemackinac in camp with over six hundred Indians. In 1837 he moved to New York, where he soon found himself engaged in an extensive and lucrative practice. In 1843 176 JOHN W. EDMONDS he was appointed State Prison Inspector. He was a man full of sympathy for the unfortunate and erring, and he procured many reforms in the treatment of prisoners. When he entered upon the performance of the duties of the office he found the prisons in a state of great disorder. There was hardly any discipline, and a large yearly deficit, and the only punishment meted out to refractory prisoners was with the whip. He held the office for eighteen months, when he resigned. Meanwhile discipline had been intro- duced and was maintained, the prisons had been placed upon a paying basis and punishment with the whip abolished. In 1845 he was appointed a Judge of the First Circuit to fill the place of Judge Kent, who had resigned. In September of that year he pre- sided at the trial of the anti-renter, Smith A. Boughton, who was known as Big Thunder, which resulted in the conviction of the defen- dant. This case attracted much attention, and during the trial Judge Edmonds committed to jail for contempt of court John Van Buren, the Attorney-General of the State, who assisted Theodore Miller, the District Attorney, and Ambrose L. Jordan, the counsel for the defen- dant. A most interesting account of that trial is given in i Edmonds' Select Cases 140, one of JOHN W. EDMONDS 177 a series of reports prepared by Judge Edmonds of cases tried before him at the circuit. In 1847 Judge Edmonds was elected a Jus- tice of the Supreme Court, and on the reorgani- zation of the judiciary under the new consti- tution, he was nominated by Tammany Hall and elected by a very large majority. He re- signed from this office in 1853. Immediately afterwards he announced his conversion to Spiritualism, and published a book defending his new faith. He was active in preaching its doctrines, and seemed to be a firm believer in them. He had an affection for relatives who had died that seemed almost abnormal. His wife died in 1850 and was buried in the Hudson cemetery. A monument in memory of her was erected by the bar of New York, through a committee composed of William Kent, John Van Buren, William Curtis Noyes, and Edward Sanford. Mrs. Edmonds' name and the date of her birth and death, and an enumeration of her virtues are inscribed on one side of it, and at the base these lines in French : " Pleurez, pleurez, mes yeux Et fondez vous en eau, La moitie de ma vie A mis I'autre au tombeau." 12 lyS JOHN W. EDMONDS It is said that Judge Edmonds was often seen standing beside his wife's grave conversing with her. He died in New York city, April 5, 1874. Almost with his last breath he asked to have his funeral held at St. George's church in that city, Dr. Stephen H. Tyng, the rector, having been for a long time his intimate friend. He left the following written directions as to how his funeral should be conducted. " I wish to be buried in Hudson in the same grave with my wife; not by her side, but in the same grave, that our ashes may mingle and be one on earth as our souls will be one in the spirit world. In the monument to her memory erected by the bar of New York are two vacant spaces left pur- posely for me — on one of them I want this in- scription : JOHN WORTH EDMONDS Born in Hudson 13th March, 1799. Died in 187 . On the other I want simply these words : Death joins the ties Which death destroys." He then named his bearers, who were some of the most distinguished lawyers of that time. JOHN W. EDMONDS 179 In 1862 Judge Edmonds drew and circulated a petition for the emancipation of the slaves in the south as a war measure. After the loss of Judge Rufus Peckham in 1873 on the nilc dii Havre, Judge Edmonds published a letter he claimed he had received from the spirit of Judge Peckham. HENRY HOGEBOOM THE ancestors of Henry Hogeboom, who were of Holland Dutch origin, came to this country and settled in the town of Claverack, Columbia county. About 1750 the head of the family, with most of his children, removed to the town of Ghent, where he had purchased a large tract of land, and built a fine stone house which is still standing. The family was a nu- merous one and influential. Cornelius Hoge- boom, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was sheriff of the county in 1791, and was shot while engaged in the performance of his official duties by anti-renters. His wife was so overwhelmed by the occurrence that she died of grief shortly afterwards. Their son, John C, who was twenty-three years of age at the time, was deputy sheriff and was appointed to succeed his father. He was a Member of Assembly for three years, a State senator, a member of the Council of Appointment, and in 1812 a Presidential Elector. He was also the first president of the Bank of Hudson, and the 180 HENRY HOGEBOOM 181 building erected for its use was afterwards oc- cupied for many years by his son Henry as a residence. Henry Hogeboom was born in Ghent at the family place, Squampamock, on February 25, 1809. He was educated at the Hudson Acad- emy, and graduated from Yale College in 1827. He commenced his legal studies in the office of Powers & Day in Catskill, and completed them in the office of Campbell Bushnell, in Hudson. He was admitted to the bar in 1830, and the following year was appointed a master in chancery, and one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas, and was chosen by his asso- ciates presiding judge, which office he filled for three years. He formed a partnership with Abraham A. Van Buren, who had been surrogate of Colum- bia county, and was a brother of Martin Van Buren. This firm was dissolved by the death of Mr. Van Buren in 1845. He was subse- quently in partnership at dififerent times with Theodore Miller, Joseph D. Monell, Casper P. Collier, William A. Porter, William Boies, and Peter Bonesteel. In 1839 ^^ was elected a Member of Assembly, and served with distinc- tion. He had always been a Democrat, and in 1847 was nominated by that party for the office i82 HENRY HOGEBOOM of Justice of the Supreme Court, and was de- feated by William B. Wright. In 1849 he was again nominated by the Democrats for the same office, and was defeated by Mr. Wright by one hundred majority. Quo warranto proceed- ings were instituted and, upon investigation, frauds were shown to have been perpetrated in Rensselaer county by the Republicans, but Mr. Hogeboom's claim was disallowed, on the ground that the votes of certain other districts, which would have more than elected him, were invalid on account of an improper division of the districts. In 1857 the regular delegates from the judi- cial convention of Columbia county were op- posed to the nomination of Henry Hogeboom for Justice of the Supreme Court. Contesting delegates who favored his nomination were sent to the convention for the judicial district held at Albany. The regular delegates were ad- mitted, and the convention nominated Rufus W. Peckham for a full term, and D. K. Olney for an unexpired term. A few days later Henry Hogeboom was nominated for the full term, and W. B. Wright for the unexpired term by the judicial convention of the American party, which had formerly been the Know No- thing party. These nominations were subse- quently adopted by the Republican judicial HENRY HOGEBOOM 183 convention. Mr. Hogeboom was elected by a majority of twelve thousand votes, Columbia county giving him a majority of two thousand nine hundred. He had established a fine reputa- tion as a lawyer, and his career upon the bench was a distinguished one. He was regarded as a jurist of unusual ability. He was reelected in 1865, and remained upon the bench until his death, which occurred September 12, 1872. He was a man of distinguished appearance and manner. His speech was deliberate and in tones that would be sure to impress those who heard him. He spoke and wrote like a culti- vated student whose models had been the best and purest writers. In the case of The People v. Henrietta Rob- inson, "the Veiled Murderess" (i Parker's Cr. Rep. 649), in 1855, he assisted the district at- torney, and his services during the trial, and his speech in summing-up, which was one of great power and eloquence, were considered to have largely contributed to the conviction of the ac- cused. He married Miss Rivington, a granddaugh- ter of the well-known James Rivington, who founded the New York Gazetteer in 1773, and was known as " The King's Printer." A son, John C. Hogeboom, is now living in Hudson. JOHN VAN BUREN JOHN VAN BUREN was born at Hudson, J February i8, 1810, in the brick house on Academy Hill adjoining the Hospital and op- posite the McKinstry place. His father moved with his family to Albany in 1816, where Mrs. Van Buren died in 1819, leaving four sons. Their education was carefully looked after by their father, and they grew up in a home that was filled with law and politics and frequented by some of the most influential and distinguished men of the time. After John graduated from Yale College in 1828, he commenced his legal studies in the office of Benjamin F. Butler, who had been his father's partner, and was at that time engaged in the revision of the statutes. Young Van Buren was given some of the cler- ical work connected with the revision, and, thus at the very outset of his studies, had an oppor- tunity to lay a sound and sure foundation for his legal attainments, and to acquire most valuable habits of industry and earnest application. He completed his studies in the office of Aaron Van- JOHN \ \\ lll'kL JOHN VAN BUREN 185 derpoel, at Kinderhook, and was admitted to the bar in 1831. Martin Van Buren was about this time ap- pointed Minister to the Court of St. James, and took his son John with him as secretary of the legation. They arrived in England in Septem- ber and remained there about six months. Mr. \'an Buren's nomination having been rejected by the Senate, they returned home. John im- mediately entered upon the practice of his pro- fession, opening an office in Albany, having for a partner James McKown. He possessed a re- markable memory, was ready in debate, and a diligent student. His success at the bar was great, but his fame as a lawyer has been dimmed by his wit and his wonderful ability as a poli- tician. He had lived among politicians all his life, and his interest in politics developed early, and increased with his years. I remember read- ing some letters written by him, while a student at Yale, to his father, which were full of poli- tics and of advice to " the old man," as he af- fectionately called him, given with that temerity which characterizes youth. In 1845 he was nominated by the Barnburn- ers (Democrats) for the office of Attorney- General, and was elected by the Legislature. He especially distinguished himself in his offi- i86 JOHN VAN BUREN cial career. The manner in which he conducted the case of The People vs. Wilham Freeman, a negro, who had been indicted for the murder of an entire family in Cayuga county, in which a precedent as to medical jurisprudence was es- tablished and in which he discomfited his antag- onist, William H. Seward, who insisted on the prisoner's insanity, was masterly. Mr. Van Buren had prior to becoming At- torney General acted as counsel for some of the landlords against the anti-renters. Smith A. Boughton, who was known as Big Thunder, and was the leader of the anti-renters, was tried at Hudson before Judge Amasa J. Parker in March, 1845. ^J"- Van Buren, who was Attorney General, assisted Theodore Miller, who was the District Attorney of Columbia county, in the trial. The prisoner was repre- sented by Ambrose L. Jordan, who succeeded Mr. Van Buren as Attorney-General, who was assisted by James Storm, the father of our pres- ent County Clerk. In the words of a manu- script of Judge Miller's recently printed in the ^Register and Gazette: " The empanelling of the jury and the trial lasted two weeks, and resulted in a disagreement, after the jury had been out for a long time. It was stated that they stood ten for acquittal and two for conviction. A JOHN VAN BUREN 187 sufficient time evidently had not elapsed to bring out the truth and to identify the prisoner as the person who had led the band of armed and disguised men. Although the sheriff testi- fied with great positiveness that the prisoner was the man who had committed the offense, and was corroborated by other witnesses, • nu- merous witnesses were called on behalf of the defense who swore to facts tending to prove an alibi. It was evident from the subsequent his- tory of the affair and conviction of Boughton that these witnesses were influenced very much by their prejudices and sympathy for the ac- cused. There was also a strong sympathy aroused throughout the region of the country affected, in favor of the prisoner, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that this may imper- ceptibly have had its effect on the minds of some of the jurors who came from that section of the county, and were neighbors of some of the ten- ants." In the following September Big Thunder was again tried before Judge John W. Ed- monds. There had been much bickering be- tween counsel on the former trial, there being many things about the case to excite and exas- perate the counsel engaged. The second trial commenced on a Wednesday morning ; the acer- i88 JOHN VAN BUREN bity of feeling between the counsel being re- newed, the trial judge tried to restrain it, en- deavoring to keep them within the pale of respectful deference to the place they occupied. On Friday Mr. Jordan, while discussing the ad- missibility of some evidence offered by the At- torney-General, said : " The Attorney-General does not care for the condition of these men. He has not contended for right or justice, but to make an exhibition of himself, to pander to the miserable ambition which was the curse of his father. Though he had brains to temper his wild ambition in some degree, the son has none to temper his, and it breaks out everywhere in puerility and slush." Mr. Van Buren, after answering the legal objections with great calm- ness, said contemptuously: "The counsel op- posed has informed your honor the cause of my presence here. I shall not stoop to deny his coarse assertions, but allow me to add that it is quite out of place for a man who stands here in this court with the contributions of mur- der and arson in his pockets to criticize me for any cause whatever." Mr. Jordan turned upon Mr. Van Buren and said: " You lie." The lat- ter coolly pushed him aside with his elbow, whereupon Jordan hit him a blow upon the back of the head, which Mr. Van Buren returned, JOHN VAN BUREN 189 and they grappled each other in a furious strug- gle. Sheriff Waldo and his assistants rushed in and separated them. As soon as order was restored Judge Edmonds addressed them, re- ferring to their high standing as counsel, their desecration of the Temple of Justice, and in conclusion said : " Should I neglect to promptly punish you for the great wrong you have done, I should myself be unworthy to occupy the bench. The court regrets that it did not punish your first infraction of the rules of decency; but as that is passed, it will now, by a proper interposition of the strong arm of the law, in- flict such a punishment upon you as will pre- serve its dignity, and, we trust, prevent a recur- rence of the disgraceful scene we have just wit- nessed. The court, therefore, sentences both of you to solitary confinement in the county jail for twenty-four hours." Mr. Van Buren arose and with great dignity apologized, and in elo- quent and really touching words asked that the sentence might be modified by the imposition of a fine. This the court refused. An apology was made by Mr. Jordan to the court, and the District Attorney also requested the court to overlook the occurrence and impose a fine, all of which was refused, and the court adjoined until the next day. These two eminent lawyers 190 JOHN VAN BUREN were then removed by the officials. It is said that neither was confined in a cell, but that Van Buren was taken to the Sheriff's office and Jor- dan to his parlor. Mr. Van Buren, on the day after the affair, sent his resignation of the office of Attorney-General to the Governor, and Judge Edmonds, on learning of this fact, immediately wrote to the Governor that the Attorney-Gen- eral had done nothing derogatory to his char- acter as a gentleman, and was justified as a man of honor in resenting the gross insults he had received. The resignation was not ac- cepted. At the expiration of their imprison- ment the counsel returned to the court room, entering it as if nothing had happened, and pro- ceeded with the trial. This continued for four weeks and three days, the court sitting from 9 A.M. until lo P.M., with recess of an hour each day for dinner and tea, and resulted in the con- viction of Big Thunder and his sentence to prison for life. The friendship that existed be- tween Judge Edmonds and the Van Burens from the time he began his legal studies in the office of Van Buren & Miller, was undisturbed by this incident. It is stated that Mr. Jordan never forgave him. The constitution of 1846, which made the office of Attorney-General an elective one, legis- JOHN VAN BUREN 191 lated Mr. Van Buren out of office. In 1847 ^^^ moved to New York and formed a partnership with Hamilton W. Robinson. He was employed in many cases as counsel. The suit for divorce by Edwin Forrest, the actor, brought him very prominently before the public. It was largely exploited in the newspapers, and public sym- pathy was aroused against Forrest, on account of the prominence of one of the co-respondents, and for the reason that he was suspected of hav- ing incited the riot in Astor Place for the pur- pose of injuring his rival, the actor Macready. Forrest's behavior at the trial, which was very protracted, was offensively theatrical. Mr. Van Buren found himself pitted against Charles O'Conor, the leader of the New York bar, and, although his client was beaten, he conducted the case with such brilliant ability that for him it was really a triumph. As soon as the decision was announced Mr. Van Buren arose and, in an address to the jury, informed them that all that remained to be done was to fix the allow- ance to be granted to the divorced wife, and with a merry twinkle of the eye, stated that under the English authorities they would be justified in fixing the allowance at any sum be- tween a farthing and sixpence. He disliked detail and, though often impor- 192 JOHN VAN BUREN tuned to run for office, refused. As has been well said of him : " He had lived too near the seats of power to look to them with much rev- erence, or to seek them by toilsome and tedious steps. . . . Neither in his profession nor in his politics did he seek much more than the tri- umph of the hour, and having in his hand the opportunities of place and distinction, in the prodigaHty of his nature, he tossed them aside. .... He had learned in the school in which his political education was formed to respect integrity and not to tolerate falsehood or to hold terms with treason." His education, his talents, and his taste fitted him for public life, and his party was glad to avail itself of the services of an intrepid leader and a brilliant orator. The Democrats were divided upon the question of slavery, Calhoun had pursued Martin Van Buren with relentless persecution, and the ceaseless efforts of the South to extend slavery into the new States and Territories had brought about the Free Soil movement. Into the campaign of 1848 John Van Buren threw himself with enthusi- asm. His numerous speeches were character- ized by eloquence, vigor, spirit, and an ances- tral pride and filial devotion that called forth the admiration of all. They were listened to with JOHN VAN BUREN 193 almost breathless interest. He was quick to catch the temper of the meetings he addressed and to captivate the attention of his hearers and keep up a growing interest. His wit seemed to come from an inexhaustible source; it was abundant, sparkling, inimitable, and never low. His satire was keen and caustic and sparingly- used; his intonation perfect, and his manner simple and easy. In a speech delivered in Hud- son during the campaign of 1848, in which his father was the Free Soil candidate for Presi- dent, he told his hearers that people had remon- strated with him for his activity, and seemed to think that he was exerting himself more than seemed wise, but that as he was driving down from Kinderhoook that afternoon, near Stock- port, an incident took place which he would re- late in justification of his extraordinary activ- ity. He came upon a boy of about twelve years who was frantically endeavoring to right an overturned load of hay. His efforts were so strenuous, and he seemed to be exerting himself so far beyond his strength, that Mr. Van Buren remonstrated, and asked him why he did not take things a little easier, whereupon the lad re- plied : " Why, mister, dad 's under there." Mr. Van Buren was a man of unusually at- tractive and distinguished appearance. He was 194 JOHN VAN BUREN tall, had a slight stoop, his head was rather small for his height, but was most perfectly shaped, his features were clear-cut and finely modeled, and his complexion was fair with much color, his eyes were blue, the lids slightly drooped, his voice was especially agreeable, and his manner most engaging. He was kind and amiable to all, and steadfast and loyal in his friendships. His love for children was unusu- ally strong. These attractions combined with his wit and cheerful temperament made him a great favorite with all. He was called " Prince John," from the fact of his having danced with the Princess Victoria while in England in 1838. It was a fitting name, for no man was ever more what a prince should be than John Van Buren, and we Americans were proud of his patrician characteristics, for he was heart and soul a simple, honest American. In 1838 Mr. Van Buren went to England and Ireland on professional business, and was re- ceived with the most marked attentions. The English and Irish papers were filled with items about him, detailing his doings and speaking of him in the most complimentary terms. In Ire- land the freedom of cities was tendered to him, and the enthusiasm of his reception was bound- less. After an absence of about six months he JOHN VAN BUREN 19^ returned to this country quite unspoiled by the attentions lavished upon him, and leaving hosts of friends on the other side. In 1 84 1 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Judge James Vanderpoel of Albany, formerly of Kinderhook. Mrs. Van Buren died Novem- ber 19, 1844, leaving a daughter, who is Mrs. Edward Duer and resides in New York. He did not marry again. After the death of his father, in 1862, he purchased from the other heirs their interest in Lindenwald, intending to reside there. His numerous professional en- gagements, which required frequent absences from home, and the rather secluded life imposed upon his daughter, induced him to part with it, and relinquish associations that he seems to have cherished. In the spring of 1866 Mr. Van Buren, not having been in good health, and in the hope of being benefited, sailed for Europe, accom- panied by his daughter and a niece, a daughter of Mr. Smith T. Van Buren, who afterwards married Dr. Stuyvesant F. Morris of the city of New York. They traveled extensively in England, Sweden, Norway, and Russia, and were entertained in a most lavish manner by the people of distinction in the countries they visited. Mr. Van Buren's health had greatly 196 JOHN VAN BUREN improved, but just before sailing for home he caught a cold, which proved to be very severe, and, on the steamer Scotia, developed into a serious affection of the kidneys, which grew worse as the voyage progressed, and finally, when within two days of land, ended in his death. The evening before he died, the disease having caused his mind to wander, propped up in his berth, between his daughter and his niece, he spoke for two hours and a quarter upon na- tional and political affairs with an eloquence, it was said, even he had never before attained to. Almost immediately after he passed away a terrific storm arose, and the sailors, moved by their superstition, insisted that his body should be cast into the sea. This the captain refused to do, and a double watch was set to guard the boat in which the remains had been placed. On arriving at New York the funeral took place at Grace church, and there was another service at St. Peter's church in Albany. His grave is in the Albany Rural Cemetery. He was president of the St. Nicholas Society of New York, and of the Manhattan Club, and there is in the house occupied by the club a por- trait of him, which is valued as a striking like- ness of one of the ablest, best, and most attrac- tive men this country has produced. Ill I I nil iK 1. \i 1 i.i,i;k THEODORE MILLER THEODORE MILLER was born in Hud- son, New York, on May i6, 1816. His an- cestors had fled from France in the latter part of the sixteenth century, to escape rehgious per- secution, and settled at Nykirk, in the province of Gelderland, Holland, and were then called De Muldor. They came to this country prior to 1650 with the Van Rensselaers, and lived at Albany, where they seem to have been people of considerable wealth and position, the spon- sors at the baptisms of their children, as shown by the old church records, being members of the Van Rensselaer, Ten Broeck, Van Brugge, Van Esch, and Schuyler families. In 1718 Cornelis Stephanis Muldor, who was the son of Stepha- nis, and the great-great-great-grandfather of Theodore Miller, purchased of Hendrick Van Rensselaer a tract of land about a mile square in the town of Claverack, and subsequently removed there with his eleven children. The name of the family has passed through various changes, from Muldor, Mulder, Mullor, Muller, to Miller. 197 198 THEODORE MILLER The grandfather of Theodore Miller, Ste- phen Miller, was a merchant, and accumulated a large fortune. He was very liberal in the education of his family, and lived in the house in Claverack, opposite what was known as the Van Rensselaer outpost, which he built about 1780. At one side of it is a building which was his store. The property is now owned, and the house occupied by his great-grandson, Jacob Southard Van Wyck, as a summer residence. Stephen Miller was a man of wide influence and deeply interested in politics, being always a loyal member of the party that is now known as the Democratic. In 1804 he was a Presiden- tial elector, and cast his vote for Thomas Jef- ferson. Cornelius Miller, the father of Theodore, graduated at Columbia College in 1806. He studied law, completing his studies under Peter Van Schaack at Kinderhook. He was a man of intellect, literary tastes, great tact, engaging manners, and possessed fine oratorical powers. Shortly after his admission to the bar he mar- ried, Beulah, a daughter of John Hathaway, Esq., who was of English Puritan extraction and had settled in Hudson about 1790. He was a shipping merchant, and having amassed a for- tune, retired from business. In 1809 Martin THEODORE MILLER 199 Van Buren moved from Kinderhook to Hudson and formed a partnership with Cornehus Miller, which continued until the death of the latter in 1S22, although Mr. Van Buren had moved to Albany in 1816. Mr. Miller took an active part in politics, and was conspicuous for his ability as a lawyer, and what promised to be a brilliant career was cut off by his death in 1822, when his son Theodore was only six years old. The latter was a boy of studious habits, and had, at a very early age, chosen the law as his profession, and, with foresight that was un- usual, he read books and pursued studies that developed his mind in that direction. The ear- nestness and enthusiasm with which he stored his mind are shown by the many books of notes made by him on the volumes he perused, and the long journals kept by him, in which, from time to time, he carefully considered the prog- ress he was making. Although fond of study and intellectual pur- suits, he had a boy's enthusiasm for sports, and delighted in the firm friendships he formed. One of these, which continued through many years, was with a schoolmate, Henry Wager, who, in the course of time, after being at board- ing-school and at college, entered West Point under his real name, Henry Wager Hallock, 200 THEODORE MILLER and finally became the Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States. The letters re- ceived by young Miller from his friend are most interesting, and tell the story of the beginning of a distinguished and brilliant career. They are full of politics, and breathe an intense spirit, which, from the standpoint of the present in regard to political questions, seems almost ab- surd. Theodore Miller was educated at the Hudson Academy, and at the age of sixteen was pre- pared to enter college. He walked out to Clav- erack, four miles, to consult his grandfather, who was his guardian and held the purse- strings, about entering college; but his plead- ings were in vain. The old gentleman had with advancing years developed an inclination to be stingy, a trait not infrequent among elderly descendants of the Holland Dutchmen, even with those who had in early life been most lib- eral. The boy spent a sad and sleepless night, but on his return home the next morning, with characteristic courage and energy, began to make arrangements which resulted in his al- most immediately entering as a student the ofifice of Campbell Bushnell, at that time one of the leading lawyers of Hudson. He devoted himself to his studies with enthusiasm and in- THEODORE MILLER 201 dustry, and when admitted to the bar he found himself well grounded in the principles of the law and well equipped for its practice. His professional life was characterized by- great activity from the outset. He had estab- lished such an excellent reputation, and so fully possessed the confidence of his family and friends, that, unlike most young lawyers, he was not obliged to live on the hopes of future retainers. John Hathaway, his maternal grand- father, had died, leaving a large amount of real estate, both improved and unimproved, in the city of Hudson, and in taking charge of this property Theodore Miller laid a foundation for a familiarity with and comprehension of mu- nicipal law which, afterwards, when as a Judge of the Court of Appeals he was called upon to pass on many cases in which such questions were involved, caused some of the most distin- guished lawyers in the State to pronounce him to be one of the ablest and soundest authorities upon that subject. He considered society as secondary to other things, and could never appreciate the ambition some people manifested for a high position in the world of fashion. No one enjoyed more than he the companionship of those who were dear to him, and of his friends, and there were 202 THEODORE MILLER few men who were more staunch in friendship, or whose friendships were more lasting. From an early age he had taken great interest in politics, and while a boy had participated in various political campaigns. As soon as he was admitted to the bar his political activities in- creased, and he quickly became an acknowledged leader of his party in his county, and was widely known as an able, eloquent and con- vincing speaker. He was a Democrat of the Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson school, and a loyal follower of Martin Van Buren, with whose friendship he was honored from his ear- liest years. His faith in the principles of his party was steadfast, his opposition to the ex- tension of slavery continuous, and during the dark days of the Civil War, when the Northern Democrats, without whose patriotism the Union could not have been preserved, were subjected to numberless petty persecutions from the party in power, his loyalty to his country was un- wavering. His was the first voice at a public meeting in Columbia, his native county, which, when the Civil War broke out, sounded forth the true spirit of faith in and loyalty to the government, and which called upon his neigh- bors to stand by and defend the Union. As a politician he accomplished much in reconciling differences among the members of THEODORE MILLER 203 his party, and was always ready to meet his poHtical opponents with boldness and enthusi- asm. Defeat might dampen his ardor, but he was never discouraged. His participation in politics continued until his elevation to the bench in 1861, but to the end of his days ques- tions of a political character awakened the same keen interest, and the extension and prevalence of the principles in which he believed gave him most unqualified satisfaction. The period during which he participated in politics differed much from the present both in men and measures. The politicians were in most cases persons of education, achievements and responsibilities; the issues were of a char- acter that aroused unbounded interest and en- thusiasm, and the industries of the country, corporate and individual, had not grown to suf- ficient magnitude to influence the politicians or control the elections. Wise words were wel- comed, and sound advice followed. The voters seemed more influenced by their reason and their humanity than carried away, as they fre- quently now are, by some showy individual or glittering prospect of what appears to be per- sonal or national aggrandizement. People thought less of filling their pockets and more of maintaining their principles. In 1843 ^^- Miller was appointed, by the 204 THEODORE MILLER Court of Common Pleas, District Attorney for Columbia county. In a few months after he had entered upon the duties of that office he found himself placed in a position which called into action his best abilities as a lawyer, and tested to a great degree his courage, energy, and fidelity as a man. The Anti-rent War broke out, and the whole county was thrown into a state of disorder. Threats were made to burn the city of Hudson, to release persons who had been arrested and thrown into prison, and to break into and steal the papers of the Livingstons, who were the landlords affected by the rebellion, from the law office in which they had been deposited. The District At- torney was quite ready for the emergency, and as soon as information was brought to him of a riotous meeting which had ended in mur- der, he sent for the sheriff, and drove at once to the scene of the tragedy, where they, in the face of a large number of people, who threat- ened them with injury and death, arrested the two ring-leaders. Big Thunder and Little Thun- der, as they were called, and brought them to the jail in Hudson. On their trial, at which Mr. Miller, the District Attorney, was assisted by John Van Buren, the Attorney-General, he developed and exhibited abilities which, upon THEODORE MILLER 205 his retiring from office, brought him a large cH- entage, among whom were many of those who had taken an active part in the rebelHon which he had with so much energy assisted in stamp- ing out. After his term as District Attorney expired, he was engaged for many years in a practice which required most constant attention and un- tiring industry. He loved his profession, and devoted himself to it enthusiastically. He was frequently asked to accept public office, but steadfastly adhered to a resolution he had formed to accept no office except one in the line of his profession. His constant appearance be- fore the courts and his active participation in politics, and the practice, which seemed to have existed in his family for several generations, of not limiting his associations exclusively to the community in which he resided, had made him widely known. In i860 he was sent as a dele- gate to the National Convention at Charleston, the Northern members of which adjourned to Baltimore and nominated Stephen A. Douglas for President. In 1861 Mr. Miller was nominated by the Democrats of the Third Judicial District for the office of Justice of the Supreme Court. His fitness for this office was recognized by the peo- 2o6 THEODORE MILLER pie who ratified his nomination at the polls, al- though his opponent was a man of distinguished ability and character. Columbia county had, the year before, given the Republican ticket a majority of over one thousand, but gave Theo- dore Miller a majority of twenty-five hundred, and in the city of Hudson, where he resided, and where about twelve hundred votes were polled, he received a majority of over eight hun- dred. This, it must be remembered, was at a time when the bitterest partisan prejudice pre- vailed, and party lines were drawn with the utmost strictness. He distinguished himself as a judge, and in 1869, when his term expired, he was again nominated and elected without opposition. In 1870, upon the reorganization of the courts under the amendment to the constitution, he was appointed Presiding Justice of the Gen- eral Term of the Third Judicial Department, which embraced twenty-eight counties. This promotion was followed by his election in 1874 as an Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals, to fill the first vacancy which had occurred in that court since its reorganization in 1870, which was occasioned by the death of the able and lamented Rufus W. Peckham, Senior. In this new field of duty Judge Miller found him- THEODORE MILLER 207 self associated with Sanford E. Church, who was Chief Judge, Martin Grover, WilHam F. Allen, Charles J. Folger, Charles A. Rapallo, and Charles Andrews. Here tasks confronted him which required incessant industry and zeal, and he was surrounded by associates whose abilities and experience demanded of him his best efforts. His many years of active practice, his wide experience at the bar, at Circuit, and at General Term, above all his habits of in- dustry and patient research, were of the great- est service, and enabled him to achieve distin- guished success as a jurist. The record of his judicial work will be found scattered through eighty volumes of the Supreme Court and fifty- four volumes of the New York Court of Ap- peals reports. Having, on May 16, 1886, at- tained the age of seventy, he was retired under the limitation as to age fixed by the constitution on December 31 of that year. He was suc- ceeded in the Court of Appeals by Hon. Rufus W. Peckham, who is now a Judge of the Su- preme Court of the United States, and was a son of Judge Rufus W. Peckham, whom Judge Miller succeeded in office. Judge Miller possessed unusual ability in passing upon questions arising in cases involv- ing the construction of wills, and opinions of 2o8 THEODORE MILLER his have settled the law as it now stands on some points. During the last two years of his judicial ser- vice he was called upon to meet a trouble which demanded the exercise of patience and heroic endurance. His eyes, which had served him so well in the past, began to trouble him and his sight to fail. He would not yield, but by in- creasing his working hours, and with the as- sistance of a stenographer, he continued to per- form his official duties, and, although almost wholly deprived of sight, he was able to do his full portion of work, and, as some of his brother judges and distinguished lawyers have declared, accomplished during this period some of the best work of his life. After his retirement he spent most of his time at his old home in Hudson, and there, amidst surroundings to which he had always been ac- customed, he lived a quiet, dignified life, occu- pying himself with his correspondence, the management of his property, and in keeping well informed as to the affairs of the day. He had before him the certainty that his sight, which was gradually growing more dim, would eventually quite fade away, and when the blind- ness which darkened the last three years of his life came, although the affliction seemed one THEODORE MILLER 2og almost too hard to bear, he still retained his former cheerfulness, energy, and activity, and, almost to the end, August i8, 1895, he enjoyed his life, his mind being clear and active, al- though his sight was gone and his body en- feebled by the w^eight of years. He died of no particular disease — the machinery had worn out. He well fulfilled his duties in whatever sphere he was, whether in his home, among his friends, or in the public walks of life. He married a daughter of Peyton N. Farrell, Esq., who was a retired merchant and resided in the town of Greenport in Columbia county. His widow, a son and a daughter survive him. u AARON J. VANDERPOEL AARON J. VANDERPOEL'S father was a l\. brother of James and Aaron Vanderpoel, and a physician of skill and wide reputation, and actively interested in politics. He was most liberal in the education of his sons. Samuel O., the eldest, after graduating at the University of New York, studied medicine with his father at Valatie, and graduated at the Jefferson Med- ical College in Philadelphia. He was after- wards sent to Paris to pursue his medical stud- ies, and remained three years. He became a distinguished physician and practiced in Al- bany, was twice Surgeon General of the State, the last time in 1861. He was appointed Health Officer of the Port of New York in 1872, which office he held for many years, and at the expira- tion of his last term he removed to New York, where he subsequently died, having accumu- lated a large fortune. Aaron J., the subject of this sketch, received his education at the Academy in Kinderhook and the University of the City of New York, WF ^. ^^Pw^ 1 IHSli^Hr^ Al^^ \ \ Kn\ J, \ ,\\ I )i-;Kri ii;i. AARON J. VANDERPOEL 211 graduating in 1843. He studied law in the office of Tobey & Reynolds in Kinderhook, and in the office of William Curtis Noyes in New York. On being admitted to the bar, he passed so brilliant an examination that a most success- ful career was predicted for him. He was a short time a partner of J. Bryce Smith, and then became a member of the celebrated firm of Brown, Hall & Vanderpoel. His success as a lawyer was preeminent, his great strength, mental and physical, enabling him to accomplish an almost incredible amount of work. His memory was wonderfully accurate, and he had a wide experience, especially in corporation law. He was employed in numerous cases of the first importance, and received many large fees. His arguments before the Court of Appeals were for several years more numerous than those of any other lawyer in the State. He was a consis- tent Democrat, and a firm Unionist, and during the Civil War was frequently summoned to Washington by President Lincoln, who often consulted him. He was one of President John- son's private counsel during his trial for im- peachment. The degree of LL.D. was con- ferred upon him by the University of New York in 1880. Mr. Vanderpoel was enthusiastic about the 212 AARON J. VANDERPOEL Holland Dutch, and his native town, the country round about, the village of Kinderhook and its people, all had a high place in his affections. After the death of Dr. Beekman he purchased the latter's beautiful home, the old Van Schaack house in Kinderhook, and used it until his death as a summer residence. His widow still lives there during the summer months. Mr. Vanderpoel was a man of simple tastes and most generous impulses. The assistance and encouragement he gave his friends cannot be measured. He manifested a peculiar affection and loyalty towards them, and possessed the power of discerning just when and how he could most benefit them; they were apparently never out of his mind, and he naturally was beloved by those whom he honored with his friendship. One seldom finds combined in one person such a noble nature and mental gifts of so high an order. During the last summer of his life he went to Europe and traveled in his beloved Holland and elsewhere. To a very close friend, whose health was broken, he wrote with frequency, and by almost every steamer came newspapers from the places he visited, which, after his sudden death in Paris, for a time continued to come— bring- ing profound sadness to one who felt he had AARON J. VANDERPOEL 213 lost his best and truest friend, in whom he had found united all one could ask for in a friend. Truly Aaron J. Vanderpoel was a man his fam- ily may revere as the noblest of his race, and his native county may point to with pride. He died August 20, 1887. THE ANTI-RENT WAR^ BY THEODORE MILLER COLUMBIA COUNTY has been signally distinguished in the history of the State of New York from an early period, for disturb- ances by reason of manorial tenures of agricul- tural lands, held under grants from the Crown of Great Britain, and the Governors of the Col- ony of New York. As early as 1750 a series of violent and un- lawful proceedings was commenced and con- tinued for many years on the Eastern border of the State, which have been considered to some extent as originating from the dispute which arose as to the boundary-line between New York and Massachusetts ; it is by no means clear but that this was unlawful conduct of the occupants of land, who desired to relieve themselves from the payment of yearly rent to those claiming patents embracing the lands 1 This paper was prepared by Judge Miller after he had retired from the bench and had lost all use of his eyes. 214 THE ANTI-RENT WAR 215 where the disturbances existed, which, it was asserted, had been obtained by fraud. These outbreaks continued for many years, and in the conflicts between the belHgerents a num- ber of persons were killed, and at times the military was called out, and several proclama- tions were issued by the Governor of New York in regard to the outrages that had been com- mitted. For a time comparative quiet reigned. After the Revolution the disturbances again broke out with armed resistance to the law, and culminated in the shooting of the Sheriff of the County,^ who was killed while engaged in the discharge of his official duty on the 22d of October, 1 791, in a locality called Nobletown, in the Town of Hillsdale. The proprietors of these grants at an early day entered into contracts with the tenants of the land for leases of the same^ containing cove- nants and conditions by which the latter bound themselves to perform certain services, and to deliver to the landlords products of the soil in payment for the use of the land, annually, at specified times and places. In the Van Rensselaer patent, so called, which covered several towns lying east and north of 1 Cornelius Hogeboom, the grandfather of Hon. Henry Hogeboom. 2i6 THE ANTI-RENT WAR the City of Hudson, the grants were in perpe- tuity. Most of the lands in this patent had been disposed of by the landlords and were held by absolute owners, a very small portion remaining under the old leases, and as to these, there were no disturbances or unlawful interference within its precincts. The Livingston grant, which adjoined the Van Rensselaer patent on the south, was made in 1684 and 1685, and was patented as a manor in 1686. It extended several miles along the Hud- son River and easterly to the Massachusetts line, and contained one hundred and sixty thou- sand two hundred and forty acres. In 1710, Robert Livingston, in consideration of 266 pounds sterling, conveyed to Queen Anne six thousand acres of this land, which included the Town of Germantown, for the occupancy of the German Palatines. In the Livingston patent the leases were for one or more lives, as might be agreed upon, they were somewhat in the na- ture of feudal tenures, and required the delivery, by way of rent, of a certain number of bushels of wheat at the mill or place designated by the landlord, a certain number of fowls, and the performance of a specified number of days rid- ing by the tenant. They reserved all streams and mines, restricted the right to cut wood, and THE ANTI-RENT WAR 217 contained a provision for a payment to the land- lord, in case of any sale, of one quarter or one tenth of the amount of the consideration money paid. The restricted covenants and conditions in the leases were regarded by many as oner- ous and calculated to prevent a full enjoy- ment of the land and of the improvements made by the tenant. In case of the dying out of a life or lives named, the whole estate became for- feited to the landlord, and, as a consequence, improvements on the farms in the Livingston manor were not as extensive as they would have been if the land had been held in fee. In fact, the difference between the appearance of the country where the title to the land was held under a leasehold tenure containing the objectionable covenants referred to, or where the lands were held in fee, was very manifest. In the former, tenements and buildings were cheaply con- structed, and the cultivator of the soil evidently had in view that by the possible death of the life or lives on which the leases depended he might suddenly be deprived of all his interests in the land, compelled to purchase the same or to seek a home in a different locality. In the latter, the buildings were constructed in the most approved manner, the land cultivated with 2i8 THE ANTI-RENT WAR great care and attention, the most recent inven- tions and improvements used, and the greatest thrift and prosperity shown. No finer country exists in the State than can be found in the hills and valleys w^hich consti- tute the great bulk of the farming lands of Co- lumbia county. With the Berkshire Hills and the Taconic ranges of mountains on the east, the noble Catskills on the west, and on the north, in the dim distance, the Green mountains of Vermont and the White Hills of New Hamp- shire, the scenery in this region of country is grand, beautiful, and impressive, and almost be- yond the power of language to describe. An area of country is presented to the eye consisting of a great variety of soil and views unsurpassed by any other in the same altitude within the vast limits of the United States. The farmers are remarkably thrifty and prosperous, living in good style, possessed of most of the comforts and luxuries of life, and many of them have paid for their farms and are quite wealthy and have money invested at interest. There was, fifty years ago, a striking contrast between the lands belonging absolutely to the owners in fee and the tillers of the soil who occupied and cultivated leased lands. The sale of the latter by the proprietors, to a very large extent, THE ANTI-RENT WAR 219 has done its work, and with the progress of time has changed the leasehold tenures, which in some of the towns constituted as valuable real estate as any which existed within the county, and now present an entirely different aspect. In the fall of 1844, immediately after an exciting Presidential election, when the agricul- tural population of this region had quietly set- tled down to the enjoyment of a bountiful har- vest as a reward of their labors, and there was nothing to disturb the even tenor of their lives ; when peace and contentment prevailed in al- most every household, and no opposing elements seemed to exist to interfere with the prosperity and happiness of the inhabitants, whispers of discontent, coming from organizations at a dis- tance formed to resist the payment of rent and the tenure by which the land was held under similar patents in other counties, began to be heard. Through emissaries holding meetings in different localities, at which the rights of the tenants were presented and discussed with strong appeals to their interest, they were ad- vised to take matters in their own hands and by forcible and unlawful means to redress the wrongs which it was claimed existed under the leasehold tenures. Some, if not all, of these speeches, being of the most inflammatory char- 220 THE ANTI-RENT WAR acter, appealing directly to the passions and prejudices of the tenants, could scarcely fail to arouse them to a deep sense of wrong and in- justice, and create a great degree of excite- ment and bad feeling. They fanned a flame which, having been lighted, spread through- out the anti-rent district, so called, with great rapidity, and kindled a spirit of resistance in the hearts of many of those who held under the objectionable leasehold titles. Quiet far- mers and peaceable citizens were converted into arde^nt advocates of the pernicious doctrine which had been inculcated and spread abroad, and considered themselves oppressed beyond endurance by the covenants and conditions which the tenures under which they held their titles imposed upon them, and were ready and willing to stand up in defence of their sup- posed rights, even to the extent of using force and preventing the execution of the process of the law. The titles to the land and the right to collect rent by the land- lord were most zealously disputed, and a resort to violence was justified by the supporters of anti-rent theories. Secret organizations were formed by the tenants in different localities to contest the rights of the landlords by unlawful resistance to the officers of the law in the exe- THE ANTI-RENT WAR 221 cution of legal process. Bands of men armed and disguised and masked, called " calico Indi- ans,'' were formed for the purposes in view, which were understood and openly avowed. A feeling of apprehension and alarm began to prevail in regard to the combinations and con- spiracies thus formed to trample upon the law and disregard the rights of individuals estab- lished by contract and sustained by judicial authority. The sheriff of Columbia county, Henry C. ]\Iiller, had in his possession processes to serve, among which was a warrant of distress for rent against a tenant in the Livingston Manor in the town of Copake, and had advertised the property for sale according to law. On the 1 2th day of December, 1844, he proceeded to the village of Copake Flats for the pur- pose of selling the property levied upon, and on his arrival he found a large concourse of people, some one or two thousand, assembled together, and among them were some three hundred with masks on their faces, disguised by calico dresses in imitation of Indians, many of them carrying in their hands deadly weapons. They were noisy and disposed to be riotous and disorderly, and evinced a determination to resist this high officer of the law and prevent the exe- 222 THE ANTI-RENT WAR cution of his process. He sought to allay their excitement, advising them that their conduct was unlawful, and they would be rendered amenable to prosecution and punishment if they carried out their purposes. His remonstrances were of no avail, and the disguised men formed into a procession, marched and countermarched under their leaders. Smith A. Boughton and Mortimer C. Belden, who were called respec- tively Big Thunder and Little Thunder, and finally surrounded the sheriff. After some re- marks. Big Thunder demanded that he deliver up to him the papers which he had in his hands to execute. This he refused to do, insisting upon his right to sell the property, and declaring that he would carry out his intention to do so. The demand was again repeated, guns and pis- tols were raised and pointed at him, and he was threatened with violence and death in case of his refusal to comply with the demand of the lawless men who surrounded him; and finally the papers were forcibly taken from him. Another speech was then made by Big Thun- der, the leader, and the papers were burned and destroyed in the presence of the sheriff, the In- dians at the time singing anti-rent songs and assuming the most threatening attitudes, and showing a determination to injure the officer of THE ANTI-RENT WAR 223 the law whom they had taken in custody. He was released and forced to depart with his process unexecuted and destroyed, and return home. The strange and unlawful proceedings soon became generally known, and presented the question whether the laws of the land could be enforced and those engaged in their viola- tion punished and brought to justice for the high crime they had committed. The per- petrators being in disguise, with their faces masked, it was difficult to identify them at the time, and until events, as is usually the case when crime has been committed, should de- velop evidence of their guilt. This period was not far distant, for soon afterwards, on the 1 8th day of December, 1844, another assem- blage met at a place called Smoky Hollow, in the town of Claverack, about six miles di- rectly east of the city of Hudson, consisting of armed and disguised men, under apparently the same leaders, who engaged in marching and countermarching, firing of guns and pistols, and other noisy demonstrations in imitation of In- dians, in the midst of which a young man by the name of Ryfenburg was accidentally shot and killed. This created dismay and terror among the assembled crowd, and they soon dis- 224 THE ANTI-RENT WAR persed and left for their homes. The news reached the authorities at Hudson about three o'clock in the afternoon. It was communicated i to the District Attorney, Theodore Miller, who immediately sent for the sheriff, and upon con- sultation with one of the most prominent citi- zens and distinguished lawyers in the county, Joseph D. Monell, Esq., it was determined that immediate action should be taken to inquire into the matter, and these gentlemen, having sent for a carriage, drove to the place where the tragedy occurred. While proceeding, they met on the road one of the sheriff's deputies and another person in a wagon, who had a short time previously left the place where the Indians held their meeting, and where the man already named was shot and killed, and learned from them the particulars re- lating to the transaction. At the request of the sheriff these persons turned about and accompa- nied him and his party on their way to Smoky Hollow. Upon their arrival there, they found the multitude that had previously assembled had dispersed and only a few stragglers remained on the ground. Having left the carriages, the sheriff and those with him proceeded to the hotel close at hand, and there learned that some of the Indians, consisting of their leaders, were THE ANTI-RENT WAR 225 in a large room in the house used for pubHc and other assemblages. They entered this room, and the sheriff immediately recognized one of them as Big Thunder, the leader of the dis- guised men who had surrounded him and forci- bly taken and burned his papers at the Copake meeting. With him was a man called Little Thunder, and also a third person, who was evi- dently associated with them, and their weapons, swords, pistols, and disguises were close at hand. The sheriff arrested these persons, who immediately attempted to escape; he pursued them out of the house, across some swampy land one or two hundred yards, when they were seized by the sheriff and his associates, one of the prisoners having at the time a pistol which he threatened to fire at his pursuers. After the announcement of the sheriff that they must go with him to Hudson, they finally sur- rendered. Big and Little Thunder, with their accoutre- ments, were taken to the carriage in which the District Attorney and sheriff came, and the other to the wagon of the deputy. They were driven to Hudson and the prisoners lodged in the county jail. The sheriff and his party were at the time in a neighborhood where there had recently been a large assemblage of 15 226 THE ANTI-RENT WAR armed, disguised, and masked men and their sympathizers, who had evinced a recklessness which caused the death of one of those present, and some of whorti were still lingering in the vicinity and perhaps at a moment's call might be ready to defend their leader and rescue him from the clutches of the law. The movements were, however, so rapid that no time was given to notify those who sympathized with the pris- oners. The arrests were made with great skill, and displayed a courage and tact worthy of the occasion. The incarceration of the prisoners at so early a period after the commencement of their illegal gatherings was quite unexpected, and caused great excitement and dismay among their friends and sympathizers. The anti-renters were not, however, to be turned from their purpose by a temporary in- terference with the object in view, and with re- newed zeal they rallied and sought to avert the effects of the fatal blow which their cause had received by the arrest and imprisonment of their leaders. The war had thus begun between the authorities and the guilty violators of the law, and the issue arose whether open violence, riot- ous conduct, and lawlessness could succeed in preventing the enforcement of legal rights. The malcontents threatened to rescue the prisoners THE ANTI-RENT WAR 227 from the custody of the law, and evidence subse- quently given showed that a plan was in contem- plation to concentrate a large body of anti-rent- ers from the vicinity and adjoining counties, having in view the discharge of the prisoners from jail. The whole community was alarmed at the gloomy state of affairs, and an armed body of men was organized to protect the jail from a contemplated attack. Citizen soldiers with muskets, under military commanders, par- aded the streets of Hudson, the county seat, and there was a general feeling of apprehension at the prospect in view. Under the direction of the State authorities, several companies of in- fantry from Albany and one company of cav- alry from New York came to Hudson to aid in the maintenance of the law, and very soon sev- eral hundred soldiers were encamped near by, to assist the officers in making arrests and in preserving peace, and the whole town wore the appearance of a military encampment. After a lapse of several weeks a military or- ganization of one hundred men was formed, under the command of a former officer of the United States army. These warlike prepara- tions continued most of the winter, and until all manifestations of danger had disappeared. It was not safe for the sheriff's officers to 228 THE ANTI-RENT WAR travel through the infected districts in the per- formance of their duty, and on two different occasions deputies had been fired at and wounded. The mihtary were employed to aid in making arrests, to guard the county jail, and in protecting the officers while engaged in the performance of their duties. The facts and the circumstances attending the rebellion against the law showed the necessity of such assistance. A large portion of the anti-rent region was sub- stantially in a state of insurrection, and a most hostile and bitter feeling prevailed towards all who opposed the anti-renters. In several coun- ties near at hand, numerous organizations ex- isted which threatened armed resistance to process issued for the collection of rent and in support of the title of the landlords. There were assemblages of these men, disguised, masked, and armed, and it was well understood that their feelings were warmly enlisted in be- half of their neighbors in Columbia county. In the county of Delaware, a deputy sherifif was shot and killed while executing a process against the anti-renters, the whole county was thrown into excitement and declared to be in a state of insurrection, and upon trial, two per- sons were convicted of murder and sentenced to be executed, although such sentence was after- THE ANTI-RENT WAR 229 wards commuted to imprisonment for life. Great disaffection generally prevailed among the tenants of manorial lands in localities where they existed, and much trouble was anticipated. This state of things was a subject of grave consideration and anxiety to the State authori- ties, and it was deemed essential that no lawful means should be spared to punish the offenders and bring to justice the perpetrators of crime. Silas Wright, the Governor of the State at that time, in his annual message had taken strong grounds in favor of sustaining the laws, while at the same time recommending certain mea- sures of relief; and it became a grave ques- tion whether law and order would prevail and the officers of the law be protected in the dis- charge of their duties. This serious aspect of affairs exercised a controlling influence over the action of the State and local authorities in Columbia county in the precautions taken, and in the strong measures adopted to protect the county jail and suppress the existing spirit of rebellion. The prisoners arrested, after an examina- tion, were committed to the county jail to await the action of the Grand Jury, and an act of the Legislature was passed authorizing the holding of a Special Court of Oyer and Ter- 230 THE ANTI-RENT WAR miner to take cognizance of the offences charged. This was convened, and indictments were found against Boughton and Belden for the robbery of the sheriff at Copake, and against a number of individuals for conspiracy to prevent the collection of rents, and also for the killing of Ryfenburg at Smoky Hollow. The prisoners were arraigned, and pleaded not guilty to the indictments against them, and the time being insufficient to prepare for the trial of the same at that court, they were ordered to be sent to the next Court of Oyer and Terminer, to be held in the month of March following, at which time Boughton was placed upon trial before Judge Amasa J. Parker for the crime of robbery in the first degree in forcibly taking from the sher- iff at Copake the legal process which he had in his hands to be executed. The Attorney General John Van Buren as- sisted the District Attorney Theodore Miller in the prosecution, and the prisoners were de- fended by Ambrose L. Jordan and James Storm. The empanelling of the jury and trial lasted two weeks, and resulted in a disagreement after the jury had been out for a long time. It was stated that they stood ten for acquittal and two for conviction. A sufficient time evidently had not elapsed to develop and bring out the truth. THE ANTI-RENT WAR 231 and to identify the prisoner Boughton as the person who had led the band of armed and dis- guised men who had surrounded the sheriff, and, by means of threats and violence, obtained from him the process which he was proceeding to execute. Although the sheriff testified, with great distinctness and positiveness, that the prisoner was the man who had committed the offence, and was corroborated by other wit- nesses, numerous persons were called on behalf of the defence who swore to facts tending to prove an alibi. It was very evident from the subsequent history of the affair, and the sub- sequent conviction of Boughton, that these wit- nesses were influenced very much by their prejudices and sympathy for the accused par- ties. It is charitable to conclude, at least, that they were laboring vmder a very great mistake. There was also a strong sympathy aroused throughout the region of country affected in favor of the prisoner; and it is not unreason- able to conclude that this may imperceptibly have had its effect on the minds of some of the jurors who came from that section of the county, and were neighbors of some of the ten- ants. It may also be remarked that in empan- elling the jury perhaps due attention was not given to that careful examination as to their 232 THE ANTI-RENT WAR impressions and prejudices, which is absolutely- essential when the public mind is excited and a wide difference of opinion exists upon questions of public interest, which lie at the very founda- tion of the crime committed. The counsel on both sides were content to allow some men on the jury who were apparently fair-minded and honest, without giving much attention to their surroundings, by which they might possibly be influenced and biased in considering the case. The failure of the prosecution to convict was disheartening, and created gloomy apprehen- sions as to the ability of the authorities to main- tain law and order. The disagreement of the jury, and so large a preponderance in favor of the prisoner, also gave encouragement to the offenders and their friends, and aroused hopes that another trial would result in a triumphant acquittal. The trial of the indictment was necessarily postponed until another court. In the meantime the authorities never faltered in the discharge of their duties; numerous arrests were made, and the District Attorney was vigi- lant and untiring in his efforts to develop the facts and bring out the evidence which would establish the guilt of those who had partici- pated in setting the laws of the land at defiance. As time rolled on the course of events revealed THE ANTI-RENT WAR 233 testimony of the greatest importance, and many who had stood aloof by reason of their sympa- thies were ready to take the stand as witnesses, and to testify to facts within their own knowledge which could not fail to fix the crime upon the guilty parties. Many also who had at the first outbreak allowed themselves to sympathize with the alleged grievances of the tenants, and to sanction quietly their bold defiance of the law, upon reflection, began to hesitate as to the pro- priety of the course they had pursued, and came to the conclusion that their duty as good citi- zens demanded their aid in bringing the offen- ders to justice. In the immediate vicinity of the Copake outrage a large meeting was held of intelligent and respectable farmers and others who at first were biased in favor of the anti- renters, which was addressed by two of the oldest and ablest lawyers in the county, Joseph D. Monell and Killian Miller, at which the whole subject was discussed, and all were con- vinced that redress of supposed grievances was not to be obtained by each man taking the law in his own hands and vindicating his own rights, and that it was the duty of every good citizen to uphold the law at all hazards. This assemblage had a most excellent effect in al- laying the spirit of discontent which had been 234 THE ANTI-RENT WAR awakened, and in restoring peace, order and good feeling among all. The next court was held in the month of Sep- tember by the Hon. John W. Edmonds, who had been recently appointed Circuit Judge by Governor Wright. He was a native of Hud- son, and, having resided there and been en- gaged in a large and extensive law practice for many years, until he removed to New York City about eight years previously, was well ac- quainted with the locality, and on terms of fa- miliar intercourse with many of the citizens of the county. He possessed a high order of abil- ity, and was well adapted to preside in cases of great magnitude and importance. Upon the case being brought on for trial, the Attorney- General of the State, the Hon. John Van Bu- ren, and Theodore Miller, the District Attorney, appeared for the prosecution, and Ambrose L. Jordan and James Storm, for the defence. Mr. Van Buren was at that time a young man of high standing at the bar, and of great prom- ise as one of the rising lawyers in the State. Mr. Jordan was considerably his senior, had practiced law in Otsego county, where he filled the office of District Attorney for some years, and afterwards removed to Hudson, where for many years he took a prominent stand, and, un- THE ANTI-RENT WAR 235 til his removal to New York a number of years previously, was considered one of the ablest members of the Columbia county bar. He was a man of large experience and great attain- ments in his profession, and had been signally successful in a number of criminal and other cases involving great interests. The District Attorney and the public officials connected with his office had been vigilant and untiring in their efforts to obtain testimony, and a large number of witnesses were in attendance for the trial, and an extra panel of jurors had been drawn in view of the probable difficulty in obtaining a jury. The accused, who had been let out on bail some time previously, having been absent on one occasion at the opening of the court, was ordered into custody for the purpose, as stated by the judge, of commanding his pres- ence at all times. The court commenced the important duty of empanelling the jury, and as the conclusion at which they might arrive de- pended very much upon the selection of fair- minded, honest, and impartial men, every juror was examined as to his qualifications, and much time was thus consumed. Triers were ap- pointed by the court for the purpose of de- termining the competency of the jurors, and the proceedings went on slowly for several days. 236 THE ANTI-RENT WAR It was apparent that considerable feeling had been awakened between the Attorney-General and the defendant's senior counsel, and that the Attorney-General considered that he was ag- gressive and overbearing and disposed to as- sume a position towards him personally which was not justified. Two days had passed along with manifestations of this feeling, and only two jurors had been obtained. Upon the third day of the trial, at the opening of the court, an event transpired, which might well result as a consequence of the existing feeling with- out any previous intention of the parties, and which might occur on the impulse of the mo- ment between opposing counsel. Sharp words had passed, and a scene ensued which is rarely witnessed in a Court of Justice. The Attorney- General made an assertion in reference to some matter connected with the trial and Mr. Jordan said in reply, using a strong and abusive epithet, to the effect that what he said was false. The Attorney-General sat immediately in front of Mr. Jordan at a table within the bar, and in- censed by this remark he, in the excitement of the moment, instantaneously threw back his right arm and struck Mr. Jordan with his elbow. Mr. Jordan returned this blow with his fist, striking Mr. Van Buren in the back of his head. THE ANTI-RENT WAR 237 They both rose face to face, and blows passed be- tween them. This scene occurred in a moment, and the sheriff, who was near at hand, and his deputies came and separated the combatants. The Judge ordered them to take their seats, which was promptly done, and directed the sheriff to take them in custody. There was an impressive and solemn silence pervading the court-room, not a whisper could be heard, and every one present was watching with intense interest the proceedings in progress. The judge was calm, cool, and collected, and evinced great dignity and self-possession. No judicial officer ever met an occasion so sudden, so extraordinary, and derogatory to the orderly proceedings of a high Court of Justice, with more composure or a deeper appreciation of the duty imposed upon him. Serene as a summer's morn, in the stillness which pervaded the court- room, in impressive language, he said in sub- stance to the offenders: This court has con- vened for the purpose of vindicating the law, and the highest law officer of the State and the eminent counsel for the defense are here to aid in that purpose; they have both been guilty of a violation of the law and thus cast reproach upon the proceedings had to enforce it ; they are chargeable with a breach of the peace, and such 238 THE ANTI-RENT WAR an act should not be allowed to pass without condemnation by the court. He then directed the clerk to enter an order to commit the coun- sel to the county jail for a period of twenty- four hours. The Attorney-General and Mr. Jordan each arose and expressed their regret at the unfor- tunate occurrence, stating in substance, that it transpired while under excitement, and apolo- gizing to the court for their conduct. Mr. Van Buren said that it should not occur again, and expressed the hope that this assurance and the apology would be received as a sufficient atone- ment and induce the court to punish the offence by imposing a pecuniary fine instead of impris- onment. The District Attorney said, that it seemed to him that the ends of justice would be answered quite as well by the substitution of a fine as a punishment instead of imprisonment; that the collision between the counsel had oc- curred in an unguarded moment, while under excitement, without any real intention of vio- lating the law or interfering with that decorum which is essential in its administration; that the dignity of the court would thus be vindicated without inflicting upon the counsel the severe penalty of imprisonment in the county jail ; that the county would be subjected to large expenses THE ANTI-RENT WAR 239 and the trial of the case very much delayed by the adjournment of the court and he hoped that the sentence of the court might be modified accordingly. This was refused by the judge, and the court was adjourned until the following day. The imprisonment was not very severe, one of the counsel being assigned the parlor and the other the office of the sheriff, both being within the limits of the court-house. The extraordinary interruption of the pro- ceedings might well furnish a subject for reflec- tion to all parties interested, in regard to the varying aspects attending a great trial, and the glorious uncertainty as to what might happen to the counsel engaged during its progress. The eminent counsel, who were temporarily incar- cerated in consequence of this unexpected out- break, occupied the highest position in the legal profession as well as in social life, and while their friends regretted the circumstances which had occurred, they nevertheless retained the same warm feeling of friendship which had pre- viously existed and the confidence of the com- munity. The Attorney-General, on the following day, sent his resignation to the Governor, and Judge Edmonds, upon learning that fact, wrote a strong letter stating that the Attorney-General 240 THE ANTI-RENT WAR had done nothing derogatory to his charac- ter as a gentleman, and was justified as a man of honor in resenting the gross insults which he had received from the opposing counsel. The Governor, upon consideration, refused to accept the resignation. The community gen- erally regarded the affair as an ebullition o£ feeling on both sides, which occasionally hap- pens between opposing counsel during an ex- citing trial, and were not disposed to pronounce a harsh judgment. Mr. Van Buren, the Attorney-General at that time, was a rising man in politics as well as in his profession, and his friends expressed the opinion that he had only shown the proper de- gree of courage in resenting an insult, which was to be commended, and which would add to his popularity, and some of his very ardent admirers said, that in the distant future, in the event of his becoming a candidate for the Presi- dency, which was quite possible, his conduct in this afifair might give him the votes of sev- eral Southern States. The relations between the Attorney-General and Mr. Jordan were not particularly affected by this professional con- flict and, afterwards, when Mr. Jordan was elected Attorney-General under the Constitution of 1846, as Mr. Van Buren's successor, the lat- THE ANTI^RENT WAR 241 ter wrote to him tendering any information which it was in his power to furnish in regard to the duties of the office, and Mr. Jordan re- pHed in a corresponding spirit. The court met on the following day and pro- ceeded with the work of empaneling the jury from the original panel of one hundred drawn for that purpose. Some of the jurors were residents of the anti-rent region and naturally sympathized with their neighbors and friends who had become involved in the controversy, and others might well entertain apprehensions, if the verdict should be against the prisoner, that some injury might be done to them or their property. It was important, therefore, to ex- clude, so far as possible, from the jury any one whose sympathies or fears might in any way influence his determination. This was a task surrounded with difficulties and full of embar- rassments, and the inquiry as to the competency of the several jurors covered much ground, and was necessarily protracted and tedious. The aim of the prosecution was to obtain fair-minded men, without any bias or prejudice, despite any improper influences and regardless of conse- quences. Men who would stand by the courage of their convictions as warranted by the testi- mony. 242 THE ANTI-RENT WAR The prisoner was entitled to twenty peremp- tory challenges, and both parties had the right to challenge every juror for any cause which might possibly aflect his judgment. The prin- cipal cause of challenge was on the ground of the forming or expressing an opinion as to the prisoner's guilt; each juror, therefore, was the subject of the severest examination and the closest scrutiny, and no effort was spared to elicit the truth as to the surroundings or any- thing which might affect his judgment. In no case where a jury was to be empaneled could the examination have been more thorough and exhaustive. The triers evinced great judgment, and properly excluded every man who lived within the precincts of the infected district. The process of obtaining jurors, who were quali- fied, dragged its slow length along for a period of two weeks before twelve good and compe- tent men of approved integrity and qualifications were found to pass upon the case. The great struggle in the case on the part of the defense seemed to be to place in the jury-box some one or more persons, who, under no circumstances, would consent to render a verdict of guilty, and, at least, produce a disagreement, as had been done on the previous trial, which would have been equivalent to an acquittal, and thus defeat THE ANTI-RENT WAR 243 the ends of justice. Various circumstances which transpired clearly indicated that such was the object, and it was somewhat remarkable to witness the apparent effort which was made to accomplish this purpose. In the case of one juror, who had heard the examinations of those who had preceded him, it was manifest that there was clearly an in- tention to get him in the jury-box, notwith- standing he had formed an opinion and sym- pathized entirely with the anti-rent movement. He testified, in the most decided manner, that he had no opinion on the subject, that he was entirely indifferent to the matter, and that he had no sympathy or feeling which prevented his acting with impartiality. A most severe cross-examination failed to expose the real views which it afterwards appeared were en- tertained by him. There was a deep convic- tion in the minds of the prosecuting counsel that this person, who had a close and intimate association with the anti-rent party, was not a competent juror, and should be excluded. The District Attorney believed he would be able to prove, if he had the opportunity to produce the witnesses, that this man had not only formed and expressed an opinion, but had manifested the strongest sympathy in favor 244 THE ANTI-RENT WAR of the anti-renters. It being late in the after- noon, the court was adjourned until the fol- lowing morning. In the meanwhile officers were sent with subpoenas to the neighbors and associates of the juryman, and on the following day six or more witnesses appeared in court and, being sworn, testified that they had heard him express opinions in favor of the anti-renters, and that he warmly sympathized with their cause. After hearing this testimony, the triers found that the juror was incompetent. The trial of this one juror lasted the whole of two days, and had he succeeded in getting into the jury-box, it is hardly to be supposed that he would ever have agreed to a verdict of guilty. The facts connected with the competency of this juror show the importance of exercising care in such a case, and that a little incident may sometimes change entirely the result of an im- portant trial. Another juror evidently bent upon getting on the jury, swore that he had formed no opinion, that he heard of the matters from some of his . neighbors, but did not believe that what they said was true, although previously he had al- ways regarded them as men of truth. The triers rejected him also. There were some other cases of a similar character, but, as the THE ANTI-RENT WAR 245 result shows, it was impossible for any person who was biased in his opinions to enter the jury-box. It is proper to observe that at that time the question in regard to the disquali- fications of jurors, by reason of having formed an opinion, had been in a somewhat unsettled condition, and in no previous trial in this State was the subject more fully presented, more critically examined, and more carefully dis- posed of, than in testing the qualifications of the jurors upon this trial. In a case then lately decided. People v. Mary Bodine (i Denio, 147), it was held that the judge erred in hold- ing on the trial, that an opinion, formed from a rumor or newspaper report, did not disqual- ify a juror, and, if the triers were satisfied that he could, notwithstanding, find a verdict ac- cording to the testimony, they should declare him competent, and it was decided at General Term in the Supreme Court that any opinion, however formed or fixed, disqualified a juror. The rule laid down upon this trial has been modified by section 376 of the Criminal Code, which has been construed in the case of the People V. McQuade (no N. Y. 285), where it was held, that where a person, called as a juror, on a challenge for bias, testified, in sub- stance, that he had an opinion as to the guilt of 246 THE ANTI-RENT WAR the accused, which amounted to a conviction, formed upon a careful perusal of the testimony- given on a former trial, and where his declara- tion of his belief that he could render an im- partial verdict was not absolute, but was quali- fied by a doubt, that as matter of law, overruling of the challenge was error. The jury having, at the end of two weeks, been empaneled, the case was opened by the District Attorney, and the trial proceeded for two long and weary weeks. The principal question was as to the identity of the prisoner as Big Thunder, who was the leader of the dis- guised men who surrounded the sheriff and took his papers. In reality there was no ques- tion in the opinion of honest and fair-minded men but that the prisoner was the man who took the lead in the commission of the crime charged. There was no doubt of his presence on that occa- sion, and that he came from a distant county, as a chosen chief in promoting the anti-rent movement, and all the surrounding circum- stances tended to show that he commanded the armed and disguised assemblage when it re- sisted the officer of the law; but this person was disguised at the time, so that the ordinary ob- server could not well determine that he was the man. The officers of the law swore very posi- THE ANTI-RENT WAR 247 tively that they recognized him as the offender, that they were in close contact with him for some time, had conversation with him, and an opportunity to make close observation, and that they identified him by his size, his voice, his eyes, his language, and his manner, as well as other marks not so strong. One witness, a shoemaker by trade, testified that Big Thunder had boots on while in disguise which he identified as the same worn by the prisoner afterwards. Another swore that he was present when Big Thunder put on his dis- guise, and when he took it off, and that Bough- ton was the man. There was other testimony by persons present at the time, who were in disguise and turned state's evidence, establish- ing that the prisoner at the bar was the chief who oflficiated when the crime was committed. One man of great intelligence, who had been indicted and arrested, and who was chief among his associates and among the armed and dis- guised men at Copake, was present when Boughton put on his disguise, and came for- ward and gave positive evidence as to the pris- oner's identity. Another, who had fled the State, influenced by compunctions of conscience, came upon the stand and testified to his knowledge that the 248 THE ANTI-RENT WAR prisoner was the man. The testimony of these accompHces all illustrates that when men con- spire to commit crime there will be some, who, repenting of the wrong they have done, or un- der the influence of some selfish motive, will reveal the truth and expose their associates. A conspiracy to violate the law, by the commis- sion of a criminal offence, however secret, well- guarded, or matured, carries within itself the elements of its own exposure and destruction. The ties which bind conspirators together in a common purpose of wrong-doing and crime hang upon a very slender thread, which is easily sundered by the power of truth and the demands of justice; and hence it is that conspiracies are rarely successful and generally fall to pieces from their own weight before the object in- tended is consummated. They cannot bear the light and the rigid scrutiny to which they are subjected in a court of justice upon the exam- ination of the parties interested, and they in- variably exhibit their inherent rottenness to the public gaze. The only defense made by the prisoner was the futile attempt to prove an alibi, and it was painful to see men who had enjoyed a character oi respectability in the community come forward as witnesses and testify that they had seen the THE ANTI-RENT WAR 249 prisoner, at the time when the crime was com- mitted, in citizen's clothes in places not far off. They were either mistaken, and allowed their feelings to control their judgment, or deliber- ately testified falsely. Other witnesses testified, in reference to the time when Big Thunder put on his disguise, stating facts showing that it could not have been the prisoner, and, to cap the climax of perjury committed upon the trial, near the close of the case, a burly blacksmith came upon the stand and swore to his presence when the chief put on his disguise and when he took it ofif, that he was a man of sandy hair and com- plexion, blue eyes, and in every respect different from the prisoner, who had black hair, dark eyes, and was of dark complexion. This seemed to be the consummation of a defense which had no foundation to rest upon, based upon perjury, and too transparent, in view of the testimony Avhich had been given, to deceive any one. Soon after the adjournment of the court a warrant was issued for the last-named witness, and he only escaped arrest by fleeing from the State. Mr. Jordan summed up the defense in his usual able, eloquent, and masterly style. He was a lawyer of no ordinary character, and his effort on this occasion added to the laurels he had won in a long and successful practice. The 250 THE ANTI-RENT WAR summing up of the Attorney-General was one of the most eloquent and able efforts ever made before a jury in this State. It was a strong and clear presentation of the case of the prosecution, combining convincing reasoning and great elo- quence, evincing an ability which he afterwards sustained at the bar and in his public speeches. The charge of the judge carefully presented the entire case to the jury in a clear and impartial manner, and after an absence of several hours, they returned with a verdict of guilty, and there- upon the prisoner was sentenced to imprison- ment in the State prison, for the term of his natural life. The case was one of the most remarkable and difficult ever presented in the courts of this State. It occupied four weeks and three days, the court sitting from 9 a.m. to i p.m., from 2 P.M. to 6, and from 7 to 10 p.m. or later, thus performing two or three times the amount of work usually accomplished daily at the present time, at the circuit. In fact, the trial occupied between two or three months in time according to the present mode of trying cases. The im- portance of the trial cannot be overrated, as it was a serious qviestion whether the law could be enforced in the anti-rent localities and the power of the government strong enough to en- THE ANTI-RENT WAR 251 sure its maintenance. If the State had failed, there is no calculating the consequences which would have followed. Lawlessness and violence would have prevailed and destroyed legal rights which the Constitution had guaranteed. There would have been no security in the enjoyment of vested rights, and parties claiming to be ag- grieved might well have considered themselves justified in taking the law in their own hands, to redress real or supposed wrongs. With the strong feeling of prejudice existing in the lo- cality, it seemed improbable that a fair and im- partial jury could be found to try the case, and, uninfluenced by sympathy or improper feeling, render a just verdict. It was highly honorable to the court and to those who had charge of the prosecution, that justice and the law were en- forced. In no State in the Union, and in no country in the world, is the law more faithfully admin- istered than in the State of New York. In cases of great public excitement where large interests are involved, and passion and prejudice rule the hour, the tribunals of justice breast the storm, and meet the crisis uninfluenced by surrounding circumstances. Judicial history shows that at the trial court, and on appeal, the course of jus- tice is rarely swerved from its true purpose, 252 THE ANTI-RENT WAR and, unmoved by public clamor and outside in- fluences, courts maintain the law inviolate, and justice seldom fails. In a subsequent sitting of the Court of Gen- eral Sessions in Columbia county, there were several convictions for appearing armed and disguised, and for assault with intent to kill, and in resisting proceedings to take possession of farms by the landlord, and those who had violated the law met with the punishment they deserved. The result of the conviction of Big Thunder was that Anti-Rentism was crushed out in Columbia county, and it was followed by a conviction in Delaware county for the murder of a deputy sheriff. The backbone of the rebel- lion was broken, and, with the exception of a few violent men who burned barns and hay- stacks, everything was as quiet and peaceable as if there never had been any organized effort to resist the law. Peace reigned supreme in every hill, valley, and hamlet. The landlords found that their investments were unprofitable, and at an early day mainly disposed of their interests to the occupants of the lands, thus removing all cause of complaint. Time and the ownership of the land in fee have done great work in transforming the lands into a better condition, and in promoting the pros- THE ANTI-RENT WAR 253 perity of all who occupy them. In some of the counties there was much litigation, actions brought by the landlords to recover rents and to enforce forfeiture for its non-payment gen- erally resulting in the defeat of the tenant. This served as a safety-valve to abate the excite- ment, while time and circumstances brought matters to a close. The State election of 1846 resulted in the de- feat of Governor Wright, and the election of his opponent, probably by means of the anti- renters who polled votes enough to turn the scale against him. Soon after his election, the new Governor, John Young, pardoned those who had been convicted for murder and other high crimes and were incarcerated in the State prison. The propriety of this step was at the time questioned. It is not, however, entirely clear that the course taken was detrimental to the public or productive of any serious conse- quences. Mr. Wright's defeat was most unfortunate, as it retired to private life a statesman of the highest order of ability, because he stood by his sense of duty, and refused to lend his high posi- tion to destroy the sacredness of contracts which were guaranteed by the Constitution. He oc- cupied a public position which could not fail to 254 THE ANTI-RENT WAR excite the admiration and respect of all sound thinkers, and of those who were favorable to the maintaining of good order in the State. In his defeat he stood stronger than if he had been reelected by the sacrifice of principle and right. It is said that he refused the offer of a nomi- nation for the Presidency in 1844 because it would be inconsistent with the fealty he owed to his personal friend and political leader, Mr. Van Buren, and he only accepted a gubernato- rial nomination to save the State for the Demo- cratic candidate for the Presidency, and in so doing he followed the instincts of a noble char- acter. After his election as Governor, he had no regard for his own personal aggrandizement. At this time he occupied the highest position as a rising politician and statesman, and had the prospect of attaining the greatest distinction in the nation, if his life had been spared. Soon after his retirement to his farm in St. Lawrence county, he was taken with a fit of apoplexy, and died almost instantly. This result was probably produced by the great change in his mode of life from the arena of political strife to agri- cultural pursuits. It is a sad commentary on the fortunes of public servants, that one of his high attainments and purity should be thus stricken down and the country deprived of his THE ANTI-RENT WAR 255 services by the action of a mere faction because of a strict adherence to his sense of duty. At the next Oyer and Terminer, after the conviction of Boughton, the Attorney-General, on behalf of the State authorities, after consul- tation, and with the approval of the District Attorney, moved the court that a Nolle Prosequi be entered on the indictment, for conspiring to prevent the payment of rent, etc., and the court after deliberation granted the motion. The propriety of this order could not be doubted. The indictment embraced a large number of persons of the highest respectability, who had been drawn into the movement by a sympathetic feeling with their neighbors, without any in- tention to make unlawful resistance to the col- lection of rents or disposition to violate the law. As soon as the developments indicated the ille- gal character of the organization to resist the officers of the law, and to use violent and im- proper means, most of these persons took no further part in the proceedings. In the mean- time the disturbances were ended, and the action taken was well timed and appropriate, and such as the government might properly extend to those who had violated the strict letter of the law. It was a peace offering which had a most salutary effect in allaying the animosities which 256 THE ANTI-RENT WAR had been aroused, and restoring a better feeling than formerly existed. It was generally con- ceded by the anti-renters that the local authori- ties, while enforcing the law, had dealt liberally with them, indeed much more so than they could have expected, and the abandonment of the prosecution had a salutary effect in restoring order in the community. Under the authority of the Legislature, an action of ejectment was brought by the Attor- ney-General to test the title to the Livingston patent. A piece of woodland was selected in the town of Gallatin, in Columbia county, which had remained imoccupied and uncultivated from time immemorial. The case was brought on for trial at the Columbia Circuit in 1850 before Justice Wright, and occupied a number of days. The Attorney-General, the District Attorney, and Hamilton W. Robinson appeared for the people, and Killian Miller and Josiah Suther- land for the defendant. It was submitted to the Judge and afterwards argued with great ability by the Attorney-General and the counsel, and finally decided in favor of the landlord. No fur- ther proceedings were had in this case, and the decision remains unreversed. This case is re- ported under the title of The People v. Living- ston (8 Barbour, 253). THE ANTI-RENT WAR 2_J7 An action of ejectment was also brought to recover possession of a farm in the Van Rensse- laer patent in the town of Claverack, upon the ground of forfeiture by reason of a violation of a covenant in the lease providing for the pay- ment of a quarter sale upon any sale made by the tenant of the same, and it was held by the highest court of the State that the covenant was void, as being in restraint of alienation, and that no action could be maintained. This case, en- titled De Peyster v. Michael, is reported in 6 New York Reports, 467. The leases in this patent were in fee with a reservation of rent and the covenants already stated; and the decision bore distinctly upon a similar covenant in leases of lands in the Liv- ingston patent. The persons owning the fee in the Van Rensselaer Patent not many years prior to the anti-rent outbreak, had been called upon to surrender their lands to one of the Van Rensselaer heirs, upon the ground that the party conveying to them had only a life estate. The question presented was very intricate, and in apprehension of losing their farms they en- tered into an agreement for an arbitration, and paid a portion of their value, to settle the claim made against them. In an action subsequently brought by the claimant against De Peyster to 258 THE ANTI-RENT WAR account for the back rents in the Supreme Court of the United States, it was determined that the claimant had no title. The payments made by the tenants were thus proved to be unjust, with- out any consideration, and were actually thrown away. They could not, however, be recovered, and there was no remedy for the loss. After Boughton's discharge from State Prison, he returned to his old home in Rens- selaer county, where he followed the pursuits of agriculture until his death, sometime during the year 1888. He occasionally visited Colum- bia county, and attended meetings of anti- renters, but engaged in no violation of the law. On one occasion he met the District Attorney at a poHtical meeting, in one of the anti-rent towns. The interview was most cordial on his part, and he manifested apparently no enmity towards the officers of the law who had prose- cuted him. In 1861 when the District Attorney was nominated for the office of Justice of the Supreme Court, Boughton visited Columbia county during the canvass, but made no opposi- tion to his election. In fact, all resentment en- gendered by the prosecution had ceased, and many of those who were at one time most hos- tile to that official for his energy and zeal in enforcing the law, were among his warmest THE ANTIRENT WAR 259 friends and supporters, .and on this occasion he carried the county by the large majority of 2500. Subsequently, in 1869, when a candidate for reelection, the same liberal spirit was mani- fested, and, in 1874, when running for a higher judicial position, Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals, he received the same flattering majority, and those who were formerly hostile remained his steadfast friends until the close of his judicial career of twenty-five years. They regarded him merely as performing an official duty, and manifested no animosity. The course which they pursued, illustrates that a public offi- cial, after the passions of men have had time to cool, and the excitement of the hour has passed away, rarely suffers from an honest and fearless discharge of his duty. The organizers of the anti-rent movement had hoped to influence the members of the Leg- islature, but these officials were unable to dis- cern any means by which they could invalidate the contracts which were contained in the leases of the tenants without doing violence to the Con- stitution of the United- States, which prohibits the passage of any law impairing the obligation of contracts. The abolition of distress for rents which was within the scope of Legislative au- thority, of itself, was of but little avail, as that 26o THE ANTI-RENT WAR remedy was seldom resorted to for their col- lection, and furnished no relief. The Consti- tutional Convention of 1846 was equally at a loss to find any suitable remedial measure, ex- cept the provision prohibiting leases of agri- cultural lands for more than twelve years. The contract of the tenant was a solemn engage- ment, binding and obligatory, and could not be impaired by any act of the Legislature or of the Constitutional Convention, and the written instrument between the parties established an insuperable barrier to any interference with vested rights. In this respect, our laws differ from those in Great Britain, where the Constitution is such as time and circumstances have made it. The power of Parliament is omnipotent, and, where the public interest and the welfare and happi- ness of the community are involved, it can in- terpose its authority to regulate, even con- tracts, as has been recently done, by establish- ing a tribunal which has the power to reduce the amount of rent agreed to be paid by the tenants in Ireland when the same is too high, and operates oppressively. The Land Court in Ireland has done some- thing to relieve the tenant from extortionate and unjust exactions, and in a spirit of justice, re- THE ANTI-RENT WAR 261 duced the rents to a lesser amount, and, as re- ported in some instances, to one half of the sum provided for in the leases. The fruits of a sys- tem of landlordism which has borne hardly upon the Irish agricultural population, can no doubt be relieved by the government, by the proper ex- ercise of its legislative functions, thus saving the tenants from evictions, poverty, and dis- tress, and the dire necessity of becoming in- mates of the workhouse. It is no credit to the government of Great Britain, which prides it- self upon its civilization and humanity, that it fails to devise means for the relief of the Irish people from the trials and troubles which they have borne for centuries, by the adoption of measures within the legitimate exercise of its functions or by granting to them a government of its own, as has been done to many of its col- onies, and which every American must feel from the experience had in this country, can not fail to alleviate sufferings of the people, and tend to promote their prosperity and happiness. The measures of relief proposed for the Irish people have met the approval and honest support of Mr. Gladstone, England's most illustrious statesman of the present time, as well as of a large number of the most distinguished public men and the wisest and most enlightened minds 262 THE ANTI-RENT WAR in the nation. If the British Ministry who now control the poHcy of that great country are un- wilhng to consent to the principle of Home Rule in the government of Ireland, they should at least devise and present some plan which would tend to relieve the people of that ill-fated coun- try from the burdens which weigh so heavily upon them, and do something to restore peace and prosperity to the land. The anti-rent disturbances which have been the subject of consideration, although confined to a limited territory, presented questions of great interest to the lovers of good government. They constituted an epoch in the history of the State which tested the wisdom and power of the constituted authorities to grapple with insur- rection and rebellion successfully, and to main- tain the laws for the enforcement of vested rights guaranteed by the Constitution. The in- cidents which transpired during their progress, and the action of the government in sustaining the laws and in bringing the offenders to jus- tice, establish beyond question the inherent strength and capacity of republican institutions to meet great emergencies, and deal with trans- gressors justly, even where public prejudice and excited passions would lead to combinations of an insurrectionary character. No government THE ANTI-RENT WAR 263 of the Old World could have encountered such a difficulty among its population, and subdued it with so little use of force, and without the sac- rifice of valuable lives. The State was equal to the occasion, and owing to a firm administra- tion of its laws, the spirit of the rebellion was crushed out without the loss of a single life. The events which transpired in connection with the anti-rent uprising demonstrated quite clearly that a land tenure, based upon the re- stricted and objectionable features which char- acterized manorial leases, was calculated to create discontent, disorder, and violence among the tenants, and was antagonistic to the spirit of progress and development which has so emi- nently distinguished the onward march of civ- ilization in the nineteenth century, and cannot be upheld in this enlightened age. It was, in fact, injurious to the tenant, by repressing his enterprise and, with the small amount of income reserved to the landlord, the lands could not be held as a profitable investment of principal at a fair valuation. The movement presents one of the most interesting and instructive chapters in the history of the State, evincing its power to cope with the most formidable organizations by a firm administration of its laws through the quiet workings of its courts of justice, by sus- 264 THE ANTI-RENT WAR taining their supremacy and thus vindicating the authority of the government. It also pre- sents lessons of wisdom and experience worthy of remembrance for the instruction and guid- ance of public officials in case any similar crisis may arise at any time in the distant future. INDEX PAGE Anti-rent War 214 Bay, John 58 Butler, Benjamin F 163 Cady, Daniel 126 Edmonds, John W 172 Grosvenor, Thomas P 144 Hogeboom, Henry 180 Jordan, Ambrose L 159 Livingston, Edward 84 Robert 31 Robert R. (Judge) 48 Robert R. (Chancellor) 61 Miller, Theodore 197 Monell, Joseph D 147 Silvester, Peter 55 Spencer, Ambrose 104 John C 154 Tilden, Samuel J 17 Van Buren, John 184 jMartin 3 Vanderpoel, Aaron 152 Aaron J 210 James 151 Van Ness, Cornelius P 136 John P 130 William P I33 William W. 138 Van Nesses of Lindenwald 128 Van Rensselaer, Jacob Rutsen 114 Van Schaack, Peter 75 Williams, Elisha 118