^ -^^ ->^ ^ J> ^»>-^ -:^ ^ >, :>►>> ^53>3>.>i. ^^-^ >>^">3>>^;a>>v!>>2> 3 » > > > :> > i>uxi: -^.'>'> o^ex 3 >->)>5' »^ >:>:»2>" LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. iv 3> . UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. '^> ^ >^i> j»^ ^.>>?^ X»- 33 3^ > jp > 1 -■ ■ 'i^-» :>;->>:> ^T^--- ■>>3rI>-> 32> > ^ > ' ^^r5-> .-inr:» ^-^-x >"$X>> ^ > -^^S^^ "^?> :3> :5>^^^ > "ifx^'^. >:^>.!>>>. ?>^J>:>1> 5>^ >5 5:>>^ ' <:^ ^r^^^ ^'^ .:^ ■^> :^^' ^ ^^ J>::>3^ ~ ^-^. ^^ ';>.ig5> T:j>;is> ::>j^:5z> ^^ '5> >::3i^ ;>^> ^■3:>^i =^.3> -'^ > ^^ -^ ^oeo- i>^> >-^^:> -^ ^i>:3> ^3> ^> >,^-^ i^i> !.^>i> ?5» V ^ ■■^3>. '7> ii> T^ >":: _ > 3 >> »' ^ o :> 3> :y> ■ z> ^_l:>:j>' ^^^^ y^^ ^ ?^^^ ^~:> :::> o3 'SSEanK,n'^Z^W^■^■^^"'^''^' p MEMORIAL JOHN H. REYNOLDS P2,y ALBANY: JOEL MUNSELL, 1876. '7^ ^Umodal of |ohn §. §eMttoW^» MEMOIR Immortal praise " to those who, by their own efforts, have raised themselves frOm the valley to the mountain-top ; have kindled their own altar, carved their own statue. Of such is the illustrious subject of our memoir. George Reynolds, the father of John H., was born at Moreau, county of Saratoga, state of E'ew York, and there lived and died. He was descended from parents born in Rhode Island, who emigrated from that state to Saratoga county. He was a farmer and lumberman, a man of great force of character, took a prominent part in the affairs of his county, and was a member of the state assembly in 1833. He had four sons, and the same number of daughters. John H., the subject of our memoir, was the fourth child, and was born at Moreau on the 21st day of June, 1819. He first attended school at Sandy Hill ; then at Ben- nington, Vermont. He was then engaged as an engineer in running the original line of the Saratoga and "White- hall rail road and when that was finished he was employed in the same capacity on the Boston and Albany rail road. He then went to the Kinderhook Academy, and finishing his course there, he entered at Kinderhook the ofiice of Hon. William H. Tobey, an eminent practitioner at the bar, as a student at law on the 28th of April, 1840. 4 Memorial of John H. Reynolds. He continued in that office until admitted to the bar at the January term of the supreme court in 1843. As a student he was even then distinguished for his close and persistent application to study, abstaining during the whole three years of his studentship from meat, thinking its use as food clouded his intellect. History, which makes a merit of young Scott, the future Lord Eldon, binding a wet cloth around his brows to facilitate study, might here find a more than parallel determination and energy in the prospective great lawyer and jurist — the youthful John H. Reynolds. Immediately on his admission to the bar, the subject of our memoir formed a partnership with his former tutor in the law, Mr. Tobey. For eight years he diligently pur- sued the practice of his profession at Kinderhook and showed himself an untiring student, an industrious practi- tioner ; possessed of legal tact and acumen, great clearness of professional vision, and subtlety of investigation. His reputation being established, and seeking a wider sphere for the exercise of his legal abilities, he in 1851 re- moved to Albany, and became the partner of Hon. John V. L. Pruyn, and this firm being dissolved in 1854, he formed a copartnership with Hon. Clark B. Cochrane and Hamilton Harris, This partnership continued until the death of Mr, Cochrane in 1867, after which the surviving partners continued together until the demise of Mr, Rey- nolds in 1875, In this broader field, his fame soon extended to the ■farthest limits of the state and, subsequently, far beyond, as his frequent practice in the United States courts abun- dantly showed. This fame kindled so early in his pro- fessional life was never darkened throughout his somewhat protracted career, but continued to shine steady as a star until that career, in the fulness of its lustre, was overtaken by the " shadow of death." Memorial of John H. Reynolds. 5 Although his profession was the supreme object of his pursuit, yet, in accordance with the spirit of the times, Mr. Reynolds turned now and then aside into the path of politics, acting at first with the democratic party. Albeit, with his commanding abilities he could not fail in any pursuit to which he gave even transient attention, yet it cannot be said that his success in life was wrought by him as a politician. He cared too little for the honors attendant upon political success, and was too ill fitted by the frankness of his nature, the independence and fearlessness of his opinions, the unswerving integrity of his views, and his thorough and spoken contempt for all that was design- ing and treacherous, to become a worthy competitor for the prizes of that dusty and painfully emulative arena. Still, even here, his abilities were acknowledged and his charac- ter appreciated. In 1853 he was appointed by President Pierce to the responsible and much sought for oflice of postmaster of the city of Albany, but was removed, after having served but little more than a year, — his opinions not being in accordance with the policy of the adminis- tration respecting the repeal of the Missouri compromise measures. In 1858 he was, however, called by his fellow-citizens to a higher and wider sphere, thus marking their full ap- probation of his political career. After an exciting canvass, he was elected, as an independent anti-Lecompton demo- crat, a rej)resentative in the thirty-sixth congress by twelve hundred majority over his competitor, the late Erastus Corning. When we reflect that his adversary was a gentleman well advanced in honorable years, nearly all his life a resident of Albany, worthily conspicuous in private as well as public life, of long democratic afiiliations, and having had, also, the advantage of a previous term in congress to the satisfaction of a large body of his constituents, and 6 Memorial of John H. Reynolds. holding the regular nomination to the present term, and from his high character and position in life possessing popularity and influence otherwise than as a politician ; while he himself was a young man without the powerful advantages of association and fortune that his competitor possessed, we can better appreciate the honor which the congressional district of Albany conferred upon the sub- ject of our memoir. ISTor was that honor in any degree discredited by the subsequent career of Mr. Reynolds in our national coun- cils. Chosen at a stormy period in our annals, upon the eve of our civil war, at the commencement of the I^ebraska struggle, when the elements of our discord were moving in the most threatening manner ; when the north was placed in its relations with the south, in the most delicate, painful, and perplexing position ; when the former was called upon by the latter to submit to the most trying if not humiliating conditions to preserve even the sem- blance of amity ; when, to use his own words, " it was almost a forfeiture of self respect for the north to continue any association or hold any communication with the south,'' the course of Mr. Reynolds was throughout marked by dignity, prudence, moderation, and regard for consequences remarkable in any one, and particularly in one so young in political life, so ardent in his love for our threatened institutions, and so warm in his loyalty to the north and to the Union. He was opposed to the extension of slavery into the new territories, and in favor of con- fining it within the limits of the constitution. While yielding nothing to passion, sacrificing no princi- ple to expediency, succumbing to no adverse circumstances, he, by the firmness yet courtesy of his bearing, and the self-asserting yet mild dignity of his character as well as views and opinions expressed publicly and privately, con- ciliated hostile sentiment, disarmed anger, and asserted Memorial of John H, Reynolds. 7 equality among his excitable and wratlifully disposed an- tagonists. Placed upon the judiciary committee, one of the most important and honorable in the house, he brought all the energy of his powerful and pure mind upon honest aind constitutional legislation. Although he did not often trouble the house in debate, yet he impressed his compeers with a sense of his high abilities as a statesman and sterling qualities as a man. According to a distinguished compatriot, " he was looked upon as a man of power, superior to the mere speaker or talker whose harangues tended more to empty the house than convince it, and who, too frequently, took advantage of the vacuity of the chamber to inflict upon the few mem- bers in it discourses which served but to fill newspapers and impress distant constituencies." With the termination of his congressional office, the curtain was dropped by Mr. Reynolds's own determined hand upon his political life. Henceforth his existence was to be devoted to the career he best loved and to the pro- fession of which he was so brilliant an ornament; and from that time the splendor of his success was such as to more than fulfill the warmest expectations of his friends, and justify the loftiest hopes of his hosts of admirers. His success was right onward. Untiring in the investiga- tion of his cases, indefatigable and eloquent in their ad- vocacy, never at fault in legal warfare with his adversaries, thorough in his briefs and exploration of his authorities, his mind glancing like sunshine through his subject, now tracing the sharpest distinctions, now expanding to the broadest views, his opponents, no matter how learned or skilled, found him always " worthy of their steel;" the bar a member exacting their highest admiration and the bench an advocate whose opinions excited their respect and compelled their attention. The style of speaking of this great and successful lawyer 8 Memokial of John H. Reynolds. was measured, dignified, terse, the right word always em- ployed, the language chaste, with no superfluity, and the delivery smooth. His argument moved along with crystal clearness, logical conciseness and convincing power, al- ways evincing great knowledge and acuteness and enli- vened by citations of brilliant illustrations. His was the eloquence of sincerity and truth. He made one think he was right by his earnestness as well as logical sequence. He so fortified his position by legal precedent and defended it by not only legal but common sense views, that every stand he took seemed impregnable. He exhausted the law on his side of the question, leaving his opponent to grapple with his ideas as best he could, and to controvert not his law but the application of it to the subject in ques- tion. In other ways than his profession John H. Reynolds was a marked man — marked in his literary tastes ; marked in his wit and humor. His heart rejoiced in poetry and he always found recreation and delight in pe- rusing favorite poems and repeating verse after verse showing charm of sentiment or felicity of description. How sparkling his wit : how racy his humor when, through with the toils of the day, he and a few chosen friends gathered for the pastime of an evening ! How many agree- able images and recollections will, in the years to come, be called up by those who thus enjoyed his companionship! Rare indeed was his nature, tender and true, soft to all emotion, and moved by all good impulses ! He was truly chivalric in his feelings, lofty in his aspirations. In person Mr. Reynolds was elegantly shaped and grace- ful in movement. His eye was dark and rich and he had the natural look of a gentleman. A success so marked from his own efforts was farther enhanced by an appropriate distinction from his fellow men. In January, 1873, Governor Dix honored himself, Memorial of John H. Eeynolds. 9 as well as the bench and bar of the state, by appointing Mr. Reynolds one of the commissioners of appeals. The unanimity of respect and pleasure with which the bench and bar, and indeed all classes interested in the matter, received the appointment bore token to its eminent fitness. In fact, the first impulse was rather of surprise that the eminent lawyer should see fit to accept the position when his private practice was so extensive and remu- nerative. The office was the culminating point of his career, the crown, as it were, of his professional life, marking the appreciation of those best able to judge of his honorable and eminent course at the bar, placing on record their opinion of his merits as a lawyer and high anticipations of his abilities as a judge. Kor were these opinions and anticipations in the least disappointed in the new and difficult sphere into which he now entered. From the first he took honorable position among his learned compeers o± the bench, they listening to his opinions with respect and ofttimes deferrins; to them with the consciousness of their weight. He sat in the commission of appeals for two years and a half and the Reports of the causes decided during that period bear ample testimony to the great learning, sagacity, and fidelity which he brought to the discharge of his duties as judge. He left the bench on the first day of July, 1875, and he left his office in Albany for his home in Kinderhook the last day of the same month, never again to return to the city. He was attacked by a fever, with which his indomi- table will manfully wrestled but which his overtaxed body was unable to withstand. In full career, while still in the prime of life and plenitude of his powers, his worn- out frame gave way and at half-past eleven o'clock on Friday morning, the 24th day of September, 1875, death came to him. On the following Tuesday he was lovingly borne 2 10 Memorial of John H. Reynolds. by four sons, followed reverently by a large number of the citizens of the village and county, by the members of the bar of Albany and by eminent men from different sec- tions of the state to his grave in the beautiful cemetery of the \dllage Avhere the star of his fame first rose and the sun of his glory set. He leaves a widow, the daughter of the late Gen. Charles Whiting, who continues to occupy the fine mansion and spacious grounds in the heart of the village where he him- self lived many years before his death, and in improving and adorning which he took the greatest pleasure. Besides his widow he leaves four sons, William H. T., George, John H. and James A. and a daughter, Margaret W. ; his eldest son, Charles W., ha\'ing died in the summer of 1874. The following passage from Mr. Reynolds's eulogium of the late iSTieholas Hill is extracted not only for its intrinsic truth, and fervid eloquence, but as very fitting in its ap- plication to the close of his own career : " However distinguished we may be, or have been, in this life, upon the bed of death man returns to his indi- viduality. He must die unaided and unsupported by human effbrt. I^either the applause of his fellows nor the affection of friends and kindred can support him in that hour. All the honors of earth are then as valueless to the possessor as the withered leaves which the winds of autumn will scatter over his grave. Those who sit in the judgment- seat and dispense human justice will, in their turn, bow to that fixed and unalterable law of being which dedicates all that is mortal to decay and death. In view of that solemn hour the impressive lesson of the life and death of him we mourn will not pass unheeded. It comes too near us to be viewed with unconcern. I need not pause to im- press it upon the attention of those who but yesterday looked into the new made grave of him, who, according to the standard of human judgment, was entitled to ' crown Memorial of John H. Reynolds. 11 a youth of labor witli an age of ease; ' hut to whom, in the mysterious providence of God, it was not permitted to to find rest from his labors except among the habitations of the dead. In that silent resting place we leave him to the rewards which are promised to the pure in spirit, the blameless in life and the upright in heart." EXTBACTS F B 31 THE FBESS [From the Albany Erenlng Jot(rnal, September 24, 1875.] Death of John H. Eeynolds. A DISPATCH from Ivinderhook conveys the melan- choly intelligence that John H. Reynolds died this morning. His dano-erous illness has been known to our citizens for eorae days, and the sad termination, nniyersally deplored, is yet not unexpected. His death extinguishes one of the most brilliant legal lights in the state. John H. Reynolds was born in Moreau, Saratoga county, June 21, 1819. He was educated in the academies of Sandy Hill and Ivinderhook, and also pursued a course at Bennington, Vermont. Completing his literary education , he began the study of the law and was admitted to the bar in 1843. After engaging in the practice of his profession for a few years at Kinderhook he removed to this city in 1851 and entered the office of Hon. J. Y. L. Pruyn. Sub- secjuently he joined the lamented Clark B. Cochrane and the Hon. Hamilton Harris in the firm of Reynolds, Coch- rane & Harris, which remained unchanged till the death of Mr. Cochrane, and was then continued by the surviying partners. At an early age Mr. Reynolds evinced great legal acute- ness and gave unmistakable promise of the ample learning and the high rank which he speedily attained and of the splendid ability which he afterwards so signally displayed. An assiduous student and earnest devotee of his j^rofession, his researches extended through all its literature and he soon came to be known equally as the accomplished adept in its lore and as the dextrous master of its weapons. Memorial of John H. Eeynolds. 13 After the death of Nicholas Hill, Mr. Reynolds took his place at the head of our bar, and was universally recog- nized as the foremost in the practice before the court of appeals. Mr. Reynolds was originally a democrat, and as such was in 1853 appointed postmaster of Albany by President Pierce. That, however, was the revolutionary time of the ISTebraska struggle, and his sympathies with the cause of freedom could not be repressed. He was, therefore, re- moved the following year by the same president who appointed him, and entirely upon the ground of his open and avowed political independence. The great agitation over the extension of slavery went on ; Mr. Reynolds con- tinued outspoken in his condemnation of the slavery pro- clivities of the democratic administration and party ; and in 1858 he ran as an independent democratic candidate for congress against the late Erastus Corning who was the regular nominee. He had the support of the republican party, then in its lusty and vigorous youth, and was tri- umphantly elected. The swift progress of the great national and political drama brought Mr. Reynolds into full communion with the republican organization, and as a member of congress and through the remainder of his life he acted with it. Upon the expiration of his term he resumed the practice of his profession, and rose to still greater eminence as a lawyer and jurist. From that time he declined to accept any public position until Gov. Dix, with the general ap- probation, appointed him commissioner of appeals — a place for which his high legal attainments conspicuously fitted him. Mr. Reynolds was an admirable type of the pure lawyer. His natural tastes and his intellectual gifts, led him to en- joy the studies of the closet and the disputation of the forum. He had a mind of the most acute perceptions and 14 Memorial of John H. Reynolds. the widest amplitude, and he had stored it with the rich treasures of the most thorough self-discipline and the ripest legal culture. His wit was keen, his pen incisive, his argument clear and trenchant, and his whole tempera- ment so sunny as to win hosts of friends. The entire community will unite in honoring his memory and in extending sympathy to the widow, the four sons and the daughter who are left to mourn his loss. Memorial of John II. Reynolds. 15 [From the Albany Argus, September 25, 1875.] Death of John H. Reynolds. John H. Reynolds : Born in Moreau, Saratoga county, June 21 , 1819, died at Kinderhook, Columbia county, September 24, 1875, at 11 : 30 a.m. JVIr. Reynolds was peer of the ablest members of the legal profession ; and he is another and a conspicuous example of the power of self-culture, in the development of character, and the fitting for highest social and public positions. The mental discipline which distinguished Mr. Reynolds was not the discipline of the college, but of the arena of practical life ; and his success was but the inevi- table result of strong natural abilities, wisely directed into appropriate channels, impelled by inherent energy, and held firmly by an indomitable resolution. Technically, his course of instruction was simply academic; really, his education was liberal, though self-directed. He qualified himself as a civil engineer, and followed that profession for a short time, but soon abandoned it for the law, in which he achieved marked distinction. He devoted him- self to his profession with an enthusiasm that knew no impediment ; and rose to preeminence in its practice. He was a lawyer, whom to know was to admire, for his abili- ties, his attainments, and his genial, warm-hearted, kindly nature. He delighted equally in the hard labor of studious research, and the brilliant display of his learning and his eloquence at the bar. His broad and generous attain- ments, his mind richly freighted with the garnered treasures of years' accumulation, his rare powers of analysis and clear grasp of the essential elements of a case, his power in argument and his keenness in sally or retort, his noble bear- 16 Memorial of John H. Reynolds. ing and courteous demeanor, rendered him a counsel to be sought, and an opponent to be feared. Mr. Reynolds pursued liis academic studies at Sandy Hill and Kinderhook, and also a literary course at Ben- nington, Vt. He was assistant engineer in the service of the Boston and Albany rail road company, for a time, laying the line which runs through Kinderhook ; and he remained in the service of the company until the road was completed. He began the study of the law in the office of the Hon. William H. Tobey, of Kinderhook, with whom he entered into partnership on being admitted to the bar in 1843. He removed to this city in 1851, and was for a time associated with the Hon. John Y. L. Pruyn. The firm of Reynolds, Cochrane & Harris was then formed, which continued until the lamented death of the Hon. Clark B. Cochrane, and was subsequently reorganized by the sur\dving partners. Mr. Reynolds was originally a democrat, and was appointed postmaster at Albany in 1853 by President Pierce, but subsequently resigned. He was elected to congress in 1858, by a cDmbination of all the elements opposed to the administration, and served for two years, being a member of that body in the dark days of 1860. He was appointed a member of the commission of appeals by Governor Dix, in 1873, to the general satisfaction of the bar and of the people of the state. A widow, one daughter and four sons mourn his loss ; and in their grief they have the sympathy and the sorrow of a public, who feel that the loss is one to the community, as well as to his afflicted family. Memorial of John H. Reynolds. 17 [From the Albany Morning Express, September 25, 1875.] Judge Reynolds. J- HE death of Judge Jolin H. Reynolds, which occurred at his residence in Kinderhook yesterday morning, is an event which will attract the attention not only of the people of this locality, but of the bench and bar throughout the state. Judge Reynolds is the fourth distinguished New York jurist who has been called away within a few months ; first Judge Peckham, then Judge Grover, his associate in the court of appeals, then Judge "Woodruff, of the United States circuit court, and lastly our other esteemed and beloved townsman — for such we have continued to con- sider Judge Reynolds, notwithstanding the fact that for some time past Kinderhook has been, nominally, his home. Albany claims him, however ; here it was that for upwards of a quarter of a century he lived and labored, and here he made his name and his fortune ; and it is Albany, more than any other locality in the state, that will lament his decease. Judge Reynolds was born in Saratoga county, in this state, fifty-six years ago, and received an academic educa- tion. He fitted himself for a civil engineer, and for a short time practiced that profession, and had charge of the building of a portion of the rail road between this city and Pittsfield. But soon becoming convinced that he was better fitted for the profession of law, he entered an oflice, where he pursued his studies diligently. In 1843 he was admitted to practice, and almost from the start his success was assured. For years and years he ranked with the most eminent lawyers of the state, and was over- whelmed with business in the higher courts. There was 3 18 Memorial of John H. Reynolds. not a practitioner in the state more sought after by anxious clients than he — and not one who served his clients more faithfully and intelligently. Judge Reynolds was not a politician. He was at once too independent and too indijft'erent to be a good politician. Originally and for many years a democrat, he held, for a short time, the position of postmaster' of Albany under President Pierce, from which he was removed because he was not in accord with the policy of the administration respecting the repeal of the Missouri compromise measures. In 1858 he was elected to congress from this district over the late Erastus Corning, as an anti-administration demo- crat. He naturally gravitated from that position into the republican party with which he always acted thereafter. The two positions mentioned are the only ones of a political nature which Mr. Reynolds ever held. In 1873 Gov. Dix appointed him one of tlie judges of the commission of ap- peals, a position which he tilled witli great credit while that court continued to exist. In private life Judge Reynolds was remarkably genial and sociable. He was a warm and kind friend, and no one ever made his acquaintance who does not entertain some pleasant recollections of it. Such men as he we can illy aiford to spare, whether it be from public, professional, or private life. His death is a loss to the profession, to Albany, and to the state. Memorial of John H. Reynolds. 19 [From the Albany Evening Times, September 24, 1875.] Death of John H. Reynolds. W HEN" a man whom we loved and honored, and whom the whole community respected and admired, is removed by death, the sense of our loss is so overwhelm- ing that we feel unable to express our grief in titting terms. John H. Reynolds died at half past eleven o'clock this morning at his homestead in Kinderhook. He was born in the town of Moreau, Saratoga county, in the year 1819, and had just passed his fifty-sixth year. Although not a graduate of any college, he acquired a liberal education, mainly by his own exertions, and in early life devoted himself for a short time to civil engineering. Wlien the Boston and Albany road was laid out, he was appointed assistant engineer to lay out that line which runs through Kinderhook, and remained in the service of the company until the road was completed. He soon abandoned engin- eering, however, for the more congenial profession of the law, which proved to be his true vocation, and in which he afterward became so distinguished. His legal studies began in the office of the still living and venerable counselor, Hon. William H. Tobey of Kinderhook, and after admission to the bar he entered into partnership with Mr. Tobey. After practicing for awhile in Columbia county, his conspicuous abilities were called to a larger field, and about twenty-four years ago he removed to Albany, where he was associated for a time with Hon. John Y. L. Pruyn. He afterwards associated himself with the late Hon, Clark B. Cochrane and witli Hamilton Harris, and for many years the firm of Reynolds, Cochrane 20 Memorial of John H. Reynolds. and Harris continued to do a large and prosperous busi- ness. Mr. Reynolds was the cotemporary and peer of Nicholas Hill, John K. Porter and other luminaries of the Albany l)ar, and was recognized throughout the state as standing in the foremost rank of his profession. In the early part of President Pierce's administration, Mr. Reynolds, being at that time a democrat of the old school, was prevailed upon to accept the office of post- master of Albany, but owing to dissensions in the party he soon retired from that position. He shared the anti- slavery sentiment, so far as it could be exerted within con- stitutional limits, and was opposed to the extension of slavery into the new territories. In 1858 he was elected as an anti-Lecompton democrat from the Albany district by 1,200 majority over the late Erastus Corning, to congress, where he served one term. He was ardently patriotic and intensely devoted to the Union. In a memorable speech which he made on the floor of congress in February, 1860, when there was a proposition to conciliate the seces- sionists by some new compromises, he exclaimed : " We are asked to make new laws. I answer, there are too many already; Let the present laws be enforced. Amend the constitution ? Let the people do it in the regular way, whenever they think it desirable. I shall not object. ISTosir; obey the constitution, and administer the laws as they are, and all will be well. Stand by the Union of our fathers ! Rally under the glorious folds of the Stars and Stripes, and the country icill be saved." But political life had no charms for Judge Reynolds, and when his congressional term expired he gladly resumed his practice as a leader at the bar of our highest courts. He held no other public position until his appointment as one of the judges in the commission of appeals, in January, 1873, by Gov. Dix, having devoted himself in the interim to the most arduous professional labors. He brought to Memorial of John H. Reynolds. 21 the labors of his judicial office the same great learning, conspicuous ability, and steadfast integrity which had illus- trated his career at the bar, and was one of the most hon- ored members of the court. The commission of appeals being dissolved, he was about to resume the practice of his profession, when he was stricken down by disease, and after some months of suffering, which has been alleviated by the constant attentions of his devoted wife and children, he this morning breathed his last. His end was peaceful, and though the body was worn out and exhausted, the mind was intelligent and conscious to the close. He leaves a widow and five children living — four sons and one daughter. In their great bereavement, they have the heart- felt sympathy of all who knew the deceased ; and the courts and the bar will no doubt take the earliest oppor- tunity to put on record their estimate of the loss to the profession. We knew John H. Reynolds well, and feel how inadequate are words to express the feelings of sor- row caused by his death. He had the rare combination of a great mind with a great heart — " A combiuation, and a form indeed, Where every god did seem to set his seal, To give the world assurance of a man," 22 Memorial of John H. Reynolds. [From the Einderhook Rough Notes, October 2, ISTS.] John H. Reynolds. _l HIS commimitY and the state at large liaYe sufiered a severe loss in tlie death of Hon. John H. Reynolds. The lineaments of his character ^Yere marked and clear. He was endowed with an acute understanding, lively sensi- bility, quick penetration, and strong self-reliance. There was nothing in his life, public or private, which was arti- ficial. Always, and in all positions, he was preeminently natural ; at all times and amid all surroundings he acted out the impulses of his own noble mind. As a citizen, a lawyer, a legislator and a judge, his conduct was guided b}' his intense convictions of what was just and right. He scorned to use any of those arts employed by inferior minds to acquire a momentary popularity, but his genuine kindness of heart was constantly, though unostentatiously, manifested, and endeared him permanently to all within the circle of his wide acquaintance. Mr. Reynolds was born at ]Moreau, in the county of Saratoga, on the 21st day of June, 1819 ; he commenced the study of the law in the office of the Hon. William H. Tobey, in this village, on the 28th day of April, 1840, and was admitted to the bar from that office at the January term of the supreme court in the year 1843. Immediately thereafter he entered into partnership with Mr. Tobey, and pursued the practice of his profession for several years in this village, with uniform credit to himself and accept- ance to a numerous clientage. Subsequently he removed to the city of Albany, where his distinguished legal at- tainments and abilities soon gained for him a reputation coextensive with this state. That citv continued there- Memorial of John H. Reynolds, 23 after to be Ins place of business, but for some time previous to his death, his home was in this viUage, and Kinderhook was proud to number him among its citizens. In him were combined, in an unusual degree, those in- tellectual faculties and mental habits which are essential to the formation of a profound and successful lawyer. His mind was one of extraordinary vigor, and his power of concentrated and continuous thought rarely excelled.. He spared no time or labor in the complete examinatior of every cause in which he was engaged or consulted, and endeavored to become perfectly familiar not only with its general features, but with all its particular branches. He was quick to discover the weak point of his adversary, to expose it effectually, to dissipate an adverse argument, and to turn to his own advantage and that of his client, those unexpected events which so often occur, and that unfore- seen evidence which is so frequently introduced during the progress of a trial. His style of speaking was concise, direct and convincing. He was thoroughly grounded in the principles of the law, a diligent and careful student of the various reports, and being gifted with great powers of discrimination, application and illustration, his arguments, while exhaustive, were, at the same time, models of per- spicuous and compact legal logic. His comprehension of the material facts in a case was unusually correct and dis- tinct, and being endowed in a wonderful degree with the faculty of analysis, and with precision and aptness of ex- pression, he was enabled to state those facts in a manner which made them readily and easily understood, and with a clearness which has been seldom, if ever, equaled. A man of his active disposition and wide range of thought could not refrain from taking part in public life, and pre- vious to his removal from this village to the city of All)any, he was one of the acknowledged leaders in Columbia county, of the political party with which he was connected. 24 Memorial of Johx H. Reynolds. In 1853, while a citizen of Albany, he was appointed by the president, postmaster of that city ; and in the year 1858, after an exciting canvass, was elected a representa- tive in the congress of the United States, from the Albany district, over his competitor the late Erastus Corning. Durins: the time that Mr. Revnolds held a seat in that body, questions of grave importance, involving the unity and very existence of the nation, were agitated, discussed and acted upon ; and in every instance, in every vote he was true to himself, his principles, his constituents and his country. But, though always interested in public affairs, and par- taking of the honors of political life he invariably turned to the profession of the law as his chosen pursuit. He loved its labors, he loved the investigation of its principles, he loved its severe and trying encounters, he loved to study the works of those great legal luminaries whose wisdom and learning embellish, illustrate and explain the various branches of legal science. He delighted in literature and had a fine, discriminating poetic taste. But though his times of relaxation were frequently devoted to the gratifi- cation and indulgence of his literary tastes, he kept con- stantly in view his distinctive object of equipping himself completely and perfectly for all the varied contests of his professional life. It was therefore eminently fitting that so devoted a lover of his profession should receive its highest rewards not only in winning the reputation of a great lawyer, but in being elevated to a judicial position. It was an appropriate consummation to his illustrious career when he was appointed by Gov. Dix, in January, 1873, to be one of the commissioners of appeals of the state of ISTew York. How faithfully, and with what ability, his duties in that office were discharged, the reports of this state bear ample witness. But he has gone. A great lawyer, an able judge, a warm-hearted, generous-souled, and highly gifted man has passed away. Memorial of John H. Reynolds. 25 When the bright sun of an unclouded day sinks below the horizon, it leaves behind a softened radiance as the shades of night approach ; and so when a man distinguished for commanding intellectual abilities, legal learning and unquestioned integrity blended with those genial and kindly qualities of heart which are so attractive and lova- ble, and crowned with judicial honors, goes down from his high position to his resting place in the grave, he leaves behind him the recollection of his many virtues, his ex- ■ tended reputation and all his endearing traits of social and private life to soothe the sorrows of bereavement. In his address commemorative of his friend, the late lamented JSTicholas Hill, Mr, Reynolds said : " The administration of justice presents the noblest field for the exercise of human capacity. It forms the ligament which binds society together. Upon its broad foundation is erected the edifice of public liberty. To lend humble aid in raising this structure is a valued privilege, but to stand preeminent among those who, at the bar, or upon the bench, have beautified and adorned the temple of justice, is among the loftiest positions allotted to man." That lofty position was allotted to him. For among those who have beautified and adorned the temple of justice of the state of 'New York, not only at the bar, but also uj^on the bench, stands preeminent the name of John H. Reynolds. f. s. 26 Memorial of John IL Reynolds [From the Hudson Dally Star, September 25, 1S~3.] Hox. John H. Reynolds. Died — At 11:30 yesterdav morning, at liis residence in Kinderliook, in this county, the Hon. JoHX H. Keyxolds, after an illness of but few weeks. XX the early autumn of tlie year, and of his life, has come the dread s^atheriuo- of the o-olden sheaf for the o-ar- ner. Although recent and sad intelligence of his languish- ing condition and of the almost inevitably fatal result to be apprehended had, to some extent, prepared the public mind for the catastrophe, yet the announcement, through the telegraph, of his death came like a shock to the public heart. Everywhere throughout our state andbeyond its borders, this intelligence will awaken emotions of regret, of sym- pathy, and of poignant sorrow. His was a reputation be- longing to the state, and our commonwealth regrets the loss of her gifted son. His loving family and innumerable friends cherished him as the first-born of their affections, and one precious beyond estimate to their hearts, and for and %vith them most precious tears are shed. His departure is a wide, desolating bereavement, and all who knew him — and " Xoue knew him but to love him, Xor named him but to praise" — sorrow deeply, unfeignedly, and with something of im- passioned anguish : and "Most of all, that they shall see his face no more." Our o^Aii county of Columbia mourns him M^ith profoundest grief, not alone because here his noble soul exhaled to its native heaven, nor because his meridian greatness had reflected back upon her its lustre, but because she had Memorial of John H. Reynolds. 27 been the home of his youthful adoption. Here he had acquired his academic education ; here lie had pursued the study of law ; here he commenced his professional career. " She had phiced the eaglet in her nest, And beside her wing lie learned to mount to glory." He had become her son, and as from the liour that the high-spirited, self-dependent youth placed his feet upon her soil, until the sad one, next Tuesday, when she will gather him into her bosom beneath it, he had been affec- tionately, dutifully mindful of her interests and her honor : so will she ever garland his memory with all the roses of her love. Columbia took him, the aspiring stripling; she sent him forth to cope with the loftiest, and she but gave him for the strife — "The Spartan's shield, and the Spartan's charge." Who, among all his professional brethren of our native county, fails to remember the courage, the energy, the tact, the indomitable will, the skilled audacity, as also the generosity, the magnanimity, the courtesy, which ever characterized John H. Reynolds in his nisi prius conflicts here ! And when changing his forum and but bracing and brightening his arms for sterner, more eventful strifes, and more veteran antagonists, how rapidly the young " counselor from the country" became the equal, and ott the conqueror, of those new and grand antagonists. As the qualities to which we have alluded had made him conspicuous and usually victorious before juries, so in that higher region of forensic contest he developed a quickness and accuracy of perception, an almost intuitive ajDprehension of the j^oint involved, a precision of state- ment, an aptitude of rejoinder, a readiness of resource, and a depth and purity and unfailing amplitude of legal lore and logic which drew toward him the respect of the 28 Memorial of John H. Reynolds. bencli, the admiration of liis associates, and the golden rewards and opinions from an extensive clientage. Mr. Reynolds has well been termed " an admirable type of the pure laWyer," but we think his earlier associates are the better judges of his varied powers and capacities, for probably few of those throughout the state, who have known him as the " great court of appeals lawyer," are cognizant of the fact that for nearly ten years of his ear- liest professional life he was a most meritorious jury lawyer and advocate. True, he had not, nor did he desire, the soaring, or the subduing, or the impassioned eloquence which " leads captivity captive " from the jury box, but for dextrous management of his case, for searching analy- sis in the cross examination of an adverse witness, for plain, convincing statement in his opening, for sharp re- tort, for unflinching, undaunted courage, and for a per- severance and persistency almost desperate or obstinate, he had no superior, scarcely an equal, at our bar. ISTo one who w^as present at the trial of jSTewton Gray, cliarged wdth one of the darkest offenses known to the law, can forget how, that at a crisis in the trial when the tide seemed setting against the prosecution and complainant, and when wickedness appeared imminently triumphant, and when his •associate counsel for the prosecution had become disheart- ened or dismayed, and even the judge manifested a more than doubtful proclivity for the prisoner's testimony, Mr. Reynolds, as one of the prosecuting counsel, firmly an- nounced his conviction of the prisoner's guilt, and his un- alterable resolve to stand for the riglit against every odds and every suggestion. And then himself, moving to the front of the prosecution, he, by firm assurance, by his tact, skill in cross examination, and audacity and dauntless courage, so turned the tide that thenceforth the convic- tion of the prisoner was but a matter of time and routine. That prisoner was convicted, nor was ever a more right- eous verdict or sentence rendered or recorded. Memorial of John H. Reynolds. 29 But tlie intrepidity of Mr. Reynolds was his instinct, as natural as his generosity, his magnanimity, and his fine chivalry of character. As a representative in the thirty- sixth congress of the United States the opportunity for a manifestation of his courage, independence, magnanimity and resplendent legal ahility were ahundantly aiforded. Elected as an independent democrat from the Albany dis- trict, he ever maintained a position independent of parti- san claims or influences; but in the hours of tumult and intimidation, and almost chaotic confusion which preceded the election of Mr. Pennington as speaker, he united with Henry Winter Davis and other independents in giving order to confusion, by a peaceable constitutional choice of the presiding ofiicer of that congress. As member of the judiciary committee his influence upon honest and consti- tutional legislation was second to that i no one of that committee. But the legislative chamber and all its arts and chicanery were uncongenial to his tastes. He pre- ferred the purer, calmer atmosphere of the highest tribunals of his country, and most eagerly passed from the hall of representatives to the supreme court room of the Capitol, where he became equally distinguished, and for the same lawyerly qualities which shed lustre upon him at the cap- ital of his state. But our readers may deem this article a mere panegeric and springing from the heated heart of enthusiasm, or as flowing uninterrupted by the cooler atmosphere of reason from the Geyser fountain of human love. Yes ! let me confess the truth of the charge : I admired, honored, revered, loved the man ! ! I am sure that in the character, if not in the extent of this feeling, I am but one among the thousands, for, as before quoted — " To know him was to love him." Pass by, in this afilictive hour, all his claims upon our 30 Memorial of John H. Reynolds. fraternal admiration as one among the chiefest of our pro- fession ; pass by bis patriotic records in tbe bour of bis country's deatb peril and almost deatb agony ; pass by a name and fame made illustrious by noble acbievement in tbe long life-battle for tbe rigbt and against tbe wrong ; pass by tbe lawyer, tbe statesman, tbe patriot, tbe citizen, tbe spotless judge, and tbe generous, cbivalric gentleman. But, pause before tbese cold remains and recall tbe gen- ial, noble man ; tbe friend wbo never tailed bis friend ; tbe companion, winning, instructive, gentle and electric. Re- call tbe fatber, and busband, and son, binding tbose triune relations into tbe unity of love ; recall tlie courteous man- ners, tbe graceful person, tbe eye of mingled tender- ness and fire, tbe voice of attractive sweetness ; recall in 'fine tbe great, full beart, tbe proud, tender soul, and tbe peerless intellect; and remembering tben bow still and. nerveless, and cold, and desolate, and departed are all but tbese mourned and peaceful asbes, and tben — " On with his burial, comrades. On with the noblest of the dead." c. l. b. Memorial of John H. Reynolds. 31 {From the Hudson Gazette, September 30, 1875.] Death of Hon. John H. Reynolds. XHE telegraph flashes to us the pamful intelligence that the Hon. John H. Reynolds is no more. He died at his residence in Kinderhook Friday morning, after a com- paratively brief illness, at half past eleven o'clock. His large circle of friends and acquaintances in this county and throughout the state will learn of his demise in the maturity of his manhood, and of his professional strength, with feelings of the deepest sorrow. Mr. Reynolds pursued the study of law at Kinderhook, in this county, and upon his admission to the bar became the copartner of the Hon. William H. Tobey, of that village, He almost immediately assumed a front rank in his chosen profession, drawing around him the warm, personal friend- ship of the Columbia county bar, and of the community in which he lived. While a resident of Kinderhook he was united in marriage with the accomplished daughter of the late lamented G-eneral Charles Whiting of that place, and subsequently removed to Albany, where he became one of the strongest and most popular members of the bar of the state, having for his partners, among others, the Hon. Clark B. Cochrane and Hamilton Harris. Probably no lawyer of his age has argued more causes or secured a more distinguished reputation in the court of appeals and in the other higher tribunals of the state than he. During the early part of his residence in Albany, he was elected member of congress in one of the most exciting and memorable political campaigns on record in that portion of the state. 32 Memorial of John H. Reynolds. During the existence of the late commission of appeals he was appointed by Governor Dix as one of its judges, and served as such during the existence of the court, show- ing in all his opinions and decisions the ripe culture of the scholar and an amount of legal acumen, which gave him distinction upon the bench. For the last few years of his life, though engaged in business and in public life at Albany, his residence and that of his family have been in the delightful village of Kinderhook, where he has enjo^^ed the love and confidence of the friends of his earlier years. Mr. Reynolds, though decided in his political convic- tions, was never interested in the machinery of politics. He was a gentleman of fine personal presence, with quick and keen perceptions, and an accomplished lawyer. In his legal arguments he was graceful and attractive, and the flash of his fine eye, and his ready adaptation to the case in hand, made him a powerful adversary in all professional combats. In all the relations of life, as a husband, father, friend and citizen, he was honored, and his image will ever come up before his sorrowing acquaintances as that of a " brother beloved." FUNERAL PROCEEDINGS. J- HE funeral ceremonies of the late liiglily distin- guished and universally respected jurist, Hon. John H. Reynolds, occurred at his late residence in Kinderhook Tuesday, Septemher 28, and were of the solemn and im- pressive character which the occasion naturally inspired. The universal regard and even affection in which he was held, prompted an unusually large attendance of his many friends to pay the last tribute of esteem to his fragrant memory ; to weave chaplets of love and cast them upon the bier of him who in life as well as in death presented an example eminently worthy of imitation. The attend- ance of the members of the bar of Albany, as well as from more remote parts of the state, was very large, and ex- hibited in a great degree the esteem in which the distin- guished jurist was held by his brethren of the profession. Among the prominent persons present were Hon. Sanford E. Church, chief justice and Judge Charles Andrews of the court of appeals; Hon. Alexander S. Johnson, for- merly of the court of appeals ; Hon. Wm. L. Learned, presiding justice of the supreme court ; Hon. Theodoric K. Westbrook and Hon. A. Melvin Osborn, justices of the supreme court ; ex-Justice P. S. Danforth of the supreme court, ex- Judge Amasa J. Parker, ex-Go v. John T. Hoff- man, Rev. Drs. Halley and Blayney. Shortly after twelve o'clock, the funeral services began, Rev. J. McC. Blayney, of the First Presbyterian church, of this city officiating. Appropriate Scriptural lessons were read, after which Dr. Blayney delivered feeling re- marks upon the life, character, services and example of 5 34 Memorial of John H. Reynolds. the deceased. The residence, though commodious, was totally inadequate to accommodate even a small portion of the immense throng in attendance, the greater number standing in groups on the beautiful lawn surrounding. Dr. Blayney's Address. JlLOW majestic is death ! With what awe and rever- ence do we enter where lies outstretched the form of the victims of his unseen but fatal touch. The loud voice is hushed ; the tread is muffled ; awe sits on every face ; silence reigns ; silence, dread symbol of his realm ! Silence, his most awful eloquence ! What human words could add to the solemnity of this scene ? What language could emphasize the great fact of death ? I hesitate to trespass on what I deem the proprieties of this occasion, by so much as a single remark. And yet I am constrained to give words to what I am sure is the feeling of every heart here to-day. I stand here, not in an official capacity, but as a friend. I feel a personality in this bereavement not usual where the stroke has severed no tie of consanguinity. And so do we all. We all feel as tliough a friend lies here, and we come together to follow with unfeigned grief the well- loved form to its last resting place. It is the good fortune of but few men, occupying the high official positions he did, with his lofty attainments, to draw around him such a host of friends from all classes of society, and positions and conditions of life as the deceased. But few who have ever been privileged to know him but have felt a personal bereavement in his death. By all classes, he was not only respected for his probity, reverenced for his ability and acquirements, and courted for his influence, but loved for his benignity and affability. I have listened to the esti- mates Avhich his brother j urists put upon him. I have heard the humble yeoman talk of him. I have read the tributes Memorial of John H. Reynolds. 35 of the press, provincial and metropolitan, doing homage to his worth. But yesterday a leading merchant said to me that every employe in his house welcomed the entrance of the deceased as that of a friend. Wlien all classes and professions are thus spontaneousl}^ doing honor to his memory, I would, in behalf of my own profession, weave a chaplet of love and cast it upon his bier. ISTo one with the vows of the sacred calling upon him could ever say that he received anj^tl^ing from him but the most marked respect, cordiality, and hospitality. The recipient as I have been of innumerable acts of kindness at his hands, I should be ungrateful did I fail to add my tribute, to-day, to the goodness of his heart, and the nobility of his character. But he is gone ! A distinguished jurist is gone from the bench ; a champion is gone from the forum ; an ornament is gone from society ; an affectionate husband and devoted father is gone from the home ; a friend is gone from our hearts. It is no ordinary sympathy we bring to- day to these mourning friends. If our griefs are not so profound, they are as sincere as your own. We, too, bury love as well as you in this coffin. In this hour of your sore bereavement I commend you to God and the word of His grace. Remember the promises : " Afflictions spring not up out of the ground. All things work for good. No good thing will I withhold from them that walk uprightly." Believe in the goodness of God ; cling to that which is strong, for, no matter what trials may come upon you, the Lord pitieth his children. Though it may now seem evil, God means it for good. " 'Ro affliction for the present is joyous but grievous." Put your hand into the hand of your Heavenly Father and like a little child walk where He leads, in all confidence, even though it be through the fiery furnace and deep rolling waters. Will the members of the bar allow me a word ? It is said that death loves a shining mark ; and truly the adage 36 Memorial of John H. Reynolds. has been verified in your midst recently. Peckliam, Grover and Reynolds have fallen in your very midst. I am sure, as thinking- men, you cannot have failed to dis- cern from this, the great lesson of Providence to you. Death is no respecter of persons. The great are as vul- nerable as the small. You may toil and build up your reputation ; you may rear palaces and rule empires, but when the great leveler touches you, your places will be even with the lowest, and your dust, be in no way distin- guished from theirs The ashes of the oak in the chimney corner leave no epitaph to tell how large it was, or how many flocks it sheltered, where it stood, or how many men it hurt when it fell. The dust of great men's graves is speechless too. It tells not what crowds they have charmed with their eloquence ; what positions they have honored with their occupancy. "What a disenchanter is death ! It defaces the fascinations of the beautiful. It breaks the lamp of the wise. It withers the strength of the mighty. It snatches the store of the rich. Kings are stripped of trapping, trophy and treasure. All stand in the naked- ness of character. I would not decry the prizes of earth. Our religion does not repress within us laudable desire or ambition. It only sanctifies them. There is the legend of the great king who, with crown of gold and pearl and sceptre of ivory and precious stones, whose dominion ex- tended from sea to sea, yet was not happy. He sought out a dervish famed for sagacity and wisdom, whom he found in the fastnesses of the wilderness, and of whom he anxiously asked how he should find happiness. The holy man led him forth by rugged paths until he stood in view of where an eagle had built her eyrie, high up on an overhanging clifi", and he said : " Imitate this bird. Build thy throne in the heavens and then shalt thou reign in happiness and peace." So I say to-day. 8et your mark high, high as you dare, and toil up to it. Win all of earth Memorial of John H. Reynolds. 37 it is possible for mortal to have, but don't leave eternity out of tlie account. Fix your purposes liigher than time ; high up among the mountains of immortality, so that death cannot carry you down, and all else with you. Build on the Rock of Ages. Then when dissolution comes it can- not hurt you. It will be but a passage from a dungeon to a palace ; from a sea of trouble to a haven of rest ; from the perishable honors of earth to the imperishable crow^ns of immortality. Then death will be no longer the awful enemy he seems, but he will be stripped of his terrors, and in the mien of an angel and the livery of Heaven he shall come to bear the soul away to the land of life and light, where is fulness of joy. At the conclusion of the funeral address. Rev. Dr. Blayney offered up a solemn and impressive invocation, and the services were at an end. A procession was formed, which proceeded to the beautiful cemetery situated about a mile from the residence, where the assemblage collected around the grave which was to be the final rest- ing place of their deceased friend. The scene at the grave, which was freshly dug, was of the most solemn character. The near relatives collected immediately about the open grave, when the coffin was let gently down by the four sons of the deceased — William H. T., George, John H., and James A. — who also acted as pall-bearers. The remains were deposited immediately alongside the grave of his son Charles "W., who died in 1874. Upon the lid of the casket was a large plate, containing the simple inscription : John H. Reynolds. Born, June 21, 1819; Died, Beftemher 24, 1875. The services at the grave were concluded with a deeply impressive prayer offered by Rev. Dr. E. Halley, of the Third Presbyterian church of Albany, and the funeral 38 Memorial of John H. Reynolds. cortege wended its wav back to the town. Thus were interred the mortal remains of John H. Reynokis, who thongh dead, yet liveth in the hearts of the thonsands whom his phihmthropy has blessed, his talents attracted, and his o-raoes endeared. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ALBANY BAR. J. HE Albany county bar met at the rooms of the court of appeals the second clay of October, at 10 o'clock, to take action in regard to the death of their late distin- guished professional brother, John H. Reynolds. Among those present were Hon. Hamilton Harris, so long a partner of the deceased, Hon. Bradford R. Wood, Judge Parker, Samutl Hand, Geo. W. Miller, S. O. Shep- ard, Paul F. Cooper, William A. Young, R. W. Peckham, Grrenville Tremain, A. J. Colvin, Judge Wolford, Isaac Edwards, Isaac Lawson, John J. Olcott, Leonard Kip,]!!T. C. Moak, W. S. Hevenor, Joseph M. Lawson, John W. Mc- ISTamara, A. J. Parker, Jr., and many others. The desk of the court of appeals was hung with the emblems of mourning. Governor John T. Hoffman was called to the chair. Paul F. Cooper and Leonard G. Hun acted as secre- taries. On motion, the chair appointed Messrs. R. W. Peck- ham, Judge Parker and Samuel Hand a Committee on Resolutions. The committee retired and on their return submitted the following Resolutions : He, who but yesterday rightly occupied one of the fore_ most places in the Inisy ranks of our profession, now tran- quilly sleeps his last sleep, no longer taking part in the contests and cares of professional life — John H. Rey- nolds is dead. 40 Memorial of John H. Eeynolds, The members of tlie bar of the county of All)any, have assembled here to-day to honor the memory of one of the greatest and most successful leaders, not only of this bar, but that of the state at large. Being desirous of expressing in an enduring form, those sentiments of respect and affection, which we unanimously held toward him while living, the members of the Albany bar, among whom the most of his professional life was spent, at this meeting in the room of the court of appeals, on Saturday, October 2, 1875, unanimously Resolved, That, by the death of John H. Reynolds, an acknowledged leader of our profession, has fallen. His position in our ranks had been obtained by the exhibition of the highest and rarest qualites of the heart and mind. The whole character of the man was uncommon. The union of such great intellectual vigor with -a nature so frank, fearless, fresh and joyous, is rare indeed. No man came in contact with him without respecting him. '^o man ever met him in intimate social life, without admir- ing and loving him. We, who knew him both as a lawyer and a friend, will never forget the learning and ability he displayed as the one, nor the warm and generous heart he showed as the other. As with all lawyers, he liked suc- cess ; and yet, unless he could achieve it by the force and clearness of his reasoning — unless he could convince the understanding, instead of swaying the passions or preju- dices of the tribunal before which he appeared — success had no charms for him. Hence the unconquerable aver- sion he always had to the trial of a cause before a jury. He had not simply a dislike, but an active, actual hatred of all shams, for there was nothing of sham in the man. Removing to this county in his early manhood, he mounted by firm and steady steps to a position in the very front rank, among the chosen few of our profession. Here for many years we have been admiring witnesses of his Memorial of John H. Reynolds. 41 great and brilliant professional success, especially in our court of last resort, where his chief labors were put forth and his great triumphs achieved. The reports of that court during those years are silent but conclusive testi- mony to the many and important cases in which he was counsel, and which he argued on one side or the other against the great lawyers of the day. And no man ever had a fairer opponent. He stated his adversary's case with clearness and candor, and then proceeded to combat it with all the ability of a trained intellect, with all the dexterity of a master of the art of reasoning. After years of such labor at the bar, he was in 1873 appointed one of the commissioners of the commi-esion of appeals, and the profession throughout the state recognized, as with one voice, the eminent iitness of the appointment. "With the existence of that court his labors ceased, and within a few brief weeks he died. While we were looking forward to welcoming his return to the bar and a professional life anions us, death claimed him, and he has ceased from his labors. For political life he had no taste. His opinions, however, were such as would naturally emanate from such a source, and he had no hesitation, at proper times, in expressing them clearly and forcibly, for the man was without fear. In his friendships he was absolutely forgetful of self. There was a large-hearted generosity in his complete devo- tion to his friends, by which he " grappled them to his soul with hooks of steel." It necessarily happened that with such strong feelings — active, positive, almost aggressive, in their character — prejudices would sometimes arise which were powerful in their nature and lasting in their strength. But such pre- judices were aroused by what he thought was mean, un- m,anly or dishonorable ; and for such things he had no charity, no excuse. What he did or said himself, was 6 42 Memorial of .John TI. "Reynolds. open and frank, and lie hated with a bitter and eonsumhig hatred, erervthing- of a eontrarv nature. Sneh was John H. Reynokls, one of the foremost hiw- yers of his day — a man admired and k^ved by hi? co- temporaries, and one whose character will shine as an example for those who are to come after us. Besolvtd, That as the deceased tilled for many years so important a place among the counsel practicing in the court of appeals, and as he was also a member of the commission of appeals, we regard it as tittiug and appro- priate that the record of these proceedings be presented to the court of appeals at its present term, with a request on the part of this bar that it be placed upon the minutes of the court. Bcsolved, That a copy of these proceedings, signed by the officers of this meeting, be also sent to the family of the deceased and published in the news-papers of the city. Mr. S. 0. Shepakd moved tlie adoption of the resolu- tions, and spoke as follows : Jlr. Chairman — It has been the custom of our brethren of the bar from time to time, as death has removed our associates, informally to assemble and express our appre- ciation of their merits. Such expression sometimes, per- haps, has been exaggerated, and that discrimination which alone lends value .to eulogy, may have been unconsciously obscured by the tenderness with which sorrow deals with human fi'ailties. I have, while sitting here, reviewed in memory the cha- racters and qualities upon which we have heretofore with sad frequency been called upon to comment. And the thought has occurred to me that if we could collate into a single brief eulogy the words of kindly appreciation which have heretofore been uttered of others, and could apply them to our dead friend whom we this day mourn, there would no voice dissent from the justice of such application. I Memorial of John H. Reynolds. 43 WTien the mysterious veil wliicli separates us from the future was drawn aside for our friend to enter its shadowy realm, a noble, a true, a generous, a great soul passed through. John H. Reynolds was emphatically a man of mark, and his peers were hut few. He possessed in rare and beautiful combination those qualities of mind and character which of necessity secure success in action and lend lustre to reputation. And yet it is not easy rightly to portray in words a character like that which he possessed, or to impart to those who knew it not intimately a just appreciation as well of its subtle beauty as of its robust strength. The grand foundation of his character was manhood — manhood in its broadest sense — simple, true, instinctive manhood. And upon this foundation rested in splendid poise the whole fabric of his rare individuality. An innate nobility towered within, and elevated him without effort far above the vulgar, the selfish, and the common-place in human motive and human action. All that was mean or merce- nary or corrupt or questionable was instinctively, by an organic necessity of his nature, as positively repelled, as in physics, is matter, by the law of repulsion. His honor, his truthfulness, his integrity, his charity, were not the results of a fierce conflict between a dominant will recognizing its moral obligations, and seeking to as- sert its supremacy over selfish instincts. Integrity, honor, generosity, truthfulness, cost him no struggle, not even effort. He was generous and honest and just and true from this necessity of his nature, and because he could not, without effort, be other^^^se. In social intercourse, he possessed a personal magnetism, as attractive as it was irresistible, and not more surely did he attach to himself those \vith whom he associated, than does the magnet the iron when brought into contact. Men 44 Memorial of John II. Keynolds. recognized this power, yielded readily to its influence, and tendered to liini their eontidenee, in the full conviction that it could not he misplaced and would not he hetrayed. He was genial, sunny, kind, sympathetic and singularly winning in his address. In his gayer moods, his? humor irresistihle, from the grotesi^^ue originality of his combina- tions, never failed to elicit the mirth which it was intended to provoke. While his wit, unstudied, unborrowed, keen and ready, flashed out unch'r the stimulus of soeial inter- course with congenial spirits as spontaneously as the dia- mond responds with starry sparkle to the light. And yet he was no trifler with life's stern conditions, nor frivolous even in his gayest moods. But at all times beneatli the transient ripple which his racy humor so often stirred, the careful observer could detect the deep pulsa- tions of a great, sincere and earnest nature. As a lawyer, he possessed those powers and qualities which could not fail to secure to him his great eminence in the profession, to which they Avere dedicated. His comprehensive mind, his incisive faculties, his searching power of analysis, enabled him to reach as by intuition the great turning points of every case in Ashich he was professionally interested, to divest them of all that embarrassed or obscured, and to marshal them with his cogent logic under the authority of those principles to which they were justly subjected. His crystal clearness of thought, his atfluence of legal acquisition, his direct- ness, his precision, his exliaustive research, his professional adroitness, all exhibited in language as remarkable for its purity as for its terse simplicity never failed to accomplish for his client at least all that the merits of his case could fairly demand. He was bold, never flippant : he was self-reliant, never dogmatic ; dignified, never arrogant ; independent, never uncourteous. Memorial of John H. IvEYNOLDti. 45 A combination of qualities so rare, allied with an integ- rity wliieli was never questioned, with a grand loyalty to the right and a chivalry of sentiment kingly in its tone, fairly entitled him to the api)ellation of the Bayard of the bar — " without fear, without reproach." To describe him as destitute of human frailties would do violence to his great and truthful nature ; would be spurned by none more readily than by him as an insin- cerity unworthy of manly friendship, and would divest eulogy of all value with discriminating minds. In common with us all, he had frailties, for he was human. But they seemed to form no integral part of the fine structure of the man. They were only as the para- sites which sometimes adhere so tenaciously to the noblest of God's moral creations, as well as to the fairest fruit and the most fragrant flower. But his frailties were only earthy and of the eartJi, and they are buried already with his mortal remains in the bosom of our common mother earth, and will be forgotten by those who loved him long before those mortal remains will have become assimilated to their kindred dust. But long, lovg will it be, ere liis great, and generous, and manly cliaracter — his splendid professional reputa- tion, so fairly earned and so nobly maintained — a repu- tation unsullied by a single stain — will fade from the memories of his hosts of friends. This yellow autumn sun-light will linger sadly upon many another new-made grave, but upon none more la- mented than that in which our friend reposes. The shadow of death will fall upon many another household, but through the open door will be borne to its resting place no other who will be followed by sweeter memories and by regrets more sincere. 46 Memorial of John H. Reynolds. Remarks of Mr. William A. Young. I concur, most heartily, in the sentiments A\hich have been uttered, with so much feeling and eloquence, on the moiivnfnl event which has assembled us together; and certainly none here can sympathize more cordially than myself, in the grief of those whose hearts have been most heavily smitten by the domestic bereavement, which brings with it, also, so great a loss to the legal profession, and to the public at large. My acquaintance with John H. Rey- nolds dates back to the commencement, almost, of his pro- fessional career: and, during nearly the entire period of his residence in this city, it was my good fortune to enjoy his intimate friendship. No one who ever knew his tine and generous qualities, can fail to appreciate the varied pleasures attending an intimacy with sueh an exemplar and oriKinient of nature's nobility, or to comprehend the painful emotions that crowd upon the heart at their retrospect. For his was a character so full of elevated principle and magnanimous sentiment, tliat duplicity, craft or meanness could effect no lodgment wdthin its compass. With our deceased friend the genial courtesies, which adorn the intercourse of social life, were but the outward manifestation of the delicate sensibilities and summer sweetness of disposition that endeared him so strongly to his friends, and which will ever dwell in their memories. From the earliest history of our state organization, the bar of Albany county — however few its munbers — has borne an honorable character, and may boast of not a few illustrious men, in the latter portion of the last century, and the earlier years of the present, who had no small share in formino- the historv of the eventful times in which they lived. When Mr. Reynolds joined the bar of this Memorial of John H. Reynolds. 47 county in 1850, it numbered, in its ranks, several gentle- men who were no unworthy successors of the learned and distinguished men of the profession, who had been so conspicuous in the early judicial annals of the state. It is needless for me to mention, in this presence, the names of any of our eminent lawyers belonging to so recent a pelnod. Their reputation, at least, is familiar to all who hear me ; and it will be thought no disparagement of their just fame to say, that our friend speedily proved himself the peer of any of these in the forensic lists. His rare natural gifts admirably fitted him for success in these intellectual contests. He performed his part like one who understood his weapons thoroughly, and seemed, as the accomplished champion in ruder conflicts, to draw inspiration from the graceful ease with which he wielded his sword and shield. The quickness of his apprehension was remarkable ; his grasp of the true principles involved in the case before him was tenacious, and guided by a mental vision that seldom erred. His statements were terse, but clothed in language that made them really luminous ; and, in un- folding matters the most intricate or perplexed, he pos- sessed that happy faculty of so marshaling facts, with reference to controlling principles of law, as to render elaborate argument'^well nigh superfluous. Dealing, as he did, more with subjects of abstract cha- racter than with such as warmed the fancy, or allowed flight to the imagination, he adhered closely to the level of the matter in hand, studiously avoiding everything, however brilliant or inviting, that might possibly tend to confusion or obscurity. It must not be supposed, how- ever, that his method partook of the cold preciseness of mathematical demonstration ; on the contrary, his style was animated, and he always appeared at his ease. His illustrations were apt and clear ; and so skillfully conceived 48 ^[E^[ORlAL OF .Toiix TT. Reynolds. as to give point to his ariruinont. or add now force to its eiiect. Wliere liumorwas not unbecoming, lie knew how to use it eiiectively, without wounding an opponent, or deviating from tlie line of professional or gentleman-like decorum. The interests entrusted to Mr. Eeynohls's management were often of verv great amount: but in small things, equally ^^-ith those of higher relative import- ance, his assiduity and patience were alike exemplary. He Avas successful in an eminent degree : but his success wa5 not a mere gift of fortune, and, though he possessed genius of a high order, genius alone did not make him the great lawyer he was. In his earlier professional life, he had been a close stu- dent, and he continued ever after to be a strenuous worker in his professional avocations. He considered nothing beneath his attention, and his power was largely due to the severe training by which he had fitted himself for duty. Let the young lawyer, there- fore, learn from his example, and trom his success, not to loiter, vainly awaiting the inspirations of genius. Their visits are vouchsafed to but few ; while the generality of mankind are endowed with a capacity for intellectual labor which, in its vigorous exercise, may develop powers before unheeded or unknown, and enable their possessor to climb, with patient feet, to heights which the wing of genius so often tails to reach. During his service in the thirty-sixth congress, March, 1859 — March, 1861, Mr. Reynolds was conspicuous for the high qualities and un- tiring industry which distinguished him at the bar. Pis- daining all temptations to rhetorical display, he devoted himself to the laborious duties of the committee room and to the preparation and furtherance of necessary or judi- cious legislation. Prompted by no selfish impulse : ac- cessible to none of the considerations which impel the niercenarv : standino- far above the schemes of visionarv Memorial of John H. Reynolds. 49 pretenders, or the artful designs of Belial-tongued peculat- ors, lie served his constituents and bis country with fidelity and judgment; and, at a time when clouds were thickly gathering on the horizon, and great fear had possessed the hearts of many, his courage and patriotism were unmoved and serene ; nor did his confidence in the fortunes of the country, or its glorious future, fail or waver during the tremendous scenes that followed. It would be unjust to the memory of Mr. Reynolds not to add, in this connection, a brief notice of his labors, as the active member of his committee, in taking the volu- minous depositions, and preparing the report to congress, on charges afl:*ecting the official conduct of a United States judge in one of the southern states. The nature and value of such services are unknown, for the most part, to the public at large ; but all the gentlemen here present are quite able to appreciate the arduous and responsible cha- racter of the duty in question, and the discrimination and accuracy required for its fitting performance. To this toilsome work Mr. Reynolds devoted himself with cus- tomary energy — scrutinizing and comparing the mass of documents and proofs, and carefully estimating their legitimate force, while paying scrupulous regard to the rights of the party accused. When the task had been completed, and everything was in readiness for final pro- ceedings, the accused, seeing no escape from degradation and punishment, eluded the claims of public justice by means of a resignation that branded him with perpetual infamy. If the Roman soldier, who saved the life of a single citizen in battle, was deemed worthy the honors of the civic crown, may not the man, who thus powerfully aided in rescuing the people of a state from the rapacity of a self-seeking and iniquitous judge, be entitled to an honor- able place in the grateful regards of his countrymen ? 7 50 Memorial of John H. "Reynolds. When Mr. Reynolds retnniod to his home, at the termi- nation of his congressional services, he entered again npon his professional avocations with all his former diligence, and with a degree of intellectual vigor unsurpassed by the efforts of former years. It will excite no surprise, among those who enjoyed frequent opportunities (if hearing our friend in public, or of meeting him in jirivate society, to learn that, in some way, during the whole course of his arduous pro- fessional career, he had found opportunities of cultivating his fine literary tastes. In truth, this must have been quite apparent to all who listened to his public efforts, or who noted the elegant and nervous English in which his thoughts were clothed. He had acquired, moreover, a liberal acquaintance with English and American classics, and his nice discernment enabled him to compare and appreciate their varied merits. He loved poetry, especially the higher lyrical compositions, but was, by no means, insensible to the grander efforts of the British muse. It must be quite unnecessary for me to refer to our de- ceased friend's eminent services on the bench. These have been performed so largely in the presence of gentlemen here assembled, that, I may be permitted to say, they are known and appreciated of you all. But one opinion, I am sure, can be entertained of his fitness/or the place he held in a department of our learned and most able court of last resort. For he brought to the discharge of his duties in that high tribunal a thoroughly trained legal mind, vast powers of comprehension and analysis, and the personal and official integrity, of which our court of appeals has always been so conspicuous an example. iS'ot long after the expiration of Judge Reynolds's term of office, his health failed so tar as to compel him to with- draw, in a great measure, from the professional pursuits which he had resumed, and to which he had been again most cordially welcomed by his brethren. Memorial of John H. Reynolds. 51 Hopes of recovery were indulged, at times, by his friends ; but it soon became apparent, to those, even, who had hoped longest, that disease was preying upon his vitals, and that he was ere long to fall out of the ranks where he had stood so many years a distinguished ornament. He passed from the scenes of earth on the 24th of the last month, and his memory will remain embalmed in the hearts of his kindred, not only, but in the hearts, also, of all who appreciated his lofty talents, his independent and upright character and the warm charities and affections of which his heart was the abode. As we stood, the other day, in that peaceful cemetery where repose so many loved ones who had gone before him, and paid our last sad offices to his mortal remains, who could refrain from mins-lino; his tears with those of that mounring circle, who deplored the too early loss of such a husband and father ! How beautifully the Septem- ber sun poured his soft radiance upon the freshly-heaped earth that marked his resting place ! How fair and lovely the votive flowers with which affection crowned his grave ! The sunshine departed with the closing day ; the flowers have exhaled all their fragrance, and their beauty has vanished away. The winds, witli mournful cadence, are scattering the many-hued leaves of autumn where he lies ; but the spring shall surely return, in her appointed round, to deck his narrow bed with fresh verdure and new flowers, a type of that resurrection from the dead, in which are in- volved the most consoling hopes of mankind. In the teachings of this melancholy event, each of us has a personal interest. Let us all lay them to heart. No rank in life, however exalted ; no endowments of fortune, however lavish ; no pride of intellect can turn aside the shafts of the great destroyer ; no earthly panoply is proof against his unerring aim. The luminaries of our juridical firmament, one bv one. 52 Memorial of John H. Reynolds. aud in too rapid succession, are sinking into the darkness of the tomb. But a few weeks ago, an honored judge of our highest state court, venerated alike for his personal worth and the eminence of his public services, was sum- moned from the midst of his brethren, to take his place in the silent mansions of the dead. And how brief the interval, since another star of magnitude disappeared from the horizon, beneath the waters, to rise again, we may hope, with perennial lustre, in that serener clime, fore- shadowed in the apocalypse, where there shall be no more sea. God grant, that when each one of us shall be called be- fore the last assize, that tribunal of perfect justice and of inconceivable solemnity, he may not stand alone, but find the Great Advocate close at his side. Remarks of Mr. Paul F. Cooper. 3Ir. Chairman — We are not met here to-day with any thought that we can add by our action to the esteem in which the memory of John H. Reynolds is held. His place in the public mind is too firmly and too highly fixed for that. But when a man dies, so eminent in his profes- sion, and so much respected, admired and beloved, both in that profession and out of it, as he was, the general feeling of all who knew him naturally seeks an expression. This is what has called us together now. Our own desire to speak and to hear the praise of the dead whom all here respected, all admired, and whom so many of us loved as a personal friend. Let me then i^very briefiy, for othei's have done it better), name a few of the qualities which we all kno^v distinguished him : An integrity which never swerved; an intellect where the greatest subtlety and logical power were combined with, and controlled by, a judgment and common sense whose intuitive accuracy might be said to amount to genius ; a warm, impulsive Memorial of John H. Reynolds. 53 and generous heart in wliicli there never hirked a mean- ness ; an open liberality that knew scarcely any bounds ; a manly intrepidity that scorned disguise of his convic- tions or feelings and gave to every one assurance of his sincerity. These are the bare outlines of a character which drew men to him with magnetic force. Though an active par- tisan of whatever cause his convictions led him to espouse, and oftentimes even a bitter one, as strong, too, in his dis- likes as he w^as in his likings, and always open in the expression of what he thought or felt, yet in every com- munity in which he ever lived he could count his friends by scores and his admirers by hundreds ; and few men were so often — so almost always — mentioned with praise. It was so while he lived. It is so now that he is dead. Upon our streets, in our places of business, in hundreds of homes, his eulogium has already been pronounced, and what we say of him here has been anticipated. What has been spoken of him is high praise, no doubt ; but it is true : and in the truth, be it ever so eulogistic, there can be no flattery. Remarks of Mr. Isaac Edwards. We do not readily find words to express our estimate and regard for the late John H. Reynolds. His manly form, his dark eye, that kindled with light and humor, his frankness and steady friendship, that won and held so lono; the hearts of men, are the common recollection of us all. But who shall recall for us the story of his life, be- ginning with his school days, when his tastes drew him almost equally toward the w^orld of business and active life on the one hand, and on the other, towards the less active but more exacting and laborious studies of the pro- fession ; or speak of the energy and high ambition with which he entered upon the study of the law, and prose- 54 Memorial of John II. Kkyinolds. cuted it year after year with untiring industry ; who shall rightfully estimate those iirst years of his practice, liis many hard-fouglit battles when tliere was no reporter present, liis careful preparation of his cause, and close study of the law, while his client slept in the eoiitident hope of a verdict to he secured hy a few adroit words that should appear to leap spontaneously from the lips of the young advocate. The seed sleeps for a while in the earth before it breaks forth in the glory of life ; and these early years were a kind of seed time in the career of our friend ; not years of waiting for business, but years of training and discipline. T\"e all know, Mr. Chairman, how early he stepped for- ward and took his place among the foremost in the con- tests of the bar, and with what care and strength he kept his place in the front rank. I do not here assume the liberty to speak of him at length and of his labors in this higher walk of his professional life. It was a pleasure to hear him when, as it often happened, he met the late JSTicholas Hill as the opposing counsel in the close grapple of an argument. It was like the clash of steel : and you enjoyed the argument all the more because it was uttered in the clear, concise language of the advocate before a bench of judges : with tact and skill, and apt illustration, but without any waste of words. Macaulay tells tis the finest, even the most remarkable argument ever made before the English bar, was uttered in the brief space of five minutes : and we can all of us recall arguments of great power made by both of these men within a very few minutes — arguments prompted by an immediate occasion, and yet drawn from the accu- mulated resources of years of close and critical study of the law. The strength of the argument took its rise in the antecedent years of hard work. ^'Tiat a life time of labor it requires to tit a man to do the work of a secretary Memorial of John H. Reynolds, 55 of state under this republic, or to hold the helm as prime minister of Great Britain. Hardly less is the training re- quired to fit a man for the responsibilities of an advocate, or for the equally onerous and honorable duties of a judge ; responsibilities borne and duties discharged by our friend with such eminent success. We need not measure our words or fear " to overstep the modesty of truth." I^o man was more honored in this community, and few lawyers in the state have achieved a more enviable distinction. The sorrow of this great loss is not confined to the brotherhood of lawyers ; it is the mingled tribute of love and afifection felt by the whole city, and still more tenderly in that beautiful village, where we followed him to his grave in the earl}^ autumn, just as the foliage of the maples began to be touched by the glories of the departing year. We shall meet him no more on the earth, but we shall carry in our hearts while we live, the kindliest recollec- tions of this great lawver — this large-hearted man. Remarks of Mr. A. J. Colvin. Mr. Chairman — I do not suppose that I can contri- bute anything to what has been said, and so well said, concerning the character of John H. Reynolds ; yet I can- not forbear a few words to his memory. As a lawyer, John H. Reynolds stood in the front rank of the profession. His mind was profoundly, keenly ana- lytical. His logic incisive and searching. He possessed the rare faculty of making his argument in the statement of the case. That accomplished, in his direct, truthful, luminous style, he had little to add, ex- cept the authorities, which he marshaled and discriminated with singular power. This faculty of mind belongs to the higher intellects of 56 Memorial of .Tohx H. Reynold?. the profession alone : it is instinctive : inborn : the gift of genius, not the acquisition of talent. It was the distinguishing characteristic of Alexander Hamilton, of John Wells, of Samuel A. Taleott : it was matchlessly exhibited in Daniel AVebster. John H. Reynolds was the very soul of honor. He was conspicuous for courage, truthfulness, straight-forward- ness, magnanimity. In his manners he was simple, modest, courteous, unpretending. In his friendships he was steadfast and warm. The grasp of his hand was lirm ; his heart was in it. He was viHthout artitice. There was no chicanery in his nature. In this respect, he brings to mind that character of Scripture made memorable for the ages : " Behold an Israelite^ indeed, in ichom is no guile .'" Mr. Chairman — If it maybe said of any man, in his intercourse with his fellow men, it may be said of John •H. Reynolds : He did unto others what he would that others should do unto him ! He was an honest man. The resolutions were then unanimously adopted, ]SIr, Hand moved that the chairman of the committee on resolutions (Mr, Peckham) present the record of the proceedings of the meeting to the court of appeals, at its present term, with a request that the same be entered upon the minutes of the court. The motion was adopted. The meeting then adjourned. PROCEEDINGS IN THE COURT OF APPEALS IN REFERENCE TO THE DEATH OF HON. JOHN H REYNOLDS, LATE COMMISSIONER OF APPEALS. On tlie 6tli day of October, 1875, Hon. Rufus W. Peckham arose and said : "If the court please, the emblems of mourning which now surround me would seem to indicate that I have come at a fit time to present to you the action of the bar of Albany in relation to the death of our lamented friend, the late John H. Reynolds. The habiliments of woe in which this court room is now draped, because of the so recent decease of him who at the time was one of the judges of this high tribunal, might, I feel confident, also stand as a sign and testimony of the sorrow w^hich each occupant of this bench, in common with the profession, felt when the sad news was brought that John H. Reynolds was dead. Honored men in our profession have lately fallen. Your own companion, one who has sat by your side in that now vacant chair since the reorganization of the court, has left you, never more to return. Another judge who once occupied a seat upon the bench of the old court, and still later upon the bench of the cir- cuit court of the United States, has also gone. Our friend, in behalf of whose memory the bar of Albany has taken action, also occupied a seat upon the commission of appeals, a tribunal which has but just ceased to exist. In all of these men the intellect was still in the very prime of its vigorous existence, its force unabated, its clearness un- dimmed. Old age had in no way laid its enervating hand 58 Memorial of John H. Reynolds. upon tliem ; and yet all are dead. Tlie death of such men solemnly yet sternly admonishes us, not only that there is a time appointed unto all men once to die, but that youth and mature manhood, equall}' with old age, is called upon to furnish members of that innumerable throng which have passed, and are daily passing, into the silent chambers of the dead. When we were informed of the decease of our friend, after a comparatively brief illness, the members of the Albany bar, at a meeting held in this room on Saturday, October 2d, unanimously adopted the resolutions which I am about to read, and I was, in part, charged with the duty of presenting them to you with a respectful request from the bar that you would order them entered upon the minutes of the court. Harsdng thus performed the duty with which I was charged, I ask but to say a word in addition. I do not wish to speak of the professional or judicial life of Mr. Reynolds ; that has already been fittingly alluded to, and, I am confident, will be again appropriately spoken of. It is of the man, the generous, whole-souled, kind- hearted friend that I would speak. Although considera- bly my senior, circumstances so happened that I saw him in social life a great deal, and I have frequently enjoyed his elegant and refined hospitality. The corner stone upon which his character was based was sincerity. When he grasped the hand of a friend, looked upon his face, and spoke to him, there was such positive vigor and earnest warmth in his touch, such a frank and open glance from his eye, such absolute, unafl:ected heartiness in his voice, that the general combination gave perfect assurance of a man whose whole nature was honest, brave, chivalrous. I feel that in thus bearing my humble testimony to the noble personal qualifications of the man, I am but feebly discharging a personal debt of gratitude I owe for Memorial of John H. Reynolds. 59 many acts of kindness and friendship I have experienced at his hands. That he had faults is only to say that he was human ; but, as was eloquently and truly said by one of his warmest friends at our meeting the other day, " they are buried already, with his mortal remains, in the bosom of our common mother earth, and will be forgotten by those who loved him long before those mortal remains will have become assimilated to their kindred dust." In conclusion, I do, in behalf of the bar of the county of Albany, most respectfully ask this court that it may order to be entered upon its minutes the record of the pro- ceedings which I now present to you. Hon. Samuel Hand spoke as follows : May it please the court : It is sometimes objected that on occasions like these, when the passing away from among us of one of our professional brothers seems to call for some testimonial of appreciation and regret, eulogy is too generally indiscriminate and extravagant ; and that, from the generous and natural feeling which prevents even a thought, much less a word, of any thing but good concern- ing the dead, almost universally a portrait is painted all lights and no shades ; a portrait in which all distinctive features are lost in an overpowering glare of injudicious praise. In John H. Reynolds, however, the intellectual attributes were so marked and distinct, his moral and mental quali- ties so pronounced and original in their character, that it would be almost impossible to err in their description or to overstate their peculiar merits. Mr. Reynolds had for many years been a leading counsel at the bar of this court, and from the death of Mr. ISTicholas Hill, in 1859, until nearly the time of his being called to the bench, took the first place as to the number of the causes in which he was engaged. ^) MJSXOSIAL OF -J0H5" EL RsTT'jLDiS. IWfore tiie coort. as novr organize*!, iiis appearances as ; ^ " " _' -'Tom rhr ■ - "' - -" "" ' ":h. .;.,-^. ---7 "were __: -: i- . ._-_: „r . _i:re the old court of appeals, have been quite soffic-iently so to ^ive to TOUT iionors an mtrmate ^ie^ o£ his inteHeetnal That _-__.:-- z.- .: .-. .-- ' uml sway the mind?, or rather the hearts of men. despite their reason and in defian*!e of k^o. he probably did not po^ess : certainly ■-■ ' "I possess it. he eve:- "'-' " " - ' "-. His -.- . .-_je 'was. if not the r..-,-. -.; .--.:: :_, r--- ^^"^ purer type, an eloquence addressed to the inteHeet alone : that eloquence irhieh resolts frjm. and c-onsists in. a dose fcnit logic. -' . ' /- ■" ' ■ '■ " -■ ■■- " ■' ji apt and ner . ..- _._.._._. : ..__ : ::is by genoine feeling and by earnest and ani m ated delivery — that spe^<^ of eloqxience in which the great Erskrne so surpassed almo^" - . - As has been :. — / :— ^ ._ :_: _-^.^ -^ r ^ _r: _ .-_ presented, the prominent feature in Mr. Beynolds's chat- raeter was his hatred of and contempt for s ham . Ms oat- spoken- stimiy manliness. The artidces and tricks of oratory, which even Cicero^ th.e greatest of orators, seems not only to permit, birt even incnlcate. and which almost everywhere in oar own times are held indispensable to distin^niished success before a ftiry. were to hfm, in a strikiiLg degree, distasrefel and almost intolerable. 5ot to suc-ceed at all was in his view preferable to snccee^fing- by the aid of nonsense or bad soise or any speoies or ^ the same cancLor and manliness of s<:~' '~ '••zie that, in presenti ng legal points to "die cons: , :f ttiis court, he could not bring himself to argue, vwith. any «Lergy. a pr^^position ■ - -tJL. AzL'i. iiL wairchiii:^ h7>i - ^ - -^^ .-.^-_-_: _: .^:_ies. Memorial of Johx H. REYXOLrs. 01 I liave sometimes thought, if there were any fault, it was, perhaps, the too implicitly following his own private opinion, and too easily abandoning positions, which might possibly have been held but which he did not believe ought to have been taken. The extraordinary fitness of the deceased for the duties of an advocate in this court, the consummate perfection to which by long and skillfol training of his exquisite natural gifts, he had anained in the art of presenting and com- menting upon legal questions, the extensive part which, by his forensic labors here, he took in actually shaping the body of adjudication to be found in the reports, makes his loss to the court, as well as to the bar, one not to be sup- plied. The death of such a counselor of its bar will, it is be- lieved, be deemed proper to be noticed by the court itself, in the fitting and permanent manner suggested in the resolutions. I most earnestly j oiu in the request contained in them. Chief Judge CnrRCH responded as follows : I can add no force to what has been so eloquently ex- pressed in the resolutions read, and remarks made upon this occasion. We deeply sympathize with the members of the bar in their feelings of grief and sorrow at the death of Judge Eeynolds. and we fiilly concur with them, in their high appreciation of his ability and character. Some of us enjoyed the pleasure of many years personal acquaintance, and all have witnessed his great forensic powers at the bar- He was a true lawyer, always relying upon the intrinsic merits of his case, which he presented with remarkable precision and clearness, and when his duty was performed, leaving the responsibility where it belonged, and receiv- 62 Memorial of John H. Eeyxolds. iiig the result, whether adverse or favorable, without cavil or complaint. He was a true judge, holding the scales evenly balanced by the exercise of high legal intelligence and a clear conscience, and awarding judgment impar- tially, unawed by fear or clamor, and unmoved by favor or sympathy. He was a true man, without guile or deception ; honest in his purposes, steadfast in his convictions, and genial and kind in all his relations of life. As a lawyer, judge and citizen, he was honored and loved, and his memory will be cherished long after all those who are assembled here to-day shall have passed from earth and joined him in the spirit land. The request of the bar is granted. The court thereupon adjourned. PROCEEDINGS OF THE C03I3IERCE INSURANCE COMPANY. xxT a meeting of the directors of the Commerce Insur- ance Company, hekl Sept. 25, 1875, upon motion of the president, it was Resolved, That we learn, with deep sorrow^, of the death of John H. Reynokls, and desire to record our appreciation of the great worth of one who was one of the incorporators of this company, and who, as director and counsel, always gave most cheerfully his valuahle services for its benefit. His remarkable legal ability, his varied and agreeable social qualities,' his kind-hearted interest in those around him, made him one whose vacant spot in this world can not be filled, save by affectionate memories. Resolved, That we sympathize with the bereaved family of our deceased friend, and with their circle of mourning relatives. G. A. Van Allen, Vice-President. Richard Y. DeWitt, Secretary. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL SA VINGS BANK. -L HE board of trustees of the I^ational Savings Bank, at a meeting lield Sept. 27tli, 1875, adopted the following: The board of trustees, in entering upon the records of this institution the announcement of the death of Hon. John H. Reynolds, one of its members, join in the general expression of sorrow and regret at the untimely decease of one so gifted and so universally held in high esteem. "We unite in tendering to the family of the deceased our condolence, and hereby place on record a tribute to his worth and character as an eminent and upright citizen. J. H. Van Antwekp, President A. P. Stevens, •Secretary/. ^:'^ " ■C' res' C.^<^ <5ccc <- ""C3C.- X- OCT <«: ^ c ccc; =s: cd ^-C<1 ^ ^«^.C;^; C :cc d s-<*f ■" _ c^ C '^,'<^^ 1:." cCiCL^ c c < <^ dL. &^Cjci,.C cc CCC^' cc C<£^ cc <^c ^ cc crc ^ cc c c ^ ;c: 1^ crccc >«^^ ' - ■c c<:i'5'-^ 5-ccC