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 B D B E S 
 
 OF THE 
 
 AT THE LAYING OF THE CORNER STONE OF THE NEW COURT HOUSE AT SANDY HILL, 
 
 on June 1st, 1872. 
 
 "The Bench and Bar of Washington.County for One Hundred Years." 
 
 Feij.oav Citizens: 
 
 The tt'nitoiy, inr liuled in the old county 
 of Charlotte, and •^uhsoiiucntiy in that of 
 AVashington, was first discovcrod by Cham- 
 plain ill July, in the year lOO!), when he 
 sailed up the lake which bears his name, 
 and landinij on the west shore, in, or near, 
 the present town of Putnam, fought a bat- 
 tle there with the Indians, resulting in the 
 llight of the latter. Hudson discovered, en- 
 tered, and sailed up the river, which has 
 ever since been called after him, a few 
 months later. The right of discovery as 
 the French and English have each claimed, 
 extended not only to and over the valley of 
 the great river and lake they sevei'ally dis- 
 covered, but to the fountain heads of the 
 streams that emptied their waters into such 
 lake or river, and the valleys connected 
 therewith. Thus the claims of tiiese two 
 nations by right of discovery, met in this 
 territorv as it lies either diiectlj' on that 
 river or lake, or on the ridge dividing the 
 waters which flow into the Hudson from 
 those which flow into Lake Cliamplain. 
 
 Thus our territory was not only on the 
 frontier of each, but was the fleld of strife, 
 and the subjectof contention bet ween these 
 two great empires, and so continued for 
 more than one hundred years. 
 
 No civil organization, however, was ex- 
 tended to or over it by either claimant, nor 
 was it covered by any existinsr in either the 
 juovince of Canada or New York, till, by 
 the passage of an act by the Legisla- 
 tive As.scmbly of the colonj' of New York 
 on the 1st of November, lt)S;5, the count}' 
 of Albany was organized, and this terri- 
 tory included within its boundaries. 
 
 There were fortresses established by each 
 of these gi'cat nations at various points in the 
 territory. Fort Clinton, or Saratoga, in the 
 now town of Easton, Fort Miller, Fort Ed- 
 ward, Fort Ann, William Henry, Ticonde- 
 roga and Crown Point. Put such consiruc- 
 tion was the immediaU' subject of remon- 
 strance and contention bj' one to the other, 
 and soon followed by an armed raid or in- 
 cursion, or war, resulting ordinarily in the 
 seizure, abandonment, or destruction of 
 such erection. 
 
 And even while these fortresses remained 
 standing, they were usually occupied only 
 by small bodies of soldiers, and frecpiently 
 left totally without defences, or defenders. 
 Occasionally great numbers of people, na- 
 tives or provincials of those two nationali- 
 t'cs, filled our borders, but these were em- 
 inently birds of passage, having no perma- 
 
 nent abiding jilace here, and leaving no 
 mark of their occupancy, except such as 
 in the wilderness of an Indian frontier, l>y 
 the charred wood and timber, the single 
 clearing uiude with the axe of the soldier, 
 and the sepulchres of human remains, 
 would indicate that an army had marched, 
 halted, or fortified itself, or fought a battle 
 there. 
 
 But little change occurred from the time 
 of the organization of Albany county till 
 after the closing of the last French war, for 
 the two actual attempts at settlement made 
 previou.sly, the one at Fort Edward by Lyd- 
 ! ins, and the one near old Fort Saratoga, 
 I or Clinton, in the town of Easton, were 
 j both failures, and from the same cause, the 
 1 burning of every structure erected by the 
 { settlers that fire would consume, and the 
 j driving away, or slaughter, and scalping or 
 cajiture, by the French and their savage 
 allies, of every human being making the at- 
 tempt. 
 
 But immcdiatelyu]ion the tre;dy of Paris, 
 of 10th February, ITG:! being made, by 
 which the French surrendered to Great Brit- 
 ain its Province of Canada, and all their 
 territorial possessions connected with it, the 
 settlement of this territory became compar- 
 atively safe, and in 17fi4, Salem was settled, 
 and this was followed, soon after, bv 
 Duer's Colony at Fort ]\[iller, the Scotch 
 emigration to Argyle, and the settlement of 
 Cambridge, and other places in the county. 
 The connection of our territory with 
 the county of Albany, soon became a 
 source of troulje to the colonists, though 
 magistrates and constables were early ap- 
 pointed, for the settlements here, by the 
 authorities — but still the distance, and the 
 difficulties of traveling, at that time, to and 
 from Albany, as there were no existing 
 roads, formed great obstacles to the pun- 
 ishment, and much greater to the preven- 
 tion of crime, or the attainment of justice 
 in civil actions. 
 
 These and other causes produced the pass- 
 age of an act, on 12lh ]\Iarch, 1772, divid- 
 ing the county of Albany into three coun- 
 ties, — the southern of which remained Al- 
 bany. the western ]iorlion was called Tryox, 
 after His Excellency tlie Colonial Governor, 
 and the northern, which included all in 
 the Province of New York, between the 
 Battenkill and what was subsequently or- 
 ijanized as Clinton county, and a large por- 
 tion of what is now in Western Vermont, in 
 compliment to the (.^iieen Consort, the wife 
 of GEOUtiK the III, was named Chaklotte. 
 
s 
 
 The existing ma^strates of the connty of 
 Albany, residing within the new county, 
 continued to exercise tlieir powers till ne\v 
 ones were appointed, which was done soon 
 after. 
 
 The Governor and Council, however, did 
 not organize the Courts for the new county 
 till the 8th September, 1773, when an ordi- 
 nance was passed for that purpose, follow- 
 ed by the ap]iointment of Philip Schuy- 
 LETi, who had previously attained the rank 
 of Colonel in the Colonial service, as tirst 
 Judge, with William Ducr, then of Fort 
 Miller, as his associate, and a term of the 
 Court of Common Pleas and General Ses- 
 sions was directed to be held at the house of 
 Patrick Smith, in Fort Edward, on tlie 
 third Monday in October ensuing, and 
 Smith was appointed as County Clerk, and 
 also Clerk of the Peace for the new county. 
 Philip J. Lan.singh was then Sheriff, having 
 been appointed and qualified in Marcli pre- 
 vious. Ebenezer Clark and Alexander Mc 
 Naughton of New Perth, (now Salem), 
 Benjamin Spencer of Durliam, (now in 
 Vermont), and Jacob ^Mai'sh of Social- 
 borough, (now Rutland and Pitlsford, Vt.), 
 were appointed Justices, and designated of 
 the Quorum, or associates of the j\idges, to 
 hold with them the County Courts. 
 
 The war of the Revolution soon after 
 broke out, which resulted in the organiza- 
 tion of New York as a Sfuff, and on the 2d 
 April, 1784, the Legislature passed a law 
 by which it was ordained that: "From and 
 after the passing of this act the county of 
 Tryon shall be called and known by the 
 name of Montgonwry, and the county of 
 Chdvhtie by the name of Washington.'" 
 
 Thus, these two counties, organized orig- 
 inally by one Legislative act, and simulta- 
 neously named in compliment to royalty, 
 and its satellite, y^tet^ by a subsequent 
 Legislative act, after passing through a sea 
 of fire, and famine, and desolation, and 
 war, were simultaneously born again in a 
 baptism of blood, and one of them named 
 after the greatest of its slaughtered heroes 
 on tlie battle-field, Montgomery, and the 
 other after the most distinguished of its liv- 
 ing survivors, the immortal Wasiiinc4Ton. 
 
 The territorial jurisdiction of the Courts 
 of the county of Washington was subse- 
 quently reduced, firstly, by the cession to 
 the State of Vermont, of that jiart lying 
 within the present bounds of that State, 
 under the act passed on 6th March, 1790: 
 and secondly, by the act organizing the 
 county of Warren, pa.ssed 12th March, 1813, 
 which t(tok out that portion included with- 
 in that county'. Its jurisdiction vvas in- 
 creased by the addition to it, from the 
 county of Albany, of the old town of Cam- 
 bridge, and tliat'part of the towns of Still- 
 water and Saratoga which lay on the east 
 side of the Hudson River, and which was 
 formerly known, from that fact, as East 
 Town, now called Edston. 
 
 The territory of Washington county has 
 been unchanged now for about sixty years, 
 and long maj^ it remain: 
 
 1 Esto Perpetita. 
 
 I The hi-story of the territorial jurisdic- 
 , tion of the courts of the county, how and 
 when acquired, and how changed, has 
 thus been given in a connected relation, 
 rather than break the thread of its judi- 
 cial history, to state the changes. 
 
 JITDICIAT, AND PROFESSIONAL III,STORY. 
 
 In order to give a fair history of the 
 "Bench and Bar of Washington County" 
 for the first one hundred years of their ex- 
 istence, it is essential to refer to the con- 
 dition of societj', and the state of aftairs ex- 
 isting in this section ]irevious to and at the 
 time llie courts were organized, and in 
 which the judges and lawyers originated, 
 or were educated. 
 
 Anarchy and violence was the rule, and 
 regard for law and order the exception. 
 The territory was in the condition that 
 existed in Israel, in the times of the judges 
 when every man did that which was right 
 in liis own eyes. " The arm of the strong- 
 est prevailed, and he would take who had 
 the power; and he would keepAvho could." 
 Tlie Reguldtors, the Runr/crs, the Coin Jhi/s, 
 and the Toi-icx, with or without tlieir //r/Zi'^M 
 allies and other self constituted mob orga- 
 nizations, enforced a code of laws or- 
 dained by the strongest, foi- their own ben- 
 efit or protection, and regrndless alike of 
 law and its forms, and dflimes ciuel \r> 
 the extreme in their so called Juilijini n..^, 
 as in their act.s. 
 
 The "lynch law" of the western pio- 
 neer, had its origin at the east, and in- 
 deed has prevailed under different names 
 and leaders in all lands. In mother En- 
 gland under the rule of Robin Ilood 
 and his successors; under the Shamrock 
 in the Green Island of Erin, where a fight 
 would arise out of the color of a banner, 
 or the terms of a tenants right; on the 
 heather and under the thistle of Scotland. 
 
 " Wtiere hy Ljflforfl law. 
 They first rlid hanjr and quarter draw, 
 And after that gave judgment." 
 
 It was from these countries that this 
 territory was mainly colonized, either by 
 direct emigration, or by their descendants 
 from New England and the Southern 
 counties of this State. The young and the 
 adventurous came here, and they partook 
 in a hiixh degree of the characteristics of 
 their fathers. The love of natural justice 
 was strong no doubt among them all; i)ut the 
 means of control — the organs of novern- 
 ment, and the powers of the executive 
 were of no avail, as they could not be 
 reached by the suft'erer to lunir his com- 
 plaints, or their powers could not be 
 brought to bear on oftences and offenders. 
 The Provincial Governor and his council 
 was located in the city of New York, and 
 it was indeed a "« ftircri/'' from thence 
 to this " Xff/i Awe" of the county Char- 
 lotte. 
 
 It is only necessary to glance at the action 
 of the Provincial Legislative Assembly, and 
 of the Council, peruse the preambles to 
 
 ^••••e 
 
 '^n^lflVfe 
 
^ 
 
 (>i3!"W)ino of tlio ads passed, or oidinanccs is- 
 
 sued by tliose bodies, or to the Proclaiuii- 
 
 fO tions of tlie (Governor, and tlie action of t lie 
 
 — Courts and Mai^istrales in this territory, 
 
 ,.throuuli this stormy period of our history, 
 
 '^"^ to prove tlie trutliof tlie statements made. 
 
 . The Council advisins^ the Oovau-nor to 
 take acti<Hi, and organizinj;^ the courts in 
 order to furnish the judicial machinery to 
 repress crime or punish criminals, the Gov- 
 ernor issuiuii his Proclamations a.iiainst 
 ollenders, or callin;!; the attention of the 
 lA'ii'islalive Asseud)iy to the exist inu; evils, 
 and niakini^ repeated re(iuisitions on the 
 home and other military authorities for 
 troops to enforce the laws, the Courts and 
 ]\Ia,u;ist rates exercisiniiall their authority for 
 the like purjiose, and to such an extent that 
 one order was executed by the Sherilf with 
 the aid of a posse of five hundred armed 
 men; in another, the prisonei's, two coun- 
 tirfeiters, were arrested, and under the 
 jruard of ten men, were rescued by a large 
 force of armed men; and in another, tlie 
 riot act was read by the orders of Judge 
 Schuyler in o])en court in the very face and 
 hearing of a riotous crew assembled to pre- 
 vent or coerce its judicial action. At a sub- 
 scipieiil term another fi-arless Judge, assis- 
 ted by a small body of armed men, oi)ened 
 and held ihe County Courts, soul afterward 
 for sitting at that term and acting in other 
 matters as Judges and Magistrates, two of 
 its members were seized, in the night time, 
 and carried ort' and i)unished, and had their 
 property destroyed by a ruthless mob. 
 
 These difficulties were caused or increased 
 by the etibrts of the settlers, in what is now 
 "Western Vermont," in opposition to the 
 title, as well as the sovereignty of the 
 Province of New York over that territoiy, 
 and which, as well as what is now Wash- 
 ington county', was within the bounds 
 claimed for the '^ Hanipsliire Gi-aiifs." — 
 Our jK'ople were therefore on "debatable 
 land," and had no means of knowing to 
 which they would ultimately be awarded; 
 and many good and worthy settlers, and 
 ■who sulisequently became citizens of New 
 York, were from this and other causes in- 
 duced to join the side that, "with strong 
 hand and multitude of people," and with 
 force and violence, bore down ojiposition 
 — the violent carrying with them the weak 
 from their weakm'ss, and the rich from 
 their desire to keep what they had. To 
 such an extent was this, that the " (iranls" 
 had their otlieers in our territory, and rej)- 
 resentatives went from here to their qi/asi 
 Legislative Assemblies. 
 
 In the meantime each side claimed ex 
 elusive jurisdiction, and the settlers on the 
 Grants, by force and violence, preventing, 
 or attempting to ))revent the Courts from 
 being held, as well in Cumberland as in 
 Charlotte county; and the Governor of 
 the Province of New York, on the contrary 
 not committing any unlawful violence, nor 
 sutlering it to be done l)y others, but issu- 
 ing his i)roclaniation for the arrest of Ethan 
 
 their associates in their previous lawless 
 acts, and leaders in the riots and disturb- 
 ances which had made this tcrritorv, for 
 several years, a .scene of turmoil and con- 
 fusion. 
 
 In addition to these intestine troubles, 
 the territory of which this county is com 
 posed, lay directly in the great "war-paih" 
 between the French and English Colonies, 
 and in the etl'orts of the two parent coun- 
 tries for supremac;., had been thrice trod- 
 den by powerful armies; and in the war of 
 the Pcvolution was again and again cover- 
 ed by the "Red Coats" of Ihirgoyiie's in- 
 vading host, or b}' Carleton and his Indian 
 auxiliaries, or by numerous raids of hostile 
 savages, or worse, of predatory bands of 
 armed Tories, carrying death and destruc- 
 tion before them. 
 
 I/ifcr (trniu legca dlent. In the presence 
 of force, the laws had no voice, and the 
 courts were i)owerless. 
 
 It was under such circumstances and in 
 such a state of society, that the courts of 
 this county were organized, and the judges 
 and the lawyers educated. 
 
 It is well said that "Necessity is the 
 mother of all good," — oi more accurately, 
 that out of necessity spri.igs the cure, or 
 anlid(;te to evil. Out of peril is plucked 
 the diamond of safety, — out of the ex- 
 igency of wickedness comes the unity 
 that repres.scs ini([uity, — out of the blood 
 shed for protection from French and sav- 
 age incursions and afterward for liberty and 
 National indej)endence, and from the sor- 
 rows and sutierings connected with those 
 deadly struggles, arose the men, the .soldiers, 
 the generals that made uji the army, and 
 the chief, that conquered success. So here, 
 out of the chaos, anarchy, and lawlessness, 
 anterior to and in tfii^*^'ar of the Revolu- 
 tion, and from natural causes, sprung the 
 able, eloquent, and fearless judges aixl 
 lawyers of our early courts, and the intel- 
 ligent, virtuous and courageous people, 
 by whom they were so triumphantly sup- 
 ported and sustained. 
 
 There was this marked peculiarity about 
 nearly all the early judges; they were men 
 who had carried their lives in tin ir hands, — 
 and thos(! appointed before the breaking 
 out of the war of the Revolution had .seen 
 severe and arduous military service. The 
 tirst appointed. Judge Schuyler, having 
 been in the Provincial service thr>)Ugh the 
 French and Indian war which began in 
 IToo, and had attained the rank of Colonel; 
 and the .second, William Duer having 
 .served in the English army, and attaineil 
 the rank of captain; l)otli without waiting 
 to see how the struggle would terminate, or 
 which side was the strongest, looking only 
 to the right of the case tlirew every thing 
 into the contest; life and property afike, 
 in the eflbrt to preserve the life and inde- 
 pendence of the Nation. 
 
 The remark applies also, to the Judges 
 
 Allen, Seth Warner, Remember Baker and and A.ssistauts ai)poinled after Ihc Revulu- 
 
tion for along space of years, for many of 
 them had served faithfull}% and with great 
 distinction, in tliat glorious struggle. For 
 among them are found the names of Gen- 
 eral John Williams, Col. Alexander Web- 
 ster, Major Peter B. Tearse, Colonel Jo- 
 seph McCracken, Albert Baker, Col. Rob- 
 ert Cochran, Captain Moses Martin, Col- 
 onel Udney Hay, Colonel Edward Antill, 
 Colonel John MeCrea, and others of real 
 and undoubted military fame and ability. 
 
 These were the very men to be judges 
 at that day; for they had shcnvn their faith 
 by their works; and they had the unflinch- 
 ing nerve and courage which enabled them 
 to bring law and order out of confusion. 
 The good results of the appointment of 
 such men to sit in the courts, justitied their 
 selection, for they faithfully observed and 
 kept the oath of office which they took, 
 the form of which for a long time aftei' 
 the Revolution was as follows: 
 
 "I do solemnly swear and declare, that 
 I will to the best of mj^ knowledge and 
 ability, execute the office of judge accord- 
 ing to the constitution and laws of the 
 State of New York, in defence of the free- 
 dom and independence thereof, and for 
 the maintainance of liberty, and the distri- 
 bution of justice among the citizens and 
 inhabitants of the said Ptale, without any 
 fear, favor, pailiality, atiection, or hope of 
 reward. " 
 
 As the Courts were thus organized by 
 judges having the confidence of the 
 masses of the people, their decisions were 
 received with more respect, and executed 
 with more ease, than would have followed 
 from those of civilians, who had never 
 seen service. 
 
 As has been stated, the ordinance for the 
 organization of our Courts, appointed the 
 first term to be held at Fort Edward on 
 the 19th day of October, 1773, and at that 
 time and place the Court was organized by 
 Judge Duer in the absence of Judge Schuy- 
 ler, who was detained at home by illness. 
 
 At that and tlie succeeding term, consta- 
 bles were appointed for the county, and the 
 Grand Jury began to act oy indictment, the 
 entries of which in the record seem quite 
 strange to republican ears: "The Kino rcr- 
 svs John Doe," etc. "The mills of the 
 Gods began to move," and though tliey 
 moved slowly, yet they ground surely. To 
 show how far reaching the arm of the court 
 was extended, an entry states that a con- 
 stable was appointed to be located at Crown 
 Point, and others were named equally dis- 
 tant; and ever}' settlement had one or more. 
 And even then tlie number was not always 
 sufficient to conquer violence by the strong 
 arm of the law. 
 
 The punishments and penalties sometimes 
 imposed in those early days seem at this 
 day to have been severe. But the times re- 
 quired it, and nothing less would probably 
 have extirpated the evils under which the 
 people suffered. Force and lawless violence, 
 forgery, perjury, and the making and cir- 
 culating of great quantities of counterfeit 
 money by organized bands of desperadoes, 
 
 having secret haunts for conducting their 
 operations and for refuge wlien pursued, 
 were some of the leading evils then existing 
 in this .section. 
 
 These offences were crushed out by the 
 strong arm of the Court, but it required the 
 imposition of what we would consider 
 cruel punishments. Thus at one term of 
 the Oyer and Terminer there were convic- 
 tions for all the offences I have named, and 
 the criminals were sentenced, — One, for 
 perjury, to stand in the pillory at Balem 
 one hour, and then to be confined in the 
 State Prison at hard labor for a long period. 
 Another for grand larceny, " to be taken 
 from the bar of this Court to the public 
 whipping post, and that he there receive 
 thirty-nine lashes on his bare back from the 
 waist upwards." And another for counter- 
 feitinii', " to be branded with the letter C. 
 on his left cheek with a red-hot iron, and 
 hard labor in the State Prison for life." 
 
 The County Courts, consisting of the 
 Common Pleas, having civil jurisdiction, 
 and the General Sessions, having ci'iminal 
 inrisdiction, soon Iiceame crowded with 
 litigant.s, and ofl'cnders, ])arfies and wit- 
 nesses. The Court, though lioldini;,- four 
 terms in each year, and exercising <rrent 
 dilisicnce, would rarelv be able to finish 
 their labors in less tlian two weeks; and 
 jin that time would disposeof nn amount of 
 business that WH)uld have terrified some of 
 our modern tribunals. The Court would 
 frequently try from twenty to tliirty civil 
 and criminal cases before a jurv, hear and 
 determine from forty to sixtv other matters, 
 and always have a Grand Jury to look 
 after, finding twenty or thirty indictments. 
 
 Between the bench and bar in former 
 times there wns a greater distance, and more 
 deference and respect .shown townrd the 
 Judge bv counsel and by the people tli.in 
 now. Whether this arose from the fact 
 that the one was more worthy, or the others 
 more respectful than in later days, history 
 must deteruiine. It is not long since that 
 one of our modern Judges re]mdiated an 
 opinion written by an early Judtre, and in- 
 timated to the counsel reading it, in quite 
 plain terms, that he ought to know it was 
 not sound law, and the latter i-etorted by 
 saying: " Your Honor, on the Bench there 
 were giants in those days." On the trial 
 of another case before one of the Judges, 
 who uniformly after charginsc the jury pret- 
 ty strongly on the facts, would always add: 
 "But, g.mtlemen of the jury, you will not 
 regard my remarks on the facts, but be 
 governed by your own views in that re- 
 spect," the counsel for one of the parties, 
 being well aware from the cour.se he had 
 taken that the Judge would charge strondy 
 against his client, in summing up, stated to 
 the jury, that the Judge would charge them 
 as above, and adjured them, whatever else 
 in the charge they might disregard, not to 
 disregard flint. 
 
 It is true, few of our early judges had any 
 regular juridical education — their teaching 
 had been mostly the stern lessons learned 
 by experience "during the perilous days 
 
n 
 
 throu.trh which thoy had pnsscd. Rul they 
 (lid no dishonor or discredit to the station 
 they hchl, nor did thoy allow others to at- 
 tenipt to lower tlieir office with impunity. 
 Two or three instances occnr to which the 
 speaker's attention hat* heen drawn, as illus 
 tratinir how they sustained the dignit}' of 
 the Court. 
 
 The record entry in one ca<e is thus: 
 
 "David Plunibly, being chai'ired with 
 having uttered certain contemptuous words 
 against the Court, is ordered to fiml two 
 sureties for his good behavior until the next 
 Court, and that he stand counnitted till he 
 dul so." (Utrord "f thr (Iciil. Si-xx.^ \Wi 
 7-;.'///, 1704). 
 
 In anotluM" case the entry is thus; 
 
 "John M'Michael, being arraigned on 
 an indictment in tiiis Court, was ordered to 
 stand counnitted during the jileasure of the 
 Court, for that he, in tlie presence of the 
 Court, was guilty of I'ontempt, by using in- 
 decent, disrespectful and immoral language, 
 and insultinir llie Court." [HcninJ of Gcul. 
 .Sf'.v.v., -Mi }fifi/, 179(5). 
 
 Tn some late local interesting reminiscen- 
 ces by one signing liiniself IIiSTOHicrs, it is 
 said that Adiel Sherwood, at whose house 
 in Fort Edward some of the early Courts 
 were held, on one occasion required the 
 Court to adjourn and leave the room it was 
 occupying, and used toward it some insult- 
 ing language in that connection. It is just, 
 to tiie Court to state how the offender was 
 l)uuished. The record entry is brief, and 
 speal\s for itself. It is thus: 
 
 "Adiel Sherwood having been guilty of 
 contempt: // ix ordvri'd, that the said Adiel 
 Sherwood be committed to tlic common 
 jail of the county of Washington, for the 
 s|iace of fftccn days." [liecord Genl. Ses- 
 xiom, 9/7/ '?Wi/, 1796). 
 
 In the assertion of their powers, in the 
 protection of the rights of parties, our 
 County Judges have shown, on more than 
 one occasion, distinguished tirmness and 
 ability. One ease will be stated: 
 
 It occurred on a trial before the Oyer and 
 Terminer of one accused of murder, 
 Walworth, who was then circuit Judge pre- 
 siding, and who was well known as a Mcrerc 
 judge in such cases. After the evidence 
 was all in, the question was discussed, 
 among the judges, as to what the jury ouglit 
 to be charged on the point of its beinga case 
 of murder or manslaughter. Walworth was 
 for the former, but the majority was the 
 other way, and he, very much ofl'ended, re- 
 fused to charge according to the opinion 
 of the Court, and said: " Charge the jury 
 yourselves." Whereupon Roswell Weston, 
 one of them, charged the jury with distin- 
 guished ability and fairness, resulting in a 
 verdict of manslaughter. 
 
 There was more form and ceremony, in 
 organizing and holding Courts in earlj' days 
 than now. On the first day of the term, at 
 the hour appointed for opening, the Shcrill' 
 would assemble the con.stables with long 
 staves in their hands, and forming a pro- 
 cession of the Judges, the lawj-ers the 
 Grand and Petit Jurors, and the people. 
 
 would march from the hcmse where the 
 Judges were stojiping to the Court House. 
 
 In the old Colonial Courts it was quite 
 common for the Court of Oyer and Termi- 
 ner to invite any distinguished citizen of the 
 county, or visitor in the Court, to take a s:;tt 
 on the bench with the Judges. But at the 
 Revolution, our fathers, thinking there had 
 been partiality shown from this cause, and 
 that the practice led to evil, it Avas repressed 
 by a statute, sententiously enacting, iliat: 
 " No i>erson, little or great, shall sit with 
 tlie Judges at the Oyer and Terminer." (2 
 Joncfi (tiid VaHH; 2.12, Sec. 9.) 
 
 And the same statute terminated an ac- 
 tual ami real evil, and one dangerous to the 
 liberties of the peoi)le,in the holding of pri- 
 vate Courts, by enacting:" The sittings of 
 all Courts are to be public." No doubt this 
 law was enacted for another reason, as well 
 as that stated above, as it prevented the 
 practice, then quite common, for the Sher- 
 ift" to charge a fee for entrance to the Court. 
 
 The Grand Jury in the old Courts, was 
 not the result of mere chance, as now; but 
 ' each one was selected by the Sherifl', and 
 ' notified to attend, and the designation was 
 I considered an honor to the jterson sum 
 1 moned. The Sheriff was responsible for 
 j the character and standing of all the per- 
 I sons composing the Grand Jury, and if he 
 I summoned a weak set, he would certainly 
 I be ridiculed by the law\'ers, if not re- 
 1 proved by the Court. 
 
 i The records show that the* leading and 
 ' distinguished men of the County, w-ere 
 I generally summoned on the Grand Jury. 
 
 At the first Court held in the county, as 
 
 'before stated, Archibald Campbell was 
 Foreman of that body, and had for asso- 
 
 I ciates, Jo.seph McCracken, Melchor HolT- 
 nagle, Robert Gordon, David Watkins, Al- 
 
 ] bert Baker, Joshua Conkey, Moses Martin, 
 Alexander Gilchrist, Daniel Smith, and 
 others. On the second, there was the 
 
 I same Foreman, and El)enezer Russell, 
 
 ' Noah Payn, Hamilton McCollister, George 
 Gilmore, James Bradshaw, Timothj^ Force, 
 
 I Cornelius McEachron, Timothy Buel, Ar- 
 cibald McNiel and others. The third had 
 David Watkins, as Foreman, with James 
 
 ; Savage, Edward Cascallin, Duncan Gil- 
 christ, William Moftitt, Peter ■SIcEachron, 
 Reuben Woods, Alexander Turner, Ed- 
 ward Long, Daniel McCleary, Edward 
 Savage, and others. The fourth had Gar- 
 rett Keating as Foreman, with .John Moss, 
 Josejih Hawkins, Asa Richardson, Judah 
 Fuller, Seth Stow, Thomas Sherwood, 
 John McKinney, and others. The fifth 
 had Jacob Marsh as Foreman, with David 
 Elliott, Adiel Sherwood, Jolin Gilchrist, 
 James Beaty, Niel Gillespie, Neiiemiah 
 
 ' Harris, John Kenne}', Samuel Buel, George 
 Boyles and others. The sixth had Abra- 
 ham Wing as foreman with Seth Sherwood, 
 
 I Samuel Harris, Benjamin Wing, Ichabod 
 
 ; Merritt, John White, Anthony Saunders, 
 John Newell, John Cook, and others. 
 
 1 These six terms of the Court were all held. 
 j before the Revolutionary war opened, ex- 
 
6 
 
 cept the last, wliich was a few weeks after 
 the battle of Lexington. 
 
 My fellow citizens, it is almost one hun- 
 dred years since the names I have men- 
 tioned were called in our Courts as mem- 
 bers of the Grand Inquest, to inquire for 
 the body of the county of Charlotte, in be- 
 half of His Majesty the King of Great Brit- 
 ain and Ireland, defender of the faith, &c., 
 and yet these names are, many of them, as 
 familiar to our hearing as 'household 
 words.' 
 
 A great number of these persons had 
 served in the French and Indian wars as 
 officers or privates, and had won by mili- 
 tary service in behalf of their country, the 
 lands, in right of holding which, they be- 
 came eligible to be summoned on the Grand 
 Jury, and to also exercise the valuable 
 franchise of voting for all officers elective 
 by the people, for tlie freehold qualifica- 
 tion for jurors, and voters, prevailed in full 
 force at that time, and continued to be en- 
 forced till 1821. 
 
 From the familiarity of the.se names, we 
 might almost think Ave were hearing the roll 
 of Ihe present generation, so common are 
 most of them among us "unto this day." 
 
 Their descendants are here, and ready, I 
 doubt not, did occasion require, to earn by 
 like good services for this state and nation, 
 the honors their ancesters won and wore so 
 well for the old colony and mother country. 
 
 The Courts had been held at Sandy Hill, 
 prior to the construction of the Court House, 
 at the house of Mary Dean, and one or two 
 other places, and on the 20th of March, 
 1804, an act was passed, "for building a 
 Court House," and under that the Court 
 House lot was conveyed to the county on 
 the 5th of Novemljcr, 1804 by Zina Hitch- 
 cock, and the building, lately removed, was 
 erected on the lot, and it was finished so 
 that the county Court held the first term in 
 it on the first Tuesday in December, 1805, 
 and, with some modification, internal 
 and' external, it remained substantially the 
 same structure till removed to give place 
 to the nevv temple, the corner stone of 
 which has just been laid. 
 
 In order that you may know something as 
 to the character of the old as well as of the 
 later judges, I \villsketi.h two scenes in the 
 County Courts of this county and their 
 results, at two widely divergent periods, for 
 they will be oyer sei'eiity years apart. The 
 first occurred in the morning, as we may 
 say, of the Court's existence; the other 
 happened in the refulgence and splendor 
 of its noon-tide. What will happen as the 
 sun goeth down? 
 
 At the Court held on March 21st, 1775, 
 Judge Schuyler being in attendance on the 
 Colonial Assembly, of which he was a 
 member, then in session in the city of New 
 York, Judge Duer presided at the term, 
 and a large number of persons were or 
 had previously been indicted for offences 
 committed. Many arrests had been made, 
 and those persons arrested had given bail 
 to appear at this term, and many execu- 
 tions had been issued, and returned, that 
 
 there was abundance of property levied on, 
 but the Sheriff' was unable to sell the same 
 for want of bidders, as the man who bid 
 on property ottered at Sheriff's sale at 
 that time, did so at the peril of his life, 
 or of bodily harm, or other injuries. It 
 was well known that the Court would be 
 moved for an order for the issuing of a writ 
 of venditvmi exponas as to the unsold prop- 
 erty, and other orders appropriate to the 
 case; many parties who had bailed those 
 arrested, attended, and in (>i)en court made 
 a surrender of their principal, and had an 
 exonoretur or discharge, entered of record, 
 and many criminals were also surrendered 
 by their bail, and the latter were discharg- 
 ed. The object of these surrenders being 
 to get rid of liability on the part of the 
 bail — but the intent of many concerned a 
 it was in the confusion that would ensue, 
 to escape, or go at large, leaving the Court 
 and the Sheriff' to catch them again when 
 they could. There w«l:d also assembled an 
 angry and tumultuous crowd in and about 
 the Court, and it required all the 
 ability and courage of the ablest Judge 
 to keep t)rder, and hold the Court, and 
 do the business. The difficulty of open- 
 ing and holding this term of the Court w; s 
 increased by the forcible resistance to tiie 
 holding of a similar Court at Westminister, 
 in Cumberland county, adjoining to Char- 
 lotte, on the loth March, only eight days 
 previous, on which occasion one man had 
 been killed and several wounded, and by 
 which the mob had prevailed in preventing 
 the opening or holding of the C'ourt. No 
 doubt the mob at Ft. Edward, at this term, 
 expected an equal measure of success, more 
 especially as Col. Schuyler, usually the 
 presiding Judge, was then absent. 
 
 But they soon found they were mistak- 
 en, for there was presiding on the Bench 
 at this term, a Judge who, though several 
 years younger than Col. Schuyler, and not 
 "so distingutshed, was equal tothe occasion. 
 He had been a faithful soldier, and fearless 
 officer, and had been under the fire of the 
 enemy. He had served in India when only 
 eighteen years old, as Aid to Lord Clive, 
 and in service afterwards. He seemed in- 
 capable of fear, and to have calmness as 
 well as courage. Such was the Hon. Wm. 
 Duer, who presided at the Court in ques- 
 tion. 
 
 He held the term through to the end, 
 making all the necessary orders and allow- 
 ing no one to escape the just penalty of 
 his off'ences, or avoid the jierformance of 
 his engagements, or the payment of his 
 debts, so far at least as the due process of 
 the Court, regularly issued and executed, 
 could accomplish such results. This was 
 done by skilful application of all the means 
 at his command. Captain Malt at 
 the time of the assembling of the Court, 
 was passing through Fort Edward with a 
 single company of soldiers on the way to 
 Fort Ticonderoga, and Judge Duer by 
 persuasion retained him and the company 
 under his command, while the Court was 
 being held; and no doubt this small mili- 
 
"7 
 
 tary force (rroatly aided liini in holding' tho 
 Court. Iiuk'C'd Judii*-' Duor credits imicli 
 to tiiisforce in enabliiiu; liiin to open the 
 ("oiirt. <M.!^ liis It'lter to the President of 
 Ihe Provincial Conjiress of New York, 
 written shortly after the orjianization of 
 that bod3% and in wiiicli lie '^'^'^'^ '*'* '"tt'r- 
 position to enable him to hold the next 
 term of the Court, adjourned to be held on 
 2oth of June, then ((uite near. In this 
 <-omnuinication he says: " Your interpo- 
 sition in this matter may save the shedding 
 of blood at the next Court; for so lonu; as 
 1 know it to be the sense of the country 
 that the Courts of Justice sln)uld be sup- 
 ])orted; and that I have the honor of sit- 
 tiui;' as one of the judire.s, I shall endeavor 
 to keep them ouen, eceii at the rink of imi 
 
 ufe:' 
 
 Inspirited by such noble sentiments, and 
 actinu'on the prin<'ii)le.s thus announced, 
 Judge Duer held the C'ourt at the June 
 term, and though there was never in 
 the county such a crowded Court in 
 business, and with numbers of peoi)le 
 excited and angr\-, harrassed and dis- 
 tressed, the Court held, too, at a time 
 when the Hood gates were opened by 
 the battle of Lexington, fought only a few 
 weeks previous, and when it was more dif- 
 ficult tlian ever to maintain order, and yet 
 the (\turt was held open to the end of the 
 term, and all tlie business fully ac- 
 <'omi)lished. Judge vSchuyler, no doulif, 
 would have held this tei'm had he been at 
 home, but he had lieen in attendance at 
 Philadelphia :is a member cf the Continen- 
 tal Congress, and having been on the 8th of 
 June, then instant, appointed by that body 
 as a Major (Jeneral of the Continental for- 
 ces, he was at the time this term of the 
 Court was being held at Fort Edward, in 
 consultation with (General Washington at 
 IMnladelphia, and engaged in the organiza- 
 tion of the army then being formed for the 
 cau.se of liberty. 
 
 We have thus glanced at the leading fea- 
 tures of a court, held in stormy times, in 
 the presence of an angry, excited, tumultu- 
 ous crowd, and determining (juestion.s con- 
 trary to their wishes, in which liiey had a 
 diH')) interest, by one pri'siiling w ith that 
 ji-ool, calm courage, and intlexible tirmness 
 wldcli will ever mark the good Judge. 
 
 Now let I slook at another jjicture, drawn 
 like that from life, and oid^' about seventy 
 years later, and we will then be in condi- 
 tion to intiuire for the reasons of the dif- 
 ference. 
 
 It happened in the very building dis- 
 placed to lay the corner stone of this new 
 judicial temple, that the presiding Judge, 
 while Jiolding a Court of General Sessions 
 for the tiial of an indictment again.st an al- 
 leged criminal, had iire.^entf'd to him the 
 tlireat<'ningaspe<t of a brutal mob, gathered 
 in gr<'at numbers in the Court House for 
 the very ptnposc of overawing and con- 
 trolling the action of the Court and the jurv 
 and unlawfully coercing the conviction of 
 the prisoner. If evidence on the trial wa*; 
 given favorable to the prosecution, it was 
 
 received with marks of approbation, and if 
 the contrary, with jjlain disapi>ioval. The 
 Court dill not attempt to stem the torrent 
 running against the i)risoner, or even re- 
 l)rove the i)eoi)le for these acts. The result 
 was, as might be expected, where the 
 Court will not interjiose its powerful voice, 
 that an unju.st verdict was obtained, and 
 the i)risoner was convicted and sentenced. 
 The ])articular instance related occurred 
 over twenty years ago, but the like has haj)- 
 pened again and again since, dillering only 
 in degree, and it will hajipeii again, for his- 
 tory repeats itself, "and the thing which 
 hath been, it is tlidt which shall l)e," and 
 who will next be the sutlererV will it be yon 
 or will it be your child, descendant, (>r^he 
 friend %'ou love? 
 
 Let me exhort one and all to educate the 
 
 coming Judge. Strengthen his hands iu 
 
 righte(His acts. Su.stain him in well doing; 
 
 frown on all elTorts lo control, or coerce 
 
 judicial action by threats, or mob.s, or vio- 
 
 j lence, or otherwise, than by the law and 
 
 1 the evidence. Find the man who is tit for 
 
 I the place, and when found keep him there, 
 
 I so long as he executes its duties faithfully. 
 
 And to educate the Judge we must needs 
 
 learn to control ourselves"; to subdue those 
 
 passions and i)rejudices which prevent us 
 
 from holding the scales fairly, and judging 
 
 with a righteous judgment. 
 
 From the sketch tiuis fuinislied of the 
 general character of the Courts of the 
 county, it will be leadily seen that we have 
 been ordinarily highly favored in our 
 judges. Those who liave exercised this 
 high duty, seem, many of them, to have 
 censidered within themselves, thus: "He 
 who takes the office of a judge, takes in 
 his hands a splendid gem, good and glo- 
 rious, perfect and ]nire. Shall I give it" up 
 mutilated, or marred, oi- darkened? Shall 
 it cunt no light, lie valued at no i)rice, ex- 
 cite no wonder? I find it a diamond, shall 
 I leave it a stone? No! Rather let me 
 ever cling to that pure, exalted, ind chris- 
 tian indeiiendence, which towers over the 
 little motives of life, which no hope of fa- 
 vor can influence, which no eflbrt of pow- 
 er can control." 
 
 We should be rejoiced if we could truly 
 say, that all our judges have faithfully com- 
 plied with the noble charge to an English 
 judge, delivered by Sidney Smith in his 
 Assize Sermon, at York, in March, 1824, 
 among other things, saying: 
 
 '•^lay I add, the great importance in a 
 judge of courtesy to all men, and that he 
 should, on all occasions, abstain from ////- 
 ii/n.-.-i/ni/ bitterness and asjxrity of speech. 
 A juilge always speaks with impunity, and 
 always speaks with etlect. His 'words 
 should be weighed, because they en'ail 
 noevilujion himself, and much evil upon 
 others The language of jiassion, of sar- 
 casm, of satire, is not on such occasions, 
 christian language; it is not the language 
 of a judge. There is a jn-opriety of ivliuke 
 and condemnation; the justice of which is 
 felt, even by him who sutlers under it; 
 but when magistrates under the mask of 
 
8 
 
 law, aim at the offender more then the of- 1 
 fence, and are more studious of inflicting 
 pain, tlian repressing error or crime, tlie 
 office suffers as much as the judge. The 
 respect of justice is lessoned; and the 
 school of pure reason becomes the hated 
 theatre of mischievous passion." 
 
 And now unto all that sliall hereafter 
 exercise any authority, duty, function or 
 power in the temple to be erected on the 
 CIoRNER Stone which has been laid to-day 
 with the appropriate Masonic ceremony, 
 the application of the plumb of rectitude, 
 the level of equity, and the square of right, 
 and laid in the eternal cement of truth and 
 justice, you are exhorted to the faithful 
 performance of that duty, function or power 
 to which you .shall be assigned. 
 
 And to you, all ye witnesses,'Tbear testi- 
 mony to the truth, the whole kruth, and 
 nothing but the truth, and may (fod so help 
 you. 
 
 And you, oh ye Grand Jurors, present no 
 man, and leave no man unpresented, thro' 
 fear, favor, affection, reward, or the hope 
 thereof, but present all things truly as they 
 shall come to j'our knowledge. 
 
 And you, all ye Jurors, who shall try 
 any issue or traverse, listen patiently to the 
 proo/s and allegations of the parties and 
 their counsel, and the charge you shall 
 thereon receive from the Court, and a true 
 verdict give according to the evidence. 
 
 And you, all ye lawyers, be faithful in 
 all things, and earn all you charge by dili- 
 gent labor for your client night and day. 
 " Work also for charity when needful, in 
 time, labor and. attention; the protection 
 of those whose resources are feeble, and 
 the information of those whose knowledge 
 is small. Remember that in the hands of 
 bad men the law is sometimes an artifice to 
 mislead, and sometimes an engine to op- 
 press. In your hands let it always be a 
 buckler to shield and a sanctuary to save. 
 Lift up oppressed humility; listen patient- 
 ly to the injuries of the wretched; vindi- 
 cate their ju.st claims; maintain their fair 
 rights, and show that in the hurry of busi- 
 ness, and the struggles of ambition; you 
 have not forgotten the duties of a christian 
 or the feelings of a man." In all you do, 
 "combine the wisdom of the serpent with 
 
 the innocence of the dove, and fulfil with 
 greater acuteness, and more perfect effect 
 than other men can pretend to, the love, 
 the lessons, and the law of Christ." 
 
 And you, all ye judges, "the cause ye 
 know not, aeurch it out .'" Forget not that ye 
 exercise one of the greatest of the attributes 
 of the Almighty, that of justice. See to 
 it, that it be exercised with the most un- 
 tiring diligence, the utmost ability, and 
 witli perfect integrity. Come not to the 
 sacrifices of this temple with unclean 
 hands, or with ju'cjudice or pa.ssion. 
 
 Be cool, calmandlcollected — courfeousand 
 3'et firn: — never .■•hdwing any disrespect to 
 the liigh station you hold, either in words or 
 conduct, nor suffer it from any other. Be 
 tender to your j'ounger brethren, and 
 toward all, so walk and act, that at the 
 end of ,yrt?/r judicial course, you can truly 
 say of it, as the Patriarch Job did of his: 
 "Because I delivered tlie poor that cried, 
 And the fatherless, and him that had none 
 to help him. The blessing of him that was 
 ready to perish came upon me. And I 
 cau.sed the widows heart to sing for joy." 
 
 And you, all ye people, what shall I 
 charge ujion you more than upon yotn wit- 
 nesses, and jurors, and lawyers, and judges! 
 It is of you, and from you, and by you, 
 that all these in anihority are chosen, "for 
 this is a government of the people, and for 
 the people, and by tlie people." The 
 stream can never rise liigher than the 
 fountain — ye are the fountain of power, 
 and the source from wlience comefh all 
 the classes I have named. If therefore ye 
 comply with and perform all tlu'se duties 
 in ordinary life, ye will be able to fulfil 
 them when called thereto by duty, or by 
 the suffrage of your equals, or the appoint- 
 ment of your superiors. If ye do not, how 
 can ye complain at the short coinings of 
 others. If ye are faithful, the promise will 
 not fail, that, " The path of the just will 
 be as the shining light, which shineth more 
 and more unto the perfect day." 
 
 In conclusion, my fellow citizens, I trust 
 and pray that in the temple to be erected on 
 these foundations, justice, pure and unde- 
 filed, may ever be administered, to you and 
 to your children, and to your childrens' 
 children, and to the stranger that is within 
 jour gates, to the latest generation. 
 
 
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