2005 Society Calendar – “New York State Courthouse Postcards”

John Jay (1745-1829) was raised and resided in Westchester County. As one of our nation’s most prominent public figures, Jay held an extraordinary variety of offices. He was a member of the New York Provincial Congress, President of the Continental Congress, a peace negotiator of the treaty that gave our country its independence, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador to Spain, first Chief Justice of New York, first Chief Justice of the United States, and twice Governor of New York. He also had a prominent part in writing New York”s first Constitution, and was one of the authors of the Federalist Papers. After declining a second appointment as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he retired to the John Jay Homestead on Route 22 (400 Jay Street) in Katonah.

The Homestead, where Jay lived his last 28 years, is a beautiful estate that originally comprised over 900 acres. The farmhouse that Jay had remodeled in 1801 was again enhanced by the addition of a large west wing in 1926. Today, the house is largely furnished with original items used by the Jays at the Homestead. The Jay family is still an almost tangible presence in the house it occupied for five generations. Throughout most of the year, the John Jay Homestead is open to the public for guided tours and special events.

Sources: James M. Rose, Esq., Westchester County Bar Association; The John Jay Homestead

Westchester County Courthouse, White Plains, New York Elm trees shaded the fifth Westchester County Courthouse built in 1855. This Italianate brownish granite structure on Main Street in White Plains, designed by R. H. Hartfield, shared legal duties with an up-county courthouse in Bedford until 1870. One famous habeas corpus writ heard here involved Harry K. Thaw, who was convicted of murdering architect Sanford White. To the right rear on Grand Street (not seen here) was the Hall of Records, and behind it on Martine Avenue stood the jail. In 1907, the Supreme Court wing, seen on the left, was added along Court Street. That Neo-Classical Revival style building, designed by Lord & Hewitt, was later annexed to the sixth County Courthouse, a six-story structure that replaced this courthouse in 1915. Both were razed in 1977 when the current eighteen-story Daronco Courthouse was erected several blocks away.

Source: James M. Rose, Esq., Westchester County Bar Association

Judge Edward Pye of Haverstraw served one term in the County Court from 1856-1859. After leaving the bench, he enlisted in the Union army during the Civil War. He joined the 95th New York Volunteers as a captain in 1861, was promoted to major in 1862, and later was appointed colonel in 1863. Pye led four separate charges at the second Battle of Bull Run and a famous charge at Gettysburg. He lost his life on June 12, 1864 after being shot in the neck during the protracted Battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia. An Edward Pye Post of the Grand Army of the Republic was later established in Haverstraw to commemorate him.

Source: Hon. Alfred J. Weiner, Surrogate’s Court of Rockland County

Rockland County Courthouse, New City, New York In 1691, the first County Courthouse was built in Tappan, Rockland County, but by 1737 the residents of the northern part of the County (modern Orange County) were complaining that the Ramapo Mountains were a formidable barrier to attending the court. As a result of their demands, sessions of the County Court were alternated between Goshen (north of the mountain) and Tappan (to the south). In 1773, a second County Courthouse was built, in Goshen. In 1774, the County seat was moved to New City, but in some ways this location was even more inaccessible: at least Tappan could be reached by the river, while access to New City was limited to the poor roads. After the 1774 courthouse was struck by lightning, a new courthouse was built in 1820, and enlarged in 1873. In 1928, that structure gave way to the present courthouse, which is made of limestone and is in the Art Deco style. The architects were Dennison & Hirons of New York City. A new addition has recently been completed.

Sources: Hon. Alfred J. Weiner, Surrogate’s Court of Rockland County; Thomas F.X. Casey

Old Clinton County Courthouse, Plattsburgh, New York. After the Surrogate’s Building was completed in 1884, the Sheriff and other officials began to complain about its inadequacies. Using plans from Albany, locally quarried stone, iron laden brick from Pennsylvania and cast-iron lintels made from melted-down Civil War cannons, the County completed construction of the imposing Romanesque Italianate County Courthouse in 1889, at a cost of $40,000. Its bell was formerly used in the 1884 courthouse, and bears the stamp ‘A. Menneley W. Troy NY 1851.’ On the National Register of Historic Places, the formidable 1889 courthouse became a central landmark in the Village of Plattsburgh. Plattsburgh was incorporated as a city in 1902, and City Court was held in the 1889 courthouse from 1906-1919. Presently, the 1889 courthouse houses the County Health Department and the STOP-DWI Program.

Sources: Addie Shields, Clinton County Historian; Hon. Penelope D. Clute, Plattsburgh City Court Judge; ‘Plattsburgh, New York—A City’s First Century’ by Richard B. Frost.

The ties between Clinton County and the United States Constitution are strong, forged by those who played a role in the Constitution”s ratification after the Revolutionary War. Zephaniah Platt (1735-1807), one of the founders of Plattsburgh in the 1780s, had been a Dutchess County Judge and a member of the convention that ratified the Constitution in Poughkeepsie (then the State’s capital) in 1788. Zephaniah’s brother, Nathaniel (1741-1816), left, another of Plattsburgh’s founders, had been captain of a Dutchess County Company in the French and Indian War in 1760. Zephaniah Platt’s son, Judge Jonas Platt (1769-1834), was a State Senator and member of Congress. At the State Constitutional Convention in 1821, Senator Platt spoke stirringly against the ‘odious discrimination of colour.’ Of the Platt founders, Nathaniel Platt is evidently the only one to have had his portrait painted.

Another of Plattsburgh’s pioneers, Melancton Smith (1744-1798), second from the left in painting below, played a key role in New York’s ratification of the United States Constitution in 1788. That year’s Constitutional Convention was chaired by Governor George Clinton (1739-1812), after whom Clinton County was named.

Sources: The Plattsburgh Platts, by Margaret Meyers Byrne (1991); The Reluctant Pillar: New York and the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, by Stephen L. Schechter (Troy, N.Y., Russell Sage College 1985); Rear Admiral Melancton Smith, U.S.N.óA Memoir, by Reuben Gold Thwaites (1893)

‘THE TRIAL OF THE CENTURY’

In 1915, the courthouse was the site of ‘The Trial of the Century,’ as it was hailed by the local press. William Barnes, chairman of the New York State Republican Party, brought a libel suit against his longtime political rival, former President Theodore Roosevelt. The lawsuit arose from one of Roosevelt’s many attempts to oust Barnes from power after Roosevelt returned to New York following his presidency and African safaris. Roosevelt, hoping to instigate party reform and nominate his own man for governor at the 1914 State Convention, charged Barnes with corruption and alleged that Barnes had acted in a clandestine alliance with his counterpart in the Democratic Party. Over 100 witnesses, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, testified at the five-week-long trial. After two days of deliberation, the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of the defendant. Barnes’s loss effectively ended his political career. Teddy Roosevelt attempted to leverage the publicity generated from the trial to revitalize his own political career, but was unable to do so before his death in 1919.

Source: Hon. Stewart F. Hancock, Jr., ìBarnes v. Roosevelt: A Hide Goes on the Fence,î The Historical Society of the Courts of the State of New York Newsletter, Vol 1, Number 1, Fall 2003.

The Fourth Onondaga County Courthouse, shown at right and above, was completed in 1906 and is located on Montgomery Street in Syracuse. The architects were Archimedes Russell and Melvin L. King of Syracuse. Four residences were razed to make room for the imposing Beaux Arts building that replaced the third Onondaga County Courthouse on Clinton Square. The Rhode Island State Capitol, in Providence, inspired its design. When the building was ready for occupancy, Syracusans rejoiced in their iGreat Marble Temple of Justice.i But marble it was not. Since conservatism in spending public money was still a concern, the steel-frame structure was faced with Indiana limestone, a material that could easily be worked with machines, making it less expensive than marble. Because of the swampy ground, the structure floats on a concrete raft. A second level porch, a central staircase and a crowning dome emphasize the central block of the west facade. The large copper-covered dome is anchored by four small ones, thus forming a square for the circle of the large dome base. A rusticated granite base conveys a sense of solidity. The courthouse contains a combination of round-arched and rectangular windows, some crowned with pediments, and pilasters framing window bays in the upper stories that are features used in Renaissance architecture. Consistent with Beaux Arts design principles, the center of the courthouse is occupied by an open interior court that organizes the design of the interior. Compartmentalized spaces are arranged around the court and open into the encircling corridor.

Source: Michael P. Martin, Onondaga Historical Association

THE JUDGE’S PISTOLS

In 1807, Phillip Church became Judge of the Allegany County Court of Common Pleas, where he served for 14 years. Judge Church, a nephew of Alexander Hamilton, happened to own a set of dueling pistols. In 1804, personal and political tensions between Aaron Burr and Hamilton reached a boiling point, and Hamilton borrowed Judge Church’s pistols. On July 11, 1804, in the infamous duel in Weehawken, New Jersey, Burr used one of the pistols to mortally wound Hamilton. Following the duel, the ‘Burr-Hamilton’ pistols remained in Judge Church’s family home in Allegany County for many years. The Chase Manhattan Bank, founded by Burr, is their current owner. Replicas of the pistols are on display at Trinity Church in New York City, where Alexander Hamilton is buried.

Source: Hon. James E. Euken, County Court Judge

Allegany County Courthouse, Belmont, New York Allegany County was formed in 1806, with the hamlet of Angelica as County seat. Revolutionary War hero Moses Van Campen allowed his home to be used for court sessions until 1823, when the County constructed a courthouse in Angelica. In 1851, the arrival of the Erie Railroad to the hamlet of Belmont sparked a bitter dispute between that community and Angelica over the location of the County seat. With the construction of a new courthouse in 1859 (pictured here), Belmont became the new seat. To appease the ‘warring factions,’ however, court continued to be held in both buildings until 1892, when all judicial functions moved to the Belmont facility. The Belmont Courthouse became antiquated, and the County replaced it in 1937 with the current structure. Many consider the main courtroom in the new Belmont Courthouse to be among the most beautiful and stately in the region.

Source: Hon. James E. Euken, County Court Judge.

ROBERT H. JACKSON

Robert H. Jackson, former county lawyer from Chautauqua County, U.S. Solicitor General, U.S. Attorney General, U.S. Supreme Court Justice and Chief Prosecuting Attorney at the Nuremberg War Trials, lived the American dream. Born in Spring Creek, Pennsylvania, in 1892, he grew up in Jamestown, where he spent 42 years of his life, raising a family and practicing law after graduating from Albany Law School. Through intelligence and hard work, he rose from obscurity to make a significant impact on national and world affairs. His writings and actions came to personify the American ideal of fairness and justice for all. His approach at Nuremberg in applying international law to war crimes and crimes against humanity continues today as the standard in dealing with such issues. After serving on the U.S. Supreme Court for 13 years, he died in 1954 at the age of 62, and is buried in the Maple Grove Cemetery in Frewsburg, Chautauqua County.

Source: Robert H. Jackson Center for Justice, 305 East Fourth St., Jamestown, New York 14701

Chautauqua County Courthouse, Mayville, New York The original Chautauqua County Courthouse—built between 1811 and 1815 at a cost of $1,500, with delays caused by the War of 1812—was the first frame building constructed in the County. The first floor held three jail cells, two for prisoners and one for debtors. It also housed the jailer’s family. The second floor was used for court, as well as jury and public meetings. In 1834, the Board of Supervisors borrowed $5,000 to construct a new courthouse. Although construction of the two-story brick exterior was completed, there were insufficient funds to finish or decorate the interior. The County raised another $4,000 to complete the building, which was used for nearly 70 years. The present courthouse (shown here) was constructed in 1907-1908, at a cost of $125,101. It is 90 x 140 feet and is built of Ohio sandstone, with a tile and copper roof. The interior is finished with quartered oak and marble wainscoting.

Source: Michelle Henry, Chautauqua County Historian

City Hall and Kings County Courthouse, Brooklyn, New York From the middle of the nineteenth to the middle of the twentieth centuries, two great public buildings lined Joralemon Street in the center of downtown Brooklyn and served as courthouses for the people of Kings County. The first of these was the Brooklyn City Hall. It is shown at the center of the postcard. Construction began in 1835 and continued intermittently until the building was completed in 1849, based on a plan by Brooklyn architect Gamaliel King. Three stories tall with a full basement that served as a ground floor, the City Hall was clad in Westchester marble and was rectangular in shape, surmounted by a cupola and bell tower. On its north side, a portico, supported by six Ionic columns, overlooked a staircase leading to a triangular park and fountain. In addition to the offices of the city government, it housed the Kings County Supreme Court from 1849 until 1865.

By the mid 1850s, the need arose for a separate County Courthouse. Gamaliel King and Herman Teckritz won a competition to design a building to be located on the south side of Joralemon Street. Construction began in October 1861 and continued throughout the Civil War until the building was dedicated in March 1865. The new County Courthouse was of neoclassical design, clad in Westchester marble, and featured a portico that overlooked the street, supported by four pairs of Corinthian columns. A gold dome rose to a height of 104 feet above the roadway. When opened, the courthouse served as the home of the courts in Kings County and housed the offices of County officials and the County Board of Supervisors. When separate County government ended, the chambers of the Board of Supervisors became the courtroom for the newly created Appellate Division, Second Department, in January 1896. The building is shown in the postcard, behind City Hall.

The City of Brooklyn became part of the City of New York in 1898, and space became available in the former City Hall. ArchitectAxel Hedman redesigned the chamber of the Common Council of the City of Brooklyn as a courtroom for the Appellate Division, Second Department, and that court used the building as its courthouse from September 1903 to September 1938.

City Hall and Kings County Courthouse, Brooklyn, New York An extensive urban renewal project changed the face of the Brooklyn civic center in the 1950s. The County Courthouse designed by King and Teckritz was replaced by a new structure in 1959, and the old building was demolished in 1961. The Brooklyn City Hall, now known as Borough Hall, still stands today. In 2002, its grand courtroom served as a venue for a session of the New York Court of Appeals.

Source: James Pelzer, Esq., Chief Clerk of the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department

ABRAHAM VAN VECHTEN

Abraham Van Vechten, ‘The Father of the Bar in New York State,’ was born in 1762 in Catskill, Greene County. After attending Columbia College and clerking in the Albany law office of John Lansing, Jr., he built a reputation as an able real estate lawyer. Van Vechten was the first lawyer admitted to the Bar under the State Constitution of 1777, and the first sworn in to practice in its courts. He served as Albany City Recorder (1797-1808), State Senator (1798-1805 and 1816-1820), member of the Assembly (1805-1815), Attorney General (1810 and 1813-1815) and a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1821. From 1797 to 1823, he was a Regent of the University of the State of New York. He married Catherina, daughter of Philip Schuyler, with whom he had 15 children. Van Vechten died in Albany in 1837.

Sources: Schenectady Digital History Archive and Appleton’s Encyclopedia www.famousamericans.net. Website for Abraham Van Vechten: http://nysm.nysed.gov/albany/bios/vv/abvvechten2378.html

Greene County Courthouse, Catskill, New York In 1908, the Greene County Board of Supervisors approved a design submitted by Poughkeepsie architect William J. Beardsley for a new courthouse and jail. The County accepted a $136,000 bid from Keeler & Company to construct the two-story structure, along with the sheriff’s residence and jail. Previously, court had been conducted in a schoolhouse, a frame building that burned down in 1812, and then a larger brick edifice. A cornerstone ceremony for the courthouse was held on November 12, 1908, before a crowd of 2,500 people. The complex of buildings was completed on April 8, 1910, and the County opened the new jail and courthouse to visits by the public. The exterior of the new courthouse featured Ohio sandstone, an ornamental balustrade, and four massive Ionic columns supporting a cornice, frieze and architrave. The bas relief on the pediment, with Justice as the central figure, symbolizes the advance of civilization under the law.

Sources: Eric Maurer, Chief Clerk, Surrogate’s Court of Greene County; 1998 Ceremony—Historic Register

In 1844-1845, Delaware County became the site of the Anti-Rent War. Under patents issued by King George III, several families controlled great tracts of land in Delaware County that they leased out to tenant farmers. Although they improved the land and, in many cases, lived on it for generations, the tenants were often reduced to a state of peonage, chafing under the burdens of rent collection, their inability to redeem the land, and the feudal character of many of the leases, some of which required service and attendance at the landlord’s manor house. In 1844, the tenants began to agitate for land reform. Some, disguised as Native Americans, attempted to intimidate the Sheriff to prevent him from ejecting tenants and selling farmers’ stock to pay for rent due. This tactic prompted the Legislature to enact a law barring people from appearing in disguise.

Events reached a climax in August 1845, when Under-Sheriff Osman Steele was shot during a Sheriff’s sale of a farm in Andes. Rioting ensued, and the Governor declared the County in a state of insurrection. A battalion of 300 men, half of them mounted, arrived to impose martial law. The rioting and its aftermath marked the demise of the feudal tenant system and led directly to the passage of the National Homestead Act.

Sources: www.hopefarm.com/delawany.htm;www.catskilarchive.com/jb/bm-8.htm; Anti-Rent engraving courtesy of the Delaware County Surrogate’s Court Office

Delaware County Courthouse, Delhi, New York. The Court of Common Pleas held its first session at Gideon Frisbee’s home and tavern, which stood at the junction of Elk Creek and the West Branch of the Delaware River. The first jury impaneled in the County was in attendance and, according to tradition, deliberated under a large butternut tree that stood on the property until the latter part of the nineteenth century. Until a courthouse was built, the courts continued to be held at Frisbee’s farm. The first courthouse was completed in 1799. The County constructed the building on the”Main Road” to Catskill, on land taken from the farms of Levi Baxter and George Fisher. A part of the building was used as a jail, and accommodated the office of the County Clerk. In 1820, a fire destroyed the building, and the County build a second courthouse. This second courthouse was the site of the mid-1840s Anti-Rent War trials, which changed the land tenure system in New York State. Isaac G. Perry, the supervising architect of the State Capitol, designed the courthouse shown, which was dedicated in 1871. The County sold the second courthouse to the Village of Delhi as a town hall and moved the building to a  site in the rear of the lot, where it now stands.

Source: Shirley Houck, Delaware County Records Clerk