Biographical sketches of the distinguished men of Columbia County : including an account of the most important offices they have filled, in the state and general governments, and in the Army and Navy

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COPSRIGHT DEPOSIT.

Preface

It will be perceived that many of the subjects of these sketches are national in their character, consequently this work will not only be interesting to the citizens of Columbia county and the State of New- York, but to those of every state in the Union. Her distinguished sons have filled the most important ofiices in the state and general governments, and their acts and labors constitute an important portion of the history not only of the State of New- York, but of the nation.

This county is greatly distinguished for the number and exalted talents of her lawyers and statesmen ; and she is equally so for her military and naval heroes. The names of Worth and Allen are known throughout the world.

This county has produced one President of the United States, one Vice-President, three Governors of States and Territories, three Foreign Ministers, one Secretary of State of the United States, one Secretary of the Department of War, one United States Attorney-General, one Judge of the United States District Court, two or three Supreme Court Judges, one Circuit Judge, three Attorney-Generals of the State of New- York, and two United States Senators ; besides many distinguished Members of Congress, and other ofllccrs, both of the State and General Governments. Several of the ofiices we have named

VI PREFACE.

were filled in the person of Martin Van Buren. If any other county has done as mnchj it has not come to our knowledge.

Many of the distinguished individuals whose names we have mentioned, are still living and actively engaged in the business of their professions. Some of the most eminent lawyers in the city of New- York and in other sections of the state, were born in Columbia county. Her lawyers have rendered the state important services in the revision of our laws. The services rendered by John C. Spencer and Benjamin F. Butler, are well known to the public.

We have given dates and facts in the lives of our subjects, as the nature of this work does not permit of any extended notice of the public measures originated or sustained by the persons whose names are commemorated ; but we have named most of the important offices that have been filled by our distinguished citizens. Our information has been derived from reliable sources, and will be found to be correct.

There are several more distinguished individuals born in this county, that might be added to the list which we have given in our contents. Amongst this number are several members of the Columbia bar, and several others of the different professions ; but we are prevented from the limits we have given to our work. All of the distinguished individuals that we have named were born in Columbia county, with the exception of two or three, and they acted and distinguished themselves in this county.

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ELISHA WILLIAMS.

Honorable Elisha Williams, of Hudson, New- York, son of Colonel Ebenezer Williams, was born August 29, 1773, and died in the city of New- York, at the residence of Seth Grosvenor, June 29, 1833. After the death of his father, Captain Seth Grosvenor was appointed his guardian, who superintended his education. He was a law student with Judge Reeves of Litchfield, and the late Chief Justice Spencer, at Hudson. He was admitted to the bar in June, 1793, and commenced the practice of the law in the village of Spencertown the same year. His early education was rather limited, nor was he in after life remarkable for laboa-ious study, as he always depended, in a great measure, on his own resources. After he commenced professional business in Spencertown, he verj'" soon attracted attention, and was engaged on the trial of important causes, and in opposition to the most distinguished lawyers at the Columbia bar, at that period™ There were many obstacles in his way when he commenced professional business, and he was poor ; but I would here remark that he left a fortune of from two to three hundred thousand dollars at the time of his decease. In 1795, he married the second daughter of his guardian, Miss Lucia Grosvenor. He had five children by his wife ; the first a daughter, who died in infancy ; Gerusha Paten, who married James H. Teacle from the state of Virginia ; they are both dead, leaving two children, a boy and a girl. The first is now married and settled in Utica, New-York, and bears the name of his grandfather, Elisha Williams Teacle ; the girl is also married, and resides in the city of New- York. Abby Grosvenor, who resides in that city, is unmarried. Grosvenor Elisha, who graduated at Hamilton College with credit, but who died in 1819, at the age of nineteen. An unfortunate weakly boy, who died in 1835. The wife of Mr. Williams died December 24, 1838.

Mr. Williams removed from Spencertown to Hudson, in 1800- He possessed a mind of superior mould ; and he com-

A BIOGRAPHY OF

billed in his character a rare assemblage of great and spIeiidi(J qualities ; he was a man of rapid and quick perceptions, and was remarkable for his imitative, imaginative and descriptive power, for his brilliant wit, and his surpassing eloquence. He was exceedingly interesting in conversation, warm hearted and ardent in his attachments ; and he was liberal, generousand charitable. He was as greatly distinguished for his fine personal appearance, as he was for his superior intellectual powers ; he was above medium size and height, and perfectly erect and corpulent. His countenance was indescribably animated and expressive, and his general aspect denoted great superiority ; a stranger would be forcibly struck with his majestic and dignified appearance, and without hearing him speak, would be conscious that he was in the presence of an extraordinary man. He was indeed the most noble, perfect, and God-like form I ever beheld ; it seems asif the Creator, in the formation of his body and mind, designed to make a magnificent display of his superior skili and workmanship.

Mr. WiUiams had a very extensive practice ; it was not confined to Columbia county ; nor the State, he was frequently employed in the trial of important causes in neighboring States. He commenced the practice of law at an early age, and rose rapidly to eminence in his profession ; and as a jury lawyer, it is believed he has never had a superior in this or any other country.

In the examination and cross-examination of witnesses, hehad no equal, especially in the cross-examination of unwilling witnesses \ he could and did elicit the truth from this class of witnesses in spite of all their artifices and evasion s ^ he was a terror to such witnesses, and they greatly dreaded to be dealt with by him. His intuitive penetration enabled him to discover at a glance of his mind if opposing witnesses had been trained and disciplined ; and he was certain to expose them to public view, if they attempted to conceal the truth or evade him, and under his hand, they would at once tell the truth to avoid public detection.

He possessed a deep,, varied and profound knowledge of human nature, which enabled him to exert an unbounded influence over a jury ; and he always studied the character of the juries whom he addressed, and took advantage, if any was to be had, of their political and religious opinions, their passions and their prejudices. In his addresses to a jury, he was eloquent, ingenious, and impressive. "^Vhe great versa-^ tility of his talents, and his inimitable wit and humor, enabled him to give great life and variety to his arguments ; he seemed to possess the power of exciting and controling all the passions of the human heart at will. With an imagination as brilliant as that of Shakespeare, he seized upon the

Strong points of his case, and invested tliem with a most lively coloring ; and his opponents at the bar have often experienced the mighty povver of his invectives. He was greatly distinguished for originality of thought and expression, and he never addressed a jury or made a speech on any occasion, without saying something new, beautiful, and original. Whenever it was known at Hudson that he was to try an important cause, crowds were always in attendance, eager to witness the display of his wit, his ingenuity and his eloquence. He attracted equal attention in other sections of the State, every part of which he visited during his professional career. His wonderful powers of mind, his transcendent talents, and his unrivalled eloquence as an advocate, will not be fully known to posterity, because all those that heard him and felt the powers of his mighty intellect, and none but such can form an adequate idea of his merits and superiority over all other men, will soon pass away, and from a description, no person can form a just conception of the character of this extraordinary man. Thousands and tens of thousands have been delighted with his eloquence ; and it is to be regretted that so many of his brilliant efforts at the bar were not reported, and must be wholly lost to posterity. It was impossible for any reporter to do him justice; his language might have ^cen given, but his peculiar manner of delivery, his inim- :' ble gesticulation, his melodious voice, his lustrous couni lance beaming with intelligence, no language can portray. An eminent lawyer of Massachusetts, once remarked that it was a melancholy reflection to think that such a prodigy of genius must ever die. Although his body has been consigned to the tomb, his memory still lives, fresh in the recollections of thousands, and will be transmitted to future ages.

Mr. Williams, for many years, exerted a controlling political influence in Columbia county, and was the leader of the Federal party in this county for a long period, and dictated who should go to Congress, but would never consent to be a candidate for that office himself, as he was then doing a large and lucrative professional business at Hudson. He appreciated the emoluments of his profession more highly than he did political preferment and honor. It is to be regretted that a man of such Iranscendant talents, should have devoted his lime and attention so exclusively to professional business. Had he abandoned the practice of law, and turned his attention to the study of political science, he would have stood in the front rank of American statesmen. He could have been elected to Congress had he desired it; an! at Washington he would at once have attracted the attention of the nation. Such a man as he was would have been an ornament to any legislative body on earth, and he might have ranked with

Adams, Webster, Clay, Calhoun, and other illustrious Americans, for he possessed talents at least equal to any man in the nation. He was frequently elected to the Assembly from this county, and was the Federal leader in the House ; and no man in that body has ever attracted more attention ; and whenever it was known at Albany that he was to address the House, multitudes of eager listeners were always in attendance.

He was also an active and influential member of the Constitutional Convention of 1821, and he delivered several able speeches in that body during its session. We will here give the commencement of his speech, delivered in that body on the 24th September, on freehold qualifications :

He began by saying " that he had hitherto been silent, but not inattentive, to the various subjects that have been under consideration in this body. I have been delighted with the towering eloquence that has been displayed on every side of the House ; 1 have been instructed by the wisdom and experience of those that have occupied the floor. When I look around me and see who are associated in this important trust, when 1 beheld our seats filled with men who have sustained the highest offices in the gift of the government, when I perceive that they are occupied by those who have grown grey in the service of their country, a majority of whom have passed the autumn of life, bringing into our councils the rich fruits of experience, I cannot but feel that the people of this State have a right to expect wisdom and prudence, and moderation in the decision of those matters that are here made the subjects of deliberation. From this sacred hall be banished every unhallowed faction, every lawless passion ; here rights are consulted, and may impartial justice sanctify the consultation. Who does not ieel and appreciate the responsibility of his situation. The eyes of the world are upon us, every quarter of Europe has fixed its attention on independent America, and in the front rank stands the State of New- York ; and sir, the character of the State depends, in a great degree on our deliberations.

" The votes we are to give on this occasion, will be placed on never-d3nng records ; it behoves us therefore to transmit to posterity something which may be worthy of future remembrance. If the demon of party is suffered to prevail, in a few short years it may be said of our doings, that thejr were the result of a party convention ; that our proceedings were dictated by the tyrant of party ; that under its influence we had effaced the fairest feature in the constitution, and destroyed the proudest pillar in the fabric of our government. Party sir, is the gourd of a day ; it flourishes in the night of deception, but withers when the full rays of investigation are brought to beam upon it. A good constitution is the heart of the body politic, its influence flows through all the veins and arteries, and warms and animates the extremities ; it is the sun of our system, around which revolve in harmonious order the executive, judicial, and legislative departments. We are not now emerging from a state of nature ; it is not at this late day that the community are about to enter into the social compact ; it is not now that we are about to surrender certain portions of our natural rights, for the purpose of forming a mass whose collective weight shall govern and sustain the residue. It is almost half a century since the government of this State has been formed, during all which time we have participated in the choicest blessings that government could confer."

On the thirteenth of October he addressed the Convention on the legislative department ; and on the 18th on the formation of Senate districts, and again on the same subject October 26.

The democratic party, who were in a majority in the Convention, were accused by the federalists of organizing the several Senatorial districts, so as to secure the greatest possible number of democratic districts, without having due regard to their proximity and contiguity. This management was termed gerrymandering.

Mr. Williams in his speech, delivered in the Convention on this subject, remarked that he arose for the purpose of stating his objections to the plan proposed by the gentleman from Otsego, Mr. Van Buren, and to say a few words in behalf of the county of Columbia; "she will do her duty," said Mr. Williams, " place her where you will, unless you attach her to Massachusetts ; she will be an aid to her friends and a terror to her enemies."

" When gentlemen introduced their proposition for a division into eight districts, and displayed their map in the lobby, they gave a virtual pledge that it should not be afterwards politically modified ; and he would add, that the principal cause of the abandonment of the favorite project of thirty-two districts, was the map, but it was to be feared that gentlemen were now to be out-mapped. The question is not so much of population as of territory. What is the fact 1 In the second district we shall have a narrow territory, extending from within fifteen miles of the city of New-York to within twelve miles of the city of Albany ; and in the third district you will have a gerrymander that will curl its tail on the mountains of Jersey, coil along the borders of Pennsylvania, and thrust its head into Bennington. Disguise it as you will, the object will be visible, and the people of this State will understand that it is to exclude federalism from every Senatorial district. It may be just, it may be magnanimous, but gentlemen must do as they please, as they hold the power.

Mr. Williams was a very able and successful civil and criminal lawyer. We will mention a few important cases, in which he was employed when he distinguished himself One of his greatest efforts at the bar of this county, was made in the celebrated Clark case, or will case, about the year 1820 or 1821, at a circuit court. A man by the name of Clark, eighty years of age, had made a will, disposing of a large amount of real and personal property, in a manner which seemed to indicate great imbecility of mind, and which appeared unreasonable and unjust. A majority of the Clark family were dissatisfied with the provisions of the will, and they attempted to break it, and employed Mr. Williams as their attorney. Martin Van Buren, who was then at the zenith of his legal fame, was employed on the defence. The trial was a protracted one, and it excited great interest at Hudson and throughout the county ; particularly the addresses to the jury. The testimony in the case was closed on Saturday, the examination of the witnesses having occupied several days ; the court adjourned until the Monday following, in order to give the counsel a fair opportunity of being heard. It was generally known throughout the county that this important cause would be summed up on Monday, which attracted the attention of a crowded audience. The wife and daughters of Mr. Williams, and other ladies of high respectability were present. There was a diversity of opinion among the witnesses who testified in the case, as to the competency of the old man to dispose of his property.

Mr. Van Buren, who first addressed the jury for the defendants, made an eloquent, ingenious and impressive speech, and he was listened to throughout with great delight. His speech occupied about three hours, and it was unquestionably one of the most brilliant efforts of his professional career. Mr. Williams replied in a speech of about equal length, and it was one of his most masterly efforts. I never heard him when he was more witty, eloquent and sarcastic, than he was on this occasion. When he arose to address the jury, every countenance beamed with expressions of delight, and every eye in the vast assembly was fixed on the speaker throughout the whole of his speech. Some parts of which were very pathetic, other portions extremely ludicrous, sometimes the whole audience was very deeply affected by the descriptions he gave of the injustice done to the Clark family, and at other times the jury and the audience were convulsed with laughter. I have never witnessed a greater versatility of talents than Mr. WiUiams exhibited on this occasion, and in the opinion of the writer, who was present during this trial, it was seldom, if ever, surpassed. The jury did not agree on their verdict, and a new trial was had.

EmSHA WILLIAMS. 7

Dn the second trial the Honorable Benjamin F. Butler, who was then a law partner of Martin Van Buren, and the Honorable Ambrose Spencer, appeared and tried this cause for the defendants, Mr. Van Buren was then in the United States Senate, Aaron Vanderpool assisted Mr, Williams. The second trial was also a protracted one, having occupied several days ; the testimony on the second trial was about the same as that on the first, and about the same number of witnesses were sworn. The audience that were present on the trial, was, if possible, more numerous and respectable than that assembled on the former one ; it was composed of both sexes ; men of all professions were in attendance, and a number of the reverend clergy were present to hear the addresses to the jury.

Aaron Vanderpool first addressed the jury on the second trial, and was followed by Mr. Williams, on the same side, in a speech which occupied more than three hours ; and it fully equalled his former effort, and the effect it produced on the audience was electrical. This has always been considered one of his greatest efforts at the Columbia bar ; no man was ever listened to with deeper attention than Mr, Williams was on this occasion ; and no person, from a description, can form a correct idea of its effect on the crowded auditory. It was indeed a speech of great power, and such an one as few men are competent to make. He was quite excited on this occasion ; its great importance had roused the energies of his mighty mind ; he dwelt with great emphasis on the unreasonableness of the will, and said that a man of sound mind would never have made swch a disposition of his property -, and that the will itself proved conclusively that the maker was superanuated, and incompetent to transact business,

Mr. Clark had willed a powder horn to his grandson, which he thought evinced great mental weakness ; and he remarked in his address to the jury, that a man of sound mind would never have attached so much importance to such a valueless article. After availing himself of every argument that could be drawn from the facts in the case, he closed by saying that " our bounds to three score years and ten are set ; shall a man then eighty years of age make a will? No, he has outlived Clod Almighty's statute of limitations,"

Mr, Butler first addressed the jury for the defence, and he made a very respectable effort ; and he was followed by the Hon. Ambrose Spencer. He appeared at the bar of Columbia county under peculiar and interesting circumstances. It was in this county he studied law, and it was here he first entered upon his professional career, and he had often tried the intellectual strength of Mr. Williams, before his appointment as Supreme Judge. Mr, Spencer, after an absence of some (twenty years from this county, had closed his judicial labors, and appeared as an advocate at the Columbia bar, engaged in a very important cause, and opposed to one of the most eloquent and talented men of the age.

His speech occupied about three hours, and was listened to with the deepest attention during its delivery. He commenced by saying, that the county of Columbia was the theatre of his early life ; it was here he first engaged in the business of his profession, and it was here he said in early life, he had formed a large circle of acquaintences and friends ;. and as he looked around upon the crowded audience, he discovered but few of his early acquaintences, a large majority of whom were now sleeping with the dead. He remarked that he was aware that his appearance as an advocate on this occasion would be awkward, and that he was apprehensive that he should disappoint the expectations of his friends, as his province had been for a long period of years to hold the scales of justice evenly betwixt contending parties.

In reply to Mr. Williams' remarks concerning the powder horn, he said that Washington had willed his walking-staff to his particular friend, yet nobody had ever considered this circumstance in him an evidence of imbecility of mind. Mr, Williams here interrupted Mr. Spencer by saying, " is that law or testimony ? " " It is neither law nor testimony," he instantly responded, " but it is history, and very much to my purpose. This," he continued. " was an elegantly wrought powder horn, and that Mr. Clark in his life time had frequently talked over this subject with his grandson, and that he had promised to give him this article. Property," he said, " in itself comparatively valueless, from long possession is rendered valuable to the possessor ; and that it had two distinct values, an intrinsic and an associative value. This article to him was valuable on account of its associations ; it reminded him of his hunting days and the pleasures of the chase. He loved this grandson, and he bestowed upon him this powder horn as a token of peculiar regard." Mr. Spencer after endeavoring in every possible way to operate on the judgment, the feelings and the passions of the jury, he remarked to them : " Gentlemen, some of you 1 know personally, and your fathers whose spirits are now in heaven, have stood by me." This, it is believed, was the last professional effort that this distinguished man ever made in this county.

The impression it made on the audience will never be effaced from their memories. This cause probably excited more interest than any other that was ever tried at the Columbia bar„

The second effort to break the will proved unsuccessful, and it remained in force.

Mr. Williams also distinguished himself in the case of the People vs. Margaret Houghtaling, who was tried in this coun-

ELISHA WILLIAMS, V

ty in about the year eighteen hundred and seventeen, for the murder of an illegitimate muUatto child, by administering poison. The writer was present during this trial, and will give a brief statement of this case according to tlie best of his recollection; but nobody can do justice to the speech of Mr, Williams to the jury, when he summed up in her defence. He was assigned the prisoner's counsel by the court, and had no opportunity for previous preparation, which is so important to the successful management of a cause. The prisoner and the mother of the child at the time of the murder, both lived with Dr, John M, Grouse, the celebrated mad dog doctor at Stuyvesant, and were both women of notoriously bad character. It was proved on the trial that the mother of the child had threatened its life, and that she had frequently left her child in Margaret's care, and that she had taken good care of it. It appeared, however, at the time the poison was supposed to have been administered, that the child was in her care, but the mother was at the house at the time^ and it was possible that she might have administered the poison herself

The testimony upon which the District Attorney relied for Margaret's conviction, was wholly circumstantial, and in my judgment, it was far from being conclusive ; but it appears that the jury thought differently. Mr, Williams made a powerful appeal to the jury when he summed up in her defence ; he appeared very deeply affected himself, and great solemnity pervaded the assembly. His opinion was at the time that Margaret was not guilty of the murder, and that the poison was administered by the mother.

In his address to the jury on this occasion, he commenced by saying that suspicions had been excited of the defendant's guilt, but that the testimony was not sufficient to warrant a jury in rendering a verdict of guilty ; he remarked that there was a great responsibility resting upon them ; the life of an immortal being was involved in their decision. He then went into a minute examination of all the circumstances attendant upon the case, and contended that it was more likely that the mother had poisoned her own child, than it was that Margaret was guilty of the nuu'der. He said that the color of the child evinced the great depravity of the mother, and that she had frequently cursed the fruits of her own womb, and ihat she had strong and powerful motives to rid herself of this living evidence of her shame.

The mother, he continued, had frequently left this child in Margaret's care, and that she had administered to its wants when left by its profligate mother. He warned the jury in a most solemn and impressive manner against the danger of convicting upon circumstantial testimony. He remarked that it was deceptive, and that it should not be relied upon.

especially in a case where life is at stake. He then cited several cases where persons had been convicted of murder upon circumstantial testimony, and executed, that were afterwards proved to be innocent. He mentioned other cases where persons had been accused of theft, and the property alleged to have been stolen was found in their possession, that were not guilty. The cup he said was found in the mouth of Benjamin's sack, and still he was innocent ; and he concluded this masterly speech by saying, that it was better that ninety-nine guilty jtersons should go unpunished, than one innocent one should suffer.

The district attorney, in his reply to the arguments of Mr. Williams, remarked, that murders were seldom, if ever, committed in the presence of witnesses, and if we convict at all for murder, we must do so upon circumstantial testimony ; and that it was often the safest kind of evidence upon which to rely, and free from many objections that might be urged against positive proof. Men he said might perjure themselves, but circumstances would not lie, and that there might be such a concatenation of circumstances, as to render certain conclusions inevitable, and that such were the circumstances attendant upon this case, and that the jury must come to the conclusion that the prisoner was guilty, and that it was their duty to convict her. It appeared, however, that circumstances in this case did lie. Margaret, in her dying moments, declared that she was innocent; and the mother, on her death bed, acknowledged that she had poisoned her own child. It is believed that this is the only execution that has occurred in this county since the commencement of the present century ; and although several persons have been indicted and tried for that crime in this county, and almost every one, if not all, were defended by Mr. Williams, whose success as a criminal lawyer is unparalleled. We have not the least doubt if he had had an opportunity of previous preparation, in Margaret's case, he would have been instrumental in clearing her.