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| Judge Abram P. Smith. |
ABRAM P.
SMITH.
Prominent
Member of Cortland County Bar Passed Away.
On Sunday, July 4, the National Independence
day, shortly after the noon hour former County Judge Abram P. Smith, with one
exception the oldest member of the Cortland County Bar association in length of
practice, passed away at his home, 26 West Court-st. His death was not
unexpected as he had been somewhat broken in health for the greater part of a
year past, and for some months decidedly ill, so that he had been compelled to
relinquish all thoughts of his practice and had been under the care of Dr.
Sornberger, assisted in counsel by Dr. Dana.
And yet the end came suddenly, for only a
day or two before he had been out to ride for a short distance. But a sudden
change for the worse occurred on Saturday and from that time he sank rapidly.
Death was caused by a heart difficulty which resulted in the enlargement of
that member. Only a few weeks ago his son, Dr. David Eugene Smith, head
professor of mathematics in the Ypsilanti, Mich., Normal school came East with
his wife for a short visit with his father. He was greatly pleased to find him
better than he had feared and returned with the belief that the judge might yet
have many years of comparative health. But that treacherous disease soon
brought a change for the worse and the judge was not as well when Dr. Smith
came home a couple of weeks ago for his summer vacation. From that time, however,
till last Saturday the days were full of satisfaction to Judge Smith, for he
was a fond and devoted father, and he had his wife and his two children close
at hand, his only daughter, Mrs. A. M. Jewett, living next door to his home.
Judge Smith was born in the eastern part of
the town of Virgil, Cortland county, N. Y., April 9, 1831, and was consequently
at the time of his death 66 years, 2 months and 25 days old. He was educated
for the profession of teaching and attended the Homer academy and the state
Normal school at Albany, from which he was graduated in 1853. After teaching
for a year in Marathon he decided to make the law his profession and came to
Cortland and began study in the office of Hon. Horatio Ballard, with whom he
remained until his admission to the bar. He was admitted to practice in the
state courts Jan. 8, 1856, and to practice in the United States courts Jan. 4,
1874. Upon Nov. 4, 1856, he was elected district attorney of Cortland county
and held that office for one year. In the fall of 1867 he was elected county judge
and surrogate and was re-elected in 1871 and again in 1877, having held the
office for three consecutive terms and at the time of his retirement having
held that office longer than any other county judge in the state.
Prior to his election as county judge he had
conducted his practice alone. Soon after his retirement from the bench he took
his son in as a partner under the firm name of A. P. & D. E. Smith. About a
year later the son retired to begin teaching and shortly afterward Dorr C. Smith
became associated with Judge Smith under the firm name of A. P. & D. C.
Smith. This partnership was continued for about three years and shortly afterward
upon Oct. 1, 1889, Judge Smith associated with himself Henry A. Dickinson, and
the firm of Smith & Dickinson was continued till the death of the senior
member.
A long list of young men have studied law in
Judge Smith's office. For a number of years he kept a record of them and the
record contains the names of Marvin E. Ryan, Charles W. Rowley, J. D. Guilford,
Wm. J. Mantanye, Jerry S. Gross, Fred H. Kennedy, Dorr C. Smith, Horace L.
Bronson, J. Herbert Hallock, Emmet D. Nichols, Arthur C. Hall, David Eugene
Smith, Lucian J. Birdseye, Fred D. Cummings, E. Day Clark, and Cyrus D. Backus.
The record also contains the memorandum that O. U. Kellogg upon a certain date
began the practice of law in his office. The record is not brought down to
date, but since the last entry was made Edmond C. Alger, Thomas H. Dowd and
Nathan L. Miller have all studied law there and have been admitted to the bar
and to practice.
Upon the breaking out of the war Judge Smith
became greatly interested in the success of the Union cause and assisted in the
raising of the Seventy-sixth regiment which was largely recruited from Cortland
county, and in which he enlisted as a private. When the regiment was mustered
into the service he was made quartermaster with the rank of first lieutenant.
He resigned this office on May 17, 1862, and returned to Cortland and to the
practice of his profession. He has since written the history of the regiment
which is a work highly prized by the members.
Judge Smith was not at the time of his death
a member of any civic organization. His one interest in such matters was in the
G. A. R., and in these circles he has been very prominent. He has always been
in great demand as a Memorial day orator and as a speaker upon all occasions
where soldiers were assembled. He was a charter member of Grover Post, No. 98,
G. A. R., and was a trustee of the Soldiers' Monument association.
Judge Smith was twice married. His first
wife was Mary Bronson of Virgil, and two children born of this union survive, Dr.
David Eugene Smith of Ypsilanti, Mich., and Mrs. A. M. Jewett of Cortland. Mrs.
Smith died about twenty-six years ago, and the judge married for his second
wife, Ellen Prince, who survives him. His mother, Mrs. Lucy Smith, now 87 years
old, is also living. He is also survived by one brother and two sisters, Nathan
Smith of Messengerville, and Mrs. Angeline Spencer of East Virgil and Mrs.
Nancy Cummings of Preble.
Probably no man in Cortland had a wider
acquaintance in the county and state than Judge Smith. His professional
practice and political activity had brought him in contact with a multitude of
people, and his popular manners and desire to make friends brought them to him
in large numbers. He had a keen sense of humor and was a man of infinite jest.
In private conversation, as an after dinner talker and a speaker on various occasions,
he was always ready and versatile, and often happy and ever brilliant. In his
prime he was a power before a jury or on the stump and he was long a leader in
the politics of the county.
He took a special interest in young men and
had a strong attraction for them, and the number of students who entered his
office showed how much they were drawn to him. He had many generous and kindly
impulses, and it gave him pleasure to do a favor. No parent could well be
prouder of his family or more devoted to it than Judge Smith, and he thoroughly
enjoyed his home.
In Grand Army circles he was especially active,
and probably his most devoted friends were among his old comrades.
In public affairs, local, state and
national, he always took a deep interest, and was active and earnest in the
advocacy of his views. For many years he has occupied a prominent place in the village
which was his home, and his death removes one more of the few residents whose
lives cover the period of Cortland's growth from a little hamlet to the size of
a city.
The funeral of Judge Smith was held at 2 o'clock
this afternoon and was attended by a great many friends, the Bar association
and the G. A. R. each being present in a body. The casket was draped in the
national colors and there was a great profusion of flowers, among them being
many roses. The services at the house were in charge of Rev. Amos Watkins,
rector of Grace Episcopal church, assisted by Rev. J. A. Robinson, the former
rector. Miss Lena R. Bowen sang with much feeling "Lead Kindly Light"
and "Abide with Me.'" The bearers were six lawyers, who have been
connected with the deceased in practice, either occupying an office with him or
as his partner or as students in his office. They were as follows: O. U.
Kellogg, Dorr C. Smith, H. A. Dickinson, James Dougherty, E. C. Alger and N. L.
Miller.
The G. A. R. acted as an escort on the march
to the cemetery, and the services at the grave were in charge of the veterans.
A gun squad fired a salute.
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The members of the Cortland county bar met at
the office of County Judge J. E. Eggleston last night to take suitable action
upon the death of Judge A. P. Smith. Judge Eggleston presided and W. C. Crombie
acted as secretary. Remarks of an eulogistic nature were made by Judge Eggleston,
Hon. O. U. Kellogg, George B. Jones, B. A.
Benedict, James Dougherty, John Courtney, H. A. Dickinson, N. L. Miller, D. W. Van
Hoesen, E. E. Mellon, W. C. Crombie and Edwin Duffey. A committee consisting of
Hon. O. U. Kellogg, James Dougherty and B. A. Benedict reported the following
resolutions, which were unanimously adopted:
WHEREAS, Abram P. Smith, one of the oldest
and most honored members of the Cortland county bar, has been removed from our
midst by the inevitable hand of death,
Resolved, That we, sharing in the sad bereavement, which deprives the bar of a
distinguished and an eloquent advocate and loses to our community an honored citizen
and soldier, tender this expression of our heartfelt sympathy to the members of
his family who lose by his decease a kind husband and a loving and indulgent
father.
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be entered in the minutes of the
association and a copy handed to the village papers for publication and an
engrossed copy presented to the family of the deceased. And be it further
Resolved, That as a token of our respect, we attend the funeral of our deceased brother
in a body.
The Day
Was Hot and Quiet—Big Crowds at the Park.
Yesterday was generally observed as the
Fourth in Cortland. All the stores were closed, as well as most of the mills and
factories.
Soon after midnight the noise incident to
the day began to be heard, and some of the more youthful built bonfires at the Messenger
House corner and on Church-st. at Court-st.
Yesterday morning over 700 people braved the
heat and witnessed the Auburn-Cortland ball game. Many went to Glen Haven,
Slaterville Springs, and other resorts while others attended the celebration at
Ithaca. The day was extremely hot and the streets were nearly deserted. The
park [trolley] cars did a good business all day and especially in the afternoon
and evening, when the largest crowd of the season was there and listened to the
two band concerts, and attended the entertainments in the pavilion at 4 and
8:30 o'clock. In the evening there was a nice display of fireworks. The crowd
was an orderly one and all enjoyed themselves. Many picnic parties were made up
to go over there for lunch. Although the day was hot, there was a gentle breeze
at the park, and it was comparatively cool over there.
One hundred-twenty-five enthusiasts accompanied
the baseball team to Auburn over the Lehigh Valley in the afternoon and
returned after the game.
No accidents from the use of fireworks have
been reported. Taken all in all, the day was the most quiet seen in Cortland in
years.
TOOK BOTH GAMES.
AUBURN
WAS NOT IN IT WITH CORTLAND.
The
Maroons Shut Out by the Cortlands Yesterday Morning, and Able to Make but one
Run in the Afternoon—Cortland's Scores, 2 and 9—Batavia the Winner on Monday.
Biff Bang! Gee Whizz!
Yesterday was Cortland's Fourth.
Cortland people in general took a day off and
celebrated, but Cortland baseball people in particular celebrated at the Driving
park in the morning, and many of them at Auburn in the afternoon. The 750
people who paid the admission fee to the grounds yesterday morning saw the game
of their lives. Old Sol was in his glory, and beamed down upon those 750 people
with an intensity seldom if ever equalled, and those same people sweltered,
boiled, roasted, fricasseed and did everything else but freeze. This kept up
for one hour and twenty-five minutes, but little thought any one of that for
the Cortland team was putting up its very best game of the season, and though
the air was full of humidity, the players were given a very liberal amount of
encouragement from the grand stand and bleachers.
Friel was in the box for Cortland and he
pitched a great game. His support could not have been improved upon. Every man
played his position well, and all possible chances were accepted. The game was
one of goose eggs for each team up to the eighth inning, with Cortland leading
in batting. Cortland's two runs were made in this inning on a pretty double by
Stout, followed by Ross who did the same thing, scoring Stout, and he himself
making third on Duggleby's fumble, and scoring on a passed ball by White. Not a
man from each team saw third base until the eighth, and only two Auburnians reached
second base in the whole game.
It was certainly a great game and could be
appreciated only by seeing it. Every time a visitor bit the ball there was a
fielder under it when a fly, and a fielder in front of it when a ground hit.
Cortland touched up Pfrom seven hits, but in every case except in the eighth,
the hit was made when two men were out, and the next man up was retired.
The fact that Cortland won the afternoon
game at Auburn was doubly pleasing to the team's admirers, and serves to arouse
interest and enthusiasm, which had began to wane, owing to the poor work done
last week, especially on Saturday when Batavia came here and won 9 to 5 .
Yerkes was in the box Saturday and his work was brilliant. Had he received the
support he should have received, the game would undoubtedly have been won.
Following is the detailed story of the three games:
STRUCK
BY A TRAIN.
Mr.
Henry Wilcox and Son Thrown From a Wagon and Injured.
Mr. Henry Wilcox, who lives about two miles
east of Blodgett Mills, came to Cortland yesterday morning with a load of
calves. He was accompanied by his son, a lad 10 years of age. On the return home
they reached the crossing this side of Blodgett Mills, just as the fast
southbound D., L. & W. express was approaching. They thought they had time
to get across ahead of the train, but such was not the case for the train
struck the rear end of the wagon, wrecking it. Mr. Wilcox and son were thrown
some distance, and the team ran away, but was caught before going far. Mr.
Wilcox received a cut on the top of the head and his son's right collar bone
was broken. They were taken into the house of Mr. Burgess and were later taken
to their home. Dr. F. D. Reese of Cortland was called and attended to their
injuries.
—St. Bridget's church of Solon will picnic at
Hathaway's grove in Solon on
Saturday,
August 7.
—A full report of the outing last week of
the New York State Press association is found to-day on the third and seventh pages.
—New display advertisements to-day are—C. F.
Brown, Come In and Refresh Yourself, page 7; D. McCarthy & Co., Cool
Fabrics, page 6; Warren, Tanner & Co., Hot Weather Hoods, page 4.
—Mrs. Mary J. Judd died at her home on South
hill Saturday afternoon of heart disease at the age of 78 years. The funeral
was held yesterday afternoon, interment being made in the Cortland Rural cemetery.
—Thomas P. Button not only raises large
strawberries, but great quantities of them to the individual plant. He counted
59 on one and 69 on a second strawberry plant to-day. They were all the way
from ripe strawberries back to green ones just forming.
—Miss Eva Bentley entertained a party of her
young friends at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hakes, 69 Maple-ave.,
Friday afternoon, it being her fourteenth birthday. Ice cream and cake were
served on the lawn and all seemed to have a fine time.
—Mr. Joseph Tappan of Syracuse and Miss
Matilda Maycumber were married by Rev. A. Chapman at the bride's home on
Frederick-ave. yesterday afternoon. They left at once for New York and Atlantic
City, and on their return will reside in Syracuse.
—Mr. Jashub Weaver died this morning at the
residence of his daughter, Mrs. Alexander Coon, 52 Maple-ave., at the age of 92
years, 9 months and 13 days. A short funeral service will be held at 8 o'clock
to-night, and the remains will be taken to North Pitcher to-morrow morning for
burial.
—Beginning to-morrow at 9 o'clock and
continuing till further notice a car will leave the Messenger House for the park
and will run all the morning every forty minutes. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon
a second car will be put on and the running time for afternoon and evening will
be every twenty minutes.
VILLAGE
TRUSTEES.
Changes
In the Fire Department—Bills Audited—Taxes Ordered.
The board of village trustees held its regular
meeting last night, and besides President
Call, Trustees O'Leary, Nodecker and Wallace were present. Trustee Warfield was
absent.
The bond of Isaac M. Seaman, the village
collector, was fixed at $90,000.
The report of M. V. Lane, secretary of the
fire department, was received and placed on file and was approved. The report
shows that the following have been elected to membership in the department: C.
V. Coon, Joseph B. Holden, F. A. Bickford, James A. Smith, Chas. D. Robinson,
Clarence Maltby, Chas. Williamson, John Quick, W. H. Dickinson, Harvey Park.
The following have been dropped: Herman
Stanton, F. F. Allen, H. W. Gazlay, W. H. Manley, C. T. Albot, W. A. Howard,
Clarence Odell, Byron Buck, George Larabee, Floyd Olds and C. C. Hitchcock hare
resigned.
Chief A. J. Barber of the fire department reported
in writing, certifying to the examination of hotel fire escapes.
One carload of stone for crosswalks was
ordered from P. A. Loomis of Tyner, Chenango Co.
It was voted to raise by tax upon the taxable
property of the village in manner provided by law $30,350 for ordinary expenses,
$12,900 for schools, $1,438.24. for making up a deficiency in the police
department, $500 additional appropriation for the fire department and $3,000
for an all night electric light service.
A committee consisting of Trustees Wallace
and Nodecker was appointed to confer with H. Bergholtz in relation to the
proposed electric light franchise.
The following bills were audited:
F. A.
Bickford, salary, $50.00
Sager & Jennings, supplies, 20.64
S. B.
& N. Y. R. R. freight, 1.22
Kennedy
Bros, labor, 3.15
Cramer &
Hollister, supplies, 5.81
W. U.
Telegraph Co., .33
Police force,
252.00
W. T.
Linderman, feeding prisoner, .50
S. B. & N. Y. R. R., 29.00
P. A.
Looms, Tyner, 91.10
W. B.
Landreth, services, 10.00
Graham &
Mudge, gravel, 12.70
H. M. Kellogg,
supplies, 12.15
H.F.
Benton, supplies, 42.32
Street
Commissioner's payroll, 751.70
W. J.
Moore, health officer, 29.25
Cortland &
Homer Electric Co., 510.00
Matthew
Bender, village laws, 3.00
McGRAWVILLE.
Crisp
Local Happenings at the Corset City.
The glorious Fourth was officially ushered
in at this place on Saturday morning by the national salute of thirteen guns,
although the small and some large boys told of its arrival about midnight by
every conceivable noise and bonfires. The empty freight cars on the switch of
the C. & H. Traction Co. caught the spirit and started on a trip of
independence, but were unable to surmount the grade at the bridge below
Bennett-st. and remained there until the arrival of the first car from
Cortland. The crowd of visitors was not as large as was expected, but the races
and games were more fully enjoyed by those who were here. The fusiliers made
some good local hits and the speech by the Hon. P. W. Hoag, "the brass
tongued orator of the day," was a masterpiece of oratory.
A game of baseball or rather five innings
were played between East Homer and the Mustangs, resulting in a score of 14 to
9 in favor of the former. At 1:30 P. M. the McGrawville band escorted N. L.
Miller, the speaker of the day; C. B. Warren, president of the day; Rev. W. P.
Garrett, reader; Rev. N. S. Bard, chaplain: W. P. Parker and other prominent citizens
on a short parade and to the church from where after the usual exercises Mr.
Miller delivered a stirring speech.
The boys' bicycle race was won by Carl
Hammond in 6:55 with Otis Grant, second; Glen Sweet, third.
In the five-mile bicycle race J. Floyd Chapin,
"The Yellow Kid", won in 14:05 with Fay Pritchard second and Arlie
Ensign, shining as third.
The 100-yard dash was won by W. H. Mills in
11 seconds with Fred Higgins as second.
The potato race was won by Bert Doran with
W. H. Mills second and Layton Webster as third.
Warren Sperry won the slow trotting race and
Floyd Loomis the sack race.
The wheelbarrow race was won by W. H. Miller
with Layton Webster as second.
The fireworks in the evening were fine and
were well displayed by P. W. Chaffee and C. B. Warren from a platform on
Main-st.
HOMER.
Gleanings
of News From Our Twin Village.
HOMER, July 6.—As the hands of the town clock
neared midnight Sunday the group of boys gathered at convenient places about the
town suggested the usual noisy demonstration with the advent of the legal
holiday. The bell had just sounded its twelfth stroke when the clamor poured
from the various church steeples to emphasize the fact that the old time Fourth
of July spirit still had its lodgement in the young America of to-day and a
good sized bonfire blazed up at the junction of Main and Cayuga-sts. With the
coming of the daylight the noisy promise of the night was not fulfilled. During
the day Binghamton, Ithaca and the nearby lakesides each claimed its quota till
the village was almost desolate and those who staid at home found quite enough
to do to escape the burning heat without letting the eagle scream or cannon roar.
In the evening there were numerous private displays of fireworks, but there was
no public recognition of the day by the village.
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