Prior (1853)
Next (1855)
For the year 1854
Prior (1853)
Next (1855)
8 Dec Calvin Green went back to Hancock. Had been there 16 weeks revising the
book.
9 "A clairvoyant doctress came to engage some herbs & roots. She and her
husband took tea."
10 Tom the Irishman is going to Australia. CC paid him off this evening in
gold. His brother-in-law & two sisters are in Albany & all are going.
14 CC & Daniel started for Canaan 4 Corners with the journey covered wagon to
have ft painted & finished off in style. They hitched it behind another
so to have a wagon to come home with.
Tom the Irishman came back to be hired again; he decided not to go to
AustraIia.
24 Clarissa CVeeder) is quite sick with a heavy cold & cough. Dr. Wade comes
and orders a "Dover powder sweat."
Made a deal for all the manure from Harry Yates' horses in Albany for the
year 1854 for $75.
1854
8 Jan "We have no morning meeting at the Meeting House, either public or private."
10 "Tom the paddy has had a fight with Anson the Dutchman. It is the second
fight Tom has had with the men & the Trustees are going to discharge him
in the morning notwithstanding all call him one of the best men to work
they have."
12 Broom corn sizing machine set in operation today; four of the hired men
work at it.
26 Elder Issachar came and, at the request of Elder Brother, has been given
$35 to help pay Henry Hanson's expenses to England.
27 Benedict from beyond Johnstown came on foot from the cars to get his yearly
supply of garden seeds. Bought $15.
29 Sun Very cold. Intended to have special meeting but the Meeting House did not
heat up to their expectations so they s.ent word to the families.
31 CM brought out a man with one of the Singer sewing machines for JUstice.
16 Feb River very high; nothing to be seen on Island but the house.
28 The little Cook -boy who had lived at the NF with CM was taken to his mother.
29 This day is kept in remembrance of Mother's birth. Have a good meeting;
reading & speaking. Almira &_Lydia had to stay out to work in the kitchen;
we have 14 men & boys to cook for.
7 Mar Packed 6 boxes with 170+ doz. bonnets.
11 Bonnets in A l b a n y
but could not get across river, water high. CC & Daniel
went to Albany & moved them upstairs, fearing they would be under water
where they were stored.
12 Sun In p u b l i c
meeting a man named Simon Peter Manger with a very long beard
spoke; left Union Village in 1841.
of Mr, Van Yorst to
the City of New York.
Soon He'did not remember going to Springstead's
drug-
afterthis he was associated
with Samuel G. Court-store, nor any other drug store.
When the ques-
ney, a son-in-law of Daniel
S. Dickinson, and
for tion was again" directly put to him, (( Were you not
in some drug store in Albany ?" he was in a some-
several years United States District Attorney for the
Southern District of New York. what reclining position in his chair, as if grieving;
In 1857 heformed a copartnership
withthose the question seemed to startle him, and, after some
brilliant lawyers, Clark
B. Cochrane and John
H. hesitation, he finallyreplied: "I do not remember."
Reynolds. This was one of the strongest legal
On the trial, the People offered
to provethestate-
firms that ever existed in Albany. ments of Hendricksonbeforethecoroner. The
During-thisconnection Mr. Cochrane and Mr.
evidence was objected to as inadmissible,
but the
Rej'nolds both became Members of Congress.
The Court admitted it under an
exception.The Peo-
copartnership
ended with Mr. Cochrane's death in
ple offered
to prove,as a motive for the act,
that
1867, but Mr. Harris and Mr. Reynolds continued
Lawrence Van Duzen, the father
of Mrs. Hen-.
their association till the latter's death in
1875, drickson, by
his last will, gave
all his property to
Mr. Harris has nowassociated
with him in thehis wife for life, with a remainder over, one-half
to
practice of his profession his son, Frederick Harris,
his only son,the otherhalf to beequallydi-
and William P. Rudd. vided between Mrs.
Hendrickson and her sister.
In the autumn of1853 he was nominated
and This evidence was objected to, but admitted under
elected District Attorney
of AIbanjrCounty, serv-an exception.
. This case required in
thecounsel
ing untilJanuary r,1857. Mr. Harris'adminis-
for the People,
not only great
legallearning, but
tration'of
thisimportant office is
remembered as a thoroughacquaintancewithmedical jurispru-
largely enhancing his reputation and advantageous
dence, particularly in
thescienceof toxicology,
to the public. During his administration
he asit was insistedthat the victimdied from
conducted severalof the most importantand the effects
of strychnine.Hendrickson^ was con-
stubbornly contested prosecutions for murder ever
victed,as beforestated,and sentencedto be
tried at the Albanj' Bar;
indeed,we know of few hanged. /J^^-%' $"fa**1 /f^'V
more important cases In Jegal history. The duty of conducting this case in
theAppel-
Among thesewas the trialofthe People vs.late Court placed Mr.
Harris in a most
responsible
Hcndrickson, indicted position,
for the murder of his wife involvingmuch labor and learning.
by poison, in
1853, andthe several
trials of
Mc- The counsel for the
defense
reliedupon their ex-
Cann for the murder of his wife in 1856. ceptions to the admission of the evidence we have
Mr. Harris entered
upon hisduties as District'
referred to as involving sufficient error to give them
Attorney of Albany County on the first day of Jan-
a new trial.
uary,1854. The exhaustive and admirably prepared brief of
Hendrickson had been tried and con-
victed ofmurder in the first degree, but the prisoner,
Mr. Harris, and its logical reference to authorities,
through his counsel--Hon. John 1C. Porter--had
on which was founded a very able argument, fully
brought error to the Court of Appeals,
and it hadsustained the rulings of the
Judge at the trial, and
not beenargued when Mr. Harrisenteredupon in due time the decision of
the Court was handed
his duties, and
the duty ofconducting it in the
down, affirming
the convictionof Hendrickson.
Appellate Court fell upon him. The case was reported in 10 N. Y Reports, 13.
~--r
Mrs. Hendricksondied suddenly at Bethlehem The trials of McCann, forthe murder of his wife,
on-the morning-of March 7, 1853.
.Shewas dis- which took place July 8,
1856, wasanothergreat
case.
covered by her husband dead in bed, at about two On.the morning following
her death,the
o'clock in the morning.
He aroused the family,dead body'of Mrs. McCann,. the wife of the prison-
er, was found on the floor of one of
who saw by her appearance that she had been dead the rooms in
but a few moments.In the evening of
that day, the houseoccupied by him and hiswife, with a
at the Coroner'sinquest,
Hendrickson stated ghastly wound over the right eye,
which fractured
under oaththe circumstances
ofher death. He the skulland opened the brains. There were
eight wounds on
said he went to church with her in the afternoon of her head, disfiguring her to such
the day previous,
returningin the evening;his an extent thatthosewho knew her best could
hardly recognize her.
wife complained of ill-health, retiring about eleven Suspicion at once fell upon
o'clock. McCann.
He awoke at about two in the morning There were severalstrong motives
by a noise in the barn.
On speakingto his wife,
proven that induced him to
commit the murder,
he found her motionless,an'dher facecold ; and it was evidently done with deliberation--as the
thinking her dead, he alarmed the family. 'law has it, "with
malice prepense/'
He was in-
dicted and brought to trial at a Court of.- Oyer and
When asked as to his having been in Albany, he
said :"Iwas there two weeks ago last
Saturday."Terminer, inNovember, 1856. Mr. Harrisas
" Have you been there since?" District
After pretending Attorney appeared
for the People;
Hon.
to reflect,
he said ;
"Oh, yes, I think I
was there Lyman Tremain, Hon.Rufus W. Peck ham and
one week ago last Saturday."
"Have you not J. M. Kimball, Esq.,conducted the defense,
been there since?.He replied ; ""I was there last
which was insanity.
It was insisted by the defense
Saturday." When askedwhat he went for,he that McCann killed . his
wifewhile suffering
from
said he took a
loadof timberto the mills there;
delirium tremens, under
thedelusionthat he was
hts brother was with him ; he then gave the names
resisting
the attack
of persons determined to kill
of Hie different places he visited \vith his
brother.him. There were several
circumstancesproved
which thedefenseinsisted
established this theory,
which was acceptedby Mr. Harris, and
the pris-
one of which, was that
McCann used two axes in oner was sentenced
to State Prison for life.
Thus
killing his wife,
orratherthat hekilled her withended a trial
which is withoutprecedent
in the
one ax and choppedher to pieces
withanother ; criminal trials of the State.
The case is reported
that he seized them both to
fightthe men whom in 16 N.Y. Reports,
58, and is regarded as an im-
he believedwere assaulting
him. He made no portant and leading one.
attempt at
flight,but remainednear the body of Among other important murder cases which Mr.
his victim nearly all night.
Neitherdid he make Harris conductedwere thoseof The People vs.
any attempt to conceal the bod}'. Phelps, The People vs. McCrossen,
The People .
The defense of delirium vs.
tremens was held to be Dunnigan and The People vs.Cummings.
no defenseuntilChief-Justice
Story laiddown In all- these
cases Mr. Harris was opposed by the
the law whichsettled
that a man committing a ablest lawyers of the
time. The successthatat-
crime, suffering under this disease, is not responsible
tended him sufficiently attests his accomplishments
for i t . . .. .' ' as a-prosecutingofficer.
The.comments of the
The defense
summoned to the trial some of the
press upon the manner in which he conducted
his
arduous duties are gratifying testimonials.
ablest physicians of the times, including Dr. Alden
March, Dr. Thomas Hun, Dr. S.0.Vanderpoel, One .importantcriminal casein whichMr.
Dr. J. Swinburne and Dr.
33. P. Staats. Harris appeared
againsttheprosecutionwas the
It is said that Mr. Tremain
never inthe course case of The People vs. Reimnnn, indicted for com-
of all his
practicemade a more powerful defenseplicity in the murder of Emil Hartung.
Reimann
thanon thistrial.
Mr. Harris,however,was was at first
indicted as
accessory
beforethe mur-
equal to the occasion.
His cross-examination and
der, the principal being Mrs.
Hartung, wife of
the
examination of the medical witnesses
miht easily deceased,but he was subsequentlyindictedas
have caused a stranger
to believe himsome emi- principal for
causing Hartung's death by adminis-
tering to him
nent physician, experienced in treating cases of in- arsenical
poison.The case created
sanity,so readywas his understandingofthat greatinterest;
indeed,therewere featuresinit
disease. which invested it with dramatic interest.
The medical testimony
was of great value, and Mr. Harris appeared
for the defense;
the prose-
has beenrepeatedly used
as cution
precedent in similar was conducted by District
AttorneyIra
cases, particularly that
of Dr. Hun. It is doubt-Shaffer, assisted by Samuel G. Courtney.
ful whether the
subject
'of 'delirium
tremens was Mrs. Hartung had been convicted of the
murder
ever more
admirably dissected
or more ably ex- of her husband by poisoning,and
was sentenced to
plained than on this trial. be hanged. It was contended by tho counsel for
McCann was convicted
and sentencedto be the People that Reimann was her guilty paramour.
hanged. She was ahandsome and attractive woman, with
The execution whom Reimann
was-fixed by the judges on Janu- was passionately in
love, andhe
ary 23, 1857.
A few daysbeforethe execution aided in the taking off
ofher husband,to permit
was to take place him
his counsel removed his case to to marry her.
Much time was consumed in
obtaining a jury, and more in taking the evidence.
* the General Term, where the conviction of McCann
was affirmed.
From the judgment of
the General After the people rested, Mr. Harris made a motion
Term his counselbroughterror to
the Court of for thedischarge of Reimann
on theground that
Appeals, andafter
argument of Messrs.
Peckham the evidence was insufficient to convict him.
The
& Tremain onthe part of the
defense,
and of Mr. motion was supported by an elaborate and cogent
Harris on the part of the People, a
new trial wasargument, to which Mr. Courtney replied
with
ordered. forceand eloquence.The Hon. George Gould,
The new trial commenced in November,
1857. who presided at the trial, after a learned
and criti-
cal review of the whole evidence and the argument
Another long and exciting contest took place, re-
sulting in the disagreement of the jury.
InMarch, of the respective
counsel,grantedMr. Harris'"
1858, McCann was againplaced atthe bar for motion, and Reimann
was discharged.But there
trial,
and for the third were two more
time the public interest \yas indictments against
him ; one for
aroused over this truly
great case. oeing accessory before the fact, the other for being
This trial, like
the second, resulted accessory after the
in a disagreement of the jury, fact,
and hewas remandedto
there being
eleven for
conviction
and one for ac- jail.
A motion soon followed to admit him to bail;
quittal.
The jurydeliberated
nearlysixty-threeand another sharp
legalcontest
ensued. lie was
finally discharged.'
hours, and during all this time the one juror stood
atone against the pressure of his fellows. A historyofthe causescelebres in which Mr.
To use the Harris has been engaged has filled volumes, inter-
language of a leading journal oi the
estingto bothpractitioner
and student.From
aThe case
1816 down
was summed up for the defense by the Hon. to1876 therehad been forty-three
ISW. Peckham in amost admirable manner
He was murder cases tried
inthe County ofAlbany, and
Mr. Harrisappeared
followed by Hon. Hamilton Harris on the part of the lu>- as the
leading counsel in no
ple They!ntense earnestness and
powerful
eloquence ofless than ten, either for the People or ihe defense.
this gentleman gave him in this case, as in all others, great
Though he isnot what might be termed a
influence with the jury."
, criminal lawyer, it has been his fortune, as we have
A proposition was finally made to have McCann
seen,to be engaged in very many important criini-
plead guilty
to manslaughterinthe first
degree,
75
29 Dec Lydia finished sewing braid on Lucy's bonnets; this makes 7 doz. ready for
trimming., 34 doz. are crown lined, Clarissa is w i r i n g
some.
CC walked out from Schenectady, arriving home at 8 p.m. (He was then 51 yrs.)
30 Have drawn 227 loads of manure from Yates ' in Albany, most by James Cass
with oxen.
BOOK 5
4 Jan "Sarah Jane Markwel I made up her mind to go to her parents & we thought it
was best for Rosanna to go & live with her parents too, for she did not
appear to be one that would make a Shaker." FSW took them to their father.
"Eli Horton came to the Office (just as we were going into meeting). He
also gave out word that he chose to leave." CM away in Schenectady on Soul
case, decision not until midnight on 5fh, so Eli had to wait.
6 CM took Eli to Albany, bought him a surtouf, cap & trunk, gave him 2 hours
to do up his business. He then paid his passage to Chicago & gave him a
ticket, some money & saw him on board the cars. He is going to his brother
in Mich igan.
The men are going to Waterford everyiouple of weeks to buy "feed."
13 Clarissa has wired almost" 20 doz. bonnets.
15 Some talk of dividing the county & the brethren are opposed to it.
16 Have 11 hired men. No water in Office, has to be brought from creek or pond.
(In the winter the men are busy hauling & sawing wood and ice.)
19 Took donation to Home for Friendless in Albany - barrel of potatoes, carrots
& beets, bushel of apples, bushel onions, 2 gal. applesauce, 4 pies, 2-3 Ibs.
cheese, 2 brooms,, and a load of wood. About 40 inmates, mostly aged females.
20 Ella Benedict is taken into CF "after Ministry gave liberty" for it.
Sat. (Ella lived at'CF until near its end, dieing in 1921.)
"All the Ministry attended evening meeting & administered a keen gift against
the flesh & all that pertains thereto."
25 "Oliver Prentiss concluded to leave the Society as he would not conform to
the rules & would have had a great deal of hurt. The Ministry & Elders did
all they could to have him do one thing or the other. Justice settled with
him & took him to Troy.. He talks of setting up a society with more liberal
views etc. He appeared to feel very bad, shed many tears when too late ."
(David Buckingham's comment was that Oliver "has gone to enjoy what he can
of the world, flesh and devil.")
26 "Brother Daniel went to thefed Order to makejsome labour with Smith Taylor (47
years o l d ) whohas been very intimate with 0. Prentiss but he refused to
comply with anything required and was left until morning to make up his
mi nd what to do."
27 Brother Daniel went to 2d Order in morning, came back & sent CM over to
settle with Smith. "He was very saucy to Brother Daniel but he behaved very
well to CM. After dinner CM took him to- Troy . He also shed many tears
when too I ate."
For the year 1854
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Next (1855)