New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-07-14
THE BROOKLYN CITY COURT
TO BE MERGED WITH THE SUPREME
COURT AT THE BEGINNING OF
NEXT YEAR.
Az ,xrrpe srING HISTORY. COVERING NEARLY
HALF A CENrURY-FORMER AND PRESENT
,r-ncrs-rHE rILroNBEEcHER CASE
THE MOST NOTED ACTION

EVER TRIED THERE
BY a provision Of the revised CONSTITUTION Oh inc
State the City Court OF Brooklyn WILL AZ the DE-
beginning Of next year, became merged WIN 'hc
Supreme Court and It's three Judges VIII De trans
formed into Supreme Court Justices the Chy
Court has been In existence nearly haii ce"'''''
and has had interesting history
Tho court was organized In pursuance OF an act
NJ tho LEGISLATURE passed March -. lS49 its
Jurisdiction is substantially the same rs mat Oh the
Supreme Court to subject matter put 10 oo''
fined to suits at law and equity arising !" '''e
city OF Brooklyn. This jurisdiction extehus over
all actions concerning real estate In brooklyn
na all other actions where the defendants
i've or are served IN that city. For the
first twenty years Of is existence there was only
one Judge OF the City Court and as IL was i"poss-
be for him to hear ape GALS from MS own oecsions
AT least with a reasonable degree OF importantly
IT was provided that cases tried In the CITY court
shouId be appealable to the General Term OF the
Supreme Court, WITH OF course iu''he' ''s"' VI
appeal to the Court Of Appeals.
The frat Judge Of the City Court was John Green
wood who took office on MAY ]. h4'. ne was
elected for a OF six years out ola not serve
out his full term. He resigned from 'he oehen
On December 81 1854. and Erastus ID. culver was
appolnted by the Common Council to serve out the
remaining fnur months OF the term. Judge culver
had heen elected as Judge Greenwoods successor
nj the previous fail election and continued on the
bench until May 1861. He was SUCCEEDED oy Juage
George q. Reynolds. who served for fun term OF
six years. his term ending In 1901
The next Judge OF the city Court was George
r,omnson elected in 1866 During his term the
cour, wa. reorganzcd In accordance with the pro-
visions OF the Constitution as revised IN lsoS the
number OF Judges being increased 70 three ana the
term extended from six years TO fourteen. judge
Thompson was continued In once under the law
changing the organization OF the court until the
fAr thlG ha
ed and Joseph Nelson and Alexander Mccue were
elected in May 1870 as the additional Judges. Their
term OF Office began July In that year Judge
Thompsons term expiring In 1873 the election OF MS
successor occurred In November. 1871 when Judge
Reynolds was again seated In the city Court This
time for fourteen years.
CHANGES IN THE COURT
No further change occurred In the cour, for ten
wears but at the end OF 1852 Judge Nelson. having
reached the age OF seventy. was forced 10 retire
from the bench In that year Nathaniel X. Glenn
en-, was elected az his successor. Other changes
quickly followed. In 1885, Augustus Van Wyck was
elected 10 take the place Of Judge Mccue. ana on
January l. 1857. William J. Osborne became th"
successor OF Judge Reynolds. Accordingly Judge
Clement will have one year 10 serve as Justice OF
the Supreme Court; Judge Van WICK Will have
three wears and Judge Osborne will have Ave years
Nv the oct Of 1910 reorganizns the court. II was
provided that one OF the Judges should he desgnai-
ed as Chief Judge and there was a further pro-
vision for General Term OF the city Court. com
posed OF all three judges. The nrsi Chief Judge
was Judge thompson the others having this dignity
have been Judges Nelson. McCue. Reynolds and
Clement.
The CITY Court was the FIRST court 10 he opened
IN the present County Court House. which was be
gun in 1862 and finished In 1854. At that time Judge
Reynolds presided in the city Court. The nrst case
was heard In the Court House In October iS''
Judge Reynolds recalls that It was a suit In which
Henry C. Murphy and Nathaniel J.. Warins were
the opposing counsel. During one year Judge Rey-
nolds was assigned By Governor Cornell TO act as
| a Supreme Court Justice. and for the greater part
OF the year he held circuits In the Supreme Court
Judge Reynolds IL the only surviving ex-Jufse OF
the city Court. He born n. Armenia. y. !.
February I. 1921. In IsH he was graduated from
Wesleyan University Middetowa. Conn. That In
stitution subsequently, conferred on him the degree
OF IL. d. lie has always taken a warm interest
in his alma mater has been Of It's trustees Tor
years. and makes a practice OF attending commence
ments and every other gathering connected with
WESLEYAN He was admitted 10 the tar In 1884, and
for a time prsctised law in Poughkeepsie He went
10 Brooklyn In 1884. and has since been Identified
with that city. He resumed the practice OF law on
nj. retirement from tho bench and has been con
nected with many prominent cases. Mention may
be made OF his service ~ one OF the counsel
Tor the city In the Long island Water Supply case.
THE PRESENT JUDGES
chief Judge Clement was born In TiIton. y. H..
March e. 1874 HIS father. Zenas Clement, he'd Inc
office Of Treasurer OF that State from lsN to iS2
and was warm fnead OF President Franklin
Pierce Like loyal son OF New'Hampshire' Ma
,baniei Clement went to Dartmouth College from
which he IVES graduated In 1869. In 1862 he enlisted
and served In u cavalry company. organized for
three months service by Governor SpraBus OF
Rhode Island consisting chiefly OF college students
From 1863 10 1866 he acted as clerk In the Treasury
and War Departments at Washington. meantime
nursulng the study OF law. In 1850 he went 10
proollvn and continued his studies with the we'll
Lrown law firm Of Crooke Bergen d Pratt In
,s7o when Judge Pratt took his seat on the bench.
Mr. Clement became member OF the hrm the
mama ~ which was changed TO Crooke. Bergen d
(.,ement He Is a member OF the Hamilton. BROOK
lvn Carleton and other clubs. director OF the
Academy OF MUSIC anu "e""e' " "'A"'"'''
Post, G.. a. X
Judge Van wyck is now nearly nfty years old.
He ia n native Of New-York City, but received his
education at Phillips Academy. Exeter. N. H.. and
at the University OF North Carolina. BEFORE beins
elected TO n judgeship he had taken m active part
in politics In Brooklyn and had been chairman OF
the Democratic General Committee. and a delegate
20 numerous conventions Of his party lie has been
nresident OF the Holland Society Of New-York for
one year. He Is a member OF the Diocesan COM
mittee OF the Protestant Episcopal Diocese o. Long
has and See1 psmser 81 the Ha"
iyn Lincoln. oxford and Montauk clubs
Judge Osborne was born In New-York City June
o. 1896 lie was precocious youth. aad entered
Columbia College at the age OF thirteen, taking his
degree In 1859. He was admitted to the bar when
twenty-one years DID, and subsequently entered on
elected Supervisor OF the Sixth Ward in Brooklyn.
and was reelected for four subsequent terms. un-
der n law passed In 1871 he was appointed Super
yisor-at-Iarge OF Kings County In that year. and In
the following autumn was elected TO that ONCE for
n term OF two years Mr.. Osborne was active In
politics before becoming a Judge. and for several
years chairman OF the sixth Ward Democratic
Association He IL a member Of the Brooklyn and
Hamilton clubs. and for TWENTY-FIVE years he has
the Long Island College Hospital
THE FAMOUS TILToN-BEEcHER CASE.
BY far the most important case ever tried In the
Brooklyn City Court was the famous suit OF Thco-
dore Tilton against Henry Ward Beecher. just
twenty years ago. Some people seem to think that
Mr.. Beecher was the subject OF q criminal action
az ne iiirv aRaiuaf i'm