Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1895-10-30
LIVELY COURT SCENE.
AN OLD LAWYERS "REMINISCENCES
OF ANTlRENT DAYS

Murder Trials In Which the Public Al
ways Sympathized With the Defendants.
The Legal and Physical Battles Between
John Van Buren and Sam Gordon.
''When l was studying law down in
New York state 40 years or more ago, "
said the judge, between the puffs of his
after dinner smoke, ''the 'antirenters
were stirring up great excitement
You've read about it. Almost all Della
ware county and other lands in the most
fertile part of the state were held by
farmers on 80 year leases. These leases
were made back in colonial days, in
order to get the land settled, the set
tiers paying a barleycorn or perhaps
few cents year to the owners as rent
al. Well, these settlers and their de-
scendants went OH and cultivated the
lands, built houses and handed them
down to their children, and by the time
the leases began to expire they had no
1OCd Ouu tAClI ldlluS anu 1O1hCo DO-
longed to them, and SO, when alleged
owners came from the city with proofs
a century old, they refused to pay the
new high rentals, and when the sheriffs
tried to evict them, they resisted with
guns and killed few officers.
"Well, sir, the state tried to convict
them Of murder, and popular feeling
ran high against the state, and so there
was great fight up and down through
the courts of central New York. In
those days Sam Gordon was one of the
most brilliant lawyers at the New York
bar. A tall, powerful, handsome fellow,
with clear head and sharp tongue.
he never went into fight to lose He
sympathized so strongly with the anti
renters that he gave up all his other
practice and resigned his seat in Con
gress 10 come homo aid defend them,
theTS was convicted.
"By and by the state got tired of be-
ing beaten, and took a change of venue
in one of the most important murder
cases, on the ground that public opin
ion i'll that part of the state made it i'm
possible to get just verdict. There
were great preparations for this trial,
which was to take place in Troy. The
state was determined to convict its pris-
oner, and never were greater lawyers
engaged in any criminal trial in this
country. The prosecuting attorney of
ha tata 1o-c "a; n
man than Amasa J. Parker, and the
chief of the counsel whom he employed
to assist him was John Van Buren, then
in the zenith of his great power. And
Sam Gordon wound himself up to the
keenest fighting pitch to resist such
great array.
cat about this time my chief sent
me down to New York city ON business,
and told me that it would be good
thing for an aspiring young lawyer to
return by way of Troy and see that trial
You may imagine 1 was glad of the
chance. 1 found tie whole town ex-
cited and the courtroom crowded, some
of the best lawyers from all over the
state watching the fight. Almost from
the start it settled down to legal duel
between the two great advocates. Van
Buren, was son of President Martin
Van Buren, and much ADLER man than
his father ever was. He was over six
feet in height, and powerfully built, a
light haired, blue eyed, handsome blond.
Every morning he came to the court
room dressed in fresh suit of immacu-
ate white duck, which was then the
summer fashion. Gordon was fully as
large and handsome, but dark and swar-
thy-as black as John A. Logan-and
he was always faultlessly dressed in
black broadcloth.
-"Well, the trial went on for several
days, with sharp skirmishes now and
then between these two Finally, one
hot afternoon, when we were all swell
tering and fans were going like mad,
there was a sudden explosion between
them, and before any one could tell
which was the aggressor, we saw fists
flying at each other across the table,
and black and white were hopelessly
jumbled.
"Of course it was all over in few
seconds. The bailiffs raped for order,
the courtroom grew as still as death and
the judge fined the delinquents 500
each and ordered them to Jail for "a
hours. In the midst of the breathless
hush that followed, Sam Gordon delib-
erately rose to his full height and faced
the judge Slowly and sonorously, as
though speaking under the sentence of
death, he said, The sentence of your
honor is entirely just; in accepting it l
have but one request to make.
g State your request, said the pre-
siding judge. Not paper rustled, ev
cry head was bent forward, every ear
strained to catch the low, clear, solemn,
trumpet tones Of Gordon's answer:
'''That we may both occupy the
same cell.
"That courtroom went wild. You
never heard such roar. The bailifs
raped for order, but there was no or
der. The judge himself gave in and
laughed, and he finally remitted the
imprisonment and adjourned court.
eyes, Gordon cleared his client, as
usual, in spite Of the states lawyers,
and the whole antirent question was
afterward settled by compromise,
which conceded the ownership of the
land to the farmers. Chicago Times
Herald.
A Grim Old Church.
There is no church in London more
grim1y affecting or more grewsomely