The History of Orange County New York

by Unknown

Judge William D. Dickey ascended the bench in 1896, one year before Judge Brown's retirement from it. The second judicial district, of which Orange County then formed a part, was for many years democratic and it was not unusual for the republican conventions to endorse the democratic nominations. But in 1895 there seemed to be such a fair prospect for success that the republicans put forward a full ticket of judicial nominees, including Judge Dickey, who was elected, though one of his associates upon the ticket, Hugo Hirsch, of Brooklyn, was defeated by Judge Martin J. Keogh, whose court ought to be attended every year by visiting delegations of judges from all parts of the State as a training school and object lesson, illustrating how a busy judge may at all times, in all circumstances and under all provocations still be the model, faultless, consummate gentleman.

Although Judge Dickey removed from Newburgh to Brooklyn soon after his election and is counted as a judge of the second judicial district, while Orange County is now a part of the ninth judicial district, still Orange County is where he was born; where his professional life was passed; where he rose to prominence and power, and where he lived when he was elevated to the bench. He exhibited even in boyhood the qualities which have marked his public career, his patriotic ardor inspiring him to enlist in the Union Army when only seventeen years of age; his promotion being so rapid that before he was twenty years old he had been brevetted colonel in recognition of conspicuous gallantry.

Admitted to practice soon after the close of the Civil War he threw himself with characteristic energy not merely into the legal contests which arose in his city, but into all the public and political controversies of the day. Ardent in his affections and implacable in his hatreds, loyal to his friends and relentless to his enemies, he soon acquired an extensive influence and attracted to himself a devoted following, both personal and political.

The public spirit and civic pride shown by Judge Dickey in promoting every enterprise tending to beautify or benefit his native city was generally recognized and his election to the constitutional convention of 1893 was a distinct turning point in his career. His ability, vigilance, authority, force of character and readiness in debate, soon gave him a dominant influence in the deliberations of that highly intellectual body—an influence aided by his commanding presence and resonant voice, advantages not without value in that most difficult of all auditoriums, the assembly chamber in the Capitol at Albany. Among the many far-reaching reforms which he proposed or advocated in the convention he undoubtedly looks back with special satisfaction upon the provision incorporated, with his active support, in the new constitution prohibiting any legislative limitation upon the amount of recovery for death occasioned by negligence, since he has had abundant occasion in his experience upon the bench to verify his convictions of the justice, necessity and public policy of this amendment.

Judge Dickey displays upon the bench the same sterling qualities which marked his active professional career. Among them none is more pronounced than his remembrance of and kindness to old and valued friends. The exercise by a judge of the patronage necessarily pertaining to his office has always been a trying question for him. But since one lawyer has no natural, superior claim over any other lawyer upon the fruits of patronage, there seems to be no reason why a judge should not be permitted to gratify his feelings of friendship and esteem in the appointment of referees whom he knows to be not only estimable but entirely capable. No one questioned this sentiment or principle of conduct when Judge Brown appointed his old friend and partner, Mr. Cassedy referee to sell the West Shore railroad, or when he appointed his old friend, William Harvey Clark, of Minisink, receiver of the Port Jervis and Monticello railroad; Mr. Clark, by the way, proving to be so capable a receiver that he not only paid its debts but surprised the stockholders by handing over to them a large amount of money.

But in the distribution of patronage Judge Dickey has not only been loyal to the claims of private friendship; he has nobly used it in the recognition of the debt which the public owes to distinguished public services and sacrifices. I know one able lawyer whose physical infirmities disqualify him from active practice at the bar, but whose eye is still as clear, whose judgment as alert as when, from the heights of Gettysburg, he directed the Federal forces on the first day of the battle and saved the fortunes of the day till they could be turned and redeemed upon the morrow. In appointing this old hero to important service in various public condemnation proceedings, in which his sound judgment and wide experience have been utilized to the public benefit. Judge Dickey has entitled himself to the gratitude of all who believe that conspicuous worth and patriotic service should not be forgotten and neglected by judges any more than by governors or presidents. And personal gratitude is no less due to Judge Dickey from all those whose appointment by him to positions of trust and responsibility has enabled them to justify his own unerring judgment as to their fitness and capacity.

It was in the autumn of 1902 that Judge Dickey was called upon to pass through the first deep sorrow of his life in the loss of his only son, Frank R. Dickey, cut off in his young manhood at the very beginning of his promising career at the bar. Born and educated in Newburgh he had followed his father to Brooklyn, where he established himself in practice and where he soon won a large and growing clientage. His solid abilities; his pure, lofty character; his open, sincere nature; his refined, engaging manners; his gentle, amiable disposition united to create a personality of singular charm and interest. Troops of new friends, attracted to him by the graces of a sweet and beautiful character, joined with those who had always known and loved him in heartfelt sorrow over the untimely grave of Frank R. Dickey.

Judge Dickey's wide experience in affairs, with his knowledge of human nature, its secret springs and devious ways, enables him to arrive at decisions always prompt and usually just. His influence upon the bench has always been powerfully exerted in support of the domestic virtues and social purity. Gambling, which is fast becoming one of the most threatening of our national dangers, as it is already one of the most degrading and corrupting of our social vices, whether practiced by men in policy shops, or by women at bridge parties, finds in him, whenever it comes within his judicial purview, neither countenance nor toleration.

There is one trait of Judge Dickey upon the bench which calls for special mention. When, in an action which has been tried and decided by him, without a jury, the attorneys come before him for settlement of the case upon appeal, he does not seek to emasculate the appeal, as some judges in their weakness and vanity do, by striking out the exceptions designed to bring up sharply for review the points of difference between him and the defeated counsel. He always gives the unsuccessful and dissatisfied litigant a fair opportunity to review every issuable ruling and to get a reversal if he can. He is not hyper-sensitive upon the subject of being sustained by the appellate courts. Indeed, his mental attitude toward them is doubtless reflected in the remark once made by the famous judge, Lord Young, when he was told that one of his decisions had been affirmed upon appeal by the House of Lords, "Well, I may have been right, notwithstanding," said Lord Young.

As Judge Dickey has never been assigned to the Appellate Division and much prefers the close contact with the bar and with vital human interests which is enjoyed by judges constantly engaged in trial term and special term, he has never felt called upon to accompany his decisions with opinions of any length. When he does write, his opinions are clear, terse and sententious. Indeed there is very little satisfaction for a judge at special term in writing elaborate opinions, only to find them arrested and archived in that mere vestibule of fame, that hall of unmerited but predestined and pathetic oblivion known as the Miscellaneous Reports.