The History of Orange County New York

by Unknown

Mr. Finn, who drew the will of Mrs. Thrall, was deeply interested in the noble institutions founded by her—the hospital and the library in addition to the park—and it was largely through his influence that her thoughts were directed to these beneficent objects. It was also through his careful prevision that her testamentary wishes in respect to an additional endowment for the hospital were not defeated by statutory precautions. Mr. Finn foresaw that she might die within the two months set apart, arbitrarily and without respect to testamentary capacity, by the inscrutable wisdom of the legislature as the fluctuating hiatus, that may or may not turn out to be the vitiated period, within which testamentary benevolence must be suspended; within which all tardy attempts of the passing soul to make its peace with God or restitution to mankind must be overruled and nullified in favor of worthless or distant relatives; but still within the last day of which the cunning physician seeking to cheat death of its prey and rapacity of its spoils, might so galvanize into convulsive life the dissolving frame, might so fan into flickering flame the vital spark that, in the race between greedy kindred and melting charity, rapacity will lose by a single hour. In the case of Mrs. Thrall there was no such dramatic suspense. She died twenty days after the execution of her will; so that the bequests in her will and codicil of twenty thousand dollars to Thrall Hospital, already founded by her, were declared void. But Mr. Flinn also advised her to give to her executors, Isaac R. Clements and Nathan M. Hallock, individually, absolutely and outright all legacies which might for any reason be declared void or ineffectual, and this provision was incorporated in her codicil. After this provision had withstood in the courts the attacks of relatives who claimed that it represented a secret trust, equally as abhorrent to legislative solicitude for relatives as a direct charitable bequest, Mr. Clements and Mr. Hallock, in honorable recognition of Mrs. Thrall's wishes, as expressed in her defeated bequests, but under no legal compulsion so to do, turned over to Thrall Hospital the twenty thousand dollars which came to them absolutely under this alternative provision. Thus were Mr. Finn's wisdom and foresight, not only in respect to his client's provision for the hospital but in respect to her bequest to the city of Middletown for its library, amply justified by the event. The bequest of $30,000, for the library was sustained by the courts. These noble foundations—the library and the hospital—constitute an enduring monument to the generosity of S. Maretta Thrall but are no less a monument to the learning, skill and prescience of Daniel Finn. The people of Middletown, though they have always recognized his virtues and his abilities, but imperfectly understand the full measure and extent of their indebtedness to his guiding hand and public spirit. It is simple justice to his memory that the incidents of his professional career bearing upon the public welfare should be embraced in any work professing to be history.

Mr. Finn's intense affection for and loyalty to his alma mater, Hamilton College, was a very pronounced and interesting trait of his character. His only son, Frank H. Finn, also graduated from this classic institution of learning which numbers among its alumni that most intellectual of all living American statesmen, Elihu Root.

Frank H. Finn, upon being admitted to practice, entered into partnership with his father under the firm name of Finn & Finn—the name under which, notwithstanding his father's death, he and his present partner, Arthur H. Payne, himself also a graduate of Hamilton College, conduct their business. Every writ and process issued by the present firm runs in the name of Finn & Finn, thus perpetuating the potent influence, the fine example and the gentle memory of one of the purest and ablest of Orange County lawyers. It is unusual among lawyers to preserve the name, in a firm, of a deceased partner. The only instance I recall is that of James C. Carter, whose surviving partner, Lewis Cass Ledyard, has always, with a tenderness and delicacy of sentiment so in consonance with his own noble nature and chivalric character, kept Mr. Carter's name at the head of his firm, through all ensuing changes. The filial reverence shown by Frank H. Finn for his father's memory, his unwillingness to let his father's name disappear at once beneath the cold waters of swift forgetfulness, illuminates his own strong and sterling character. Called upon suddenly to assume charge of many intricate and involved cases pending in the office at the time of his father's death he accepted and discharged the painful responsibility with a dignity, firmness, manliness, courage and ability which commanded the admiration and won the affection of the community. Though he owes much indeed to his noble father, he has given abundant evidence of his capacity to stand alone. He and his brilliant partner, Mr. Payne, will bring no reproach upon the honored name still in their pious keeping.

Henry W. Wiggins came to the bar two years later than Daniel Finn. The business established by him in Middletown in 1872 is now carried on by the firm of Henry W. & Russell Wiggins, father and son.

Henry W. Wiggins is especially distinguished for his knowledge of the law of real estate, but his practice has always covered a wide range. I well remember an important litigation between mill owners in which Mr. Wiggins established the right of the upper owner to substitute a turbine for an overshot wheel and to take water at a lower depth, provided he did not use a greater quantity of water than before. His success was the more notable and gratifying because he was opposed by both Mr. Brewster and Mr. Winfield. But it has been in litigations involving the liability of the city of Middletown for damages that Mr. Wiggins has won many of his most conspicuous triumphs. He was, at intervals, its corporation counsel for many years, his son Russell now holding the position. It is safe to say that no city was ever more ably served and carefully protected than the city of Middletown was by Mr. Wiggins. No expensive condemnation proceeding in his charge ever proved ineffective because of some flaw or oversight. No suit for damages defended by him ever terminated in an extreme or excessive verdict. His caution, vigilance and conscientiousness combined with his sturdy independence in always standing his ground, in always adhering inflexibly to any position once, after due consideration, taken by him, have been of incalculable service to his clientage and have resulted in saving to the city of Middletown alone many thousands of dollars.

Russell Wiggins also has enjoyed marked success in defending the interests of the city. His recent victory in a case involving the validity of the provision in the charter of the city of Middletown making notice to the common council of snow or ice upon a sidewalk prerequisite to an action for injuries sustained in consequence of it, has attracted wide attention. Mr. Wiggins was overruled by the special term and by the appellate division which held that this provision exceeded the powers of the legislature and was, therefore, unconstitutional. But Mr. Wiggins succeeded in convincing the Court of Appeals, which, in an opinion embodying the arguments advanced by him, sustained the validity of this provision of the charter, with the result that all actions of this class are practically done away with, it is not surprising that all the cities of the State have been so impressed with the importance of Mr. Wiggins' victory that they are now trying to secure a similar provision in their own charters. It seems, indeed, somewhat hard that a total stranger, alighting from a train on a dark night, should be compelled to proceed at his peril along a city street, under conditions which physically exclude his either having or giving notice, but Mr. Wiggins ingeniously persuaded the Court of Appeals to say that this is a question for the legislature and not for the courts, thus establishing a new precedent, if not a new principle, in constitutional construction, in a case sure to become a leading one; sure to be cited for many years to come, in the courts of the entire country. In thus linking his name at the very outset of his career, to a leading authority, Mr. Wiggins has set for himself a hard task. He must now live up to his own reputation—which there is abundant reason to believe he is entirely able to do.

Cornelius E. Cuddeback, admitted to the bar in 1873, immediately established in Port Jervis the business now carried on under the firm name of C. E. & S. M. Cuddeback, his son Samuel M. having become associated with him.

Mr. Cuddeback early became prominent in all the interests of the community, social, business, legal and public—a position which he maintains by virtue of his unquestioned integrity, great ability and enormous industry. He was largely instrumental in straightening out the affairs of the Port Jervis & Monticello Railroad Company, and he has for many years been the attorney for the town of Deer Park and the village (now the city) of Port Jervis. He has also been the attorney for many public service corporations. His defense of the Barrett Bridge Company in a test case tried at Goshen in June, 1905, to determine the liability of the company for the deaths occasioned by the sweeping away of the bridge over the Delaware River in a freshet, furnishes a fine example of his characteristics as a lawyer. The defense was prepared with a thoroughness, exhaustiveness and comprehensiveness and conducted with a verve, vigor and vivacity which carried everything before it, sweeping away the case of the plaintiff as ruthlessly as the freshet swept away the bridge; leaving little for the jury to do but to register the fact that the defense had been completely successful.

Mr. Cuddeback finds in his son a lawyer well qualified to assume the burdens of his practice when he shall be prepared to lay them down.