been his great ambition. In order to do this, not having the means to attend college, he laid out the same course of reading as he would have been required to take if attending law school, and whilebusy in the mills during the day, pursued his studies at night and early in the morning, thus mastering the many thousands of pages of legal text works necessary to a thorough understanding of the i)rinciples of law. Entering a law-ofBce in Tarrytown, he completed the three years' clerkship then necessarj' for a student's admission to practice. On February 14, 1878, he passed the prescribed examination, was sworn in as an attorney-atlaw, and in May,

1878, was admitted as a Counsellor of the Supreme Court. His energy, perseverance and knowledge of the law soon gave him a leading place in his profession at the Westchester County bar.

He has been engaged in numerous cases of importance, both in the criminal and civil courts, many of which have been reported. He has been remarkably successful as an advocate. Among the many cases in the criminal courts in which he was counsel for the defense, some of the more prominent murder trials were those of William Newman, Fitzgerald, Brownlee, Coleman and Angelo Cornetti, the last-named being the first tried in this State under the amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure, by which all capital cases can be appealed and execution of sentence thereby stayed until the appeal can be heard.

HISTOKY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.