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"History of the Third Department" |
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Other Fourth District Justices
In addition to current Justices Mercure and Lahtinen, and Presiding Justices John Kellogg, Van Kirk, Gibson, and Herlihy, and Justices Landon and Putnam (who were on the first Court), and Justices Henry Kellog and Levine, who went on to the Court of Appeals, 13 other Fourth Judicial District Justices have served on the Appellate Division, Third Department. Justice S. Alonzo Kellogg was born in Champlain, Clinton County, on May 15, 1838. He was educated at the Champlain Academy and Middlebury College, graduating from the latter in 1860. He first practiced law in Nevada (then called Utah Territory) and during his residence there (near Virginia City) he was elected in 1864 as a senator in that State's first legislature. When he returned East in 1866, he opened a law office in Plattsburgh in Clinton County. He was elected Clinton County District Attorney for one term, beginning 1876. From 1881 to 1890, he was Clinton County Judge. In 1890, he was elected to the Supreme Court for the Fourth Judicial District. He also served in 1890 as a member of the Constitutional commission appointed by Gov. Hill to revise the Judiciary Act. The commission's report was influential at the 1894 Constitutional Convention which adopted reforms creating the Appellate Division. Justice Kellogg was appointed to the Appellate Division to succeed Judge Putnam who died in 1899. He retired from the Supreme Court in 1903 because of ill health. He died on March 12, 1904. His son, Henry T. Kellogg, succeeded him on the Clinton County Supreme Court and eventually was named to the Appellate Division and then the Court of Appeals. The Kellogg family lineage includes Elijah Kellogg, of Revolutionary War (Ticonderoga) fame and is connected to the great New York State Chancellor, James Kent, and to Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg (during the Coolidge Administration). Justice Kellogg's wife was a direct descendant of Zephania Platt, founder of Plattsburgh. Justice James W. Houghton was born in Corinth, Saratoga County, on September 1, 1856. He graduated from Canandaigua Academy (Ontario County) in 1876 and then studied law (with H. L. Comstock and E. W. Gardner). He was admitted to practice in 1879 in Rochester. He thereafter practiced in Saratoga Springs. In 1888, he was elected Saratoga County Judge and re-elected in 1894. He resigned in 1899 to accept an appointment from Gov. Roosevelt to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court; he was elected to the post the following year. He was designated to the Appellate Division in September 1903. He served on the appellate court until his death on February 14, 1913, following an operation in Boston for appendicitis. He also served on the Third Department court for one month in 1901 (November to December). His service for the Third Department was interrupted by service in the First Department from 1905 to 1910. Justice Edward C. Whitmyer was born May 5, 1861, in Schenectady. He was educated in the public schools and then at the Preparatory School of Union Classical Institute (the high school), from which he graduated in 1877. He then attended Union College, graduating in 1882. He then moved to Canton, St. Lawrence County, to be employed as an instructor of Latin and Greek at the Canton Union School. While in Canton, he was a law student in the law office of Supreme Court Justice Leslie W. Russell. He was admitted to the Bar in 1887 and took up practice in his home town of Schenectady. In 1894, he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. From 1903 to 1909, he was Schenectady County Surrogate. From 1909 to 1912, he was county judge. He was elected to the Supreme Court for the Fourth Judicial District in 1912 and was re-elected 14 years later. On January 27, 1927, Gov. Smith named him to the Appellate Division. He retired at the end of 1931 after reaching the age of 70. He died on May 20, 1933. Justice John C. Crapser was born September 8, 1873, in Winthrop, St. Lawrence County. Later the family moved to a large dwelling on Crapser's Island in the Town of Waddington of the same county, which island was continuously occupied by family members until flooded by the St. Lawrence Seaway. He was educated in the common schools, later attended Potsdam State Normal School, after which he pursued the study of law at the University of Michigan and graduated in 1896. Then he studied law with Congressman A.X. Parker in Potsdam. He was admitted to the Bar by the Third Department in November 1897. He opened a law office in Hogansburg, Franklin County, but shortly relocated to the larger Massena in St. Lawrence County. He served as supervisor of Massena and then assistant district attorney in St. Lawrence County and then as elected St. Lawrence County District Attorney. He was elected St. Lawrence County Judge in 1914 and re-elected once. In 1921, he was elected to the Supreme Court for the Fourth Judicial District. He was appointed to the Appellate Division, effective January 1, 1933, and served on the appellate court until he retired in 1943 at age 70. He returned to private practice in Massena with his son under the firm name, Crapser & Crapser. He died on February 14, 1956. Justice Christopher J. Heffernan was born in Athlone, Ireland, on May 5, 1882. His family emigrated to Amsterdam when he was nine years old. He graduated from St. Mary's Institute and then studied law in the office of Florence J. Sullivan. He was admitted to the Bar in 1903. His career of public service began with his appointment, in 1906, as Corporation Counsel for the City of Amsterdam. In 1925, he was elected to the Supreme Court, and re-elected in 1939. In 1926, acting as a special commissioner for Gov. Smith, he recommended the dismissal of several officials of Saratoga Springs charged with neglect of duty by permitting "wide open" gambling. The Governor followed the advice and dismissed the District Attorney and the County Sheriff. For almost twenty years, March 1933 to December 1952 (when he had to retire because he had reached the age of 70), he served on the Appellate Division. He also served for several months in 1951 on the Appellate Division, First Department. While on the appellate bench, he wrote the majority opinion in a 1939 case which declared a Republican budget plan an unconstitutional emasculation of Gov. Lehman's budget. The Republicans in the Legislature had attempted to substitute a legislative bill for the executive budget. The ruling was upheld by the Court of Appeals. After leaving the Appellate Division, he served as an official Referee until his death on January 12, 1959. He had five children, four daughters and one son. The son, a West Point graduate, was killed at the Battle of Bataan in World War II. |
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 The Historical Society of the Courts of the State of New York |