\n
By Shannon Butler<\/p>\n
Sitting on top of a hillside and overlooking the Hudson sits a monument to a man who had faith in his God, and in his country\u2019s system of justice. The epitaph inscribed therein gives us a glimpse of who he was: \u201cIn Society an Ornament; In the State, a Judge, fearless, dignified, and incorruptible; In Habit, Simple and Pure. He died young, but mature in usefulness and fame. Adorning Jurisprudence by the clearness of his decisions, and Illustrating Religion by the Strength of his faith!\u201d To this modern writer, that sounds like quite a man, and a character that just doesn\u2019t exist anymore. But who was Seward Barculo anyway? Was he really all of the things that his headstone claims?<\/p>\n
The pastor of the Dutch Reformed churches in Hopewell and New Hackensack, Reverend George Barculo, was overjoyed on September 22, 1808, when his wife, Hannah, gave birth to their son, Seward. Though his father thought he would be a farmer, Seward\u2019s uncle Jacobus Swartout couldn\u2019t help but notice that the boy enjoyed reading and learning at an early age, so it was decided that he should receive a proper education. He was sent off to the Academy at Fishkill, and then prepped for college before entering Yale University in 1828. He studied both at Yale and Rutgers University before coming to Poughkeepsie to study law with local attorney Stephen Cleveland. He was finally admitted to the bar in 1834, which is also the same year he married Cornelia Tallman. He very quickly discovered a passion for debate and was heard to tell his friends, \u201cLearn to speak, argue, and debate! Without this you can never make yourself felt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barculo became a partner to Stephen Cleveland, and very quickly took over the office in Poughkeepsie; he was in high demand with his clients. He became well known for his silent stare in the courtroom, and rising at the appropriate times to deliver well-arranged statements with calmness and care. After only serving in the courts for a little over a decade, New York Governor Silas Wright appointed Barculo First Judge of the County Court here in Dutchess County in 1845. In 1847, when the state\u2019s new constitution went into effect, Barculo was then elected to serve as a Justice of the Supreme Court for the second district. He had also made Poughkeepsie his home, with a house near Mansion Square Park.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most infamous case that he proceeded over during this time was in March of 1852, The People vs. Ann Hoag<\/em> in which Mrs. Hoag was put on trial for poisoning her husband, Nelson Hoag. Barculo, the jury, and hundreds of spectators listened intently as the horrible story of a young woman consumed with greed and lust unfolded before them. Mrs. Hoag had done a rather poor job of covering her tracks in purchasing arsenic and then feeding it to her husband in front of his sisters (who she detested as well). She even made the mistake of telling people that her husband would surely die soon (spoiler alert, he did!). Barculo gave a lengthy statement to the jury before sending them off to make their decision:<\/p>\n\u201cGentlemen, you have an important and responsible duty to perform. The crime with which this woman is charged is one of the most diabolical that can enter the human heart. It is one easily perpetrated; it requires neither age, nor strength, nor skill, nor courage. The merest child or feeble woman can, by means of poison, destroy a whole family. If this horrible crime has been committed by this prisoner it should be punished. You stand between her and the public, your duty points to both. If she is innocent you must preserve her from the sword of the law which is now suspended over her head. You are not to presume her innocent because she is a woman nor because she has children, nor because of the punishment, but because she is innocent and not proved guilty.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\nShe was found guilty, and it was Justice Barculo\u2019s job to sentence her to death by hanging. She was the first woman to be executed in the City of Poughkeepsie, right inside the county courthouse where Barculo had heard her trial. In his six and a half years as a Supreme Court justice, this case received more attention (for obvious reasons) than any other he had seen.<\/p>\n
Besides his love of debate, he was a lover of reading, sailing, and horticulture. He was devoted to his children, especially his son Sidney who (strangely enough) followed his father in death just a few months after in September of 1854 when the child was running around the campus of the Dutchess Academy and ran head first into another student. He died several hours later, at just 13 years old. Justice Barculo had also known good health until the last few months of his life. While traveling abroad, he suddenly began to suffer from a horrible case of\u00a0 chronic diarrhea (which if left unchecked, was a very real cause of death in the 19th century). He tried to get back home in time to pass in the peace of his home, but died in the residence of his father-in-law in New York City, on the June 20, 1854. He was only 45. His remains were buried at The Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery, not far from some other well-known judges and lawyers of Poughkeepsie\u2019s past.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Shannon Butler Sitting on top of a hillside and overlooking the Hudson sits a monument to a man who had faith in his God, and in his country\u2019s system of justice. The epitaph inscribed therein gives us a glimpse of who he was: \u201cIn Society an Ornament; In the State, a Judge, fearless, dignified, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12032],"tags":[156444,51795,156443],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-330130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-history","tag-barculo","tag-honorable","tag-seward"],"yoast_head":"\n
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