Читать книгу History of Westchester County, New York, Volume 3 - Группа авторов - Страница 65

Charles G. Banks is ex-register of Westchester county, ex-president of New Rochelle, having held the office for three terms in succession, and ex-police justice and corporation counsel of New. Rochelle, New York. An enumeration of those men of the present generation who have won honor and public recognition for themselves, and at the same time have honored the state to which they belong, would be incomplete were there failure to make prominent reference to the one whose name initiates this paragraph. He holds distinctive precedence as a safe and careful lawyer, and has been and is pre-eminently a man of affairs, wielding a wide influence. A strong mentality, an invincible courage and a most determined individuality, have so entered into his make-up as to render him a natural leader of men and a director of opinion. For twenty years he has been an important figure in legal and commercial circles in New Rochelle, and is a representative of one of the old families of the county.

In Middle Patten, in the town of North Castle, Westchester county, Charles G. Banks, was born May 26, 1847, his parents being Captain James P. and Thurza A. (Palmer) Banks. His paternal grandparents were James and Sarah (Lane) Banks, and his maternal grandparents were Allen and Sarah (Smith) Palmer. In his father's family were four children, his brother being William L. Banks, of White Plains, and his sisters are Clarissa A. Banks and Mrs. Lizetta P. Hegeman, of Brooklyn, New York. For several generations the representatives of the Banks and Palmer families had been industrious and respected farming people of the town of North Castle and the central part of Westchester county.

When seventeen years of age, Charles G. Banks left the farm, his father having died some twelve years before, to make his own way in the world, and in 1865 accepted the position of clerk in the LeRoy Place Hotel, at New Rochelle, under his uncle, George W. Banks. He was afterward made manager, and then became proprietor of this once well-known summer resort, which was destroyed by fire some years ago. Although he met with success in this undertaking, he did not find it altogether to his taste, and in 1872 he began the study of law in the office of Charles H. Roosevelt, of New Rochelle, New York. In 1873 he entered the New York University, ani was graduated in the law department of that institution in the class of 1875. He was admitted to the bar, at a special term of the supreme court in Poughkeepsie, the same year, and in July, 1875, became the senior member of the well-known law firm of Banks & Keogh, his partner being Judge Martin J. Keogh, of the second department.

A short time before his graduation Mr. Banks was elected upon the Republican ticket to the office of police justice of New Rochelle for a term of four years, and was subsequently chosen corporation counsel of that city, which office he acceptably filled for several years. In 1877 he became the Republican nominee for registrar of Westchester county, against Stephen S. Marshall, the Democratic nominee, and, after a very active and hotly contested campaign, was elected by a majority of seventeen hundred and seventy-seven, although the county went Democratic by over a thousand majority. This was certainly a high tribute to his personal popularity, and was an indication of the confidence reposed in him by his fellow-townsmen and friends throughout the county. He was again a candidate, in the fall of 1880, but was defeated, by a few votes, with the remainder of the ticket. For a period of six successive years (three terms) he was president of New Rochelle, his first opponent being the late James W. Todd; his second, Hon. John Q. Underbill, and third, Charles H. Roosevelt, and his administration of the public affairs was most progressive, business-like and commendable. His fidelity in the discharge of every duty devolving upon him in connection with public office is above question, and his service has ever materially advanced the interests of the community he represents. For ten years he was an active member of the fire department, and within that period was both foreman and assistant foreman of his company.

Mr. Banks' operations in real estate have been extensive and profitable. He owns much valuable property in New Rochelle and elsewhere in Westchester county and has erected many buildings in the city, including the United States post-office building, a three-story brick structure, one hundred and ten feet long, at the corner of Huguenot and Bridge streets. New Rochelle. It is in this building that his law offices are located. In his practice he has steadily risen to an eminent position at the Westchester county bar, and he has a large and lucrative clientage. He has largely mastered the science of jurisprudence, and prides himself on a thorough preparation of every case committed to his care, which enables him to meet fairly any contingency that may arise, and his opponent often finds great difficulty in overthrowing his masterful logic. Mr. Banks is a member of the State Bar Association, the Westchester County Bar Association, the Republican Club, the Board of Trade of New Rochelle, and the Exempt Firemen's Association.

Mr. Banks married Miss Fannie E. Morgan, only daughter of Charles V. and Susan M. (Badeau) Morgan, of the town of East Chester. For the past ten years Mr. and Mrs. Banks have spent the winters in sunny Florida, where he has ample opportunity to indulge his taste for tarpon fishing. He finds another source of recreation in driving, and is a lover of a good horse. He has owned fully a dozen with a record of 2:20 or better, and his stables are never without some valuable specimens of the noble steed. He is also the owner and proprietor of Fashion Stock Farm, which is credited in the horse world with choice specimens of equine stock. His life is practically that of a self-made man. Through his own efforts he has risen to a position of professional prominence and commercial leadership, and at the same time has gained the highest regard of an ever broadening circle of acquaintances and friends. Mr. Banks enjoyed the friendship and confidence of the late Hon. William H. Robertson, General James W. Husted and Judge Silas D. Gifford, all of whom were elected to office upon the Republican ticket with him upon one occasion.

Among the important criminal cases that Mr. Banks was connected with early in practice, and successfully helped to defend, was that of Richard Hanna, indicted and tried for his life, for the murder of Thomas White, a hotel-keeper, at New Rochelle, and also the case of Frederick Eveson (colored), indicted and tried for his life for the murder of a white girl in the outskirts of New Rochelle. Eveson, like Hanna, was acquitted. Another case was that of Levison, the jeweler, indicted for grand larceny, charged with extracting a three-hundred-dollar diamond from a ring belonging to a Miss Emmet, and substituting an imitation in its place. The defence was an ingenious one and the jeweler was acquitted.

Among some of the important civil cases that Mr. Banks has been connected with in the past might be mentioned the action of the receiver of the New Rochelle Savings Bank versus William R. Humphrey, secretary; George J. Penfield, president; Thomas L. Disbrow, treasurer; and George Wilson and others, trustees. This action was brought to recover upward of twenty thousand dollars, embezzled by the secretary, Humphrey. Mr. Banks appeared for trustee Wilson in the case, but really in fact was in the interest of the president, Mr. Penfield, and the treasurer, Mr. Disbrow. Through a clever arrangement of Mr. Wilson's counsel, his client paid a nominal sum for a general release, which also released the joint wrong-doers, Messrs. Penfield and Disbrow. Another important case was that relating to the probate of the will of the late James Morgan. Mr. Banks had drawn the will, which related to real and personal estate of the value of one hundred thousand dollars or more. The probate of the same was contested from the surrogate's court to the court of appeals, but was sustained in every court.

Mr. Banks is and has been executor and trustee of many large estates, among which might be mentioned that of' the late Hon. Albert Badeau and Henry L. Dean; he is also counsel for many large estates and has the handling of large amounts of trust funds and securities. It is estimated that during the past fifteen years more than five millions of dollars have been personally invested by him for his clients, in county bonds and mortgages.

Mr. Banks politically is a Republican, but has many warm Democratic friends and supporters, as is evidenced by the fact that in the dozen times or more that he has been a candidate upon the Republican ticket he has always succeeded in getting a handsome majority in the city and town in which he resides. Mr. Banks is a hard worker, does his own thinking and is noted for his staying qualities.