Biographical Sketch

Hon. Palmer E. Havens,

Among the accomplished lawyers who graced the bar of Essex County, and legislators who attained an enviable reputation at Albany, was Hon. Palmer E. Havens, who was born in Moriah, 1818, worked his way up from poverty, as so large a per cent of our great men have done, studied law, and settled in practice at Essex, where he accumulated a fortune, and passed his busy and successful life.

His beautiful home was one of the attractions of Essex village, and right hospitably entertained were those who were so fortunate as to be his guests.

He was first elected to the Assembly in 1861, and immediately took a high rank in that body on account of his able, logical and polished speeches, his speedy familiarity with parliamentary rules and usages, and his eloquent and fearless defense of the Union cause.

Mr. Havens was re-elected to the Assembly, and in the fall of 1863, was elected to a seat in the State Senate, and at the end of his two years, retired from public life. But in the fall of 1886, a committee of his party waited on him in Essex and induced him to again enter the Assembly, in order to utilize the influence he had gained in the Legislature in carrying forward measures of local interest in Essex and Clinton counties.

During this session he delivered a masterly speech on the proposed amendment abolishing and prohibiting slavery.

Mr. Havens died at his home in Essex, Sept. 4, 1886.

Source:

Plattsburgh Sentinel Annual for the Year 1893, W. Lansing & Son, Plattsburgh, New York, 1893; transcribed 7 August 2002 by Emily C. Ford.

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The assistant county coordinator is Emily C. Ford.