herry Valley family, built for his residence in 1807 the house which
still stands on Lake Street facing the length of Chestnut Street. He was
a man of stout build, with a full face, slightly retiring forehead, a
trifle bald, urbane and unassuming in deportment. As a pleader at the
bar he was only moderately eloquent, but he was popularly designated far
and near as "the honest lawyer," and his advice was not only much sought
but implicitly relied upon. In a period not much devoted to the
amenities of legal procedure one member of this group of lawyers, George
Morell, made a reputation not so much as an advocate as for his
faultless diction and polished manners.

On the other hand, Alvan Stewart of Cherry Valley was the clown of the
court room, and to such good purpose that the ablest lawyers of
Cooperstown dreaded him as an opponent. He was a master of absurd wit
and ridicule. In Proctor's _Bench and Bar_ he is referred to as "one of
the most powerful adversaries that ever stood before a jury." He was not
a profound lawyer, and seems never to have studied the arrangement of
his cases, nor to have bestowed any care in preparation for their
presentation, but his mind was richly furnished with thoughts upon every
subject which came up for discussion in the progress of a trial, and his
illustrations, although unusual and grotesque were strikingly
appropriate. His greatest power lay in that he could be humorous or
pathetic, acrimonious or conciliating, denouncing the theories,
testimony and pleas of the opposition in lofty declamation, and almost
in the same breath convulsing his audience, the court and jury included,
by the most laughable exhibitions of ridicule and burlesque.[80]

A case in which Alvan Stewart opposed Samuel Starkweather was long
afterward famous in Cooperstown.[81] The case was an important one, and
was brought to a climax when the logical and serious Starkweather began
summing up for the defense. While he was speaking Stewart took a
position so as to gaze continually into the face of his opponent,
evidently with the intention of disconcerting him, and of distracting
the attention of the jury. Starkweather was not a little irritated at
Stewart's absurd look and attitude. In spite of this, however, he
grappled with the strong points at issue, and elucidated them with
telling logic in his own favor; he kept the closest attention of the
jury, producing conviction in the justice of his position; and took his