Page:History of Delaware County (1856).djvu/241

DELAWARE COUNTY. 217 Col. Parker did not arrive in Albany until the 10th, when he had an immediate interview with Root, who expeditiously drew up a bill covering the whole ground, and having called upon and secured the co-operation of the leading members of both the Senate and Assembly, the next morning introduced the bill, which passed rapidly through both houses, and before night became a law. The following is a summary of the bill : — The State loaned the county $8000, to be redeemed in four years, at six per cent, interest; that the jail of Grreene county should be used in criminal cases, and for debtors who refuse to give bail, and that courts should be held at the house of Jesse C. G-ilbert. I am indebted to Isaac Burr, for the following information : — I succeeded Mr. Keeler in the office of sheriff, and the burning of the court-house and jail took place the night before I qualified and took upon myself the responsibilities of the office. I was placed in rather embarrassing circumstances. Mr. Keeler delivered over to me ten or twelve prisoners who were on the limits, and I had not so much as a ^ Log Pen^ to confine them in. I, however, succeeded in getting bail for the limits in every instance. In a few days we had a law author- izing me to use the jail of G-reene county. And it is a singu- lar fact, that while we were without a jail, for several months, no case occurred that rendered it necessary to take a prisoner to Catskill, and that within two or three hours after we had a prison room in the new jail so far completed as to hold a prison- er , it was necessary to use it." The same year that the new court-house and jail were put up, the Academy building was also constructed, and it may be interesting to some to learn the history of its origin, and to whom it is indebted for its liberal endowment. In 1770, be^ fore the Revolutionary war, J ohn Leake, Daniel Stiles, Roger Richards, and twenty-four other associates, obtained a grant of 27,000 acres of land, comprising what is now commonly called 19