MATTER OF ABRAM SAMMONS, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE POOR OF ULSTER COUNTY ORDER OF REMOVAL FROM OFFICE AND OPINION STATE OF NEW YORK EXECUTIVE CHAMBER In the matter of the charges preferred against Abram Sammons as superintendent of the poor of the county of Ulster. ORDER OF REMOVAL. Charges of misconduct and malfeasance in office having been heretofore preferred by the Board of Supervisors of Ulster County against Abram Sammons, the superintendent of the poor of the county of Ulster, and a copy of said charges having been served on the said Sammons, and an opportunity having been given him to be heard in his defense, and he having filed an answer denying any nisconduct or neglect of duty, and an order having been made by me appointing Egburt E. Woodbury of Jamestown, N. Y., commissioner to take the testimony and the examination of witnesses as to the truth of said charges, and to report the same to me and also the material facts which he deems to be established by the evidence, and the said commissioner having taken the testimony relating to such charges, and his report bearing date July 18th, 1905, and the evidence taken by him having been duly filed, and it appearing to me after an examination of the same that said Abram Sammons has been guilty of misconduct and malfeasance in office; it is therefore ORDERED, That said Abram Sammons be, and he hereby is, removed from the office of superintendent of the poor of the county of Ulster. [L s] GIVEN under my hand and the Privy Seal of the State at the Capitol in the city of Albany this 31st day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and five. FRANK W. HIGGINS By the Governor : FRANK E. PERLEY Secretary to the Governor STATE OF NEW YORK EXECUTIVE CHAMBER Albany, N. Y., July 31, 1905 In the matter of the charges preferred against Abram Sammons as superintendent of the poor of the county of Ulster. OPINION. Voluminous charges of official misconduct were preferred in March, 1905, by the Board of Supervisors of Ulster county against Abram Sammons who since January 1, 1898, has been and now is Superintendent of the Poor of said County. On April 1, 1905, I appointed Judge Woodbury of Chautauqua county a commissioner to take the proofs and I have before me the evidence taken by him and his report of the facts established by the evidence. Sammons, it appears, drew checks upon the county moneys deposited to his credit as Superintendent of the Poor between September 13, 1898 and October 28, 1903, in various amounts aggregating $2,707.61 for the payment of his life insurance premiums, personal notes, interest on mortgages and political contributions. He also drew checks on said account in various amounts aggregating $2,964.84 between February 11, 1898 and October 31, 1903, for the benefit of his son, Warren Sammons. The withdrawal of these funds was grossly improper, whether Sammons borrowed or converted the money, and it does not appear that Sammons has ever made good in full his indebtedness to the county on account of the county moneys so improperly withdrawn and used by him. He entertained visitors in large numbers at the county house and fed them and their horses at county expense. He followed the ancient, if not commendable custom of entertaining at county expense the board of supervisors, their friends and invited guests. He managed the county farm extravagantly and inefficiently, and made unnecessary and improvident purchases of supplies for the poor farm and house. He contracted bills on the credit of the county without authority, neglected to keep proper books of account, and in all respects conducted himself with little regard for the best interests of the people whose employee he was. During the fiscal year ending October 31, 1897, it cost the county of Ulster about $11,000 to maintain 102 inmates at the county house. During the fiscal year ending October 31, 1904, the cost of maintaining an average number of 88 inmates at the county house was $18,098.33. No satisfactory explanation for this extraordinary increase is made. I do not find that Sammons was an intentional wrongdoer. His conception of his duties as a public official is aptly stated in his own words addressed to an inspector of the State Board of Charities at the county house about the 22nd day of January, 1904, to the effect that he did not care for any member of the State Board of Charities or of the Board of Supervisors, as he had been elected by the people and was responsible to the people only. This primitive notion of the public official as an elective despot making a law unto himself to guide his conduct, and relying on personal popularity to retain him in power, unfits Sammons for office and compels me to remove him. FRANK W. HIGGINS REVOCATION OF JUSTICE STOVER'S DESIGNATION ΤΟ THE APPELLATE DIVISION, FOURTH DEPARTMENT, AT HIS OWN REQUEST STATE OF NEW YORK EXECUTIVE CHAMBER September 27, 1905 WHEREAS, The Honorable Martin L. Stover, a Justice of the Supreme Court of the Fourth Judicial District, having been heretofore designated to sit as an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in and for the Fourth Judicial Department and he having filed his written request that such designation be revoked, NOW THEREFORE, In accordance with the statute in such case made and provided, the designation heretofore made of date of October 19, 1903, of the Honorable Martin L. Stover to sit as an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in and for the Fourth Judicial Department is hereby, and at his own request, revoked. [L S] Given under my hand and the Privy Seal of the State at the Capitol in the city of Albany this twentyseventh day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and five. By the Governor : FRANK E. PERLEY FRANK W. HIGGINS Secretary to the Governor DESIGNATION OF JUSTICE NASH TO THE APPELLATE DIVISION, FOURTH DEPARTMENT STATE OF NEW YORK EXECUTIVE CHAMBER WHEREAS, An order having been made and filed with the Secretary of State upon the written request of the Honorable Martin L. Stover one of the Associate Justices of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in and for the Fourth Judicial Department revoking the designation of the said Stover as such Associate Justice and a vacancy having thus occurred, NOW THEREFORE, In accordance with Section two of Article six of the Constitution, the HONORABLE EDWIN A. NASH of the village of Avon, a Justice of the Supreme Court of the Seventh Judicial District is hereby designated as Associate |