The building was used as a courthouse for the first twenty years of its existence. During that time, it saw many notable lawyers of the day and the beginning of one landmark case. Afterwards, it was used as a meeting house and house, with one owner making significant renovations to it. A century after that, more renovations were made, particularly inside, to convert it into apartments.
1786–1806: Courthouse Columbia County was formed in 1786, with Claverack as its seat. That same year a resident, Gabriel Esselstyne,
deeded the land to the county for
£20. Local mason William Ludlow began construction in July. According to some accounts it took two years to complete, at a cost of £3,600. The courthouse was located at the junction of two major routes, the old Indian road across the county that later became the toll Columbia Turnpike (today followed by routes
23 and 23B) and the original
Albany Post Road. The court had a small jail annex in the rear, and nearby were a
pillory for
public whippings and a
hanging tree for more serious punishments. The pillory is no longer extant; the location of the hanging tree is not known. While construction was underway, the first sessions were held in 1787, with Judge Peter Van Ness presiding. Attorneys sworn into the new county's
bar included some of the leading lawyers in the state of New York at the time, such as
William Peter Van Ness,
Ambrose Spencer,
Thomas P. Grosvenor and
Peter van Schaack, men who later served as judges and public officials of the new state.
Martin Van Buren of nearby
Kinderhook began his career arguing cases in the courthouse on his way to becoming president. It is very likely that
Alexander Hamilton appeared in the building, since he was attorney for his in-laws, who had ongoing litigation in the county over their landholdings in what is now
Hillsdale. In the early years of the 19th century, a landmark case in American
libel law was first heard in Claverack. Harry Croswell, a young journalist based in nearby Hudson who supported the
Federalist Party, had been attacking President
Thomas Jefferson and his supporters in a small news sheet called
The Wasp. This led to Ambrose Spencer, by then the state's
Attorney General, securing an
indictment of Croswell from a
grand jury on two charges of violating the
Sedition Act in 1803. Spencer prosecuted the case personally, and Croswell was convicted. He appealed the verdict to what was then known as the
New York Supreme Court, the state's highest. In a six-hour oration in Croswell's defense, Hamilton argued that truthful statements could not be libelous. The judges deadlocked, and Croswell was never sentenced or retried. The following year, 1805, the
state legislature wrote Hamilton's argument into state law. That same year, the county seat was moved to Hudson, growing rapidly due to its importance as a
whaling center. Cases continued to be heard in Claverack for another year while the new courthouse was built there. Many lawyers and judges continued to reside in Claverack since it was a short distance to Hudson and travel between the two communities did not take long.
1807–present The courthouse continued to occupy a place of respect within the community after the courts left. Its high ceilings made it ideal for public meetings, and it was also used for education and dances. In 1843 the county sold it. The new owner, Peter Hoffman, a
Brooklyn merchant who had retired upstate, introduced some
Greek Revival elements in his renovations, most noticeably the front portico, which echoes that of the Hogeboom house across the street. Over the rest of the century, a succession of owners, all like Hoffman formerly residents of New York City, moved in. At some point the frame kitchen wing on the rear was added. Some brought other renovations which give the house a mix of urban (the narrow center hall) and rural aspects. It also has the highest levels of
ornamentation of any Federal-era house in the county. After
World War II, in the late 1940s, a new owner decided to convert the building into a multiple-unit dwelling. This led to extensive changes to the interior
floor plan, particularly in the rear wing. The garage was also added at this time. There have been no modifications since then. ==See also==