| Sources |
- [S218] Richard H. Jones, Some Descendants of James Post (1741-1813) and Mary Huntting (d. 1788) of Southampton and Moriches, L.I. (Unpublished manuscript, Undated).
- [S704] Proceedings of the New York State Historical Association, Vol 11. 1912, p. 292.
Charles Freeman Cantine.
Died July 14, 1912.
Judge Charles P. Cantine was born at Saugerties, N. Y., November 4, 1858. He was the son of the Hon. Peter Cantine and Sarah A. Starin, his wife. His remote paternal ancestor in America was Moses Cantine, a Huguenot, w'ho settled at New Paltz. Ulster county. By birth and education, MosesCantine possessed high ideals and the ability of leadership, traits that have been transmitted through successive generations of his descendants, as reference to the military, civil and ecclesiastical records of the State of New York to the present time clearly indicate.
Judge Cantine received his preparatory education at the Saugerties Academy, later studying at Rutgers College, at New Brunswick, N. J., from which he was graduated in 1880, and the Columbia Law School, from which he was graduated in 1882. In May, 1882, he was admitted to the bar at Ithaca, N. Y. He formed a partnership with his father, who had been Surrogate of Ulster county, under the firm name of P. & C. F. Cantine, and later removed from Saugerties to Kingston, where he practiced law until his death.
In November, 1895, he was elected District Attorney of Ulster county, and was re-elected in 1898 and again in 1901. In 1904 he was elected County Judge and was re-elected in 1910. In 1892 and 1893 he was a member of the Republican State Committee, and in 1893 and 1894 he was chairman of the Republican County Committee of Ulster county.
He was married December 21, 1882, to Mary C. Sheffield of Saugerties. She died February 27, 1889, leaving one daughter, Agnes L. Cantine. On September 1, 1893, he married Mary E., daughter of James Post of Brookhaven, N. Y. His wife and daughter survive him.
He was a trustee of the New York State Historical Association, the Kingston City Library, Kingston Academy and the Industrial Home of Kingston; vice president of the Kingston Club, member of the University and Manhattan Clubs of New York, Saugerties Club, Winnisook Club, Rondout Club, Twaalfskill Club, Ulster County Bar Association, State Charities Aid Association, Holland Society of New York, Sons of the American Revolution, Huguenot Society of America, Rondout Lodge, No. 343, Free and Accepted Masons, and the First Reformed Dutch Church of Kingston.
Mere dates and names do not record the story of his busy and useful life. He was public spirited, kind hearted and gentle. He spent his time in investigating cases brought to his attention as District Attorney, as County Judge, as Trustee of the Industrial Home and in his capacity as a private citizen, and day after day in each succeeding year was spent by him in trying to alleviate the condition of the unfortunate, especially children whose parents were incapable or unwilling to care for them properly. He possessed a keen sense of justice, was uniformly fair and impartial, and as a jurist at the bar or on the bench he lost sight of personalities in his search for the truth and the application of principle, both legal and moral. His simplicity and modesty were remarkable. He had oldVfashioned ideas regarding honesty and morality, and in a quiet and unobstrusive way he instilled these ideas into others most effectively.
Judge Cantine was a deep student of history: he sought the facts that he might analyze them, and in historical as well as in all other matters his constant desire was to reach the truth. His historical addresses were broad and comprehensive, filled with fact, and through his clear and logical analysis of the motives that prompted the actions of the people, they possessed a human interest equal to the most fascinating fiction.
His sincerity, his integrity, his ability were unquestioned; he possessed public confidence and never abused it. He was loyal to friends, but he was first loyal to truth and what he believed was right.
His funeral, held from the First Reformed Dutch Church of Kingston, July 16, was the most largely attended of any man who ever lived in Ulster county.
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