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PROCEEDINGS OF THE
New York State Historical Association
THE SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING,
WITH CONSTITUTION, BY-LAWS
AND UST OF MEMBERS
VOL. XIV
PUBLISHED BY THE
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Hon. OrenvUle M. lagalsbe— An Appreciation 1
Proceedings 9
The President'e Address, The Interpretation of History; arenyllle
M. Ingalsbe, Hudson Falle 43
Forts and Block Houses in the Mohawk Valley, Nellis M. Grouse,
Utlca 75
Baron Steuben, At Home, At Best, In Oneida County; Dana W.
Bigelow, Utica 91
Samuel Kirkland and the Oneida Indians, Melanchthon Woolsey
Stryker, Clinton 101
The American Flag, Harlan H. Homer, Albany 108
Some French Influences in the Early Settlement of the Black Biver
Valley, William A. Moore, New Rochelle 122
Early Institutions of Learning in the Mohawk Valley, Charles Alex- ander Blchmond, Schenectady 132
Recollections of the Oneida Bar, Henry J. Cookinham, Utica 141
Indian Raids in the Mohawk Valley, William M. Beauchamp,
Syracuse 195
Whitestown Seminary, Dana W. Bigelow, Utica 207
The History of Transportation in the Mohawk Valley, William G.
Mayer, Waterville 214
The Golden Era of Trenton Falls, Charlotte A. Pitcher, Utica 231
The Palatines In the Mohawk Valley, Walcott Webster OUsworth,
Johnstown 295
The Early Bar of Oneida County, Oswald P. Backus, Rome 312
The Battle of Oriskany, Henry J. Cookinham, Utica 333
Our Constitutional Development, Adelbert Moot, Buffalo 341
The Home and Name of General Herkimer, Nelson Green* Grand-
View-on-Hudson 365
Fort Herkimer Church, Estella Fblts Callan, Dion 403
Incidents in the Lives of Some of the Early Settlers of the Mohawk
Valley, Charles Bell, Herkimer 408
Herkimer's Monument, Clara Louise Hale Rawdon, Little Falls 411
Herkimer Homestead, Deli«;ht E. R. Keller, LitUe Falls 414
Fort Dayton, Birs. Frederick E. Milne, Herkimer 415
The Herkimer Route, Charlotte A. Pitcher, Utica 417
Historical Features in Rome, Chamber of Commerce 420
Lord Howe's Burial Place, William D. Goold, Albany 421
The Battle of Plattsburgh— Prize Essay— EJdward CToole, Jr.,
OsBining 423
Necrology 430
Annual Report of Librarian, James A. Holden 438
Insignia of the Association 443
Articles of Incorporation, Constitution and By-Laws 444
List of MCTibers 454
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UST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
General Herkimer at Battle of Oriskany. Frontispiece
General Herkimer Homestead Frontispiece
Park at Herkimer, N. Y Frontispiece
Hon. Orenyille M. Ingalsbe, A.B., A.M., LL.B 1
Site of F6rt Schuyler, Utica 8
Masonic Home, Utica 12
Mnnson Williams Memorial, Utica 24
Lafayette Tablet, Utica 40
Botdder Marking Site of Fort Bull 82
Site of Fort Bull 82
Wood Creek near Fort Bull 82
Baron Steuben 90
Baron Steuben's Grave and Monument 94
Baron Steuben's Log House 98
The Line of Property Monument, College Hill, Clinton 104
A Sketch of Siege of Fort Schuyler, Rome 114
Union College 136
The Oneida Stone, Forest Hill Cemetery, Utica 152
Fort Stanwlx, Rome 200
Wood Creek 216
Sherman Fall, Trenton Falls 232
The Rural Retreat, Trenton Falls 248
High Falls, Trenton Falls 264
Secreetary Seward and Party at Trenton Falls 286
Colonel Peter Gansevoort 312
Statue of Col Peter Ganseyoort, Rome 312
Colonel Marinus Willett 312
Monument of General William Floyd, Weetonyille 328
Oriskany Battlefleld 332
Dedication of Oriskany Monument, 1884 340
Fort Herkimer Church 402
Original Pulpit, Fort Herkimer Church 406
General Nicholas Herkimer Home 410
General Nicholas Herkimer Monument 410
Route Taken by General Herkimer, 1777 416
One of Fourteen Markers, Oriskany Route ; 418
Mc^iawk River, Rome 420
Rome Club, Rome \ 42t)
Post Office, Rome 420
Lord Howe Tablet, Albany 422
Lord Howe Stone, Ticonderoga 424
Rosette and Insignia N. T. State Historical Assn 442
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HON. GRENVILLE M. INGALSBE, A. E. A. M., LL B.
AN APPRECIATION.
By James Austin Holden, Treasurer New York State Historical Association, and State Historian.
Hon. Qrenville Mellen Ingalsbe, Second Vice-President of the New York State Historical Association 1902-1903, First Vice- President 1904-1912, President 1913-1914.
In this prosaic world it is not given to every man, in spite of Shakespeare's well-known saying, to play and play well, every part. The subject of this sketch, who, at the close of the Utica meeting, after fifteen years of efficient and continual service, laid down the gavel of a presiding officer, is possessed of so remark- able a personality that it is with hesitation that his biographer assumes the task of preparing a creditable sketch of his life and activities. It is not for every man to be a capable and successful member of the bar ; to be prominent and also successful as a manu- facturer, an agriculturalist, and a banker; to hold positions of public trust and responsibility; to be a litterateur of no small ability ; and, last and most difficult of all, to be an able historian of well deserved reputation.
If, however, there is anything in heredity, Qrenville Mellen Ingalsbe is somewhat indebted to his parents for what he is today. His very name is tinged with the atmosphere of the study and the library, for the man for whom he was named, Qrenville Mel- len, was in the early days of the nineteenth century a poet and literary scholar of no slight renown.
The subject of this sketch was bom in the southern section of the town of Hartford, N. Y., July 26, 1846. He was the only son of Milo and Laura Cook (Chapin) Ingalsbe. His father and mother were of sturdy and notable New England ancestry. His
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great great-grandfather, Ebenezer Ingalsbe, of Shrewsbury, Mass., was one of the Lexington minute men, who responded to Paul Eevere's midnight summons, and served through subsequent enlistments till September 1, 1777, when he received a commission as Captain in Col. Job Cushing's regiment from *Hhe State of the Mass. Bay in the continental service". Previous to that time, this same ancestor, under the name of Ebenezer ^'Ingoldsby", did yeoman's service in the French and Indian War of 1755-60. Cap- tain Ebenezer Ingalsbe removed to Hartford, N. Y., in 1790. Fourteen children had been bom to him and his wife, between 1753 and 1775. The ninth of these was Aaron, the great grand- fathr of the subject of this sketch. James Ingalsbe, his son, and the grandfather of Grenville Mellen, married Fanny Harris, daughter of Zadock Harris, bom in Plainfield, Conn., 1795. To them were bom five children, of whom the second, Milo, was the father of Grenville Mellen. In 1842 Milo married Laura Cook Chapin, and to them, was bom the subject of this biography.
Milo Ingalsbe, the father, became prominent in the history of the town of Hartford and held many local offices of trust and responsibility, but his life work was along the line of educational interests. He was, himself, for many years a successful teacher, and a leader in local teachers' institutes. In his later life he be- came most prominent in the organization and development of the Washington County Agricultural Society, in the advancement of farming and raising of cattle, sheep and farm animals and in building up the local society to a position of the highest rank in the State. His reputation as an agriculturist was not confined to Washington County for he Sierved for fifteen years as one of the managers, and for one year as president of the New York State Agricultural Society. He died in 1893 at the ripe age of seventy- five years, honored and respected by the whole country side.
Grenville Mellen 's mother, Laura Cook Chapin, was a de- scendant of Deacon Chapin, the founder of Springfield, Mass., whose statue as the Typical Puritan was erected in that city a few years since. She survived her husband by twenty years, dyiuff February 9, 1912, at the advanced age of 95 years. She
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field of floriculture, to which she introduced many new and im- proved varieties of flowers, until then, unknown in Washington County.
With such forbears, we have little cause for wonder at the subsequent career of Grenville Mellen Ingalsbe. Until he was fourteen years of age he was under the personal instruction of his father. For four years he attended the local district school, and he also enjoyed one term of select school teaching. In 1864- 65 he prepared for Union College at the old Port Edward Collegi- ate Institute, entering the college in 1866 as a member of the class of 1868. While he remained in college only one year, his record was a brilliant one. He stood first in every class, and was so accomplished in his studies that, in 1870, the institution con- ferred upon him his bachelor's degree, and three years later gave him the honorary degree of master of arts. Prom 1867 to 1870 he was principal of the famous Argyle Academy in the town of Argyle, Washington County, where the increase in the number of students and in their attainments, reached high water mark. Studying with his pupils, he started at this time a library, which has developed into one of the largest and most valuable in North- em New York. Leaving the teaching field in 1870, he began the study of law with the famous and almost uniformly successful firm of Hughes & Northup in the then village of Sandy Hill, since March 9, 1910, known as Hudson Palls. After a year of grinding office work he entered the Harvard Law School, where, combining a two years course in one, he graduated with honors in the class of 1872, as a Bachelor of Law. At this time he pursued the study of history under Dr. Eliot, botany under Dr. Gray, natural science under Louis Agassiz, and other subjects under the then notable and capable faculty. As soon as he had graduated he came back to Hughes & Northup 's office as managing clerk. The campaign of 1872 was then in progress, and, taking up the cause of his per- sonal friend, Horace Greeley, he laid aside many oflFers of po- litical advancement for the sake of advocating Greeley's cause. Grenville Mellen Ingalsbe, while a Republican, has never been a partisan to the extent of placing party before country, or its in- terests before those of the common people, or in favor of any party, as he once said, ''opposed to an honest and economical ad- ministration of public affairs, or subversive of sacred national traditions. "
In 1874 he waa admitted to the bar, and he opened his own office in Sandy Hill the following year. Since that time he ban
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been cu^tively engaged in his profession, building up a large and lucrative practice. He has been in charge of some of the most important private and corporate interests of Northern New York, and is generally conceded to be one of the important and leading members of the bar in the State of New York.
In Northern New York the holding of i>olitical and semi- political ofSces seems to belong as a heritage to the legal profes- sion, so that it is not surprising to find the subject of this sketch holding various podtions . Prom 1877 until 1886 he was a justice of the peace in the town of Kingsbury, from 1885 to 1888 he was a sui)ervisor of the same town, serving in 1887 and 1888 as chair- man of the board of supervisors of Washington County. Prom 1875, when he was elected clerk of the village of Sandy Hill, he held that office continually, with the exception of one year, until he resigned in 1894. In 1895 he was nominated and elected surro- gate of the County of Washington, thus receiving the title of Judge he has since so worthily worn. A local paper opposed to him in i>olitics made this editorial comment: '^ Political friends and foes alike concede that Mr. IngalBbe has mado a model of- ficial." He entirely revolutionized the series of records, books and blanks then used in the surrogate's office and put in opera- tion many improved systems for filing of papers, indexing and care of official forms. Owing to a press of personal business and demands upon his time, he declined a renomination to office a year prior to the expiration of his term.
September 20, 1876, he was married to Pranc E. Groesbeck at '*Pine Avenue," the home of her stepfather, Amasa Howland, a prominent paper manufacturer of Sandy Hill. Mrs. Ingalsbe was the daughter of Nathaniel Bamett Groesbeck and Lydia A. Eingsley. She was a teacher in the Sandy Hill Union School and graduated from Temple Grove Seminary of Saratoga Springs. Quiet and unassuming in her wa3rs, Mrs. Ingalsbe is a great stu- dent and reader, a member of many organizations for public ad- vancement, a worker in church and public matters, and deserved- ly liked by a large circle of friends.
To Judge and Mrs. Ingalsbe was bom a son, GrenviUe How- land, November 8, 1878. This son was a youth of great promise. He nrcnared ft>r college at Glens Palls Aoademv and PhilUns Ex-
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class of 1902. During his sophomore year he contracted diph- theria, which led in his senior year to a breakdown, from which he never fully recovered. Returning to Sandy Hill, he began the study of law with his father and ako followed outdoor life and farming on the parental farm in South Hartford. He also took up the pursuit of general business in various lines, and became interested in motor car advancement, then a new venture in this locality. The insidious disease, however, with which he was af- flicted, wore down his vitality all too rapidly, so that within eight years after his graduation from college, on February 26th, 1910, he passed away, leaving behind an enviable and honorable name.
Prom this blow Judge Ingalsbe has never entirely recovered, his life interests and hopes being centered in the career of his son, who bade fair to be as distinguished as his notable father.
In matters connected with the advancement of mankind and the progress of the race to a higher plane, Judge Ingalsbe has always been inter^ested and active, the more since his son's un- timely death.
Like his father, he has always been active in the promotion of the arts of agriculture, and, while Secretary of the Washington County Agricultural Society, 1874-1878, he introduced many new ideas and improvements, whose progressive influence upon the career of this old and important society is still in evidence. Since 1878, Judge Ingalsbe has been €in honorary, but interested, and continuous working member of its board of managers.
It was to be expected, when the New York State Historical Association was in process of formation in 1889, that among the men thereafter to be active in its advancement and promotion would be Grenville Mellen Ingalsbe. He was one of the original twenty-flve incorporators, and one of the five original charter mem- bers, of whom, he and the writer alone remain active. He was made Second Vice-President in 1902 and, ui>on the death of Dr. Daniel C. Parr in 1903, Judge Ingalsbe succeeded him in the posi- tion of Krst Vice-President. Prom that time on, in the enforced absence of President James A. Roberts in Europe and the West, Judge Ingalsbe frequently presided at the annual meetings. He
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in members, and standing in historical circles. Those of us who had the great privilege of listening to the annual addresses of the President delivered at Oswego in 1913 and at Utica in 1914, will never forget President Ingalsbe's treatment of the subject of his- tory considered in its broadest sense. We, who have known Judge Ingalsbe for years, thought we were acquainted with the able jurist, capable business man, and strong executive, but we had received no intimation before of his familiarity with the well ''of English undefiled'* or his breadth of reading, depth of under- standing, and length of acquaintance with history and literature from their origin ae shown in that brilliant essay at Oswego. The two addresses of President Ingalsbe delivered at Oswego and Utica may well be considered classics as to their subject matter and their manner of prei>aration. The Association should con- sider itself indeed fortunate to have had the opportunity of hear- ing and of reading such masterly essays.
Judge Ingalsbe's religious affiliations are Unitarian. As stated elsewhere in this sketch, he has always been prominent in the business and commercial life of his home town. Since 1905 he has been president of the Sandy Hill National Bank, one of the leading financial institutions of this section, and, under its changed name of the Sandy Hill National Bank of Hudson Falls, he still continues to preside over its successful proceedings. He was one of the founders, and is now secretary and director of the Imperial Wall Paper Company, and its allied industry, the Im- perial Color Works, Inc.; director and secretary of the Little River Lumber Company and director and vice-president of the C. C. Allen Realty Company, and connected as counsel and di- rector with various other industrial organizations of Hudson Falls and vicinity. He was for many years a director and secretary of the Spring Brook Water Company, supplying Sandy Hill with its water system, and a director of the Glens Falls, Sandy Hill and Fort Edward Street Railway ComjMuiy, now merged in the Hud- son Valley system. He was a trustee of the Old Glens Falls Academy and prominently identified with its work in the older days. He served as a delegate to the Universal Congress of Law- yers and Jurists, which met in St. Louis in 1904. H« is a mem- ber of the American Bar Association and of the New York State Bar Association. He has been a member of the Executive Com-
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mittee of the New York State Bar Association since 1893, and was for three years its Chairman. This, the writer understands, is the longest consecutive service in the records of the Association. He belongs to the American Historical Association; Amerioan Oeographioal Society, American Academy of Political and Social Science, Amerioan Political Science Association ; Amerioan Asso- ciation for Advancement of Science, Alumni Association of Union College (President 1907-08) ; and the Harvard Law School Asso- ciation.
When Judge Ingalsbe, refusing a re-election for a third term, laid down the gavel as President of the New York State Historical Ajssociation at Utioa, his sincere and long-time friend. Dr. Sher- man Williams, who succeeded him in that office, made him a mem- ber of the Program Committee, so that his wise and able counsel and his long experience in this line are still assets to be enjoyed, let us hope, for many years by the Association.
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OFFICERS 1914
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL
ASSOCIATION
Fraddont HON. GKBENVTLIiE Ml mGALSBE, Hudson Palls
Fint Vioe Preiideiit SHERMAN WHiLIAMS, Pd. D., Glens Falls
Second Vioe Preddent DR. WILLIAM O.STTTiLMAN, Albany
Third Vioe Preddent HON. DE ALVA S. ALEXANDER, LL.D., Buppalo
Treasurer HON. JAMES A. HOLDEN, Albany
Seoretaiy FREDERICK B. RICHARDS, Glens Falls
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TRUSTEES, 1915
|
Hon. DeAlva S. Alexander, LL.D. |
Buffalo Term expires |
1915 |
|
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Hon. William S. Bennet |
New York ' |
< << |
1915 |
|
Rev. John H. Brandow, M. A. |
Albany ' |
( it |
1915 |
|
Tioonderoga ' |
t it |
1915 |
|
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Brig. Gten, Charles L. Davis, |
|||
|
U. S. A. |
Schenectady ' |
i it |
1915 |
|
Hon. Grenville M. Ingialsbe |
Hudson Falls ' |
< it |
1915 |
|
Bev. Henry M. MacCrtaeken, |
|||
|
D.D., LL.D. |
New York * |
< (( |
1915 |
|
Thomas R. Eneil, A. M. |
Saratoga Spa * |
i a |
1915 |
|
John R Finley, liLJ). |
Albany * |
I a |
1916 |
|
James G. Riggs, Pd. D. |
Oswego ' |
( ti |
1916 |
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Hon. Alphonso T. Clearwater, |
|||
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IiL.D. |
Kingston |
< (< |
1916 |
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Hon. James A. Roberts, LL.D. |
New York |
(( (< |
1916 |
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Thomas B. Pinegan, LL.D. |
Albany * |
i n |
1916 |
|
George K. Hawkins, D. So. |
Plattsburgh |
(< a |
1916 |
|
Miss Mary R Haldane |
Cold Spring |
t( li |
1916 |
|
Hon. James A. Holden |
Albany |
(( it |
1916 |
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Mr. Frederick B. Richards |
Glens Falls |
ti a |
1916 |
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Mr. Walter C. Anthony |
Newburgh |
It tt |
1917 |
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Hon. T. Astley Atkins |
Yonkers |
tt tt |
1917 |
|
Mr. Francis W. Halsey |
New York |
it tt |
1917 |
|
Hon. Frank H. Severance |
Buffalo |
tt tt |
1917 |
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Dr. William 0. Stillman |
Albany |
tt tt |
1917 |
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Dr. Dana W. Bigelow |
Utica |
tt tt |
1917 |
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Col. John W. Vrooman |
Herkimer |
tt tt |
1917 |
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Sherman Williams, Pd. D. |
Glens Falls |
tt tt |
1917 |
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STANDING COMMITTEES.
PROGRAM
DeAlva S. Alexander GrenviUe M. Ingalfibe Jemes A. Hold^i
The President, ex-officio
LEGISLATION
James A. Holden Thomas E. Finegan William 0. StiUman
John W. Vrooman
MARKING fflSTORIC SPOTS
Frederick B. Richards Charles L. Davis John H. Brandow
James A. Holden
ESTABLISHMENT OF CLOSER RELATIONS BETWEEN
HISTORICAL SOCIETIES OF THE STATE
Dana W .Bigelowi William Wait Henry M. MaeCracken
NECROLOGY Walter C. Anthony John H. Brandow Frederick B. Richards
LAKE GEORGE BATTLEGROUND PARK
James A. Holden Grenville M. Ingalsbe Thomas R. Kneil
Elwyn Seelye Von Beck Canfield
State Architect, ex-officio
CROWN POINT RESERVATION
Berne A. Pyrke W. A. E. Cummings Howland Pell
Mrs. Geoi^e E.Lamb C. C. St. Clare
State Architect, ex-officio
PUBLICATION
Frederick B. Richards James A. Holden
The President, ex-officio
RESOLUTIONS James A. Holden
ISLE DU ST. SACREMENT
Mrs. Harry W. Watrous David Williams Thomas J. Campbell
George O. Knapp John D. Crimmins
HISTORICAL ESSAYS
Thomas E. Finegan George K. Hawkins James G. Riggs
The President, ex-officio
BENNINGTON BATTLEGROUND PARK
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PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
Sixteradi Annual Meetmg of the New York State Historical
Association, held at Utica» New York, October
3th, 6th, 7th and 8th, 1914.
Bach meetmg of the Association has its particular charm and the Utioa meeting was distinguished by the thoroughness with which plans had been made for our entertainment, the wealth of history lying within easy reach, the delightful personally conducted excursions and our comfortable quarters, both as to places of meeting and at the superb Hotel Utica. The weather conditions also were ideal, and that always helps more than any thing else to put a party in an agreeable frame of mind.
The first session began Monday afternoon with a welcome from His Honor the Mayor, James D. Smith, who spoke as fol- lows: Members of the New York State Historical Association :
The City of Utica welcomes you, not only as a delighted host receives an honored guest, but as a good book welcomes an intel- ligent reader.
As you know, Utica and the region around it are rich in his- torical associations. They have seen and taken part in the mak- ing of American history, not only during the Civil War and the Revolution and before, but down to present times.
I shall not try to rehearse the part our beautiful Mohawk Valley played in the development of the Nation and the State. I assume that these matters will be thoroughly discussed during your meetings. And the i>eople of Utica will follow your discus- sions with deep interest.
They understand the objects and purposes of the Association and sympathize with them and support them. They feel honored
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10 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
that you have selected their city as your meeting place, and they want you while here to feel at home, as indeed you are ; among fellow Americans who are proud to entertain you.
On behalf of the people of Utica, I welcome you most cordi- ally to our fair city, and extend to you the freedom of the city. May your stay with us be a pleasant one."
Dr. Sherman Williams^ first vice-president of the Association, responded as follows: ''Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen:
In behalf of the Association I wish to extend to Mayor Smith and, through him, to the citizens of Utica, our sincere thanks for the very hearty welcome that has been extended to us and for the efforts put forth by the people of Utica to make our meeting here a memorable one, as well as one that is likely to be as enjoyable as any the Association has ever held.
I assure you, Mr. Mayor, that we have looked forward to this meeting with pleasurable anticipations. We are glad to meet in the city that was the home of one of the greatest senators that this State ever sent to Washington, and near the home of another senator from our State who ranks second to no man in public life and whose early withdrawal from active participation in public affairs is universally regretted. We are met in the city that was the home of one of the great governors of our State, and the home of many other men of unusual ability, character and in- fluence.
In addition to the attraction of visiting the city that has been the home of men eminent in civil life, we have come to a section rich in historic interest. A little way down the valley was the home of the Palatines — ^that brave people who suffered so in their early home in Germany that they were driven to cross the ocean and make a new home in the forest where, again, they suffered from Indian raids and attacks. It was this people to whom we were chiefly indebted for the victory at Oriskany. Just below Little Falls was the home of their leader. General Herkimer— a place we are to visit during the week.
Just to the west of us is a monument marking the place where was fought the battle that not only determined the fate of
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FBOGSEDINGS 11
Bunker Hill. But a little farther away — ^within the limits of the city of Borne — ^is the site of Fort Stanwiz. These places we also expect to visit.
Happy are we to meet amidst sach historic associations. Doubly happy to be so warmly welcomed. Again, Mr. Mayor, I thank you in the name of the association.''
Rev. Walcott Webster Ellsworth, rector of St. John's Church at Johnstown, then gave an address, ** Notes on the Early History of the Palatines in the Valley."
At 4:00 P. M. the local committee, under the guidance of Colonel John W. Vrooman, Past Grand Master of Masons in the State of New York, escorted the members of the Association and their friends to the Masonic Home where they were cordially welcomed by the capable and courteous superintendent, William J. Wiley, and charmingly entertained by the -children of the Home and Miss Veturia Isabel Wiley.
A most interesting program was prepared by Supt. Wiley and given in the magnificent Daniel D. Tompkins Memorial Chapel.
The Superintendent in his opening remarks said that last June eighteen of the larger boys and girls had been sent out into the world, which had temporarily deprived the orchestra of many of its best members. He hoped the audience would enjoy the entertainment as much as the children enjoyed giving it.
The program consisted of the following. Processional — ^''O, Mother Dear, Jenisalem,'* Orchestra Selections— -** Last Charge," ''Fire Drill,'' Organ Selection— ''The Storm," Dutch Dance in Costume, Song by Children— *' To Thee, 0 Country," Scotch Dance in costume, 'Cello and Organ Selection— ** Angel's Seren- ade," Spanish Dance in costume, Orchestra Selection — ^'*0n the Beach," Dance — Minuet, Recessional. The orchestra, made up of children, completely filled the large stage and many professional orchestras would have done no better. The children entered the chapel in procession, singing a hymn with excellent harmony. Miss Veturia Isabel Wiley, the organist, played a solo on the splendid chapel organ. This was a beautiful selection beau- tifully played and the audience listened with rapt attention. Her next selection was one in which the chimes were heard to good advantage. Miss Ruth Matthews played a 'cello very skill-
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12 NEW YOSK STATE HISTOBICAL ASSOCIATION
folly, with organ aocompaniment. In f aet, all of the sel^MlonB were particularly enjoyed.
Snperintendent Wiley then introduced Colond Vrooman who said, among other things, that as a descendant of a Holland- er he had requested the Dutch Dance and spoke in a reminiscent way of the early days of the Home and told the audience that twenty-five years ago this land was owned by the Utioa Driving Park and the site of this building was occupied by the grand stand. Twenty-two years ago this very day the Home was dedicated. Eight years ago the Masonic Fraternity in this State secured the best asset, declared Colonel Vrooman, it has ever possesed in the person, Qt the Superintendent, William J. Wiley, his estimable wife and their accomplished daughter.
By way of more definite information regarding the Home and the property surrounding it, he further said that on the 11th day of September, 1899, Grand IMaster John W. Vlrooman, with approval of the Grand Lodge, completed the purchase of 160 acres of land upon which these buildings stand; subsequent purchases make a total of 300 acres now occupied by the Masonic Home in the City of Utioa.
May 21, 1891, the comer stone of the main building was laid by Grand Master Vrooman. October 5, 1892, the building was dedicated by James Ten Eyck, Colonel Vrooman 's successor as Grand Master. The comer stone of the children's build- ing was laid by John Stewart,. Grand Master, on June 29, 1896. The hospital was completed and opened in 1907. April 16, 1910, the comer stone of the Tompkins Memorial Chapel was laid by S. Nelson Sawyer, Grand Master. The edifice was dedicated by Robert Judson Kenworthy, Grand Mlaster, on June 25, 1911, and is doubtless the largest and finest Masonic chapel in the world. In April, 1913, the Home property was appraised at $638,695.
The Home family now consists of 454 persons: 185 men, 118 women, 80 boys and 71 girls. The ages range from 4 to 94. A physician cares for the health of this large f unily and the records show that no boy or girl ever died in the Home. The aged are provided with every creature comfort, while careful attention is given to training the young for a useful life. Of the children 121 attend the public schools and 30 the Home kindergarten. P^ro-
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vision is made to givo any of the young persons, who desire it, a normal or coU^ate conrse.
Sunday School services are held every Sunday morning, when thirteen of the older children act as teachers. I^inday afternoon religious services are held in the chapel for the members of the Home, which are always attended by numerous visitors. On Wednesday evenings a local clergyman conducts a prayer service for the older members.
On the 10th day of September, 1906, WiDiam J. Wiley, of New York, was appointed Superintendent and with his wife and daughter has the entire supervision of the work. Quoting from an address of Grand Master Charles Smith, ''No member of the craft can visit the Home, listen to the music, and observe the abil- ity and deportment of these children, witness the comfort and contentment of the old people, without breathing a prayer of thanks to Almighty Ood that he is permitted to have a part in this great work.'*
Colonel Vrooman concluded by saying that he was present and saw the first man and woman, boy and girl enter the Home, that it was not a charity but a home, a real one, for those dear children and older people, as much so as yours or mine.
This closed the exercises in the Chapel. The visitors were then presented with pictures of the Home and chapel and escort- ed through the biuldings and then to the electric car.
Everyone present pronounced the entertainment one of the greatest treats that had been given them at any meeting of the Association.
In the evening the members again assembled at the Munson- Williams Memorial, the home of the Oneida Historical Society, where all the meetings except the meeting of Thursday morning were held, and listened to an address, **The Battle of Oriskany," by H(m. Benry J. Cookinham, and ** Forts and Blockhouses Along the Mohawk" by Nellis M. Crouse.
At the Tuesday morning session the President's Address was delivered by the Hon. Grenville M. Ingalsbe, subject, ''The Interpretation of History." The address was scholarly, polished and educational. The President's literary ability, wide range of philosophical and historical reading and studious application be ing apparent in every line. He was followed by Charles A. Bich- mond, D.D., LL.D., President of Union College, whose address
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14 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
was on the ** Early Institutions in the Mohawk Valley." The morning session was followed by a short business meeting.
In the afternoon the citizens of Utioa furnished automobiles to take a large party, consisting of members of the Association and their guests, to visit the Oriskany Battlefield and its imposing monument, from which place a run was made to Rome, escorted by a delegation oi Romans, where the sites of Fort Stanwix and fV>rt Bull were visited. Some of the party visited the Delta Dam, one of the notable engineering feats of the age.
In the evening the annual address on ''Our Constitutional Development" was delivered by Hon. Adelbert Moot,* of Buffalo, one of the regents of the University of the State of New York. This was followed by a most entertaining address cm the ''GU>lden Era of Trenton Palls'' by Mrs. Charlotte A. Pitcher, of Utica.
The Wednesday morning session consisted of an address on ** Indian Raids in the Mohawk Valley," by Rev. William M. Beauchamp, S. T. D., of Syracuse, ''Baron Steuben; at home, at rest, in Oneida County,'' by Rev. Dana W. Bigelow, D. D., of Utica, and the ** History of Transportation in the Mohawk Val- ley," by Lieutenant William G. Mayer, of WaterviUe. This was followed by a short business meeting, at which routine matters and committee reports were disi>osed of.
The afternoon was devoted to a visit to Herkimer and its surroundings. The trip from Utioa was made in special cars on the trolley line, passing through Frankfort, Ilion and Mohawk to Herkimer, where the members and friends were met by twenty- five automobiles bearing the banners of several Chapters of the D. A. R., and all in charge of Colonel John W. Vrooman.
A short ride was taken around Herkimer, visiting Myers Park where was viewed with much interest the beautiful bronze statue of General Nicholas Herkimer, a gift to the village by ex- Senator Warner Miller and designed by his son Burr C. Miller ; and also the beautiful statue of General Francis E. Spinner, who was instrumental in introducing women to employment in the ofSces of the Government. This statue was erected as a visible expression of the gratitude of women in (Government employ and their friends.
Both of these statutes were greatiy admired by all the party. The foundations, the one an immense boulder and the other of
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chiseled granite, were placed by General Nicholas Herkimer Chapter, D. A. B., at a cost of about twenty-five hundred dollars.
The party then visited the site of Fort Dayton, which was the rallying place for General Herkimer's heroes when they marched to the Battle of Oriskany. After inspecting the bronze tablets erected by the D. A. B. and the S. A. B. to mark the location of the fort, they were shown other points of historic interest and then proceeded to the old stone church at Fort Herkimer. It was intended to visit the General Herkimer Homestead and Mon* ument but in view of the fact that the State was restoring the house to its original condition it was not suitable for satisfactory inspection.
It may be said in passing however that since the IJtica meeting the old Homestead has been fully restored and was formally thrown open to the public July 5th, 1915. It is expected that it will soon contain a collection of Colonial and Bevolutionary relics. The house is now the property of the State of New York but is under the care and custody of the German- American Alliance and the Daughters of the American Bevolution and is open to visitors at all times. It may be seen from the car windows of the New York Central trains, across the river and about three miles east of Little Falls and may be distinguished by its old Dutch stoop and the Herkimer monument nearby.
The old church was crowded to its fullest capacity. Much interest was shown in the very fine specimens of colonial work, in the old fashioned high pulpit, with a sounding board over it, as well as the high backed pews with doors at the entrance. There are many old graves around the church, a number of them being the last resting place of revolutionary soldiers.
Colonel Vrooman called the assemblage to order and in the course of some informal remarks said that these exercises were being held in one of the most historic places in the Mohawk Val- ley, that **the first church located on this site was built of logs about the year 1723; the stone church in which we are now seated was begun in 1751 and completed in 1757. General Nich- olas Herkimer was a member of the church and his birthplace was about half a mile east from this point. On his route from his home to Oriskany he passed by this very spot as will be noticed by the monument marker on these church grounds."
Thirteen other monument markers locate the line of march to the battlefield ; several of them having already been seen dur-
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16 NEW YORK STATB HI8T0BIGAL ASSOCIATION
ing the afternoon. He further stated that ''it will be interesting to remember as matter of history that Oeneral Herkimer's army consisted of 800 men and were nearly all by blood Qermans and Low Dateh, with a few of other nationalities.
''From an official English statement St Leger's command consisted of 675 white men. A majority of these, 342, were hire- lings sold to England, by the German Prince of Hanau, to help suppress her rebellious colonies. To these British and Qerman troops were added a large body of Indians and this total largely outnumbered Qeneral Herkimer's forces. The details of the fierce battle which was the turning point in the Revolution will be told by other speakers at this annual meeting."
Following these preliminary remarks Colonel Vrooman call- ed on Rev. Dana W. Bigelow to offer prayer, after which he in- troduced Mrs. F. D. CSallan, Regent of Mohawk Valley Chapter D. A. R., who spoke on the "Fort Herkimer Church."
Mrs. F. E. Milne, Regent of (General Nicholas Herkimer Chapter, D. A. R., was then introduced and spoke on "Fort Dayton."
Miss Clara Hale Rawdon, Regent of Astenrogen Chapter, D. A. R., was then introduced and spoke on "The Herkimer Mon- ument."
Mrs. Delight R. Keller, Regent of Colonel William Feeter Chapter, D. A. R., was then introduced and spoke on "The Her- kimer Momestead."
Brigadier General Charles L. Davis (retired), a trustee of the Association, who was present at the Battle of the Wilderness when General Wadsworth was killed and helped carry him from the field, was presented and heartily applauded.
Colonel Vrooman then introduced the Honorable Charles Bell, County Judge of Herkimer County, a descendant of a Revo- lutionary soldier, who delivered the principal address of the day. His subject was "Some Incidents in the Lives of the Early Set- tlers of the Mohawk Valley."
Judge Bell's address was followed by several brief speeches. One by Rev. Samuel E. Brown, who at the age of seventy-seven told of his preaching, years before, in this historic church; and another by William Bellinger Smith of Utica, who at the age of ninety-three is still hale and hearty. He told the story how his
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grandfather, then an infant in arms, was saved by an aunt during an Indian raid in the Valley, at the time of the Revolutionary War, by being placed in a hollow log only a few rods from this old church. The aunt was scalped by the Indians and left for dead, but recovered eventually from the terrible experience. Mr. Smith's grandfather was afterwards found by a searching party, being guided to the hollow log by the cries of the infant. Mr. Smith closed his remarks by a prayer to God that the peace which this country now enjoys may continue. Great applause was given Mr. Smith and Colonel Vrooman said that it is worth while to come here just to hear that talk. This bit of family his- tory graphically connects the TJtica of today with the Valley of Revolutionary times.
Colonel Vrooman thanked the friends who had given the use of their automobiles and he was given a vote of thanks for run- ning the exercises on schedule time, which was within the hour.
The audience then joined in singing ** America" and Rev. S. E. Brown pronounced the benediction.
Mohawk Valley Chapter, D. A. R., then invited the party to partake of dainty refreshments and gave to each visitor pictures of Port Herkimer Church, its pulpit and the Herkimer Home- stead.
Colonel Vrooman also presented to each visitor a set of pho- tographic views of the Herkimer Statue and the Spinner Statue in Myers Park, the Herkimer Monument, (General Herkimer at the Battle of Oriskany, Port Dayton, monument markers, route from Herkimer Home to the Oriskany Battlefield and other poiiits of historic interest.
Nearly all the chapters of the D. A. R. in the Mohawk Valley were represented as was also Nicholas Herkimer Chapter, S. A. R.
Among the speakers of the afternoon Judge Bell, Colonel Vrooman and Mrs. Callan are direct descendants of the Herkimer family.
At the close of the church exercises, the parly returned in autos to the Herkimer trolley station and thence to Utica, arriv-- ing in time for the evening session, at which Melancthon Woolsey Stryer, D.D., LL. D., President of Hamilton College, spoke on ''Samuel Kirkland and the Oneida In- dians,'' after which the members were entertained at a reception under the auspices of the Oneida Historical Society, Fort Schuy-
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18 NEW YORK STATE HISTOBIGAL ASSOCIATION
ler Sods of the Bevolution, Oneida Chapter of the D. A« B., and the Commander Woolsey Chapter of the Daughters of 1812. This was the last meeting held at the Munson-Williams Memorial building.
Thursday morning the last session of the Utica meeting was held at the beautiful Utica Public Library. Mr. William A. Moore, of New Eochelle, wjio was to read a paper *' French Immigrants of the Black Biver Country/' was unable to be present, but it was resolved that the paper be printed in the Utica proceedings. Papers were then read by Harlan H. Homer of Albany, subject ''The American Flag," and Oswald B. Backus of Rome, subject ''Early Bar of Central New York."
The following resolutions of appreciation, prepared by Hon. James A. Holden, were adopted at the closing session:
"The Sixteenth Annual Meeting of the New York State His- torical Association, is about to pass from the things that are, to the realm of the things that have been.
"History, according to the old and well-worn maxim, always repeats itself. So, in this case, the pleasure of meeting, the pleasure of greeting, and the pleasure of participation must give way to partings, and farewells.
"The stay of this Association in Utica, has been an unusual- ly pleasant one, and the hospitality of its citizens and its neigh- bors, something long to be remembered by those who have been fortunate enough to enjoy it.
"To the local General Committee, with its indefatigable, en- ergetic and capable chairman, Rev. Dr. Bigelow, who has looked so carefully after the welfare of the committee's guests; to the Excursion Committee and the Citizens who contributed automo- biles and guides for the excursion to Oriskany, Rome and Herk- imer ; to the Entertainment Committees of the Oneida Historical Society, the Oneida Chapter, D. A. R., the Commodore Woolsey Chapter, Daughters of 1812, and the Committee on the trip to
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Ilion for stimulating attendance at our sessions; to the Mohawk Valley Chapter, D. A. B., for their charming treat of Wednesday afternoon ; to the local press ; and to all who have helped in any way to make our stay a pleasant, memorable, and historically profitable one, to all of these, the thanks of this Association are sincerely and heartf eltfuUy tendered.
''Especially are we grateful for that Monday afternoon of unforgetable pleasure spent at the Masonic Home with the chil- dren, and our especial thanks to Colonel John W. Vrooman and Superintendent W. J. Wiley are earnestly extended for this un- usual treat.
''We came to Utica as strangers entering its historic gates, we leave it the better for its broad lessons of hospitableness, its splendid entertainments, its friendly kindliness, which make us debtors indeed, able to repay in but slight degree, by these all in- suflBcient words of our appreciation.
The citizens of Utiea, and of the neighboring cities and vil- lages of Rome, Little Falls, Herkimer, Ilion, and Utica 's environs have indeed transmuted as by some magic wand, the sacred stones of Oneida into the bread of hospitality, which cast upon the Mohawk's waters, we trust may come back to them in the coin of continued friendship in the years to come."
MiNirres.
Business meeting of the New York State Historical Associa- tion, held after tho morning session, October 6, 1914.
Hon. Grenville M. Ingalsbe in the chair. Twenty members present.
Upon motion, Besolved, That the reading of the minutes of the previous meeting be dispensed with.
Gouvemeur Kimball read letters inviting the AssociAtion to meet next year at West Point. Other invitations were received from Bochester, Plattsburgh and New York City. After con- siderable discussion, it was, upon motion,
Besolved, That the place and time of the next Annual Meeting be referred to the Program Committee with i)ower. An informal rising vote was then taken on the several places, and it
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20 NSW YORK STATE HI8T0BIGAL ASSOCUTION
was the sense of the members present that the invitation from West Point should be aeeepted.
The Treasurer, Hon. James A. Holden, reported as follows : —
ANNUAL STATEMENT OP J. A. HOLDEN, TREASXJEEB NEW
YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION FOR YEAR
ENDING SEPTEMBER 15, 1914.
Bdceipts.
Cashonhand, Sept. 24, 1913 $ 118 06
Rec'd from Dues, Books, Etc 1116 58
Rec'd from Excursion to Kingston and Canada 241 82
•Rec'd from Deficiency Fund 390 00
Rec'd from State for Lake Gteorge Battleground Park . . 371 64
Rec'd from State for Crown Point Reservation 892 48
$3130 03
Difbnriemeiits.
Bullard Publishing Co., printing and sta- tionary $ 161 40
Glens Falls Publishing Co., balance due on
Vol. XI 603 23
Glens Palls Publishing Co., account VoL XII 300 00
F. B. Richards, loan 100 00
Grenville M. Ingalsbe, loan 100 00
Deficiency Kingston Excursion 51 12
Stenographic work and book-keeping, sec- retary and treasurer 40 25
Insurance 27 90
Express 17 77
Work for Library, shelves, etc 12 05
Essay Prizes , 57 65
J. E. Caldwell, rosettes 28 80
Photographs for Vol. XH 15 00
Addressograph, list of members 27 48
Postage, etc., on Vol. XH 80 00
Stamped envelopes, secretary 11 68
Letter files, etc 1 80
Telephone account. Lake George and Crown
Point 6 58
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Lake George Battleground Park 371 64
Crown Point Reservation 892 43
$2906 78
Balance cash on hand $223 25
UaUUties.
Glens Falls Publishing Co., balance due on
VoL XII $ 743 42
Stenographic work, book-keeping, sending
out books, etc 25 25
$ 768 67
Aiseti
Cash on hand $ 223 25
Unpaid dues— (115, 1 year, $230; 27, 2 years
$108; 6, 3 years, $36 374 00
$ 597 25
Liabilities over and above Assets $ 171 42
*$26.00 additional has been received for the Deficiency Fund since this statement was made out.
Life MemberBhip Fond.
In Special Deposit at 3 per cent $82332
Xninraiice.
Insurance on Books in Glens Falls and Albany $3300 00
Upon motion, Resolved, That the Treasurer's report be ac- cepted and placed on file.
The Committees on Legislation, Lake Gtoorge Battleground Park, and Crown Point Reservation, reported as follows : —
REPORT OF TREASURER FOR STANDING COMMITTEES UPON PARKS AND RESERVATIONS.
To the Preaident, Trustees and Members of the New York State fiiatorical Association :
■oS th^ ^^fRo^u^ '■^rkitoooTifo-fi'trA rtf -fh^ Aaa/w»iofinTi t\nW ATI-
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22 NEW YORE STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
ment, my report, to some extent, may be considered aa a com- bined report of the Committee on Legislation, and the Commit- tees on the Lake Gteorge Battleground Park and the Crown Point Reservation.
First, as to the
LAKE GEORGE BATTLEGROUND PARK.
I present, herewith, the report of the caretaker, Mr. Elwyn Seelye. Considerable work has been accomplished there in the direction of cleaning away brush, making permanent paths, and preparing to repair the **Dowling House," where Mr. Cheney, the ground-keeper, lives. Mr. Seelye 's report follows : *'New York State Historical Association, Gtentlemen :
In reporting the condition of the Battle Park at Lake George for the past year, I would say that the clearing off of the small un- derbrush and graveling the walks has been properly done. We have been careful to preserve all the young growing pine trees, we are also preserving a very graceful and pretty shrub. At this date the shrub is fruited with beautiful red berries, lending beauty and decoration to the grounds. There has, as yet, been nothing done towards repairing the caretaker's house or the bam. Bids were asked for from contractors and several have been submitted. The State Architect's representative, though expected, has not as yet been here to approve the work, to the expected, has not as yet been here to approve the work, so the delay has been unavoidable.
There have been occasional small fires along the D. & H. R. R. lines adjoining the park, but they were quickly put out and no harm was done.
Several men employed by the New York Telephone Co., cut down a birch tree near the line of the highway on the north side of the park. A careful examination shows, that the tree was standing on State property. The tree was cut down regardless of the fact that my assistant had shown them where the line was. The matter was reported to the State Comptroller.
I have arranged to have some dead trees, which are danger- ous in their present condition, cut down. Respectfully submitted,
(Signed) ELWYN SEELYE, Sept. 22nd, 1914. Caretaker.''
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Mr. Seelye sent me a specimen of the shrub and berries men- tioned in his letter, which I submitted to the State Botanist, who pronounced it barberry. Mr. Seelye reports about two hundred of the shrubs growing in the park grounds, all sizes from two to twelve feet high.
The matter of the cutting down of the tree on the park by the Telephone i)eople, has been referred to the State Comptroller, and by him to the Attorney General. At the time of preparing this report the Telephone men, having realized the situation, are endeavoring to make a compromise by offering to replant other trees, or doing whatever is in their power to repair the error.
Considerably over two years ago, I had prepared and ap- proved a design for a suitable iron fence to be erected around the Colonial Wars monument on the Battleground Park, and secured an appropriation for it. Owing to a change in the law which placed all structural work of the State under the direction of the State Architect, the matter was referred to the then incum- bent of that office. With the changes in the Executive Chamber, came various changes in the State Architect's office, however, so that with the accession to office of the present State Architect, the bids and plans had to be submitted again. In his opinion the drawings, though approved by his predecessors, were not en- tirely practical, so a totally different design was drawn up in the Architect's office, and finally approved by me. This all took time, so that meanwhile the appropriation for the fence was about to lapse. Through the good offices of Hon. BD. E. HL Brereton of War- ren County, and Deputy State Comptroller, J. A. Wendall, the sum of $1186.75 was reappropriated by Chapter 531 of the Laws of 1914. Under a former competition the bid of T. F. Kalbfleisch of Glens Falls, for about $1195.00, had secured the contract. He ac- cepted the changed plans, submitted new figures, had the fence made, and has been employed this fall in erecting it. At the time of preparing this report, it is practically done and this matter, which has hung fire for at least four years, is now, happily dis- posed of.
A little grading will have to be done around the statue to make the plot presentable and satisfactory. There is enough left in the fund however, to do this.
Provision was made in the design for a panel in the gate with a metal inscription plate, which was not included in the original
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24 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
bid. At one time the Society of Colonial Wars were very anxious to have considerable to do with this fence and I have had some correspondence with the Society regarding it. To letters sug- gesting that they supply the funds for, or have this medallion UMide, I have had no definite response. It would therefore seem to be the duty of this Association to provide the funds whereby this medallion may be placed in position, and thus satisfactorily and appropriately finish this piece of work. The fence will be a decided addition to the furnishing of the park, as well as a pro- tection against relic hunters and historical iconoclasts.
Through the work of the Committee on Legislation, $250.00 was secured last year for building a small dock for motor boats and small craft at the Lake head, and work on this will be com- menced this winter.
Among other items reappropriated by Chapter 531, Laws of 1914, was one calling for improvements to the park of $365.59 and one for repairs to the **Dowling House'* of $382.03.
The park never possessed a flag, so the latter part of June, instructions were given to have a flag pole cut and put up, and a flag of suitable size was purchased, which has waved over the park all summer. The matter of putting in water pipes and secur- ing a water supply for this park, has not as yet been settled, owing to the difficulty of being able to assure the' water works company, of a definite continuance of the contract. The Associa- tion, however, has to its credit in Albany the sum of $180.00, which is sufficient to pay the rental for the water for one year.
The park is in fairly good shape, and in view of the necessity for State economy, I should not recommend asking for anything this year, beyond the item for custodian's salary.
CROWN POINT RESERVATION.
The report of the Chairman of the Crown Point Reservation is herewith submitted : '*To the New York State Historical Association:
I beg to submit my annual report for 1914 as Chairman of the Committee in custody of the Crown Point Reservation.
The present season has witnessed practically the completion of the comfort station, which will be a much appreciated feature. This improvement represents an expenditure of about $4500.00. The building, in addition to affording toilet facilities, provides a
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MUNSON WILLIAMS MEMORIAL
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room for the displny of relics and quite a spacious shelter from sun and storm. The walls are of field stone, built in close har- mony with the walls of the ancient barracks upon the property.
The Reservation has been visited this season up to the pres- ent time by about 8000 visitors, coming from practically every State of the Union, and not a few from foreign countries. Com- ment upon the character of the preservation work done by the State in the preceding two years has been uniformly favorable. In this connection I might state that the barracks came through the severe winter of 1913-14 in excellent shape, and with occasion- al attention ought to remain in practically their present condi- tion for a great many years to come.
The Legislature of 1914, in addition to providing a mainten- €uice fund of $1500.00, made a liberal appropriation of $1500.00 for plumbing and grading at the comfort station, and $500.00 for clearing out and making accessible the old fort well. Unfortun- ately the State's financial interests prompted the withholding of Executive approval of all of the items except that of mainten- ance viz., $1500.00. Unquestionably the one thing that is needed upon the property above all others is a supply of potable water. This Reservation is visited mostly in the simimer time when the heat is trying, and there is a general demand for drinking water, which with present facilities cannot be supplied except from the lake (Champlain) and the lake water is not considered exactly safe. I have little doubt that when this situation is called to the attention of the Legislature and the Qovemor, no diflSculty will be experienced in obaining an appropriation sufficient to bore a well upon the property.
An appropriation should also be asked for adding additional toilet facilities to the comfort station, completing the grading and installing extra cesspools.
Some years ago the State Architect recommended the erec- tion of a fence about the park. This should be done whenever moneys for the purpose are made available by the Legislature.
Dated, Port Henry, N. T., September 23, 1914. Respectfully submitted,
(Signed) BERNE A. PYRKE,
Chairman."
I have had a number of interviews with the representative of the State Architect's office, who has had charge at Crown
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26 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Pointy and we are substantially agreed upon the matter of asking the next Legislature for appropriations to carry out the sugges- tions in Mr. Pyrke's letter. A number of items asked for last year, such as $600.00 for an artesian well for drinking water, and $500.00 for cleaning up the old Fort well, to make it safe as well as available for tourists and sight-seers, were vetoed on the ground of **not being necessary" this season.
It will be necessary to do something with the North Barracks €Uiother year, before they become mere heaps of rubbish, and it is also suggested that the ruins of Old Fort St. Frederic be cleaned up the removal of brush and undergrowth; that signs be erected showing the fort's position and that every effort be made to provide complete comfort accommodations for the many thousands of people who visit those old historic ruins in the course of a year.
It is proposed, to ask for an appropriation for a metal case for the comfort station, in which to place relics and specimens referred to by Judge Pyrke, and which have, from time to time, been discovered on the grounds. This would tend to stimulate interest in the collection and might lead to the gathering together of a very valuable tot of historical relics, pertaining to the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars.
BENNINGTON BATTLEGROUND.
Two years ago the Committee on Legislation was instrument- al in preparing and helping to pass an Act entitled Chapter 716 of the Laws of 1913 "Providing for the acquisition and preserva- tion of the historic tract or parcel of land known as the Benning- ton Battlefield, situate in the town of Hoosick in the County of Rensselaer and making an appropriation therefor.'* $25,000 was set apart to buy this property.
The law recites that :
''Said tracts or parcels of land, after title thereto is acquired, shall be preserved for the benefit of the people of the State of New York as an historic landmark, and for educational and pa-
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This battlefield has not as yet, as I understand it, been pur- chased by the State, although everything but the final steps have been taken. Probably by the first of the year the State will have acquired the title and this Association have become the custodian, as provided by law. In this connection every possible effort should be put forth by our members, to secure the custo- dianships of historic battlegrounds and forts. The question of supervising and looking after homes and birthplaces of noted persons or i>atriots, is a debatable one, which need not be dis- cussed at any great length here.
SARATOGA BATTLEFIELD.
For several years an attempt has been made by the represen- tatives from Saratoga County, to have the State buy the old Saratoga Battleground, for an historical park. At my request, last year. Senator Whitney introduced a bill for the purchase of the battleground, vesting in the New York State Historical Asso- ciation and the Saratoga Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, its care and control. This bill, however, was not re- ported out by the Senate Finance Committee, but it will be un- doubtedly, again introduced at the next session of the Legisla- ture, and should meet with the support of the members of this Association.
Among the other matters looked after by the Committee on Legislation, was an Act for making improvements at Fort Brew- erton and the securing of an appropriation for $1,000, to be ex- pended by the local chapter of the D. A. R. As I understand it, however, this bill died in the Ways and Means Committee, and I have not been advised whether it will be introduced at the com- ing session of the Legislature or not. If so, it should meet with the cordial support of our Association.
ANNUAL PUBLICATIONS.
At the last annual meeting, at Oswego, it will be remembered that one of the matters most vigorously discussed, was that of our annual publication, and the securing of additional funds, whereby it could be printed without expense to the Association. The Special Committee on this matter will report through its Chairman, as to the results obtained by it.
Two years ago and again last year, an effort was made to
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28 NEW YORK STATE HISTOBICAIi ASSOOUTION
amend the State Printing Law in relation to the number of extra copies of certain reports to be printed in Legislative documents. In this bill was inserted an item providing for the printing of 1,500 copies of the report of the New York State Historical Asso- ciation. This bill, however, failed of passage, but will undoubted- ly be again introduced in 1915. Measures are now being taken to have this work published as a report of the State Historian. If this shall be done, the Association relieved of the burden of publication, could then carry on whatever plans of growth and expansion its officers may have in mind.
As the Librarian of the Association, and therefore the re- cipient of the publications of nearly every State and prominent Historical Association or Society in the country, I am proud t<v state, that not excepting tho publications of the American Histor- ical Association and the New York Historical Society, which are the only ones comparable to it in any way, the Proceedings of the New York State Historical Association are the most attrac- tive, typographically speaking, and the most interesting as to sub- ject matter, of any that come into my official custody. It would be a pity therefore to lower the standard which we have set for ourselves, and every effort possible should be made to provide funds to keep our publication up to the high standard mark we have established.
In conclusion inasmuch as the State Architect has so much to do officially with this Association, especially where structural work is concerned, I would recommend that a resolution be adapted making him an ex-c^do member of all committees having charge of the parks, reservations or buildings over which this Association has, legal jurisdiction.
All of which is respectfully submitted. Glens Falls, N. Y., September 29, 1914.
J. A. HOLDEN,
Treasurer.
Upon motion, Resolved, That the President be authorized to appoint a committee or committees to take such steps as may be necessary to increase the revenue of the Association, and further that a circular be prepared bringing before the members the de- sirability of making bequests to the Association.
Upon motion, the meeting adjourned.
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PB0CSBDING6 29
Business meeting of the New York State Historical Associa- tion held after the morning session, October 7, 1914.
Hon. Qrenville M. Ingalsbe, President, in the chair.
Upon Motion, Resolved, That the reports of the Standing Committees on Legislation, Lake Gteorge Battleground Park, and Crown Point Reservation, as made by Mr. Holden at the meeting of the Association on October 6th, be adopted and placed on file.
Upon Motion, Resolved, That the recommendations made by Mr. Holden in his report for the Committee on Legislation be referred to the Committee on Legislation.
Upon the vote of over two-thirds of the members present, the following resolutions were adopted :
RESOLVED: That the following amendments be made to the Const!* tntlon of the New York State Historical Association:
1. That Subdivision Third of Article n be amended to read: Third. To gather books, manuscripts, pictures and relics relating to
the history of the State of New York, and to establish a museum therein for their preservation.
2. That Article V shall be amended so as to read as follows: S. That Section 1 of Article VII be amended to read:
Section 1. The annual meeting of the Association shall be held at such time and place as shall be fixed by the Board of Trustees. A notice of said meeting shall be sent to each member at least ten days prior thereto.
4. That Section 4 of Article VII be stricken out.
ARTICLE V. Officers.
Section 1. The officers of this Association shaU be a President, three Vice Presidents, a Treasurer and a Secretary, all of whom shaU be elect- ed by the Board of Trustees from its own number at its first annual meeting after the annual meeting of the Association, and shall hold of- fice for one year and imtil their successors shall be elected.
Section 2. The Board of Trustees shall appoint an Assistant Secre- tary at its mid-winter session from among the members of the Associa- tion residing near the place at which the ensuing annual meeting is to be held. The Assistant Secretary shaU hold office for one year.
Section 3. The Board of Trustees may appoint such other officers, committees or agents, and delegate to them such powers as It sees fit, for the prosecution of its work.
Section 4. Vacancies in any office or committee may be flUed by the Board of Trustees.
And be it further Resolved, That the following amendments be made to the By-Laws of the New York State Historical Association:
ARTICLE VI.
1 TTioi QA/kHnn A. *\f ATt1i*1o TT ho omonHAil in '-tx*%A*
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3. That Article VII of said By-Laws be designated as Article VIII.
4. That Article VIII of said By-Laws be designated as Article IX.
5. That Article IX of said By-Laws be designated as Article X.
6. That Article X of said By-Laws be designated as Article XI.
7. That a new Article be adopted which shall be designated as Article VII which shall read as follows:
ARTICLE Vn.
The Assistant Secretary shall work in conjunction with, and under the direction of the Committee on Program.
The foUowing trustees were duly elected by ballot to serve for a term of three years: Walter C. Anthony, Newburgh; Hon. T. Astley Atkins, Tonkers ; Francis W. Halsey, New York ; Col- onel John W. Vrooman, Herkimer; Hon. BYank H. Severance, BuflPalo; Dr. William 0. StiUman, Albany; Dr. Dana W. Bigelow, Utiea; Dr. Sherman Williams, Glens Falls.
Upon motion, the meeting adjourned.
MEETING OF TRUSTEES.
Meeting of the Trustees of the New) York State Historieal Association held at the Utica Public Library, after the i^oom* ment of the meeting of the Association, October 8, 1914.
Present— HJon. Qrenville M. Ing^be, Hon. James A. Bolden, Thomas R. Kneil, Dr. Sherman Williams, Bev. Dr. Dana W. Bigelow, Brig. General Charles L. Davis, Frederick B. Richards.
Upon motion. Resolved, that the reading of the minutes ol the previous meeting be dispensed with, and that thqr be adopted.
The following list of new members was read and their dee- tion made permanent:
New Members October, 1913, to October, 1914. Bates, Edward W. East Qreenbush
Bensberg, F. W. Utica
Brayton, M. Jesse Utica
Callen, Mrs. Frank D. Bion
Corse, F. Dudley Sandy Creek
Canfield, Von BecH ^Albany
Culver, Miss Mary h. Utica
Curran, Qeorge h. Utica
DuiDham, George E. Utica
deBoer, L. P. New York
Greenman, Mrs. J. 0. Utiea
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PBOOKEDmaS
81
|
Qoodrieh, Mm SiiMa |
utiea |
|
Hart, Mtb. H. Qflbert |
utiea |
|
Hunt, Min M. Bema |
CobleddU |
|
Jeff ers, Wniard G. |
North Boss |
|
EfiUer, Mrs. DeUght E. B. |
Little Falls |
|
Eellogg, Mn. Minnie L. |
Syracuse |
|
Eernan, Min Elizabeth B. |
Utiea |
|
Eleman, Hon. John B. |
Utiea |
|
liindsley, Mrs. Rmith ML |
Utiea |
|
Laekhnrst, Mm. CSiarlotte T. |
Seheneotady |
|
Maher, John L. |
Utiea |
|
Marsh, Homer P. |
Syraouse |
|
Merwttn, Judge MSltcm ?. |
Utiea |
|
Miller, Miss Helen L. |
New Hartford |
|
Mohawk Valley Chapter, D. A. fi. |
nion |
|
Molyneanz, Mrs. Bobert A. |
Syraouse |
|
Owen, Mrs. William H, |
Utiea |
|
OT^eill, Louis F. |
Albany |
|
Pierce, Miss Graee M. |
Washington, B. 0. |
|
Reeves, Qeorge W. |
Watertown |
|
Saratoga Chapter, D. A. B. |
Saratoga S^ |
|
Sayre, Theodore S. |
Utiea |
|
Shaver, Mrs. C. 0. |
Utiea |
|
Sayre, Miss Amelia V. Bl |
Utiea |
|
Schermerhom, Mrs. Tiii«ift ifoadt |
Schenectady |
|
Sears, Mrs. Frank h. |
Pulton |
|
^epherd. Miss Julia A« |
Oneida |
|
Spraker, Mrs. B. F. |
Palatine Bridge |
|
Silas Towne Chapter, D. A. Bi. |
Mezioo |
|
Smith, Mrs. Abram B. |
Pultonville |
|
Steers, Mrs. Katherine V. |
Schenectady |
|
Schenectady |
|
|
Utiea Publio libraiy |
Utiea |
|
Watson, Miss Lucgr 0. |
Utiea |
|
Wright, Harold A. |
Pulton |
|
Warren, Mrs. Edward B. |
Buffalo |
|
Xrr^4''UZ^^ ILT.^ fTn..i_^^ T\ |
TTx*-_ |
|
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32 NEW YOBS STATE HISTORICAL ASSOGUTION
The following offioera were duly elected for tbe enBoing year:
President— Sherman Williams, Pd. D., Glens Falls.
First Vice President— Dr. William 0. StQlnum, Albany.
Second Vice President— Hon. D. S. Alexander, LiL. D., Buf- falo.
Third Vice President— Hon. Thomas B. Finegan, Pd. D., LL. D,. Albany.
Treasurer- Hon. James A. Holden, Glens Falls.
Secretary— Mr. Frederick B. Richards, Glens Falls.
Upon motion, Resolved that the President be authorized and directed to appoint the standing and special committees of the Board of Trustees.
The president-elect, Dr. Sherman Williams, was then escorted to the chair and made the following appoint- ment of the Committee on Program for the next Annual Meeting: Col. D. S. Alexander, Buffalo;; Hon. GrenviUe M. Ingalsbe, Hud- son Falls; Hon. James A. Holden, Glens Falls.
After an informal discussion of various matters, upon mo- tion, the meeting adjourned.
FREDERICK B. RICHARDS,
Secretary.
MID-WINTER MEETING.
Albany, N. T., January 15, 1915.
The semi-annual meeting of the trustees of the New York State Historical Association wiusr held at the oflSce of the State Historian, Education Building, Albany, January 15, 1915, pur- suant to call.
Present— Plresident Sherman Williams, Judge Atkins, Gten- eral Chas. L. Davis, Col. John W. Vrooman, Judge Grenyille M. Ingalsbe, Rev. Dr. John H. Brandow, Rev. Dr. Dana W. Bige- low, J. A. Holden, George K. Hawkins and F. B. Richards.
President Williams in the chair.
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PBOCEEDINOS 33
To the TruBteea of the New York State Historical Aflsociation—
Gentlemen:
I take pleasure in snbmitting herewith my semi-annual re- port as Treasurer. Since the annual meeting at Utica October 5-8 the receipts and disbursements have been as follows :
Receipts.
Balance Sept.,1914 $ 223.25
Received from dues 337.84
Received from Deficiency Fund 149.00
Crown Point Reservation 3,067.75
Lake George Park 1,921.00
$5,698.84 Disbursements.
Crown Point Reservation $3,067.75
Lake George Battleground Park 1,921.00
Postage, Express, etc 23.36
Annabel Beaudoin
(Bill as of Jan. 1, 1914) 25.25
P. B. Richards, Utica Blxpense 20.00
A. Moot, Utica Expense 5.35
Insurance .i. 24ij0O
Bullard Press 31.50
G. F. Publishing Co 373.42 $5,491.63
$ 207.21 Assets.
Cash on hand $ 200.96
Liabilities over and above assets 332.40
Liabilities.
Balance Q. P. Pub. Co $ 350.00
G. P. Rubber Stamp Co 3.60
Bullard Press 154.11
Lisurances 2.40
Herbert R. Mann .75
M. S. Lovell 4.00
Annabel Beaudoin, bookkeeping, stenogra- phic w)ork, sending out bills, etc. to Dec. 1, 1914 24.75 $ 539.61
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34 NEW YORK STATB HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
I beg to report that there is in the Life Membership F\ind $746.56, and also wish to bring up the matter in connection with this Infe Kemibership Fond of a permanent investment, at a higher rate of interest. It is now drawing three per cent, in a special interest bearing fund. It is a question whether it would be better to invest what we now have on hand in small bonds of one hundred dollars each, or wait until the amount reaches $1,000, wbich it must eventually do, and then invest it in a lump sum. I would ask that some disposition be made of this matter at this time.
Last year a special committee consisting of Dr. Sherman Williams, John W. Vrooman and the Treasurer were appointed to secure funds to clear up the deficiency which then existed, caused by the publication of our proceedings. At that time an ap- peal was sent out which v^ not responded to with any great de- gree of heartiness. Recently another appeal has been made and the net results of the two i^peals were but $567.00. Of this $149.00 has been received since the annual meeting at Utica, the contributions ranging from $1.00 to $25.00. The amount still due for printing Vol. XII is $350.00. The material for Vol. XIII is in the Publishing Company's hands and will call for an expenditure of about $1,100 or $1,200. The balance due this year is much less than in previous years, so that the condition on the face of it is not as bad as it has seemed heretofore.
In this connection the liberality of our former president, the Hon. Grenville M. Ingalsbe, wfho has generously promised to give a certain sum towards Vols. XIII and XIV should be acknowl- edged. His generosity will lessen the burden substantially.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
J. A. HOLDEN, Treasurer.
Verbal report made by Colonel Vrooman in regard to wbat he had done in the way of securing new members^ also by Dr. Williams as to pledges toward deficiency fimd; suggestions made
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PROCEEDINGS 35
Upon motion, Resolved that the proposition be submitted at the annual meeting that Section 1, Article Six, of the Consti- tution be amended to read ''That each person elected to mem- bership shall pay into the Treasury of the Association the sum of three dollars, and thereafter on the first day of January of each year a like sum for his or her annual dues." This amend- ment to take the place of **the sum of two dollars" the rest of the verbiage of the amendment to be the same as now appears in that section.
Upon motion, Resolved that Gteneral Davis, Colonel Vrooman and the President be made a committee to act in the matter of getting an increase in membership by personal solicitation.
Upon motion, Resolved that the President and Secretary be made a committee with powier to have printed a special applica- tion blank calling the attention of new members to the fact that so long as the books last the Saratoga volume will be distributed to them and that during the year they will receive the Oswego volume ; and then other volumes, so long as they remain members, for the yearly sum of twp dollars.
Suggestion made by Judge Atkins that wherever the Asso- ciation meets for its annual meeting they should be asked to agree to help bear the expenses of the meeting.
Suggestion made by Treasurer Holden and President Williams that some disposition be made of the Life Membership Fund, whereby it shall earn more than three per cent.
Upon motion. Resolved that Judge Ingalsbe and Treasurer Holden be made a committee with power to invest the Life Mem- bership Fund.
Report on Lake George Battleground Park and Crown Point Reservation read by Treasurer Holden, discussed and ac- cepted, also bill in reference to the Saratoga Battleground.
Report of J. A. HWden as Representative of the Various Parks and Reservations in the custody of the Association.
LAKE GEORGE BATTLEGROUND PARK.
For the Lake George Battleground Park I beg to report that the iron fence around the monument has been completed and put in place and a cement walk built around it. The various dirt walks around the monument have been graveled, and crushed
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36 NEW TOBK STATS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
stone has been placed on the more important of the paths. Sign posts have been erected to mark important points under appropri- ations supplied by the Legislature. A contract has been entered into for beginning the erection, this winter, of a dock at the beach, which w|ill permit the easy landing of visitors in small motor boats and launches at that* point. The park has been kept in excellent shape by the Association's representative Elwyn Seelye and his able assistant William Cheney, who lives in the Bowling House on the premdses, and wlho gives his services to the State and Association in lieu of rent. This building, and a bam attached to it, have undergone much needed repairs this fall and winter. The bam was in process of falling down from dry rot, wihile the house needed paint and paper badly.
The appropriations for all this work were secured mostly through the efforts of the Legislative Committee, working with Senator Emerson and Assemblyman Brereton, and have been care- fully expended by Mr. Seelye, under the direction of the Treas- urer, who has kept in close touch with the State Comptroller throughout all this work. A much needed embellishment to the Lake George Battleground Park was supplied when a flag and flag pole were placed upon it just previous to July Fourth.
CBOWN POINT RESERVATION.
At Crowji Point minor repairs have been made, the comfort station at that place has been completed with the exception of the plumbing for the water supply, and considerable work has been done at the point under the supervision of the State Architect. The attendants at Crown Point this season consisted of from 9,000 to 10,000 visitors.
For next year the Treasurer, acting for the Association has prepared a budget wjiich has been submitted to the State Comp- troller for inclusion in the annual Appropriation and Supply Bill. There may be some additions made to this in order to carry out the wishes of the local committee and the State Architect as to completing certain work at Crown Point.
By the courtesy of Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Frank- lin D. Roosevelt, one of our members, 30-9 inch spherical shells have been secured for ornamental purposes on the reservation, and some of them will surmount the twk> stone posts which have been erected to mark the entrance way to the fort.
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PB0CEEDING6 Hi
I am advifled that the Bennington battlefield of which this AsBoeiation is to be custodian, has not as yet been purchased, but it is expected that the matter will be closed up wiithin a short time.
The Association has been requested to have introduced bills which will provide for the acquiring of the Saratoga Battleground by the State and for the placing of its custody in the hands of the New York State Historical Association w^th power to appoint any patriotic body as the custodian. This matter would be con- siderably strengthened by the passage of a resolution by this board, authorizing the introduction of such a bill and by in- structing the ccHnmittee on legislation to follow it up.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
J. A. HOLDEN, Chairman Committee.
The appropriations for 1915 when adopted by Legislature were as follows:
APPROPRIATIONS ALLOWED ASSOCIATION:
The appropriations for 1915 were finally approved as follows : -(Chapters 725, 727, 728, Laws 1915).
LAKE GEORGE BATTLEGROUND PARjK.
Maintenance (including caretaker) $ 500
Water Supply 180
Repairs to dwelling house (including plumbing) 500
CROWN POINT RESERVATION.
Maintenance (including caretaker) $1,500
Preservation and protection barracks and for cleaning
out ruins old Port St. J'rederick 1,500
Completing comfort station in accordance with engineer's
plans .1. 850
To putting in water supply and pump house 1,000
BENNINGTON BATTLEFIELD. Reappropriates unexpended balances for purchase $25,000
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38 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
AN ACT.
To provide for the acquisition and care of lands to commemorate the battle of Saratoga, and making an appropriation there- for.
The People of the State of New York, represenied in Sen- ate and Assembly do enact as follows i
Section 1. The comptroller of the state is hereby authorized and directed to acquire for and on behalf of the people of this state lands in the town of Stillwater, Saratoga county, constitut- ing the battlefield of the battle of Saratoga, or sudi portion thereof as he deems appropriate for comimemorating, in connection with the Saratoga monument, the decisive battle of the revolution and the surrender of Qeneral Burgoyne on the seventeenth of October, seventeen hundred and seventy-seven. The title to any premises acquired by this act shall be approved by the attorney-general before^ any payment is made to the grantors thereof. In case of inability to agree with the several owners upon the purchase price of said premises or of any part thereof, the title thereto may be acquired by condemnation, in the manner prescribed by the condemnation law.
Sec. 2. After the title to such lands shall have been acquired the care and control thereof shall be vested in the New York State Historical Association, which shall improve and care for the same as a public park. Such organization may employ a pa^ triotic or historical society as custodian of such premises at an ex pense not to exceed tw|o hundred and fifty dollars per annum and may adopt rules and regulations for the admission of visitors to such premises. But no charge or fee shall be exacted for such admission. Such oraginzation shall render an annual report to the legislature, which shall include a detailed statement of its receipts and expenditures under this act and an estimate of the work neeessarj' to be done and the expenses of maintaining the premises for the ensuing fiscal year, with such recommendations in respect thereto as it may deem proper.
Sec. 3. The sum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), or so much thereof as may be needed, is hereby appropriated out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, payable by the treasurer on the wjarrant of the comptroller, for the pur-
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Goo^^
PROCEEDINGS 39
poses of this act. Of such money twenty-four thousand doUars shall be available for the acquisition of the premises and one thousand dollars for the improvement thereof after the same are acquired. Moneys herein or otherwise appropriated for the im- provement of such premises shall be expended under the direc- tion of a committe of the New York State Historical Association, and upon its requisition to the comptroller accompanied with vouchers approved by such representative of the organization named, as such association shall appoint.
Sec. 4. This act shall take effect imm)ediately.
Upon motion, Resolved that the New York State Historical Association hereby endorses a bill to be introduced in the Legis- lature providing for the aoquisition and care of the lands known as the Saratoga Battleground, which bill provides for the appoint- ment of a patriotic society as custodian of the battleground after it has been turned over to this Association, and that the associa- tion heartily endorses the movement for this purpose and urges the passage of the bill."
Upon motion, Resolved that the Secretary be instructed to write those asking Legislative assistance from the association that we have already committed ourselves to the support of the Sara- toga Battlefield, and cannot attempt too much in one year, but another year will do what we can to help them along.
Matter of tentative program discussed and list of speakers read by President Williams.
The committee on prize essays reported as follows: The New York State Historical Association offered last year prizes for the best three essays on the "Battle of Plattsburg", $25.00 in gold as the first prize, $15.00 as the second and $10.00 as the third. For this contest of 1914 fifty-six essays wfere sub- mitted from the various High Schools of the State.
Through the courtesy of Harlan HL Homer, Chief of the Examinations Division of the University of the State of New York, these essays were carefully read by one of the history ex- aminers and the number of the best essays reduced to ten. These were then rated in their respective order of merit and were read by L. 0. Wiswell, an expert connected with the Division of School Libraries. The consensus of opinion of the various examiners was as follows: That the first prize should be awarded to Ed-
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40 NEW YORK STATE HISTOBICAIi ASSOCIATION
ward 0 'Toole, Jr., Ossining High School; second prize to Isabel Ejiapp, North Tonawanda High School, and the third prize to Marion C. White of the High School connected with the New York State College Albany. The prizes will be distributed shortly to the various winners. The committee in charge of the contest consisted of Thomas E. Finegan, Third Assistant Commissioner of Education; Gteorge E. Hawkins, Principal of Plattsburg State Normal, Plattsburg, and Dr. Sherman Williams, of Olens Falls, Chief of Division of School Libraries, Education D^artment.
Matter of prizes discussed by Col. Vrooman Dr. Brandow, Judge Ingalsbe, Mr. Hawkins and Mr. Holden by debating whether they should be continued another year or not, some for and some against
Upon motion. Resolved that we continue to offer the essay prizes for another year.
Colonel Yroomian expressed his opinion in regard to the essay prizes, stating that a badge would be more appreciated and that he believed schools would enter more heartily into the contest, than for the money.
Mr. Holden made a committee to write and find out in re- gard to badges, prizes, etc.
Upon motion. Resolved that the matter of the selection of prizes be left to the committee with powler.
President Williams suggested that some time we' have an annual meeting given up exclusively to the "Political HSstory of tho State" and another to the *' Industrial History of the State".
Upon motion, Resolved that the Secretary be instructed to write the Lowier Wall Street Business Men's Association assuring them of our approval in the matter of the publication of an ac- curate history of the State of New York.
List of new members read and on motion their election was made permanent.
List of New Members, Mid-Winter Meeting, January, 1915.
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Courtesy of Oneida Chapter D. A. R. LAFAYETTE TABDET Erected on the Walls of Hotel Utica
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PBOGEBDINOS
41
Bell, Mrs. Chaiies B. Ben, Miss Louise Bronx Chapter, D. A« BL Brace, Bobert Bumham, Stewart EL Bnmaon, MisB F. IL Bngbee, Pewgr L Campbell, Bev. T. 3. Clapper, Frank S. Colyin, Hon. AddiMn K Coon, Bichard E. Covey, €teorge BL Earl, Bobert Empire State Sooety Famham, Gteorge A. Fuller, Mass Abbie B. H. Gilbert, Frank B. Grubel, H. Q. Omm, Franklin F. Hand, E. J.
Hazard Mj88 Blanche B. Ingalsbe, Miss Myra L. Ingalfibe, Miss Bath HI Keating, Daniel Enapp, Bobert D. LeFevre, Hon. Frank J. Lesser, Bobert Lewis, Le<m Bay Lowndes, Arthur Manhattan College McNetton, Dixon McNatt, Bandolph McNutt, Mrs. Evelyn Moot, Hon. Adelbert Malf ord, Bev. Henry D. R Oneida Historical Sociely Pettit, Miss Catherine M. Philip Livingston Chapter, Bevolation
Amsterdam Amsterdam Mt. Yemon New York Hadson Falls Canandaigoa Oneonta Montreal, Can. Hadson Glens FaUs Poaghkeepsie Eatonah Herkimer Chicago, HL Saratoga Springs Saratoga Springs Albany OBoonville Olens Falls Amsterdam Ithaca Hartford Soath Hartford Oneida
Pmiy Station New Paltz New Bochelle Hadson Falls New York New York New York Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo
Upper Bed Hook Utica
Fort MiUer Sons of
Albany
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42
NEW TOBE STATB BISTQBICAL ASSOCIATION
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Poacher, J. WUmii |
Ponghheeprie |
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Beynoldiiy Henry S. |
NewTorfc |
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Schenectady |
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Ne^ York Otf |
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Sexton, Hon. Plinj T« |
Palmyra |
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Sextan, Mrs. Pliny T« |
Palmyra |
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Shea, James A. |
Syracuse |
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Shear, Sylvester B. |
Pooghkeepsie |
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Sprague, Wflbur B. |
Utica |
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Steele Memorial library |
Elmira |
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St CSlare, Bev. 0. 0. |
Port Henry |
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Teller, Myron S. |
Kingston |
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Van Dewater, Arthur |
Flushing |
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Van Voast, Horace S. |
Schenectady |
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iWadsworth, Mrs. Dayid |
Auburn |
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Wyer, James L, Jr. |
Albany |
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Williams, Chas. Spencer |
Hudson |
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Weeks, Charles E. |
New Hamburg |
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Whedock, Charles F. |
Albany |
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Wiley, George M. |
Albany |
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Wiswell, Leon 0. |
Albany |
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.Waldron, Charles N. |
Schenectady |
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Yeidey, Geo. Conrad |
Hudson |
President Williams stated that he would like to call attention to the fact that President Pinley, one of our trustees, had been called to New York and could not possibly attend the meeting, and that it was not lack of interest, but necessity, which had taken him away. Also that Dr. Finegan, another trustee, was in New York and therefore unable to attend.
On motion duly carried meeting adjourned.
FREDERICK B. RIGH)ARDS, Secretary.
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THE INTERPRETATION OF HISTORY.^
By Grenville M. Ingalsbe, A. B., A. M., Union, LL.B., Harv.
The meaning of History has always been an attractive subject for the consideration of thinking men and women. In its most comprehensive sense, History is the record of a sequence of changes, the reproduction of whatever has been, the story of the toil and struggle of humanity. History, in short, is a record of human life. Its web and woof are woven of the heart strings, bruised and torn in the ceaseless conflict between necessity and liberty. It deals with realities, and also with the mysteries of races, their beliefs, their ambitions, and their delusions, which mark the golden eras, the halting places, and the apparent reac- tions in the progress of Humanity. The ultimate object of its study, as an affair of the whole, should be to interpret its rep- etitions and its lapses, to define the forces which determine human events, and to discover the laws, if such there be, which with re- sistless sweep have so often decreed that what we call Progress and Imperial Development, should be followed by Deterioration, Degeneracy and Decay.
Why did Chaldaea, the parent of Asiatic civilization fade before treacherous and voluptuous Assyria; Assyria vitally
lln view of the loner delay in the publication of this Volume of Pro* ceedinga, it should be noted, especially while conslderinsr Subdivisions XVIII and XIX of this Address, that it was written duriner Auerust and September 1914: the first and second months of the srreat world conflict in Europe. Thus it represents the opinions of the Author at that early staere of the strusrerlo, before the German spirit had had an opportunity to dis-
Slay itself, except within the limited boundaries of stricken Belsrium. Since bien, its field has become the world. January 1, 19ie. G. Bi. I.
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wounded by the wild Scythian hordes yield to Medea with its fresh blood from the east; Medea fall in its turn before Gbaldaea reinoam&ted in Babylonia; Babylonia vanish before the power and strategy of Cyrus! Why did Athens, after the chivalry, beauty and idealism, which distinguished the age of Pericles, rav- age the coasts from the Euxine to Sicily, a self confessed Bobber Empire! Why was the glory and culture of Borne, followed by the pitiful Decline, and. the five dark centuries or more, of re- trogression! Why!
This is not an academic question for it affects man as a whole, as he seeks, suffers, loses or finds his way. Its considera- tion was early designated as the Philosophy of History, and devo- tion to such a subject certainly was most laudable. The term Philosophy of History, however, is with reason, in disfavor. It has been appropriated by ecdeciastics, and approached through faulty methods and with imperfect ideals. As a result, it has be- come involved in a debris of archaic theology, and arid and value- less formula.
The ancients had little historical past, and did not regard History as a subject for philosophic treatment. Saint Augustine was perhai)s the first to project a distinct so-oalled Philosophy of EEistory. In his De Givitate Dei he accepted the Bible as the sole and ultimate source of all knowledge. He utterly ignored secular culture and human interests, and he sought to discover the mean- ing of human history, by scorning earthly proofs, and rejecting reason. Yet Augustine was one of the most distinguished Fath- ers of the Latin Church, and in his day was unsurpassed in theo- logical dialectic, and unrivaled in controversial power. Through the mediaeval epoch the Augustinian philosophy of history was generally accepted. To-day it is practically obsolete, except with those whose historical knowledge is bounded, and whose historical curiosity is satisfied, by the canons of dogmatic theology.
The undying word pictures of Bossuet in his "Discours I'His-
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had taaght him nothing. The establicdiment of the Romish Chureh was the eentral fact of hist^Hy. Yet Bossnet's outworn, and unworthy conception of the Philosophy of History only a few years sinee^ was taught in the schools of France.
The most popular work of Friedrich Hegel, the greatest phil- osopher of (Germany, in the post-Kantian period, is his Philosophy of History. Hie divides the history of the world into three pe- riods, the Oriental, the Classical and the Germanic, represented by the despot, the dominant order, and by man as man. He bases his Philosophy of History throughout on false assumptions. He claims that in history, Europe represents finality, and that Amer- ica has shown a complete lack of physical and mental power. His entire work rests upon the single postulate that History is a ra- tional process. If this be accepted as proven, there certainly is no need for a Philosophy of History.
But why pursue this branch of our subject further among the reactionary Schlegels, the declamatory Herders and the vari- ous cobweb weavers who from Augustine to Bossuet, saturated the Philosophy of History of that day, with dogma, and reduced it to a speculation in the supernatural, in terms of pure theology.
Let us, however, pause suf&ciently to offer tribute to those brave spirits, along the centuries who anticipated the knowledge of the future, and with dear vision, saw History in its true rela- tions to Humanity. We have no time even for a roll call of their illustrious names. But foremost of them all stands the Arab Ibn Ehaldun, of the fourteenth century, who was the first to treat History as a special science, and to assert that a nation's life is like the life of an individual, with its youth, maturity and decay; that a civilization ia determined by its geographic, climatic and personal entourage, and that soils, rivers, moisture, mountains, plains and seas, are all contributing factors in its life. He was the first historian to appreciate the effect of environment and of psychological conditions, and to recognize, not merely human adaptation, but human progress. Montesquieu, Buckle, Draper and many others have drawn inspiration from this pioneer of thought, who lived a half millennium ago.
After Bossuet came Voltaire and Kant. Voltaire, the heart and the intellect of his age, shattered the shackles of authority, denounced with satiric logic the creeds of credulity and supersti- tion, and held boldly aloft the sacred torch of reason. Kant es-
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tablished the re^ancy of ideas, and created a new world of thought. He thoroughly analyzed the mind, and the precision of his definitions has given prominence to his nomenclature. It was Kant who first used the word Transcendentalism to denote mod- em idealism. Through Voltaire and Kant, emancipation, from many thralls, came to man. They breathed new life into the Phil- osophy of History. In their tiiae, with the state of knowledge then existing, and indeed in any preceding time, the Philosophy of History based upon, and explained by, theology was inade- quate and disappointing. It rested upon things wholly foreign to history. It afforded no reasonable explanation of historical events. It did not enlarge the conception, or the meaning of His- tory, or proceed upon the theory that History was subject to any law.
m
Nearly two centuries have passed since Voltaire, and a cen- tury and a half since Eant. We have no time to trace the evolu- tion of knowledge during the intervening years, or to more than note the birth and rapid development of the new sciences of man. After theology had attempted to define the Philosophy of History, and to assimilate and incorporate it into itself, Materialism made its great contribution to the theme. It dispelled the illusions^ supplied the facts and bound History in welcome bonds to Mother Earth. It enforced the teachings of the lonely Arab as to the in- fluence of environment, and builded broadly upon Economics and the physical and biological sciences.
But the materialistic conception of History, though a great advance upon the theological and the metaphysical, lacked still, the vitalizing element. While theology and metaphysics ignore or falsify the facts of History, materialism deprives them of beauty and life. It is not in i^ympathy with the spirit, or the aspirations of man. It fails to respond to the pulses of life, and reduces existence to a hopeless treadmill, barren of the inspirations de- rived by the Transcendentalist from his worship of the eternal
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Fortauately other sciences of man have come to our aid. Ethnology, Anthropology, Sociology and above all Psychology. Cousin said that the science of History was Psychological. Cer- tainly the history of society is dominated by the human spirit, responding ever to human needs. Psychic laws determine human events and are the vital part of History. Thus the material, and the psychic working in loyal co-operation, will cover the entire field, and will evolve a true Philosophy of History. Let us, how- ever, lay <iside this name, so redolent of false premises, chaotic conclusions and dead theologies, and adopt in its stead a new designation, clear, concise and worthy, one which is unerringly indicative of its high function, — The Interpretation of History.
IV-
We are living in an age of specialization. Expert knowl- edge is sought in every department of human activity. This con- dition is not confined to the industries and to affairs, but extends to matters pertaining to education and mental achievement. The arena of effort has become so wide, that a wise division of labor is absolutely necessary as a foundation for high accomplishment.
History is no exception to the rule, and historical work to- day is quite largely in the hands of trained experts. They are doing excellent work, but while I admire their diligence in re* search, their passion for accuracy, and their enthusiasm, yet I de- plore their efforts to trammel History with the shackles of Science.
This being the present status of historical work, it is very pertinent that you should ask, why I have the temerity to at- tempt the discussion, in this presence, of the theme announced as the subject of this address. I am not an historian, or a specialist in any line of historical work. I doubt if I can claim, judged by the advanced standards of to-day, to be even an historical scholar.
In mitigation, however, of the sentence which upon my own admissions, it is your duty to pass upon- me for my audacity, per- mit a personal word. Memory often brings to me the fond recol- lections of autumnal afternoons in dear old Cambridge, over forty years ago, when I sat entranced under the magic of Dr. Samuel Eliot's lectures on American History. They were considered so notable that the immortals were there, Longfellow and Lowell, and the flower of Old Harvard, and on one precious day, at least.
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Ralph Waldo Emerson. The atmosphere of the place, the pres- ence of so many who from earliest boyhood, I had been taught by my Father to revere, and the clear informing sentences of Dr. Eliot implanted in me an ambition to engage in research along such lines, as would have entitled me to a lowly seat, at least, among the historians.
It is to-day a matter of deep regret, that loyalty to an ex- acting profession has not only prevented me from realizing that most praiseworthy ambition, but has even precluded me from keeping in that intimate touch with History, and the study of History, which in these days of painstaking research and investi- gation, and of prodigious progress, is a necessary requisite for admission to the ranks of the historical scholars.
Whenever respite from duty has allowed, during the inter- vening years, I have cast, as into a promised land, longing glances upon the whitening fields of History, and much of my serious reading, outside the requirements of my professional work, has been along historical lines. Too often, however, it has been desul- tory and erratic. All I can offer then to-day, are the reflections of an onlooker, a humble student of humanity, without authority and without standing, as an historical scholar, views from the out- side of the fane of History, into whose sacred precincts, I have never been permitted to enter.
Before proceeding to the consideration of the various meth- ods which have been advanced as to the Interpretation of His- tory, let us briefly review the pre-documentary history of man. It is the foundation upon which all written history rests, the background of the marvelous panorama of human life, and it cov- ers the most important and pregnant periods of human develop- ment
Last year in this presence, I commented briefly upon the proven achievements of the paleolithic man, and asserted that even he, was undoubtedly far removed from the ultimate child- hood of the human race. At that time monographs had been pub- lished in England, embodying the results of investigations in the Middle Olacial Gravel, overlying, and upon the London Clay, lo- cated beneath the sands and shells of the Bed Crag Sea. The vari-
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oils types of chipped flints, discovered in these deposits, reveal the working of a complete industry below the strata of the Pliocene period, and fully establish the existence of the pre-paleolithio man. They clearly show a cultural evolution, involving the gradual improvement, the ultimate perfection, and the disappear- tince of complex flint instruments.
The pre-paleolithio man increases by thousands of genera- tions the antiquity of the race. He makes the foundations of His- tory broader and deeper, and its setting richer and more interest- ing, a wonderful composite formed of the unrecorded acts and ex- periences of man, during hundreds of thousands, x>erhaps millions, of years as shown by his remains and his handiwork.
The primal man was a solitary being, subject to no external discipline, a fundamental anarchist. This basic instinct still per- sists, and Nordau claims that with other primal instincts, it is as indestructible, and as ineradicable as mans' anatomical structure. In spite of habit and culture, man to^ay passes through life in fearsome loneliness, ever shrouding the more intimate aspects of his nature. Timidity, caution and distrust are so deeply implant- ed in man, that while they retreat before the conventions of so- ciety, the exigencies of personal interests, and the appeals of utilitarianism, they never wholly disappear. The power of this primal instinct is so implacable and absolute that an impenetrar ble veil hides the real bases, the inner secrets of personality to- day, as it did in the time of the Pithecanthropus erectus or the Neanderthal man.
Through long eras man was cradled amid favorable surround- ings, and nature was his friend. The earth mothered him in a congenial air with pure water, and with nutritious herbs, nuts, roots and fruits. The free and abounding gifts of nature were sufficient for his simple needs. No provision for the morrow, no power of initiative was required. Life was sluggish and passive, the building and toughening of fiber for the struggles to come. Had these conditions continued, had he been subjected to no ex- ternal compulsion, man by virtue of innate primal instincts alone, might never have risen above the savage. But' a great climatic change came upon the earth, and nature from thenceforth was
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The few organisms which were not extirpated by this climatic oataclysmy tried to adapt themselves to Uieir new environment, and became so changed as to be almost unrecognisable. Accord- ing to all biological laws, man should have disappeared from the earth at the opening of the earlier ice age, but instead, he refused to succumb to the unfavorable environment, and bade defiance to nature. Primarily, man did not seek to adapt himself to the changed environment. Instead, he aroused his fundamental and latent intellectual powers, strengthened for struggle as they were, by long periods of wholesome animal development, and sought the modification and subjection to himself, of the untoward external conditions which surrounded him. He strove with infinite pa- tience, with a zeal, goaded by necessity and guided by instinct, and weak mentality, to adjust his new environment to the needs of his own organism. It was a struggle for existence. Man had to choose between toil and extinction. Perhaps sin had not come to him, but labor and sorrow had, and knowledge. From that day in the early dawn of time forward, life was to be bitter, and
<<•••••• ^j2 ^lig f^Qgg Qf tj^^ years.
Young and old, gray with travail and with tears."
This adjustment of environment to the needs of man, has been continuous, and is still in progress, unabated. The complex- ity of the process has constantly increased. The grim spectre of necessity, which first presented a purpose 1x> man, has been ever present, and up through the uncounted ages of savagery and bar- barism, and along the brief span of civilization, so-called, has in- cited him to wonderful achievements, the fruits and the penalties of which are ours.
This complete absorption of man, through all the stages of his development, in the work of wresting from nature the neces- sities and luxuries of existence, gives a definite meaning to His- tory. It shapes all human events which are determined by the will of man, and is €in important aid in the Interpretation of His- tory.
VI
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is so important a part of history that its careful examinatdon is essential to any correct historical interpretation. Savagery, the first stage of mans' existence, was the great formative period of the race.
Commencing with a physical organism admirably fitted for his restricted habitat, but at zero in experience, and without ac- tive mentality, man, a savage, standing at the foot of the scale, but being potentially all that he has since become, fought and won the greatest battles of history, first for existence, and then for progress. The movement was slow. His mental energies were those of a child, but as the vast ages of savagery rolled by, he worked his way toward the light, through the slow accumulation of ex- perimental knowledge, while articulate speech, the kindling and making of fire, a discovery to this day unsurpassed and unequal- ed, a fish diet, the bow and arrow, and pottery became the prop- erty of man.
The age of barbarism followed, shorter in time, than that of savagery, but filled with great achievements, the occupation of a Mdder habitat, the domestication of animals, the cultivation of maize and plants, the building of adobe brick and stone dwellings, and the smelting of iron, the event of events in human experience, and a firm ground work for civilization.
Then oame the close of the pre-documentary period, and the gradual emergence of civilization, with its hieroglyphs, the pho- netic alphabet, and the preservation of records.
vn
Co-incident with this advance in material and intellectual ac- quisitions, man as a disconnected unit, yielding to, or following his fundamental instincts, or their evolutionary sequences, practically disappeared. The instinct of self preservation was not in its na- ture aggressive, and did not become so, until unfavorable condi- tions imposed upon man the necessity of effort and struggle. Then this instinct developed into a desire for exploitation and mastery, and Parasitism, to adopt a term of Nordau's, resulted. At the same time man impelled by necessity, yielded somewhat of his solitary routine, and sought the aid of his fellows, as co-laborers and servants.
Parasitism was exercised first upon wife and children, but it spread quickly beyond the family. Men had to band together for
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self defense^ and the genteB, phratyi tribe, and the radimentary nation f oUawed. Man was not originally a fighter, but he became one, when the forces of nature were arrayed against him, that he might improve his condition, through the increase of his power and possessions. The camp was probably the origin of the state, the beginnings of which were not based on sympathy, but in the desire for blood and plunder. The trend toward solidarity orig- inated in the murk of battle, and war sealed the bond between the individual and the state.
Thus at the dawn of civilization, the lines of mans' develop- ment were well marked. He had demonstrated his power to wrest from an unfriendly nature the necessities of existence, to adjust a hostile environment to his own needs, and to surround himself with artificial conditions, conducive to his comfort and conven- ience. Moreover, in this pre-documentary time, the operation of certain laws of universal application had been definitely deter- mined.
Human progress had been shown to be in a ratio, essentially, though not absolutely, geometrical, the notable periods of repeti- tion, retreat and decay being excepted.
The mental growth of man had been along the line of an or- derly evolution, which had proceeded as rapidly as his environ- ment permitted.
Parasitism, with war as its physical sequence, had been firmly established under the plea of need, sometimes true, but more often false, as a rule of human action. Individual parasitism made of the weaker, a slave. Organized parasitism, the exploitation of the many by the few, the few having at their head a leader in business, or a war lord, led, in the one case, to the undue accumu- lation of property, and in the other, to the foundation of a state.
These are only a few of the deductions which may be drawn from the facts already clearly established by pre-documentary history, which is each year becoming more intelligible, owing to the painstaking work of the anthropologist. Only three quar- ters of a century has elapsed since anthropology was recognized
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vm
The Economic Interpretation of History was first formulated by Earl Marx, a man nnexcelled as a closet Philosopher, though in much disfavor in consequence of his advanced socialistic views, and his failure in practical affairs. It is based on the proposition, that, as the existence of man depends upon his ability to sustain himself, the econopiic relations are the basic conditions of human life, and that to economic causes can be directly traced all the changes in the structure of society, and all the manifestations of social life.
The inclusiveness of the Marxian theory, perhaps can not be better defined than by one of the pregnant sentences of its author. ''It is not the consciousness of mankind, that determines its ex- istence, but on the contrary its social existence that determines its consciousness." Thus he interpreted all the phases of History in the light of economic development, in economic terms, and ascribed the advancement of man, along all lines, to economic changes and conditions. This extreme view of the theory was called historical materialism, and is fanciful and preposterous. It has now been practically abandoned by the ablest advocates of Economic Interpretation. They claim only, that the economic is an important factor in social changes; that economic conditions exert a preponderant, but not an exclusive influence upon the progress of Society; that the ethical is not subordinated to the economic life; that there need be no connection between one's economic welfare, and his moral impulses, but that the moral up- lift of humanity has been closely connected with its economic progress, and that a community can aspire to the highest ethical values, only when it rests securely upon the foundation of a ma- terial prosperity. It admits the facts of mentality; that the in- tellectual life is primary, and the economic, secondary, and that mans' physical wants are exaggerated or modified through mental action ; in short that there is no purely economic man.
As thus defined there is much that is acceptable in the theory of economic interpretation. It admits that Economics deals only with one kind of social needs, while many such needs exist, moral, religious, political, ethical, which demand attention. Further, ob- jects may have economic utility, but there is a legal, technical, physical and scientific utility as well, so many and so complicated
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are the relations of human life. A satisfactory analysis of the motives which influence man is impossible, and will so remain un- til Sociology, one of the youngest, and certainly the most com- plex of the sciences of man, shall have definitely determined the formulas and laws which will justify its full recognition.
The Economic Interpretation of History as now defined, does not claim to explain, or to have rendered possible, all the phenom- ena of human life, or that the economic element in History, is the whole of History, but it seeks to emphasize certain forces which it claims are fundamental, and without which neither physical, intellectual or ethical life, could have attained its present status of fruition.
IX
The purely materialistic Interpretation of History requires only slight attention. History is an affair of the whole. It is in- clusive, all embracing, and not mechanical. It has intense vital- ity, and is no less than the record of human character in action. Materialism, tersely defined, is the tendency in thought and deed to treat a part, as if it were an integral, independent, self support- ing whole. It is the narrow, exclusive, metallic and some times, sordid view of things. It emphasizes an isolated experience, or a class character, or a part of a great drama, and ignores the unity of experience, the ripe results of mans' relations to his fellows, and to himself. There can be no real history, without the person, without personality, and this most important element, material- ism minimizes or repudiates. History welcomes, and seeks con- tributions from the workers along materialistic lines. She will use them faithfully, but only as parts of a beautiful whole, dominated and vitalized by the human spirit.
One group of historical specialists urges the genealogical meth- od in the Interpretation of History, and they cite the influence of monarchs and of great men. They would introduce into the study of History, the principles of induction, the formulas of the labora-
.t ^1 _"1 _ O • x_xf J IJ __1 Xl- ^ ^1^
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icallyi except under the leadership of a strong sovereign, or of great men. They minimize environment as trivial, illusive and uncertain. They exalt personality and heredity, and claim that the true Interpretation of History is based on the laws of descent.
In the earliest time, before the strugglo with nature com- menced, men were on a parity. As the struggle progressed and Parasitism developed, those who succeeded in getting and keep- ing the most of what men desired most, became great men, chiefs or monarchs. This development reached its culmination in the time of pre-documentary history, for as far back as the earliest civilizations can be traced by their monuments, in the river val- leys of the Tigris, the Euphrates and the Nile, they are found to be under the control of well established dynasties of reigning monarchs. In Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Egypt and in Greece and Rome, and down the centuries to our day, the influence of great men has been very powerful.
The advocates of this method of Historical Interpretation in- sist that two forces, the aristocratic and the democratic, cure con- stantly striving for ascendency. The aristocratic force represents intellect, as well as wealth, and measures everything in terms of achievement. The democratic force stands for the milieu, the diffusion of suffrage, and the ambitions of the proletariat. One force is uplifting, the other is leveling. It is claimed that the leveling tendency has not as yet been equal to the opposing force, else "the supremely important few" could not have been en- gendered. Their preservation is secured through the operation of another of the primal instincts of man. The children of mon- archs marry within the purple, and €ls a rule, the children of great men, and of the richer and more intelligent and successful families, the families of achievement, intermarry, while the chil- dren of the other classes, are left to marry among themselves. In consequence the aristocratic forces are always at the fore. No matter what may be the form of government, or how much pow- er, in theory, the laws give to the people, so long as the sex im- pulse tends to mate like with like, just so long will the laws of mental heredity work toward the creation of governing classes. Universal suffrage, universal education, social opportunity can not prevent this division of mankind into varieties, castes and breeds. It is one of the tendencies of organic evolution, and can not be arrested.
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Hence, if the work of the world has been planned and carried forward by monarchs, and by a few great men, and if these men ere the results of inbred inner forces, then the correct Interpretar tion of History will depend on the gametes, and the laws of His- tory will conform to the laws of organic life.
Only a few short weeks since, I would have been inclined to enter a strong protest against such a cold, scientific theory.
I have always had great respect for the common man, and I have been proud to bear that designation. I have always felt great sympathy for
''••••• the low and the humble the
weary and the broken in heart,
Who strove and who failed, acting bravely
a silent and desperate part.''
I have felt like honoring
<<••••• ^jjg defeated flags, irreparably torn," that droop on the walls of so many of lifes' chambers. I have thought that the common men on every highway of the nation, unrecognized, unknown, nameless, with few opportunities and feeble powers, laboring with patience, industry and consecration have played a worthy part in the progress of mankind ; that the mighty currents of history were formed by the great body of the people; that the movers of the world were not Atlas or Archi- medes, but the units of the race; that great men influenced so- ciety and nations, with the same disinterestedness of purpose that the mountain ranges give direction to the winds and the storm ; that statesmen and rulers were the creatures rather than the crea- tors of civilization, and that civilization stood for reason, liberty, civility, justice, religion, knowledge, honor, integrity, morality, all deep set, to use Emerson's beautiful phrase, **in the grooves of the celestial wheels."
I would have been inclined to quote from William Wetmore Story:
' ' Speak History ! Who are lif es victors t Unroll the
long annals and say. Are they those whom the world called the victors, —
who won the success of a dayt The martyrs, or Nerot The Spartans who fell at
Thermopylae's tryst,
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Or the Persians and Xerxes t His judges or Socrates t Pilate, or Christt"
But now, burdened by the memories of these last weeks, and appalled by the vision of the present, what can I say t
'*Our world has passed away, In wantonness o'erthrown. There's nothing left to-day But steel, and fire, and stone."
Recurring, however, for a moment to the subject of great men, it should be remembered that the man and the opportunity must meet. Julius Caesar founded the Roman Empire, but the Em- pire would have been established without Caesar. The American Revolution would have succeeded without Washington. The war for the preservation of the Union of the States would have result- ed, as it did, without Lincoln. In each case the man and the op- portunity met, and the man was Caesar, or Washington or Lin- coln, and for the time, he became the incarnation of his people.
That man achieves the name of being a great man, who has presentiments of coming events and needs ; who best interprets, and develops and personifies the tendencies of his people, and be- comes their exponent and champion, and succeeds. A people can be led only by those who embody its dreams. Some of the grand- est characters the earth has known have been called visionaries and fanatics, and have suffered as martyrs, because they dreamed their dreams too soon. They failed for their social environment was not ready for their views. They lived too early.
*'But Humanity sweeps onward, where to-day the martyr stands
On the morrow ••••••••••
• • • • • the hooting mob of yesterday, in silent awe return To glean up the scattered ashes into
History's storied urn."
XI
The geographic interpretation of History demands careful consideration. To those whose school days were contemporane- ous with mine, geography remains in memory, largely a study of
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maps and loeatiims, and the memorizing of names, descriptions and boundaries. But since those days, the evolutionary idea has transformed and unified geography, and it is now an integral member of the anthropological group. The well directed labors of Hedin, and of our own Huntington, and William Morris Davis, together with the persistent efforts of the American Qeographical Society, which should not be confounded with the popular and pictorial Washington organization of nearly the same name, geo- graphic science is rapidly taking its proper place as one of the bases of anthropology. Some of its devotees, however, go much further, and claim that it deals not merely with the relations which the inorganic forms bear to the organic forms of the same region, but that it is the basis of all History, and that through geography can History be correctly interpreted.
The anthropologist has learned that the development of man has been greatly influenced by his physical environment, while the sociologist has discovered that the conditions of human so- ciety to-day are the result of racial characteristics, due to primal instincts, past environment and present geographic conditions. The form of the land, climate, the location of river, valleys and mountain ranges, the fertility of the soil, and the accessibility of water power, and of ore deposits are among the elements upon which sociological conditions depend. The race has made the most rapid progress under essentially the same climatic condi- tions. This law apparently underlies all races, and all types of civilization, and even the ideals of the individual, for Jajian, Northern China, Russia, Austria, Gfermany, Prance, England, Canada and the United States, all of the north temperate zone, but of diverse types, races and ideals, are the nations of our day, which possess the high will power, energy and capacity for prog- ress which are necessary for the dominance of the world.
The advocates of geographic interpretation cite the changed climate of Central Asia and its effects upon its people, in proof of their contention. Asia is probably the best place to study the re-
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ruins lie in deserts, where today there is no water supply. The shallow lakes which abound, bear evidence that their areas have been greatly circumscribed. Pour hundred years before the Chris- tian era, the Caspian sea was a hundred and fifty feet higher than now, while well preserved strands show that the level, at an ear- lier time, was six hundred feet higher than at present. The hosts of Alexander crossed ancient Iran on a route which to-day would not furnish a caravan of twenty camels with water and forage.
Prom the Caspian to Manchuria, Asia is a country of deserts. Only a sixteenth part is permanently habitable. Nomadism pre- vails on the plains, and intensive agriculture in the oases, but evidences everywhere abound, that throughout this vast region, in an earlier age, fierce and vigorous peoples lived in competence, contentment, prosperity and power. Through slow changes of cli- mate, aridity crept stealthily upon the land. At the same time the population was increasing normally. Pood became scarce. The instinct of self preservation was aroused, for beneath all the am- bitions of rulers and the antagonisms of races, is the never end- ing struggle for bread. As a result, the most aggressive forms of parasitism were developed. Migrations followed, and the inva- sion of more favored lands.
Europe was overwhelmed by the barbarians, the Mahometan Arabs, the bestial but invincible Mongols under Qenghis Elian and the wild Asian horsemen of Tamerlane. These migrations and invasions which changed the boundaries of states, the character of peoples and ensanguined the earth, were caused by the changed productivity of Asia, and changed productivity as claimed by the advocates of Geographical Interpretation, depends upon geo- graphic facts, and especially upon climatic pulsations.
The earlier migrations are similarly explained. I will allude to only two. Six thousand years ago the Semites, a people of a persistent type, migrated from the vicinity of the present Syrian desert to Mesopotamia, and forced gradually upon the people of Sumer, a new language, and a new type of civilization. Here, sur- rounded by ancient seats of culture, mysterious deserts, and the highlands of Asia, at the physical center, from which those move- ments of history have sprung which have made possible the life of to-day, the wonderful Hebrew race planted itself, for its con- quest of the world. Millennium after millennium have passed, and the Jew still persists, and without a national existence, and
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without a commoa laogruage, seems to be the race which can do everything, except to fail.
In this early time also, the Dynasts, entering Egypt from Southern Arabia by way of the Bed Sea, possessed the land. They had acquired the art of writing. Their culture was compara- tively high. Their art was full of vigor and character and accur- ate in anatomical detail. Through them, Egypt found herself, and a long period of culture, prosperity and domination followed, as is amply evidenced by her ruins which have been the admira- tion, as well as among the unsolved enigmas, of all the later cen- turies.
The Hebrew conception of the relations of Man to his fellows and to the Supreme Power could hardly have been moulded, un- der other physical conditions than were presented by the geo- graphic grandeur and the favorable climatic conditions which prevailed in Palestine at the opening of our era. Egyptian civili- zation without its marble deserts, its dream laden air and the mystic Nile, would have been bereft of its wonderful enchantment, and its insoluble mysteries.
If the climatic pulsations had not occurred, which as is claim- ed caused these early migrations from the Syrian desert, and from Arabia, we can form no conception of what would have tak- en the place of these two mighty world movements, one of which is to-day vitalizing life in every land, while the other lies in ruins, dead by the banks of its own mysterious river.
Thus it will be seen that geography, as at present defined, has been closely connected with the events of History. That it is the sole interpreter of those events, however, we can not concede. Gfeographic environment is one of the great moulding forces of hu- manity. It inspires men with energy, or burdens him with lassi- tude, but it is distinctly secondary to his primal instincts, and to the psychologic character of human consciousness, to which in the last analysis, we must depend for the true Interpretation of His- tory.
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We could discuss many other methods of interpretation, the linguistic, the political, founded on the trend in written history from monarchy to democracy, from despotism to liberty, the re- ligious or ethical, based upon the incalculable influence upon hu-
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manity, of the five great religions, the Judaic, Bymbolic of duty, Confucianism, of order, Mohanunedanism, of justice, Buddhism, of patience, and Christianity, of love.
But why is further review necessary f Simply because of man, inscrutable man. Man with his inconstant and elusive spirit, and his complex and enigmatic personality, all swathed in the world old wrappings of his primal instincts, in the last analysis, none of these methods of interpretation is satisfactory. A vital element, life itself, is absent from them all. We must go a step further and invoke the aid of Psychology, the science which treats of the nature and relations of the varied phenomena of human consciousness. In the problem of interpretation, there are two controlling factors, one the material, which includes all the methods so far reviewed, and the other, the psychic, the exponent and the interpreter, of the mind and spirit of man. The solution of the problem rests not merely with environments, but with life, and the constant interactions passing between them. History can not be explained from the outside. Narratives, processes, facts and doings are the crude stuff of history, but of themselves they lack unity and cohesion. They need explanation and analy- sis, and synthesis, and only through psychology can they be transmuted into an harmonious whole. The psychological inter- pretation of history rests on the postulate that thought follows purpose, and that mans' mentality has been developed by the dif- ficulties he has encountered, and through the problems of exist- ence he has solved. History is a record of continuous, never ceas- ing attempts to adjust human relationships. Each adjustment, however, has resulted in the development of new problems, each more complex than the preceding. Thus there is always an incen- tive, and A necessity for further effort. The quest is never ended, but as its objects grow more distinct^ and as the field widens, and the complications multiply, and the mysteries deepen, its fascina- tions increase. Prom the vantage ground of this review, we may now repeat the question with which we started.
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In the meantime we have beheld the visions of which Keble
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We have noted the repetitions and the dark shadows of his- tory. While cognizant of the achievements of our civilization, we realize that we are still within the easy clutch of the same primal instincts which in the earliest ages of pre-documentary history, impelled the savage man to pillage and slaughter. So we are not content merely to ask, Whyt as to the past, but we turn in ques- tioning wonder toward the future. Will our civilization be a per- manent possession of mankind, commensurate with the toil and labor, the suffering and blood with which it has been developed, or like so many former civilizations will it be known in the future by a few scattered earth mounds, some undecipherable monu- ments, and an interesting legend t
If the material interpretations of history, as distinguished from the psychological, are correct, then the question could be dealt with as a mathematical problem. The growth or decay of a civilization depends, however, upon the operations of the human mind, the conduct of human affairs, and the ambitions, stability and virility of the individuals constituting the generations as they flit across the crowded stage of effort, and disappear into the Im- perceptible. History, from the view point of the psychologist, re- ports more than the end of the journey. It distinguishes between the constructive and destructive agencies, which during every foot of the way are struggling strenuously for control. This leads us to consider the forces involved in the organic advance starting from the protozoa. Passing reflex action, we reach the higher plane of existence where instinct is supreme. Here we must dis- tinguish between the individual and the race. The individual is purely transitory, while the race possesses elements of perma- nency. Yet the race is wholly dependent upon the instinct of the individual for its perpetuation. Instinct is a positive impulse in- herited and transmissible, which to the individual is tyrannous, subordinating him absolutely to the race. Instinct, acting through the individual, and in passing, gratifying his immediate impulses, accomplishes its great object and assures the future of the race. It seems primarily to seek an individual end, but the ultimate pur- pose is racial.
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vidual. Instinct subjects man to racial servitude, while reascm frees him from that servitude, and from the sacrifices involved in parenthood. Reason is heedless of the race, as is shown by its effect upon the reproductive stress in France, and in all the Latin and Anglo-Saxon lands, and within the last three decades, even in some parts of (Germany. Instinct alone, is powerless to control the birth rate, while the race under the sway of pure reason, can not be sustained, and the collapse and ultimate disappearance of civilization, is inevitable.
Thus instinct fails to protect the individual, and reason, act- ing in the deliberate pursuit of self interest, fails to protect the race. Searching further along the line of organic advance, we find the impulse which leads to disinterested conduct. It makes little difference what it is called, super-rational, religion, altru- ism or duty. It must reach beyond the individual and the race, and bring us into relation with the infinite, the universe. It must teach a reasoned self sacrifice, as a rule of life. Duty must take the place of interest, service must be enthroned, and both liberty and law must be retained. Neither the individual, nor the race should be supreme, but each should be the complement of the other. Thus, the enslavement of the individual by the race, which comes with instinct^ will be prevented by the racial liberty which comes with reason. The family should be the unit of existence, the central power in society, the ambition of the individual, the solicitude of statesmen, and the choicest possession of the state.
XIV
Two thousand years ago two great civilizations existed, the Chinese and the Roman. The Chinese was already many centuries old, while the Roman was of comparatively recent origin. To-day the civilization of China, venerable and unimpaired, is a great world factor, while Roman civilization vanished from the earth fifteen centuries ago.
In Rome the Empire was an end in itself. Everything was subservient to the state. Ease, luxury and power were the ob- jects of ambition. There was no pride in race. The marriage contract was dissoluble at pleasure, and family life disappeared. Petronius says '*No one acknowledges children, for the man who has heirs is never invited to any festive gathering, while on the
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other hand the childless num is loaded with honors.'' Even Sen- eoa consoles a mother who has just lost an only son, by reminding her of the greater consideration she will now receive, being child- less. A brilliant attempt was made in Rome to establish a civil- ization on a purely earthly and material basis, with pure reason in the ascendant, and it failed. Then Constantine removed the seat of imperial power from depopulated Italy to the Bosphorous, civilization retrograded and mediaevalism followed.
In China, through all the centuries of its existence, the hu- man waste, the squalor, the wretchedness have been unspeak- able, through the neglect of science and sanitation. Learning, however, is honored. The people are respectful, industrious and peaceable. They possess a high mentality, and their physical and intellectual development is quite equal to that of the white race. While they have great nobility of individual character, yet the life of the individual is impoverished by his loyalty to duty. Pure reason plays no part in China. Its people were subjugated to duty in some century so remote, that no chronicle remains. The Chinese conception of life consists of an absolute filial piety, ex- tending backward from ancestor to ancestor, to the beginning, and forward to the ultimate generation. The state and society and the individual, exist only that the family may be perpetua- ted. The family is the purpose of existence, and is absolutely in- violable. As a result, the race has proven invulnerable, and its civilization permanent.
Of the extinct civilizations the Egyptian was tho most stable and 'lasting. Its duration of over forty centuries is, however, fully explained by the devotion of the Egyptians to the race, their reverence of the phallic deities, and of Min, the God of Gen- eration. He was one of their Greater (Jods, and the only one who could punish those who sinned against him. The marvelously mysterious civilization by the Nile has disappeared, but the power of the God, Min, has not waned, and he still scourges to their death the civilizations which disobey him.
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acter of her civilization was owing in part to the attention given to genetic research, for the Greeks were probably the earliest peo- ple to indulge in eugenic fantasies. It is quite likely that their experiments in eugenics, accelerated the destruction of the race.
Civilization is not the creature of heredity. Intellectual pow- er does not spring from breeding, supervised by pure reason. Human love not only makes life worth living, but it elevates and consecrates the lives it generates. As tersely defined by Emerson, it is the "private and tender relation of one to one, the enchant- ment of human life ; which like a certain divine rage and enthusi- asm, seizes on man at one period and works a revolution in his mind and body; unites him to his race, pledges him to the do- mestic and civic relations, carries him with new sympathy into nature, enhances the power of the senses, opens the imagination, adds to his character heroic and sacred attributes, establishes mar- riage, and gives permanence to human society."
As the antithesis of the Athenian, note the permanence of the Jew. Unchanged from the earliest historic times, a pathetic hope, has rendered his race indestructible, — a hope ensphered in duty, outranking both Instinct and Reason, but making willing handmaidens of them both. The family founded in love, and in the expectation of its continuity, is his altar. He lives for his children, to the remotest generation, for to his clear vision there will appear among them, and of them, in some ripened hour, the long sought Messiah, the ideal King.
XV
We have said that it made little difference what we called the movement in the organic advance, standing next higher than reason. Let us then, in its manifestations in the races, and in peoples, call it character, and then proceed to its analysis, to the end that we may arrive at some conclusion as to the perma- nence of our civilization.
We have seen that the veneer with which civilization has masked mans' primal instincts and their sequences, is not intend- ed to bear the strain of life, and that these instincts have abated nothing of their pristine ferocity and brutality. These instincts are fixed, and there are in each race, intellectual and moral char- acteristics as well, which are also fixed. They form the mental
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oonstitution of the race, and this, like the primal instincts, is as immutable as its anatomical form, not absolutely unvarying, but varying only by imperceptible changes, through long periods of time. These characteristics, in their totality, stand for the race, its past and its present. They represent its ancestors, their mo- tives, their thoughts and their deeds, while their aggregate, con- stitutes the soul, the character of the race or of the people.
Viewing the influences exercised upon the individuals of a race from the standpoint of the psychologist, they may be divided into three classes, two of them being psychologic. The most important is that of ancestors, the next that of parents, and the last, that of environment. CJonsequently each individual is the representative of his race. He partakes of its character, its essence, which though invisible, shapes his ideas, controls his beliefs, and con- structs his ideals. Le Bon aptly says:
**A people is guided far more by its dead, than by its living members. It is by its dead, and by its dead alone, that a race is founded. Century after century our departed ancestors have fash- ioned our ideas and our conduct. The generations which have passed away do not bequeath us their physical constitution merely, they bequeath their thoughts. The dead are the only un- disputed masters of the living. We bear the burden of their mis- takes, we reap the reward of their virtues."
XVI
We have no time to inquire into the origin of races, or the method of race formation. It is simply a process of progressive unification. A few factors, however, are basic; common tradi- tions, common interests, common ideas and common beliefs. If this unification is the result of natural hereditary growth, ex- tending through many generations, it gives great coherence and solidarity to the character of a people, and entitles it to the appel- lation of an historical race.
Absolute racial purity does not exist in any of the historical
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This shortened the formative process, and the concensus as to beliefis, traditions and interests was greatly hastened. The re- sultant is the Englishman of to-day, who personifies the most typical race in Europe. In Prance, the Breton, the Provencal, the Norman and the Flemings are racially distinct, as are the Slavs, Germans and Hungarians of Austria. The force inherent in a fixed race is shown by the wonderful success of the English as colonizers. In India fifty thousand Englishmen hold two mil- lion Hindoos in leash. They are able to do this through the strength of their character, and not through their intelligence, for many of the Hindoos equal or excel the English in intelligence. Character gives power, while intelligence without character, which is the soul of the race, is a source of weakness, and leads as in Rome and Qreece to degeneracy and oblivion. Intelligence is easily transmitted, while race character is inherent, and can no more be transferred to another race, than can its anatomical frame. The English have recognized this great principle, and have not attempted to impose their character upon the Asian, or any inferior people, but have respected their customs, ideals and traditions, and have allowed them largely to govern themselves. They have not intermarried with the natives of India, and there- by have preserved intact, their most valuable possession, their race character. Interbreeding with a race far inferior in char- acter leads unerringly, to the dissolution or disappearance of the superior race. The effect of heredities, too diverse, is to destroy morality, weaken intellect, and undermine character. It causes degeneration as is shown in the West Indies where the offspring of whites and negroes are in control. The early Aryan invaders of India preserved their character and achieved their prestige, only through their persistent preservation of their racial purity.
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We are, however, more vitally interested in the Anglo-Saxon race as transplanted to North America, and developed amid the marvelous natural resources, and boundless areas of the New World. It possessed great homogeneity, and a sturdy character noted for its independence, energy, initiative and optimism. It was noted for its austere morality, its intense individuality, and its high ideals. The soul of the race, as established in the United States, and as it existed until after the war between the States,
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was 80 virile, so compelling, that the new immigrants chiefly of English antecedents were easily absorbed and vied with the ear- lier comers, in advancing what had become a common belief, a sublime faith in Manifest Destiny. The air was so impregnated with self reliance and efficiency, that only the Anglo-Saxon conld survive. There was no room for the improvident or the incap- able. Whether individuals or races, weaklings or the American Indian, the inferior was doomed to death.
These conditions continued until after the war between the States. The course of events made the war inevitable, but if wise counsels had prevailed, the controversy which led to the war would have been avoided, and no armed conflict would have been necessary or possible. Prior to January 1, 1830, when the publica- tion of '*The Liberator" was commenced, the trend in the south- em states toward gradual emancipation was unmistakable, and societies were being rapidly organized for that end. The meth- od proposed was the same that had been followed so successfully in New York. Normally the movement would have been carried to triumphant fruition, within the century, and in a manner which would have best subserved the interests of the negro him- self.
Then oame the bitter sectional attack upon slavery, as the South 's ''peculiar institution," and the denunciation of the Fed- eral Constitution as ''a covenant with death, and a league with hell." The South rallied to its own, as the people of any self- respecting locality would have done, and the ''irrepressible con- flict" commenced. Thus in good faith, actuated by the highest altruistic motives, or by loyalty to community and state, but lacking foresight and wisdom, the people were swept toward the war between the States, which a century or more hence, when their history is written, will be called the opening episode of the Great Catastrophe.
The war and its termination brought their attendant evils; moral standards were lowered, public corruption grew with op- portunity, ideals of conduct were shattered, the old time spirit of reflection and repose passed out of American life, and the spirit of unrest, speculation and greed entered in. Worst of all, parasit- ism, which to that time had been a negligible force in the nation, was developed. In its most subtle form, it soon assumed alarm- ing proportions, and exploitation for pelf, plunder and property,
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was carried forward on a grander scale than the world had known, even in the mediaeval ages; the exploitation by the strong- er and better equipped, of the weak and feeble, either within the law, by means of subtleties, technicalities, patents or bargain and sale of personal and ofKcial honor, or without the law, through the inability of the wronged party, from lack of nerve or financial ability to seek justice. In this way a great number of private fortunes were amassed of such stupendous magnitude as to con- stitute a menace to the state.
Extravagance in living was engendered. Economy was ex- iled,— economy which was a cardinal virtue in the days before the war, and which Emerson calls ''a high, humane ofKce, a sacra- ment when its aim is grand ; when it is the prudence of simple tastes; when it is practised for freedom, or love or devotion." Strange ideas of life, of justice and of government, which we have no time to enumerate, had their powerful and persistent champions. The number of divorces rapidly increased. Promi- nent leaders in a nation wide movement for so-called justice, de- clared that marriage, as an institution, was a failure, and that the home, as an institution, no longer existed.
I refer to these matters in passing, and there are many others quite as i>ertinent. There is no need, or time for comment. I leave them with you, as historical students, for your consideration in some thoughtful hour, and for comparison with the conditions existing in Greece and Rome, and in other vanished Empires, dur- ing the later days of their resplendent power, when their racial characters, which had placed them in the forefront of the world, were being insidiously undermined, and their souls were being smothered to their extinction.
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Immigration rapidly increased after the war, and its char- acter radically changed. The last available statistics show that over eighty per cent of our immigrants now come from Southern, Central and Eastern Europe. They are so constituted racially, that they can contribute nothing to the perpetuation of the Anglo- Saxon race, or the preservation of the Anglo-Saxon character. So far as they possess intelligence, a large proportion of them have resi)ect for our institutions, and have no desire to overthrow our
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civilization. If it were not for the bondage of race they would advance it.
It is the old story of the barbarian. Eipling in his iron lines, speaking of England says: ''The Hun is at the gatS." In America we may paraphrase this and say: *'The Hun is in the gate." We are apt to speak carelessly of the invasion of Borne by the Barbarian, as if it were a hostile invasion for the purpose of overthrowing its civilization. On the contrary the fall of Bome was caused by those who were attracted by the power and glory of Boman civilization, and who desired its continuance. They did not interfere with laws, languages or lands. Until the sev- enth century their coins bore the effigies of the emperors, and until the last of the Merovingian Kings, they endeavored as best they knew, to maintain the great civilization, whose soul they could not nourish. But they did not possess the Boman charac- ter. They were not inspired by the Boman soul, and were utterly powerless to preserve the wonderful fabric of Boman civilization. Some invasions €ire as dangerous as lost battles. Even the an- cient peoples recognized this, and extended no welcoming hand across the racial line.
Do we realize how far our barbarian invasion has progressed t To-day over one-half of the population of the United States is non- Anglo-Saxon, and a very appreciable portion of this element is composed of people so widely diflEerentiated by race from the Anglo-Saxon, as to be incapable of appreciating, much less of strengthening and advancing our civilization. In some of our cities, considerably less than half the population is American, and a large number is ignorant of our language. Of our later Presi- dents, Qrover Cleveland has been the only one who has had the sagacity and moral courage to discern the danger of existing con- ditions, and to favor radical legislation as to immigration. Mean- while concession after concession has been made to non-Saxon ideas in manners, customs, laws and institutions. And look at the concessions of to-day.
Over seas, our race and our Motherland, is engaged in a life and death struggle with a Hun, the representative of egotism in thought and action ; materialism in culture and in the Interpreta- tion of ffistory ; nihilism in national and international ethics ; par- asitism in power and absolutism in government. In its inception, the Burope««i war was purely racial, between the Germans headed
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by the successors of the Teutonic Knights of the Third Crusade, and the Slavs. Then solemn international, obligations carried a nation of the Latin race into the maelstrom. Finally after exhaust- ing every resource of diplomacy, England was compelled to choose between national dishonor and war. Between these alternatives the Anglo-Saxon character permitted no moment of hesitation.
To Americans the issue is very simple. The war is a struggle between the culture and civilization of the Anglo-Saxon race, and the Teutonic, with its dark traditions, its feudal absolutism, and its ambition to crush and command the world. All the other is- sues have now become, for us, incidental and trivial. If Ger- many is victorious, Russian Poland, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, large areas of England's colonial possessions, and perhaps all of France, will become a part of the (German Empire, while many of the Balkan states and perhaps Italy, will pass to Austria. Homer Lea's ''scarlet circle of Saxon power, girdling the earth, with a thin red line, so thin with his numbers, so red with his blood" will be irretrievably broken, its prestige will be destroyed, and in a few generations Anglo-Saxon civilization will disappear in England and her colonial possessions. If successful, Qermany, at the close of the present war, will be sole arbiter of continental Europe, and will at once enter upon the career of world dominar tion for which she has been so eager. Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina, already systematically prepared for the event, by German emigration, will be made German colonies. With this broad footing on the western continent, battle will very soon be struck between German Imperialism and the United States. With Germany triumphant in 1916, there can be but one result to such a struggle, with the Greater Germany of 1920, or later.
Whatever strain of racial blood may flow in our veins, view- ing the record of Anglo-Saxon achievement in the New World, a record unsurpassed, are we willing these things should happen t Yet, in some of our public schools, free speech as to the European cataclysm, has been prohibited and discussion of the Great War is not allowed. Further, and more amazing and depressing still, at this crucial time, when the fate of our race, and of the princi- ples upon which our government is founded, hang in the even bal-
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enee, President Wilson instructs us that ''We must be impartial in thought, as well as action, must put a curb upon our sentiments • • • • • that might be construed as a preference of one party to the struggle before the other.'*
History gives only one interpretation as to great empires composed of different races. They are short-lived, but the term of their existence can be somewhat extended, if there be a pro- gressive unification, and a wise fealty toward the superior race, on the part of the other races, excepting only the distinctly inferior ones. With them, there should be no intermarriage, and they should be allowed to vegetate or die.
In the present emergency we should observe a -strict official neutrality, until such time as we may be obliged to choose as England did. This is not an impossible contingency, for (Germany must not win. If our civilization is to survive, we must be free in thought and action to sympathize with the great race, under whose powerful initiative and sure guidance this nation has been builded. In sentiment we should be loyal to the character, and responsive to the sorely tested soul of that wonderful race. We should preserve its character for the later generations. Our schools should teach racial, as well as national patriotism. When the race is in jeopardy, loyalty to race is as essential as loyalty to country. Through wise action along these lines, the closing scenes of the Great Catastrophe may yet be postponed for many genera^ tions.
XX
Life is a process of disillusionment It begins in the cradle and ends only with the close of consciousness. Illusions are the masters of life. They create for man the enchanted mirages of his dreams and hopes, and have been among the most powerful forces of civilization and of life. They are transitory, but the potency of their spell has been well expressed by Goethe: "Side by side with the real world, there is a world of illusion, more pow- erful than the real, and in it, dwell a majority of men.*' Illusion delivers us to illusion, and there is no end.
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be A» roasQmkble Uhd^J^ to. deAy ttie. exkitence of d^ath^ a^ to prophesy the «jid of war, And the advent of tuuvergal peaee. Wise Plato wrote for all the generations of mankind: *'A11 states are in perpetual war with all. For that which we call peace, is no nMxre than m^ely a name, whilst in ideality nature has set all com- munities in an unproclaimed, but ererlasting war with each other." The utmost f of which we can hope, is that a greater numbei* of questions will b^ settled by arbitration, and that wars will be less frequent, as the centuries pass. History's course is in a circle, but we may hope at least, though perhaps under the magic si>ell of a fresh illusion, that the circle is ever widening.
The value of mere intelligence has been an illusion, which is now dispelled. High intelligence and culture have always led to deterioration. Brilliancy and achievement in thought and action, without character, accelerate the decline. It is character alone, which strengthens the soul of a people, and the soul is the very essence of its life.
We are living in the gorgeous afternoon of the Latin and Anglo-Saxon day. If the past throws any light on the future, we are treading the same road over which the earlier civilizations passed. Many generations will come and go, however, before the last phase of the Qreat Catastrophe is reached, and it is possible that in the meantime some of the races now largely represented in our population, will be able to maintain their racial integrity, and to establish its supremacy. It is not likely, however, that they will be able to do this, as they are already strongly impreg- nated with the same virus, which is hastening the Latin and the Anglo-Saxon civilizations in their decline.
Other civilizations will arise. The Jew, the Japanese, the Slav, and the Mongol are the great reserves of Humanity. There is no reason why each of these races should not have within it, in the fullness of time, the germs of a civilization as brilliant, and as commanding^ as any which shall have preceded, provided in the meantime, the physical cataclysm be postponed, which science tells us will close the existence of the material scene.
And always and ever, illusions will largely influence the lives of men. No matter how many are dispelled, the ring is never
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broken. New visions will appear, arousing new ambitions, awak- ening new hopes, and suggesting new mysteries. And the old, old questionings will continue,
''Wind of the morning, wind of the gloaming, wind of the night, What is it that you whisper to the moor All the day long and every day and year. Besting and whispering, rustling and whispering, hastening and
whispering Around, across, beneath The tufts and hollows of the listening heath f
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FORTS AND BLOCK HOUSES IN THE MOHAWK VALLEY.
By Nellis M. C?rouse, Utioa, N. Y.
From the Canadian frontier almost to the Qulf of Mexico there arises, not far from the Atlantic seaboard, a mighty chain of mountains, the Appalachian, which forms a barrier between the seacoast and the fertile prairies of the Mississippi Valley. The White Mountains in New Hampshire, the Green Mountains in Vermont, the Adirondacks and Catskills in New York, the Alle- ghanies in Pennsylvania, the Blue Ridge in Virginia and the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina, all part of the i>arent chain, jealously guard the rich fields beyond them. Yet nature, as though to aid the white man, left a gateway through her walL For centuries before the first explorers touched our shores, the Mohawk River had been slowly cutting through the barrier, shov- eling away great masses of earth and carrying them to the Hud- son River, whence they were borne out to sea. So that when the early pioneers reached the site of modem Albany a broad ma- jestic valley lay before them, through which flowed a beautiful river offering the only waterway to the west south of the St. Law- rence.
It was through this valley that the settlers, first Dutch and then English, began to push their way westward. The excellent opportunities for fur trade first lured the pioneers up the valley; then, as the land seemed good to them, they settled on the banks of the Mohawk, erecting little palisades around their dwellings which they dignified by the name of forts. Later, when the strategic value of the Mohawk Valley became apparent to Eng- lish commanders (especially during the French and Indian wars and the Revolution), fortifications of a more pretentious charac-
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ter were erected. Thus there were, during the last half of the eighteenth century, forts ranging from mere palisaded dwellings to Fort Stanwix, built at a cost of sixty thousand pounds. Simms, in his "Frontiersmen of New York," thus speaks of the smaller structures: "There were many small military posts on the fron- tier usually called private dwellings, fitted for defence; some of which were palisaded and others were not; but aU such were called forts.'' Of such a nature were Fort Bhle and Fort Failing near Canajoharie, and Fort Bensselaer in that village, whose old stone house has come down even to our own day. Near Nelliston were Fort Wagner, Fort Fox, Fort Hess, Fort Klock, Fort Nellis, Fort Timmerman and Fort House, the dwellings of individual set- tlers fortified for purposes of defence. These forts, though they played an inconspicuous part in history, are well worth mention- ing, as they show, better than anything else, the state of constant danger in which the early pioneers lived, and bear mute testimony to the courage and endurance of our forefathers.
First, and perhaps best known, of all fortifications in the state is Fort Orange. The historical data conceming its erectioa and settlement are by no means uniform, thou^ when we stop to consider the meagemess of records at that time, the knowledge is very satisfactory. The following is the most plausible account.
During the first two decades of the seventeenth century the Walloons, French Protestants who had taken refuge in Holland from the Spanish Inquisition which at that time was raging in the provinces of Hainault and Luxembourg, and who are not to be confounded with the Refugees who fied France after the revo- cation of the Edict of Nantes, inspired by the example of the Pur- itans, desired to wnulate them and found a colony in the New World. So they petitioned the British Government for permis- sion to settle in Virginia. The West India Company, hearing this, offered the prospective settlers an inducement to locate in New Netherland. The offer was gladly accepted, and in 1624 a sturdy little band landed near the site of modem Albany on the western
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Such is the most authentic account. Simms, however, tells us that a fort was erected by some Dutch settlers in 1614 at a si>ot where sloop navigation on the Hudson was supposed to end, and that this fort was afterwards rebuilt and named Port Orange. It may be that this fort is the one Weise mentions in his history of Albany, for he speaks of a Port Nassau on Castle (now Van Rens- selaer) Island, whose origin is not definitely known, though there were rumors that the Prench or the Spaniards had erected it. Still another account mentions a certain Corstiaensen who erected, about two miles below the site of the future Port Orange, a fort on Kasteeul (Castle) Island, calling it Nassau. This Corstiaen- sen it would seem was murdered by the Indians, and his lieuten- ant, a man named Elkins, carried on a modest fur trade for a few years afterwards, though by the time the WaUoons arrived he had disappeared. This chronicle also hints that Port Nassau was destroyed by spring floods.
Port Orange and the little colony under its wing grew and prospered. Its inhabitants, neighbors of the famous Iroquois Nation, drove a thriving business in furs and pelts, especially those of the beaver with which that region abounded. Qlowing reports were sent to the West India Company, and everything portended a successful career for the sturdy little colony. Shortly afterwards New Amsterdam was founded on Manhattan Island, the land having been bought from the Indians at a fabulously low figure. In 1626 the governor, Peter Minuit, removed his offtcial seat from Port Orange to New Amsterdam.
At this time the commander of Port Orange brought about embarrassing complications by taking sides in a skirmish between two Indian tribes. The savages in their resentment killed the sol- diers sent against them, though they did not molest the colony. But fear of further consequences threw the settlers into a panic and drove those with families to remove to New Amsterdam, leaving only a small garrison to hold the fort. Portunately for the future of the infant colony Eillaen van Rensselaer in 1630 purchased a tract of land just south of Port Orange, and there established a goodly settlement which he called Bensselaerwyck. At this the Dutch took heart and once more established themselves at Port Orange, where in conjunction with their neighbors at Bensselaerwyck they soon organized an important fur emporium.
We can scarcely relate the history of Port Orange without
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mentioning one of the stirring incidents in the life of that coura- geous Jesuit father, Isaac Jogues. In 1643 a party of Mohawk braves reached the St. Lawrence River where they captured an expedition of French priests with their Indian guides, among whom was Father Jogues. The unfortunate missionary describes in his diary the harrowing experiences he underwent at his cap- tors' hands, during his journey from Canada to the Indiiui stronghold in the Mohawk Valley. According to Indian custom he was compelled to run the gauntlet between two rows of war- riors who, armed with clubs and tomahawks, beat him into insen- sibility. Not satisfied with this the Indians tore out his beard and gnawed his fingertips to the bone causing him the most ex- cruciating suffering. In this state the wretched man was led to an Indian village where preparations had been made for his death. When the news of these proceedings reached Fort Orange, the settlers, appalled at such ferocity and fearing for their own skins as well, determined to placate the Mohawks and obtain, if possi- ble, the release of the Jesuits. For this purpose they appointed a commission consisting of Arendt van Curler, a man well known for his influence over the Indians, and two or three other prom- inent citizens. The deputies met with a warm reception from their hosts ; presents of furs, wampum and provisions were offered them with every protestation of friendship ; but when the white men broached their mission, the savages declined to make any concession further than sparing the lives of their prisoners. Fath- er Jogues lived for some time at the Indian camp, until, when ac- companying his captors on a fishing expedition, he was fortunate enough to make good his escape and find refuge in a vessel which eventually bore him home. Fortunately for us he remained long enough at Fort Orange to record his impressions. In regard to the fortifications he wrote: *'A wretched little fort, called Fort Orange, built of stakes, with four or five pieces of cannon of Breteuil and as many swivels. This has been reserved and is maintained by the West India Company. This fort was formerly on an island in the river there the Jesuit evidentiy confounds it with Port Nassau on Castle Islandl ; it is now on the mainland to- wards the Iroquois, a little above the said island.*'
Fort Orange underwent the same vicissitudes in change of ownership as did New Amsterdam. In 1664 it surrendered to the English with even less resistance than the village on Manhattan offered; for there was no Peter Stuyvesant to rouse the inhabi-
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tants from their lethargy. The fort was renamed Albany by its English captors, only to be oalled Nassau, when nine years later Lieutenant Salisbury hauled down his flag to the Dutch. The treaty of Westminster, 1674, between Ihigland and the Nether- lands, once and for all decided the fate of Port Orange — ^Albany — ^Nassau ; again it passed into English hands, the name Albany being finally affixed to it.
From the time England first acquired permanent hold on New Netherland, the current of events turned into a new channel. The great wars of Louis XIV and Louis XV in the Old World were re-enacted on a smaller scale in the wilds of American forests and along the banks of American rivers, where rough frontiersmen, to whom Home Government was but a mighty power casting its shadow across the Atlantic, fiew to arms, and carried on a war- fare with all the bitterness and enthusiasm of the Europeans themselves. A series of wars, with Lidians as allies and Lidians as enemies, desperate struggles lasting half a century, now began between the French and English for supremacy in the New World, ending only on the Hains of Abraham with England the victor. When hostilities opened there were two important Eng- lish settlements within easy striking distance of the Canadian frontier — ^Albany and Schenectady. The latter was a small village founded on the tract of land known as Schonowe or the Qreat Flat, which Arendt van Curler, representing the colonists at Fort Orange and Bensselaerwyck, had purchased from the Indians in 1661. Schenectady boasted a blockhouse that was located, so far as can now be ascertained, at the junction of Front and Washington streets. Moreover, the village was surrounded by a palisaded wall, with the blockhouse at one angle, to protect it from assault ; though how effectual such protection was, the fol- lowing incident will show.
In 1690 Count Frontenac, governor of Canada, organized an expedition to descend Lake Champlain and capture Albany. The plan was a bold one and seemed likely to succeed, as the inclem- ency of the weather (it was midwinter when they started) tend- ed to render the colonists incautious towards attacks from the north. The Governor himself did not lead the expedition; he gave the command to D'Ailleboust and LeMoyne, two men whose exploits have rendered them famous in French Canadian annals. Though the start was bravely made, rough weather soon
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wnvinced the leaders of the foUy of att^mpttng to force their w.^y to Albaiiy at this season of the year, so, imwiniiig to abandon the expedition entirely, they determined At the eleventh hour, to make Schenectady thiair objective point. Accordingly they turned westward, and after nine days of frightful travel through snow and water end melting ice the little band reached the village in the late afternoon. It was deemed wise^ however, to await night- fall before venturing an attack, as the leaders felt that fatigue had rendered the men unable to cope with resistance, should any be offered. Meanwhile the villagers, confident in the belief that the French would never attempt to molest them at that season of the year, slept profoundly with both gates of their palisade wide op^ and guarded only by two eflSgies of snow, erected in a spirit of derision. Rushing in on the unsuspecting settlement, the Can- adians and their savage allies speedily put an end to whatever re- sistance was offered them, capturing the block-house and setting it on fire. The usual brutalities took place, the women and chil- dren being sacrificed to the enraged savages ; only a band of Mo- hawks who happened to be visitilig there were treated with politic consideration. The next day Schenectady was in ruins and the French returned to Montreal.
Although Frontenac had attained his object of striking terror into the hearts of the colonists, no permanent good came of this expedition. True, Schenectady was destroyed ; but as the Cana- dians at once abandoned their prize it was only a question of time when it would be rebuilt stronger than ever. It would seem that in the long run this misfortune had benefitted the English more than their foes, for it opened their eyes more and more to the strategic importance of the Mohawk Valley. Indeed, as early as 1687 Governor Dongan had strongly advocated that some measures be taken to fortify the valley at its eastern extremity.
Scarcely had the French turned their backs upon ruined Schenectady when the plucky colonists returned to erect a new blockhouse near the site where the former had stood. This fort presently became the nucleus for three others, and the four were connected by a triple stockade which protected the public build- ings that formed the center of Schenectady village life. The "Old Fort,'* as the entire structure was afterwards called, lay between State and Front streets near the river front. An excel-
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lent ground plan, the work of the Rev. John Miller, shows the fort to have been quite an important work, with its blockhouse, spy loft, combination church and blockhouse, and triple stock- ades. In 1705 the blockhouses were replaced by the ** Queen's New Fort," first constructed as a stockade with bastions, then re- built (1735) on a more substantial plan. This fortification re- maiued in service until the close of the French end Indian wars, when the erection of forts further west made that at Schenectady unnecessary.
Continual warfare with the French prompted the colonists to make a decided effort to secure from the Home (Government the necessary means and authority to construct strong fortifications in the Mohawk Valley for protection against the inroads of the French and hostile Indians. In 1709 a delegation, among whom were Peter Schuyler, mayor of Albany, and several Mohawk chiefs, arrived at the court of Queen Anne. It so happened that there were residing in London at that time numerous German refugees who had immigrated there to escape the French wars and religious persecution. The Mohawk chiefs became interested in these people, and wishing to aid them, offered the Queen a tract of land called Schoorie (the modem Schoharie) as an asy- lum upon which they could found a colony. The offer was gladly accepted. That same year three thousand Palatines, for such was their name, sailed under Governor Robert Hunter for the New World ; and, after a stay of three years on the banks of the Hud- son, opposite modem Saugerties, arrived (1712) at Schoorie. Un- fortunately the colonists at Albany considered themselves equally entitled to the land of Schoorie, with the result that in 1722 a majority of the Palatines departed for Pennsylvania, leaving only three hundred to carry on the work of colonization. Mean- while Peter Schuyler's mission had successfully terminated. Or- ders were given to erect two forts ; one at the confluence of the Schoharie and Mohawk rivers, the other, which was never con- structed, in the territory belonging to the Qnondagas. Fort Hunt- er, for such was the name given the new outpost, was square in shape, one hundred and fifty feet on each side, built with a wall or palisade consisting of logs superimposed one on the other, and rising twelve feet in height. At each comer a two story block- house twenty-four feet square was erected, the first story nine feet high, the second eight. Prominently situated in the middle
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of this fortification was Queen Anne's Chapel, a building that re- mained standing until 1820 when it was demolished to make room for the Erie Canal. Simms in commenting on Fort Hunter says : "The erection of this English fort in the Mohawk Valley, more than anything else, inspired the Dutch with confidence to push their way tardily up the valley from Schenectady, and the Ger- mans to locate above them."
Among the names of eminent pioneers in the westward movement up the valley, that of Sir William Johnson, who dom- inated central New York aflfairs during the thirty years preced- ing the Revolution, stands out in bold relief. Like Count Pron- tenac. Sir William enjoyed a magnetic personality blending brusque camaraderie with the necessary poise and dignity, which gained for him great infiuence over his Indian neighbors. Above all he possessed that rare ability, so difficult to exert among sav- ages, of joining in with their pastimes without forfeiting their respect. Probably, too> he owed much of his popularity to honest dealings with the Indians and a respect for their rights, for he constantly opposed the chicanery then practiced to defraud them of their land. When Johnson arrived in the Mohawk Valley in 1738 he found the country but sparsely settled by white people, the Indians forming the majority of the population. His keen perception at once showed him the advantages that would be gained by making this locality an adjunct to the colony, so he established himself there as a fur trader and soon achieved suc- cess. In 1743 Johnson erected a dwelling at the junction of Kayaderosseros Creek and the Mlohawk River, a few miles west of Amsterdam, calling it for some inexplicable reason Mount John- son, though it stood on a flat plain. Ten years later the house was fortified and named Fort Johnson. From a military stand- point Fort Johnson, even in those days, was of but little im- portance, being merely a fortified dwelling; but it deserves our attention out of respect for the distinguished man whose name it bore, and because it was for some time the center of important events in that vicinity. Sir William shortly after his arrival pur- chased from a neighbor and married a girl named Catherine Weis- enberg, one of those immigrants whom it was the custom to sell into servitude when they reached this country in order to defray the expenses of their transatlantic passage. Some authorities, however, state that he did not marry this woman until many
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years had elapsed, and then that he did so only to legitimize the children she had borne him. At any rate no sooner was Cather- ine Weisenberg laid to rest than Johnson entered into similar re- lations with Molly Brant, sister of Joseph Brant the famous In- dian chief (Thayendanega), a woman of great ability and force of character, who, as the ** brown Lady Johnson" presided over his establishment, greatly adding to his influence over her people. Besides Fort Johnson, Sir William erected on the Con-o-wa-da-ga Creek, a fort for the Canajorhees which he called Port Hendrick; likewise he built at Indian Castle in 1756 Fort Canajoharie, a fortification so constructed as to serve for a depot and barracks.
As we examine the map of New York State we find a contin- uous waterway from the ocean to Lake Ontario, broken only by a carry of about two miles. This waterway, while useless for mod- em vessels, was extremely valuable to Indians and pioneers to whom transportation by canoe or batteau was the easiest mode of travel. The traveller on leaving the Hudson ascended the Mohawk to the site of modem Rome where he made the carry to Wood Creek, then descending that little river he reached Oneida Lake whence he made his way to Lake Ontario by the Oneida and Oswego Rivers. The portage at Rome was, therefore, a place of eminent importance ; the key to the western route. First mention- ed in 1724, in a report of New York merchants to their Assembly, it was called by the Dutch, *'Trow Plat,'' and by the Indians, ''De-o-wain-sta.'' As early as 1736 the traders petitioned the Gov- ernment to erect a fort at this place, so ten years later Fort Wil- liams was built on the southwest bank of the Mohawk. Shortly afterwards Fort Bull was added, being placed on the northern bank of Wood Creek ; thus both approaches to the carry were pro- tected. In course of time there were also erected in this vicinity three small forts ; Fort Ball, half way across the portage ; Fort Craven, near the present site of the Rome-Tumey Radiator Works, and Fort Newport, a mere stockade surrounded by a ditch, situated near Fort Bull on Wood Creek. Fort Bull, a star- shaped affair, was built of pickets, fifteen feet high, with a double row inside rising six feet from the ground ; it carried no cannon, but was well supplied with ammunition.
Moving eastward we find, on the site of what is now the In- ternational Heater Co. at Utioa, a small fort bearing the name, of Schuyler. It was built in 1758 or 1759 and, according to
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Wager, was but a mud fort consigting of a wall surrounded by a ditch, constructed more as a halting place to protect the ford at Gtenesee street, where two roads met, one from the portage at Wood Creek, the other from Oneida Castle. On the south bank of the Mohawk, nearly opposite the mouth of West Canada Creek and half a mile from the village of Herkimer, was Fort Kouari, variously known as Hareniger or Herkimer. A French spy de- scending the valley in 1757 describes it as **a lai^ three-story stone house, with port holes at each story, and likewise in the basement for purposes of cross firing. * * It is surrounded by a ditch at a distance of about thirty feet. The ditch is six feet deep and seven feet wide. The crown of the ditch is planted with palisades in an oblique form. * * Behiud these there is a parapet of earth so as to be able to fire over the palisades. The four angles of this parapet, which is at the back of the ditch, form as it were four little bastions that reciprocally fiank each other. '^ This same spy, in reporting his journey, describes a chain of forts running the entire length of the valley; Bull and Williams at Rome, Kouari at Herkimer, Canajoharie at Indian Castle, Hunter at the mouth of the Schoharie, Schenectady and Albany. Gov- ernor Tryon's map, published in 1779, gives the following fortifi- cations, beginning at the western extremity: Fort Bute on the site of Fort Bull (and not to be confused with either Bull or Ball), Fort Stanwix at Rome, Fort Schuyler at Utica, Fort Herkimer, Fort Hendrick, Fort Harrison, Fort Hunter, Fort Johnson, Schen- ectady and Albany.
In 1756 the French, in laying out a plan of campaign, decided to send an expedition to capture the Oneida Carrying Place. Their objective point was eventually Oswego, for it was there that General Shirley had made his headquarters while awaiting a favorable moment to march on Niagara — a plan, however, which never materialized, as the news of Bradstreet's defeat dis- heartened the English commander and decided him to return down the valley. The capture of Forts Bull and Williams, so the French believed, would intercept the English from Oswego, thus enabling them to take that place, and protect the all im- portant post of Niagara. Therefore, during the early x>art of 1756, before the snow and ice had disappeared, Montcalm dis- patched three hundred paen under DeLery to seize the portage. Ascending the St. Lawrence, to what is now Ogdensburg, they left
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the river, and turning south descended, in aU probability, the Black River Valley. When they reached the portage, at about five o'clock in the morning ol the 27th of March, they captured two Englishmen from whom they obtained information concern- ing the fortifications. Fort Bull, they learned, was well provis- ioned but poorly armed, while Fort Williams was equipped with four cannon and a garrison of one hundred and fifty men. Un- fortunately, while preparations for the advance were being made, a negro prisoner escaped and carried his alarming news to the English. DeLery at once hastened to attack Fort Bull. Ad- vancing with the hope of taking the fort by surprise he succeeded by cautious manoeuvres in approaching to within a short dis- tance of the walls without the English realizing their peril; but, when ready to strike, the Indians, who had l<Nig been straining at the leash, roused the garrison by a war whoop. The FriMich, now realizing that surprise was out of the question, dashed to- wards the palisades, and seizing the portholes — ^f or the defenders suddenly roused by the noise had just barricaded the gato in time — opened fire on those within the fort. After an hour's work an entrance was effected ; the besiegers rushed in cmd exterminat- ed the garrison. When fdl resistance had been suppressed, De- Lery ordered all bombs, grenades, powder kegs and other am- munition to be thrown into the creek, for he wished to destroy the place as a military depot, knowing that his distance from a Canadian base would render it impossible for him to hold the position permanently. During this operation an explosion took place in the fort setting it on fire, the French having barely time to escape and seek refuge in the neighboring woods. Meanwhile, when the news reached Fort Williams, its commander organized a sortie to relieve the beleaguered fort. But the Indians, although they had followed the French forces somewhat reluctantly, once they had tasted blood began to manifest an interest in the pro- ceedings which at first they had regarded with indifference. Forming themselves in ambush along the road connecting the two forts they hurled themselves on the unsuspecting English and re- pulsed them with little diflSculty. DeLery now found himself victorious, though in a somewhat uncomfortable position ; at any moment word might reach Gteneral Johnson bringing him post- haste up the valley with a force large enough to annihilate the Canadians. So, judging discretion to be the better part of valor.
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the French leader declined to follow up his advantage, luid with- drew to Lake Ontario.
Daring the sommer of this year, Montcalm, ascending the St. Lawrence, captured Oswego with little trouble. While he lay encamped there the English dispatched General Webb with a num- erous army to reinforce Oswego, if it had not yet been taken, or retake it in case the French had been successful. On reaching Fort Williams, Webb learned the true state of aflEairs, and further- more gave credence to the fictitious report that Montcalm was marching on him with six thousand men. The Englishman be- coming panic-stricken acted without courage or discrimination; instead of remaining to defend his position, which was the least that could be expected of him, he demolished Fort Williams to prevent its falling into hostile hands and caused trees to be felled in Wood Creek so as to block approach to the carry, then beat an ignominious retreat. It is believed that Webb also de- stroyed Fort Craven at this time, though the fate of the other two forts, Ball and Newport, is not certain. Doubtless, being but un- important stockades, they were abandoned and allowed to fall in- to decay when the destruction of the main fortifications made it impossible to hold the portage.
Now that the fortifications at Wood Creek were gone, the French endeavored to encroach still further on English territory. For this purpose Belletre was dispatched in 1757 with a detach- ment of three hundred men. He descended the Black River and encamped on the site of Fort Williams, where he learned that Fort Eouari, the nearest fortification of any consequence guarded the Palatine village at Herkimer with a garrison of three hundred and fifty men. Belletre determined to attack the village without arousing the garrison, as he realized that the capture of a fort so well manned would take considerable time, especially as it would in all probability receive succor from the village and the five smaller forts in the neighborhood. The Frenchman succeeded in his plan. He surprised the settlers, compelled the smaller forts
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isfied no doubt with having inflicted damages to the extent of about twenty thousand pounds, they speedily returned from whence they had come. Undoubtedly Belletre was struck with the impossibility of maintaining a post so far from the base of sup- plies and continually open to attacks from the east.
In 1758 an expedition was organized to ascend the Mohawk Valley, cross the portage, proceed to Oswego and from there march on Fort Frontenac. Colonel Bradstreet, to whom this mis- sion was entrusted, carried out the plan without much difficulty; but on the return march his men were so exhausted that they spent four days transporting their stores across the portage. The hard- ships suffered on this expedition convinced the authorities that a fort was absolutely necessary at the portage, not only if the Eng- lish were to maintain that outpost, but fdso as a base of sup- plies if they wished to push their manoeuvres further westward. Accordingly, in obedience to orders from (General Abercrombie, plans were drawn by CJapt. Bull for a splendid fortification, the strongest in New York State. Port Stanwix, for so the new fortress was named, was square in shape, three hundred feet on each side and made of logs raised to a height of fourteen feet, with a parapet twelve feet thick, and the ramparts on which can- non were mounted having a thickness of twenty feet. The gener- ous size of the fort gave ample accommodations for a garrison of from two hundred to four hundred men. Fort Stanwix stood on a little eminence commanding the approaches over the lowlands and swamps that surrounded it; its exact location, research has shown, was on a tract of land bounded by Spring, Liberty and Dominick streets in the city of Bome.
With the outbreak of the Eevolutionary War special atten- tion was given to fortifying the Mohawk Valley ; new forts were constructed and old ones repaired. It was foreseen — as eventu- ally it did happen— that the British, who now occupied Canada, would, in all probability, ascend the St. Lawrence and cross over to the Oneida portage to gain command of the valley, as did the French twenty years before. In 1776 Gteneral Washington gave orders to repair Fort Stanwix, which during the lull between the French and !bidian War and the Revolution had been suffered to fall into decay. The following year Colonels Gansevoort «md Wil- lett were dispatched to Fort Stanwix, now bearing its new name
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of Fort Schuyler, where thejr eoinpleted the work of reconstruc- tion.
SererAi forts were built at this time. Fort Hain (the name was afterwards changed to Rensselaer) was a structure covering half an acre of ground. Its life, however, was short, and in 1781 it was replaced by the Fort Plain blockhouse, a curious three story building, octagonal in shape, so constructed that each story projected five feet over the one beneath it, so that the enemy when they reached its walls could be fired upon through holes bored in the floors for that purpose. Three or four miles northeast of Fort Plain was Fort Paris, a post of some importance erected in 1777 ; it accommodated three hundred soldiers besides offering a shelter to neighboring farmers. It was used for some time as headquar- ters by Colonel Visscher, who had command of the neighboring posts as well as of the fort itself. Two miles southwest of Fort Plain was Fort Clyde, named after Colonel Samuel Clyde of Cherry Valley, a modest fortification consisting of a blockhouse surrounded by a palisade of sufficient dimensions to contain a few houses as well. Fort Dayton was a place of considerable promin- ence. It stood on the present site of Herkimer village, but must not be confounded with the fort which bore at various times the names of Hareniger, Herkimer, and Kouari. Although there has been confusion in regard to these two forts, it is the concensus of opinion that Fort Herkimer was on the north side of the Mohawk and Fort Dayton on the south. After the destruction of Fort Stanwix in 1781, Fort Dayton was greatly strengthened, as it was then the western outpost in the valley, Fort Schuyler at Utica having fallen into decay. Two other fortifications deserving mention are Fort Plank, two and a half miles west of Fort Plain, and Fort Willett, built in 1780 close to it.
• The year 1777 witnessed the outcome of a well conceived but poorly executed plan for subjugating the colonies. General Bur- goyne was to descend the Hudson River, Sir HIenry Clinton was to march up from New York and Colonel St. Leger was to fol- low the now familiar route of the St. Lawrence and proceed down the Mohawk Valley — ^the three armies meeting in the vicinity of
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POETS AND BLOCK HOUSES IN THE MOHAWK VAIJ4BY 89
ance, and, taken together with the battle of Saratoga, is the turn- ing point in the Revolutionary War. It is amazing, yet none the less true, that the sum total of all the forces engaged at Fort Stan- wix and Qriskany would not suffice today to make up two full regiments.
On July 26th, St. Leger left Oswego, sending ahead a small detachment under Colonel Bird to cut communications between Port Stanwix (or, as it should be more properly called, Fort Schuyler) and the east. Picking up a few Indian allies. Bird ad- vanced slowly and reached the fort on August 3rd, from whence he wrote St. Leger for reinforcements when he found his Indians unwilling to proceed any farther. The British leader promptly dispatched Joseph Brant with some trusty savages, himself reach- ing the fort two or three days later. Now preparations began in earnest ; camp was pitched, the cannon placed in position and the little army deployed in such a manner as to completely surround the fortifications. Meanwhile, down at Fort Dayton General Herkimer, informed by scouts that the British had invested Fort Stanwix, issued a call to arms, and, gathering about eight hundred men, set out to relieve his fellow countrymen. Herkimer also dispatched a courier to Colonel Gansevoort, in command of Fort Stanwix, advising him that he (Herkimer) was on the way, and would encamp near the fort, there to await a gun signal from the defenders apprising him that the message had been received and understood. But unfortunately the ruse was detected by Molly Brant, an ardent Tory, who sent a fleet runner to the British camp with advices concerning Herkimer's intended manoeuvre. Before Gansevoort had received Herkimer's message he was sur- prised by seeing a large detachment of British and Indians leave camp and march down the valley. Quick to realize the weakness of the enemy, the Americans chose this opportune moment to make a sortie. The attack on the British camp was successful but fruitless, as General Herkimer, after his victory at Oriskany, feeling that his army was too depleted for further hostilities, re- tired to Fort Dayton. St. Leger immediately rallied his troops and recommenced the siege in earnest. The defenders now saw that Herkimer's victory had not changed their situation, and, fearing the outcome, sent Colonel Willett to Fort Dayton to ask for assistance. Willett reached his destination in safety; but when he arrived there he heard that General Benedict Arnold was
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on his way from Albany with a large force at his back, so hasten- ing to meet him, he laid the situation before the General. Arnold decided to drive away the British by a trick. During his march he had captured a half witted youth, named Han Yost Schuyler. Knowing the superstitious awe with which the Indians regarded such persons, he dispatched the young man with a story that the Americans were hard by with a gigantic army. What credence the British gave to this tale is not known, but the Indians not waiting for further proof deserted at once, leaving the English to their fate. St. Leger, greatly reduced in numbers, saw the impossibility of conducting operations any longer, so he quickly retraced his steps to Lake Ontario. History records but little else of Port Stanwix. In 1781 it was destroyed by flood and fire, and, there being no further need for a fort at this i>oint, it was never rebuilt.
With the end of the Revolutionary War the necessity for for- tifications in the Mohawk Valley rapidly declined. One by one the forts and blockhouses which for so long had offered havens of refuge to the pioneers, fell into disuse and disappeared. In the course of time the Indians betook themselves to the wilder re- gions of the west or settled down to peaceful occupations ; the ar- tificial waterway, the stage coach and the railway, forerunners of civilization, made their appearance in the valley that at one time had resounded only to the war cries of savages and the rattle of musketry. And now, after over a century of peace, only an occa- sional landmark remains or a flint arrow head is turned up from the ground by the passing ploughman to remind us of the mem- orable struggle for liberty.
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Courtesy of Uev. Dana W. Bigrelow, D. D BARON STEUBEN
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BARON STEUBEN, AT HOME, AT REST, IN ONEIDA COUNTY.
Rev. Dana W. Bigelow, D.D., Utica.
Baron Steuben, all honor to his name by every American citizen, was at one time a resident of Oneida County. The Steu- ben township was named for him because his estate was within the borders of this town and there in his last days was his sum- mer home. In the city of Utica we have Steuben Park and Steu- ben street; and now on the parkway a monument with bronze statue of heroic size, which was dedicated on August 3d, 1914, with imposing ceremonies by the Gkrman-American Alliance. Baron Steuben was ''at home" in this county and we do not forget the honor of his residence.
And here he is ''at rest," in a burial place designated in ad- vance by himself, in a forest that crowns a lofty hill which was part of his estate, and the monument which marks his solitary grave is in the care of the Oneida Historical Society. This so- ciety may therefore claim this occasion as a fit opportunity for at least a brief review of the military work of the man who in the War of the American Revolution rendered invaluable service to the cause of the patriots as they won their way to liberty and inde- pendence and the founding of this great nation — Major General Frederick William von Steuben.
The time is also fitting for such review because the CJongress of the United States is just now publishing a memorial of Steuben
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On November 15, 1730, at Magdeberg, then a large Prussian fortress, a son was bom to Captain von Steuben, an oflScer with decorations for eminent services in the Prussian army. Both fath- er and mother were of families well known cmd of distinguished ancestry. The child was named Frederick William Augustus Henry Ferdinand. This boy, growing up, attended school in Si- lesia and obtained an excellent education, especially in mathe- matics. In his own home a principal topic of conversation was about war and the military exploits of his ancestors. At the age of fourteen he served as a volunteer in the army and was present at the siege of Prague. At seventeen he was enrolled as a cadet in a famous infantry regiment. After this, from 1747 to 1763, he was in the service and under the very eyes of the King, since known to the world as Frederick the Ghreat. He hod been ad- vanced from cadet (1747) to ensign (1749), to a lieutenant (1753), to first lieutenant (1755). Then began the Seven Years' War. In 1759 he became adjutant general, in 1762 aid de camp on the per- sonal staff of the King. In the last campaign he was quarter- master and adjutant general to the King. He was chosen one of a number of young officers whom Frederick personally instrueted and initiated into the most abstruse branches of military art. Peace oame in 1763. Von Steuben at the age of thirty-three had had remarkable experience in warfare, on battlefields, in sieges, in army discipline and equipment — ^in the best trained army of that age, under the leadership of a warrior whose fame loses no luster in comparison with great generals of any land or time. In consideration of his services the King presented to him a lay benefice which yielded a handsome income, enough for independ- ence and comfort for life, which he accepted, and resigned his commission. After this for ten years the Baron was grand mar- shal to the Court of HohenzoUem, the highest and most distin- guished post which it was possible to hold at a minor (German court. He filled the post with honor, and then retired and found opportunity from time to time to visit the capitals of Germany and France. Five years later, in 1777, he set out for France, with intention of going to England, but at this point a path unforeseen
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BABON STEUBEN, AT HOME, AT BEST. 93
King of France. The Count asked for a private interview for a particular conversation. They met in the Arsenal in Paris, and the Count spread out before him a map of America and said: *'Here is your field of battle; America needs yod at this mo- ment.*' No conclusion was reached that day, but the trip to Eng- land was postponed. Soon after he was introduced to Dr. Benja- min Franklin, who was very desirous that he should enter the ser- vice of Congress, but could not make any engagement with him and could not even offer to pay the expenses of the journey. After this the Spanish Ambassador had an interview with him and strongly urged his going on this proposed mission; and later an oflScer in the army of Holland, a friend in whom he had confidence, said to him that there was no room for hesitation, that he would never have a finer field for distinguishing himself by rendering a great service to a great cause. Then his resolution was taken, and with letters of introduction from Franklin he set sail Sep- tember 26, 1777. When, two months later, after a tempestuous voyage, he landed in Portsmouth, N. H., he heard the great news of the recent surrender of Burgoyne and his army at Saratoga. In Boston he was greeted with much enthusiasm, and there he waited for replies to letters which he had forwarded. To Congress he had written a letter in these words, in part: "The honor of serving a nation engaged in the noble enterprise of defending its rights and liberties was the motive that brought me to this con- tinent. I desire neither riches nor titles. If I am possessed of acquirements in the art of war they will be much more highly prized by me if I can employ them in the service of a republic such as I hope soon to see America. ' ' To Washington he wrote, in part : "I had rather serve under your excellency as a volunteer than to be an object of discontent to such deserving officers as have al- ready distinguished themselves among you."
Congress invited him to come forward and welcomed and honored him. In answer to their inquiry as to his terms, he asked that his necessary expenses should be paid and that if his efforts should be successful full indemnification be made for his sacri- ^o.9.R And mioh mArVs nf their liberalitv be iHven to him, as the
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94 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
dition of the army at that time. Of nine thousand men enrolled, four thousand were unfit for duty, a fact accounted for by poor shelter, little clothing, short rations and prevailing sickness. There had been bad management in the commissary department and the quartermaster's department had long been without a head. In answer to Washington's appeals Congress sent a com- mittee to investigate, and something was done for partial relief of the situation. Up to this time, under the leadership of Wash- ington, generals of little military training, militia rallying at call, troops enlisted for short terms of service, had fought bravely — won victories, or in defeat had baffled well equipped veterans sent in large forces to crush them. All this had been done, but until then America had no well organized and well drilled army. Steu- ben was the right man in the right place to accomplish a great work in promoting the eflSciency of American troops. The author- ity given to him was not at first very full or very definite, and there were oflScers who hindered rather than helped his under- taking. The work was soon under way. His system began with rigid inspection of every man's outfit and his drill with small companies. It extended to battalions and brigades. Within a short time manoeuvres with an entire division were executed in the presence of the commander in chief and to his great pleasure. This was the beginning of a work prosecuted thoroughly as long as the army was continued, €ind before the close of the war Amer- cian infantry would compare well in drill and in military man- oeuvres with the most thoroughly disciplined troop of England or the army of any nation. The sad winter at Valley Forge closed with reinforcements as well as new organization and eflSciency. When the British troops left their gay winter quarters in Phila- delphia to march back to New York they were taken at disad- vantage by Washington in his assault at Monmouth. Their dis- aster would have been great but for the cowardice or actual treachery of General Lee. All honor to Washington, whose brave action saved his army from defeat. Let honor also be given to Steuben, who in commanding the right wing collected retreating troops and reformed them under galling fire. So accustomed had the soldiers become to his direction and so: firmly did they rely upon his guidance that, although severely pressed by the enemy, they wheeled into line with as much precision as on ordinary par- ades and with the coolness and intrepidity of veterans. Alex-
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i;sT. ^"^
render pl«a«ag to of you with love,
,v York (November
s who accompanied
: took part in eU. the
Washington resigned
le what was hia last
11 letter to Steuben.
i-^h I have taken fre-
ivate, of acknowledg-
,u performing the du-
L this last moment of
ims my entire appro-
> sense of the obligar
athful and meritorious
cepted the resignation .. thanks of the United Baron Steuben for the ia the discharge of his presented to him as e s of his (Aaraeter and
work of art, was pre- .nox. He said, in part: conferred by the sover- . the consideration that ., late illustrious com-
The inscription on the ;o Major General Baron
^•rit."
fairness toward 3«8t (Iment of the army, and r worthy men. Not until clearance of all claims an s date, however, certam
Pennsylvania had pre- thousand acres-Virginia ork gave him (1786) «n«-
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BARON STEUBEN, AT HOME, AT BEST. 95
ander Hamilton, on Washington's staff, was afterwards heard to say that ho had never known or conceived till that day the value of military discipline. After this battle, on the march to New York, Steuben commanded a wing of the army — and he greatly desired to continue in command in the line. One obstacle prevent- ed— ^the opposition of oflScers, who felt that his promotion meant loss to their rights and expectations. Steuben accordingly aban- doned the plan for applying for a regular command in the army. In months following these events he. was urging upon Con- gress the importance of defining cloarly the duties and powers of the office of inspector general of the armies. Washington, in correspondence with him on this subject, wrote: ''I shall be happy to give you every support in my power to facilitate your operations. In doing this I shall equally consult the personal consideration I have for you and the improvement and benefit of the army, which I am persuaded will be greatly promoted by a full exertion of the talents, experience and activity of which you have already given the most satisfactory proof." Congress, after delay, adopted his plan. Before entering upon his duties thus enlarged and defined Steuben remained in Philadelphia and composed his valuable book, entitled '^ Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States." This book marked an era in military affairs in America. Con- gress ordered three thousand copies printed — ^having adopted it as law for the army. Taking up then with new authority his work as inspector general he thoroughly reorganized the army and improved it rapidly by strict inspection and frequent re- views, giving freely to it his profound knowledge of tactics and his ability to reform and discipline an army. Not men alone were inspected, but hospitals, laboratories, stores, every place and every thing. An aid de oamp, Duponceau, wrote to a friend of the agreeable duty of attending the Baron on horse- back when he went to inspect troops. ''He was much beloved by the soldiers, though he was a strict disciplinarian and pas- sionate withal. But there was in him a fund of goodness which displayed itself on many occasions and which could even be read in his severe countenance, so that he was extremely popular. His fits of passion never offended the soldier." If he began to swear at them in German or French, or in both languages together, or in
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TO NEW TORK STATE HBTOMC At ASBOCUCTON
broken En^sh, a good natur^ «mile went through the ranks and at last the mamBirver or movemaciifc was perfectly perf owned.
When in 1780 the activities of the war bad shifted to the south and General Gates had lost his simy at Camden, General Greene, as Washington's choice, was sent to be in command, and Washington wrote to him: "I propose to send Baron Steuben southward with you. His talents, knowledge of service, zeal and activity will make him very useful to you in all respects, and particularly in the regulation of raw troops, which will principally compose the southern army." Greene had been a warm friend of Steuben from their first meeting at Valley Forge and an earnest advocate of his reforms. Virginia was committed to Steuben for raising military stores snd troops for defense against invasion and for reinforcements for Greene in the south. The responsibil- ity was great and the work more difficult than will be appreciated except by those who know what was the condition of the colony at that time. The Baron continued his work in Virginia until the southern army, victorious, followed Comwallis to Torktown, and there, together with forces sent from the north and by aid of French forces and fleet, captured his army. Steuben was present at Torktown, in command of a division of the army, and also rendered efficient service in conducting the edege which led to the surrender and the victory which virtually closed the war. A year latei^ a letter from General Gates to Steuben contained these words: **If I am right in my conjecture, the warfare between us and Britjdn finishes this year; but, believe me, my dear Baron, my great respect for you will not end with the war. The aston- ishment with which I beheld the order, regularity and attention which you have taught the American army, and the obedience, ex- actness and true spirit of military discipline which you have in- fused into them does you the highest honor. Gratitude obliges me to make this declaration. The generosity of the governing pow- ers, both civil and military, will, I trust, be actuated by the same generous principle and by proclaiming to the world your merits and their obligation, convince mankind that the republics of America have at least the virtue to be grateful. *'
General Howe at that time (November, 1782) wrote from win- ter camp to Steuben: "Tour children, for so I call our army, have been laboring day and night to build their buts. • • • I cannot conclude this letter without conve3ring to you what I
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BAfiON «EBUB8N, AT HQMB^ AT HBST. 97
am sure ycour lattaduaent to the: anxiy will render pleauug to you, that they xmiYBrsaUy thiok aiHl speak of you with love, pleaaure, gratitude and applause. ' '
When finally the British evacuated New York (November 25, 1783,) Steuben was with the staff officers who accompanied Washington in his entrance into the city and took part in all the festivities of the occasion, A month later Washington resigned his commissioA. It is very interesting to note what was his last act as commander in chiel It was a farewell letter to Steuben. This is it, in part : * ' My Dear Baron : Although I have taken fre- quent opportunities, both in public and in private, of acknowledg- ing your great zeal, attention and abilities in performing the du- ties of your office, yet I wish to make use of this last moment of my public life to signify in the strongest terms my entire appro- bation of your conduct and to express my sense of the obliga- tions the public is under to you for your faithful and meritorious services." • • •
On the 15th of April, 1784, Congress accepted the resignation of Steuben, with this resolution: *'That the thanks of the United States in Congress assembled be given to Baron Steuben for the great 2eal and abilities he has discovered in the discharge of his office, and that a gold hilted sword he presented to him as a mark of the high sense Congress entertains of his character and services/' • • •
In due time this sword, a beautiful work of art, was pre- sented, with words of honor, by General Enox. He said, in part : ''Were it possible to enhimce the honor conferred by the sover- eign authority, it would be derived from the consideration that their applause was reciprocated by the late illustrious com- mander in chief and the whole army." The inscription on the sword was this: ^*The United States to Major General Baron Steuben, 15th April, 1784, for Military Merit."
Congress failed to act promptly in faimefi» toward just claims of officers and men at the disbandment of the army, and Steuben shared in the injustice with other worthy men. Not until 1790 was action taken giving to him in clearance of all claims an annuity of $2,500 for life. Before this date, however, certain states had dealt g^ierously with him. Pennsylvania had pre- sented him with a grant of land — ^two thousand acres — ^Virginia had given a similar grant, and New York gave him (1786) one-
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quarter of a township, equal to sixteen thousand acres, out of territory recently purchased from the Oneida Indians. This ter- ritory was later made a township and called after him, *' Steu- ben." This farm he visited only once or twice until 1790, keeping his residence in New York City, where he had many friends, es- pecially among the Gterman citizens, and where he was a social favorite. He was present at the side of Washington at his first inauguration as President of the United States. He presided at the founding of the order of Cincinnati and was its president for many years. He was appointed regent of the State University.
In June, 1790, his annuity having provided something more available than thousands of acres of hill country covered with for- est, he made his way to his farm, having been there once or twice before on excursions. In twelve days he reached Utica and en- joyed good fellowship with an old Qerman, John Post, an old comrade in war, and at that time the first merchant in this fron- tier settlement. The Fourth of July, 1790, was duly celebrated on his farm by a dinner, and festivity given to all the men on his land and in the neighborhood. He had come to a hill country in truth, for nothing different is found in the township, and Star hill is the highest land in the county. All was forest except sixty acres of cleared land ; but here he made himself at home in plain quarters, having a superintendent to manage farm work, having an esteemed secretary and other friends, but no family of his own ; enjoying pleasant relations with all people of the neighborhood, and from time to time visits from old time friends. Comrades in the war found welcome at his home, and those who would settle on his estate were dealt with in full generosity. He had many plans for improving his estate and for erection in due time of a mansion. He passed his summers with contentment and pleasure in this country home, and regularly before winter set in he re- turned for the season to New York. In this quiet retreat he read in European papers the great news of the BYench Revolution and of events following — ^the overturning of Europe. But he, so great- ly interested, was one apart.
On September 3d, 1793, in company with the Governor of the State and with Samuel Kirkland, the noble pioneer mission- ary, and other worthy men. Baron Steuben, present by invita- tion and in full military uniform, laid the cornerstone of the
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Courtesy of Rev. Dana W. Bigelow, D. D. BARON STEUBEN'S LOG HOUSE In the town of Steuben, Oneida County, N. Y.
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BABON STEUBEN, AT HOME, AT BEST. 99
Hamilton Oneida Academy, the foundation of Hamilton College, where his memory will ever be revered.
He continued in the enjoyment of perfect health and was in the best of spirits up to the last day of his life.
In November, 1794, after a pleasant evening with friends, he retired for the night; before morning was taken suddenly ill; was paralyzed; was cared for by friends, and died after some hours of suffering, but not before a physician had reached his bedside to administer medicines, which gave him some relief. He died on November 28 at noon, without any struggle or appar- ent pain, and on November 30, 1794, he was buried, wrapped in his military cloak, in a retired spot on a hill in the midst of tl\e woods. His burial was according to his will, and by this will he left a handsome bequest to his secretary, John W. Mulligan ; gen- erous amounts to all persons in his employ, and the remainder of his property to be divided equally between his two most eflScient and ever faithful aides de camp, Benjamin Walker and William North, men well worthy of the honor €ind the reward. Tears afterward the remains in this grave were removed to make way for a public road, and were reintered in a burial lot of five acres covered with primeval forest, fenced and to kept uncleared for- ever. This was according to arrangements made by Mr. Walker in a lease of fifty acres given to the Welsh Baptist Church of the community. The grave was simply marked with stone and in- scription. It was the will of the hero thus at rest that his burial place should be unknown. But men who appreciated his charac- ter and services could not rest satisfied with what had been done.
In 1856 German newspapers and societies called for funds for a monument ,and some thousands of dollars were secured. Not until 1870, however, was the plan carried out. Ex-Gk)vemor Horatio Seymour gave encouragement and inspiration to the movement and the German society of New York, Steuben Scheutzen, responded with enthusiasm. By their own generous oflFerings the fund of 1856 was supplemented and to this was added an appropriation by the State.
The cornerstone of the monument was laid June 1, 1870, in the presence of thousands of people. Ex-Governor Seymour pre- sided, and after an eloquent address laid the stone with these words: ''In behalf of our German fellow citizens, in behalf of the citizens of the State of New York, in behalf of the whole
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Amierican people, who desire that the memory of this great man shall never pass away, since his revolutionary acts were instru- mental in laying the cornerstone of our liberties, I now deposit the cornerstone of this monument, erected in honor of the mem- ory of Frederick William Baron Steuben. May Qod grant that it will ever serve to remind the American people of the great service which he i)erformed in their cause, which he adopted as his own. May God grant that it may always be treasured as sacredly as we treasure his memory to-day.'* An address was given by Mr. ^xtus Karl KapflF in behalf of the New York Ger- man society, who were present in large numbers. An ode was sung by the Leiderkranz Society of New York. Major Gteneral Prams Sigel, received with great applause, made an address in German. Other speakers also took part in appropriate speeches. Then the assemblage disp^^sed €ind the forest was left with its hero asleep amid the maples and beeches and wild flowers. The monument, plain but massive, was finished in due time. Its only inscription is the word "Steuben." The entrance to the burial ground is now marked by handsome pillars, and visitors who pass these find a trail that leads into the woodland to the tomb. At the entrance one will pause to look over a far-reaching landscape. The view takes in the region of the Mohawk valley, now one of the thoroughfares of the great nation whose liberties were secured by men of the Revolutionary era. In this valley is the home of citizens who especially will cherish in grateful remembrance the name— STEUBEN.
His portrait, presented by the Fort Schuyler Chapter of the Sons of the Revolution of Utioa, adorns the walls of the Mun- son- Williams Memorial, the home of the Oneida Historical Society.
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SAMUEL KIRKLAND AND THE ONEIDA INDIANS
Melancthon Woolsey Stryker, D.D., LL.D., Clinton, President of Hamilton College.
Gtentlemen of the New York State Historical Association :
Under your courteous request I have prei>ared and em here to offer to you this paper upon ''Samuel Kirkland and His Rela- tions to the Iroquois." At once I beg your considerate attention, and that knowing well that I can do nothing except to summar- ize and partly to array what is familiar to many of you and iat least partly fetmiUar to you all.
This is not the result of any profound or extended research and offers no claim to originality of exposition or conclusion; but is an attempt to set in order matters which underlie our present status, on this ground which was the center of the Long House, and regional to the sphere of the life work of a devoted man, to whom our debt is large and lasting.
Those of you who know well the brilliant narratives of Park- man have a strong side light upon those intricate stages of con-| flict by which at last the relations of the Indians, the French, the English, and the American colonists were slowly and painfully adjusted. It is a complicated story and a great one and very long. But tho numbers engaged in all this northern land, the men and means, the baffling attack and counter attack, the strife for place of vantage and prestige of victory, the household fear and torment, the policies and intrigues^ the tenacity of the quar- rels, the raids and the battles, — all these are significant because there was at stake so much more by far than for that nearly 200 years any of the participants knew or could imagine.
The numbers engaged on every side, the crude material of arms, the primitive strategy and tactics — all seem small now and
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meager and slow ; but all parties to the long and confused strag- gle put to the touch all that they had. At last they quit ex- hausted. Then results emerged from the years of distress, pov- erty and bleeding courage. The lands of the red men are popu- lous now with the too forgetful descendants of those who paid deeply for their ultimate tenure. The natural and primeval trail is now a wampum belt of great cities and is one of the great highways of the world. Little did the tough tribes, who pushed their canoes up the forested Mohawk River dream of barge canals and six-track railway systems, of the might of a self-governing and pacific nation. Too little also do we remember what they did here who were unwittingly founding our estate. History, to be understood, must be read backward. We must climb some two hundred years to survey the process from which we have arrived.
Abundant are the sources of information as to that excep- tion€tl federation of five nations and then six which stood so strong for the freedom of these forests. The facts are scattered here and there in a thousand volumes of Americana and pre-Amer- icana. One excellent digest with minute details and adequate grasp of the whole, admirable in its large list of authorities and its maps and illustrations is Dr. Beauchamp's "History of the Iroquois," published by the Education Department of the State of New York in 1905. ''The Oneidas" by J. K. Bloomfield, 1909, traces carefully the story of that central tribe on whose grounds we stand. Particularly is it iqinute in its chapters upon the Rev. Eleazar Williams, missionary at last to the ultimate reservation at Oneida, Wisconsin, setting forth (and I think correctly) that he was the lost Dauphin of France, the son of the hapless Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. If the tale justifies the conclusion, then indeed is it one of the providential romances of history and in his person the Bourbons ended nobly.
To these books I am hereby a debtor, as also to the sketch of Kirkland in Sprague's Annals,, to Lothrop's **Life of Kirkland,'' and to the address by Senator Elihu Root at the centennial of Hamilton College in 1912.
Naturally this brief and too scanty sketch must center upon the Oneidas with whom at last and for a long time Kirkland was most closely associated. The Senecas were probably the largest of the *'Six Nations''; but the Oneidas were the finest of all the groups in that Iroquois League — ^Ho-de-no-son-nee, that is the
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SAMUEL KTRKTiAND AND THE ONEn)A INDIANS 103
** people of the long house." The characteristic structure of their dwellings gave the general name. Here was the place — ^right across this state — ^the gateway of the continent — ^the one natural path of empire. The Mohawks held the eastern and the Sen- ecas the western door. Between were the Oneidas, Qnondagas and Cayugas. The Tusoaroras were associated finally with these five in a kind of ** morganatic'' union attracted by the quality and prestige of this great New York federation.
Oneida is doubtless a modified form of O-ni-on-ta — ^*Hhe peo- ple of the stone." Onia was the stone— J[)erhap8 first of sacrifice — then the totem and rendezvous. Here they were when Eliot's Bible, of which now no living person understands the language, was printed in 1661, when the Dutch surrendered Manhattan in 1664. How long before they had come, or whence, only the cloudiest tradition says and nothing secure does it establish.
As CsBsar wrote, **0f all these the Belgians are the bravest," — so may the Oneidas be remembered as the foremost people of the Iroquois. They were **wise in counsel," courageous, saga- cious, and truer to their word than any of the others of that great sextette. Their self-government was in its way representative. Their sachems composed a kind of Supreme Court. Their tradi- tions were a kind of common law. They reverenced **the Great Spirit" and the outer world was as full to them of Divine intima- tion and control as it was to the writers of the Hebrew Psalms. Qod was to them objectified in His world. Their forest ways were run by the stars.
In diplomacy all of the Iroquois were skillful and in natural eloquence, famous. They were given to hospitality. Their con- tact, in most cases, with white men was their undoing. The evil traders made '*fire--water" a general curse. Upon the Oneidas notably were their standards impressive and infiuential. In the trying times when all things seemed broken they looked wonder- ingly upon the great strife of white men and sought as best they could to observe an actual neutrality. They were not treaty- breakers, and while the Onondagas evaded and conspired, the Oneidas tried to hold a just ground. After the Revolution they turned more and more to agriculture. The after story is a painful tale of disintegration and transfer. This is not our story now. They were finally moved in 1823 to Green Bay, Wisconsin, where industry and the improvement and working of their lands made
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them the envy of unscrupulous white men, whose predatory lust has so far been foiled^ Among them, there, there is a strong Qod- f earing ehurch order whose nurture is due to an apostolical sue- c6s»on of good ministers of the Episcopal household of faith.
Samuel Kirklaod of Scotch descent (land of the Kirk) was bom at Norwich, Conn., December Ist, 1741, the tenth of twelve children. His father was a Congregational minister of excellent repute as man and scholar, who died in 1773.
Our Kirkland, at nineteen, was a well-beloved pupil in the school of Eleazar Wheekwk at Lebanon, Conn. Out of that very School, designed primarily to educate Indians, grew Dartmouth College in 1769. Undoubtedly it was the spirit in that school that turned the heart, very early, of Kirkland toward his great ven- ture of faith and devoted enterprise of Gtod in this wild and unevangelized region. No corner of the world can seem further from us now than this **jumping-off-place" must have seemed then. It was Barkland's dedication to this godly folly that there and then chose that consecrated career, that christianized ambi- tion, which his whole after life protracted and fulfilled. Even then he began the study of the Indian tongues.
In the fall of 1762 we find him, a sophomore, at Princeton College, where he was graduated (though he had already gone on his way) as of the class of 1765. What slender things that college (hen, and all colleges for long years after, had to give is sug- gested to me by a memorandum of my grandfather, Daniel Stry- ker, as made in his little old-|ashioned ** common place book" — '*Went to Princeton today (I think it was 1804), was examin^ in Vergil and Geography, and was admitted to the Junior Class I"
But whatever there was in 1762, Kirkland made the most of it. He was in every way esteemed there. But fire burned in his bones to be along with hjs chosen errand. He had received stim- ulating words from Gteorge Whitfield himself, which had further confirmed the puri)ose already fixed.
In November, 1764, he set out, pausing a little to confer with Sir William Johnson, who was good to him and advanced his plans. January 16, 1765, he pursued his hopeful way. Two Sen- ecas were with him as with his pack they made their way on snow- shoes along the weary forest way to the west. Now that journey could be made by rail in three hours I
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Courtesy of W. W. Canfleld THE LINE OF PROPERTY MONUMENT, AT THE FOOT OF COLLEGE HILL. CLINTON
This stone Is set on the line that was established by the treaty at Fort Stanwix, Nov. 5. 1768, between the whites and the Iroquois, at which time all the eastern section of the State, and running southerly to Delaware Bay, was ceded to the whites.
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SAMUEL SntKLAND AND THE OXEIDA INDIANS 105
First he went to the Onond'agas and then to the Senecas be- yond and with these last he continued for the larger i)ortion of two years. His gentle and manly spirit won its way, in spite of sus- picion, plot and danger. In May, 1766, he went back briefly to Connecticut^ where, at Lebanon, he was presently ordained, re- turning in July, and now to the Qneidas, among whom was to be his long lifework. He was now under commission of the Scotch Missionary Society, dated June 19th, 1766. Many priva- tions and hardships befell him, but he wrought on with i>atient courage, and by his discretion and quick sympathy endeared him- self and his cause to the red men who then fished the Savquoit and pushed their canoes on the Oriskany and the Oneida Lake. Among his three converts who became his brothers was the Chief Skendoah. This noble aborigine was a specimen of Earkland's re- sults. It was he who later held back the main part of the Oneidas from favoring the Tory side, and who is said to have killed the cruel and infamous Walter Butler, notorious for massacres, in a running fight. It was he who warned the settlers of the valley of a planned descent upon them by the Mohawks, so that they got themselves to the shelter of the little forts — ^Port Herkimer and Port Dayton. A man of native dignity and rude eloquence, he kept the faith, lived true to all engagements, and at Oneida Castle, March 11th, 1816, he died at the great age of 110 years.
He begged to be buried by **his brother'' KirHand **that he might at the resurrection lay hold of his skirts." Later his bones were gathered from their first resting place and with those of Kirkland were placed in one grave in the cemetery at College Hill. In death therefore they were not divided. '* Their spirits are with the saints, we trust." It is a suitable place for their mortal parts to watch out the years.
In September, 1769 (the 9th), Kirkland married in Connec- ticut, at Windham, Jerusha Bingham, a niece of Dr. Wheelock, he whose infiuence and example had been to Kirkland so stimu- lating. She was a brave and noble woman and had been well edu- cated in the household of her uncle.
In 1770 he became directly connected with the afore-named Scotch Society upon the salary of £100 sterling. In 1772-73, so threatening and disturbed was the Indian situation that Mrs. Kirkland retired to a little dwelling in Stockbridge, Mass., there remaining, with her children, to 1783.
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His true friend, Sir William Johnson, dying in 1773, was succeded by his son, Col. Guy Johnson, who was a different man and did all he could, though with little result, to prejudice the In- dians against Eirkland.
Soon came the crisis with all its confusions.
In 1775 the Ck)ntinental Congress sought Eirkland as an in- termediary of peace. Upon long journeys among the tribes, and at several councils at Albany, he endeavored to hold the Six Na- tions to neutrality. He failed. The Indians, all but the larger part of the Oneidas, swung to the crown, Brandt and Butler leading in those ravages where torch and knife helped on the sporadic melee.
In these imjnediate years Eirkland used all his powers as a I>atriot. He was under commission now as an army chaplain at Fort Schuyler, and as brigade chaplain went with the Sullivan expedition to the Susquehanna region. He was a trusted adviser to the government. He led to Philadelphia a great party of chiefs and sachems, effecting thus an excellent understanding. There he met with Washington, Hamilton, Schuyler, Pickering, Enox and others high in the counsels of the embryo government. This was 1791-92.
In 1791 he was occupied in making a census and description of the Six Nations.
In 1788 the State of New York, conjointly with the Indians, had made over to Earkland a valuable tract of land lying in what is now the township of his name, and thither, in 1791, he removed his family from Stockbridge. His son, John Thornton, gradu- ated from Harvard in 1789, and his son, George Whitfield, from Dartmouth in 1791. As he was riding to an appointment through the forest, he received from a small tree branch a severe wound in the eye, which later took him for consultation to Philadelphia. There he was warmly received by Alexander Hamilton. About this time he submitted to Timothy Pickering, successively Post- master General of the United States, Secretary of War, and Sec- retary of State, a ''Plan of Education for the Indians, especially of the Five Nations." To this Pickering gave his general ap- proval. Thereon he sought further counsel from Washington and Hamilton, conferred with the Governor of New York and the Begents, and thus was that dove of the wilderness nested in 1793 as the Hamilton Oneida Academy. A weary way to the end 1794-
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99, and then the work was begun which was protracted in the chartering of Hamilton College in 1812. Meanwhile the Indians had gone from the immediate region; but this College, child of faith and prayer and godly zeal for men, continues still the be- hests of Samuel Eirkland and reverently guards his dust.
Troubles the good man had — ^foes of his own household. His latest years were weighted with many disappointments and sor- rows, but he wrought on to the end. His son, John Thornton, later became a president of Harvard College. After a brief ill- ness, Eirkland died on College Hill, Sunday morning, February 28th, 1808, in the 78th year of his immortal life.
The Iroquois were his occasion and direct object of endeavor ; but it was for civilization and patriotism and the Kingdom of God amdng men that he filled his appointed time with prayer and incorrigible toil. So may we all sleep well at last I
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THE AMERICAN FLAG.
Harlan H. Homer, M. A., Education Department, Albany.
We Amerioans are accustomed to think of ourselves as a new nation. Historians and geographers speak of our government and of our location on the earth as an experiment in democracy known as a republic and situated on the western hemisphere in what is known as the New World. Compared with eastern civilizations that have come and gone we are, it is true, but an infant republic and our democracy is but an initial experiment in the great world crucible in which men are to work out the yet secret science of permanently and efliciently governing themselves. Indeed, pages written large in blood upon the world's history in recent weeks prompt us to question whether all government is not an experi- ment, and an exceedingly hazardous experiment at that. It may be fortunate for us, when an entire continent reverberates with cannonading and when an awful war takes its inevitable toll in one way or another from aU the peoples of the earth, that our youth among nations gives us as we view the prospect ahead of us an assuring optimism in a time which in the words of President Wilson is "to try men's souls." True, we are young, young and characteristically hopeful. To the archeologist who puzzles out the stories of by-gone civilizations from silent stones, October 12, 1492, was but yesterday, when at the island of San Salvador, at least so run the chronicles,
''Columbus, dressed in scarlet, first stepped on shore from the little boat which bore him from his vessels, bearing the royal standards of Spain emblazoned with the arms of Castile and Leon
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THE AMBBICAN FLAG 109
These were the first fiiags, according to authentic record, rais- ed by white men in America. The fiag of Spain which Columbus bore was composed of four sections, two with yellow castles upon red and two with red lions upon white ground. The personal ban- ner of Columbus was the gift of Queen Isabella of Spain, the let- ter P standing for Ferdinand and Y for Ysabel. To the antiquar- ian the gay landing of Columbus and the first raising of fiags on the western hemisphere are but the opening of a new and signi- ficant chapter in a world history, which is preceded by many fin- ished volumes, each of many chapters, recording the age&-long doings of men upon the earth. And yet with all our youth, with all our experimentation in democracy, so short is the reign of kings and so surcharged with change are the colors that signalize the dynasties of men that our own Stars and Stripes, authentical- ly but 137 years old on the 14th of last June, the fiag that 8i>eaks neither of lions, nor castles, nor crowns, is with few exceptions the oldest national standard in the world. The oldest European national standard and ensign is that of Denmark, a red swallow- tailed flag with a white cross, which was adopted in the year 1219. The next oldest Euroi>ean fiag is that of Switzerland, a red field with a white Greek cross, which was adopted during the seven- teenth century. A red circle representing the sun dates back as the emblem of the Emperor of Japan to A D. 1169 ; but it was not until 1859 that a white field bearing a red figure of the sun was adopted as a national standard. China, the oldest of existing na- tions, did not announce to foreigners until 1862 its triangular yellow fiag, bearing a blue dragon with a green head snapping at a red ball. With the exception of Russia the fiags of the nations now at war in Europe are all younger than our own. The tricolor of France, the vertical bars of blue, white and red, was decreed in 1794, the Union Jack of Great Britain dates from 1801, and the black eagle and the three horizontal stripes of the Empire of Ger- many, black, white and red, were adopted in 1871.
In an attempt to trace briefiy the history of the American fiag mention should be made of the flags of other nations that early came to our shores. The flag of England was flrst unfurled in North America by John Cabot, a Venetian, who landed, prob- ably, on the coast of Newfoundland in 1497, with letters patent from Henry Vn of England, **to set up the royal banners and ensigns in the countries, places or mainland newly found by him"
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and ^^to conquer, occupy and possess the same." Under date of London, August 23, 1497, Lorenzo Pasqualigo writes to his broth- ers in Venice that ^' Cabot planted in his new-found land a large cross, with a flag of England and another of St Mark, by reason of his being a Venetian, so that our banner has floated very far afield." The Venetian ensign was of scarlet with a broad band of blue near the edge, perhaps typifying the sea, from which rose in gold the winged lion of St. Mark, having in his right paw a cross. The flag of England used by Cabot and by other English navigat- ors who followed him was probably the cross of St. George, which is a white flag with a rectangular red cross extending its entire length and height. In 1603 imder James I, formerly James VI of Scotland, England and Scotland were united, and St. Qeorge's cross was later joined with the cross of St. Andrew of Scotland to form what was called the King's Colors. The cross of St. Andrew is a blue flag with a diagonal white cross extending from comer to comer. The combination of the banners of England and Scot- land formed, therefore, a blue flag with a rectangular red cross and a diagonal white cross, the red showing entirely and the white being interrupted by it. England and Scotland retained their individual flags for many purposes, and it is probable that the Mayflower on that memorable journey in 1620 bore the cross of St. Qeorge at her masthead, for sho was an English ship.
After King Charles I was beheaded in 1649, the partnership between England and Scotland was dissolved, and the national standard of England became again St George's cross. In 1660, when Charles II ascended the throne, the King's Colors again came into use. In 1707, when the complete union of the kingdom of Great Britain, including England, Scotland and Wales was established. Great Britain adopted for herself and her colonies a red ensign with the symbol of the union of England and Scot- land in the canton. This ''meteor flag of England," as it was sometimes called, continued, as has been indicated, to be the na- tional standard until 1801, when the cross of St. Patrick, a red
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THE AMBBIOAN FLAG 111
later he set up a cross and the arms of France near the site of the present city of Quebec. The French flag was probably blue at that time with three golden fleur-de-lis. Later the Huguenot party in France adopted the white flag. Over the forts and trad- ing posts and in battle in the vast region of New France, stretch- ing southwest from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi, it is prob- able that the Bourbon flag floated during the greater portion of the French occufMuicy.
Henry Hudson brought the Half Moon into New York harbor in 1609 flying the flag of the Dutch East India Company, which was that of the Dutch Republic — three equal horizontal stripes, orange, white and blue, with the letters V. 0. C. A. (Yereenigde Oost-Indiscbe Compagnie, Amsterdam) in the center of the white stripe. In 1621, when the Dutch West India Company came into control, the letters Q. W. C. (Qeoctroyeerde West-Indische Com- pagnie) took the place of the letters Y. 0. C. A. With the change of the orange to a red stripe between 1630 and 1650, the Dutch flag was in use until 1664, when the English flag was raised, which remained, save for the temporary Dutch resumption, 1673-1674, until the Stars and Stripes was acknowledged.
In 1638 a party of Swedish and Finnish colonists founded a settlement on the bank of the Delaware River, called New Sweden, under the Swedish national flag, a yellow cross on a blue ground. This settlement flourished until 1655, when it was overpowered by the Dutch.
The settlements in the thirteen original colonies were largely English, and the ceremonial flags of the English colonies very nat- urally took the form of the English national standard in its suc- cessive periods. The cross of St. George was in use in the Massa- chusetts Bay Colony as early as 1634. In 1643 the colonies of Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut and New Haven form- ed an alliance under the name of the United Colonies of New England and in 1686 adopted as a common flag the cross of St. Qeorge with a gilt crown emblazoned on tl&e center of the cross with the monogram of King James 11 underneath. As early as 1700, however, the colonies began to depart from authorized Eng- lish standards and to adopt flags showing a degree of independ- ence and distinguishing their ships from those of England and from those of their neighbors. The pine tree flag of New Eng- land was a conspicuous one and came into use as early as 1704.
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In one form it was a red flag with the cross of St Qeorge in the oanton with a green pine tree in the first quarter. It is thought that this flag may have been displayed at Bunker Hill. Another form of the pine tree flag was that having a white field with the motto **An Appeal to Heaven" above the pine tree. A very in- teresting banner, now in the possession of the Public Library of Bedford, Massachusetts, is said to be the oldest American flag in existence. It was carried by the minutemen of Bedford at the battle of Concord. The ground is maroon, emblazoned with an outstretched arm, the color of silver, in the hand of which is an uplifted sword. Three circular figures, also in silver, are said to represent cannon balls. Upon a gold scroll are the words "Vince aut Morire," meaning ** Conquer or Die.''
The rattlesnake emblem was another favorite symbol in the colonies. It rivaled the pine tree in popularity and was shown in several designs. One form, that adopted by South Carolina, was a yeUow flag with a rattlesnake in the middle about to strike, with the words ** Don't Tread on Me" underneath. Connecticut troops bore banners of solid color, a different color for each regiment, having on one side the motto "Qui Transtulit Sustinet" and on the other **An Appeal to Heaven." New York's flag was a white field with a black beaver in the center. Rhode Island's flag was white with a blue anchor with the word ''Hope" above it, and a blue canton with thirteen white stars. Other flags bore the words ** Liberty and union" and ** Liberty or Death." The earliest flag displayed in the South was raised at Charleston, South Carolina, in the fall of 1775. It was a blue flag with a white crescent in the upper comer. Later, the word ** Liberty" in white letters was added at the bottom of the flag.
These various forerunners of our national flag are insepar- ably associated with its history, and yet they give us little or no clue to the origin of the Stars and Stripes. Our flag was an evo- lution. The design of stars and stripes was not original with us. As early as 1704 the ships of the English East India Company bore flags with thirteen red and white stripes with the cross of St. George in the canton. Still a century earlier, the national flag of the Netherlands consisted of three equal horizontal stripes. It is frequently suggested, though without tangible evidence, that the stars and stripes in Washington's coat of arms may have de- termined the original design of our flag. The celebrated standard
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THE AMBBIOAN FLAG 113
of the Philadelphia Troop of Light Horse, the first known in- stance of the Amerioan use of stripes, was made in 1775. Its stripes may have in turn suggested the flag which Washington raised at Cambridge on January 2, 1776. This was the first dis- tinctive Amerioan flag indicating a union of the colonies. It con- sisted of thirteen alternate red and white stripes with the com- bined crosses of St. Qeorge and St Andrew in the canton. It was a peculiar flag, the thirteen stripes standing for the union of the colonies and their revolt against the mother country, and the sub- joined crosses representing the allegiance to her which was yet partially acknowledged. It was variously designated as the Union Flag, the Grand Union Flag and the Great Union Flag, and is now frequently referred to as the Cambridge Flag. It marked the real beginning of our national existence and continued to be the flag of the Revolution until the Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes.
We shall never know the whole story of the origin of our national flag. The oft-repeated claim that in June, 1776, Betsy Boss not only planned but made the first flag, which was adopted a year later by Congress, is pleaaant tradition, if not accurate his- tory. The story runs that at that time a committee of Congress, whether officially or self designated does not appear, consisting of George Washington, Robert Morris and Colonel George Ross, the latter an uncle of John Ross, the husband of Betsy, she then being a young widow, called upon her at her upholstery shop on Arch street, Philadelphia, and asked if she could make a flag. She said she would try. Whereupon they produced a design roughly drawn of thirteen stripes and thirteen stars, the latter be- ing six-pointed. She advised that the stars should be flve-pointed, showing that a flve-pointed star could be made with a single clip of the scissors. They agreed that this would be better, and Gen- eral Washington changed the design upon the spot and the com- mittee left. Shortly afterward, the sketch thus made was copied and colored by a local artist and was sent to her, from which she made a sample flag that was approved by the committee. It is added that General Washington thought that the stars should be placed in a circle, thus signifying the equality of the states, none
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affidavits to the family understanding of her communications. The story has been assailed chiefly upon the grounds that it is unsup- ported contemporaneously, that the flag was not immediately adopted and had no general use prior to June 14, 1777. Neverthe- lesSy it is a pretty and fascinating story as it stands and has im- mense vogue. The Betsy Boss house, 239 Arch street, has been purchased and is oared for by the American Flag House and Betsy Boss Memorial Association, as the memorial to the reputed maker of the flag.
The authentic history of our flag begins on June 14, 1777, when in pursuance of the report of a committee, the names of the members of which are unrecorded, but which John Adams has the credit of proposing, the American Congress adopted the fol- lowing resolution :
''Besolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes alternate red and white; that the union be thir- teen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation." Whatever may have been the actual origin of this flag, the sentiment which it has conveyed for 137 years was appropriately expressed by Washing^n in these words :
"We take the star from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing liberty."
There was considerable delay in the public announcement of the adoption of the flag, and the design was not officially promul- gated by Congress until September 3, 1777. This flrst flag showed the arrangement of the stars in a circle, but the arrangement was afterward changed to three horizontal lines of four, five and four stars. There are other claimants for the honor of first displaying the flag, but the evidence is quite conclusive that the event oc- curred in New York. The occasion was at Fort Stanwix, built in 1758, and renamed Port Schuyler in 1777, the site of the presait city of Bome, New York. In anticipation of the descent of the British forces from the north, a garrison of some 500 or 600 men had been placed in Fort Stanwix, under command of Colonel Peter Gansevoort, Jr., with Lieutenant-Colonel Marinus Willett
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THE AMEBIOAN FLAG 115
of the recently enacted flag statute, and the making of the flag was determined upon. It was an improvised affair and the fort w<as ransacked for material of which it might be fashioned. It wias made, according to the most trustworthy account, from a sol- dier's white shirty a woman's red i>etticoat and a piece of blue cloth from the cloak of Captain Abraham Swartwout, and raised on August 3, 1777, on the northeast bastion, the one nearest the camp of St. Leger, who had invested the fort The drummer beat the assembly and the adjutant read the Congressional resolution ordaining the flag of the Republic, and up it went ; there it swung, free and defiant, until the end of the siege on the 22d of August. This account is confirmed by Capt. Swartwout 's letter asking for cloth to replace that which was taken to make the flag. This let- ter is in the possession of Mrs. Catherine Cansevoort Lansing, of Albany, New York, a granddaughter of Colonel Qansevoort, and a member of this Association, and reads as follows : *'Dear Sir:
''The great distance which Tour duty calls us Appart obliges one at this time to give You this trouble which Otherwise I would not. You may Remember Agreeable to Your promise, I was to have an Order for Eight Yards of Broad-Cloath, on the Com- messary for Cloathing of this State, In lieu of my Blue Cloak, which was Used for Coulours at Port Schuyler. An Opportunity Now presenting itself — I beg You to send me an Order, inclosed to Mr. Jeremiah Renseler, PayMaster, at Albany, or to Mr. Henry Van Vaughter, Albany, where I will receive it, and You will Oblige me — ^who will Always Acknowledge the same with true gratitude —
''Please to make my Compts to the Other QflScers of the Regim^it.
I am Dear Sir:
Your Hble Servt. Abraham Swartwout Capt. Poughkeepsie, 29th Aug. 1778. Colonel Peter Ganseworth Port Schuyler.'*
The claim has been miade that the Stars and Stripes was first raised in battle at Cooch*s Bridge, near Wilmington, Delaware, on the 3d of September, 1777. The claim is based upon the mere presumption that the American forces had a flag at Cooch's
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Bridge, and local Delaware historians assert that the Fort Stan- wix flag was improvised and that the engagement was simply a skirmish or sally. The flag was made in a hurry, but it was reg- ular and complete, and the three weeks' siege at Fort Stanwix was by no means a mere skirmish. The honor of raising the first flag in accordance with the Congressional resolution clearly be- longs to New York.
If any proof be wanting of the historical importance of the so-called skirmish at Fort Stanwix, it may readily be found in the engaging account of St. Leger's Invasion and the Battle of Oriskany presented at the last annual meeting of this Association by Dr. Freeman H. Allen, of Colgate University, and printed in the proceedings of the Association recently issued. I take the liberty of quoting from Dr. Allen's article, as follows:
**The British plan for taking possession of New York was by a concerted movement by three distinct armies operating upon converging lines. While Sir William Howe was to ascend the Hudson, and General Burgoyne was to advance from Canada by the way of Lake Champlain and the Hudson River, Colonel St. Leger was to go up the St. Lawrence to Lake Ontario, land at Os- wego, and with the aid of Sir John Johnson and his Royal Qreens and the Indians, reduce f\>rt Stanwix on the Mohawk at the eastern end of the 'carry' connecting that river| with Wood Creek, a tributary of Oneida Lake. This army, it was expected, would be augmented by Tory sympathizers as it marched with little opposition down the valley of the Mohawk to Albany, where the three armies of invasion were to meet. Had these plans pre- vailed. New York State would have been in the hands of the British and it doubtless would have proved very disastrous to the American cause.''
The invasion of the Mohawk valley was a vital part of this campaign, and it was stopped at the Battle of Oriskany, and at Fort Stanwix, conspicuous in the history of the Revolution. We must urge upon our friends in Delaware that the Stars and Stripes was first unfurled in battle in New York.
The flag with thirteen stars and thirteen stripes remained the national emblem until May 1, 1795. Vermont had entered the Union March 4, 1791, and Kentucky, June 1, 1792, and a change was thus necessitated in the flag. Not foreseeing the growth of the flag in the addition of both a star and a stripe for each new
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State, Congress passed the following act which was opposed by President Washington on January 13, 1794:
''Be it enaotedy etc., That from and after tho first day of May, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, the flag of the United States be fifteen stripes, alternate red and white ; and that the union be fifteen stars, white in a blue field.''
In this fiag the stars were arranged in three parallel rows of five each, with the blue field resting on the fifth red stripe. This was the national fiag for twenty-three years. It was in use during the War of 1812, and in September, 1814, waving over Port McHenry, it inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Span- gled Banner. With the admission of new States it was very soon seen, however, that the fiag of fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, would not truly represent the Union, and that it would not be practicable to continue adding a stripe for each new State. Eleven months after the fiag of 1795 was adopted, on June 1, 1796, Ten- nessee was admitted into the Union; and Ohio was admitted on February 19, 1803, Louisiana on April 30, 1812, Indiana on De- cember 11, 1816, and Mississippi on December 10, 1817. On De- cember 9, 1816, Hon. Peter H. Wendover, a member of Congress from New York City, offered a resolution
''That a committee be appointed to inquire into the expedi- ency of altering the fiag of the United States." As a result of this resolution an act was passed by Congress and on April 4, 1818, approved by President Monroe, which fixed finally the gen- eral form of our fiag. The act is as follows :
"An Act to Establish the Flag of the United States.''
''Sec. 1. Be it enacted, etc., That from and after the fourth day of July next, the flag of the United States be thirteen horizon- tal stripes, alternate red and white ; that the union have twenty stars, white in a blue fleld.
"Sec. 2. Be it further enacted. That on the admission of every new State into the Union, one star be added to the Union of the flag; and that such addition shall take effect on the fourth of July next succeeding such admission."
There was considerable debate in the House upon the bill, and to Mr. Wendover belongs the credit of pressing it to final passage. The suggestion for the form of the flag, however, name-
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Samuel C. Beid of the United States navy. Legislation has never provided the exact arrangement the stars should take in the can- ton of the flag. Following the last mentioned enactment of Con- gress, the first flag with thirteen stripes and tw^ity stars was hoisted on the flagstaff of the House of Representatives on April 13, 1818. Upon the suggestion of Captain Beid the stars were ar- ranged to form one great star in the center of the union. This de- sign did not gain favor and the stars were soon thereafter ar- ranged in rows. There was much confusion for many years and a great many different arrangements of the stars were displayed. Since the flag with twenty stars was established, a new star has been added on the fourth of July following the admission into the Union of each of the following States:
Illinois, December 3, 1818; Alabama, December 14, 1819; Maine, March 15, 1820 ; Missouri, August 10, 1821 ; Arkansas, June 15, 1836; Michigan, January 26, 1837; Florida, March 3, 1845; Texas, December 29, 1845; Iowa, December 28, 1846; Wisconsin, May 29, 1848; California, September 9, 1850; Minnesota, May 11, 1858; Oregon, February 14, 1859 ; Kansas, January 29, 1861 ; West Virginia, June 19, 1863; Nevada, October 31, 1864; Nebraska, March 1, 1867 ; Colorado, August 1, 1876 ; North Dakota, Novem- ber 2, 1889 ; South Dakota, November 2, 1889 ; Montana, Novem- ber 8, 1889 ; Washington, November 11, 1889 ; Idaho, July 3, 1890 ; Wyoming, July 11, 1890; Utah, January 4, 1896; Oklahoma, No- vember 16, 1907 ; New Mexico, January 6, 1912 ; Arizona, Febru- ary 14, 1912.
The early confusion about the arrangement of the stars has largely disappeared. In the absence of direct legislation, an agree- ment has been arrived at between the War and Navy Depart- ments on the subject. Since July 4, 1912, following the admission of New Mexico and Arizona, the arrangement of the stars in the flags of the army and ensigns of the navy has been in six horizon- tal rows of eight stars each.
Seven times has the Stars and Stripes flown triumphant in war — six times against a foreign and once against a domestic foe.
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II. Witt France— 1798-1800— by which French insults and outrages were avenged. War was not formally declared, but con- flicts occurred on the ocean.
ni. With Tripoli — 1801-5 — by which the capture of Ameri- can ships, the sale of their crews as slaves and payments for their release, were amply punished.
IV. With Great Britain— 1812-15— because of British claims to search American ships and impress seamen therefrom. The war lasted three years, and ,although by it the United States acquired no territory and American grievances were not in terms settled by the treaty, there was no further disposition by Great Britain to affront the American flag.
V. With Mexico— 1846-48— by which in return for $15,000,- 000 and the assumption by the United States of the claims of American citizens against Mexico, that country ceded to it a vast territory.
VI. With the Confederate States— 1861-65. The differences between the Northern and Southern states were settled and the Stars and Stripes waved again over a united people.
Vn. With Spain — 1898 — ^by which Spain was expelled from the western world and large accessions were made to American territory — ^the Philippine Islands, Porto Rico, etc.
And yet in the face of this war record it becomes more and more apparent to the world that our flag is dedicated to peace. Even when what may turn out to be the greatest war in history is being waged in Europe, we flnd guarantees of continued free- dom from war. We have just celebrated at Plattsburg the anni- versary of one hundred years of peace with England. In Balti- more the other day patriotic citizens gathered, and be it noted from the North and from the South, to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the writing of **The Star Spangled Banner.'* It is peculiarly fitting that the national flag should float continually as it does over the grave of Francis Scott Key in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Frederick, Maryland, never being lowered except to be replaced by a new one. During this summer of war also the Panama Oanal has been opened to the commerce of the world. In that canal in the words of Colonel George Harvey, editor of the North American Review, "we are in possession of earth's greatest prize.*' It speaks for world peace when we share the prize with all other nations and keep our solemn agreements even
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thougli they be made only on "scraps of paper." In strange con- trast are the declarations of the crowned heads of Europe upon the war and the proclamation of the President of the United States calling the American people to observe a day of prayer. We know already how genuine find widespread the response to the President's proclamation was in all denominations.
**I commend you to God," says the German Emperor from his balcony to his people in the street, "go to your Church and kneel before God and pray for help for our gallant army."
"We, Nicholas II, by God's Grace Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russians," says the Czar.
"With God's help," echoes Francis Joseph.
"It is God's answer," sings the poet laureate of England.
President Wilson's proclamation reads:
"Whereas, it is the especial wish and longing of the people of the United States, in prayer and counsel and all friendliness, to serve the cause of peace :
"Therefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, do designate Sunday, the fourth day of Octo- ber next, a day of prayer and supplication, and do request all God- fearing persons to repair on that day to their places of worship, there to unite their petitions to Almighty God, that overruling the counsel of men, setting straight the things they cannot gov- ern or alter, taking pity on the nations now in the throes of con- flict, in His mercy and goodness showing a way where men can see none. He vouchsafe His children healing peace again and restore once more that concord among men and nations without which there can be neither happiness nor true friendship nor any whole- some fruit of toil or thought in the world ; praying also to this end that He forgive us our sins, our ignorance of His holy wiU, our wilfulness and many errors, and lead us in the paths of obed- ience to places of vision and to thoughts and counsels that purge and make wise."
Almost coincident with the publication of this proclamation the British admiralty after the destruction of three English cruis- ers by German submarines, in issuing instructions for future en- gagements gave out this direction:
"No act of humanity, whether for friend or foe, should lead to the neglect of the proper precautions and dispositions of war,
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and no measures can be taken to save life which will prejudice the military situation."
Ood forbid that the American flag should ever again be un- der any such military necessity 1
In common with the thousands of our home coming country- men in this time that tries men's souls, €dl good Americans can join in echoing the sentiment so happily expressed by our min- ister to the Netherlands in these words :
So it's home again, and home again, America for me ! My heart is turning home again, and there I long to be. In the land of youth and freedom beyond the ocean bars, Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.
Oh, it's home again, and home again, America for me ! I want a ship that's westward bound to plough the rolling sea. To the blessed Land of Boom Enough beyond the ocean bars, Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.
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SETTLEMENT OF THE BLACK RIVER
VALLEY.
William A. Moore, New Bochelle.
The section of the State to which this paper refers lies imme- diately to the northward of that portion of the Mohawk Valley which has furnished the main topics for th6 program of this meeting. In point of time also, it follows the period discussed by the previous subjects. There is too a logical sequence in its con- sideration, for with the close of the Revolutionary War and the opportunities thus afforded for peaceful occupation the lands lying to the northward of the Mohawk Valley began to attract general attention. It is worthy of comment that a section tra- versed by the trails of the French pioneers and later lost to them by conquest, should have again i>assed to a large extent into the possession of French proprietors by the more certain tenure of purchase. It is they who have left the French imprint in the names of many of the towns and villages of our northern tier of counties. Thus we have the villages of LaPargeville, Chaumont, DePauville, LeBaysville and Orleans, a list which might be multi- plied to considerable proportions.
While the interest of the French investors may in a degree be ascribed to the zeal of American promoters, it is certain that their labors found a receptive response in the friendly feeling en- tertained by the French artistocratic class towards everything American. That French investments should have centered upon this northern section of the State was chiefly due to the influence of one man. His connection with the enterprises for its settle- ment and development is closely linked with Franklin's diplo- mAtic mission to France in the early days of the Revolution. For among the first converts to Franklin's cause was one, le Ray de
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Chaumont, a member of the lesser nobility who occupied a posi- tion of considerable importance at the French Court and was the owner of large estates at Chaumont, on the Loire River between Blois and Tours. It was from Chaumont 's estate at Passy, placed by him at Franklin's disposal, that the American representative addressed that series of letters and papers which have since be- come famous to the world as the "Passy" letters.
Here Franklin resided during the period when his relations with the French Court were still undefined, and it was from this home that he dispensed hospitality and presented to the attention of prominent Frenchmen, both in public and private life, the merits of his cause.
Chaumont 's position in the public life of his day was of suf- ficient importance to have secured for him an invitation to enter the new ministry then forming in 1776 under the leadership of the Due de Choiseul. So engrossed, however, did Chaumont be- come in the American cause that he declined this preferment and chose to devote himself during the succeeding three years to the work of an intermediary between the American representatives and his own government. It is no exaggeration to say that his good oflSces in this direction were one of the foremost factors in the success of the American mission. Meanwhile the relationship between himself and the commissioners, particularly with !Frank- lin, assumed a most intimate character and in this association his son, James Donatien le Ray de Chaumont, then approaching man- hood, participated. Among the services performed by the elder Chaumont was included the collection of the fund which the French people, as well as the Royal Treasury, now began supply- ing to the Colonies and as the knowledge of their pressing needs was forced upon him he came to devote the material part of his private fortune to their use; among other contributions sending a cargo of powder to Boston at the time of the siege, in direct charge of the Consul General. This was followed by important shipments of supplies and munitions to Lafayette's force and later, having previously supplied the ships prepared for the Paul Jones squadron, as the appointee of the French and Colonial gov- ernments, he was commissioned to organize and equip the French fleet which was openly sent to support the American arms. In all this work the son proved an able assistant and at the close of the war, in 1785, young Chaumont came to the United States for
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the purpose of personally conducting negotiations with the newly organized government for the recognition of its financial obligia- tions to the Chaumont family. Owing to the difficulties which beset this critical period of our development, his stay, which ho had first intended to be merely temjwrary, was prolonged suc- cessively from months, into years, and it was not until 1790 that he was finally able to bring his business to a definite conclusion.
Meantime, the young man's views had taken on a maturer coloring and while losing touch with the opportunities for ad- vancement which would undoubtedly have presented themselves to him in his own country, he had not been unresponsive to the infiuences which were taking definite shape in his new environ- ment. It is difficult to say to what extent any one of them con- tributed to the determination which followed. For not only did he take unto himself an American wife, the daughter of one, Charles Coxe, Esq., of New Jersey, but he took the more decisive step of renouncing his French citizenship for that of his wife's country. The settlement of the family business which he had made came most timely, for his father's financial condition, undermined by the great strain to which it had been subjected by his Ameri- can advancements, had reached so precarious a stage in 1790 that he had been obliged to make an assignment for the benefit of his creditors. Shortly after his marriage young Chaumont returned to France for the purpose of assisting his father in the adjust- ment of his estate.
During the son's residence in this country, the more stable conditions which began to prevail gave birth to many schemes of land speculation and with some of the promoters of these young Chaumont not only became acquainted, but formed a more lasting relationship. Among these was Gk)vemeur Morris and William Constable who represented the grantees of the Macomb tract in their dealings with Eurox>ean investors. This grant was among the early official acts of the Land Commissioners of the State of New York, a Board created in 1786 to dispose of the wild lands of the State. This gift of over 3,000,000 acres of the north-land lying between the eastern end of Lake Ontario and along the St.
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About th« time that Chaumont was closmg negotiations with the American government. Constable had succeeded in contract- ing for sale at Paris, with one Peter Chaasanis, of over 630,000 acres of this tract. It was intended that the purchaser should secure the co-operation of French capital for the sale and settle- ment of these lands. While this conveyance was subsequently cancelled by reason of a defect in a survey, Chassanis did take over a smaller tract of over 200,000 acres lying along the west bank of the Black River to the westward from the neighborhood of Castorland in the present Lewis County. This tract was ac- quired by a French association and was thereafter known as **The French Company's Land". Through its efforts, prior to the French revolution, many French investors were led to take in- terests, and some progress was made in opening the tract to French immigrants.
Through his acquaintance with Morris, Chaumont had been persuaded that the American land investments promised lucrative returns. He had begun by acquiring a tract of several thousand acres within the present limits of Otsego County, where he caused to be built the first saw-mill in that part of the country. He placed in charge of this property Judge Cooper, the father of James Fenimore Cooi)er, who left his home in Westchester Coun- ty to take up his residence on the present site of Cooperstown. On his return to France and the settlement of his father's estate, he continued to acquire further acreage, including a large portion of the Macomb grant.
From 1792 to 1812 he engaged himself in enlisting the invest- ment of European capital in American land enterprises. About this time also, as a naturalized American citizen, he was selected with his friend, Govemeur Morris, to go on a special mission to negotiate a treaty of peace and commerce with Algiers. Setting out on this duty he had reached Switzerland when news of his father's arrest by the Revolutionary Committee charged with be- ing an emigrS was brought to him. At once he abandoned his journey and hastened to Paris, where appearing before the Com- mittee he so succeeded in making his influence felt as to secure his father's release and permission to return to his country es- tate. Not daring to again leave France, young Chaumont spent the succeeding unsettled years in negotiations with Belgian and Swiss capital for the sale of the territory which he now held, ex-
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tending from the shore of Lake Ontario, near the mouth of the Black River along the banks of the St. Lawrence, Bud comprising a large part of the present County of Jefferson, together with some of Lewis and St. Lawrence Counties.
Two years previously, a young school teacher from New York by the name of Jacob Brown, becoming acquainted with Rudolph Tillier, the American agent for the Chassanis' lands, had made his way north from Utica with a small party, to the high falls of the Black River, now Carthage, and passing along the old French road reached a point where a stream of considerable vol- ume poured over the limestone rocks into the river, affording abundant water power. Recognizing the value of the location he acquired its ownership and the following year, with a company of twenty, began a settlement which later came to bear the family name (Brownville). Their only communication with the outside world was by boat to the Canadian town of Kingston. Brown's energy and resource attracted Chaumont and he made him his agent to secure settlers for his neighboring territory. That his judgment was amply justified is evidenced by Brown's subse- quent career, for after distinguishing himself by an able defense of the northern frontier during the War of 1812, he received a permanent commission in the United States Army, becoming its commanding general in 1818. The home of General Jacob Brown, a substantial house built of the native Black River limestone, still stands in the Village of Brownville. After the death of General Brown it was occupied by his daughter, who married Colonel Kirby of the United States Army. The latter rendered heroic service in the Mexican War, participating in all of Scott's prin- cipal battles, and returned to his northern home where he died in 1849 of wounds received in that War. On the monument erect- ed to him in the little country cemetery may be read the list of all the wars in which our armies fought during the first half of the Nineteenth Century and in which he was an active partici- pant.
The political and economic unrest prevailing in Prance dur- ing this period seems to have inspired Chaumont with the desir- ability of transferring the family interests more effectively to the United States and in 1806 he sent his family physician, a Frenchman well trained according to the standards of the times, into the northern wilderness charged with the duty of selecting
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a location for his permanent residence. Already the French Com- pany bad located a settlement of some thirty French families near the high falls of the Black River, and small farm parcels were be- ing constantly taken up along its banks by settlers whose only means of ingress into this country was from the little falls of the Mohawk River, or from Utica through a trail which struck the navigable channels of the Black River, thence by its waters to the point selected for their homes; or along the old trail from Oneida Lake through Oswego River by means of the perilous open wa- ters of Lake Ontario, and thence again up the Black River from its mouth. The only pretense of a road was that cut through the forests by the French Ck)mpany from the high falls of the Black River on the east bank, to the great bend of that stream, from which point it diverted to the St. Lawrence River near the pres- ent village of Clayton. A branch diverged from the trail at this point to the opening of navigation on the Black River Bay. Reach- ing the Chaumont holdings by the first named route, the Doctor traveled over a large portion of the property, finally selecting as a site for the proprietary home, a place on the easterly edge of the broad sand belt which extended for more than twenty miles back from the mouth of the Black River and now locally known as *'Pine Plains". This glacial sand bar was at that time covered with a growth of mammoth white pine and its sandy soil and ready supply of water promised admirable sanitary conditions.
Here in 1808, Chaumont caused to be constructed a large frame house after the style of a French country house of the time, and in the latter part of that year he brought his wife, and family of three small children, norlli to take up his residence there. During the succeeding ten years he continued this as his home, varied only by occasional sojourns in New York and a voyage to Prance to care for his French interests which were still large. This time was devoted by him to the development of his Ameri- can properties in which business he engaged a large force of agents, clerks and surveyors, many of whom were brought from France, and whose descendants during the next two generations formed no inconsiderable portion of the population of these com- munities. Sites were selected for saw mills, roads were built by which produce could be transported to the water and all lines of industry received his personal attention and direction in a Way that would best aid the settlers in increasing their own prosperity
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OS well as to render his property more attractive and lucrative. He imported merino sheep and choice breeds of horses from France, introduced French fruits and grains and developed flax cmd linen industries. He planted the mulberry and sought to lay the foundation for the growth of the silk worm. It was due also to his personal influence that the first Agricultural fair to be held in the State was organized in 1816.
His close relationship with Qovemeur Morris and Dewitt Clinton led to his appointment by them in 1812 as the represen- tative of the Board of Internal Navigation to negotiate a loan of $6,000,000 in Europe for the construction of the Erie Oanal. The early outbreak of the War of 1812, however, effectually closed the door to European investments in this country at that time.
About 1832, Chaumont returned to France where he spent the larger portion of the balance of his life, until his death in 1840, directing his American business through his son and oth- er agents. His interest in his adopted country, however, did not cease and the counties of Jefferson and Lewis owe much of the foundation of their prosperity to the impetus of his liberal and enlightened management. His home is still standing on the edgre of what is now the United States Military Reservation, lying to the north of the City of Watertown. Here Chaumont spent the best years of his life. He sought to transplant to the wilderness the conditions of social life which belonged to a French country gentleman of his time. The house was built with a hallway through its center, flanked by rooms of generous proportions and was furnished with all the luxuries which wealth could com- mand at that time ; much of the furniture and plate having been brought from his estate in France. After his death some of the furnishings were sold or distributed to friends and the coveted desire of collectors in the neighboring communities is a piece of the Chaumont furniture or plate. Adjacent to the house were the outbuildings, while its front windows commanded a view across an expansive deer park in which the pines gave way to first growth beech and maple. The approach was by winding roads which Chaumont caused to be laid out through his lands along the lines which he believed to be most serviceable for the develop- ment of his properties. Social intercourse was kept up with other French families in the neighborhood, particularly with tme,
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Madame de Feriet, who had built near the ^eat bend of the Black River a few miles West of the present Village of Carthage.
With the sound of the axe of the pioneer in clearing away the forest was mingled the shouts of the French postilions urging their 4 and 6 horse teams which drew the lumbering family coach along the rough wood roads, as these representatives of an old world aristocracy sought to maintain the customs to which they had been bom under the political conditions of the Old Regime.
As during the period of the Revolution many Frenchmen of aristocratic birth had found a refuge in this country, so with the upheaval following the close of the Napoleonic era another and a different class of immigrants found their way into the northern section. It was to a large extent through Chaumont's acquaint- ance and influence that a party of Napoleon's personal adherents was induced to settle at Cape Vincent, a point at the head of the St. Lawrence river, in about 1816. Among the best known of this company were Count Pierre Francois Real, General Jean Francois Rolland, Camille Amaud, Paul Charboneau and Pro- fessor Pigeon, Secretary to Count Real.
Count Real, who had been the Police Prefect of Paris under Napoleon, had seen an eventful career. Becoming a member of the Bar in 1779 he was Public Prosecutor for the extraordinary Criminal Tribunal created by Danton. After the latter 's over- throw his relationship with Danton led to his imprisonment by Robespierre during the Reign of Terror, which followed. Later under the Directory he acted as the counsel for defenceless pris- oners, but again with the overthrow of the Directory he supported Bonaparte, becoming a member of the Council of State and asso- ciated with the Ministry of Police. On the Emperor's return from Elba, Real was made Prefect of Police. But with the return of the Bourbons to power Real was forced to leave the country and with his fellow associates in exile to which reference has been made, finally found his way to the French communities in the far Northern part of this State. Here they resided in this remote frontier settlement, surrounded by many of their adherents, who later made it their permanent homes. Real built a peculiar resi- dence in the Village of Cape Vincent which from its shape came to be known as the "Cup and Saucer House." Here he resided during his exile and later visits to this country, and it was pop- ularly believed that it was to this house as a home that it was
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intended to bring Napoleon, when the plans which were undoubt- edly made by his faithful supporters, should succeed in rescuing him from St. Helena. How far his residence at Cape Vincent was actually a part of the design may be questioned, but it is certain that Beal and his associates were in active communication with Bonapartist sympathizers in other i>arts of the world until Na- poleon's death put an end to all schemes for his restoration.
Subsequent to Napoleon's death Real returned to BYance, but again spent some time in this country about 1820. As a result of his residence in this northern section however, not a few (arti- cles which were the gift of Napoleon, or had been his personal property, remained in that section.
After Napoleon's death his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, came to this country assuming the name of Count de Survillies. He also through Chaumant's influence became interested in land in- vestments. In 1818, although as an alien he was unable to ac- quire title to real property, he entered into an agreement whereby he took in trust some 120,000 acres of land comprising a part of the present St. Lawrence and Lewis Counties. In consideration of this transfer Bonaparte gave to Chaumont as security certain diamonds and deeded to him other real estate to the value of $120,000. The diamonds in question are said to have belonged to the Spanish Crown jewels.
In 1825, having been empowered to hold land, he took abso- lute title to some 80,000 acres. He seems to have at one time con- templated an extensive dwelling for himself on this property and a clearing for that purpose was made near the present Village of Natural Bridge. Here was erected a rough frame house where he spent a part of two summers in the investigation of his prop- erties. Later, however, his interests in other parts of the country absorbed his attention to a greater degree and he finally sold his New York holdings. His ownership survives in his name which has been given to one of the picturesque lakes in the Adirondack region.
A later land owner was John LaFarge who had been a mer- chant at Havre and through his shipping interests had become in- volved in American investments, acquiring a part of a tract known as "Penet's Square," which had been the subject of a grant prior to the Macomb purchase. LaFarge seems to have paid little attention to his American holdings and it was not until 1824,
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when after taking up his residence in New Orleans he came North to inspect his property, he found that great confusion existed in regard to the land titles and that much of it had already been taken up by settlers who claimed under other proprietors. Suits were therefore brought to establish his title, which he did after a long and expensive litigation. Thus secured by the Courts he took up his residence upon the tract and built a substantial place in Jefferson County near the pleasant Village of LaFargeviUe, a name which is probably familiar to those who have visited the St. Lawrence River.
In 1840, however, tiring of life in this remote section he re- moved to New York, where after the dethronement of Louis Phil- lipe, he became his financial agent in America. His residence was purchased by Bishop Dubois and converted into a Catholic Sem- inary under the name of ''St. Vincent de Paul" for the purpose of training candidates for the priesthood. Owing to the difficulty of access, however, it proved impractical and after continuing for about two years it was removed to the vicinity of New York where it became the foundation for Fordham College.
There are names of others who played a part in the French history of their time which might be added to this list, but sub- stantial as was their contribution to the development of this re- gion they failed to perpetuate to cmy material extent their na- tional customs and institutions. This was due to the overwhelm- ing New England immigration which came in with the pioneers who found their way across the trails to the north or up through the Mohawk Valley from Massachusetts and Connecticut For no part of New York State has so tenaciously retained the marks of its New England ancestry as the lower basin of the Black Eiver and in competition with the vigorous colonizing influences of these settlers the French influences survive only in the names of viUages and communities, otherwise most typically New England.
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EARLY INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING IN THE MOHAWK VALLEY.
Charles Alexander Bichmond, D.D.y LIi.D., President of Union College, Sehenectady.
The early history of education in the Province of New York is not soothing to our vanity. There is evidence that New Yorkers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were a little ashamed of it. It was felt by some of our colonial forbears to be something of a disgrace to be obliged to send their sons to New England for a college education. Massachusetts, always forward in this field, had founded Harvard in 1636, only sixteen years after the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers. Connecticut in 1701 had established Yale. New York, settled in 1614, richer and larger than either, was nev- ertheless more illiterate — a significant and oftrrepeated pheno- menon.
It is said that in 1746, outside of the clergy, who, of course, have always been men of learning, there were only thirteen men in the Province of New York who had a college degree. For many years there were only two. At length, in 1754, more than one hundred years after Harvard and one hundred and forty years after the settlement of Mpanhattan, Song's College, now Columbia, was chartered. The funds were raised by a lottery and by a tax on rum, Trinity Church sanctifying the proceedings by making over a portion of the royal grant known as the Bang's farm. Dur- ing the Revolutionary War the college was suspended for a time.
Tn 17AJ. I'll A 'Rrkoivl /\-P 'R.ArrAn-fa txroa /vi*rvoni9A/l tarxA i\r\ek n^ i+a
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the governor and legislature stating that : * * Whereas a great num- ber of respectable inhabitants of the counties of Albany, Tryon (now Montgomery) and Charlotte (now Washington), taking into consideration the great benefit of a good education and looking upon the town of Schenectady as in every respect the most suit- able and commodious seat for a seminary of learning in this State or i>erhaps in America, have presented their humble petition," etc.
It was to be called Clinton College. The charter was drawn, but, for some reason, never signed. Again in 1782 another petition was presented, the citizens of Schenectady pledging an estate of about 8,000 pounds. How much this contribution meant to them may be known from the fact that fourteen years later the whole population of the town was 3,472, of whom 583 were electors and 381 slaves. For some unknown reason even this heroic effort came to naught. But they were not to be denied.
In February, 1785, the citizens of Schenectady established an academy, which ten years later became Union College. The peti- tion upon which the original charter was secured, dated Decem- ber 18, 1794, begins in these words :
** We, the subscribers, inhabitants of the northern and western counties of the State of New York, taking into view the growing population of these counties and sensible of the necessity and im- portance of facilitating the means of acquiring useful knowledge, mfkke known that we are minded to establish a college upon the following principles:
''1. A college shall be founded in the town of Schenectady, County of Albany, and State of New York, to be called and known by the name of Union College.
2. The said college shall be under the direction and govern- ment of twenty-four trustees, the majority of which trustees shall not at any time be composed of persons of the same religious sect or denomination."
The granting of the charter, February 25, 1795, was celebrat- ed, we are told, by great rejoicing — ^the ringing of bells, firing of cannon, display of flags, bonfires, and a general illumination. General Schuyler wrote Dominie Dirk Bomeyn, of the First Re- formed Church, prime mover in the enterprise: "I sincerely congratulate my fellow citizens of Schenectady in particular, and the whole of the northern and western parts of the state in gen-
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enal, on the facility with which they will be able to obtain a col- legiate education for their children. May indulgent Heaven pro- tect and cherish an institution calculated to promote virtue and the weal of the people. Please to request the gentlemen to whom has been confided the subscription paper to the funds of the col- lege to add my name to the list for 100 pounds. (Signed) Philip Schuyler."
There were two distinctive features in the founding of Union College. First, it was the result of a popular movement. The funds were provided by popular subscription. Neither oil, nor tobacco, nor iron, nor beer form the foundation of the fortunes of higher education in the Mohawk valley. And, second, it was es- tablished upon the broad basis of religious liberty and Christian unity. Union was the first non-sectarian college founded in this country. Of the earlier colleges, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, and Williams were Congregational; William and Mary, St. John's, «md Columbia, Episcopalian; Brown, Baptist; Princeton, and Hampden-Sidney, Presbyterian; Rutgers, Reformed Dutch, and Dickinson, Methodist.
The non-sectarian college was something new in American education. It is a matter of no small pride to mb that the first college in the Mohawk valley should sound the note of religious liberty which has become the dominant note in American educa- tion.
The new college adopted aa its seal the motto, "In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas."
In the meantime the good seed of education was beginning to germinate in the very heart of this region, where Samuel Eirk- land, patriot, pioneer and preacher of the gospel, had for nearly thirty years labored with a zeal and devotion unsurpassed in the annals of missionary enterprise. First in his mind seemed to be the education of the youth of the five nations of the Iroquois Con- federacy. Well might this be so, for the settlers were few in numbers. In Utioa there were in 1794 but two houses, and in 1795 but six. His plan was to establish an academy at which English youths might be admitted and a certain number of Indian youths to be ''instructed in the principles of human nature, in the history of civil society, so as to be able to discern the differ- ence between a state of nature and a state of civilization, and know what it is that makes one nation differ from another in
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wealthy power and bappiness; and in the principles of natural re- ligion, the moral precepts^ and the more plain and express doc- trines of Christianity/'
In 1793 the Hamilton-Oneida Aoademy at Whitestown was incorporated by the Regents; by the same act the Schenectady Academy received its charter. Hamilton College grew out of the first and Union from the second. Struggle, hardship, sacrifice was their daily lot; poverty was their portion, but they were hardy plants and the struggle for existence developed in them a tough- ness of fibre and an essential vitality which enabled them to draw sustenance from a soil which would have starved and stunt- ed a feebler sort of life. President Timothy Dwight of Yale, in his *' Journey to Whitestown," in 1799, tells us that^ **this semin- ary is already of considerable importance and contains fifty-two students of both sexes under the care of two instructors." He describes Utica as '*a pretty village containing fifty houses."
Meantime, in 1803, Fairfield Aoademy, in the town of Fair- field, Herkimer County, was incorporated by the Regents and began its honorable and highly useful career. In 1809 a medical college was established under its care. In 1816 a provisional col- lege charter was granted under the name of Clinton College. The enterprise was under the auspices of the Protestant Episcopal Church. This afterwards became Geneva, now Hobart College.
Some famous men went out from the old Fairfield Academy, including Asa Gray, the botanist, and many another whose name is known in the annals of the nation.
In 1805 the trustees of Hamilton-Oneida Academy petitioned the Regents for a college charter, but without result. Again in 1811 the petition was renewed, stating that the "academy is sit- uated in a healthy part of the country among a sober, discreet and well-educated i>eople, contiguous to a number of flourishing vil- lages and very near the local center of the state." Once more the petition was denied.
At length, in 1812, the charter was granted. Some opposition was made by Fairfield Academy, which had ambitions of its own. None was offered by Union. Indeed it is pleasant to record that in the conduct of the lottery subsequently authorized by the State "for the benefit of higher education and for the promotion of morals," the interests of Hamilton were generously cared for by Eliphalet Nott, the president of Union. In the original edition of
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the session laws there is fidded this n^te : ''Much credit is due to the unwearied exertions of the able and eloquent president of Union (College in procuring its passage." The lottery was not au immediate success and the affair dragged on for years. It was settled at length, however, and both Hamilton and Columbia re- ceived a part of the proceeds, although Union took the lion's share, a result which might have been easily prophesied from the fact that Dr. Nott was the manager. We are told in the Scriptores that '*the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. ' ' We believe that Eliphalet Nott was a child of light, but no child of this world in his day and generation was wiser than he.
The conditions of life were not easy ; plain living there was, if not high thinking. Log houses were their homes. It was only by soant fare and incessant toil that these early settlers were able to spare their sons from the farms and scrape together the $77 a year for board and tuition at Hamilton College. As for the teach- ers themselves, they must have lived on Greek roots.
In 1769 a clergyman in Scotland sent to Samuel Kirkland the sum of thirty pounds, saying that he ''had a most savory account of his uncommon labor of love and hardships in the Master's ser- vice." Kirkland, acknowledging the gift, says: *'This will be not only the first thirty pounds, but the first thirty shillings I ever had that I might in any sense call my own. I have never had any salary since I embarked in the arduous cause, nor ever asked for one."
The first president of Union was to have $750 a year, with one tutor to assist him. He did all the teaching. In 1797 his sal- ary was $1,100. The tutor received $665 a year, with an addition of $250 "on account of the extraordinary price of the necessities of Ufe."
The boys at Hamilton rose summer and winter at 5 :30 o'clock. There was chapel at 6, and recitations till 7 by the light of tallow candles. There were no fires in these rooms, and the president sometimes preached in overcoat and mittens.
The personal habits of the teachers in those days were closely supervised. In the Union College library there is preserved this curious pledge: "This agreement, made this twentieth day of March, 1800, witnesseth, that the subscriber hereunto will not be- tween this date and the first day of June next, ensuing, neglect his
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school through moans of his getting intoxioated with any kind of liquor whatsoever, under forfeit of five dollars for each time. Kne to be stopped out of his school pay by me, Bartholomew Scher- merhom. Signed by John Hetherington."
In the early Union catalogaes we have the items of total ex- penses for a year amounting to about $100. It is stated that board at the temperance table is a little less. I once sought in- formation on this suspicious item from John Bigelow, of the class of 1835, but he professed entire ignorance as to its meaning. Other extracts from the catalogue are :
''The government is for the most part parental and preven- tive; those students who do not submit to it are silently dis- missed.
"Athletic exercises are encouraged and ample grounds are furnished free of expense for those who prefer devoting their hours of recreation to agricultural pursuits."
The decennial reports of the Regents in the early years of the last century are interesting, as showing the relative strength of the three colleges then existing in New York State. We quote from the Regents' minutes:
"1803. Columbia : Efforts being made to complete a building begun some years ago; aid recommended.
"Union: Promises fair. Its funds increasing, but not enough to pay expenses."
This last sentence might stand for a perennial statement of the situation at Union College and at cdl other institutions of learning.
"1813. Columbia, Union, Hamilton reports show an increas- ing degree of prosperity in each, and great benefits conferred.
"1823. Columbia: Students, 130; graduates, twenty-nine. Union : Students, 239 ; graduates, sixty-six. Hamilton : No report." "1833. Columbia: Students, 100; graduates, twenty-four. No students have entered the literary «uid scientific course dur- ing the year. Union: Students, 225; graduates, sixty-nine.
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''1863. CoIombiA: Students, 186; expenditures, $25,462. Union: Students, 205; expenditures, $26,482. Hamilton: Stu- dents, 163; expenditures, $9,770. '*
Between 1830 and 1850 both Union and Hamilton had passed Columbia. By 1825 Union had passed both Harvard and Yale in the number of her graduates, and for a quarter of & century was perhaps the most famous college in the country. When we think of Columbia, with her 13,000 students, some may be disposed to regard the record of these earlier days with a kind if wistful re- gret, but some of mb are not sorry that Union and Hamilton have not grown away from the original type.
The big university, the educational department store, the edu- cational experimental station, are products of this age. They have their luses, and most important uses, but they do not and can- not do the work which colleges such as Hamilton and Union are doing. Greatness is not to be measured by size. Judged by any true standard these two may justly be called great. The influence they have exerted upon the educational, political and religious life of tbds State and of tfao country is hardly to be measured. The roll of notable men they have sent out is too long even to be called, but, confining ourselves to the field of education alone, I may remind you that there are colleges in every part of the land that owe their success, if not their very existence, to these old colleges in the Mohawk valley. Especially is this true of Union.
The first president of the University of Michigan ; the first president of the University of Illinois, of Kalamazoo College, of Elmira, Smith, Yassar and Knox Colleges, and of Brooklyn Poly- technic Institute, were Union College boys. Besides this Union has given presidents to Princeton, Brown, Bowdoin, the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania, Rutgers, Madison, Lafayette, Jefferson, Franklin and Marshall, Hobart, Kentucky, Racine, and New York University; and to Union College, four of its ten presidents. Re- markable indeed has been our influence upon higher education
• 'I * y-\ M tt 1 At,?_ -hr^t i_ t^ J.1 I- - ^^4.^
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ed last summer, it wias declared that tbe educational policy of Michigan and Illinois was determined by two men. One was Henry Philip Tappan, the other was John Milton Gregory. One became the first president of the University of Michigim, the other the first president of the University of Illinois. Both of them were graduates of Union College.
Prom Hamilton have gone out apostles of liberty like Qeritt Smith; scholars, teachers and preachers of righteousness, men of influence in literature and politics, such as Thomas Hastings, An- son J. Upson, Henry Kendall, Edward Robinson, Charles Dudley Warner, James S. Sherman, and last, but surely not least, Elihu Boot.
The praise wo give to the good old times is no doubt often conceived in ignorance and nourished on delusion. They were not always better, those good old days. So far as the curriculum goes the college of the early years of the last century was hardly more than a high school We do that sort of thing better now. But we have paid high for this eflSciency ; we have well nigh lost out of our education the spirit which was the moving impulse and the ruling spirit of those early days.
I mean the missionary spirit. The thought at the heart of the men who prayed and wrought to lay tho foundation of Union and Hamilton and Hobart in the old academies at Schenectady and Whitestown and Fairfield, Dominie Dirk Bomeyn, Samuel Kirk- land, and Amos Baldwin, was the greater glory of Gtod. They would found colleges to educate men who would go out to make the world better, not that they might make themselves richer; the motive was missionary, not mercenary. It has not been so in the founding of our more modem institutions of learning, and in so far we are greatly the losers.
It is good for us to recall, for our inspiration, the story of the struggles and triumphs, the sacrifices and the successes of those early days. It is good for us also to look into the hearts of those pioneers of education and read the beautiful secret of their devotion. No utilitarian scheme of thought could have founded such colleges as Union and Hamilton. It was because there were men found who cared more for the Kingdom of God than they did for all the kingdoms of this world; men who held intellectual
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and spiritual supremacy to be more than commercial supremacy, men of plain living and high thinking, men with a mission and an evangel, sent of Qod to this high enterprise; it was because there were such men among the early inhabitants of this valley that we possess today so proud a record of achievement. These are our aoademic ancestors. From them we hold our present heritage, a high and sacred trust, of which we pray we may not be found un- worthy.
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By Henry J. Gookinhain.
Delivered before the Oneida Historical Society at Uticai December 14, 1903.
In preparinR the followinsr address it was found impossible to giYe, in the time allotted, even a brief sketch of the lives of all the prominent attorneys who had died since 1876. The plan adopted therefore was to giYe a sketch of the life of every lawyer who had filled the office of Justice of the Supreme Court, or an office considered more honorable.
On October 18, 1875, William J. Bacon, ex-Justice of tho Su- preme Court of the State, delivered an address in this city before the lawyers of the County on "The Early Bar of Oneida." The last of the eminent lawyers mentioned by him in that address was Justice Charles H. Doolittle, who had died during the previous summer. Since that day not less than eighty-eight members of the bar of this County have laid down their labors forever.
Circumscribed by a time limit it is impossible, except in some instances, to treat of the different individuals. It will be neces- sary rather to divide them into classes, and as such to present them for your consideration. While the endeavor wiU be to give the opinion of the bar, generally, of the most prominent of those who have gone from our midst during the last quarter of a century, undoubtedly there are those who will differ widely from the views here expressed.
To say that a man has been admitted to the bar is one thing, but to say that he is a lawyer, as understood by the profession, quite another. To be admitted to the bar is simply to be per- mitted to practice law, but to be a lawyer is to have a knowledge of the fundamental principles upon which the law is founded. This can be acquired only by diligent study and deep thought It is an old wise saying that **no man knows law intuitively." The great lawyers of the past were mode so by the study of
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text books and by storing their minds with the accumulated wisdom of the ages. It would be surprising if a man in his en- tire lifetime should read the law books which Mr. Webster mas- tered before he was thirty years of age. If Webster required this prodigious amount of work to place him at the head of Ids profession, surely any other man must devote a large amount of time to like study in order to gain a place in the front rank at the bar.
Natural talents alone will never make a great lawyer, but must be supplemented by diligent study and close application to the profession. Then, too, there are certain qualities of mind imperatively demanded. These are a keen perception, discrim- ination, comprehensiveness and good judgment. Let it be remem- bered then that it is not as orators, politicians or statesmen but as lawyers only that the subjects of this paper are to be treated. Is it not true that by a concensus of opinion every member of the bar is, by his brethren, placed in the particular class to which he belongs? In other words, is not the estimate of the bar con- cerning its own members fair and correct? This estimate is fre- quently, perhaps, generally very different from the popular one. It is not infrequent that some member of the bar is comparatively unknown outside the profession. He fills no prominent place in the community; he really hides his light under a bushel, yet, among his fellow lawyers, is held in very high esteem. Such is the case with some of those who will be mentioned here.
It will not be questioned that most men are better fitted for some branches of the profession than for others. There is by nature the business man, the advocate, the pleader, the sound counselor. Sometimes, but rarely, nature showers upon a favorite son her richest gifts, and presents to the admiring world her great man, endowed to an extraordinary extent with all these essential qualities ; then we have a Burke, a Mansfield, a Marshall, a Webster.
It seems eminently fitting that the first to be considered here should be he, who, twenty-eight years ago, presented to the bar of the County so admirable a paper on our brethren who had preceded us in the **tide of times."
At this bar, which numbered some of the foremost lawyers in the State, few surpassed WILLIAM J. BACON in attractive- ness and acquirements. He was bom in Williamstown, Massa-
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chuaetts, February 18, 1803, and graduated from Hamilton College at nineteen years of age. For a year he edited the Utioa Daily Gktzette, then commenced the study of law in the office of Joseph Eirkland. He was admitted to the bar in 1828, and during the same year married Eliza, daughter of Mr. Eirkland. He was a second time married after the death of his first wife, to Mrs. Susan S. Gillette. In 1850 he served as Member of Assembly, and was re-elected the following year. He served in the State Legis- lature with great distinction, and so commended himself to the public and the bar that in 1853 he was elected Justice of the Su- preme Court, and was re-elected in 1862. As the term of this office at that time was eight years. Judge Bacon served upon the bench for sixteen years. On his retirement a meeting of the bar of the County was held in Utiea to express its appreciation of the ability, integrity and fairness which bad characterized him in his high office for so long a time. Virtually without opposition in his own party, he was the candidate for Representative in Congress in 1876, and served one term in the House of Representatives. His standing as a lawyer and as a man was such that the opinion of no one in the central part of the State had greater weight than his. He was a director in many of the most important business enterprises; was a trustee of Hamilton College, a director and the President of the Savings Bank of Utica. He always respond- ed to the call of the public, and did his share in good works for the city, the county, for charitable institutions and the churches in his native city. Judge Bacon as a lawyer at the bar, was near the front rank. He brought to the office of Justice of the Supreme Court a ripe scholarship, broad culture, honest inten- tions, and, after serving two terms in that high office, he retired from the bench having the respect and confidence of the entire judicial district. His opinions in the appellate courts are models of English and, although they lack the strength of som,e others, none surpass them in elegance of diction and refinement. As a judge and citizen he left an enviable reputation.
ALEXANDER SMUTH JOHNSON was bom in Utica, July 30, 1817. His father was Alexander B. Johnson, and his mother Abigail L. S. Adams. He prepared for college at a private school in Utica and entered Yale College in 1835. His room-mate was the late John F. Seymour of this city. Mr. Johnson studied law
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with Judge Samuel Beardsley, and was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-one. In 1839 he removed to New York City and became a partner with Elisha P. Hurlburt, and afterwards with Charles P. Southmayd and Charles R Butler. In 1851 he was elected Judge of the Court of Appeals. It will be observed that he was at this time only thirty-four years of age, and it is worthy of remark that he was the youngest man who ever sat upon the bench of this court In 1852 he married, at St. Cath- erines, Canada, Catherine Maria Cryster. On retiring from the bench in 1860 he returned to Utica and resumed his law practice. In 1864 he was elected one of the Regents of the University of the State of New York, and in the same year was appointed by President Lincoln one of the United States Commissioners to settle the claims of the Hudson Bay Company and Puget Sound Com- pany. In 1873 on the elevation of Judge Ward Hunt, who was serving in the Commission of Appeals, to the Supreme Court bench of the United States, Judge Johnson was appointed by the Gbvemor to succeed Judge Hunt in the Commission of Appeals. The next year, on the death of Judge Rufas Peckham, of the Court of Appeals, Judge Johnson was transferred from the Com- mission to the Court. He was nominated by the Republican i>arty for the full term of a judge of this court but, as the State went Democratic, he was defeated. In 1875 Gtevemor Tilden named Mr. Johnson as one of the Commissioners to revise the statutes of the state. In October of the same year he was appointed Judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Second Circuit. In 1877 he became ill, and for relief went to the Bahwna Islands. Here he found no relief, and he died January 26th, 1878, and was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery at Utica. Judge Johnson was a man of broad culture, thoroughly versed in the principles of law ; conscientious, painstaking and faithful in all his duties, and dur- ing his judicial career he stood in the front rank among judges, state and federal.
CHARLES MASON, although not a native of Oneida County, and notwithstanding he made Utica his home late in life, became identified with the Oneida bar, and was welcomed by it to one of the most prominent positions in the county. He had served as District Attorney of Madison County, and for more than twenty years as Justice of the Supreme Court, having been first elected
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in 1847. He had been a Judge of the Court of Appeals, to which position he was appointed by Gtovemor Fenton in 1868. Judge Mason was bom at Plattsburg, New York ; studied law in Water- town with William Buger, and for a time practiced there as a I>artner with Mr. Buger under the firm name of Ruger & Mason. Prom Watertown he removed to Hamilton in 1838, where he pass- ed most of his life, as he did not move to Utica until 1869. He died in Utica May 31, 1879. Immediately on his taking lip his residence here, the advice of Judge Mason was sought in many im- I>ortant cases, and perhaps no one who ever commenced practice in Utica in so short a time gained so prominent a positon at our bar as he. His advice was highly valued among laymen, and also by the profession ; and, as referee, in which position he fre- quently served, he was almost ideal.
In a class with these men who filled high official positions are many others who, perhaps, by reason of natural gifts, acquire- ments, and conscientiousness were their equals, but who never sought, or if they sought, never obtained, high judicial office. Such were Alexander Cobum, John 6. Crocker, John H. Ed- munds, John F. Seymour of Utica ; Bloomfield J. Beach, D. M. K. Johnson and 6. Harrison Lynch of Rome, and Othniel S. Williams of Clinton.
There was also a large class of lawyers who may be called all round practitioners. They were well e'iuipped in most branches of the law, and having a general practice they had no time, and perhaps no inclination, to devote energy enough to any particular branch to excel in it and thereby gain fame. They chose to cover a large field and stand well in many branches of the practice. Id this class of honorable men are : George W. Adams, Daniel Ball, Joseph E. Swan, Peter Davies, Alexander T. Gtoodwin, Richard Mlclnerow, Eaton J. Richardson, Joel Willard, N. Curtis White, Robert 0. Jones and Leslie W. Keman of Utica ; Cyrus D. Pres- cott, K. Carroll, Edward L. Stevens, Henry 0. Southworth, Charles N. White and David E. Wager of Rome ; Walter Ballon and Leander W. Pisk of Boonville ; Gteorge K Carroll and Stephen CromweU of Camden; Joseph S. Avery and James McCabe of Clinton; Sylas L. Snyder of Taberg; and Edwin Lamb of Water- ville.
After entering the profession most men soon discover that some certain branch of the law suits them better than others, and
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they seek its pursuit. This has in the past, and will in the future, cause a large number to devote themselves to what may be called the commercial side of the profession. These attorneys never devote themselves to study suflSciently to become very learned in the law. They, instead, give their time to business transactitms, becoming acquainted with nven, and looking up law business, and in these pursuits they are very effective. Their advice is sought as to the expediency of purchasing property, making investments, entering into contracts, undertaking business enterprises, but not often upon difficult questions of law. Foremost in this class was Orsamus B. Matteson, who, in his prime, was one of the most ef- ficient business men that the city has ever known. It is probable that the largest commercial law business ever done by any firm in the city was by Matteson & Doolittle, of which partnership Charles H. Doolittle was the junior member. It was a i)opular saying of the day that *' Matteson knew how to gjet the business, and Doolittle knew how to do it."
Then there were Edward Brayton, James W. Bond, (Jeorge Clarence Churchill, Charles M. Dennison, Henry A. Doolittle, Eldmond A. Graham, Hiram Hurlburt, Burton D. Hurlburt, Arthur B. Johnson, Nicholas E. Eeman, James F. Mann, Ad- dison C. Miller and Andrew J. Mcintosh. Among this number are some of the most esteemed citizens of the community. Some of them, by their capacity in grasping business propositions, ac- cumulated fortunes in a legitimate way, and not by blind pools, illegal combinations of corporate interests, or accidental success in speculation. Who would ask for better advisors in ordinary business transactions than Addison C. Miller or Nicholas E. Ker- nan? So might I ask in regard to others of the number who acted well their parts as business men.
In passing over the list, names suggest to us faces of those we once saw on our streets, but which no longer appear. They lived, as most men do, without accomplishing any great result, but some of them lead conscientious and pure lives and are en- titled to our lasting respect. There were William R. Anthony, Rufas C. Baker, Charles L. DeGeorgia, John D. Griffith, James F. Hurley, Morvin M. Jones, William J. Keman, Rutger B. Miller, Jr., Eugene Steams, Richard Schroeppel, Eleakin J. Stoddard, Isaac J. Tripp and J. Frank Rogers of Utica; James
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Parks, Stephen Van Draessar, Joseph Porter and DeLos M. White of Eome, and James W. Cummings of Clinton.
There has been during the last quarter century a class of lawyers among us which may be called tut generis Among these were 0. Arthur White, Patrick P. Bulger, Charles J. Everett, Thomas E. Kinney and David C. Wollcott.
We have had also another class of attorneys which may be called only trial lawyers. They were always at the circuit, and their business consisted largely of the trial of ordinary cases and of criminal practice. No circuit or trial term of a criminal court was held during their respective lives except that con- spicuous among the members of the bar in attendance were Dexter E. Pomeroy, J. Thomas Spriggs of Utica, Milton D. Bamett, Daniel C. Pomeroy and Joseph I. Sayles of Rome. Of these, in ordinary trials, particularly for the defense, Mr. Spriggs easily outclassed the others. Possessed of a genial dis- position, great shrewdness, and having a fair equipment of gen- eral acquirements, but little knowledge of the law, he was always a dangerous adversary before a jury. He possessed the power to discern quickly the weak points of his antagonist ujyon ques- tions of fact, and used them to the very best advantage. For the plaintiff, or for the defense in a criminal case where the crime was murder or some other of great magnitude, Daniel C. Pomeroy ranked high in the class. He made no pretense of having a thor- ough knowledge of law; he trusted this part of the practice to others, but in arousing the sympathies or prejudices of a jury he was ever effective. In presenting his case to the jury he was always interesting, and at times his speech rose to real eloquence.
Prom the fact that during the last twenty-eight years four men have practiced at the Oneida bar, who attained greater reputation than any others, we are constrained to class them by themselves. Three were United States senators, and the fourth a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Francis Keman, Ward Hunt, Henry A. Foster and Roscoe Conkling.
Bom of Irish i>arents on a farm in Tyrone, Schuyler County, New York, January 14, 1816, and trained in the open air, the best school for giving perfect health and habits, FRANCIS KER- NAN at the age of seventeen entered (Georgetown College, Dis- trict of Columbia, and in 1836 graduated and commenced the
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Study of law with his brother-in-law, Edward Quinn, at Wat- kinsi New York. In 1839 he removed to Utioa, and entered the olBBoe of the famous advooate Joshua A. Spencer, to complete his law studies. He was admitted to the bar in 1840, and had determined to remove to the west when Mr. Spencer offered hun a partnership. This offer he accepted, and the firm of Spencer & Eeman was formed, which was the foundation of the Eeman law office, that for more than fifty years has held one of the foremost i>ositions in this city and county. Mr. Eeman was married to Hannah Devereux, daughter of Nicholas Devereux, May 23rd, 1843. It is said that in order to have the general principles of law fresh in his mind he read Eent's Com- mentaries through every year during his early life. His ambition was to excel, and he knew that the road to success lay through the old beaten track of hard work. In 1853 the firm of Spencer & Eeman was dissolved, and that of Eeman & Quinn formed. In 1857 Mr. William Eeman was admitted to the partnership, which was then known as Eeman, Quinn & Eeman. Still later, and after the death of Mr. Quinn, Mr. Eicman's sons, respectively John D. and Nicholas E., were admitted to the firm. From 1854 to 1857 Mr. Eeman was the Reporter of the Court of Appeals, and the five volumes of New York Reports, commencing witii the 11th and ending with the 14th, are his work. The Democratic party made him its candidate for Member of Assembly in 1860, and he was elected over General James McQuade. In 1862 he de- feated Roscoe Conkling for member of congress, but two years thereafter was defeated by Mr. Conkling for the same office. He served as a Delegate in the Constitutional Convention of 1867-8, and in 1870 was elected to the Board of Regents of the University of New York. The State Democratic Convention of 1872 nomin- ated him for Governor, but the popularity of General Grant, who was the candidate of the Republican party for the presi- dency was such that New York remained in the R^epublican col- umn, and General Dix was elected Governor over Mr. Eeman. In the election of 1874 the Democrats obtained control of the state legislature, and the logical candidate for United States Sen- ator was Mr. Eeman. He was elected without serious opposition to fill the office for six years from March 4, 1875. This city and county then enjoyed the unusual distinction of having both United States Senators from the Empire State. Mr. Eeman was
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ever an enthtudastic advocate of free schoolsi and beginning in 1843 he served for twenty years upon the school board of this city. As eminent and successful as he was in other walks of life, yet it was as a lawyer that he was most conspicuous. His exper- ience at the bar was second to no one who ever lived in this coun- ty. Long after he had reached the front be would try cases in the lower courts. One day he might appear in the County Court in a case involving a few hundred dollars; the next day in the Court of Appeals to argue some momentous question involving large sums of money, grave constitutional questions or important corporate rights. He manifested the same singleness of purpose and devotion to the interest of his client in one case as in the other. Any ease entrusted to his care received his best endeavor. He was always serious in the conduct of a trial. The interests of his client were not to be trifled with. His i>osition was clearly stated by himself to a friend to be this: "When I commenced practice I worried over the results of my cases, but I soon decid- ed to do the very best I could in every case, and let the conse- quences take care of themselves."
In eliciting evidence from a witness Mr. Eeman manifested great shrewdness, and in addressing a jury he showed the same characteristic. It was this more than eloquence or persuasive- ness that won him verdicts. His voice was somewhat harsh, and he never indulged in flights of eloquence or flgures of speech when addressing a jury. He resorted to no claptrap; he relied on convincing the jury through their reason rather than influencing them by exciting their prejudices or sympathies. As an illustration of his shrewdness one instance may be cited. He was defending a man for murder. The defendant had killed a man by hitting him with a stone not much larger than a hen's egg. The district attorney had shown that at the time the de- fendant threw the stone he said with an oath he would kill his victim. This was relied upon 1x> show premeditation and malice. In addressing the jury Mr. Keman in a conversational tone of voice called attention to the circumstances, stated the case clear- ly, presenting all the strong points which the district attorney could make, and then picking up the stone from the table he showed it to the jury, and still speaking in a conversational tone, said: "Now gentlemen, do you believe that defendant really intended to murder his friend when he threw that little
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stone and said he would kill him? Did he not use the expression in the same sense as any of us might use it, and without any idea of committing murder?" The jury evidently took this view of the case, as the conviction was for manslaughter in the third degree instead of murder. As effective as Mr. Kernax was in a jury trial, he was yet nwre so in his legal arguments in the higher courts. A search through the reports will show that he was frequently before the appellate courts upon some of the most important questions ever presented to/ the courts of the state. His briefs wjere masterly; never unnecessarily long, and never contained citations of cases which did not apply to the facts. He first mastered the case so far as the facts were con- cerned, and made a most concise and clear statement; then he applied the law to the facts. He cited few cases, but they were alwjays on the question at issue, and were decisive of the point which he claimed for them'. Every appellate court listened to his arguments with the closest attention, for it obtained from him great help in coming to a correct conclusion in the case. It is almost useless to say that for more than twenty years he was the leader of the Utica bar, and one of the most eminent lawyers in the entire country. Francis Keman died at Utica, September 8, 1892, and his body rests in St. Agnes Cemetery in the city wjhere he passed all the years of his manhood, and we bring our tribute to him in the words of Pitz Greene Hal- lock over his friepd J. Rodman Drake,
**None knew him but to love him,
None named him but to praise. '*
In March, 1886, there appeared in a prominent newspaper the following: ** Utica has other sons adopted and resident here, and it has sent into other parts of the Union those who have earned civil and judicial decoration. Of its sons, bom and raised, and always making their homes here, it is not too much to say that the most distinguished, he who has won the rarest honors and occupied the most of the attention of his profes- sion, lies now in the coflBn of WARD HUNT.
Passing through many judicial positions be finally attained the hicrhest. save one. under the erovemment. This nrominftnftft
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saw the light of day. His father was Montgomery Hhiiit, cash- ier of the Bank of Utica and his mother the daughter of Cap- tain Joseph Stringham of New York. H|e prepared for college at the Oxford and Geneva Academies; entered Hamilton Col- lege but went from there to Union to be under President Nott, and graduated in 1828. In after years he received from his alma mater and also from Rutgers College the degree of LL. D. His law! studies were pursued at Litchfield, Conn, and in the oflBce of Hiram Denio of this city. After admission to the bar in 1831 he became a partner with his former instructor under the firm name of Denio & Hunt. Within a short time af- ter admission he conmienced the trial of cases in all the courts, and soon gained a prominent position among the trial lawyers of the county. He was also soon known throughout Central New York as a safe counsellor. In 1838 Mr. Hunt w<as elected to the Assembly, but only served onei tenn. In 1844 he was elected Mayor of Utica over Frederick Hollister. In the prac- tice of his profession he so commended himself to his party and the public that in 1853 he was nominated by the Democratic party for Justice of the Supremei Court, his opponent^ being William J. Bacon. As there was a division in the Democratic party in the district Mr. Hunt was defeated. Soon after this the controversy over slavery which preceded the Civil War arose, and many Democrats, including Mr. Hunt, gave their support to the new party in its fight against the extension of slavery and the claims of the South.
Mr. Hunt never sacrificed or neglected his professional en- gagements for pleasure or for politics, but devoted his best en- ergiesi first and always to his profession. HJs experience in varied and important litigations well fitted him for high judicial ofiSce, and so comimended him, that he was nominated by the Republican party for Judge of the Court of Appeals in 1865. It is noteworthy that he was elected and took the seat on the bench vacated by his former partner. Judge Denio. By the resignation of one judge and the death of another in this court he became the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals. By an amendment to the state constitution this court wtas reorganized, and the old court was continued under the name of the Commission of Appeals. Judge Hunt served in this Commission until January 7, 1873, when he resigned to accept the position of Justice of the Supreme
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Court of the United States, to which position he had been ap- pointed by President Grant. For ten years he filled this high of. fiee with marked ability and unquestioned integrity, then on ac- count of failing health, in 1882, he resigned. His health did not improve, and on March 24, 1886, he died in Washington, D. C. His body rests in Forest Hill Cemetery of this city. Through his long career as attorney and judge he received the respect of the public. With every instinct of a gentleman, with a broad cul- ture obtained by study, thought and association with the best of the land, with a uniform courtesy and honesty of purpose, to- gether with a dignity ever the same whether in his own office, on the street in the trial of causes, or in the high offices to which he wias elevated, Ward Hunt commanded the respect and admir- ation of every member of the bar who ever came into his pres- ence.
One of the most prominent lawyers of this city said recently that as '*a clean cut lawyer'' HENRY A. FOSTER was the equal of any man anywhere. This remarkable man was bom at Hart- ford, Connecticut, May 7, 1800, and died at Rome on the 11th day of May 1889.
His legal education was acquired in the office of David B. Johnson of Cazenovia, B. Davis Noxon of Onondaga Hill, Onon- daga County, Beach & Popple of Oswego, and James Sherman of Rome. He conmienced trying cases in the Justice Court before he was admitted to the bar and it was then said of him that wjhen Foster was in a case **it meant business.'' In 1822 he was ad- mitted to the bar ; and, he had acquired such a reputation for the trial of cases in the Justice Court that on the same day that he was admitted he wlas assigned to defend a criminal against the famous Samuel Beardsley, who was at that time district attorney. The case presented some new and intricate questions of law which Foster argued with marked ability and procured an acquit- tal. In 1826 Mr. Foster was nominated for Member of Assem- bly, but failed of election. The next year, when he was only twenty-six years of age, he was appointed Surrogate of the County, and held this office until 1831 wjhen he relinquished it to become State Senator, to which office he had been elected. He was during three years, beginning in 1826, Trustee of the village of Rome and Supervisor of the town for five years. In August,
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1835, he was again appointed Surrogate, and resigned the position in 1837 to take his seat in the United States House of Representa- tives. In 1840 he was again elected state senator. Before his term expired he resigned to accept the appointment of United States Senator. His failure of re-election to the United States Senate, and the disappointments attending it, gave color to all his after life. FnHn that time forth he wlaa irascible and impatient. These characteristics frequently worked to his disadvantage. President Pierce appointed him in 1853 United States District Attorney for the Northern District of New York, but he declined the office. Until the agitation over the slavery question assumed such proportions as to threaten the nation's life, Mr. Foster had been a Democrat, but soon after the formation of the Repub- lican party he became a Republican. In 1863 he was nominated by his party for the office of Justice of the Supreme Court, and elected. On his election he removed fromi Rome to Oswego, and resided there until his term of office expired, when he returned to his former home at Rome, and there he lived and practiced his profession until a short time before his death. It is questionable whether there was ever an abler Justice of the Supreme Court in this state than Foster. His knowledge of law was so great, his memory so remarkable, his perception so quick that he seemed a very prodigy when upon the bench. As an illustration of his mar- velous memory it is related by an eminent lawyer that he met Judge Foster, long after his term of office had expired, and spoke of a case that he had tried before him many years before. He found that the judge remembered it to the minutest detail and he then said to him, ** Judge Foster, I am astonished to know that you remember this case." The judge replied, **I remember every case that was ever tried before me."
At a court held by him in this city an important case was tried by Roscoe Conkling on one side, Francis Kernan and J. Thomr as Spriggs on the other. He had mlany difficult questions of law to decide on the spur of the moment, and he showed great abil- ity in his rulings. The evidence was completed; the case was summed up by Mr. Conkling on one side, and Mr. Kernan on the other. Then the judge gave one of his masterly charges to the jury. Mr. Conkling after hearing the charge turned to a friend and said ** Judge Foster knows everything." It was not
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alone in the field of law that his unusual acquirements appeared. He had an unusual knowledge of science, literature, mathe- matics, philosophy, geography, almost everything. Not long before his death he appeared as counsel in an important case at a Special Term in this county. The Judge who held the court and who has since died, after hearing Poster's argument, said, **He is the noblest Roman of them all.'' As a judge, Foster w^ sometimes very impatient. This was always the- case if a lawyer, addressing the court, failed to make his point dear or if he wan- dered from the point at issue or repeated an argument. He could not tolerate a repetition. He considered it a reflection on his own comprehension. He wtould say sharply to counsel, "You have said that once sir." On one occasion when an attorney ap- peared before him and asked for an unusual and improper order he said to him, in the hearing of the entire bar at court, **It is evident, sir, that you are a very poor lawyer." On another oc- casion it is reported that an attorney, who had made a motion and saw that he was to be beaten, interrupted the court when it was rendering its decision by saying, **If your honor please, the first of Barber is dead against you." To which the judge replied, '*The first of Foster holds, sir, that you sit down." It will readily be seen that Foster's court wes an unpleasani place for a poor lawyer. It was also no place for a case which had nc merit. His quick perception would soon distinguish the true from the false and his endeavor wbs to so shape the trial that the right would prevail. He was sometimes, for this reason per- haps, justly criticised for undertaking to control the verdict of the jury. His ability, however, was so great that if he chose he could charge a jury in such a way as to almost invariably pro- cure the verdict that he desired. Judge Foster "was utterly free from anything like pretense or assumption. He was always ele- gant and dignified in his bearing, but his impatience and irascibil- ity made him dreaded as an adversary at the bar, and feared when upon the bench. Yet his high character, great ability and unusual acquirements placed him very near, if not at the very top, of the l^al ladder in this county.
Although it is as lawyers only, that this paper treats of its subjects, yet, with some trepidation, it presents for consideration, one of the most interesting characters that has ever appeared in
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this county. On October 30th, 1829, at Albany, New) York, BOS- COE COKKIiING was born. His father was Alfred Conkling, a man of acquirements, a lawyer of eminence, and, at one time, Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern Dis- trict of New York. His mother was Eliza Cockbum. When thir- teen years of age the young man was placed in the Washington Collegiate Institute in New York and remained there for one year. He attended the academy at Auburn, New York, for three years, beginning in 1843, to which city his father had removed from Albany. Impatient of study in the schools and not electing a college course but rather desiring to be in active life, he com- menced his law studies in the office of Spencer & Keman in Utiea in 1846, and was admitted to the bar in 1850, about six months before he became tw)enty-one years of age. He was exceedingly fortunate in being on friendly terms with the influential men in his political party, and on April 22, 1850, was appointed Dis- trict Attorney of this county. It is probable that he was the youngest man who ever held that office in the State of New York. The duties of this office are such that he obtained at once a varied experience. He was imtaediately called upon to try im- portant criminal cases, and from, the first he showed the metal in his composition. Under the firm name of Walker & Conkling he practiced law for several years. In 1858 he was married to Julia, daughter of Henry Sejnnour, and sister of ex-Qovemor and John F. .Seymiour of this city. During that year he was elected Mayor of the city, and in the fall w|as nominated by the Eepublican party for the office of Representative in Congress. This was brought about by a political conference held at the resi- dence of General R. U. Sherman in the house that stood upon the comer of Eagle and Kemble Streets. (Several years since the house was removed from the lot and the lot has remained vacant since). The conference was called to agree upon a candi- date for Representative in Congress in opposition to Orsamus B. Matteson, who had served for several years in Congress, and was the political leader, and, for years had held undisputed sway in the county, but by reason of serious complications in his official life had provoked intense feeling and opposition. There were present at the conference Mr. Conkling, Ward Hunt, Richard U.
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Mr. Conkling waa selected aa the candidate to oppose the Matte- son element in the party. Charles H. Doolittle was the opposing candidate, and a bitter fight for the nomination followed. Mr. Conkling was nominated in the convention, and elected over P. Sheldon Root, the Democratic candidate. Before the termination of his term of office the question of war between the states, filled the minds of the people, and, in the exciting election of 1860, which made Abraham Lincoln President of the United States, Mr. Conkling was re-elected to Congress by an increased major- ity. In 1862 he was defeated by Francis Keman, and in 1864 he defeated Mr. Kernan for the same office. Division in the Re- publican party in 1866 threatened to defeat him, but within a few days before election the tide turned in his favor. Palmer V. Kello^, who had been one of his staunchest supporters, had been nominated by a body of men calling themselves Independent Republicans, and he was adopted as the candidate of the Demo- cratic party. Mr. Conkling, however, received a handsome ma- jority after one of the most remarkable campaigns ever experi- enced in the county. It has been said many times by the friends of Mr. Conkling, that the most effective speech of his life, was delivered during this campaign in Old Concert Hall, which stood upon the lot now occupied by the post office. This wlas a meeting of the working men's party, a vast majority of whom, up to that time, were supporting Mr. Kellogg. Mr. Conkling *8 address at this meeting was so convincing that he changed the sentiment of the audience, wihich was adverse to him at the beginning, to an overwhelming sentiment in his favor. In the winter of 1867 he was elected to the United States Senate, and re-elected in 1873 and 1879. Soon after his election to the senate in 1873, he was tendered by President Grant, the nomination of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Still later in 1882, he was appointed by President Arthur and confirmed by the senate to the position of Associate Justice of the Suprenie Court, but he declined both offices.
It seems almost incredible that a lawyer who filled such im- portant positions as Mr. Conklingi had, and who had never slighted the duties demanded, should have any time to devote to the practice of his profession. With ordinary men such would have been the case, but Mr. Conkling is not to be classed with ordinary men. In his case, as in that of all others who have at-
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ained in the world, the story vrfm ever the same, work, work, work. It would be a safe estimate that out of the twenty-four hours of the day, he wtorked eighteen. Up to the time of his election to the United States Senate he made it a practice to at- tend every circuit court held in the county, and he was invariably retained in every important trial. His adversary was almost in- variably Francis Keman. The reason for this is apparent. The plaintiff on bringing an important suit, naturally retained one of the ablest attorneys in the county, and this forced the defendant to retain the other. When such a case was on trial the Court House was invariably crowded with spectators, not because of the interest in the case, but in the counsel at the bar. It was an event never to be forgotten by a lawyer, to attend court presided over by Poster or Doolittle, and hear Conkling and Keman conduct a trial. The practice of Mr. Conkling was largely confined to the trial of civil actions, although occasionally he defended a criminal charged with some high crime, and in a very few instances he as- sisted district attorneys in prosecuting a criminal who was charged with a serious offense. He argued few cases on appeal. The Court of Appeals reports show that he never appeared in that court more than four or five times, and the same is true as to the General Term of the Supreme Court. He occasionally, but not frequently, appeared in trials in the United States Circuit Court, and on some occasions he argued cases in the Supreme Court of the United States.
After the dissolution of the firm of Walker & Conkling Mr. Conkling was associated with Montgomery Throop. This firm existed from 1855 to 1862. Afterwards he formed a partner- ship under the name of Conkling, Holmes & Coxe, and on its dis- solution the firm of Conkling, Lord & Coxe was formed; Scott Lord and Honorable Alfred C. Coxe being the partners. After Mr. Conkling retired from the Senate, and in November, 1881, he opened a law oflSce in the City of New York. Among those who sought his services almost immediately were Jay Gould, Thomas A. Edison and C. P. Huntington. The cases in which he was retained were of great interest and involved unusual and difficult questions of law. There were invariably arrayed against him in these litigations, some of the leaders of the New York bar, and seldom, if ever, was he over-matched. Amon^ other cases of importance which he argued in the Supreme Court of
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the United States, were The County of San Mateo vs. The South- em Pacific Railroad Company, Cook County National Bank vs. The United States, and Marie vs. Garrison. After his death there were many expressions of opinion in regard to Mr. Conklinj? as a lawyer, by prominent judges and lawyers who had known him during his career in New York City. Perhaps Judge Ship- man of the United States Circuit Court has given the truest esti- mate of his standing in the metropolis. He said: ''I thought him a great and profound lawyer, and that he wotdd have been in the front rank of his profession at any time or place. He did not have the accurate learning of Judge B. B. Curtis, or the great wealth of legal knowledge of Mr. 0 'Conor, but I was exceedingly surprised to see how much he had retained after his long congres- sional career. His affluence of language and of illustration was great; but he had a wonderful power of statement, and he was an inventor in the art of decorating his statement so as to make it attractive.*'
Mr. Conkling was however essentially an advocate. When at times he took part in important trials on the same side with Mr. Keman, Mx. Doolittle, or with any other eminent counsel, in every instance he made the argument to the jury. This clear- ly shows that all associated counsel recognized him as their su- perior in that particular branch of the practice. Early in life Mr. Conkling commenced making the most thorough preparation for the trial in every case. It was his custom to take very full notes of the evidence on the trial. In this he was very proficient, as he wrote a very excellent hand, and very rapidly. As nearly all the trials in which he took part required several days, and sometimes weeks, he occupied his time at night in preparing to sum up the case. He wrote out from time to time during the trial, portions of his argument. This enabled him to be ready at the close of the evidence to present the case to the jury from his written argument, whicb he held in his hand much of the time while speaking. He once said that he would rather stand up be- fore a jury and look the twjelve men in the eye, than to do any other thing in the world. Many times during the trial of a case he would startle those upon his own side by the audacious way in which he would conduct the trial. This might occur in regard to the examination of a witness or in his method of presenting the case to the jury. Many trials, civil and criminal, might be
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mentioned to show Mr. Conkling's peculiar ability and tact be- fore a jury. Perhaps in no case ever tried by him was this shown to better advantage than in Northup against Richardson.
The action had been brought on the foUowting facts: A wo- man, riding in a carriage, was approaching Utica from Marcy. On reaching the bridge over the Mohawk river the carriage was struck by a milk wagon, overturned, and the woman precipitated down an embankment. She claimed to be seriously injured.. The milk wagon was owned by a farmer and was driven by his son. The woman lay upon a bed for two years after the accident. Her husband finally brought suit against the father of the boy for damages. The trial was had in Utica; Mr. Keman and Mr. Spriggs for the plaintiff, and Mr. Conkling for the defendant, and it lasted about two weeks. The woman was brought into court upon a bed, and for two days gave her testimony. The scene was pa- thetic in the extreme. Mr. Conkling treated her with great kind- ness, but cross examined her carefully. When the evidence was closed the sentiment of the court, of the audience, and undoubted- ly of the jury was very strong in the woman's favor. Mr. Conkling addressed the jury for several hours, making perhaps one of the best arguments he ever made to a jury. He took the startling ground that the woman was absolutely well; that she could leave the bed and walk out of the court house; that she was honest in the belief that she could not walk, but that she was mistaken. Against the strong argument made by Mr. Eeman on the other side, and a charge favorable to the wloman by Judge Bacon the jury rendered a verdict in Mr. Conkling 's favor. Now comes the sequel. Angered by the fact that she had lost the case, the woman arose from her bed that very day and walked the streets of Utica. Could even modern Christian Science have wrought a more complete cure?
Mr. Conkling 's method in presenting a case to a jury and also in arguing questions of law to the court, has been inordin- ately praised and severely criticised. Both his admirers and critics have at times been right. His speeches were always very elaborate, very ornate, and contained all manner of figures of speech. Some very good, and some very defective. Take for instance these: In the case of The People of the State of New York V. Dennison, argued before the Court of Appeals, he char- acterized the case as "a halcyon and vociferous proceeding.'* Tt
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might be asked what that phrase means t In sommling up the case of Smith vs. The New York Central Railroad, referring to a prominent witness and ofBcial of the road, who M^ore a diamond pin on his shirt front, he said, ^'The time will come, gentlemen of the jury, when the diamonds which sparkle on Major Priest's bosom will buy less salvation than the merest pebble at the bot- tom of the spring of the poorest beggar." In another instance he referred to a witness who was addicted to drink as follows: ''His mouth spread over his face, a fountain of falsehood and a sepulchre for rum."
Although as an advocate Mr. Conkling ranked among the foremost in the state, his success was not due so much to wjhat he said, as the way he said it. The effect upon the jury was pro- duced by him much in the same way as George Whitfield affected his audiences, of whom it was said that he could pronounce the word ''Mesopatamia" so as to bring his audience to tears. Mr. Conkling 's splendid physique, graceful manner, round, full, melodious voice, and the power of his personal magnetism, was almost resistless. He did not persuade the jury; he overpowered them, and made his will theirs. Give him the last speech to a jury, and if the case was anywhere nearly balanced on the evidence he would win a verdict. Although he was always listened to with close attention by the appellate courts, he was not so effective here as at the trial. Had he devoted his entire life to the study and practice of law, he would have ranked as a lawyer among the foremost that the country has ever produced, but no man can be so great that he can gain the very front rank at the bar without devoting substantially his lifetime to the profession. For a knowledge of law and the ability to apply it to given facts, per- haps Hunt was his equal, and Poster and Keman his superiors, yet, for all in all, had he an equal among us! What one of bXL the lawyers who has lived in the entire country during the last twen- ty-eight years except Roscoe Conkling, would have refused a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States, or to be its Chief Justice!
As we call up the past before us now, we see Hunt, cultured, elegant, dignified; Keman, resourceful, earnest, persistent; Pos- ter, fiery, combative, prodigy of legal learning; Conkling im- perious, aggressive, resistless. These four, with all the rest who
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have gone before us to the land of the hereafter, we bid hail and farewell.
Mr. President, with your permiasion, we turn from the dead to the living. Brothers of the profession, when twenty-eight years more have told their tale, few of us who are in the fight today will remain. Over us, then, may some friendly word be said. To that end, and while we yet faithfully protect the rights of the plaintiff and the defendant, shall we not so conduct our- selves as to be helps, not hindrances to each other t And, in our endeavors to right the wrongs of humanity in our respective spheres, may truth prevail over error, and justice be meted out to parties litigant.
LIFE SKETCHES, PREPARED AT THE REQUEST OP THE ONEIDA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, AS AN AP- PENDIX TO THE FOREGOING ADDRESS.
JOSEPH S. AVERY was the son of Professor Charles Avery of Hamilton College. He was bom in Fairfield, Hierkimer Coun- ty, August 27, 1826. Hie was graduated from Hamilton Col- lege in 1848. He taught at Binghamton for one year, and studied law ia Clinton with his brother-in-law, 0. S. Williams, and for a time was associated with him in business there. In 1857 he was appointed postmaster by President James Buchanan. He served until 1860, when like many other Democrats he left the Democratic party in consequence of its position in regard to slavery, and be- came an ardent Republican. In 1863 he was elected Surrogate of Oneida County on the Republican ticket, and served in that ca- pacity for fourteen years, this being the longest period of time that any Surrogate has ever served in Oneida County. After the close of his term of office he commenced practicing law, and (^ened an office in Utica in partnership with his brother Theodore, and continued to practice law down to the day of his death. His business was confined almost exclusively to the Surrogate's Court, and in this particular the firm of J. S. and Theodore Avery did the largest business of any firm of lawyers in Oneida County. Mr. Avery drew a great number of wills, and it is safe to say that
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the wealthiest citizens, because of their confidence in him in this particular respect. He married Jennie I43aria Wilcox, daughter of Charles Wilcox of Middle Settlement, Oneida County. Mr. Avery was a man of high standing, of excellent character, and no breath of suspicion ever attached to him in any of the affairs placed in his hands. He died at Clinton, November 14, 1895.
GEORGE W. ADAMS was bom at Waterville, Oneida Coun- ty, New York, in 1833. He removed from there to Jefferson County and attended the Jefferson County Institute, where he prepared for college. To procure means to finish his education he carried on a private school at Boonville. He graduated from Union College with the class of 1859. Thereafter he came to Utica and commenced the study of law! in the office of Charles B. Doolittle. He was admitted to the bar in 1864, and almost immediately formed a partnership with Eaton J. Richardson under the firm name of Richardson & Adams. This firm exist- ed until 1877, when James P. Mann was admitted to the partner- ship. Mr. Mann remained a partner for only a few years, wfhen the partnership again became Richardson & Adams; this exist- ed for some years, but was finally dissolved by the death of Mr. Richardson. Mr. Adams continued his practice alone. He had a general practice, and was ever an honorable and fair adversary in all of the proceedings entrusted to his care. He married Laura Crouse, an adopted daughter of Daniel Crouse of Utica, N. Y. His wife died some years before his death, which oc- curred at Utica August 21, 1896.
JOSEPH BENEDICT w(as bom in Belford, Westchester County, N. Y., April 11, 1801, and died in Utica February 18, 1899. He practiced law for some time in Madison County prior to his taking up his residence in Utica, and removed from that county to Utica when he was thirty-seven years of age. Soon afterward he was made City Attorney, and in 1851 he was elected to the New York Assembly, and again in 1854. He published a work on Justice Court practice, which was the standard book for many years. It was known as Benedict's Treatise on Jus- tice Court Practice. Mr. Benedict in consequence of his ex- cellent care of himself, and temperate habits, lived to a great age. He was found at his office nearly every day, attending to his
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professional duties until he was more than ninety-five years of age ; in fact he continued to practice law up to within about one year of his death, and it was claimed for him that he was the oldest practicing! lawyer in the entire country, if not in the world. Mr. Benedict was twice married, both of his wives dying before him. He had the great satisfaction of having great-grand- children while he w!as still alive, who loved and respected him.
WALTER BALLOU was bom in Boonville, June 21, 1839. He wa9 educated at the high school of Boonville, and graduated from Whitestown Seminary in 1857. He was a soldier in the Union army in the Civil War, having enlisted in Company D, 146 Regi- ment, in 1862, and was almost immediately commissioned first lieutenant. He was wounded at the Battle of Fredericksburg, and having had typhoid fever, which incapacitated him for duty, he was honorably discharged from the army in December, 1862. He studied law in the oflSce of Henry R. Hadley of Boonville and w«u9 admitted to the bar in 1868. Soon after his admission he formed a partnership with Thomas S. Jones under the firm name of Jones & Ballou, which firm existed for four years. Then he became a partner with Leander W. Pisk under the firm name of Fisk & Ballou ; this firm continued for three years. After that Mr. Ballou practiced at Boonville without a partner. Mr. Ballou was originally a Republican, but having differed from his party on the subject of reconstruction in the south, he became a Demo- crat, and wlas appointed Deputy Assessor of Internal Revenue by President Johnson, and in 1875 he was elected to the New York Assembly. He was nominated for Representative in Congress in 1888, but was defeated by James S. Sherman. Mr. Ballou was stricken wjith apoplexy on his way to the cars to attend court at Lowville on the 8th day of April, 1899, and died almost immedi- ately. Be was a man of good reputation, a good lawyer, and left many friends to mourn his sudden death.
BLOOMFIELD J. BEACH was bom in Tabei^, Lewis Coun- ty, June 27, 1820. He wlas educated in the common school, Rome select school, and entered Hamilton College as a sophomore in 1835. He remained there for two years, and then went to Princeton, from which institution he graduated in 1838. He first took up the profession of civil engineer, and for two years
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was employed on the Erie Canal. In 1840 Mr. Beach studied law in Rome with Calvin B. Gay, and was admitted to the bar in 1843, and was a partner with Mr. Gay until 1846 ; then he be- came a partner in the firm of Stryker, CcHnstock & Beach. The next year Mr. Stryker retired from the firm, and it remained Comstock & Beach until 1855, when Mr. Beach retired, and formed a partnership with the late Alexander H. Bailey under the firm name of Beach & Bailey, and this firm existed until the death of Mr. Bailey in 1874. Then Mr. Beach formed a partner ship with David E. Wager, which firm continued up to Mr. Beach's death. In 1847 he was elected to the Assemibly, and was a prominent member of that body, serving on important commit- tees, and holding a prominent place among his fellow members. Mr. Beach was prominently connected with most of the industries and business institutions of Rome; was trustee of the Savings Bank and of the Water Works Company, President of the Cen- tral New York Institute for deaf mutes; trustee of the Rome Iron Works, Merchants Iron Mills and the Rome Copper Company; di- rector of Ft. Stanwix National Bank and the First National Bank of Rome, and of the Rome & Clinton Railroad. He was president of the village of Rome in 1853-54 and 1863. He mar- ried Fannie Whittemore of Nassau, N. Y., and after her death and in 1874 he married Miss C. Elizabeth Bacon of Sing Sing. As a lawyer Mr. Beach ranked very high, as he had a thorough knowledge of the general principles of law. He tried few cases, but no man in the county was better counsel than he upon ques- tions of law and business. He was ever honorable in his relations with men, and stood in the front rank of lawyers in the county for integrity.
PATRICK F. BUIiGER was bom at Athy, County of Queens, Ireland, December 29, 1848. While he waai yet a small child his parents emigrated to America and located on a farm in Bhil- ton, Oswego County. Hjis education was obtained in the pub- lic schools and Falley Seminary at Fulton. After graduating he taught school one winter and saved money with a view of tak- ing up his law studies in Utica, which he did in 1869, entering the office of Seymour & Weaver as a student. He wtos admit- ted to the bar in 1871. In 1874 he was elected City Attorney of Utica by the Democrats, and in 1875 he was elected Record-
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er by the same party. As the office of Recorder was abolished, and that of City Judge substituted, Mr. Bulger was appointed City Judge and served for four years in that capacity. He was appointed by Mayor Wheeler, Police and Fire Commissioner. For a time he practiced lawt with John 0-. Jones as a partner. He was a member of the Utica Citizens Corps and of several charitable societies of Utica and vicinity. In 1877 he married Mrs. Catherine Bridgman, daughter of Michael McQuade, and widow of Captain William G. Bridgman. Mx. Bulger had warm friends, and he did many charitable acts which endeared him to many people wbo learned to come to him for aid in case of sore necessity; and it is safe to say that wben he had the means he never turned a supplicant away with an empty hand.
Unexpectedly on Junt 4th, 1894, came the sad news that WHi- LTAM H BRIGHT, Surrogate of the County, was dead. He had been for many years a great sufferer from the eflfects of a wlound received in the civil war, yet, notwithstanding this he had passed through his college course at Colgate University, studied law, ob- tained a prominent place in his profession, and as Surrogate of the County, had elevated his court to a dignity that it had never before known. Mr. Bright was bom at Pulaski, N. Y., April 27, 1842, wias the son of Edward Bright, a prominent Baptist minister, and at the time of his enlistment in the army he was a resident of Wisconsin. After being honorably discharged from the army, in consequence of losing his right arm and receiving another severe wound, he took up his studies and graduated from Colgate Univers- ity (then Madison University) in 1869. He studied law with Judge Charles Mason in Utica, and was admitted to the bar and practiced at Utica until he became Surrogate of the County. He wias a man of unusual ability, of dauntless courage and unquestionable integrity.
GEORGE CLARENCE CHURCHILL was bom in Utica, N. Y., April 14, 1829. He was the son of Alfred Churchill, who for many years was the proprietor of Bagg's Hotel. He prepared for coUege in the Utica schools, and entered Rutgers College in the class of 1851, graduating with his class. He followjed the pur- suit of a civil engineer for several years; was engaged on the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad, and afterward for about one
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and one-half years as one of the engineers for the XTtica & Black River Railroad. As his health did not admit of the rugged life required of an engineer he abandoned it and took up the study of law in the office of Mann & Edmunds of Utica, and was admit- ted to the bar in 1857. For a time he practiced lawv but he be- came engaged in so many business enterprises that he gave sub- stantially all his time to business rather than to the practice of his profession. He married Annie S. Brayton, daughter of Harvey Brayton of Rome, N. Y., and left but one descendent, Mrs. E. D. Matthews. Mr. Churchill was connected with many of the large business enterprises of Utica; was a director of the Second Na- tional Bank, a trustee of many of the charities in and about Utica, was a trustee of his alma mater, and devoted much time and con- tributed liberally from his large means to the support of educa- tional and charitable institutions. He was respected by all who knew him, and among all the citizens of XTtica it can be said of him as of but few others, that he had perhaps not one enemy on earth.
JOHN G. CROOKER was a man with strength of mind and was able to grasp the situation with more than usual precision. He appears but little in the state courts, but gave a good deal of attention to patent law, and for many years was acknowledged the foremost lawyer in Central New York in this specialty. Mr. Crocker's work on ** Sheriffs" was for many years a standard work upon that subject in the country. He also wrote a work upon ** Patents," but it was not received by the profession with the same favor as the work upon sheriffs, although he was a clear, concise and strong writer.
GEORGE K. CARROLL dropped dead on the street in Cam- den, January 2, 1878. He was bom in Springfield, Otsego Coun- in that part of the country, and went to Camden about 1850 as a clerk in the office of his brother, Baron Carroll. He was ad- mitted to the bar and practiced law at Camden all his life. He married Miss Linkfield about 1850. He was trustee of the vil- lage for several years, member of the board of Excise three terms, and was elected to the New York Assembly in 1872. He was also a candidate for the same office in 1873, but whs defeat- ed by Patrick H. Costello. Mr. Carroll stood well at the bar, and left a large circle of friends to mourn his sudden death.
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KIEON OAKaaOLL was bom in Springfield, Otsego County, January 6, 1826, and died at Borne, N. Y., January 5, 1878. The manner of his death was miost tragic. His brother George K. Carroll residing at Camden, had dropped dead upon the street January 2nd. His funeral was appointed for January 5th at Camden. Mr. Carroll was to take an early train, but overslept and hastened to dress and go to the railroad station. It was a bitter cold morning; he started to walk rapidly to the station, but before reaching it he dropped dead upon the street. This incident in connection with the death of his brother a few days before, in the same manner, is a powerful reminder of the un- certainty of this life. Kiron Carroll w(as a graduate of Union College, and studied law with George Cary at Cherry Valley. He was admitted to the bar and came to Camden about 1851, resided there a little more than a year when he removed to Rome, and there he lived and practiced his profession during the remainder of his life. He had a good general practice, was a good lawyer, and had the respect of the entire bar of the county.
One of the most cultured men who has died during the quar- ter century past in this county was EKASTUS CLARK. He was the son of Erastus Clark, the man who gave Utica its name. He was bom in Utica on the 20th day of November, 1818, pre- pared for college here, and graduated from Hamilton College in the class of 1838. For twfo years he followed mercantile pursuits in New Orleans, but returned to Utica in 1841, and studied law in the oflSce of Spencer & Kernan. In 1844 he edited the Utica Daily Gazette in company with the late General Richard U. Sherman; later he served as City Attorney of Utica, and afterwards for a time edited the Rochester Evening Gazette. Still later he edited respectively the Utica Daily Herald and Daily Gazette. He was elected recorder of the city in 1855, and again in 1859. On the election of Chauncey M. Depew( to the office of Secretary of State, he appointed Mr. Clark his first deputy, and Mr. Clark remained as the first deputy under Mr. Depew's successor, holding the of- fice for four years. In 1871 he was again elected recorder of Utica, and it may be said that upon all these occasions Mr. Clark's standing in the city was such that he always received a very large support from the opposing party, being elected recorder against a usual adverse majority. In 1880 he was appointed by
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President Garfield postmaster of the city. Hte wbs for a time en- gaged in the insurance business under the firm name of Clark & Bagg. As recorder Mr. Clark administered the criminal law so tempered with mercy that his work wrought many a reform in criminals that, perhaps, a less wise and merciful judgment wy>uld not have accomplished. He died at XJtica, December 81, 1900.
ALEXANDER COBURN died in Utica, N. Y., November 25, 1894. He was bom August 18, 1807, at Woodstock, Wainman County, Conn., on a farm and lived with his father who was a farmer until he wJas fourteen years of age. He then went to Bradford Penn., and remained there with an uncle until he was seventeen years of age. In summer he worked on farms and taught school in the winter until he was twtenty-five years of age. He then came to New York State and attended the Stockbridge Academy at Munsville. There he prepared for college and en- tered Hamilton College in the class of 1833. Hje left, however, and taught one term at Stockport, Columbia County, and did not graduate until 1837. In the fall of that year he commence.! studying lawj with Joseph Benedict, late of Utica, and who at that time was a lawyer at Sherburne, N. Y. In 1838 Mr. Coburn came to Utica, and was connected with Oliver M;. Benedict, who w|as then practicing law in Utica. He was admitted to the bar in 1840, and for a time was a partner with WCr. Benedict. Af- terwards he was a partner with the late Samuel B. Garvin, but Mr. Garvin removed to New] York, and Mr. Coburn 's health was so poor that he was not able to practice law. He was, however, in 1845 nuade City Attorney, and in 1850 he was Justice of the Peace, and held that office for some time, but in 1854 he resigned in consequence of ill health. In 1867 his health had so improved that he wlas able to practice his profession again, and he entered the office of Senator Roscoe Conkling as managing clerk, and re- mained there until 1870, when he entered the office of Spriggs and Matthews in the same capacity. After a short time he formed a partnership with 0. Arthur White, and practiced law under the name of Coburn & White, for about a year, when this partner- ship was dissolved and he entered the office of Spriggs & Mat- thews as managing clerk, and held this position to 1886, when he virtually retired from business. Mr. Coburn was a man of excel- lent acquirements, and as a lawj^er he stood in the front rank for
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ability, learning and integrity. His almost morbid diffidence pre- vented his attaining the position in the public mind that he was entitled to, although lawyers who knew him recognized his un- usual acquirements. Perhaps no one in the county was consulted privately by other attorneys more than he. He w(as always ready to advise younger attorneys gratuitously, in regard to legal mat- ters, and his opinion was highly valued by all who came in con- tact with him. During the time he acted as managing clerk for the different attorneys he held a very high place in the office. Although he did not take part in the trial of cases at the circuit, he very frequently argued cases in the General Term of the Su- preme Court and in the Court of Appeals. He was a fair antagon- ist, but one to be feared unless the opposing counsel had mas- tered his case. No law! point escaped Mr. Cobum, and his briefs were masterpieces of work. He had a very retentive and accurate memory. He knew the text books, and was ready to turn im- mediately to controlling cases upon almost any point called in question. I well remember the last time I ever saw him. It was a short time before he died, and after his eye sight had become so impaired that he could not read. Hie called at my office to as- certain whether or not he had remembered some statutory law correctly. He stated what be thought the law was, and asked me to look it up and see whether or not he was correct. It was a pleasant duty to perform for Mr. Cobum, as I had frequently consulted him in his palmy days upon questions of law*. When I turned to statutes which he inquired about I found that he had remembered them absolutely and stated the law correctly. Mr. Cobum married Cordelia L. Wood, daughter of John K. Wood, of Madison County, in January, 1841. He had no children, and upon his death the family became extinct, at least in this part of the country. Mr. Cobum was, as a man and lawyer, highly re- spected; he was a modest gentleman of the old school and of character above reproach.
STEPHEN CROMWELL died at Camden July 7, 1895. He was bom in Carlisle, Schoharie County, Sept. 18, 1815. His edu- cation was obtained solely in the common schools, and at seven- teen he left home to make his way in the world. He first went south, and for a time was on a Mississippi steamboat. From the south he went to Ohio, where he taught school and at the same time read
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law with a brother. He was admitted to the bar in 1842 in the State of Ohio. The next year he came to New York State to live, and was admitted to the bar in this State in 1844, and located in Camden. He entered the office of D. N. K. Johnson, who removed from Camden to Borne, and Mr. Cromwell succeeded to his prac- tice. For a time Mr. Cromwell had as a partner Lewis J. Conlan; at another time William H. Steele, and still at another time George F. Morss. Ke was married January 1, 1845, to Mistf Gif- ford, but his wife died in 1884. He afterwards married Mrs. Omens of Utica. Mr. Cromwell always enjoyed a good practice, was an able lawtyer, trustworthy, and commanded the respect of the bar of the county.
CHARLES M. DENNISON was bom in Floyd April 3, 1822, and died at Whitesboro Novemlber 5, 1900. He was the scm of Samuel Dennison, and was educated at Whitestowtn Seminary, Clinton Liberal Listitute, and at the Holland Patent Academy. He studied law with Alanson Bennett at Rome, and was admit- ted to the bar in 1847. 9e practiced lawt alone in Rome until 1852, when he took as a partner George Harrison Lynch, and this partnership continued until 1870. At that time Mr. Den- nison removed from Rome to Utica, where he resided for about one year and practiced law in Utica. He then took up his resi- dence in Whitesboro. In Utica he formed a partnership with John H. Knox, and afterwards also took as a partner Charles J. Everett. This firm existed only for a short time, when Mr. Enox retired. The firm continued under the name of Dennison & Everett until 1881, when Mr. Everett retired, and Mr. Den- nison took as his partner his son George E. Dennison. Li 1862 Mr. Dennison was appointed assistant assessor of internal reve- nue at Rome, and he held this pgsition as long as the office existed. After Congress enacted the law for the supervision of elections, Mr. Dennison was appointted Chief Supervisor of Election for the Northern District of New York, and he held this position down to the time of his death. Mr. Dennison was a prominent candidate for Judge of the United States District Court, and had a strong backing, but the President appointed William J. Wallace of Syracuse instead of Mr. Dennison to that position. In 1874 Mr. Dennison was supported for the nomina- tion of Justice of the Supreme Court by many Republicans, but
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he did not secure the nomination. He married Cornelia Pond March 4, 1851. He was prominent at the bar during his entire career, although he rarely took part in the trial of cases. His time was given more to the settlement of estates, and he had also a large practice in bankruptcy under the act of 1867. His abil- ity was such that had he devoted himself to the trial of cases he would have been eminently succcessful.
JOHN HENRY EDMUNDS was bom in Litchfield, Herki- mer County, July 14, 1811. After graduating at the Utica Acad- emy he entered the law oflBce of John Bradish, who was Clerk of the old Court of Chancery. After being admitted to the bar, and about 1840 Mr. Edmunds formed a partnership with Charles A. Mann, under the firm name of Mann & Edmunds. The oflBce occupied by this firm was on the corner of Oenesee and Whites- boro Streets. This firm was changed to that of Mann, Edmunds & Miller. Later to Edmunds & Miller; later still to Edmunds, Miller & Mann. In 1871 the senior member of the firm retired from active life. Mr. Edmunds was married in New Jersey in October, 1849, to Eugene Dumaux. During his entire professional career he had the oversight of trust estates, was counsel for many corporations, and well equipped to be an adviser for those most in need of correct, honest, legal advice.
CHARLES J. EVERETT wa^ bom at Litchfield, Herkimer County, February 9, 1848, and died in Utica January 19, 1890. He was the son of Matthew and Janette Everett. He prepared for college in the public schools of Utica, and entered Hamilton College with the class of 1870, and graduated with his class. His course in college was marked by great brilliancy, and particularly in extemporaneous speaking. After his graduation he studied law in Utica; was admitted to the bar, and immediately formed a partnership with Charles M. Dennison and John H. Knox un- der the firm name of Dennison, Enox & Everett. This firm con- tinued for only a short time, when it was dissolved, and- the firm of Dennison & Everett was formed, which was dissolved by the death of Mr. Everett. In 1880 he was appointed deputy Attor- ney General, and served in that capacity for four years, at the close of which time he returned to the practice of his profession in Utica, and continued in it dowtn to a short time before his death.
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LEANDEB W. FISE was bom in Boonville, September 30, 1835, and died there April 12, 1901. He was of English descent Hie was educated in the Boonville schools and Fairfield Academy. He studied law with George W. Smith, and w^ admitted to the bar October 4, 1860. He commenced practice at Boonville, and always retained his residence there, and gave his time exclu- sively to the practice of his profession. He was for a short tmie a soldier in the 146th Regiment, having enlisted in 1862, but deafness incapacitated him for duty, and he was honorably dis- charged. In 1866 he wbs nominated by the Republican party for Member of Assembly, and was elected and served one term. He afterwards affiliated with the Prohibition party, and was its candidate for Representative in Congress at one election, and at another for District Attorney. Mr. Fisk was a good fluent speaker, and except for the fact that Ms deafness proved a great impediment he would have been an excellent trial lawyer.
AliEXANDER T. GOODWIN was a southerner by birth, having been bom in Savannah, Gkt., in 1837. He was educated at Rutgers College, graduating in 1857, and immediately took up his residence in Utica. He entered the law office of Conkling & Throop, and was admitted to the bar in 1859. He was Recorder of Utica from 1868 to 1873. He formed a partnership with Dwight D. Porter under the firm name of (Joodwin & Porter in 1877. By a division in the Republican party in Oneida County he was elected State Senator in 1883. The firm of Goodwin & Porter had been previously dissolved and in 1887 he formed a partnership with Joseph R. Swjan. In 1890 he was the Demo- cratic candidate for County Judge, but failed of election. He wto elected mayor of Utica in 1892. He married Mary W., daugh- ter of David Wager. Shortly before his death, which occurred on July 3, 1899, he took up his residence in New York City, but as Utica had been his home for many years, and the home of his wife's family, his body was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery.
EDMUND A. GRAHAM wtas bom in New York City in Oc- tober, 1802. He was invited by the famous Aaron Burr to study law in his office, but declined the offer, and went to Ogdensburg and studied law there with Lewis Hasbrouck. After being admit- ted to the bar he commenced practice at Ogdensburg, and very soon obtained a large and lucrative practice. "While residing
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there he was clerk of the village in the years 1826 to '81 and '33 and 'S^. In 1835 he married Cornelia, daughter of Apolos Cooper of Utica. It was Mr. Cooper's desire that he come to Utica, and he consented and removed to this city in 1838, and nndertoc^ the management of the» large Co(^r real estate in- terests in this city. Mr. Graham rendered to the state a great service in formulating and presenting to the legislature the act authorizing the incorporation of business enterprises known as the act of 1848, which for many years was the only act under which business corporations could be organized in the State of New York. Mr. Graham was attorney for many years for large business concerns in Utica, among which was the Black Biver & Utica Railroad. He w!as, until the agitation of the slavery question, a Democrat, but afterwards became an ardent Repub- lican, and took a prominent part in local politics for many years. Mr. Graham's business capacity was such that he accumulated a large fortune, and made ample provision for his posterity. He died at Utica January 27, 1889.
For many years one of the foresmost lawyers of Rome was D. M. K. JOHNSON. He was bom at Cazenovia, November 7, 1815; prepared for college at the Cazenovia Seminary, and en- tered th~e sophomore class of Hamilton College in 1832. In consequence of ill health he wlas obliged to give up his college course. He studied law in the office of his father, David B. Johnson, and was admitted as a counsellor in 1840. In 1844 he removed to Rome, and commenced Ms law practice there. In the same year he married Prances Matteson of Rome. In 1859 he received the honorary degree of A. M. from Hamilton Col- lege. He was for a time a member of the law firm of Poster, Stryker, Johnson & Lynch. After the dissolution of this firm Mr. Johnson formed a partnership with D. L. Boardman. Af- terwards the firm became Poster, Johnson, Boardmann & Lynch, and later Mr. Johnson did business under the firm name of Johnson & Boardman, and later still under the firm name of Johnson & Prescott, the junior partner being the' Honorable Cyrus D. Prescott. Mr. Johnson was careful in the prepara- tion of his cases, was retained in many of the heavy litigations in the county, and for many years was counsel for the New York Central Railroad Company. He was a very positive man, and
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could scarcely tolerate the fact that men differed with him. He was intense, and entered into his side of the case with more than usual interest, making his client's cause his owm. It could be fairly said of him that his talent was greater than his tact, but for all in all he was a man of excellent standing at the bar, was a fair antagonist in the trial of cases, if somewhat arbitrary, but his high standing was never questioned, and he left an honor- able name to his posterity.
WILLIAM E. HAHTER mis bom in the Town of Warren, Herkimer County, on the 15th day of October, 1849. He worked on the farm of his father for several years in his early life, and attended school in the winter. Having accumulated a small sum of money he attended the school at Jordanville, and then Caze- novia Seminary, and graduated from the latter institution. He then commenced studying law with Earl & Prescott in Herki- mer. From there he went to Port Byron, and studied law with Horace Howland, and while in that oflSce he was admitted to the bar. After being admitted Mr. Harter came to Utica to re- side, and commenced practicing his profession here. He was elected one of the Justices of the Peace of the City of Utica, and served in that capacity with ability and fairness. Mr. Harter started off in life as a Republican in politics, but in 1892 he left the Republican party and supported Grover Cleveland, and ever after that acted with the Democrats. Mr. Harter was severely injured by a runaway, having both legs broken some years since. The injury wias supposed to be fatal, but he sufiSciently recov- ered to be about his business up to within a week of his death, which occurred at Utica January 31, 1904. He married Miss Eliza Hayward of Columbia Center, Herkimer County. He was a man of good reputation, and had the confidence of all the mem- bers of the bar in this city.
BURTON D. HURLBURT was bom in the town of Augusta, Oneida Co., N. Y., May 30, 1807. He entered Hamilton College in 1825, but only remained there two years, when he left and went to Union College, from which institution he graduated as val- dictorian of the class of 1829. He studied law at Morrisville, Binghamton and New York City, and also in the office of the late Judge Samuel Beardsley of Utica. He was admitted to the
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bar in 1832, but he had become a trier of cases in Justice Court long before his admission. In 1865 he practically retired from active law practice, but always retained a lively interest in legal matters, and even late in life returned oocassionally to take a hand in the trial of cases, particularly at Special Term. He married Lucy Ann Browm of Utica in 1845. He died Septem- ber 24, 1887, at Utica.
NICHOLAS E. KERNAN was bom in Utica July 10, 1845, and died in this city June 26, 1902. He was educated in the Utica Free Academy and the Assumption Academy, and at Seaton Hall College, Orange, New Jersey, from which last institution he graduated in 1867. He studied law in the office of his father in Utica, was admitted to the bar and formed a partnership first with William & John D. Keman, and afterwards with William Keman. Mr. Eeman gave his attention very largely to busi- ness rather than to the trial of cases. He was interested in many of the large manufacturing and other business concerns of the city, and was a careful and able adviser in all business matters. He was president of the Skenandoa Cotton Company, vice president of the Oneita Knitting Mills, also of the Fisher Knitting Machine Company, of the Roberts- Wicks Company and Utica Burial Casket Company. He was also a director of the Utica & Mohawk Valley Railway Company, of Charles Mil- ler & Son, and trustee of Utica Female Academy. He was a member of many of the social and charitable clubs and societies. He married Harriet Jenkins of Baltimore, June 1, 1871. Al- though Mr. Keman took but smaU part in the trial of cases, either at Circuit or Special Term, he was ever ready in mat- ters requiring a knowledge of the law, and was a careful, pains- taking, conscientious lawyer. As a business man he ranked among the foremost in the city, and his early death was mourned by a large circle of friends.
LESLIE W. KERNAN was born in Utica on the 30th day of October 1865. He was the son of William Kernan. He was edu- cated in the public schools of Utica and Greorgetowtn University at Washington, from which institution he graduated in 1886. Be studied law in the office of W. & N. E. Keman, and was admitted in 1889. From that time up to a very few days before
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his death he practiced law in Utica, and wias ever known as an able and conscientions lawyer. He seldom took part in trials, but most of his time was given to the settling of estates and the detail bumness of the Eeman cffiee. He was in 1891 by special act of the legislature named as one of the commissioners for the construction of a new court house in Utica for Oneida County. He w)as a member of Fort Schuyler Club and of other social so- cieties of the city. Mr. Eeman was, for a man of his age, one of the most prominent lawyers in the county. He had a strong hold upon all who knew him, and was highly respected by the bar and the public generally.
THOMAS E. KINNEY was bom in Canada August 3, 1841, and died at Utica, N. Y., November 4, 1899. He was the son of Edward and Elizabeth Einney. He was educated at the pub- lic schools of Utica and the Assumption Academy, and also at the University of Virginia. He graduated from the last institu- tion in 1863. He studied law in the ofiSce of W. & J. D. Eeman of this city, and was admitted to the bar in 1867. He v^Jas elec- ted City Attomey of Utica in 1868 and 1869. In 1880 he was the Democratic candidate for County Judge, but was defeated by William B. Sutton. In 1885 he was the Democratic candidate for State Senator against Henry J. Coggeshall, but was defeated. He wlfts elected Mayor of Utica in 1885 by the Democrats. In 1886 he was elected on an independent ticket, and in 1887 he was elected by the Democrats. In 1896 he supported the Republican candidate for president, William McEinley, and was nominated for Mayor by the Republicans of the city and elected, he being the only man who ever served four terms as Mayor of the City of Utica, and enjoyed the unique distinction of being elected by three different political organizations. Mr. Einney had some consideirable ability in the trial of cases at the Circuit, and at times addressed a jury with unusual effect, but as he gave little attention to study, his kno^edge of practice and tHe principles of law was very limited.
EDWIN H. LAMB of Waterville died at his home the 19th day of August, 1890. He was bom in Columbus, Chenango Coun- ty, the 13th day of January, 1823. He obtained his education in the country schools and Chenango Valley High School. After
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his graduation from this institution he taught Latin and Greek in the same school. He read law in the oflSee of Henry 0. South- worth at New Berlin, and in 1849 moved to Waterville, where he opened a law office and practiced his profession during his entire life. Mr. Lamb gave little attention to politics, but devoted him- self to his profession. He was, however, in 1855 elected Super- visor of the town; after that he never accepted the nomination for any political (rf5ce. In 1862 he married Mary S. Babbott. Mr. Lamb wbs, strictly speaking, a lawyer. He had given very much attention to study, and was thorough in anything he undertook. He was a man who might have gained notoriety as a trial lawyer had his ambition spurred him on to greater efforts. I shall never forget a case tried by him on one side, and Henry T. UUey on the other, which I heard in the Utica court house many years ago. Among the great number of important cases that I have heard tried this one stands out prominently as having been tried on both sides with about as much ability as I have ever seen dis- played in the trial of any case. Both attorneys seemed to have their case exceedingly well in hand; there were many difficult questions of law and fact in the case, and both sides were handled with such ability that it would have been difficult to say which one surpassed the other. Mr. Lamb's character was such that it would have been impossible for him to be anything but a gentleman of a high type, and an honorable man in every trans- action of life.
GEORGE HIAKRISON LYNCH was bom in New York City November 28, 1818, and died at Rome December 4, 1885. He was the son of Dominick Lynch, and was educated at Columbia Col- lege, and came to Rome in 1844. He was admitted to the bar in 1847, and formed a partnership with John Stryker in 1848 under the firm name of Stryker & Lynch. About this time he married Louise Foster, daughter of Judge Henry A. Poster, and removed to Brooklyn, wihere he held a government position until 1852. During this year Mr. Lynch returned to Rome and formed a law partnership with the late Charles M. Dennison. Afterwards this partnership was dissolved and he became a partner with Foster, Johnson & Boardman. When this partnership was dis- solved he practiced law alone at Rome until about the time of his death. He was Treasurer of Oneida County Savings Bank,
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was Special County Judge for three terms, having been elected to that o£Bce in 1855, 1858 and 1865. He was prominently men- tioned as a candidate for Justice of the Supreme Court in 1874. During this year he was elected recorder of Rome, being the first Republican ever elected to a prominent office in the City of Rome. Mr. Lynch wtas a modest and retiring man, but of excellent abil- ity. Had he possessed an ambition for preferment, and devoted himself to politics or to law with energy he would have been very prominent at the bar or in public life.
JAMES F. MANN was bom in Utica, May 24, 1837, and died in this city May 15, 1902. He was the son of Charles A. Mann, who in his lifetime was one of the foremost citizens of Central New York. James Mann was prepared for college in Utica schools, and entered Yale Collie with the class of 1859. Af- ter graduating he entered the office of Edmunds & Miller as a law student, was admitted to the bar and commenced practice, but law was not to his liking, and he left the profession and en- tered business. He formed a partnership with E. D. Wood un- der the firm name of Wood & Mann, and this concern was one of the most prosperous institutions in the city; it manufactured steam engines, and did a large and profitable business for many years. This, however, did not continue, and in 1875 the busi- ness had ceased to be profitable, and the partnership was dis- solved. Mr. Mann returned again to the practice of his profes- sion, and he also did a real estate business. Soon after this he formed a partnership with Eaton J. Richardson and (Jeorge W. Adams under the firm name of Richardson, Adams & Mann. This partnership continued for a few! years, and then it was dissolved, and Mr. Mann practiced law alone, but gave more attention to business aflPairs. He got control of the Sleeker Street Railroad Company, and converted it from a **one horse*' concern into a modem electrical railroad. He also had charge of the building of the M^nn Building in this city on the comer of Broad and Genesee Streets, although his brother Dr. Mann furnished the money for the building. Mr. Mann devised the scheme of straightening the Mohawk river north of Utica, for the purpose of recovering a large portion of the flooded lands to the city for manufacturing and other purposes; also to furnish better rail- road facilities at the New York Central Railroad station and
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avoid the flooding of lower Genesee Street. Upon this work Mr. Mann devoted a great deal of time, and finally procured the passage of an act through the legislature providing for the straightening of the river, when it was approved by the Common Council of the city. This consent was not obtained until about ten years after the passage of the act. Mr. Mann was properly named as one of the commissioners to have the work in charge, and was still serving in that capacity at the time of his death. Although Mr. Mann never devoted himself to the practice of his profession with the energy that he manifested in business affairs, yet all who knew him realized that had he given his time solely to the practice of law he would have been eminently successful. He was a man of fine acquirements, affable in his manner, a gen« tleman always, and it is much to be regretted that he did not take the position at the bar that his ability entitled him to. On M!ay 16, 1861, he married Emma Louise Oberteuffer. Mr. Mann was a Free Mason, a member of the Port Schuyler Club, and willingly gave according to his means to charitable and benevo- lent objects in the city.
ORSAMUS B. MATTESON was born in a log house August 28, 1805, in the town of Verona, in this county, and died in TJticaf December 22, 1889. His father was Silas Matteson, and his mother was EDannah Cogswell. When he was nineteen years of age he entered the office of Green C. Brunson and Samuel Beards- ley as a lawf student. He was admitted to the bar in 1830. One of his first clients was the late Alexander B. Johnson of Utica, who at the time was perhaps the foremost business man of the city. Mr. Matteson was elected City Attorney in 1830. He became a partner with William J. Bacon, and afterwards with P. Sheldon Root and the late Charles H. Doolittle, and afterwards with J. Wyman Jones; also Q. Hj. Congor and Joseph Benedict. He was a Supreme Court Commissioner early in life. His ability was such, as a business man, that he always had, while he gave his time to law practice, a very lar^e and lucrative business. In 1846 he was first nominated for Representative in Congress, but was defeated by Honorable Timothy Jenkins. He again was a candidate for the same office against Mr. Jenkins in 1848 and wlas elected, but was defeated in 1850. He was again elected and re- elected in 1852, '54 and 56. While in Congress he held a very
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prominent position. His influence was second to no man in the Hbuse of Representatives. He was an intimate friend of Benja- min Wade of Ohio, John P. Hale of New Hampshire, Joseph R. Giddings of Ohio, and Thaddens Stevens of Pennsylvania. He took a prominent part in the agitation against slavery. In this his very life seemed to be enlisted. HEs hatred of slavery was so great that it over-ruled him completely in his political ac- tions. He seemed to have one great thought, and that was to do all in his power to eliminate this curse from the land.
Actuated by revenge certain persons undertook his political destruction. He had written a letter to William C. Johnson of Utica, which it was claimed compromised him to such an extent that charges wtere preferred against him in the House of Rep- resentatives. This occurred on July 15th, 1856. The substance of the letter was that a money consideration was necessary to carry a certain measure through Congress. He also intimated that there were a sufficient number of congressmen that could be influenced by money to carry the measure. This letter it was claimed was stolen from the office of Mr. Johnson. An inves- tigation in Congress was ordered, and on February 22, 1857, a committee reported in favor of his expulsion. This report was accompanied by three resolutions. The first charged that he had favored the use of money to influence legiriation; the sec- ond that he had charged that there were members who had asso- ciated together and agreed not to vote for certain legislation ex- cept they were paid for it. The third resolution recommended expulsion. This investigation was made substantially without giving Mj*. Matteson a fair hearing, and he saw that it was use- less to defend himself against a prejudiced committee and a house in the state of mind that it was then in, because of his in< timation that many of them were corrupt. He therefore re- signed his seat in Congress. The first two resolutions were adopted by the House, but the third was never, voted upon. Mr. Matteson after his retirement from Congress gave much time to politics, and was for many years a potent factor in the Whig and Republican parties. It was he who led the fight against the first nomination of Roscoe Conkling to the position of Repre- sentative in Congress, and it is notable that about this time he wrote a circular letter upon Mr. Conkling in wtiich he prophesied that Mr. Conkling would disrupt the Republican party. Strange
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to say this prophecy was fulfilled in that the influence of Mr. Conkling was the means of the defeat of James G. Blaine to the presidency in 1884. Mr. Matteson was tendered the nomination of mayor of the city of Utica in 1865, but he declined. This is the only time tiiat he wias nominated for office or tendered the nomination for any political position after his resignation from the House of Representatives. He married Augusta Hurlburt, daughter of Kellogg Hurlburt, May 17, 1830. Although he had a brilliant son, the late Henry C. Matteson, Mr. Matteson left no descendants except two granddaughters, and the name of his branch of the family by his death became extinct.
Mr. Matteson was for all in all the ablest business man who ever appeared at the bar of this county. At one time he had accummulated a lar^e fortune, but he became involved by the endorsement of his friends' paper, and lost it. He died, virtually dependent upon the bounty of his friends.
ANDREW J. McINTOSH was born May 4, 1826, in the Town of Steuben, and died May 12, 1900, in Utica. His father wtas a farmer, and he was brought up on a farm, working summers, and attending the district school in the winter. He afterwards attended the Holland Patent Institute, and then for some time taught a district school in the northern part of the county. For four years he was a clerk in the office of (Jeorge A. Yeomens, a lawtyer of Semsen. In 1847 he entered the office of Matteson & Doolittle of Utica as a law clerk, and was admitted to the bar in January, 1849. The examination seems to have been very severe, for out of seventeen students examined for admission to the bar only two passed the examination, Mr. Macintosh and Charles J. Andrews of Syracuse, afterward Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals. Mr. Mcintosh after admission to the bar formed a partnership with Orchard G. Kellogg. This partnership was afterwards dissolved, and in 1858 he formed a partnership with his brother Ichabod C, under the firm name of A. J. & I. C. Mcintosh. This partnership existed until a short time before the death of Andrew J. The firm of A. J. & I. C. Mcintosh during its entire existence did a very large collection business, and probably did more business in the courts of bankruptcy under the act of 1867 than any other firm of lawyers in Central New York. Mr. Mcintosh was a man of more than ordinary ability, was a very fine mathematician, and prepared papers with great care and ability.
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He was a Democrat in polities, but never sought political office. In 1896, howtever, he supported Mr. Mie»Kinley, the Republican candidate for president, on account of his position in regard to the tariff question. June 19, 1860, he married Jane Pruyne Grosebeck, daughter of Stephen Grosebeck of Albany, N. Y. He had no children, but his wife survived him.
ICHABOD C. McINTOSH was born September 17, 1831, in the Town of Steuben, Oneida County, N. Y. He died in Utica February 1, 1904. His father was a farmer, and he spent his early life on the farm, attending the district schools in winter. Afterwiards he attended Hobart Hall Institute at Holland Patent. For several years after leaving school he taught district schools in the Town of Steuben and in the Town of Trenton. Having accumulated a small sum of money to pursue his law studies he came to Utica April 19, 1852, and entered the law office of Kel- logg & Mcintosh; his brother, Andrew J. Mcintosh, being the junior partner in that firm. He w(as admitted to the bar July 3, 1855. After his admission he was connected in business with Mr. Kellogg and H. T. Utley until 1858, when he formed a partner- ship with his brother Andrew J., and this firm continued dowtn to 1901, when Andrew J. died. Mr. Mcintosh was in politics a Demo- crat, and was city attorney in 1863 and 1864. For the years 1873 and 1877 he was an alderman of the first ward of Utica. In 1880 he was appointed by Mayor Spriggs a member of the police and fire commission, and was chairman of that boardt Again in 1888 he was appointed to the same position by Mayor Henry Miartin. February 16, 1865, he married Eliza C. Bamum, daughter of Ezra S. Barnum of Utica. Mr. Mcintosh was a good student and careful lawyer. He took no part, however, in the trial of cases, but was an excellent pleader. Hds papers were pre- pared with great care, and all attorneys who came in contact with him realized that they had an antagonist, so far as the preparation of papers was concerned, worthy of their steel. The practice of Mr. Mcintosh was largely in the United States Courts, at first in the line of patents, but later, and principally, in bank- ruptcy proceedings. Under the bankruptcy act of 1867 the firm of Andrew J. & I. C. Mcintosh did perhaps as much business as any firm in the city. After the death of his brother Mr. Mcin- tosh carried on business alone but his health was somewhat broken, and his hold upon business gradually slipped away.
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ADDISON C. MILLEE was bom in Lowville, November 12, 1831, and died in Utica December 18, 1894. He w!as the son of Dr. Sylvester Miller. He received a fair education, and when he was twenty years of age he came to Utica for the purpose of studying law. He entered the office of Miann & Edmunds, the senior member of which firm w)as Charles A. Mann, an uncle of Mr. Miller. Not long after Mr. Miller was admitted to the bar Mr. Mann retired from the firm, and Mr. Edmunds took Mr. Miller as a partner, and the firm became Edmunds & Mailer. Later James F. Mann, the son of Charles A. Mann, was admitted to the firm. This firm did not exist for many years, and on its dissolution Mr. Miller carried on business alone until 1877, when he took as a partner Frederick G. Fincke. On November 1, 1887, the firm became Miller, Fincke & Brandegee. In 1892 Mr. Miller retired from the firm, and virtually from active practice. From that time on until his death he gave attention to his own affairs and to the advising of large corporations in and about Utica. He wtes trustee and vice president of the Utica Savings Bank, gen- eral counsel for the Globe Woolen Mills, a director of the Utica Steam Cotton Mills, and the Willowvale Bleaching Company, and was interested in many other of the large business enterprises of Central New York. He was a member of the Port Schuyler Club, but give little attention to club life or to social affairs outside of his own home. He very seldom took upon himself the trial of cases at the circuit, and never as leading counsel, although he sometimes tried cases at Special Term and before a referee. His ability, however, was shown in a business way rather than as a technical lawyer, and he excelled in his grasp of business proposi- tions, and was a very able adviser in all such matters. He mar- ried Cynthia J. Brayton, daughter of Harvey Brayton, in 1863. In 1875 after the death of Judge Charles H. Doolittle it was learned from Governor Dix that he would appoint to the position of Supreme Court Judge in the Fifth Judicial District any mem- ber of the bar of Oneida County that the Republican lawyers wpuld agree upon. Several meetings of the Republican members of the bar were held for the purpose of agreeing upon a candidate. These meetings were held in the office of ex-Judge William J. Ba- con, but after repeated efforts no candidate could be selected. The position was offered to MJr. Miller by substantially a unanimous voice of the Republican members of the Utica bar, but he de-
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clined, giving as reasons that he distrusted his own ability to fill the position to his own satisfaction, and also that it wfonld be a large financial sacrifice to him. It is perhaps enough to say in regard to Mr. Miller's capacity and standing at the bar that he would have been almost the unanimous choice of the Repub- lican members of the bar in the county for Justice of the Supreme Court, had he been disposed to accept the position.
DANIEL C. POMilROY was bom in Franklin, Delaware Co., April 1, 1813. He commenced life as a stage driver, and accu- mulated some means with which to educate himself and to pre- pare himself for his profession. He studied law with a Mr. Gorham at Burlington, Otsego County; was admitted to the bar in 1843, and practiced law for a time at Bdmeston, Otsego County. In 1883 he came to Home and became a partner of John R. El- wlood. After the dissolution of this partnership he formed an- other with Henry 0. Southworth under the firm name of Pomeroy & Southworth. This partnership continued for sixteen years, and it enjoyed one of the best general law practices of any firm in Oneida County. The name of Pomeroy & Southworth for many years appeared upon the court calendars in more cases than the name of any other firm in the county. Mr. Pomeroy iras a trial lawyer, and upon questions of fact he was one of the strongest men in the county. In 1876 he moved fr(mi Rome to Utica, and was a partner with his son for about one year, but his health was shattered and he virtually retired from business in 1877, and died October 13, 1878.
CYRUS D. PRESCOTT w(as bom August 14, 1836, in New Hartford, Oneida Co., New York. He received his education in that town and in the Utica Free Academy, and studied law in the office of 0. G. Kello^ of New! Hartford and Hurd and Brown of Utica. He was two years employed in the Oneida County Clerk's Office, afterward in the office of Johnson & Boardman of Rome. He was admitted to the bar in 1859, and became a part- ner with Mr. Green under the name of Green & Prescott. In
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ness alone, then with Mr. Titus until 1895, when Mir. Titus re- moved from Rome to Utiea, and Mr. Prescott took his son into partnership with him. In 1867 he married Eliza P. Cady of Madison County.
Mr. Prescott was the Adjutant of the 101st Regiment in the war of the Rebellion. He was for many years a member of the Board of Education of the City of Rome, and 1877 was elected to the New York Assembly, in which body he held important posi- tions upon the committees, and made a good record. He W;as elect- ed to Congress in 1878, and re-elected in 1880. Be died at Rome October 23rd, 1902. Mr. Prescott was a lawyer of unquestioned integrity, fair in all his dealings with men, conscientious in the preparation and the trial of his cases and the rights of his clients were well protected, and his advice w&s always given in further- ance of the ends of justice as he saw them.
EATON J. RICHARDSON was born in West Schuyler, Her- kimer Co., May 14, 1816, and died at Yorkville, N. Y., February 17, 1895. Mr. Richardson was a son of Warren Richardson, a farmer, and was brought up on a farm, attending the district school, as other farmers' sons did during the winter months. He, however, was ambitious to learn more than he was able to in the district school, and attended Cazenovia Seminary for two years. He then came to Utica and commenced his law studies with Thomas E. Clark, and was admitted to the bar in 1845. He then became a partner with Mr. Clark, and this partnership existed until the death of Mr. Clark in 1857. Mr. Richardson then -prac- ticed law alone until 1864, when he took as a partner George W. Adams. Later in 1877 there was admitted to the firm James P. Mjann, but this firm only existed a short time, when it was dis- solved, and Mr. Richardson did business alone from that time on. He was elected to the Senate by the Whigs in 1855, and at one time was District Attorney of Oneida County, but he gave little attention to politics. He was first a Whig, then a Republican, and still later a Democrat. He always had a good practice, was pains- taking and careful in his preparation of cases, and wrote an ex- cellent brief. His wife was Clarissa M. Sleeper of Floyd.
One of the most attractive men that has ever appeared at our bar was JOHN F. SEYMQUR. He was born at Pompey Hill, On- ondaga County, September 21, 1814; was the son of Henry, and a
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brother of ex-Governor Horatio Seymour. In 1820 his father re- moved to Utica, and the young man attended a private school in this city until he w)as prepared for college. He entered Yale Col- lege in the class of 1835, and graduated with his class. After this he became a law student with Judge William J. Bacon, and was admitted to the bar in 1839. During the same year he was married to Frances Tappan of New Haven. He spent some time in connection with business enterprises. At one time he was in- terested with Erastus Corning in the SauE St. Marie Ship Canal, was a director of the New York Central Railroad Company, presi- dent of the Fox & Wisconsin Improvement Company, which had for its object the connecting of the great lakes with the Mississippi River. This company also did the work of connecting the waters of Green Bay Lake Michigan with Lake Winnabago. In 1862 he became private secretary to his brother, who was then Governor of the State. He received the appointment as state agent for the care of wounded soldiers during the war, and served until 1865. He was present at some of the great battles, and was in- strumental in alleviating the sufferings of soldiers on these me- morable occasions. In 1860 Mr. Seymour's wife died, and in 1865 he married Helen L. Ledyard, who died in 1880. In 1881 he was appointed one of the tax commissioners of the State, and in 1883 one of the commissioners to inquire into the condition of tho On- ondaga Indians. Mr. Seymour was one of the Charity Commis- sioners of this city from 1873 to 77, and it was during this time the city hospital was built. Mr. Se3nnour gave much of his time to this enterprise, and to him is due, more perhaps than to any other man, the advance made in this city for the care of the sick and indigent, in a building erected for that purpose. He was much interested in the subject of perpetuating historic landmarks, and took active interest in commemorating the revolutionary events which occurred in this locality. No one did more than he to carry out the great celebration to comemmorate the centennial anniversary of the battle of Oriskany, and it was largely through his endeavor that the splendid monument now stands upon this historic ground. In 1888 his health failed, and he died in Utica on the 22nd day of February, 1890. Mx. Seymour's time was so largely taken up with affairs that he never devoted himself en- tirely to the practice of his profession. Yet he always enjoyed a fair amount of desirable law business. His cultured mind lead
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him to investigate carefully all eases trusted to his care, and no one was more conscientious than he in an endeavor to determine the right and to pursue it. For many years he was a partner with Mr. George M. Weaver of this city under the firm name of Seymour & Weaver. He was recognized as an able, conscien- tious and honorable member of the profession. Would that all "s^o practice at the bar possess the courtesy, fairness and honesty of purpose possessed by Mr. Seymour. It was always gratifying to claim Mr. Seymour as a friend, and all who knew him can but remember him as an unselfish, genial companion, and a friend of mankind.
ALEXANDER SEWARD was bom in Utica, November 28, 1816. He was the son of Asahel Seward, and was educated in the Utica public schools, Cazenovia Seminary and at Hamilton and Union Colleges, which former institution he entered in 1832 as a sophomore but went from there to Union, and graduated in 1836. He commenced the study of law with Joshua Spencer in Utica, but went from this city to Rochester, where he remained for a time, but returned to Utica and completed his law studies with M!ann & Edmunds, and was admitted to the bar in 1839. He was a law partner for a time with Edmund A. Graham, and also with John G. Hogan. In 1843 he became the editor of the Utica Gazette, and held this position untU 1853. He then went to Al- bany and edited for a time the State Register. In 1854 he be- came a partner with Mr. E. A. Brayton in the practice of law at Utica, and this partnership continued up to the death of Mr. Brayton in 1887. Thereafter Mr. Seward up to the time of his death practiced law in Utica. He had charge of the settlement of large estates, among which was that of S. A. Munson, one of the wealthiest of our citizens. Mr. Seward was one of the found- ers of the Oneida Historical Society, and was deeply interested in that institution. He was a citizen that commanded the respect of every one who knew him. As a lawyer he was careful and painstaking, and was excellent counsel in all matters pertaining to the settlement of estates, the investment of trust funds and other kindred subjects. Mr. Seward married June 9, 1853, Cor- nelia L. Kirkland, daughter of Charles P. Kirkland of this city, and as a second wife in 1873 Anna R. Beardsley.
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SILAS L. SNYDER was bom at Rotmdout in 1827. He was admitted to the bar and came to Taberg, N. Y., and resided there until his death, January 24, 1901. Bte was a School Com- missioner of the Fourth District of Oneida County, a Justice of the Peace for many years, and in 1865 was a Member of Assem- bly in the Fourth District of Oneida County. Hie married Anna Ward, who was the widow of Joseph Dean at the time of the marriage. Mr. Snyder wtos a good lawyer, careful and able in the preparation of his cases ; a fair antagonist, and well versed in equity cases. He had a large practice in the settlement of estates, and was an excellent real estate lawyer. His papers were almost models of composition and penmanship. No office in the county sent out handsomer papers than those prepared by Mr. Snyder personally. Mr. Snyder wlas prominent in Re- publican politics, and on several occasions was mentioned as a probable candidate for Representative in Congress, but with the exception of the offices mentioned above he never held public of- fice. He wtas a man of good reputation and high character.
JOHN THOMAS SPRIGGS was bom in Northamptonshire, England, May 5, 1820. He came to this county wdth his father in 1836, and settled in Whitesboro. The young man desired a col- lege course, and he prepared for and entered Hamilton CoUege, where he remained for two years. He then left, and for a time studied law at HoUand Patent, but he decided to complete his college course, and went to Union, and graduated with the class of 1848. He then studied law in Utica, and after being admit- ted formed a partnership with Thomas Flandrau. At that time Rome was relatively much more important in the county than Utica, and Mr. Spriggs decided to remove to that town, which he did and formed a partnership with Thomas G. Frost. This business arrangement lasted until 1859, wihen the partnership was dissolved, and Mi*. Spriggs returned to Utica. In 1862 he formed a partnership with Richard Mclncrow, and this partner- ship continued until 1870, when it was dissolved, and Mr. Spriggs took as a partner E.D. Matthews. This partnership lasted for several years, but as the son of Mr. Spriggs had become a lawyer the partnership was dissolved, and a newl firm formed J. T. and F. B. Spriggs; this firm continued down to the death of Mr. Spriggs, which occurred at Utica December ^ 23, 1888. Mr.
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Spriggs, aside from his law practice, gave a good deal of atten- tion to politics, and v^s from the time he commenced active busi- ness life a potent factor in the Democratic party of Oneida Coun- ty. He was appointed District Attorney in 1853, to fill a va- cancy. In 1854 he was elected County Treasurer, and in 1868 he was elected mayor of Utica, and in the same year he was the Democratic candidate for Representative in Congress, but was defeated by Alexander H. Bailey of Rome. In 1878 he was the Democratic candidate for Representative in Congress, and was again defeated by Cyrus D. Prescott of Rome. In 1882 he was again a candidate by the same party for the same position, and 'wto elected over Samuel H. Pox, a glass manufacturer of Dur- hamville, N. Y. This election of Mr. Spriggs was owing to a di- vision in the Republican party into the factions known as the ** Stalwarts*' and **Half Breeds." The division arose in conse- quence of the opposition of Roscoe Conkling then a United States Senator, to President Grarfield, over the desire on Conkling 's part to control the Federal patronage in the State of New York. In 1884 Mir. Spriggs wbs again renominated for the same position, and was elected over Henry J. Cookinham by reason of a split in the Republican party. James G. Blaine had been nominated for the presidency, and was opposed by Roscoe Conkling because of an old quarrel between them. Oneida County was Mr. Conkling 's residence; the Congressional District consisted of 'Oneida and Lewis Counties at this time. Grover Cleveland w)bs the candidate of the Democratic party for the Presidency, and the friends of Mr. Conkling in Oneida County supported the Democratic ticket in that county. This resulted in Mr. Cleveland's receiving a ma- jority in Oneida County, whereas it should have given a Re- publican majority of from two to three thousand, and Mr. Spriggs was supported by the same persons who supported Mr. Cleveland. In 1886 Mr. Spriggs was again the candidate for Representative in Congress, but was defeated by James S. Sher- man. Mr. Spriggs, although prominent in Democratic politics, never wlas what could be termed a leader. He was a manipula- tor of caucuses and conventions, possessed a good deal of shrewdness, but in his political discussions and speeches he never entered into arguments of principles to any extent. Although he manifested shrewdness and ability in the trial of cases, yet he at times resorted to methods, in order to win verdicts, that would not be approved in a court of ethics.
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JOSEPH R. SWAN was born September 10, 1842, at Colum- bus, O. He wlas the son of Joseph Tl. Swan, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Ohio, and Hannah Ann Andrews of Rochester. Mr. Swan was educated in the public schools of Cleveland and in Kenyon College, from which institution he graduated in 1862, and the same year took up his residence in Utica and entered the law ofSce of Judge Charles H. DooUttle as a law student in 1863. H<e was admitted to the bar in 1864, and formed a partnership with Mr. Doolittle under the firm name of Doolittle & Swan. Bfe afterwards was a partner with Charles D. Adams of Utica under the firm name of Adams & Swan, and still later the firm became Adams, Swan & Doolittle, the junior mem- ber being William S. Doolittle. In 1883 Mr. Swan formed a partnership with Hon. Alexander T. Goodwin, and this partner- ship continued for several years, and when dissolved, Mr. Swan continued to carry on law business alone until a short time prior to his death. He was interested in many business enterprises, among which was the People's Street Railroad System of Sjrracuse. He was also President of the Herald Publishing Company, and director of the Second National Bank, and of the Hard Wall Plas- ter Company. On April 27, 1870, he married Emma Mann, daughter of Charles A. Mann of this city. Mr. Swan was a care- ful and painstaking lawyer. He tried few cases at the Circuit, but he frequently tried cases at the Special Term and before referees. He had a good knowledge of the law!, and was honor- able in all his transactions with his brother attorneys. He died in Utica December 13, 1901.
STEPHEN VAN DRESAR was born upon a farm; probably in the Town of Western. His father's name was Isaac Van Dresar, and he wjas educated only in the common schools. He studied law with AUanson Bennett in Rome, who at that time was the Surrogate of Oneida County. He was admitted to practice in the Court of Common Pleas in 1839, and as an attorney in the Supreme Court in 1841, and several years later he wte admit- ted as a counselor in the Supreme Court. He then formed a partnership with William M. Tallman, which partnership exist- ed to 1844; after this he was a partner with James M. Elwood, for six years. He whs supervisor of the town in 1852 and 1853, and later he was Canal Collector. For some years prior to
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1869 he waa president of the board of school trustees, and after- wards was president of the board of education in Rome. In 1870 he waa elected Recorder of Rome, and served for four years. In 1877 he wtas elected Surrogate on the Democratic ticket over Da- vid C. Stoddard. This was a peculiar election, as Mr. Stoddard lived in Utica, and Mr. VanDresar in Rome. The County was ordinarily Republican. Mr. Stoddard received substantially his party vote, elsewhere than in the city of Rome, where out of a total of about 2,200- votes Mr. Van Dresar received a majority of more than 1,700. This result was caused by the jealousy of the citizens of Rome against Utica. Mr. Van Dresar married Har- riet, daughter of Dewjitt C. Rowley about 1850. He was a man of pleasant address, but had little knowledge of the law, and as a Surrogate of the County it can not be saidi of him that he ad- ministered the office upon a high plane.
DANIEL E. WAGER was bom in JeflPerson County on the 8th day of June, 1823. He was educated in the common schools and JeflPerson County Institute at Watertown. He then read law with Joshua Moore at Watertown, and afterwards with Wil- liam and Charles Tracy at Utica, and later still in the office of Comstock & Beach in Rome. He was admitted to the bar in 1850, and formed a partnership with H. T. Utley at Rome. This firm existed for some years, when Mr. Utley removed to Waterville. In 1852 he was elected Special County Judge on the Democratic ticket. In 1854 he was one of the editors of the Rome Sentinel, and in 1855 he became one of its proprietors. In 1857 Mr. Wager wlas made postmaster of Rome, and held the office for four years. In 1860 he returned to the practice of his profession. In 1872 he became a partner with Mx. Beach and Bailey. Later Mr. Wager was a partner with Mr. Beach alone, and this firm existed down to the death of Mr. Beach. Mr. Wager was elected Special County Judge in 1880. He was in every sense an estimable lawyer, with a thorough knowledge of the fundamental principles of law ; with good judgment and honesty of purpose he devoted himself to the practice of his profession. Hie was modest and retiring, and therefore did not attain such public position as his talents and acquirements entitled him to, but he performed the duties entrusted to him with such ability and devotion to the ends of justice that all who knew him had the utmost confidence, both in
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his ability and in his judgment. He gave much attention to mat- ters of local history, and was one of the best informed men in the county pertaining to the history of men and institutions in and about the County of Oneida. He wrote exceedingly well, and al- ways fairly of those who differed with him in regard to public affairs. His sketches of eminent Romans is a model of short, con- cise, satisfactory biographies. His name will ever be held in high esteem among the bar of this county. In 1854 Mr. 'Wager was married to Helen M. Abell, a daughter of Lynden Abell of Bmne. He left but one child surviving him, Mr. Frederick L. Wager of Rome, N. Y.
N. OORTIS WHITE w^s bom at Torrington, Conn., Sep- tebmer 14, 1822, and died at Ospray, Florida, February 14, 1900. When Mr. White was 15 years of age he left Connecticut and came to Oneida County, New York, and became a clerk in the store of Warren C. Rowjey at Trenton. He remained there for a while, then entered the Vernon Academy, and went from there to the Clinton Collegiate Institute. Having obtained a good educa- tion he taught schjool for several years, for a time as principal of the old 'Whitestown Academy. Later he entered the office of Kirkland & Bacon of Utica as a law student, and was admitted to the bar in 1846. On the dissolution of the firm of Kirkland & Bacon, Mr. Bacon took Mr. White as a partner, and this part- nership existed until Mr. Bacon was made a Judge of the Su- preme Court, when Mir. White took as a partner William B. Dana. M>. Dana went to New York after about a year, and Mr. White became a partner with Timothy D. Lalor. A year afterward Mr. Lalor, on account of failing health, went to Cali- fornia. In 1868 Mr. White -wient to New York, and for a time engaged in business pursuits. In 1883 he returned, to Utica, and again took up the practice of his profession and continued to practice law until a very short time before he died. On account of ill health he went to Florida, but his health did not improve, and he died there. Mr. White gave little attention to politics, al- though on one occasion he was nominated by the Democratic party for County Judge, but was defeated by George W. Smith.
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music in the First Presbyterian Church. Mr. White was twice married, his first wife bein^ Jane Stanton, daughter of Elias Stan- ton, of Trenton, and his second wife Delia W. Dana, daughter of James Dana. He was an affable, cultured gentleman, a good law- yer, and left a good name to his posterity.
OTHNIEL S. WIIiLIAMS was the son of Othniel Williams, and was bom at Killingworth, Conn., November 22, 1813. He re- moved with his father to Waterville, N. Y., in 1814, and to Clinton in 1820. In his fourteenth year he entered the sophomore class of Hamilton College, and graduated in 1831. For twjo years he was a tutor in the family of Mr. Gibson in Virginia. In the fall of 1836 he returned from Virginia, and was admitted as an at- torney in 1837, and as a counsellor in 1840. On September 6, 1843, he married Delia, the daughter of Professor Charles Avery of Hamilton College. For a time he was an instructor in modern languages in the college, and showed great proficiency in French, Spanish and Italian. Mr. Williams was appointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1846, and in 1847 he wias made a trus- tee of Hamilton College. After the new constitution of the State was adopted in 1848 he was elected Surrogate of Oneida County, and re-elected in 1852. In 1850 he was made the treasurer of Hamilton College, and retained this position until his death. In 1871 he received the degree of LL. D. During many years of his life he was identified with many public charities, business corpor- ations and enterprises for the advancement of his town and coun- ty. He was a promoter of the Utica, Clinton & Binghamton Bail- road, one of its directors, its vice president, and for many years, and up to his death, he was its president. He took great interest in college affairs, and was one of the founders of the Alpha Delta Phi society. At a meeting of the Oneida County bar held after the death of Mir. Williams, Professor Theodore W. Dwight said of him, **He was not only honest, able and patriotic, but a good lawyer." Mr. WiUiams was a careful and painstaking lawyer, well versed in the principles of law, conscientious and fair in his practice, and when called upon to render decisions as judge, sur- rogate or referee he did it intelligently, fairly, and was seldom reversed upon appeal. He died having the respect of the entire bar of Central New York.
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JOEL wnjIiAKD was bom in Schuyler, Herkiiner County, in January, 1830. Hfe received an academic education, was admit- ted to the bar before he removed to the City of Utica, and located here in 1859. He devoted himself to his law practice, and won a good reputation and a fairly lucrative practice. During the war he was appointed Assistant Assessor of internal revenue, and held that office to 1866, when he was elected County Judge of Oneida County. In that capacity he manifested fair ability, was just in all his decisions, having no favorites at the bar, and no enemies. He married Amy A. Ladd of Schuyler, and re- sided in Utica up to the time of his death, which occurred Jan- uary 12, 1880. Mr. Willard never took an active part in the trial of cases, but aside from his duties as County Judge he fre- quently acted as referee, and had the respect of the bar for the fairness of his decisions. He left a reputation as an honorable man.
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INDIAN RAIDS IN THE MOHAWK VALLEY.
Eev. Wm. M. Beauchamp, S.T.D., Syracuse, N. Y.
In treating the subject assigned me — ^not the one I would have chosen — I leave out some tragic features, and take a wide range in others. Thus Champlain's invasion, in 1609, was a raid on the Mohawk valley in intention, but he met the enemy on the way, fought, conquered and retired. Indians rarely followed up a successful blow. I place the meeting at Ticonderoga from the latitude mentioned, the falls observed, and the probability that the Mohawks came from the direction of Whitehall.
The points of interest, however, are the diflferenoes between early and late Indian warfare. On the way, sixty Indians had their places assigned them. A spot was cleared and sticks were produced, one for each man. This rod was stuck in the ground and he stood by it, with his friends around at their stations. Then all dispersed but soon returned, each by his stick as before. This was repeated till fixed in the mind. This feature was seen in later combats. Men stood by the sticks they had placed. They might advance ; they must not retreat, though they often did.
In this case, too, as soon as the foes met, preliminaries were arranged by the leaders of both sides. At the appointed hour they fought openly, in orderly ranks; sometimes having arrow proof helmets, armor and shields. The use of guns soon changed the mode of warfare, as it did the results of this fight. But the Mohawks were quick to learn. As soon as they could they bought guns at any price, became expert marksmen, and with these gained power, though feeble before.
Champlain's inroad of 1615 was in the Oneida country, the key to the Mohawk valley from the west, the Oneida boundary
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often stood by the shallow pond — ^now almost dry — ^where the strong fort extended into the water, and seen the remaining com pits around. The original Oneida stone and village were but five miles southwest, but a great boulder, fifteen feet long, still lies near the center of the later fort, tho oldest now existing of the many Oneida stones. The first has been broken up and removed.
The fort of 1615 defended the vaUey from invasion on the west, and the Huron host was driven back. The land route fol- lowed led from Lake Ontario, across Oneida river and Chitten- ango creek, and up the steep hillside to Nichols' pond. A con- quering hero, Champlain marched over the forest trail. A help- less num he was borne back. The course of history was changed.
Following invasions of this kind from the north and west came a futile one from the Hudson on the east. As far north as Saratoga that river belonged to the Mahikans on both sides, the Mohawks dwelling west of Albany county. At Albany the Mahi- kans had a strong fort east of the river — a safe position — and there had been combats undescribed.
To go back for a moment to those earlier days, before the white man's coming, it is well to remember that permanent habi- tations in the Mohawk valley are of very recent date. North of Utica were some obscure hamlets of uncertain age and race — early or recent — ^but the valley itself otherwise had no settled occupa- tion till the Mohawks came. It was a good hunting ground but not a choice fishing place, and so attracted few of the early abori- gines. The first homes of the Mohawks even, were far from the river, in strong forts among the hills. They were then hostile to all the Indians of New York and Canada, and, according to early tradition, often on the defensive and subject to raids. In fact it was a constant struggle for mere existence till they obtained guns. The Algonquins pressed them on the north and east, the Andastes or Minquas on the south, the early Onondagas and Oneidas were often hostile on the west. They were beset with foes, but Hi-arwat-ha's plan saved the situation.
As a whole the Iroquois family was large, but had many branches. In its eastward movement the Hurons and Petuns — the "good Iroquois" of Champlain — settled near the Georgian bay. The Neutrals were on the north shore of Lake Erie, with their eastern boundary at Oak Orchard creek in New York. The Eries were on the south shore of their lake, and south and west
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of Eighteen AGle Creek. At a later day the New York Iroquois overthrew all these.
Bast of the Neutrals were the Senecas and Cayugas, who may have settled here early in the 16th century. In Jefferson county were the Onondagas of the same period, who built some forts in Onondaga county late in that century, and came there as a body before its close. The Oneidas also were near (^densburg, and the Mohawks at Montreal and lower down the river, all seeking the southern hills at the outbreak of the Huron- Algonquin war.
In this change of territory jealousies and conflicts came about, and Hi-a-wat-ha planned a union which would insure peace. He failed to persuade his own people, the Onondagas, but De- kan^a-wi-da, the great Mohawk chief, came to his aid and the league was formed. A grand council was to meet yearly — a kind of Hague conference — for the adjustment of diflftculties, every chief in the formative council having a successor in this. The representation was unequal, but each nation had but one vote. These civil chiefs were elected by the women of their clan as they still are. The women also could take initial steps for their re- m,oval. General aJCairs were left to the grand council; local to local bodies. Arbitration was sometimes employed, and there might be united action in peace or war. The great object of the Konosioni, however, was to insure peace.
This action, about A. D. 1600, removed one danger from the Mohawk valley, but did not protect it on the north, east and south. Naturally the Dutch were on* good terms with the Mahikans, or Loups, who owned the land between the Mohawks and the Hud- son river. So when the Mahikans asked aid of the Dutch com- mander at Port Orange, in 1625, he gladly consented to go with them, with six men. A league on the way they met the foe, the allies being defeated and four of the Dutch slain. This was the only fight between the Mohawks and Dutch. They said they never had harmed the Dutch ; why should they meddle with themT The Mahikans soon sold their lands and removed, but racial antipathy remained.
Thus it happened that there was a purely Indian raid when 300 Mohicans from New England attacked the Mohawk town. of Oandawague, early on the morning of Aug. 18th, 1669. The at- tack was furious, but the fort was strong. Men and women
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Started from sleep, manned the walls and made sallies, till timely aid put the raiders to flight.
The Mohawks pursued in canoes and soon had the lead. Their foes made an intrenched camp when night came on. It was too strong for assault, and the Mohawks placed an ambush on the trail beyond. Next morning the Mohican vanguard fell into this, but at the camp the fighting lasted eil day. In the night the in- vaders escaped. The place is mentioned in the Schenectady land grant as '^Kinaquariones, Where the Last Battell was between the Mohawks and the North (river) Indians." It was on the north side of the Mohawk, just above Hoflfman's Ferry, and was mainly a hand to hand fight.
In DeCourcelle's expedition, January, 1666, Indians went only as guides, and DeTracy, in October, had but a hundred In- dians with his 1200 Frenchmen. These could hardly be called In- dian raids. The latter force, however, destroyed several Mohawk forts, and took formal possession of the land for the King of France. The effect was great and the whole Iroquois League asked for peace.
In the burning of Schenectady in 1690, there were 96 Indians with the 114 Frenchmen, and four Indians and seventeen French- men lost their lives, mostly in the retreat. I have nothing new to add to its very barbaric features.
In January, 1693, Frontenac sent 425 Frenchmen and 200 In- dians against the Mohawks, and was much displeased when the latter would not kill their prisoners, most of whom escaped. The picturesque and politic old count could be as cruel as any savage. Three Mohawk villages were burned in this raid, but the French nearly starved in the retreat.
Early Canadian inroads were mainly by Lake Champlain, sometimes including Lake George, but the progress of settlement and trade brought changes. Till after 1700 the Mohawks had little use for the river above Canajoharie, much preferring the old trail thence over the hills westward. This varied slightly at times, but then led direct to a later Oneida, near Munnsville on Oneida creek, and then to Onondaga on Butternut creek. Thence it went over the hills westward, to Skaneateles, Owasco and Ca- yuga lakes. It had been long traversed by horses.
From this path Col. Romer, in his survey of 1700, diverged on his return, and took a small side trail to examine the Oneida port-
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age at Borne. This done he resumed the main traiL With the founding of Oswego, a Bttle later, the portage became a place of importance. Forts were built and roads made. Trade at once followed the water ways.
In 1671 Fort Frontenac had been founded at Kingston, Can- ada, but a greater menace to the Mohawk valley was the building of La Presentation at Ogdensburg in 1749. Oould the English have gone there earlier they might have blocked the way to Fort Frontenac, and the Oswegatchie river already furnished some ac- cess to the Mohawk. With hia keen military eye Abbe Picquet saw his opportunity. M. DuQuesne said of him that he ''was worth more than ten regiments/' and he was. A mission in name it was actually a fort, and a troublesome one at that. This was occupied till the end of the old French war, and became an important mili- tary base. Expeditions went thence southward, and often there were mx)re captives than warriors there. Trails ran thence to all parts of the Mohawk, but often the old route to and from La Famine or Salmon river, on Lake Ontario, was preferred.
Thus in March, 1756, M. de Lery, with 300 men, came from La Presentation to Salmon river — ^not Black — and followed the route of the Rome and Watertown railroad, from Pulaski to Fort Bull. That fort he carried by assault, killing all but five of the inmates. He had 256 Frenchmen and 103 Indians, but the latter were of little use. The fort was pillaged and ammunition de- stroyed by throwing it in the water, where boys still find bullets and balls. The little army went no farther.
The next year M. de Belletre came by the same route, exam- ined several abandoned forts, crossed the river, came near the Palatine village — ^now Herkimer — and, Nov. 12, took this and five small forts in succession, his most effective weapon being the Indian warwhoop. All feared that. Fort Kouari (Bear) or Her- kimer, though near, was not taken. The Oneidas had warned the Palatines and some took refuge there. Unfortunately all did not. Severe as the blow was, even the French said the leader's report was exaggerated beyond all reason. This was the last imi>ortant raid on the valley in the oW French war. The forts were soon rebuilt, others added, and the French flag no longer waved over Canada.
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The Iroquois had extended southward and westward, and gen- erally favored the royal cause. The presents oame from that side, and they always had an eye to the main chance. Why should they not? So the most that could be hoped for was their neu- trality.
If hostile they formed an important military base westward and on the Susquehanna and Delaware rivers. Canada was now a British province, furnishing another base. Forts Niagara and Oswego were specially troublesome to the Mohawk valley, and Fort Carleton, a new and strong work, built in 78, was well placed for sudden raids. Its ruins are conspicuous on Buck island, just below Gape Vincent. The wilderness had now been well explored, and many trails led thence to all parts of the val- ley, even Saratoga being accessible from this fort.
The first important inroad was connected with Burgoyne's campaign. Though well planned this was too poorly equipped for success, though the battle of Oriskany was a terrible blow to old Tryon county. Bravely fought, it brought sorrow to many homes.
Next to this lack of means, his Indian allies were a source of weakness rather than of strength to St. Leger. He intended coming direct from Salmon river to Fort Stanwix, which would have saved time, and he would have found the fort much weaker. But his 250 Mississagas were uncontrollable, and he had to go to Oswego to maintain order. There many Mohawks and Senecas joined him.
When his vanguard reached the fort tho Indians outnum- bered the rest, and he had no trust in their tender mercies. In his last summons to the fort he said he would be powerless to re- strain them there or in the vhUey beyond, if once enraged. They were dangerous allies, as others had found. They outnumbered the royal troops in the ambush at Oriskany and suffered severely. They caused his swift retreat and pillaged his stores.
It is quite possible, had he followed the route proposed or passed the fort and swept down the valley, the expedition might
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v&lley from end to end, but was checked at the outset. Its success would have been disastrous.
And here I owe personal thanks to the patriotic societies of Borne and the Oneida llistorioal Society, for marking so many historic sites. They aid and please the visitor, and develop local interest.
The raid on German Flats in August, 78, is commonly as- cribed to Brant, who was nearby and probably took some part. Major Cochran called his force 300 loyalists and 152 Indians. The former often wore the Indian garb to inspire fear, and were even more cruel than those they represented. The Canadian Archives, however, say that (Jamett, with 40 men, destroyed the place. There was no fighting, but the land was left desolate.
The next spring Indians from the Susquehanna, raided the south side of the valley, and others from Canada assailed Stone Arabia on the north. These were small affairs.
In May, 1780, Capt. Crawford, with three offtcers and 71 In- dians, left Fort Carleton for the Mohawk river in high spirits, and were joined by 105 soldiers. The Onondagas and Cayugas, however, refused to go anywhere but to Fort Stanwix and the party returned.
That month Brant brought in ten prisoners and four scalps, and the Canadian Archives add: ''They have been bringing in prisoners and scalps all winter.'' We are left to conjecture the reason for bringing in the latter. Incursions never ceased, but I>arties were usually small ; mere scalp hunters.
Col. Stone thought the burning of the Oneida fort and village was early in this year, but could get no date. Under that of Aug. 11, at Niagara, the Archives speak of ** Brant's success on the Mohawk ; destroyed the Oneida village and fort ; recently destroy- ed a rich settlement and two small forts, and ibout 100 houses, etc. Brant thinks it the finest opportunity to destroy Fort Stan- wix."
On the 24th many of the homeless Oneidas came to Niagara, about 500 being then on the royal side. Under date of Aug. 14, beside Brant's attack on the Oneida town, there follow ''his pro- ceedings on the Mohawk river, where they burned 100 houses^ 2 mills, 1 church and 2 forts; took 300 cattle, 200 horses, besides sheep, etc. ; and 45 prisoners and killed." The raiders sometimes ate all the cattle.
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At this time 100 Oneida warriors joined Brant in his raid. That chief also burned 20 houses in Schoharie and near Norman's Kill, taking and killing 12 persons. He had shrewdly circulated rumors that he would attack Fort Stanwix, and it was reinforced. When his foes were assembled there, he passed around them and fell on the defenseless settlements near Canajoharie and. Fort Plain. Capt. Nellis took part in this raid and also these Qneidas, though a few of the latter still adhered to the Americans. These were placed near Schenectady, and Brant planned to destroy them, but failed to do so.
Just before this Ck>l. Frazer wrote to Qov. Haldimand, asking 'Hhat a stop be put to the conduct of the Indians in keeping pris- oners. Their brutal behavior, if known, would create more ene- mies than he could collect of useful allies among the Indians.'' This was a great disadvantage. Beside all this they were enorm- ously expensive, a feature often mentioned. They were now ex- cellent judges of goods and ornaments, and demanded and had the very best.
A raid had already taken place in May, 1780, Sir John John- son coming to his old home by way of Lake Champlain, with 500 men, perhaps one-fourth Indians. The usual barbarities followed, though the baronet showed some slight consideration for a very few old friends. At this time Jacob Sammons was made prisoner, and had a pathetic tale to tell after his escape. Later he became an efficient officer in the valley warfare. He died in Syracuse, Nov. 2, 1815, and I have often seen his grave. His son was in the war of 1812, and a later descendant served in our civil war.
A more formidable raid came early in October from the west. Sir John Johnson left Oswego with 500 troops and some Indians, and was on the Onondaga river — ^now Oneida — on the 6th. Capt. Nellis joined him there. At Unadilla, Compliuiter was waiting, with a large body of Seneoas and others, eager to avenge the desolation of Sullivan's campaign in '79. Thoroughly did they do this, suddenly entering the Schoharie valley from the south. Beside other devastation Sir John said they destroyed, in this and the Mohawk valley, 600,000 bushels of grain. Their conduct was highly praised. The Senecas were then the most barbarous of the Five Nations, and had seen most of their own villages burned and crops destroyed the year before. Naturally they were ready for thorough work, but the forts escaped.
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INDIAN RAIDS IN THE MOHAWK VALLEY 203
It was in this raid that Col. Brown fell at Stone Arabia with many of his men.. He occupied Port Paris and sallied forth to attack the raiders, but his 150 men were too few. Nearly a third were killed, the rest escaping by flight. An inscribed boulder marks the spot.
Collecting a few loyalists and leaving desolation behind, Sir John was now in full retreat up the Mohawk valley, closely pur- sued. The battle at Klock's Field followed. A little more dash and promptness on the part of his pursuers would have over- whelmed him, but many reverses had taught caution. The golden moment passed, and he went oflf triumphant with his boats.
Names are here confused. The Oneida was then Onondaga river, some applying the name to Oneida lake also, Onondaga being better known as Salt lake. Chittenango creek had become the Onondaga boundary, and might be named by some from this. It was also Tusoarora creek, as leading to that people, and Cana- seraga from one of their tours. For them Sir William Johnson had built a fort on the eastern bank, protecting Canaseraga vil- lage. I have twice carefully examined the spot, and it was the one chosen by Col. Homer for the proposed Onondaga fort of 1700. This was never built.
Near this Sir John had moored his boats, which Capt. Vroo- m<an was sent to destroy. Ill luck attended him. According to the records of Fort Stanwix and others, he was surprised and captured on the way, so that the boats were unharmed. A more IKvpular story is that he occupied the fort and destroyed some boats, but was surprised there by Johnson, and his party made prisoners. The destruction of boats came later.
David Ogden's account of his own capture by raiders in March, '81, shows characteristic Indian humor. It was an old In- dian custom to leave some record of results. The snow was three feet deep, and Brant took the shoe buckles of his sixteen prison- ers, arranging them in pairs by the path to show their number. Winter was no hindrance to attacks, and they soon met a band of 50 loyalists and 100 Indians. The squaws feasted them on suc- cotash. At the burned Oneida village they dug unhusked conx from the snow, and prepared it for the long journey to Niagara.
One night they encamped at the deserted Onondaga fort, where the Americans had broken oflf the trunions of the small oan- non there in '79, leaving it on the ground. Being homeward
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bound Brant had powder to bnm, and made prisoners load and fire this many times, the Indians enjoying the fun. The ice was weak on Oa3raga lake, near the outlet, and they crossed in an ex- tended line to avoid breaking through. The prisoners had ropes attached in early Indian style. Near Niagara Corporal Betts had to review and drill them, and when some ofQcers made fun of them, Brant said they drilled better than their own men. At Niagara they ran the gauntlet.
In May, *81, Fort Stanwix, being almost ruined, was burned and evacuated, leaving Forts Herkimer and Dayton on the fron- tier. Col. Willett was now in command in the valley, and made his headquarters at Fort Rensselaer, a quaint building still stand- ing in the village of Canajoharie. Following the attack on Cur- rictown in June, by a large Indian party, came their defeat by Willett, with great loss to the invaders. Affairs were now more hopeful, though an attack on Palatine soon followed, with others at German Flats. The many fortified houses, often called forts, enabled many to maintain a hold on their lands, in the face of constant attacks.
The great raid of '81 was that of Ross and Butler in October, with 700 men, of whom 130 were Indians. It was organized at Fort Garleton, but Major Ross said the ''promised succor of the Indians is a mere illusion ; they are the refuse of different tribes, with no leader.*'
The route was from Fort Carleton to Oswego by water ; thence to Oneida and Chittenango creek as usual. The boats were left at the old Canaseraga fort under guard. The party passed Fort Rensselaer unobserved, reaching and destroying Warrens- burg near Schoharie creek, where both sides of the Mohawk were ravaged.
Col. Willett reached Fort Hunter next morning, but the raiders were then at Johnstown, whither he followed. It was a varied contest there as regards success, but he followed up the final retreat. A party was sent to Canaseraga to destroy the boats, but failed to do this, though the retreat in that direction was cut off. Thus the raiders fied up West Canada creek, the nearest route to Fort Carleton, though difficult. For up this, on the west side, Capt. Walter N. Butler was killed by an Oneida Indian. Brought up in the valley he had been one of its worst enemies. Others fell, but most of the raiders escaped. Col. Wil-
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lett returned down the creek to Fort Dayton near its mouth, and thence to headquarters.
The guard remained with the boats for a reasonable time, but at Fort Carleton, Nov. 22, Major Boss wrote of the *'safe arrival of the parties and provisions left at Canaseraga; destruction of old bateaux left there ; they had merely been patched up for the expedition ; the good ones are all at the Island and Niagara." He also spoke of ''the humanity of the expedition, nor did the Indians hurt a woman or child." They had little time for this, but his opinion of them had improved.
In the popular mind the two boat expeditions are confused, and so strong a belief was there that Sir John's treasure was sunk in the boats, that I have seen the coffer dams built to raise or search some of them. This was a little below the old fort. Not long siace treasure seekers often dug by night in the adjacent fields, looking for Sir John's money.
This was the last important i^aid in the valley. Qreat or small they accomplished no great end, and were usually mere scenes of useless bloodshed and destruction. In early days De Tracy's inroad did bring peace, and the siege of Fort Stanwix was part of a great and shrewd plan. Tet tiie American attack on the Onondaga towns had decidedly barbarous features, and Sullivan's campaign might have rivaled any Indian raid in the Mohawk valley, had not the Indians kept out of sight. The rav- aged fields and burned towns were alike in kind. No wonder the Senecas called Washington, Ha-no-da-g4-ne-ars, (Town Destroy- er), still the name of every president of the United States.
There is no absolute proof that in the later incursions scalps and prisoners were paid for at so much a head, but that there was an object in taking and bringing them in cannot be denied. With the early Indian scalps were the only evidence of his prowess. The French and English colonists commercialized the custom by their offers. Taught by them the Indians thought less of the honorable trophy than of the goods it would buy. He hunted scalps as he hunted beaver.
It is of interest to know how many Indians were employed in this local warfare. In August, 1783, Gapt. Dalton reported, in round numbers, the N. T. Iroquois who fought on the British side as 300 Mohawks, 150 Oneidas, 200 Onondagas, 230 Gayugas, 400 Senecas and 200 Tuscaroras. Some of these estimates are too
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high, but that of the Seneoas is too low. The total seems fair, but does not include the western and Canadian Indians. These, with the Senecas, were the most savage of all. The latter were mostly employed against Pennsylvania.
Usually from 500 to 1000 Indians were in the field, and Col. Ouy Johnson said he alone secured the services of 1500 warriors. It was not uncommon to have 500 in the Mohawk valley or neigh- borhood. In July, '82, Brant started for that region with an in- fantry company and 460 Indians. Of this little is known beyond the significant words of Major Boss, that Brant was ''doubtful of success because of the divided state of the Indians." Most were held fast only by liberal pay.
Aiding more or less in these raids were the loyalist companies mentioned in the Canadian Archives, as the Royal Highland Emi- grants, King's Royal Regiment of New York, Sir John Johnson's Battalions, Royal Americans and Royal Yorkers, King's Loyal Americans, Peters' Corps and Jessup's, and of Rangers, Butler's, King's, McAlpin's, Rogers' and leaser's, some of these sharing in the valley warfare.
In all the wanton cruelty shown by white and red men alike, better things sometimes appeared on which I have no time to dwell now. Unfortunately these were exceptional, for the war- fare was of a primitive type. It was war to the knife. We have fallen on better times, in a favored land, but all share not our peace. Eet us be thankful for the good land given us ; for the fair and peaceful valley in which we meet today, but in which, also, men of so many nations have fought. It is well to recall the past, but in doing this let us be thankful that we do not live in the good old days.
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WHITESTOWN SEMINARY.
Rev. Dana W. Bigelow, D.D., Utica, N. Y.
The history of the seminary was oarefully written by William H. DeShan of the class of 1866, and from this history, published by the Utica Sunday Tribune, Jan. 31, 1904, the following paper was prepared as a brief summary of the most essential facts of an institution wfhose record is worthy to be more widely known and published for geneml information.
Whitestown Seminary had its origin in an institution known as the Oneida Institute of Science and Industry, which was found- ed in 1827 by Rev. George Washington Gkde, D.D., a graduate of Union College, 1814. Because of ill health he resigned his pastor- ate in Adams, N. T., in 1823, and established in western New York a primary school to test the practicability of combining manual labor and literary culture. In furtherance of the same g^ieral scheme Mr. Qale, 1824, laid the foundations of the Institute at Whitesboro. Friends in the vicinity and region gave generous assistance ,to the project. Rev. John Frost, for twenty years pastor of the Presbyterian church of Whitesboro, acted for some time as agent in soliciting funds and securing students for the institu- tion. Gale and his associates purchased as the site of the Institute a farm of 115 acres. Buildings were erected at a cost of $15,000 and the work of instruction was at once begun. The year 1828 re- veals the institution in full progress; the legal incorporation fol- lowed in 1829. A common school education only was required for admission. The school would aim to prepare its pupils for advanc- ed classes in college or for theological courses, and do this at an expense so small as to bring its advantages within the reach of the poorest. This would be a great work not merely for this region
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specific work was installed and this department at once assumed particular prominence, and although the institution retained its academic features the idea of training a body of young m^i to preach the gospel, especially in the destitute portions of this coun- try and in the foreign field, became more and mlore conspicuous. It was argued that this blending of manual labor with sound the- ological training would tend to produce a class of ministers pecu- liarly qualified to endure hardship, if need be, in the work they were to perform. It was not the intention to send raw and undis- ciplined young men into the ministry or to lower in any way the standard of ministerial qualifications. In 1833, Joel Boot, a trus- tee residing in Whitestown, persuaded Reuben Hough, }m partner in a thriving business in Bristol, Conn., to oome to the Institute and take charge of its financial affairs. He made the journey in large part by canal boat. The trustees then were Dr. Gale, Rev. John Profit, Rev. Ira Pettibone ^and Benjamin S. Waloott, of New York Mills.
The new financial agent devised plans for improving the buUdings already erected and for enlarging the facilities for manual labor. A jmil factory was buUt, and in its upper story a printing office was established. Here was printed once a week by students ^ paper, *'The Friend of Man.'' In 1834, Dr. Gale severed his connection with the Oneida Institute and went to Il- linois where he founded at Galesburg, Enox College.
The second principal or president of Oneida Institute was the Rev. Beriah Green, a graduate of Middlebury College in 1819. After pastoral charges in Ylermont and Maine, he had a like charge in Hudson, Ohio, and while there had accepted pro- fessorship of sacred literature in Western Reserve College. He began about this time his anti-slavery crusade that later made him famous as an abolition preacher.
This plan for ''Promoting Manual Labor in Literary Insti- tutes" (the name of a society incorporated in New York State in 1829), enthumastically entered upon and tried in /several states, found an earnest advocate in Mr. Green.
The failure of the scheme was generally rapid and the col- lapse astounding. After ten years administration Mr. Green left the institution a wreck. His career during this period exhibited his strength in rare gifts as an inspiring teacher, and also his weakness in tenacity of purpose, and ardor of conviction and vio-
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leut surging under the social and civil agitations of the period. He gave up belief in a supernatural and :wTitten revelation and drifted over into the extremes of rationalism.
The failure of the Oneida Institute was due to three causes.
The first was the combination of manna] and mental labor. This was not a success for several reasons.
Unskilled labor was found to be unprofitable. There was strong opposition by advocates of the older methods. Human na- ture also revolted against the cruel law which provided for noth- ing in the whole twenty-four hours of the day but eating and sleeping and labor and study in certain fixed and despotic pro- portions. Finally there was tho diabolic spirit of idleness.
The secoDd cause of the Institute's failure was the substitu- tion of the original scriptures as the almost exclusive classic of the curriculuuL This did much to disconnect the institution with the general theory and habit of culture in the country and to stamp it with a certain reputation of singularity which could not fail to be in many ways disastrous.
The third disastrous fault was the promulgation of the prin- ciple of equality of privilege. The spirit thus awakened became excessive and extreme. Indifference to class and color was grad- ually changed into devotion to color and class, and there was iconoclastic zeal for the overthrow of social institutions and inter- ests. 3o radical was the change in the spirit and course of study at the Institute that the Rev. John Frost could no longer con- scientiously labor for its support. The Presbyterian Education Society withdrew its aid — other chief financial supplies of the Institute were cut off. Mr. Hough, financial agent, was gradually drawn into making large advances from his own funds— and in return the property was finally thrown upon his hands. It was in 1844 that the Oneida Institute, bomo down- with debts, without students, as well as without resources and laboring for the time under much popular odium, gave wiay entirely and passed ioto other hands.
Whitestown Seminary was its successor— a reorganized school, opened in 1844 — chartered in 1845. It became at once in a larger sense than ever before a i>ower and a blessing to the re- gion for whose benefit it had originally been planted. Mr. Hough was in full sympathy with this movement for reorganization and ho transferred to the new board of trustees the property that had
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come into his hands from the old Institute. Other of the former trustees continued in service with Mr. Hough ; among them, Mr. William S. Walcott, a chief benefactor, thus preserving in some degree the organic as well as the moral unity of the institution. In 1844 the buildings and grounds of the Oneida Institute were purchased by trustees of Clinton Seminary and this Seminary was transplanted to this its new location. The Seminary mentioned had been originally establshed in Clinton by Rev. H. H. Kellogg as a school for young ladies and this school had been purchased and organized by the Free Will Baptists of Central New York, and its success as an academy for both sexes became so great as to render necessary larger aooommodiations. Therefore its remov- al to Whitestown. The Free Will Baptists transferred also to this place from Parsonville, Me., a Biblical school especially for the training of young men for its ministry. Although starting from a new basis, and with scarcely anything but its good name, and controlled by different men and in part wSth other aims, the Sem- inary entered immediately on a highly prosperous career. Stu- dents not only of the denomination chiefly interested, but without muchi regard to denominational connection, began to flock in. Public sentiment, happy in the closing up of the former struggle, readily fell into sympathy with the new enterprise.
The Biblical school remained for ten years a constituent feature of the Seminary, with the general course of study followed in such institutions. In its f&culty were men of high reputation. This theological department, discontinued here, was transplanted to New Hampton, N. H.
Whitestown Seminary had as its principal, 1845-1846, Rev. David G. Heffron. He had been a teacher in the institution from 1841 — and he continued to .teach until 1848, after which he was for several years superintendent of schools in Utica.
Samuel Famham was the principal from 1846 to 1853. Prof. Cheney, the instructor in Latin in 1845, became a prominent edu- cator and the founder of a college in New England. Among the students of this period may be especially mentioned two men now of national reputation, the Rev. Edward Morris, D.D., LL.D., and the Hon. Ellis H. Roberts, LL.D.
Whitestown Seminary oame to its most prosperous and in- fluential period under the administration of principal James S. Gardner — ^bom June 24, 1822, graduated from Whitestown Sem-
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inary 1846 and from Hamilton College 1849 — ^principal of Whites- town Seminary from 1853 to 1880, when his life closed; a life that had been wholly devoted to his cherished institution with an energy, a patience and a, sfelf sacrifice that find few parallels.
Mr. Gardner won his way to his education largely by his own efforts and in 1848 had taught mathematics and natural science in the Seminary — a i)osition to which he returned a year later when his college course was finished. Under him as principal e faculty of men and women, changed from time to time, was al- ways strong and successful, each) one in hlis or her department. In 1863, in the midst of the CSvil War, the military spirit invaded the Seminary. A considerable number of students had gone to the front in defense of the Union. The outcome of the war was then very uncertain and the military training of young men was con- sidered of importance as a matter of possible home defense. The Seminary therefore established a military .department with CoL Israel T. Gray as instructor. After three years this department was discontinued, not having reached any noteworthy profici- ency. Whitestown Seminary had reached the acme of its pros- perity by 1865. The students in attendance niunbered 546, with an aggregate enrollment for the year of 803. Among the students of this year were many who have since made their mark in the world — and the same may be said of other years. In the strong faculty of this period may be especially mentioned Professor Bloomer, aa able mathematician and teacher of chemistry, aud Professor Becker, who brought the commercial department up to a high grade of eflBciency, afterward a wealthy banker, and his successor Prof. Benhigame, already successful as a teacher in other depart- ments. Bela P. McKoon was a fine classical scholar who greatly improved his department — called from it later to a chair in Cor- nell University.
In 1863 and 1864 plans for enlargement were realized in dor- mitories made entirely new inside, and each greatly enlarged. A new chapel was put into the ladies' building. The old chapel had gone to the rear for certain good purposes and in its place arose Walcott Hall — a brick building — ^worthy of its central place «ind well equipped — another expression of the interest and the gen-- erosity of William D. Walcott. The building was finished in 1869, with up to date recitation, 3odety and other rooms.
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Daring the ten years f oUowting, the Semdnary ^naa in a fairly satisfiactory shape, but toward the close of the decade the de- crease in the number of students annually attending began to be noticeable, the average having dwindled to 300, most of tiiem coming from in and around Whitestown. The improvement made in the public school system of tiie state was tiie reason for this decline in attendance upon this and other seminaries. Students were attracted from them to the tax supported schools of villages and citiesw
Prof. Gardner struggled hard to stem the rising tide that threatened to overwhelm the institution to which he had devoted his life.
An alumni association was formed in November, 1877, for the purpose of keeping up interest in the Seminary and securing finan- cial help that began to be much needed. The semi-centennial of the Seminary was edebrated in June, ;L878, with excellent addresses and poem and large attendance and much enthusiasm. Another like meeting was held by the association a year later and the third and last meeting was held in 1880.
Increasing finaneial difSculties oonfronted the Seminary, and weighed upon the principal until his health gave way and his death followed at a sanitarium on April 23, 1880.
During nearly the entire period of his principalship the re- sponsibility for the financial and practical management of the in- stitutikm was ui>on his shoulders. His qualifications for these out- side duties were rare. He possessed the faculty of organization ; he was wonderfully patient and expert with details and he was gifted with an energy and a perseverance which overcame all ob- stacles and were rewarded through the passing years by the gradually wtidening influence and usefulness of the institution and by the multiplication of its departments and by the rapid in- crease in the number of its pupils up to the time when the shad- ow of the inevitable began to fall, and by a steady development of the facilities of the school for preparing young men and young women in life for every field of endeavor. After the death of Professor Gardner the Bev. Moses E. Dunham, D.D., was induced to take charge of the Seminary, and after two years was succeeded as principal by B. H. Bipton, who continued until he was called to the faculty of Union College. In 1881 there were only 13 grad-
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uates. In 1884 about 30 Btudents were in attendAnee, nearly all from the town of Whitestown.
On ThnrBday, June 19, 1884, tlie history of Whitestown Seminary became a closed book. Its record ooyers a period of 56 years. It was one of the most famous schools of academic in- struction in the country. To its founders and benefactors and in- structors is due a large debt of gratitude, on the part of men and women once instructed and inspired there, and on the part of the public whose welfare was thus abundantly promoted.
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THE HISTORY OF TRANSPORTATION IN THE MOHAWK VALLEY.
Lieut. William G. Mayer, Waterville, N. Y.
The primeval forest! How easily we utter the words! How glibly they fall from our lips ! And yet, how little of understand- ing do they convey to either speaker or hearer; how little of ade- quate realization can we of this day and generation have of its majesty — of its grandeur — of its beauty — of its immensity — and above all, of its awe-inspiring silence and solitude — ^not even the stillness and solemnity of death more profound ! When this great State of ours was in its pristine glory of trackless wilderness — when not a single one of its myriads of giants ever bowed his head or was laid low except by Divine command — ^when neither brook nor stream had learned to do man's bidding — when river's breast had never pillowed keel — ^if then, you or I could have taken **the wings of the morning and remained in its uttermost parts,*' what a vision of beauty, and of majesty, and of immens- ity would have been spread out below us ! No deft Oriental fing- ers ever wove a carpet of more wonderful design — ^more brilliant coloring. And when these marvelous variations of hue and figure were outlined and accented by glistening threads of silver streams and shimmering blues of pool and lake, how exquisite the picture and how incomparably above all we of today can either imagine or know ! Climb today some lofty summit of the Northern hills and look out upon mountains and lakes and rivers and woods, and the heart is thrilled at the sublimity of the sight, but it is only a faint replica of the original ! Made and fashioned by the same Almighty hand, but marred by man's impious touch and baneful presence. If this can lift us to a higher plane and a closer com- munion with the Infinite — ^that must have brought the enraptured soul into the very presence of God himself I
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Memory still holds fast in its grasp the beautiful and realistic pictures presented to our appreciative and delighted view, two months ago, when this city, with generous, yes, lavish hospitality, opened wide its portals and invited all its former children to come and partake of it. Thousands came and unanimous were they in their expressions of appreciation and enjoyment of the many good things provided for their instruction and entertainment. Chief among these, because of its beauty and realism, was the pictorial history of this region, excellently presented, in an arena and with a stage setting than which few, if any, localities can boast of a grander or more fitting one, the realization of which fact must again have filled the hearts of all participants and spectators with deep gratitude to their well-beloved fellow-citizen whose far- sighted generosity and public spirit had provided the beautiful surroundings. As episode followed episode, each one startlingly realistic, and one looked out over the distant mountains, just vis- ible through a blue veil of mystery, and then over the intervening valley, where nestled, in its bed of green, the city which all were there to honor, and then to where could be seen the shimmer of the Mohawk '* gently gliding, on its fair, winding way to the sea," and then one reflected that on its surface had once floated the canoe of Hiawatha and his beautiful daughter, Minnehaha, as he came to give his sage and momentous admonition for unity at the council fire of the Five Nations; reflected that this was the same valley that had re-echoed the war whoop of the savage, whose bullet could and did lay low the body, but could not quell the indomitable spirit of the gaUant Herkimer; reflected that this same valley, outlined by these same hills, this "Flanders of America," was the theater of uncounted wars, was the floor on which many races were threshed, was the pathway of empire, was the granary of the Revolution, was the scene of that wonderful struggle with Prance, when, for a century and a half, the magni- ficent schemes of the first power in Europe were foiled, and that its army had been held in check, a^s at another Thermopylae, by three hundred Mohawks and the few Dutch and English settlers who joined with them ; reflected that these were the same moun- tains and hills that had looked down upon such savagery and bru- tal killings of men, women and children, as to devastate utterly a fair, prosperous and i>opulous region, and made it abound in smouldering ruins and gory corpses, thrusting it back into its
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origwal and deathlike silence ; as one reflected on these and hun- dreds of other blood-stirring events^ how completely the present slipped Away and one lived in this storied and eventful past. It was truly inspiring I
On the earliest map of the Mohawk. Valley, Schenectady, which was settled in 1661-9, was designated by the word, Schoo, thought to be a contraction of tJie word, Schonowe, ''the gate." Professor Pearson says : ' ' The origin of the name Schenectady was probably derived from the Indian word Schonowe, meaning door or gate to the Long House of the Iroquois in the Mohawk eoun> try." ''This name," says Beid, "becomes poetieal, when we re- flect upon a broader, grander application of the term, "the gate." The Hudson and the Mohawk Valley, taken together, are indeed the avenue to the Qreat West, although the early settlers did not so fully realize it. In the fifteenth century, it was the desire of navigators of the then known world, to seek India by sailing West, and it was with this object in view that the expeditions of Colum- bus, of the Oabots and other explorers were fitted out. After the discovery of America, even up to the voyage of Henry Hudson, the desire of navigation was to discover the North West passage to India. When Hudson entered the bay of New York and sailed up the broad river that bears his name, he fondly hoped that he had at last found this North West passage, not dreaming that a great continent, three thousand miles wide, lay between him and the Pacific Ocean. The Indian, with his limited knowledge, called the Mohawk Valley, Schonowe, "the Gate," and little knew how truly it was named, except as being the one perfect trail through the Long House to as far west as he had ever roamed. "Henry Hudson was right, however, in his surmises," says Reid. With its two great railways, its Erie Canal, and now) the promise of a third Suez, with its millions of tons of merchandise and myriads of tourists, streaming across the continent, to meet the steamers of the Pacific to Asia, the Mohawk Valley may well be called the North West Passage, the Gete to India.
To me has been assigned the History of Transportation in this vialley-*--^to tell you about the means and methods, in word and phrase. How much more fortunate than you were the spec- tators of the pageant of Utica, for they saw them all in beautiful pictures, as leaf after leaf of history's pages wiere turned for them; saw them all, from Hiawathia's oanoe to Heinrich's mono-
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plane— aad all of .tbem 00 realistic^ aiDdi so handsome that it is indeed presumptuoua in me to attempt to add anything to it.
The traveler of today, journeying along the quiet curves of this river of legwd and story, with the numberless old homesteads nestled along its banks, journeying from its source in the town of Western in this county, to its outlet into the Hudson at Cohoes, will be forced to admit that the Mohawk River, in its 175 miles of length, flows through one of the most beautiful, one of the most picturesque, one of the most fertile, one of the fairest gardens in the world, and this very fertility of today is sure indi- cation of the wealth of forest that covered it in primeval days. Then almost impenetrable in its density, with its gloomy thickets, its towering mountains, its foaming torrents, this pathless wild was the home where roamed the moose, the elk, the deer, the panther, the lynx, the wolverine, the wolf; free as the air they breathed, hither and thither they wandered, each following its own instinct, and each intent upon securing a livelihood in its own particular way. In this quest for food and water, they used trails or traces, which at first followed closely the meanderings of streams and the shore lines of ponds and lakes, but gradually, for greater safety and shelter, were extended and continued into the depths of the wilderness. As the years came and went, these traces, some of them worn to surprising depths by countless feet and hoofs, became as well defined as had been those along the banks of streams and lakes ; in every direction they ran, crossing and recrossing each other, and offering swift and easy ways from lair to drinking pool, from danger to safety. Into this environ- ment oame the **men of the smoking teepes, of arrow and bow and spear.'*
*' Beneath the virgin forest trees He strode, erect and free; Primeval image of his God, In naked ^majesty."
His first instinct was of war and strife. His mooca«ined feet followed the paths blazed by the wild beasts, through the dense forest, and stoically he endured every hardship and danger.
When floating log had taught him the buoyancy of water, he constructed the rude dugout, called in his dialect ** pirogue," in which he paddled or poled the streams, in search of game or in
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seeking revenge upon his enemies. In shape and method of mak- ing, they well represented the rough and unskilled work of prim- itive man. The hollowing and fashioning of them from huge logs, was the great labor of the Indian warrior and he did not often undertake the task. When he found a giant of the forest, pre- ferably of red cedar, straight and clear to the lower branches, he would fell it by dint of hard toil, for the stone hatchet was his only tool. If the tree, perchance, fell over the water, he was pleased to find the trunk in a position for easy launching, when it should have been shaped into the pirogue. Then he would chop away the ends into the semblance of a bow, and by fire and with the stone hatchet would dig out the inside. At best, the result was but a heavy and unwieldy one, with little carrying capacity, in proportion to its bulk, and it was most difScult to pole against a swift current. But he, by it, vastly increased his avenues of com- munication.
Their heaviness and clumsiness, eventually, however, sug- gested to him that embodiment of lightness and grace, the swiftly running birch bark canoe. Constructed wholly of birch bark, which was stripped from the tree in long pieces, with keel and ribs of red cedar, the overlapping joints stitched and made water tight with the pitch of the white pine. Their construction was al- ways a scene of gay activity. The chief laid the keel. The war- riors bent and secured the ribs, and when they were all in place, the frame was strengthened with cross pieces connecting the gun- wales. Then the squaws, who had been cutting and preparing the bark, came on the scene to do their part of the work, which custom and tradition assigned to them. They fitted the bark closely over the skeleton frame; they sewed it with the "Wat- tap" to the ribs and keel €ind also the overlapping joints; they filled all the openings with the white gum, smoothed the edges, rubbed the wood and polished the bark. The warriors then add- ed the last touches to the finished canoe by decorating the bows with symbols of the tribe and these added a mystical charm to many a water scene. It must indeed have been an imposing spec- tacle, when on a still summer morning, a gaily decorated fleet of
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obliged to locate other trails that those he had in common with the wild beasts, across portages and around dangerous obstruc- tions; with canoe upon his back, his body protected by tanned deer skin clothing, he blazed a way for his i)eople from river to lake and from lake to river.
These means of communication and transportation sufSced until the coming of the white man. The first of these, in this re- gion, was the French coureur de bois — athletic — fearless — crafty — and grasping ; with his pack upon his back, he sought that portion of the fur trade that refused to come to any established post. So well adapted was the birch canoe to his needs, and the country supplying, as it did, his few requirements, that he readily adopted it and it became the all important mode of conveyance for him. It seems scarcely possible that these frail craft could ride safely over some of the surges through which they were driven by these hardy and reckless voyageurs, loaded as they were, almost to the gunwales ; yet so surprisingly buoyant were they, dancing lightly over the surface, that w5th hardly a dish of spray were they kept afloat, simply by the dexterous use of the paddle. This hardy run- ner of the woods was but a transient and in no way disturbed the primitive wilderness.
The first American voyageur or barterer wiho conceived the idea of trading in this region and in Canada w»s John Fellows, of SheflSeld, Mass., who, in 1789, started from Schenectady in his lit- tle schooner, with a cargo of tea and tobacco. He sailed up the Mohawk Eiver to Rome, carried to Wood Creek, sailed west on Oneida Lake and finally reached Lake Ontario by way of Oswego River. There the commanding officer of the outpost refused him permission to go on to Canada to dispose of his goods and he was turned back into the wilderness. He was not deterred from his purpose, however, but returning with his vessel and cargo up the Oswego River as far as the Seneca River, he followed that stream into the Canandaigua Outlet, to the present site of Clyde. There in the depths of the forest he built a log hut, which was, for long afterwards, known as the "block house." In this rude shelter he secured his wares, while he ** bushed out" a sled road to Sodus Bay. His trail must have been 9 or 10 miles long, and when it was finally completed, he w-ent to Geneva and procured two yoke of oxen and with them he hauled his boat across the portage and launched it in this tributary of the Lake. He then
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sledded the goods across and embarked in his frail craft and set sail for the .north shore. The tea and tobaooo which he had thus laborioQslj brought to Canada met with a ready sale, I am happy to say, and he reaped a large profit which he so richly deserved.
During the 18th century the commerce of this valley, ;muich of it leading into and absorbed by that of the Qreat Lakes, con- sisted almost exclusively of the fur trade, the transportation of men, arma and stores to the military poets, scattered at wide in- tervals along the chain of waterways, and the carrying of settlers, their families and goods, to their new homes in the western wild- erness. Wheat and some of the other grains were then west bound commodities, as were also articles of wearing apparel, tools, rude instruments for tilling the soil and an assortment of goods for trading with the natives. While much of this traffic was carried in canoes, the batteau and barge also played an important part. These were built stronger and larger until the craft in use from about 1750 to the end of the century were of sufficient size to be called **vessels" by some .of the early hiatorians.
Some of these batteaux were rigged with light masts and small sails, but moat of them were "poled" against the current or they drifted .wfith it. "Poling" was exceedingly arduoos work, and only the hardy, wild and reckless boatmen of that day could be equal to it. They spent their days in the blazing sun or the driving rain, their heads drooping over the setting poles, their feet steadily trudging the walking boards, from morning until night and day after day. A wild life, a merry one and a brief was lived by thia x>^culiar class of men.
The French coureur de bois, the English and Amerioan bar- terers and fur traders were in turn succeeded by the hardy fron- tiersman, that true American, who first dared to turn away from the seaboard and set his face toward the sinking of the sun, to- ward the dark, mysterious mountains and forests that encom- passed his home land to the west He had two tools, the axe and the rifle. With the one he built, with the other he fought and lived. The rifle was of small caliber, because in those days of forest life, no long range was necessary. Its charge was tiny, be- cause its owner was obliged to economize in every ounce of bur- den, but its powers were wonderful. With his marvelous skill he was able to put the tiny x>ellet in precisely that spot of animal or enemy that he chose. If there were any such, he who could not
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drive a nail or snuff a oandle with rifle bullet was but a tyro. The stroke of the American axe and the crack of the American rifle were the first notes of civilization's chorus, ^diicb now began to roll, with ever increasing volume, among the magnificent col- umns of jiature's cathedral. With them, and some sweet girl whom he had taken from her family, some grandmother or great grandmother of yours, he severed all the aasoeiations which iHid bound him to his home, and started out into the unknown — staunch — ^industrious — ^good hunter— sturdy chopper— faithful friend — implacable foe. His life was full of romance, toil and peril. It reqidred the exercise of constant vigilance and sagacity. His days were full of incidents, romantic adventures and hair- breadth escapes. The eyes of savage &om the gloom of the forest and the distant crags were continually fixed upon him. He was in danger every hour of falling into an ambush or of being shot down by the volleys of an invisible foe. And that foe could take instant flighty beyond all possibility of pursuit. How often, whasi he returned from the hunt or the chase, he found his cabin in ashes, the mangled bodies of his wife and children strewn around, or, not finding them, knew that they had been carried away to a worse fate — Indian captivity. But he needed to ask neither ad- vice nor permission from any living soul. His days, vivid, ad- venturous, heroic, will never have their counterpart on earth again. No fiction can ever surpass in vividness the vast, heart- gripping drama that these men played.
The few effects that he brought with him were carried on the hack of his faithful horse, which many, a time and oft had to be halted on the narrow trail until he could widen it by laying low some obstructing giant of the forest. Perhaps he was far-sighted enough to see that the value of the family cow in the new environ- ment would more than repay the arduous work that was necessary in hewing out a wider path for both than the trail afforded. And this was the first step in road building; it might almost be called the first differentiation between street and sidewalks. The rest- less spirit of this frontiersman not for long permitted him to tarry, but following the star of empire in its westerly course, he soon sought toothsome venison, jerked bear meat, delicious trout, in regions offering them in greater plenty, further and further to the wesl
He was succeeded by the small farmer or emigrant, whose
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two-wheeler, into which he had loaded his worldly goods, again made it imperative that the trail be widened and then the real, bona fide road appeared. This new oomer, who regarded perman- ency as one of the essential elements of a home, careful, shrewd and full of business, carried with him his title deeds — ^he knew just where he was going — ^just what he had bought with his hard earned money — ^he cleared land that was his very own — builded his home — ^put in a floor — ^put glass in the windows — ^then sowed and eventually reaped. Remembering his own experiences of the sweetness of rest and entertainment after a hard day of travel, and mindful of those who were to come after him and who were to go on beyond him, he added lodging rooms to his cabin and soon the creaking sign proclaimed the inn, with refreshment and rest for man and beast. In his wake came the blacksmith, the war gon repairer, the store keeper; soon a ferry plied its course across the stream cmd a village grew upon its bank. The stream was har- nessed to a water wheel and a mill ground com and oats and wheat ; flour and feed needed no more to be brought along the few, «uid, in the rainy season, next to impassable roads.
The first of these emigrants to this section was Hugh White, of Middletown, Conn., with his own family and those of four of his neighbors. They settled on, at the beginning of 1784, and made a survey of their property, the Sadaquada Patent. He built a log house upon the bank, which formed the eastern boundary of the village green in Whitesboro, just on the right of the Indian path which led from old Port Schuyler to Fort Stanwix. He died in 1812, after having honorably filled the office of judge in both Herkimer and Oneida Counties. When the Town of Whitestown was organized, in 1788, the area included therein now holds a pop- ulation of at least two millions of people. For the first two years of his residence there, the nearest mill was located at Palatine Bridge, a distance of forty miles and traversed by an Indian path, impassable for a wheeled cart. To supply animal food, they salt- ed down in barrels the breasts of the pigeon, which could bd caught in great numbers. Only a few days ago at the Cincinnati Zoological .Garden died the last living specimen of this breed of birds.
The first squatters in this section were two men. Roof and Brodock, with their families, who settled at the landing place on the Mohawk near Fort Stanwix, to gain a livelihood by assisting
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in the transportation of goods destined for the Indian trade, across the carrying place from the rivor to Wood Creek. They had no title to these lands but occupied them under a contract for their purchase from Oliver DeLancey, who was afterward attaint- ed of treason. This little outpost was broken up during the Rev- olution. Whitestown was regarded as the central point of this section up to 1793-4. It was then quite a village, whereas this city could boast of but three houses. Attention was also directed to Borne at this time, whose location at the Wood Creek portage promised to make it of the highest importance, and in 1792-3, when the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company was chartered and began to build a canal connecting river and creek, this belief was further encouraged, and the growth of the village, for several years, also warranted the exi>ectation. But the building of the Seneca Turnpike, in ,1800, and its crossing the river here, im- mediately operated to change the current of business to Utiea and made it the more important place of deposit and of trade.
In other sections throughout the valley, expediency and safe- ty soon required the establishment of local self government, and then the means for making these growing hamlets or villages more accessible were provided by the county or the town. These roads were constructed in a much better manner, were protected from frost and rain by drainage, and the fords wiere abandoned as bridges were built. As production increased, these roads, in their turn, were found to be unsuited and unequal to the constant- ly increasing traffic, which had found that time was an important element and that ease in haulage was almost a determining factor. So that turnpikes or macadamized roads began to radiate from the capital of the State and some of them ran through this valley of ours. One of the most notable changes and improvements brought About by this advance from trail roads to turnpikes was that the former crooked and tortuous things were made straight, and, unmindful of either hill or dale, took their course as straight and direct as ever arrow sought its mark.
In 1788 a Mr. Phelps, who was one of the purchasers of that six million acre tract, penetrated to the Gtenesee Country. He made his way to the outlet of Canadaigua Lake. Three years afterward, a party ,of emigrants to this Genesee Coimtry con- structed a wagon road from Whitestown to Canandaigua, the first ever opened from the Molhawk River to the west. These pioneers
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suffered great hardships in this work, for its line lay over hills and through ravines, over marsh and through stream. But they persevered and made a highway for swarms of emigrants from New England, who soon made it a beaten path. It was eventu- ally continued to the foot of Lake Erie, at the present site of Buf- falo. In this work the government did nothing, private enterprise did it alL The next turnpike through the Mohawk Valley was oonstrueted about the year 1794 and ran from Albany to Utioa. The following year it was continued through Whitestown, Oris- fcauy, Port Stanwix and Verona to the wieat. It wtas ,called the Genesee Turnpike. About six years later, in 1800, a charter was granted to the Seneoa Turnpike Company, to build a road through New Hartford, Kirkland, Vernon, Oneida Castle, Syracuse, on to Buffalo. We are all familiar with this century-old thoroughfare.
Up to this time, the principal means of transportation were the dugout, canoe, and batteau on the water, the horse, the ox and the two-wheeled cart on the land. But these macadamized roads ush- ered in a new era. The driver of a cart was no longer necessarily its owner. This owner began to make it his business to cater to the wants of his neighbors and the traveler from afar. This obliged him to .enlarge his two-wheeler to such length and size as to ne- cessitate four wheels under it to keep it in equilibrium, but alas ! the uncomfortable joltings and discomforts were also doubled, and so insistent became the demands of his patrons, that consider- ation for his own purse, if not solicitude for their comfort, induc- ed him to swing the jolting body on leathern straps or iron springs. In compliance with these same insistent demands, pas- sengers were accommodated, not only on the inside of this con- veyance but also on its roof. This made four hoiBes a requisite, and thus the world of that day rode gaily along the turnpike, the corduroy or the plank road, in a coach and four — ^the stage coach !
Stage coaching days are the romantic days of travel. We would probably now find it difficult ,to return to it, yet in itd time it was thought luxurious. The demand for wheeled vehicles was urgent and the supply for that demand was forthcoming in so far as human ingenuity and resourcefulness could meet it. There arose masters of transportation and some of the old stage lines were wonderful. They shortened distances and laid out straight lines. They brought sighitBeers— tourists— investigators and in- vestors. Their arrival and departure were the chief events of
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the village day. Longr before its coming w-as its approach her- alded by the notes of the horn, which all were so intent upon hear- ing. The names of Jason Barker, Levi Stephens, Theodore Pax- ton, Silas B. Childs and John Butterfield are most prominently identified with these early stage coach days in this valley.
So rapid was the growth of this branch of transportation, that in 1810 Mr. Parker established a daily line of stages between this city and Albany. To some of these coaches six horses were at- tached and it was not an uncommon thing to cover the distance between these two cities in nine hours. Line after line was estab- lished, until there was a perfect net work of them over the Valley end every part of it^ most of them feeders to the Parker trunk lines. Many of them had their termini in Utica, and Bagg's Square was a constant scene of great activity, by reason of their coming and going.
Immediately after the close of the Revolutionary War, the subject of improving the water UAvigation of the State became of great importance and interest. Qeneral Philip Schuyler, dur- ing a visit to England before the War, had been much impressed by the canal systems there and he began to urge the importance of improving the navigation of the Mohawk River, by the building of short canals around obstructions and also by the building of a canal between the Rome landing and Wood Oeek. To him is due the honor of initiating the canal system of this State, which has contributed so much to its prosperity. Christopher Oolles, an eminent engineer, warmly advocated these plans and it was main- ly on his report that the Legislature of this State, in 1786, acted favorably on General Schuyler's recommendations. Washington mjade a tour of this State in order to inform himself, by personal observation, of the feasibility of the various projects. In the course of his travels he went from Schenectady to Rome on the M]ohaw%: .River, and ever after that warmly commended^ not only the importance but the f easability of the proposed improvements. This agitation of the subject culminated in the passage of an act, by the Legislature, in 1792, chartering the Western Liland Lock Navigation Company, and this company the next year, began the construction of a canal at Little Palls. After building, in the ag- gregate, about six miles of canaling, at various points, this com- pany floated boats of sixteen tons burden, over the whole route from Schenectady to Oneida Lake, in 1796, and this was without
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any interruption. Mr. William Weston, a distinguished English canal engineer, in 1796, made a survey for a oanal from the Mo- hawk to the Seneea River and it was speedily constructed and thereby became the living germ of the great Erie Canal; in fact, led Qouvemeur Morris to conceive and to suggest it in 1801.
This great canal, bisecting this State from Lake Erie to the Hudson River, is a monument of unsurpassed mjagnificence to the profound statesmanship, the prophetic wisdom, the far-reaching sagacity and the exalted public spirit of these and the other lead- ers of public opinion of that day.
In 1808, a resolution was passed by the Legislature, for the appomtment of a oommission **to take into consideration the mak- ing of an accurate, survey of the most eligible and direct route from the Hudson to Lake Erie,'' and appropriated $600.00 for the exx>enses thereof. This was tho first legislative movement in regard to ,the Erie Canal. This commission was appointed and made the survey. They were also authorized to appeal to Con- gress for aid and cooperation in the work and DeWitt Clinton and Gtouvemeur Morris, as a sub-committee, appeared before Con- gress and endeavored to obtain an appropriation for the work, but were unsuccessfuL This refusal on the part of the National Gov- ernment to assist in this great work of national importance, so eflfectually aroused the pride and the patriotism of our people, that they determined to build the canal unaided, and so se- cure to this State the undivided honor of the achievement and the undisputed possession and control of the great work for all time. In 1812, by legislative enactment, the commissioners were empow- ered to borrow five million dollars on the credit of the State. But the war, begun in that year, caused a suspension of the work and the law was repealed in 1814. At the close of the war, which had clearly demonstrated, more than ever, the imperative necessity of the proposed canal, the subject was revived with increased vigor and pertinacity, and such powerful arguments, in its favor, were advanced and promulgated by DeWitt Clinton, Thomas Eddy, Gtouvemeur Morris and other eminent men of the day, that an overwjhelming majority opinion of the people compelled the Legis- lature, in 1817, to create a new Board of Canal Commissioners and to authorize its construction. The first spadeful of earth for it was thrown up at Rome on July 4th, 1817, with inspiring cere- monies. The middle section, extending from Utioa to the Seneca
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TBANSPOBTATION IN THE MOHAWK VALLEY 227
River, including a branch from Syracuse to Onondaga Lake, was opened to navigation in October, 1819. The great work was com- pleted in 1825, and the first boat— the Seneca Chief— with Gov- ernor Clinton and a notable company on board, together with a large flotilla of canal boats, left Buffalo on the morning of Octo- ber 26th in that year, to open the same to navigation, in a formal and elaborate manner. News of this event was sent to New York City in one hour and twenty minutes by the firing of cannon, placed at intervals along the canal Bjod Hudson River. Every boat in the flotilla was beautifully decorated, and on one of them, oallod "Noah's Ark," a bear, two fawns, two live eagles, "and a variety of birds and four footed beasts" with two Seneca youths, in their native ooetume ,were passengers. Everywhere along its route, the procession was greeted with enthusiastic demonstra- tions of joy. At Albany it was received by a grand civic and mil- itary procession and the ringing of bells and the roaring of can- non. There was a grand illumination of the city in the evening. Here the mayor of New York City invited them to continue the journey down the river and to be the guests of the metropolis. Like enthusiasm was shown all along the river during the twenty- four hours of the triumphal voyage. The event culminated in one of the most imposing ceremonials ever held in New York City and its climax was reached when Governor Clinton poured the con- tents of a: handsomely painted keg of water from Lake Erie, into the sea, with the words: "This solemnity at this place, on the first arrival of these vessels from Lake Erie, is intended to indi- cate and commemorate the navigable communication which has been accomplished between our Mediterranean Seas and the At- lantic Ocean." The celebration, as an entirety, surpassed any- thing the world had ever seen.
The Erie Canal has been of inunense service to this State. When it was oi)ened for traflSc, boats of sixty tons superseded wagons of one to one and a quarter tons. The cost of freight be- tween Buffalo and Albany fell from $100 to $10 per ton. The con- sequent increase in its business justified an enlargement, begun in 1836, whereby boats of two hundred and forty tons burden re- placed those of sixty tons and tolls fell to $3.00 per ton. In addi- tion to direct income, which more than returned its cost, it devel- oped along its banks mlanufacturing centers and the richest and most intelligent rural population in the world— encouraged emi-
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gration— brought the produce of the West to the do«ks of New York City, making it, with the aid of its natural advantages, the largest exporting and importing port of the country.
When physical, financial and oommercial conditions, obtain- ing at the time of its construction, are considered, it must be class- ed as one of the great accomplishments of the world's history. Its early promoters were considered dreamers, and visionary enthu- siasts, and had to endure obloquy, abuse and insult. We can not begin to appreciate the difficulties encountered and overcome by them. The nation wm young and its monetary resources were flmalL The whole State had but one twelfth of the present popu- lation of New York City. To the great majority of the people canals were but a name. Engineering was an unknown profession, in America, and of contractors there were none. Excavating ma- chinery was yet to be invented. The track of the canal was an un- broken forest or a miasmal swamp. But, alone and unaided, this State began the work and carried it to a successful completion. From among her own citizens, commissioners, engineers and con- tractors were found capable of performing the great task. At the end of eight years, after having completed nearly 450 miles of canal, many of these men embarked on board the Seneca Chief, and well might they rejoice over a task so perfectly, so economic- ally and so quickly done and which was so nearly to fulfill their highest expectations in bringing added strength and prosx>erity to the land. As we can not easily appreciate the difficulties which confronted the builders, neither can we readily estimate how much the opening of such a means of communication meant to the people of that day — a work which compares favorably with any wonder of the ancient world and shames them all in point of utility. It was completed at a cost of nine millions of dollars, and no scandal, no charge of graft, nor of thievery, ever attached to it.
Another of the great beneficial results, flowing from the con- struction of this canal, was the development of the commercial
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between these two cities. This work was oommenced in 1830 and the road was opened in 1831. It was, at first, worked by horse power, except two inclined planes, which were worked by station- ary engines. The first locomotive used on it was of English man* ufacture, weighing six tons, but this was fonnd to be too heavy for the superstructure of the road and a lighter one, made at Cold Spring, in tbds State, and ivteighing three tons, took its place. It was capable of drawing a train weighing twelve to thirteen tons at a speed of fifteen miles an hour. The sleepers were of wood originally, but were soon, of necessity, protected and covered with a flat iron rail, wjhleh a few years latter was replaced by an- gle iron. The next year, in 1833, the Utioa & Schenectady Bail- road Company was incorporated, to build a line between these two cities, on the north side of the Erie Canal, and to connect with the Mohawk & Hudson. Both of these roads were crude and unsubstantial structures, involving a heavy outlay for repairs, and inadequate to the service even then required of them. But not- withstanding this unfavorable condition and the gloomy financial outlook, a road w(as built from this city to Syracuse in 1836. In 1841 the line from Boston to Albany was opened, followed in De- cember, 1842, by the opening of a through line from Albany to Lake Erie at Buffalo, an event second in importance only to the opening of the Erie Canal. Although restricted in the transpor- tatioUf of freight, for the benefit of the canal, tbiis through line at once became the great route of travel between the Eastern States and the West, which it has ever since continued to be. In the fall of 1851 the Hudson River Railroad was completed, giving to the .City of New York a second line of railway to the Great Lakes, the first being the Erie Railroad, but this, as we have seen, was ten years after the City of Boston had secured such a connection. These separate corporations, operating the various lines between Albany and Buffalo, were consolidated by the Leg- islature in 1853, as the New York Central Railroad, and later, in 1869, the Hudson River Railroad was merged with the New York Central as the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad. A few weeks ago it wasi reported that the conductor of the first train running between New York and Albany had but just died. The ialmost incredible advance that has been madie in railroad transportation, has all been accomplished in the span of one life. It is marvelous — ^it borders on the unbelievable. If, as is true.
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the highways of a people are one of the surest indices of their con- dition and character — ^if, as is true, civilization has extended its benign and ;all-conquering influence from ocean to ocean mainly by and through their improvement, then what a wonderful devel- opment in both condition and character of the people of this val- ley, does this account demonstrate — weak, imperfect, and, I fear, unjustifiably verbose, though it be. In this day of the automobile, the electric car, the aeroplane, we may well ask ourselves ''What further marvels has the future in store for mankind?"
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THE GOUDEN ERA OF TRENTON FALLS ^
By Charlotte A. Pitcher, of Utica, N. T.
Long ago, before the city of Utica had won for itself the name and fame it now enjoys, there was a magnet in the vicinity which attracted strangers to its very doors. ''Stopped off at Utica to visit Trenton Falls" may be found recorded over and over again by celebrated writers and tourists. It has been a la- bor of love to gamer the praises of Trenton. "Voices of the Glen," this symposium, this treasure-trove of literary gems nuiy well be called.
The tide of travel, enroute to the Adirondacks or the Thou- sand Islands, now sweeps by this one-time much frequented resort. In the light of its palmiest days, Trenton Falls is only a memory ; but it is most entertaining and delightful to recall its golden age through the writings of the many distinguished visitors who clambered through the glen and gave to the world their impres- sions of its matchless beauty. I have, therefore, woven a chaplet of glowing tributes to one of Nature's loveliest shrines, for the fame of Trenton was world-wide. Once every traveler of note sought out this attractive spot in the heart of the Empire State. Its varied charms brought all enthusiastic tourists of the early days to Utica, the gateway of Trenton the Beautiful.
In recalling the palmy days of Trenton Falls, that ** golden era" when their wondrous beauty attracted thousands of visitors from all parts of the United States and a constant procession of European travelers, what vivid pictures of the early days have been revealed! Perhaps we are most impressed with the marvel- ous changes wrought in modes of transportation since the visitors to Trenton and Niagara accomplished the long journey from Al-
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bany to Buffalo by coach, or packet boat. We cannot fail to ob- serve that the leisurely, good old-fashined ways of traveling, made it possible to enjoy and appreciate the landscape to a degree unknown in this twentieth century epoch of speed. Incidentally these chronicles of Trenton have acquired increased value and charm through the many glimpses given of life in the olden days. Withal, the changes brought about in our own home city by Time's magic fingers are forcibly called to. our attention.
Surely, it has been worth while to revive and preserve the record of Trenton's unique history, and may these pages recall ex- quisite memory pictures in the hearts of those with whom Tren- ton Falls was a favorite resort.
JOHN SHERMAN.
In the year 1805 the Reverend John Sherman of Con- necticut, a graduate of Yale and grandson of Roger Sherman, signer of the Declaration of Independence, took the long journey to central New York to visit Francis Adrian Van der Kemp and Col. Adam O. Mappa, distinguished Dutch patriots who had set- tled at Olden Bameveld (Trenton village), in the wilderness of Oneida County. An ardent lover of nature, the young clergyman explored the wild and beautiful region about him, penetrating the unbroken forest until he reached the brink of Kauyahoora (the Indian descriptive name for the falls, meaning ''leaping water.") Mr. Sherman was captivated with the wonders of the ravine of the West Canada Creek, Kanata or Amber river, and through his instrumentality the public came to know of its remarkable series of cascades.
In 1806 he was installed pastor of the Unitarian Church of Olden Bameveld, the first of this denomination in the State of New York. At the close of his ministry, he established an Acad- emy near the village which he successfully conducted for many years.
Mr. Sherman's fascination for the beautiful falls in the neighborhood, led him to purchase sixty acres of land of the Hol- land Land Company in 1822, which included the Sherman or First Fall. He then erected a small building near the ravine for the temporary accommodation of visitors, naming it the ** Rural Re- sort.*' The following year he brought his family to this nylvaii
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retreat, which thereafter became their permanent home. Tlie first guests who slept in the house were Philip Hone and Dominick Lynch of New York, who came to Trenton in 1824 and wished to remain over night. When Mr. Hone inquired of Mr. Sherman why he did not erect a building of sufficient size to entertain guests, he received this reply: **Did you ever know a clergyman who had any money?" Whereupon Mr. Hone offered his host the loan of five thousand dollars and the house was enlarged. Thus this popular resort was first established through the generous act of that philanthropic, public-spirited citizen, who was mayor of New' York in 1826, the great social leader of the metropolis in the first half of the last century, who entertained every foreigner of note, and every prominent American.
In 1827 the Reverend John Sherman wrote a most complete and picturesque description of the falls, from which I take the following :
**This superb scenery of Nature, to which thousands now an- nually resort— a scenery altogether unique in its character, as combining at once the beautiful, the romantic and the magnifi- cent—all that variety of rocky chasms, cataracts, cascades, rapids, elsewhere separately exhibited in different regions— was, until within five years, not accessible without extreme peril and toil, and therefore not generally known. It is in latitude 43' 23'; fourteen miles north of the flourishing city of Utica, the great thoroughfare of this region, situated on a gentle ascent from the bank of the Mohawk, amidst a charming and most fertile country. Here every facility can be had for a ride to Trenton Falls, where a house of entertainment is erected near the bank of the West Canada Creek, for the accommodation of visitors, and where they can tarry any length of time which may suit their convenience.
**This creek is the main branch of the Mohawk River, as the Missouri is of the Mississippi, having lost its proper name because Qot so early explored. It interlocks on the summit level with the Black River, the distance being only three-fourths of a mile where the waters of the one may be easily turned into the other. It has chosen its course along the highlands, making its way on the back- bone of the country, and empties into the Mohawk at Herkimer.
The ** Rural Resort,'* or house of entertainment at the Falls, which is at the end of the road and inclosed on three sides by the native forest, opens suddenly to view upon elevated ground, at the
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distance of a mile in a direct line of ttie road. fVcmi the dooryard you step at once into the forest, and walking only twenty rods, strike the bank at the place of descent. This is about one hun- dred feet of nearly perpendicular rock made easy and safe by five pair of stairs with railings. You land on a broad pavement level with the water's edge, a furious rapid being in front, that has cut down the rock still deeper and which, at once place in times of drought, does not exceed ten feet in width ; but in spring and fall floods, or after heavy rains, becomes a tremendously foam- ing torrent, rising from fifteen to twenty feet and sweeping the lowest flight of stairs. Being now on the pavement, the river at your feet, perpendicular walls of solid rock on each side, and th^ narrow zone of ethereal sky far overhead, your feelings are at once excited. You have passed to a subterranean world. The first impression is astonishment at the change. But recovering instantly, your attention is forthwith attracted to the magnifi- cence, the grandeur, the beauty and sublimity of the scene. You stand and pause. You behold the operations of incalculable ages. You are thrown back to antediluvian times. The adamantine rock has yielded to the flowing water which has formed the won- derful chasm. You tread on petrifactions, or fossil organic re- mains, imbedded in the four-hundredth stratum, which preserve the form, and occupy the place, of beings once animated like your- selves, each stratum having been the deposit of a supervening flood that happened successively. Eternity alone knows when.
''At this station is a view of the outlet of the chasm, forty- five rods below, and also of what is styled the first fall, thirty- seven rods up the stream. The parapet of this fall, visible from the foot of the stairs is, in dry time, a naked perpendicular rock thirty-three feet high, apparently extending quite across the chasm, the water retiring to the left and being hid from the eye by intervening prominences. But in freshets, or after heavy rains, it pours over from the one side of the chasm to the other in a proud amber sheet. A pathway to this has been blasted at a considerable expense, under an overhanging rock and around an extensive projection, directly beneath which rages and roars a most violent rapid. Here some, unaccustomed to such bold scen- ery, have been intimidated, and a few have turned back. But the passage is level, with a rocky wall to lean against, and rendered
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perfectly safe at the turn of the projection by chains well riveted in the side.
**In the midway of this projection five tons were thrown oflf by a fortunate blast, affording a perfectly level and broad space, where fifteen or twenty may stand togettier and take a commanding view of the whole scenery. A little to the left the rapid commences its wild career. Directly underneath it rages, foams and roars, driving with resistless fury, and forcing a tor- tuous passage into the expanded stream on the right In front is a projection from the other side, curved to a concavity of a semi- circle by the impetuous waters. The top of this opponent projec- tion has been swept away and is entirely flat, exhibiting, from its surface downwards/ the separate strata as regular, as distinct, and as horizontal as the mason-work in the locks of the grand canaL Here, in old time, was a lofty fall, now reduced to the rapid just described.
''Passing hence on a level of twienty feet above the stream, we witness the amazing power of the waters in the spring and au- tumnal freshets. Massive slabs of rock lie piled in the middle of the river, thrown over the falls above, weighing from ten to twen- ty tons. These are occasionally swept on through the rapids, and floated over the five-foot falls at the outlet of the chasm. Such is their momentum that every bound upon the bottom causes a vibration at the 'Rural Resort,' and their stifled thunder, amid the agitated roar of the waters, is sometimes very distinctly heard.
"A few rods above this pile of rocks we pass to the left and suddenly come in full view of the descending cataract, which is known as the Sherman Fall. It has formed an immense excava- tion, having thrown, out thousands of tons from the parapet rock visible from the stairs, and is annually forcing off slabs from the west comer, against which it incessantly pours a section of its powerful sheet.
"It is difficult to give a description of the scenery here. A mass of naked rock extending up one hundred and flfty feet to the summit of the bank, juts forward with threatening aspect. The visitor ascends by natural steps to the throat of its yawning and, like a son of Hercules, literally shoulders the mountain above. Here he stands free from the spray in a direct line of the parapet wall, surveying at leisure the evergreens which cover in
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contrast the opponent bank with a rich foliage of the deepest ver- dure, and immediately at his feet the operation of the cataract rushing down into the spacious excavation it has formed. Back of this thick amber sheet, the reaction of the water has worn away the rock to an exact circular curve, eight or ten feet in dia- meter, which exhibits a furiously boiling cauldron of the very whitest foam. In the bosom of the excavation a Fairy makes her appearance at a certain hour of sunshine, and dances through the midst, modestly retiring as the visitor changes his position, and blushing all colors when she findst him gazing at her irised beau- ties. A few rods beyond this spot a thin shelf puts out from the mountain, under which it never rains, nor snows, nor shines. In front the river hastens smoothly and rapidly to the fall below.
** Leaving this rocky shelf we pass a furious winding rapid which, encroaching on the path, drives the visitor close under a low projecting cliff that compels him to stoop, and seems to de- mand homage as a prerequisite of admission to the splendid scenery just beyond. Here all ages and sexes bow, who would pass from the portico into the grand temple of Nature's magnificence, to witness the display of her sublimer glories.
"This service performed, there opens upon us, when the water is low, an expansion of flat rock, where we are suddenly transported with a fuU view of the High Palls. The eye, ele- vated at a considerable angle, beholds a perpendicular rock one hundred feet high, extending across the opening in a diagonal line from the mountainous walls on each side rising seventy or eighty feet still higher. Over this the whole river descends, first perpendicularly about forty feet, the main body rushing to the left. On the right it pours down in a beautiful white sheet. For a short distance in the middle the rock is left entirely naked, ex- hibiting a perpendicular and bold breastwork, as though reared by art to divide the beautiful white sheet on the one side from the overwhelming fury of the waters on the other. They unite on a flat below; then, with a tumultuous foam, veer suddenly down an inclination of rocky steps, whence the whole river is precipitated into a wide, deep and dark basin forty feet underneath— moun- tainous walls rising on each side of the stream nearly two hun^ dred feet— tell hemlocks and bending cedars extending their branches on the verge above— small shrubbery variegating here and there their stupendous and naked sides. On the right of the
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basin a charming verdure entirely overspreads a smoothly round- ing and majestic prominence, which reaches half way up the towering summit, and over the whole, the sky mingles with retiring evergreens, until verging in perspective to the distant angle of in- cidence, they are lost in the ethereal expanse beyond.
**Such are tiie High Falls which the pen may faintly de- scribe, and of which the pencil may portray the outline, but Na- ture reserves to herself the prerogative of giving the rapturous impression.
**The view of these falls varies exceedingly, according to the plentitude or paucity of the waters. In the autumnal floods, and particularly the spring freshets, arising from the sudden lique- faction of snow in the northern country, the river is swelled a hundred-fold, and comes rushing in a vast body of tumultuous foam from the summit rock into the broad basin at the bot- tom. • • • •
** Passing up at the side we mount a grand level on the top, where in dry times the stream retires to the right, and opens a wide pavement for a large party to walk abreast. Here a flight of stairs leads up to a house of refreshment, styled the 'Rural Re- treat,' twenty feet above the summit of the High Palls and in a direct line with them. • • • • Here the philosopher and di- vine may make their sage remarks and draw their grave conclu- sions; the weary rest from their labors, and the hungry and dry recruit their exhausted spirits, the sociable of all grades and na- tions converse freely and unknown together; the facetious dis- play the coruscations of their wit, and the cheerful in disposition enjoy the innocent glee of hilarity. Greece, embellished by im- mortal bards, cannot boast a spot so highly romantic.
**The opening of the chasm now becomes considerably en- larged, and a new style of scenery commences. Forty rods beyond this is what is usually denominated the * Mill-Dam' Fall, fourteen feet high, stretching its broad sheet of water from the one side to the other of the expanded chasm. This is also visible through the branches of evergreens at the 'Rural Retreat.' Ascending this fall we are introduced to another still more expanded and extend- ed platform of level rock lined on each side with cedars, which extend down to the walking level, whose branches aU crowd for- ward under their bending trunks, and whose backs are as naked
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as the towering rocky walls, concealed in contrast a rod or two behind them.
''This place may be justly denominated the 'Alhambra of Nature.' At the extremity of it is one of the most interesting scenes imaginable ; a scene that no pen can describe to one who is not on the spot, and where every landscape painter always drops his pencil. It is far too much for art to imitate, or for eloquence to represent. It is the prerogative of Nature alone to do this; she has done it once, and stands without a rival competitor. Here I ought to drop my pen. A naked rock, sixty feet high, reaches gradually forward from the mid-distance its shelving top, from which descends a perpetual rill that forms a natural shower-bath. On the very verge of its overhanging summit stands a tall cedar« whose fingered apex towers aloft, pointing up to the skies, and whose thick branches elongating gradually towards the root, reach for dawn the projecting cliff with an impenetrable shade of deep- est verdure. On the left is a most wild cascade, where the water rushes over the variously posited strata in all directions, com- bining the gentle fall and the outrageous cataract, which we term the 'Cascade of the Alhambra.'
"Here the expansive opening suddenly contracts and leaves a narrow aperture, through which the eye beholds mountainous walls retiring in various curvatures 'and projections. Directly opposite the spectator is a large perpendicular rock on the other side of the stream, at whose base the raging waters become still. Annexed to this is a lofty tower, rising in a vast column at its side, commanding with imposing majesty the scenery around. At your feet is a dark basin of water forty feet deep, resting from its labors in the wild cascade above, and relieved by collections of whitest foam, which frequently assemble within an eddy at the upper end, and dance to each other in fantastic forms and, capped -like caliphs, pursue the course of all hands round in an eternal circle. On the right the whole river descends gently down a charming plain, until lost amidst evergreens as it passes over the falls below."
Mr. Sherman adds to his description of the scenery of the glen many interesting scientific observations, which remind us that the highly f ossiliferous strata of the Trenton limestone has always made the gorge of the West Canada Creek exceedingly at- tractive to students of geology. The cabinets of rare fossils and
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mineralogical specimens at the hotel are vividly recalled by every visitor to Trenton Falls in the olden days.
The ideal and most worthy first resident at Trenton Falls passed away in 1828. Hie was lud to rest on the hilltop crowned with pines in the rear of his simple hostelry and within sound of the perpetual music of Eauyahoora.
In January, 1867, James Russell Lowell published a poem in the Atlantic Monthly entitled, ''Fitz Adam's Story" which closes with these lines,
*' An inn is now a vision of the past; One yetHSurviving host my mind recalls, — Youll find him if you go to Trenton Falls.'*
The author refers to Michael Moore, son-in-law of Mr. Sher- man, who succeeded the founder in the proprietorship of the popular inn at Trenton. He made extensive additions to the original structure and, with the opening of the Plank Boad from Utica in 1851, the beautiful ravine of the West Canada Creek became more accessible to the public. Under the Mloore regime the same atmosphere of culture and refinement obtained at Tren- ton which had characterized the resort from its establishment. Old-time patrons of Moore's Hotel recall this feature as its unique and indescribable charm. Poets, painters, scientists, nature-lovers, all came to Trenton. It was the favorite haunt of scholars and literary celebrities. Foreigners of note bound for Niagara did not fail to step aside at Utioa to witness this less grand but more lovely exhibition of falling water. It was the rare combination of exquisite natural accessories which rendered the place unique and enraptured every visitor. Flowers, ferns, mosses, majestic trees adorned the great gray cliffs of the enchanted glen. One who considered the Trenton Gorge unrivaled for picturesque beauty wrote of the view of the High Falls: **It is a picture in water colors, framed in rock, fringed with greeness, spangled with wild flowers, and canopied by the blue vault of heaven." A visitor in 1826 inscribed on the register, **Tou observe upon the cliffs many beautiful harebells elegantly noticed by Scott,
'E'en the slight harebell raised its head. Elastic from her airy tread.'
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Before taking up the faseinating descriptions of Trenton Falls which I have found in the writings of so many past worthies, I must speak of the wonderful old-time garden which once be- decked the charming vista in front of Moore's Hotel, that perfect scene of rural beauty stretching away to glorious hills and ''fields of living green/' Who that has seen it will forget the brilliant parterre of roses and peonies which bordered the long graveled walk leading down to **the rocks" where a fine view could be ob- tained of the stream after its tumultuous passage over the ledges Calmly now it pursued its winding way to join the Mohawk, passing through some of the most beautiful scenery of the State of New York. But we cannot linger in the lovely valley of the West Canada; it is time to return to the inn.
NATHANIEL P. WHiLIS.
Let us enter the hospitable doorway and, after studying the notable paintings of the falls which grace the pleasant parlors, listen to what N. P. Willis says about the beauties of Tren- ton. He sought out this romantic spot as early as 1828 and paid repeated visits to the place. In 1851 he edited a delightful little book at the request of Mir. Moore, published by (Jeorge P. Put- nam, entitled ** Teuton Palls, Picturesque and Descriptive," from which I quote these words: **The most enjoyably beautiful spot among the resorts of romantic scenery in our country is Trenton Falls, the place above all others where it is a luxury to stay— which one oftenest revisits— which one most commends strangers to be sure to visit. In the long corridor of travel between New York and Niagara, this place is a sort of alcove aside— a side- scene out of earshot of the crowd. • • • • •
"Most people talk of the sublimity of Trenton, but I have haunted it by the week together for its mere loveliness. The river in the heart of that fearful chasm, is the most varied and beautiful assemblage of the thousand forms and shapes of run- ning water that I know of in the world. The soil and the deep- striking roots of the forest terminate far above you, looking like a black rim on the enclosing precipices; the bed of the river and
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cavities which throw the clear waters into forms of inconceivable brilliancy and variety. It is a sort of half twilight below, with here and there a long beam of soshine reaching down to kiss the lip of an eddy, or form a rainbow over a fall, and the reverberat- ing and changing echoes,
'Like a ring of bells whose sound the wind still alters/
maintain a constant and most soothing music, varying at every step with the varying phase of the current. • • • • • The pe- culiarity of Trenton Falls, I fancy, consists a good deal in the space in which you are compelled to see them. You walk a few steps from the hotel through the wood, and come to a descending staircase of a hundred steps, the different bends of which are so overgrown with wild shrubbery, that you cannot see the ravine until you are fairly down upon its rocky floor. Tour path hence up to the first fall is along a ledge cut out of the base of the cliff that overhangs the torrent, and when you get to the foot of the descending sheet, you find yourself in very close quarters with a cataract— rocky walls all round you — and the appreciation of power and magnitude somewhat heightened by the confinement of the place.
**The usual walk (through this deep cave open at the top) is about half a mile in length, and its almost subterranean river, in that distance, plunges over four precipices in exceedingly beau- tiful cascades. On the successive rocky terraces between the falls, the torrent takes every variety of rapids and whirlpools and, per- haps, in all the scenery of the world there is no river which, in the same spcice, presents so many of the various shapes and beau- ties of running and falling water. The Indian name of the stream (the Kanata, which means the Amber River) expresses one of its peculiarities and, probably from the depth of shade cast by the dark and overhanging walls 'twixt which it flows, the water is everywhere of a peculiarly rich lustre and color, and in the edges of one or two of the cascades, as yellow as gold. Artists, in draw- ing this river, fail in giving the impression of deep-dau^iv4ttide which is produced by the close approach of the two lofty walls of rock, capped by the over-leaning woods, and with the sky ap- parently resting, like a ceiling, upon the leafy architraves. • • • • Subterranean as this foaming river looks by day, it
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looks like a river in cloud-land by night. The side of the ravine which is in shadow, is one undistingaishable mass of black with its wavy upper edge in strong relief against the sky and, as the foaming stream catches the light from the opposite and moonlit side, it is outlined distinctly on its bed of darkness, and seems winding its way between hills of clouds, half black, half luminous. Below, where all is deep shadow except the river, you might fancy it a silver mine laid open to your view amid subterranean darkness by the wand of an enchanter. • • • •
'* Baron de Trobriand arrived here today, August 10, 1848. I had been reading a French novel of which he is the author, and I am amused to see how he carries out, in his impulsive and en- thusiastic way of enjoying scenery, the impression you get of his character from his buoyant and brilliant style of writing. After one look at the falls he came back and made a foray upon the larder, got a tin kettle in which he packed the simple provender he might want, and went off with his portfolio to sketch and ram- ble out the day. He returned at night with his slight and ele- gant features burned by the sun, wet to the knees with wading the rapids and rejoined the gay but more leisurely and luxurious par- ty with which he travels. Looking down from one of the cliffs yesterday afternoon, I saw him hard at work ankle deep in water bringing pieces of rock and building a causeway across the shal- lows of the stream, to induce the ladies to come to the edge of the falls, otherwise inaccessible. He has made one or two charm- ing sketches of the ravine, being an admirable artist."
The absence of display and garishness at the hotel appealed strongly to Mr. Willis, particularly the quiet, unobstrusive ex- terior. **0h, those chalky universes in rural places," he ex- claims, ''what miles around of green trees and tender grass do they blaze out of all recognition with their unescapable white- paint aggravations of sunshine, and their stretch of unmitigated collonade ! You may as well look at a star with a blazing candle in your eye, as enjoy a landscape in which one of these moun- tains of illuminated clapboard sits a-glare. Mr. Moore, the land-
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ment; and those which are visible through the soft denU jour of the apartments in this shaded retreat, might all belong to a con- noisseur in art, and a fair example of the proprietor's percep- tion of the beautiful. In more than one way he is the right kind of man for the Keeper of this loveliest of Nature's bailiwicks of scenery. On the night of our arrival I was lying awake some- where towards midnight, and watching from my window the sift- ing of moonlight through the woods with the stirring of the night air, when the low undertone of the falls was suddenly varied with a strain of exquisite music. It seemed scarcely a tune, but, with the richest fullness of volume, one lingering and dreamy note melted into another, as if it were the voluntary of a player who unconsciously touched the keys as an accompaniment to his melancholy. What with the place and time, and my ignorance that there was an instrument of this character in the house, I was a good deal surprised; but before making up my mind as to what it could be, I was * helped over the stile' into dreamland, and made no inquiry till the next morning at breakfast. The player was our landlord, Mr. Moore, who thus, when his guests are gone to bed, steals an hour of leisure from the night and, upon a fine organ which stands in one of the inner parlors of his house, plays with admirable taste and execution. • • • • •
**Mr. Moore came here twenty years ago to enjoy the scenery of which he had heard so much; and getting a severe fall in climbing the rocks, was for some time confined to his bed at the hotel, then kept by Mr. Sherman. The kind care with which he was treated resulted in an attachment for one of the daughters of the family, his present wife; he came back, wedded his fair nurse and Trenton for the remainder of his life, and is now the owner and host of the very loveliest scenery-haunt in all our pic- turesque country."
Willis speaks of the select character of the guests whom he finds at the hotel, and he tells of lovely walks through the forest along the edge of the cliff, and of delicious hours spent in watch- ing the procession of visitors climbing through the ravine — every new group changing and embellishing ''the glorious combination of rock, foliage and water." All that was wanting to make the scene perfect, Willis declared, was a dash of color in woman's at- tire. All were clad in the colors of the rocks and wore slate-col- ored riding dresses and bonnets to match up the dusty highways.
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When a lady finally appeared accompanied by a gentleman car- rying a crimson shawl, it so heightened the scene that he at once made a vow to appeal to the ladies of the land to carry, at least, a scarf of red, white or blue over the arm when mingling with the landscapes of our romantic resorts, thus supplying all that was wanting at Trenton and Niagara.
MARGARET BTULIiBR.
Trenton by moonlight! The poet Willis says he walked the ravine till the ''small hours" to witness the marvelous transfor- mation, but he would not attempt to reproduce such ** sublimities" on paper.
Margaret Puller did, for she wrote verses upon Trenton Falls as they appeared early in the morning, in the af- ternoon, and by moonlight. June 2, 1835, when a guest of the Harvard Professor of Astronomy and family at Cambridge, she writes her father: ''I have something to tell you which I hope, oh, I hope will give you as much pleasure as it does me. Mr. and Mrs. Farrar propose taking me, with several other ddightful per- sons, to Trenton Falls this summer. The plan is to set out about the 20th of July, go to New York, then up the North River to West point — pass a day there, then on to Trenton, and devote a week to that beautiful scenery. Oh, I cannot describe the posi- tive ecstacy with which I think of this journey." Thomas Wentworth Higginson states, in his biography of Margaret Puller (Marchioness Ossoli) that she did enjoy the anticipated treat, a journey rare in her day, when ** Trenton Falls was accounted one of the glories of America— the simple days when the wonders of Colorado and the Yosemite were unknown."
TRENTON PALLS BY MOONLIGHT.
• • • • •
With what holiness did night invest
The eager impulse of impetuous life,
And hymn-like meanings clothed the waters' strife !
With what a solemn peace the moon did rest
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THE GOLDEN EBA OF TRENTON FALLS 245
In almost double height are now displayed.
Depth, height, speak things which awe, but not appall.
From elemental powers this voice has come.
And God's love answers fr<Hn the azure dome.
— Margaret Puller.
CATHERINE MAMA SEDGWICK.
Catherine Maria Sedgwick, the gifted author of **The New England Tale,'' ''Redwood," ''Hope LesUe," "The linwoods," the co-temporary of Irving and Cooper in the field of early American literature, was a Trenton enthusiast. The beautiful falls of Eauyahoora furnished a picturesque setting for a part of her story entitled "Clarence," first published in 1830, one of the most romantic of her numerous novels. That Miss Sedgwick was once widely read and popular is proven by Chief Justice Marshall, who sent her this message through their mutual friend. Judge Story: "Tell Miss Sedgwick I have read with great pleasure everything she hafi| written and wish she would write more." Indeed Miss Sedgwick's name was associated with that of Cooper's to the extent that, in a French translation of "Redwood," which appeared in Paris in 1824, he is given on the title page as the author.
The scene of "Clarence" is laid mainly in New York City, but the family, whose name is given the story, spend much time at their charming villa near one of the most beautiful of the in- land lakes of western New York, and from this point they "jaunt" to Trenton. In due time they arrived at the scene of enchantment where the author says "nature reigns a queen of beauty, every heart does her homage— the very trees as they bend from their walled banks and almost embower the sportive stream, seem in act of reverence." The heroine, Gertrude Clarence, ven- tures out alone the night of her arrival to see the falls by moon- light. She has no fear, for she has been there before, and knowi^ the forest paths by heart. Not a breath of air is stirring. All nature seems hushed to listen to the music of the dashing waters. She descends the steps, follows the margin of the stream, passes the most difficult places in safety and reaches the summit of the first fall where she encounters a stranger, Gerald Roscoe, the
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hero of the tale. Fate brings this charming pair together at Trenton, and by moonlight!
In the progress of the story Miss Sedgwick describes the falls in this delightful and realistic manner: ''Gtertmde Clarence as- cended to the summit of the first fall by the natural and rough stairway and pursuing her walk, canopied by the over-arching rocks, and creeping along the shelving shore, she attained the side of the foaming, deep abyss, into which the stream rushes at two bold leaps. She stood for some moments gazing on the tor- rent, almost deafened by its roar, when she was startled by a foot- step close to her. She turned and saw the stranger who seemed destined to cross her path at every turn. He bowed respectfully and said: ^This is fine scenery; I have been scrambling along the bank for two miles above this place, and never have I seen such various and startling beauty. The river has so many abrupt turns and graceful sweeps, at every turn there is a new picture, as if you had turned another leaf in the book of Nature. I have seen three falls above this place of less magnitude, and I have been told they occur at intervals for several miles. But the falls are only one feature. The sides of the stream are everywhere beautiful. In some places richly wooded; in others the rocks are perpendicular, bare and stem— now sending over their beetling summits a little cascade that falls at your feet in diamond drops —now receding and sloping, and mantled with moss and fern, or sending out from their clefts sturdy trees, sylvan sentinels on Na- ture's embattlements. In one place the rocks recede and are con- cave and the river appears like an imprisoned lake, or a magician's well. There, I confess, I listened for an 'open sesame' and thought it possible I might see an enchanted damsel walk forth with her golden pitcher, '' I am extremely grateful to the Berk- shire novelist for this unique tribute and for much more which she said in praise of Trenton. She must have dearly loved the spot, for she visited it many times, once with her friend, Frances Anne Eemble.
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of discovererB in vaunting her beauty. She has, too, her caprices and changes, and does not show the same face to all This is one of her peculiar charms. There is such a pleasure in saying, 'Oh, what a pity you did not see the falls as we did; we but just es- caped with our lives, immense rains had fallen, and the passes were all but impassable.' There are no such lucky chances of su- periority at Niagara. like a monarch Niagara always appears in the same state and magnificence. It pays no visible tribute to the elements; it is neither materially abated nor augmented by them. Niagara is like the ocean, alone and incomparable in its grand- eur.''
How x>erfectly Hawthorne interprets Miss Sedgwick's mecm- ing: ''Oh, that I had never heard of Niagara till I beheld it! Blessed were the wanderers of old who heard its deep roar sound- ing through the woods, as the summons of an unknown wonder, and approached its awful brink in all the freshness of native feel- ing."
Naturally the far-famed Mohawk Valley receives its share of panegyric in this volume, for it was the great highway traversed by all Trenton pilgrims, and Utica "the gateway" calls forth much interesting and entertaining comment. M5ss Sedgwick says in "Clarence": "We deplored the necessity of a few hours delay at one of the noisiest inns of that noisiest of all growing, forward- ing towns, thronged, busy Utica. The front windows looked into the most public, and par excellence, the busiest street of the town, the avenue to the great northern turnpike. Stage coaches were waiting, arriving, departing, driving to and fro, as if all the world were a stage coach and all the men and women merely travellers. The window at the side of the room afforded a view of the canal, and of the general debouching place of its packet boats. There were servants and porters hustling baggage oflf and on the packet boats and stage coach proprietors persecuting the jaded passengers with rival claims to patronage. A fresh bustle broke out. Babel was nothing to it— 'Hurrah for the western pas- sengers!' 'Gentlemen and ladies for Sackett's Harbor, all ready!' 'Hurrah for Trenton!' 'Pioneer Line, ready! 'Gentle- men and ladies for the Telegraph Line!' The exciting political campaign of the day is denoted by the announcements that 'The bell is ringing for the Adams' boat going out!' 'The horn is blowing for the Jackson boat coming in !' "
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Miss Sedgvrick's picture of early Utica rivals Mr. Archibald Dunlap Moore's, (brother of the proprietor at Trenton) who says of the place in his ** Journal of Travels through New York State" in 1822: ''Here is the confusion of Babel — stores and houses building, horns blowing, canal boats with passengers arriv- ing, passing through and setting out. Stages, wagons, men, wo- men and children — everything denotes the rapid growth of this would-be capital of the state. Indeed, many of the people of Utica are perfectly wild over the future size, influence and wealth of their thriving village. They are entirely too sanguine, although it must become one of the largest inland towns in the United States, its situation giving it many advantages from a commer- cial point of view. • • • Wandered out after dark, no lamps, stumbled about and concluded to go back to my lodgings at the Canal House— engaged passage next day for Little Falls."
Another early tourist says: '*In summer Utica presents a very bustling aspect, thronged as it is with a continual influx of strangers from all quarters of the Union, affording themselves of the commodious facilities which are offered in travelling to the West on the great canal and stage routes.
**In its vicinity are the romantic falls of Trenton which have become the rage among tourists. Indeed, this is not to be wondered at for more beautiful scenery cannot be found in our immense continent. The road to the spot is through a country of extreme fertility, where some of the finest farms of the Union are to be found, hewn out within a few years from the primeval forest. Countless acres are still standing in the pride of their strength and beauty, where the remnants of the once proud and mighty race of the Oneidas linger around the desolated homes of their fathers."
MRS. FRANCIS TROLLOPE.
Mrs. Francis TroUope was about completing her sojourn of over three years in America, when she set out from New York, May 30, 1831, for Niagara. She had been reading ''Clar- ence" and possibly it was Miss Sedgwick's description of Trenton in this romance which led her to visit the spot. **At two in the afternoon," her account reads, **we started from Utica in a very pleasant carriage for Trenton Falls, a delightful drive of four- teen miles. These falls have become within a few years only sec-
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"Time, grlorlous river, may changre thy fall. Never the picture on memory's wall"
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end in fame to Niagara. The West Canada Creek has found its way through three miles of rock, which at many points is one hundred and fifty feet high. A forest of enormous cedars is on their summit; and many of that beautiful species of white cedar which droops its branches like the weeping-willow, grow in the clefts of the rock, and in some places almost dip their dark foliage in the torrent. Near the hotel a flight of very alarming steps leads down to the' bed of the stream, and on reaching it you find yourself enclosed in a deep abyss of solid rock, with no visible opening but that above your head. The torrent dashes by with inconceivable rapidity; its color is black as night, and the dark ledge of rocks on which you stand is so treacherously level with it, that nothing warns you of danger. Within the last three years, two young people, though surrounded by their friends^ have stepped an inch too far and disappeared from among them as if by magic, never to revisit earth again. This broad flat ledge reaches but a short distance and then the perpendicular wall ap- pears to stop your farther progress. • * By the aid of gun- powder a sufficient quantity of the rock has been removed to af- ford a fearful footing around a point, which, when doubled, dis- closes a world of cataracts, all leaping forward in most magnificent confusion. I suflfered considerably before I reached the spot where this grand scene is visible; a chain firmly fastened to the rock serves to hang by, as you creep along the giddy verge, and this enabled me to proceed so far; but here the chain failed, and my courage with it, though the rest of the party continued for some way farther, and reported of still increasing sublimity. But my knees tottered, and my head swam, so while the rest crept onward, I sat down to wait their return on the floor of the rock which had received us on quitting the steps.
'*A hundred ^d fifty feet of bare black rock on one side, an equal height covered with solemn cedars on the other, an unfa- thomed torrent roaring between them, and the idea of my child- ren clinging to the dizzy path I had left, was altogether somber enough. But I had not sat long before a tremendous burst of thunder shook the air; the deep chasm answered from either side, again, again, and again ; the whole effect was so exceedingly grand, that I had no longer leisure to think of fear ; my children immedi- ately returned, and we enjoyed together the darkening shadows cast over the abyss, the rival clamor of the torrent and the storm,
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and the delightful exaltation of the spirits which sets danger at defiance. A few heavy raindrops alarmed us more than all the terrors of the spot, and recalled our senses. We retreated by the fearful steps and reached the hotel unwetted and unharmed. Hie next morning we were again early afoot ; the storm had refreshed the air and renewed our strength. 'We now took a different route and, instead of descending as before, walked through the dark forest along the cliflf, catching glimpses of the scene below." In due time Mrs. Trollope and party reach the finest point to view the falls, the rustic resthouse, commemorated in Miss Sedgwick's ** Clarence,'' perched over the tremendous whirlpool at the Great or High Palls. Here they bid farewell to the charms of Trenton and return to Utica in time for dinner, ** where," says Mrs. Trol- lope, **we found we must either wait until the next day for the Rochester coach or again submit to the packet boat."
CAPTAIN BASIL HALL.
Captain Basil Hall of the Boyal Navy, an earlier British traveler in America, varied the vicissitudes of the journey by canal from Albany to Buffalo by the employment of an '^ Ex- clusive Extra." He made an arrangement with the proprietor of one of the regular lines of coaches who agreed to furnish him a stage exclusively for himself and family, all the way from Al- bany to the FaUs of Niagara for one hundred and fifteen dollars. It was stipulated that the entire trip could be acccmiplished in three days or it could, if desired, be extended three weeks. '*In no other part of America," says Captain Hall, **are there such facilities for travelling as we found on the road in question. On the 14th of June, 1827, we left Albany to proceed to the western country. Our first grand stage was Niagara, but on the way to that celebrated spot we expected to see the graftd Erie Canal, the newly settled districts along its banks, and many other interest- ing objects besides." One of these was Trenton Palls!
**Our first day's journey took us to Schenectady," says Cap- tain Hall, ** where we boarded the packet boat. I cannot con- ceive a more beautiful combination of verdure than we found along the Mohawk Valley and, as the winding of the canal brought us in sight of fresh vistas, new cultivation, new villages, mills, scattered dwellings, churches, all span new, a boundless
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vision of novel interest stretched out before us. 'Bridge, passen- gers, mind the low bridge/ broke in upon our day-dreams and dis- turbed our pleasure, as we had so frequently to step down from the deck to pass under one of the innumerable little bridges which cross the canal. It was at first rather amusing to hop down and then hop up, but after a time it grew wearisome and marred the tranquility of the day. At Caughnawaga we set out again in our 'extra stage'— one day of the canal was quite enough." Gap- tain Hiall arrived on the 18th in Utica, **a town recently built, with several church spires rising over it, and standing near the canal." From this point he makes the excursion to Trenton Falls, which he declares are well worth seeing, but as he is not so sure of their being equally acceptable in description, he passes them by, adding, ^'I would by no means recommend travellers to follow such an example." Captain Hall does, however, comment at considerable length upon a party of tourists at the ''Rural Re- treat" who are far more engrossed with reading the verses in the ** Albums" than they are with the superb scenery. The follow- ing sentiments are taken from these ancient autograph albums:
**Thy charms Niagara, let others praise. My muse another theme is bent on, Cohoes and Genesee have had their days, I scorn all falls but those of Tirenton.
All ye, who fashion's frivolous ways
Your precious time have idly spent on, Come here and taste the purer joys
Of Nature at the falls of Trenton."
**Hail! Clinton, Bolivar, La Fayette,
Your deeds are great, yet are they small,
I've heard of you, but how
Unlike the majesty of Trenton Falls!"
**Hail Trenton Falls! how grand ye shine!
What gay, fantastic thoughts my brain entwine As thy vast column onward sweeps.
Then refluent rolls in foaming heaps."
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'^Hail glorious scene! where rock and wood
In awful grandeur rise, Where rushing wave and rolling flood
Delight my wondering eyes. Par from the world, here could I rest,
Here mom and evening roam. Here could my wayward soul be blest,
Here find its kindred home. And here in holier moments still.
My soul to God be given; Of Nature's beauties take its fill.
Then wearied— turn to Heaven."
**The mighty genius of a Byron might deign to pay homage to the wild and magnificent scenery of Trenton."
**Then slowly climb the many winding ways, And frequent turn to linger as you go. From loftier heights new loveliness divine."
— ^Byron.
**No description of Trenton Palls can be too highly wrought. Every visitor returns highly gratified with the excursion. No person of taste could feel otherwise."
''Hie that has not a soul to enjoy the beauties of this place is fit for naught but treason, stratagem and si>oils."
** Three gentlemen from Virginia spent July 20th, 1825, at Trenton Palls— the most delightful day ever spent out of their own native state."
A southerner writes July 10th, 1826 : "I had rather be a spec- tator at Trenton Palls than dwell in the swamps of South Caro- lina."
''This is Trenton Falls, they say,
Oh, how the water roars. To see these wonders, every day.
The people come in scores."
"There is an immense, indescribable pleasure in viewing the works of God. The most romantic and awful attract our atten-
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tion because they are less common. Nothing can quell the ar- dor of the human soul for viewing the wildest scenery. Even woman will endure the most masculine in climbing the rugged rocks, which guard the roaring cataracts of our native mountains. Look to the pages of this Album for an example of this. The projecting banks of this creek are daily visited by the daughters of America and they sometimes seem, while walking on the dark promotories of rock, like aerial spirits riding on the black thunder clouds of Heaven. It is sincerely and affectionately recommended to those who have ladies to wait upon, to see. that their tocrcorks are well sharpened before attempting to ascend the banks of thi& roaring river.'' (August 9, 1826.)
** While the traveller crosses the boisterous ocean to view the improvements of England, the ingenuity of France, the sublimity of Switzerland, the curiosities of Italy, the ruins of Greece, the antiquity of Egypt; and while the tourist visits Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Ballston and Saratoga Springs, Niagara Falls, etc., why will they not call and pay tribute to Trenton Falls where they may at once behold the culmination of beauty and sublimity?*' (July 23, 1827.)
HARRIET MARTINBAU.
Harriet Martineau richly supplies what Captain Hall and certain other visitors to Trenton lack in description, and I quote several pages from her ** Retrospect of Western Travel":
**We proceeded by railroad from Albany to Schenectady (October, 1834) and there stepped into a canal boat for Utica. On fine days it is pleasant enough sitting outside (except for having to duck under the bridges every quarter of an hour, under penalty of having one's head crushed to atoms), and in dark evenings the approach of the boat lights on tho water is a pretty sight; but the horrors of night and of wet days more than compensate for all the advantages these vehicles can boast. The heat and noise, the known vicinity of a compressed crowd, lying packed like herrings in a barrel, the bumping against the sides of the locks, and the hissing of water therein, like an inundation startling one from sleep ; these things are very disagreeable. In addition to other dis- comforts we passed the fine scenery of Little Falls in the night. I was not aware what we had missed till I traversed the Mohawk Valley by a better conveyance nearly two years afterward. I have
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described this valley in my other work on America and must, therefore, restrain my pen from dwelling on its beauties here." • •
**I was out early in the misty morning and was presently joined by the rest of my party, all looking eagerly for signs of Utica being near. By eight o'clock we were at the wharf. We thought Utica the most extempore place we had yet seen. The streets running into the woods, seemed to betoken that the place had sprung out of some sudden need. Hbw much more ancient and respectable did it seem, after my return from the West, where I had seen towns so much newer stiU ! We were civilly re- ceived and accommodated at Bagg's Hotel, where we knew how to value cold water, spacious rooms, and retirement after the an- noyances of the boat.
**Our baggage-master was fortunate in securing a neat, clean stage to take us to Trenton Falls (14 miles) where we prom- ised ourselves the pleasure of spending the whole day, on condi- tion of being off by five the next morning, in order to accomplish the distance to Syracuse in the course of the day. The reason for our economy of time was not merely that it was late in the season, and every day which kept us from the Palls of Niagara of conse- quence, but that our German friend, Mt. 0., was obliged to be back in New York by a certain day. We clapped our hands at the sight of the 'Rural Resort,' the comfortable, hospitable house of entertainment at Trenton standing in its garden on the edge of the forest, so unlike hotels on the high road.'*
The party registered at the hotel October 8, 1834, as follows:
Miss Martineau, England.
Mrs. Jeffrey, England.
Dr. Julius, Hamburg, Germany.
Mr. Higham, South Carolina.
Mr. Oppenheim, Hamburg, (Jermany.
Mr. Sellem, Holland.
**We ordered," continues Miss Martineau, "a late dinner and proceeded to the falls. We had only to follow a path in the pine forest for a few paces, and we were at the edge of the ravine which encloses the cascades. It is a pity that the Indian name is not retained. Trenton Falls are called Cayoharic (Kauyahoora) by the Indians. They are occasioned by the descent of West Canada Creek through a ravine, where it makes a succession of
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leaps from platforms of rock, six of these falls being pretty easily accessible by travellers. Much has been said of the danger of the enterprise of ascending the ravine; but I saw no peril to persons who are neither rash nor nervous. The two accidents which have happened have, I believe, been owing, the one to extreme rashness, and the other to sudden terror. Prom the edge of the ravine the black water, ^eckled with white foam, is seen rushing below with a swiftness which half turns the head of the stranger. We descended five flights of wooden steps fixed against the steep face of the rock, and at the bottom found ourselves at the brink of the torrent.
''I was never in so dark and chill a place in the open air; yet the sun was shining on the opposite face of the rock, lighting the one scarlet maple which stood out from among the black ce- dars and dark green elms. We selected our footing with a care which we were quite ready to ridicule when we came back; and were not above grasping the chain which is riveted into the rock where the shelf which forms the path is narrowest and where the angles are sharpest. The hollow is here so filled with the voice of many waters, that no other can be heard ; and after many irrever- ent shouts had been attempted, we gave up all attempts to con- verse till we reached a quieter place. Being impatient to see the first fall I went on before the rest, and having climbed the flight of wooden steps, so wetted with the spray of the fall as to be slippery as ice, I stood on the platform under a covert of rock foaming with the thunder of the waters, and saw my companions, one by one, turn the angle of the path and pause in front of the sheet of liquid amber sprinkled with snow. The path on which chey stood seemed too narrow for human foot and, when discerning me, they waved their hands, I trembled lest, disregarding their footing, they should be swept away by the furious torrent. When we found our heads turning with the rush of the dark waters, we amused ourselves with admiring the little wells in the rock, and the drip from the roots of a cedar projecting from the top of the ravine, a never-failing glittering shower. Between the fifth and sixth fall there is a long tranquil reach of water, and here we lingered to rest our bewildered senses before entering upon the confusion of rocks through which the sixth forces its way. We see-sawed upon a fallen trunk, sent autumn leaves whirling down the stream, and watched the endless dance of the balls of
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foam which had found their way into the tiny creeks and bays opposite, and could not get out again.
**Gay butterflies seemed quite at home in this ravine. They flit through the very spray of the falls. It seemed wonderful that an insect could retain its frail life in the midst of such an uproar. When the sun in its course suddenly shone full into the glen, how the cascade was instantly dressed in glory, crowned with a rainbow and invested with all radiant hues! How the poor banished Indians must mourn when the lights of their Gayo- haric (Kauyahoora) visit their senses again in the dreams of memory or of sleep! The recollections of these poor exiles was an ever-present saddening thought in the midst of all the most beautiful scenes of the New World.
^'>When we had surmounted the sixth fall, we saw indeed that we could go no farther. A round projection of rock, without trace of a foothold, barred us from the privacy of the upper ravine. The falls there are said to be as beautiful as any that we saw, and it is to be hoped that, by blasting a pathway or by some other means, they also may be laid open to the aflPections of happy vis- itors. They have been seen and reported of. A friend of mine has told me, since I was there, how Bryant the poet and himself behaved like two thoughtless boys in this place. Clambering about by themselves one summer day, when their wives had gone back to the house, they were irresistibly tempted to pass the bar- rier and see what lay beyond. They met with so many difficulties and so much beauty higher up, that they forgot all about time, till they found themselves in utter darkness. They hastened to grope their way homeward through the forest and were startled after a while by shouts and moving lights. Till that moment they never recollected how alarmed their wives must be. It was 10 o'clock and the poor ladies had got people from the neighbor- hood to go out with torches, little expecting to see their husbands come walking home, with nothing the matter with them but hun- ger and shame. I hope the ladies were exceedingly angry when their panic was over.
**The forest at the top of the ravine was a study to me, who had yet seen but little forest. Moss cushioned all the roots of the trees; hibiscus overspread the ground; among the pine stems there was a tangle of unknown shrubs, and a brilliant bird, scarlet ex- cept its black wings, hovered about as if it had no fear of us.
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Before we retamed the moon hun^ like a gem over the darkness of the ravine. I spent another happy day among these falls some months after, and was yet more impressed with their singularity and beauty. • • • • We left the place a little after five in the morning, in a dismal rain. While breakfasting at Utica we engaged an 'Exclusive Extra' to carry us to Buffalo for eighty dollars, the precise route being agreed upon, and the choice of times and seasons to remain with us. On going out to our car- riage we found the steps of the hotel occupied by a number of persons, some from Boston, who offered me welcome to the country, and any information or assistance I might need. One gentleman put into my hand a letter of introduction to an influential friend of his at Cincinnati, as it was understood I was going there. So from this strange place, where I had spent above two hours, we drove off amid a variety of friendly greetings.''
Miss Martineau paid her second visit to Trenton Falls, June 2, 1836, in company with some of the warmest and noblest of the friends she made in America, by her fearless espousal of the Abolition cause — ^Mr. and Mrs. Ellis Gray Loring and Dr. and Mrs. FoUen of Boston.
CAPTAIN FREDERICK MAKBTAT.
In July, 1837, the English novelist, Captain Marryat, came directly from Saratoga Springs to Utica on a through ex- press, to visit Trenton Falls. He says in his ** Diary of America": ** There is one disadvantage attending railroads. Travellers pro- ceed more rapidly, but they lose all the beauty of the country. Railroads, of course, run through the most level portions of the states, which are invariably uninteresting. The road from Sche- nectady to Utica is one of the exceptions to this rule. There is not, perhaps, a more beautiful variety of scenery to be found anywhere. You run the whole way through the lovely valley of the Mohawk on the banks of the river. It was really delightful, but the motion was so rapid that you lamented passing by so fast. The Utica railroad is one of the best in America; the eighty miles are performed in four hours and a half, stoppages for taking in water, passengers and refreshments, included. The locomotive was of great power, and as it snorted along with a train of carri- ages of a half a mile in tow, it threw out such showers of fire, that
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we were constantly in danger of conflagration. The weather was too warm to admit of the windows being closed, and the la- dies, assisted by the gentlemen, were constantly employed in put- ting out the sparks which settled on their clothes. As the even- ing closed in we were actually whirled along through a stream of fiery threads, a beautiful, although humble imitation of the tail of a comet.
''A tremendous thunder-storm, with torrents of rain, pre- vented my leaving Utica for Trenton Falls until late in the after- noon. The roads, ploughed up by the rain, were anything but democratic; there was no level in them, and we were jolted and shaken like peas in a rattle, until wo were silent from absolute suffering.
**I rose the next morning (July 20th) at four o'clock. There was a heavy fog in the air, and you could not distinguish more than one hundred yards before you. I followed the path pointed out to me the night before, through a forest of majestic trees, and descending a long flight of steps found myself below the falls. The scene impressed me with awe— the waters roared through the deep chasm between two walls of rock, one hundred and fifty feet high, walls of black carbonate of lime in perfectly horizontal stra- ta, so equally divided that they appeared like solid masonry. For fifty or sixty feet above the rushing waters they were smooth and bare; above that line vegetation commenced with small bushes, reaching to their summits, which were crowned with splendid for- est trees, some of them inclining over the chasm, as if they would peep into the abyss below and witness the wild tumult of the waters.
**From the narrowness of the pass, the height of the rocks, and the superadded towering of the trees above, but a small por- tion of the heavens was to be seen, and this was not blue, but of a misty murky gray. The first sensation was that of dizziness and confusion, from the unusual absence of the sky above, and the dashing frantic speed of the angry boiling waters. The rocks have been blasted so as to form a path by which you may walk up to the first fall ; but this path was at times very narrow, and you have to cling to the chain which is let into the rock. The heavy storm of the day before had swelled the torrent so that it rose nearly a foot above this path; and before I had proceeded far, I found that the flood swept between my legs with a force
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which would have taken some people off their feet. The rapids below the falls are much grander than the falls themselves; there was one down in a chasm between two riven rocks which it was painful to look upon, and watch with what a deep plunge— what irresistible force the waters dashed down and then returned to their own surface, as if struggling and out of breath. As I stood over them in their wild career, listening to their roaring as if in anger, and watching the madness of their speed, I felt a sensation of awe— an inward acknowledgment of the tremendous power of Nature; and, after a time, I departed with feelings of gladness to escape from thought which became painful when so near to dan- ger.
**I gained the lower falls, which now covered the whole width of the rock, which they seldom do except during freshets. They were extraordinary from their variety. On the side where I stood, poured down a rapid column of water; on the other it was run- ning over a clear, thin stream, as gentle and amiable as water could be. That part of the fall reminded me of ladies' hair in flowing ringlets, and the one nearest me of Lord Chancellor Eldon, in all the pomposity and frowning dignity of his full-bottomed wig. And then I thought of the lion and the lamb, not lying down, but falling down together; and then I thought I was wet through, which was a fact.*' (Captain Marryat says, when ho reached the hotel at the close of the day, that he had no guides to pay, but that Nature had made a very considerable levy upon his wardrobe; his boots were bursting, his trousers were torn to fragments, and his hat was ruined.) **I climbed up a ladder and came to a wooden bridge above the fall, which conveyed me to the other side. The bridge passes over a staircase of little falls, which is very picturesque. On. the other side I climbed up a lad- der of one hundred feet, and arrived at a little building where travellers are refreshed. Here you have a view of all the upper falls, but these seem tame after witnessing the savage impetuosity of the rapids below.'* Captain Marryat climbed still more steps and followed the forest path until he reached the summit of the cliff directly over the High Palls, where he says: "This scene is splendid. The black perpendicular rocks on the other side; the succession of falls ; the rapids roaring below ; the forest trees ris- ing to the clouds with occasional glimpses of the skies— all this induces you to wander with your eyes from one point of view
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to another, never tiring of ita beauty, wildnessand vastness: if you do not exclaim with the Moasolman, Ood is great! you feel it through every sense, and at every pulsation of the heart."
WASHINGTON IRVING.
That Washington Irving was deeply impressed with the scenic wonders of America after his second visit to Europe, is shown in a letter written at Trenton Palls to his brother, Peter, residing in Paris. In the summer of 1832, shortly after his return to his native land, after seventeen years absence, accompanied by his friends, Count de Pourtales and Charles J. Latrobe, he set out upon an extensive western tour. From Saratoga Springs the par- ty proceeded to Trenton Palls whence he writes his brother, Au- gust 15th: **Thi8 place has arisen into notice since your depar- ture from America. The falls are uncommonly beautiful, and are situated on West Canada Creek, the main branch of the Mohawk, within sixteen miles of Utica. My tour thus far has been through a continued succession of beautiful scenes; indeed, the natural beauties of the United States strike me infinitely more than they did before my residence in Europe. We are now in a clean, airy, well furnished hotel, on a hill with a broad, beautiful prospect in front, and forests on all the other sides. Our table is excellent and we are enjoying as pure and delightful breezes as I did in the Alhambra. The murmur of the neighboring waterfalls lulls me to a delicious summer nap, and in the morning and evening I have glorious bathing in the clear waters* of the little river.''
The marvelous view of the High Palls which charmed every visitor was fittingly christened ** Irving Point," in commemoration of this great American's unbounded admiration for the inspiring scene.
Latrobe 's ** Rambles in North America" contains this allusion to the visit to Trenton Palls referred to by Washington Irving. **0n leaving Saratoga Springs we proceeded up the lovely val- ley of the Mohawk— the earth hardly contains one more deserving of the epithet— to Utica about one hundred miles distant. There we left the Great Western Road and, turning to the northward, buried ourselves in the delicious woods and dells of Trenton Palls, one of the most interesting localities in the state. This
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dear stream dashes over successive cascades in the depth of one of the most interesting ravines, both for its natural scenery and gedogical structure in the country.'*
JAMES K. PAULDING.
One of the literary lights of the early part of the last cen- tury was Irving 's lifelong friend, James Eirke Paulding, one time secretary of the navy, who compiled with him the funous ** Salmagundi'* papers. A quaint little volume, ''The Atlantic Souvenir, A Christmas and New Year's Offering," published in 1827 by Carey and Lea of Philadelphia, contains a story by Paulding entitled **The White Indian," the scene of which is the cave at Trenton Palls. It begins as follows: **More than five and forty years ago I was a hardy, harum-scarum youth residing with a relation on the banks of the Mohawk. There never, since the days of Homer's heroes, was a more simple race than these peo- ple who lived a sort of patriarchal life, just on the frontier of civilized society. At that period to the west and northwest, was all one uninterrupted forest, over which roamed the Indians and their game. Where are now associated together in all the confus- ion of promiscuous good fellowship. Palmyra and Utica, Paris and Home, Manheim, Ithaca and Homer, Virgil and Milton, and Pala- tine and Liverpool, and Lysander and Waterloo, and Ovid and Penn Yan and Milo, and heavens knows what oddities besides, borrowed from the uttermost parts of the earth to supersede the fine old sonorous Indian names — ^where towns and cities succeed each other like the creations of Aladdin's lamp— and mighty works are achieved with a rapidity that baffles anticipation- there, less than a half a century ago, a man might starve to death, if he depended upon the products of the earth or the assistance of his fellow creatures.
The old squire with whom I resided, was the principal per- son in the settlement at that time. His name was Veeder and he united in his person the dignity of judge, general, member of as- sembly, deacon of the church, and overseer of the poor. This last was a sinecure, for such were the simple habits of these people, that they always saved enough by their youthful economy to sup- ply the sober wants of age. • • • • It would scandalize those who hold that no man can be a respectable judge without a
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great salary, or a valiant soldier without gold lace and epaulets, were I to describe the state in which the judge held his courts, the general reviewed his troops, and the assenLblyman set forth to make laws for the people. The comparison would greatly redound to the disgrace of our fathers, and therefore I pass it by, having no dispo- sition to flatter posterity at the expense of their betters. It is enough to say that half a century has made desperate inroads upon their doric simplicity and that emigrations from the prolific east have made still more desperate inroads upon their ancient possessions. **They are curious fellows,'* said one of the patriarchs of the Plats to me not long ago, **if they can't get round the old folks to sell their land, they can get round the young girls to marry them, and so one way or the other, they oust us at last. Then there is the turnpike road and the canal running right under one's nose, and such noise and confusion with the boats passing and blowing their plaguy horns and tin trumpets, that a body can't be quiet day or night."
**Yes," said I, *'but then your property is worth ten times as much as it was before."
''And much good that does me," replied he; ''I am a great deal richer than I was forty years ago, but for all that I can't keep out of debt, do what I will."
''How so!"
"Why my wants have increased much faster than my wealth. And then I have so many more friends than I used to have. Be- fore these improvements it was much if I had a visitor once a year. Now every man, woman, and child that I have ever seen before, goes up the canal to the Falls, or somewhere else every summer, and my house is so convenient that they always stop a day or two. The presence of so many fashionable people makes it necessary that my wife and daughters should dress a little "like christians," as they call it, and one can do no less than lend them the wagon and horses, with Caesar to drive them to Trenton Palls. Thus I lose the service of my man and horses two days out of the week at least."
"But others are the better for all this— 'tis an ill wind that blows nobody good."
"Yes," quoth the old man, "and 'tis a blessed wind that blows nobody evil— all is not gold that glitters, and all is not gold that seems so."
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The people of our village were in trath, a quiet, industrious race, hating all innovations, and if it had depended upon them, there would have been no such things as patent ploughs, metallic scizzors, and labor-saving machines in the universe. I remember the whole place was thrown into great consternation one day, by a desperate innovation of a New Englandman lately settled among them, who erected a grindstone that actually went by water. They set him down as an idle interloper who worked more with his head than his hands, and would never come to any good. • ••••• ^ £qp myself, I confess, notwithstanding the
example of all around me, I was as active and as idle at the same time as a grasshopper. I hated work, yet loved exercise. This last propensity I indulged by taking my dog and gun and rambling all day, either along the Mohawk or into the woods in search of game, which abounded at that time in the vicinity. By degrees, as custom reconciled me more and more to fasting and long rambles, I extended my excursions farther from home, and sometimes remained out all day without tasting food or resting myself, except for a few minutes upon the trunk of some decayed old tree or moss-covered rock. The country, though in a great de- gree in its native state of wildness, was full of romantic beauties. The Mohawk is one of the most charming of rivers, sometimes brawling its way among ragged rocks, or darting swiftly among narrow reaches, and here and there, as at the IdtUe Falls, and at the Gohoes, darting down high, perpendicular rocks, in sheets of milk-white foam; but its general character is that of gentleness, repose and quiet. It is nowhere so broad but that rural objects and rural sounds may be seen and heard distinctly from one side to the other; and in many places, the banks on either hand are composed of rich meadows or flats, as they were denominated by the early Dutch settlers, so nearly on a level with the surface of the water as to be almost identified with it from a distance, were it not for the rich fringe of water willows that skirts along on either side, and marks the line of separation. In these rich pas- tures may now be seen the lowing herds half hidden in the luxuri- ant grass, and a little farther on, out of the reach of the spring freshets, the comfortable farm houses of many a sanguine coun- try squire, who dreams of the boundless wealth of the grand
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am to describe the scenery as it was in the days of my boyhood, when like Nimrod, I was a mighty hunter before the Lord.
At the time I speak of, all that was to be seen was of the handiwork of nature, except the little settlement over which pre- sided the patriarch Veeder. We were the advance guard of civil- ization, and a few steps beyond us was the region of primeval forests composed of elms, and maples, and oaks, and pines, that seemed as if their seeds had been sown at the time of the deluge, and that they had been growing lustily ever since. • • • • Custom made me love these solitudes and many are the days I have spent among them with my dog and gun, and no other guide but the sun in the Heavens and the moss on the north side of the trees. It was sometime in the early Autumn, I cannot charge my memory with the precise month or year, that I had extended my excursion somewhat in a different direction and much farther than I had ever done before. It came into my head to follow the course of a stream which had no name at that time, but which has since been known by that of West Canada Creek. Though not more than six straight miles from our residence, it was never visited by the sober, quiet villagers who unlike the ac- tive adventurers to the west, had little inclination for hunting, and looked solely to the cultivation of their rich lands for support. Apprehension of Indian treachery was another motive for staying about the house. The savages roaming through the neighboring forests, though at that time friendly to the whites, were apt in their drunken bouts, to commit the most unprovoked outrages.
Proceeding up the stream for some miles, I gradually became fascinated by its romantic beauties, which increased as I went for- ward into the hills that rise from the rich flats of the Mohawk. A succession of beautiful cascades, one still more striking than the other presented themselves, forming a magnificent staircase of foam upwards of a hundred feet high. On either side the banks of the stream were of perpendicular rocks, in some places of dark gray, mixed with little patches of pale green moss, that gave to the whole mass, a soft and latent gaiety exquisitely harmonious. On the edges of the precipice on either hand, and in the fissures of its perpendicular sides, grew majestic pines, hemlocks, spruce firs, and all the hardy family of trees that brave the northern winters, contrasting their dark rich green with the silvery foam of the cataract that rolled far below. The allurements of the scene
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led me on slep* by step, slowly and laborioiwly— ^ow stox^ping to admire some new encbantment, and now tbrowing my self npon some mossy seat to rest from the fatigue of clambering among the rocks and mountains^ and ascending the rugged precipice.
In this manner the day passed away imperceptibly, and the first notit^ that I had of tlie setting, of the son, waa the sudden gloom that pervaded the scene. Though his golden rays could not penetrate the thick woods, stHL they threw their pale light among the branches, and enlrveiked the space, whieh without them was dark and comfcHlless. I began to think how- I should get home. To return by following the stream along the path I came, would be to consume the whole nighty e^en supposing what indeed was impossible, that I could find my way among the dangerous chasms and precipices in the dark. To strike off into the wood% towards my residence, would be to lose myself in the pathloas obscurity, for in the absence of the sun, a man in the wilderness^ is like a ship at sea, without a compass. As I stood in anxious suspense, not knowing which way to direct my steps, a flash of lightning crossed the gloom, and the distant rumbling of thunder indicated that a storm waa rising. There is no travelling in these forests during the tempest, even if a man is in ever so great a hurry, for the falling of the trees, and breaking of Umbs, makes it rather a dangerous adventure. After a few moment's hesitation^ and a few more flashes of lightning, followed by a few more claps of thunder each louder and nearer than the other, I made up my mind, that I had better find some shelter for the night, which it seemed my destiny to pass in this picturesque spot.
Casting my eyes about, to see if in the dim light I could find some tolerable harbour from the approaching storm, whieh now announced its quick advance, by incessant flashes of lightning, and unbroken peals of thunder, I thought I could discover at a little distance in the side of the rock, where the stream makes a curve, something that appeared like a cave or opening, which might possibly afford some sort of shelter. Having first secured my gun in the hollow of a tree, for it was impossible to carry it with me, with much labour and considerable loss of time, I at length made my way to its mouth, into which I crept without ceremony, or asking by your leave, for now the rain began to pat- ter, and the crackling of the forest bespoke the coming whirlwind. As I crept cautiously forward, for the purpose of securely ensconc-
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ing myself out of the reach of the torrent that now fell fr<mi the heavens, my right hand descended upon a cold bare foot, which^ was suddenly snatched away — at the instant a voice with mingled apprehension and anger exclaimed:
'* 'Who are yout'
'' 'A man/ replied I, with my heart at least half way out of my mouth.
" 'A white mant' returned the voice.
'' 'A white man and a christian,' replied L
** 'That is but another name for a hypocrite and a villain. Thou hast come I suppose to finish what thy accursed race began years ago, but thou shalt have a tug for it first.' "
Such is Paulding's introduction to his tale of '*The White Indian" whose acquaintence he makes in this romantic way. In time he wins the confidence of the wild white man and learns « from his remarkable life story that many years before he had been wrongfully accused by a jealous cousin of the crime of mur- der which obliged him to flee from his once happy home. Separat- ing himself from the world he sought refuge in the wilds of the forest, when, discovering the cave on the banks of the West Can- ada Creek above the falls, he adopts the costume of the Oneidas and makes this picturesque spot his dwelling place for the rest of his days. The author performs many acts of kindness for the poor unfortunate creature and in closing his account of the white man who had become a savage and a misanthrope through the un- just treatment of his fellows, says — "He made a christian end, and I buried him deep in the earth under a stately pine, which is still standing, and from that day to this never told the tale to any living being."
ALEXANDER MACKAYE.
Among illustrious Englislmien who came to Trenton in the good old days, were Alexander Mackaye and Anthony TroUope. The former, an eminent journalist, traveled much in America and published in 1849 ''The Western World," in three volumes, the most complete work upon the United States which had yet appeared. Mr. Mackaye came from Niagara in the month of August, 1847, and was charmed with the beauties of the Genesee country as he journeyed through western New York.
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like all foreigners he was amazed at the strangely incon- gruous nomenclature of the region and says: ''Names are jumbled together in ludicrous juxtaposition; sometimes one and the same county in the New World contains two towns for which there was scarcely room enough on two continents in the Old; a singular circumstance, when one considers the many beautiful and expres- sive Indian names which might have been appropriated. Leaving Niagara, one of the first places you met is Attica, from which a single stage brings you to Batavia. A little to the east of Roches- ter you pass through Egypt to Palmyra, whence you proceed to Vienna, and shortly afterwards arrive at Geneva. Ithaca is some distance oflf to the right, while Syracuse, Rome, Utica, fol- low in succession to the eastward. It is a pity that the people have not contented themselves with indigenous names."
Emerging from the long stretch of dense forest, the ''Oneida Woods," Mr. Mackaye reached the Mohawk Valley and soon found himself in Utica, of which he says: "This is a fine town with from twelve to fifteen thousand inhabitants. The Erie Canal passes through the center of it, and it is crossed at right angles by the noble Oenesee street which, as seen from the canal bridge, is exceedingly striking. ' * Mr. Mackaye was reminded of his visit to Utica a few years before, when he strolled into the Supreme Court of the State, then in session in the city, and found James Penimore Cooper trying his own case against William L. Stone, editor of a New York paper, whom he had sued for libel.
"The tourist," writes Mr. Mackaye, "should always make a halt at Utica to visit the falls of Trenton in its neighborhood. On the morning after my arrival I hired a conveyance and proceeded to them. Immediately upon leaving the city I crossed the Mo- hawk—here a sluggish stream of insignificant dimensions. Moore must have seen it much lower down, ere he could speak of the 'mighty Mohawk.' The road then led, for nearly a couple of miles, over a tract of rich bottom land, as flat as the fertile levels of the Genesee valley. It then rose for the next six miles by a suc- cession of gentle slopes, which constitute the northern side of the valley of the Mohawk. On reaching the summit I turned to look at the prospect behind me. It was magnificent. The valley in its entire breadth lay beneath me. As far as the eye could reach it was cultivated like a garden. On the opposite side of the river, whose serpentine course I could trace for miles, lay Utica, its
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skylights and tin roo& listening like vQver in the mid-day son. Tte opposite side of the Ttlley was dottkl with villages, some of whidi were plainly visible to me, although from twelve to twenty miles diiltant in a straight aerial line. For the rest of the way to Trenton the road descended by a series of sloping terraces, similar to those by Which it had risen from the valley.
''After taking some refreshment at the hotel, ^diich is bean- tifally situated, spacioos and comfortable, and which ai the time was fall of visitors, I descended the precipitous bank to look at the falls. I dr(^>ped by a steep, zigzag staircase of prodigious length, to the margin of the stream, which flowed in a volume as black as ink over its gray rocky bed. Frowning precipices rose for some distance on either side, overibiung with masses of rich, dark green f (diage. A projecting mass of rock immediately on my left seemed to interpose ^ua effectual barrier to my progress up the stream. But on eicamining it more carefully, I found it begirt with a narrow ledge overiianging liie water, along which a parson with a tolerably cool head could manage to proceed by laying hold of the chain, fastened for his use to the precipice on his left. On doubling this point the adventurous tourist is recompensed for all the risks incurred by the sight which he obtains of the lower falL It is exceedingly grand, but it is the acc(Hnpanying scenery, more than the cataract itself, that excites your admiration. The opposite bank is high and steep, but not precipitous, and is buried in verdure; whilst that on which you stand rises for about two hundred feet like a gtiay wall beside you. • • • Climbing from ledge to ledge, the friendly chain aiding you, every now and then in your course you find yourself on a Ime with the upper level of the fall. HJere the cataract next in order comes in full view, and a magnifioent object it is, as its broken and irregular aspect rivets your attention. It is by far the largest fall of the whole series being, in fact, more like two falls close together, than (me. There are two successive plunges, the first being perpendicu- lar, and the sec(md, a short but fierce rapid foaming between them, being divided into a successicm of short l^ps by the jagged and irregular ledge over which it is taken. By tiie time you reach the level of the top of this fall, by climbing the steep and slippery rock, you reach the wooded part of the bank. Tour progress is now comparatively easy, the path occasionally leading you be^ neath the refreshing cAiade of the large and lofty trees. Bdiow
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yen had the naked rock nsinf in 6ne nnbrcteH vdnme preeipH- cmty ov^4tead; but yon have now M either side whet may be re- garded m<»re as Hie raiB of rock, the trees with which botii. baaks are cov^iTsd springing, tor most part, from between huge detached masses, whidi seem to have been coafnsedly horted from some neighboring height.
^^The channel of the stream is broad and shallow up to the next faU, which in its dimenfflons and appearasioe, resembles a mili-dam. Abore, the river contracts agdn, nntil in some places it is only a few yards wide, where it foams and roars as it rashes in delieions whirl over its rocky bed. A litOe way up is the last cataract, the most interesting in some req)ects, although the smaU^ est of all (tiie Cascade of the Alhambra). Tb pass it you have to turn a projecting point, the narrow footpath bringing you almost in contact with the rushing tide. Here the chain is almost indis- pensable for safety. The gorge through which the West Canada Creci here forces its way, is about two miles in length. I man- aged with great difficulty, and with the aid of a guide, to ascend it to the small village above, returning to the hotel by the opea road leading along the top of the bank.''
ANTHIONY TBOLLOPE.
Hastening from Buffalo to New York in the fall «f 1«61, the novelist, Anthony TroUope, writes in his work entitled ''North America": **We had b*efore us only two points of interest — the F^lls of Trenton and West Point. The hotel at Trenton was closed for the season, I was told, but even if there were no hotel there the place can be visited without difSculty, as it is with- in carriage drive of XJtica, and there is a direct railway from Utica with a station at Trenton Falls. Utica is a town on tfee line of railway from Buffalo to New York via Albany, and is like all the other towns we have visited. There are broad streets, and avenues of trees, and large shops, and excellent houses. A general air of fat prosperity pervades titem all, and is strong at Utica as ebewh^^.
''I remember to have beai told thirty years ago that a travel- ler mi^t go far and wide in search of the picturesque, without finding a spot more romantic in its lovelinesB than Trenton FaUs. The name of the river is Canada Creek West; but as that is hardly euphonious, the course of Hm waiter which forms the falls
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has been called after the town or parish. This course is nearly two miles in length, and along the space it is impossible to state where the greatest beauty exists. To see Trenton aright one must be careful not to have too much water. If there is too much the passage up the rocks along the river is impossible. The way on which the tourist should walk becomes the bed of the stream, and the great charm of the place cannot be enjoyed. That charm consists in descending into the ravine of the river, down amidst the rocks through which it has cut its channel, and in walking up the bed against the stream, and in climbing the sides of the various f aUs, every foot of the way being wildly beau- tiful • • • • Up beyond the summer-house the passage along the river can be continued another mile, but it is rough, and the climbing in some places rather diflBcult for ladies. Every man, however, should do it, for the succession of rapids, the twisting of the channels, and the forms of the rocks are as wild and beautiful as the imagination can desire. The banks of the river are closely wooded on each side; and though this circumstance does not at first seem to add much to the beauty, seeing that the ravine is so deep that the absence of wood above would hardly be noticed, still there are broken clefts ever and anon through which the colors of the foliage show themselves, and add to the wildness and charm of the whole.
"The walk back from the summer-house through the wood is very lovely ; but it would be a disappointing walk to visitors who have been prevented by a flood in the river from coming up the channel, for it indicates plainly how requisite it is that the river should be seen from below and not from above. The best view of the larger fall is that seen from the wood (Irving Point). "We found a small hotel open at Trenton, at which we got a comfort- able dinner, and then in the evening were driven back to Utica."
MBS. M. C. HOUSTOUN.
In the thirties an English author, Mrs. Houstoun, visited America, and the result was two volumes of description of sights and scenes in the New World entitled, ''Hesperus, or Travels in the West." Mrs, Houstoun landed in Boston in October, pro- ceeded to Albany, and pushed on to Niagara with all haste, lest the trees should be denuded of their beautiful autumn foliage be- fore she reached the object of her dreams. But Trenton lay in her
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way and ahe could not paas it by ! Enroute the rich valley of the Mohawk excited her admiration of which she says: ''After pass- ing Schenectady we travelled through some exceedingly beautiful scenery. During the latter part of the day's journey we passed through several pleasant looking villages, the beauty of one of which deserves to be recorded by the magic pen of Miss Mitford herself. It lay imbedded between high granite rocks, from the clefts in which the pine and the cypress shot their dark green foliage; while a beautiful fall of the Mohawk dashed along through the narrow valley, and glistened and sparkled in the sunshine. Al- together, I thought it one of the most lovely spots on which my eye had ever rested. Its name is Little Palls. * * * * I never saw so busy a place as Utica. The stores, which are lai^ and handsome, seem to contain everything that the most unreason- able person could possibly desire, and the demand was evidently as great as the supply. This was the more remarkable, from the circumstances that Utica has sprung up with mushroom-like ra- pidity in the very heart of the wilderness. The Erie Canal and the railroad, both of which run through the town, have done wonders for it, and the surrounding country is one of the richest and best cultivated in the United States. We have taken up our quarters at Bleecker's Hotel; it is an immense building, but a considerable portion of it is shut up for the season.
**0f course, the main object of our curiosity was the cele- brated Trenton Palls, and we lost no time gratifying it. The morning after our arrival, therefore, we arose betimes and having hired a light barouche, drawn by a pair of good shaped, active horses, we prepared to set off on our expedition. The distance to the falls is about fifteen miles, and the owner of the vehicle informed us that the road was * first-rate.' The morning was fine, and a crowd of well-wishers were assembled at the door of the hotel to see the Britishers off. The landlord took especial care in providing for our comfort, and as we rattled off, there was a cheering shout *A11 right!' *Go ahead!' which was heard half way down the street. We had not proceeded far when we began to suspect that the * first-rate' road of which we had heard, existed only in the imagination of the livery stable keeper. Nothing, in short, but the distant hope of arriving at last at Trenton Palls would have supported us through the bumping and jolting we underwent. (This was before the highway had been improved
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bj the bwOding of the pbodt road in 1861.) In the oonrse cl three hourSy and no* beiore-'for there is mneh np-hiB and doiwn- hili woric— we reached the inn to whidt trarellerft in search of the picturesque mnst betake theaiselves, for it is the only honse in sight of the faUsi The hotel is situated on the borders of the £or- esty and looks over a gvest extent of eovntry; but em aniYing at its door, which stood invitingly open, we were quite unprepared to find such grand scenery so immediateiy in its neighborhood. Ow- ing to the lateness of the season, the house was nearly without in- habitants.
'^Guides or helps there were none, but we were told that we could not mistake our way to the falls; so, wifiumt dday, we fdU lowed tl^ path pointed out to us. On arriving at tiie hi^ bank of the river, which is a few hundred yards from the ho4d» we desoended the long flight of steps and found ourselves at the bot- tom of a chaan down which the river rushes with inconceivable force. The platform on wbich we stood was a smooth slab of stone, broad, level and slippery, and the black and brawling stream was on a level with this natural pavement. The river was not vride, and as we watched it pursuing its vexed and tumultuous course within a few feet of where we stood, I could almost have fancied it some Uving thing, fretting at the vast and insurmount- able impediments which nature had placed in its way. On either side of it rose perpendicular rocks of black limestone, the strata being so exactly horizontal and equal in thickness, that one could hardly help imagining it to be the wori: of human hands. About half way up these natural and fearful boundaries grew small and stunted trees, clinging^ for life to the narrow fissures in the rocks and bending down their heads towtods the mighty torrent. Above these dwarf cypress and hemloek shrubs, rose hi^ in air the gi- ant trees of the primeval forests, which nearly met above our heads. And there above was the glorious sky, reduced to a nar- row strip of blue by distance, and the awful rocks on either cdde of us. We turned our eyes upward to gaze on it, and then the sensation of awe and wonder was complete.
''At this time the falls were still hidden from our view by a
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creep was very narrow^ and I dung to the chain with a -gras^ ren- dered eonvuJfiive by a sense of the imimneiit danger of our posi- tion. Having roonded the point I Was amply repaid for all the terror I had tindergODe. The gorge beyond it becomes consid^- ably mder, and as we looked up the stream a succession of mag- nifioent waterfalls greeted our sight. The lowest was spanned by a frail bridge, Imt to attempt to describe the sc^ie upon which we gazed from it would be in vain. A wild waste of glittering and turbulent waters below, and the glorious forests above and about us, fonaed a picture wbich must be seen ere it can be appre- ciated.
*'When we returned to our inn^ by the way we had come, our host ui^ed us to take a view of the falls from some high ground about a mile and a half from the house. The view from this point wJas, he assured us, even more beautiful than the one we had seen. But we had had (for that day at least) enough of such exciting scenes, and we agreed to spend the night and put off till the next day the sequel of sighf-seeing. The sun rose in all its bright autumnal beauty and saw us early on foot; and that for- est walk, even if there had been no cataract view at the end of it, would, I think, have repaid me for any exertion. We did not miss our way, though we had great difficulty in tracing the path, so completely was it hidden by fallen leaves. After a time, how- ever, the task became easier as the distant roar of the falls guided us to the spot from whence w© were to view them. The trees grew very closely together, and much of their foliage was gone, though enough still remained for beauty, and the tints were ex- quisite. A thick undegrowth of sycamore and yew covered the ground, while here and there a fallen tree, green with the moss of years, and shaded by fern leaves, offered a tempting seat. Many a little grey squirrel, startled by our voices, tripped up the stems of the trees, or sprang from one leafless bough to another for greater security. I neither sawt nor heard a single bird, though the day was warm, and the sun shone brightly. Miany, I suppose, had already taken their early flight to some brighter land, like sensible birds as they were, for a winter in this rigorous cli- mate would not leave Many alive to tell the tale of their suffer- ings. The falls, above wihidi, after many restings and delays, we arrived at last, are indeed beautifuL I was able to approach near enough to feel the light i^ray npon my faee, and to find our
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voices perfectly inaudible by the din of the falling waters. There is a perpendicular rock over which the water falls from the height of a htindred feet. In the center the fierce torrent divides, leav- ing the rock bare for a considerable space. At the base of the rock the two torrents unite again on a broad flat surface from which they again descend, boiling and foaming down rocky steps and gigantic stones, till the whole falls together into the deep natural basin I have before attempted to describe. • • * • • ♦ • • I have said what I could of TVenton B^s, but after having done so, I am only the more convinced of the utter im- possibility of conveying to the mind of another any adequate idea of the reality of their overpowering beauty.''
JAMBS RUSSELL LOWELL.
My keen enjoyment and zest in the compilation of this offer- ing to one of Nature's master-pieces reached its culmination when I discovered James Bussell Lowell and his lovely young wife» Maria White, at Trenton Palls — and this in company with that captivating little woman, the Swedish novelist, Fredrika Bremer I In her ''Homes of the New World," published in 1853, she has presented no more charming picture than life at Elmwood, as she found it when she visited the Lowells in December, 1849. 1849.
**Such a handsome, happy couple,'' she writes, **one can hardly imagine. He is full of life and youthful ardor, and she is one of the most lovable women I have met in this country, be- cause her beauty is full of soul and grace, as is everything which she does and says." Lowell's impression of their honored guest is recorded in this letter to an intimate friend: ** Fredrika Bremer stayed three weeks with us, and I do not Uke her. I love her. She is one of the most beautiful persons I have ever known —so clear, so simple, so right-minded and hearted, aud so full of judgment. I believe she liked us, too, and had a good time."
Ideal traveling companions they, and we can fancy with what enthusiasm the three planned a pleasure trip together! Before Miiss Bremer left Boston to visit the southern states, she agreed to meet the ** young Lowells" the next summer to visit Niagara, which Mrs. Lowell had never seen. I take up Miss Bremer's ac- count in September, 1850, when the party set out at Albany to
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enjoy the long anticipated treat: ''The journey was glorious through the beautiful, fertile Mohawk Valley. The sun shone brilliantly over the rich landscape as we flew along the excellent railroad toward the West — ^the land of promise. My young friends enjoyed it as much as I did. In the evening we arrived at Utioa, and the next day we went with a carriage and horses to Trenton, in order to see the waterfall, which is cousin to Niagara in reputation. It is a wild and violent fall, hurling itself through an immense chasm of rock directly down a height of certainly a quarter of an English mile. The water, which has the color of clear sherry, leaps from between the lofty, dark walls of rock, like a Berserk, from ledge to ledge in the wildest tiunult, gleaming in the sun, tumbling into abysses, leaping up over masses of rock and trunks of trees, rending down and overwhelming everything in its career, flinging forth cascades of spray right and left into the w\x)d, which stands as if dumb and trembling while the mighty giant hero passes by. It is magnificent; but too violent, too headlong. One is deafened by the thundering roar, and al- most blinded by the impetuosity with which the masses of water are hurled forward. One becomes wearied by it, as one does by anything extra vagaot, let it be as grand as it may; one cannot hear one's own thoughts, much less those of others, even if they are shouted into one's ears. One is out-talked, outdone, out-mad- dened by the giant's Berserker madness. Alone in its clear and glowing color could I see the divine fire, and when standing on a rocky terrace by the side of the fall, I took off my bonnet and let the spray rain over me, as it was flung down from the water like a mist; I then felt that the Mighty One could be even gentle and refreshing.
''The scenery at Trenton is wild and picturesquely beautiful, but circumscribed. It is of Berserker character. We spent the whole day at Trenton (September 3, 1850), in company with the giaut and the scenery around. The inn was a good aud comfort- able one, as are nearly all the inns in this country, and was situated in a romantic stretch of dale scenery. We ate well and slept w^ll, and the next day we returned to XJtica, and thence pur- sued our journey still farther West.''
Five years later James Russell Lowell came to Trenton again, but how different the scene, how changed the circumstances ! Eauyahoora's voice was still — ^the ice king had conquered the gi- ant Berserk — and he was alone.
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Some jrean aga whMi browging In tto rieh field of Lowell's cittrreflpoiidenee I diaeoTered his eharming deier^ytioQ of Tienton fVdls m winter, and withal a lovely pietore of the ideal family Ufie at the inn. It waa in Hdkrch, 1856^ thai fhia Ajoerioan poet and esaajist paused at Utiea when enronte to the west to fill aeT- eral lectore engagementa. After deaeribing some disagreeable featorea of hia joomey in a letter to a Gambcidge friend, dated Mladi8c»i, Wiaconain, April 9, 1855, he aaja: '^I like to keep my premiaes, and as i have had one very pleasant adventure^ I will try to make a letter of it. I have a nice little oasis to talk abevt I arrived, then, at Ba^'s Hotel in Utica, which (the hotel) haa a railroad running through it— so you may fancy how pleasant it is— to dinner, and it occurred to me that it was Saturday, that I was only twelve miles from Trenton FaUa, and that I had no en-* gagement till Monday evening. To the falls, then, I wl^uld go and fl^end Sunday. Mr. Baggs assured me that it would be in vain; that Mr. Moore at Trenton would not 'take anybody in' (so he dubiously phrased it) in winter; that I should have my cold drive for my pains. I had travelled enough not to take anything for granted— so I hired a 'cutter' and a pair of horses and a huge buffalo skin coat to drive, and set out. It was snowy and blowy and cold, and part of the way the snow was level with the backs of the horses (Bison-skin had prophesied it, but I did not believe till I aaw) — think of it, on the aith of March I We drove fast in q>ite of the deep snow, for we 'had the pootiest pair o' colts that went out o' Utiky,' and in about an hour and a half drew up in front of the huge deserted hotel, its dark color lock- ing drearier in contrast with the white snow and under the gath- ering twilight. I tried the front door in vain. The roll of skins suggested a door below. I went, knocked, and a grave, respect- able man in black (looking not the least like an American land- lord) opened the door and said, 'Good evening, sir.'
" 'Good evening, sir. Mr. Moore, I believe!'
" 'That's my name, sir.'
" 'Can you lodge me till Monday!'
" 'We do not keep our house open in winter, and prefer to live privately, sir.'
"This was said in such a quiet w^y that I saw there was nothing more to be said on the tavern side—iso I changed my firont.
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'' 'I have 9eeai the falk several times in soBimer/ (Mr. Lowell first visited Trenton July 31, 183S, while a student at Har^ vard) 'and I thought I should like to see them in their winter fashions. They must he even more beautiful, I fancy. I hoped also to have a quiet Sunday here, after a week's railroading— and I gave a despairing look at the gloomy wither and the heap of bison skin.
''Mir. Moore Iovca his falls and I had touched him.
" 'I will ask Mrs. Moore, and see what she sayt; she will have all the trouble.'
"He opened the door, said something I could not hear, and instantly a sweet, motherly voice said:
" 'Certainly, by all means.'
" 'M!rs. Moore says she will be happy to have you stay. Walk in, sir. I will have your luggage attended to.'
"Meanwhile I had not told Mr. Moore my name, of which (however illustrious) I feared he might never have heard, and there was no mark on trunk or carpet bag by which he could dis- cover it.
"Presently We sat down to tea and I was charmed with the gentle and affectionate atmosphere of the family. There was a huge son and two little girls and a boy — ^I wish Wendell Hbhnes could have seen them— tiie stoutest children I ever saw. Then there was a daughter-in-law, a very sweet looking girl, with her first child, a lovely baby of a year old who never cried. I know that first babies never do— but he never did. After tea Mr. Moore and I smoked and talked together. I found him a man with tastes for medals, pictures, engravings, music and fruit culture. He played very well on a parlor organ and knew many artists whom I also knew. Moreover, he was a Unitarian. So we got along nicely. Mrs. Moore was handsome and gentle, and a great grand-daughter of Roger Sherman. After our cigars, Mr. Moore showed me his books, and among others the 'Homes of American Authors' (published by George P. Putnam in 1853). He a;^ed me if I had seen it. Here was a chance for me to in- troduce myself quietly, so I said, 'Yes and I will show you where I live.' I showed him accordingly the picture of Elmwood, and he grew more friendly than ever.
"I went out in the night to get my first view of the falls, refusing to be accompanied and profusely warned of the ravine's
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frozen and slippery edges. They were slippery, but I did not tumble in, as you see. As I looked down into the gorge, after wandering through the giant hemlocks, nothing could be finer. The edges of the stream were frozen and covered with light, new- fallen snow, so that by contrast the stream seemed black, wholly black. The night gave mystery to the profound abyss, and I fancied that it was the Water of Oblivion I was gazing down at. !Prom afar I heard the murmur of the first fall, and though I thought I had understood Goethe's * Fisher '"as I have sat by the side of the sea, I never had fully till now. I felt again a true poetic enthusiasm revive in me, dead for so long. I feared to stay; there was such an impulse to leap down. For the first time I became conscious of the treachery of the ice-edge and walked back cautiously into the wood. Then I made my way among the trees and over fallen hemlock trunks, guided by the increasing murmur, to the first fall. I now found why there was so little roar. The fall was entirely muflfled in ice. I could just see it through the darkness, a wall, or rather, veil of ice covering it wholly. It was perfectly a frozen waterfall, as I discovered the next morning, for the front of it had thawed in the sun, so that it was polished as water, and was ribbed and wrinkled like a cascade, while the heap of snowy debris below made the spray.
**I went back to the house and (charming inconsistency of this double nature of ours!) with the tears scarce dry in my eyes, sat down to smoke another cigar with Mr. Moore and to play Dr. Busby with the children.'' Here the letter is interrupted, but Mr. Lowell adds the following at the Burnett House, Cincinnati, April 12th: **In the morning Mr. Moore took me out and showed the best points of view, after which he considerately left me. It was a cold morning and the spray, as it rose, crystalized in feath- ers on the shrubs and trees and sides of the gorge. For a few moments the sun shone and lighted up all these delicate ice forms, which in texture were like those starshaped flakes that fall from very cold clouds. Afterwards I saw Niagara, but he is a coarser artist and had plastered all the trees like alabaster. He is a clusmy fellow compared with Kauyahoora. The ice work along the rocks at Trenton is very lovely. Sometimes it hangs lightly, honeycombed by the sun, and bent by the wind from the fall as it froze, looking like the Venetian lace drapery of an altar. At other times it has frozen in filtering stalactites, precisely like or- gan pipes.''
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GEORGE WILLIAM CUBTIS.
The following glowing tribute paid to Trenton by George William Curtis abounds in exquisite imagery: ''In Longfellow's delicious poem to the 'Waif,' he invokes the singing of a song of rest. Sometimes, urges the poet, let us escape the battle cry and the bugle call, and repose that we may the better wrestle.
" 'Such songs have the power to quiet The restless pulse of care. And come like the benediction That follows after prayer.'
"Trenton is that summer song of rest.
"Only lovely images haunt its remembrance, beautiful as the Iris which, in some happy moment of the ramble through the ra- vine, spans the larger or lesser fall. Beauty and grace are its praises. You hear them from those who are either hurrying to the grandeur of Niagara, or from those who returning, step aside at Utica to enjoy the music of the greater cataract, softened here at Trenton into an exquisite echo. It matters little when you see these falls, whether before or after Niagara. The charm of Tren- ton is unique, and you will not scorn the violets and lilies be- cause you knelt to the passion-flowers and roses. In the prime of a summer which, from the abundant rains, is singularly un- worn and unwithered, a day at Trenton, because of its rare and picturesque attractions, is like a feast of flowers. In some choice niche of memory you will lay it aside, not as a sublime statue, but as a vase most delicate and symmetrical, and chased with pastoral tracery.
"Poets' fancies only should image the falls, they are so rich and rare a combination of picturesque beauty! You descend from a lofty wood into a long, rocky cluuMn, which the Germans would call a Orund, for it is not a valley. It is walled and pave- mented with smooth rocks, and the thronging forest fringes the summit of the wall. The chasm almost closes up the river, and you see a foamy cascade above. Then, as if the best beauty and mystery were beyond, you creep along a narrow ledge in the rockside of the throat of the gorge, the water whirling and bub- bling beneath, and reach the first fall. A slight spray enfolds you as a baptism in the spirit of the place. A broad ledge of the
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rock here offers firm and sofficient footbold idule you gaze at the falls. Before you is a level parapet of rock, and the river, after tiding very iftmHowly over the broad bed above, concentrates mainly at one point for a fall, and plunges in a sdlid amber sheet.
'^ Close *by the side of this you (Simb and pass along the base of the overlianging mountain, and stooping under the foot of an imperial cliff, stand before the Great Fall, wUdi faas tvro plunges, a long one above, from which the river idieers obliquely over a polished floor of rock, «iid then again plunges. The river bends here, and a high, square, regular bank projects from the cliff, smooth as a garden terrace, and perpetually veiled and softened by the spray. It is one of the most beautiful and boldest points in the long ravine, and when the late light of afternoon falls soft upon it, there is a strange odntrast in your feelings as visions of Boccaccio's garden mingle with the wildness of American woods."
**Howadji'' found the ** Rural Retreat," overlooking ttie w«onderfitl fiigh FaUs, an ideal spot to rest and muse. Visions of many wild and beautiful scenes in foreign lands came before his eyes, as be gazed upon the enchanting scene. The spell, the witchery of the ceaseless flowing amber fall conjured up names, places, and memories, which he ever after associated with Tren- t<m Palls. Of the hotel he says: ''There is something e^ecially pleasant in the tranquil, familyJike character of the house at Trenton. It is by far the best hostelry of the kind that I have encountered in my summer wtandering; and, lying away from any town or railroad, the traveller seems to have stepped back into the days when travelling was an event and not a habit, and when the necessity of moderation in speed imposed a correspond- ing leisure in enjoyment.
'*Do not fail to see Trenton. It is various-voiced. It is the playing of lutes on the moonlight lawn — as Stoddard sings. It is well to listen for it in the steam-shriek of our career. For if once your fancy hears its murmur, you will be as the boatman who catches through the roar of the Rhine, the song of the Lorelei, and you too will be won to delicious repose."
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JENNY LIND.
Mr. CurtiB gives a delightful account of his drive to Tren- ton in the summer of 1851. Upon his arrival at Utica he found that the regular coach had left for the falls. He therefore en- gaged a little open wagon, and thus dBseribes the journey: ''My charioteer was a fine boy of sixteen. He whipped along over the plank road and gossiped about the people and the places we pass- ed. He wa« riwarp-eyed and dear-minded— a bright boy who may <me day be president. As we were dowly dimlxng the hill, he said:
** *flave you heard Jenny lind, girt' *Yes, often.'
** 'Greet woman, sir. Don't you think sot' *I do.'
" 'She was here last week, sir.' 'Did you hear hert' I asked.
" *Yes, sir; and I drove her to the falls — ^that is, Twn Hig- gins dro^ and I sat on the b<»c.' 'And was she pleasedt'
" 'Yes, sir; only when she was going to see the falls, every- body in the hotel ran to the docn* to look at her, so she went back to her room and then slipped out the back door. But there was something better thwi that, sir.' 'What was thatt'
" 'She gave Tom Higgins fifty dollars when he drove her back. But there was still something better than that, sir.'
" 'Indeedl what was thatt'
" 'Why, sir, as we came back, wie passed a little wood, and she stopped the carriage and stepped out with the rest of the party, and me and Tom HSggins, and went into the wood. It was toward sunset and the wood was beautiful. She walked about a little and picked up fiowers, and sung, like to herself, as if it were pleasaut. By and by she sat down upon a rock and began to sing aloud. But before she stopped, a little bird came and sat upon a bough close by us.
" *I saw it, sir, with my own eyes, the whole of it — and when Jenny Lind liad done, he began to sing and shout away like she did. While he was singing she looked delighted, and when he stopped she sang again, and — ohl it was beautiful, sir. But the little bird wouldn't give it up, and he sang again, but not until she had done.
'* *Then Jenny Lind sang as well as ever she could. Her voice seemed to fill the woods all up with music, and when it was
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over, the little bird was still awihile, but tried it again in a few moments. He couldn't do it, sir. Hfe sang very bad, and then the foreign gentlemen with Jenny Lind Laughed, and they all oame back to the carriage.' **
FRANCES AJfNE KEMBLE.
Among the choice pictures which adorned the walls of the family apartment at Moore's Hotel, was an engraving of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria with their eldest child, the Princess Royal (Empress Frederic), styled '*The Royal Family at Home." The original, Landseer's painting, hangs in the Queen's sitting room at Windsor. The copy at Trenton was a gift to Mr. Moore from a distinguished visitor who inscribed beneath the picture, '*From your humble servant, Frances Anne Kemble."
Aside from the two poems written at Trenton Falls con- tained in the volume of her verse, Mlrs. Kemble alludes to the place in the ** Records" of her life. In 1833, during one of her early American Shakesperian tours, she writes from Montreal to a friend in England: '^>We have gone up the Hudson, seen Tren- ton the most beautiful and Niagara the most awful of water- falls." Speaking of her intense love and fascination for ** bright water," Mrs. Kemble says: **I think a very attached maid of mine once saved my life by the tearful expostulation with which she opposed the bewitching invitations of the topaz colored, flash- ing rapids of Trenton Falls, that looked to me in some parts so shallow, as well as so bright, that I was just on the point of step- ping into them, charmed by the exquisite confusion of musical voices with which they were persuading* me, when suddenly a large tree-trunk shot down their flashing surface and was tossed over the fall below, leaving me to the natural conclusion, *Just such a log should I have been, if I had gone in there.' Indeed, my worthy Marie, overcome by my importunity, having selecte3 what seemed to her a safe, and to me a very tame, bathing place in another part of the stream, I had every reason from my experi- ence at the difficulty of withstanding its powerful current, to congratulate myself upon not having tried the experiment nearer to one of the 'springs' of the lovely torrent, whose Indian name is the 'Leaping Water.' "
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WRITTEN AT TRENTON PALLS.
Come down! from where the everlasting hills
Open their rocky gates to let thee pass^ Child of a thousand rapid running rills,
And still lakes, where the skies their beauty glass.
With thy dark eyes, white feet, and amber hair, Of heaven and earth thou fair and fearful daughter,
Through thy wide halls, and down thy echoing stair, Rejoicing come— thou lovely ** Leaping Water!'*
Shout! till the woods beneath their vaults of green Resound, and shake their pillars on thy way;
Fling wide thy glittering fringe of silver sheen,
And toss towards heaven thy clouds of dazzling spray.
The sun looks down upon thee with delight. And weaves his prism around thee for a belt;
And as the wind waves thy thin robes of light. The jewels of thy girdle glow and melt.
Ah ! where be they, who first with human eyes
Beheld thy glory, thou triumphant flood! And through the forest, heard with glad surprise,
Thy waters calling, like the voice of God!
Far towards the setting sun, wandering they go,
Poor remnant! left, from exile and &om slaughter,
But still their memory, mingling with thy flow. Lives in thy name— thou lovely, ^^ Leaping Water.*'
-^Frances Anne Eemble.
MADAME EMMA WILLARD.
Mladame Emma Willard, founder of the famous school at Troy, was a great lover of nature, and in the summer of 1839 wrote her sister: **I have been to Trenton Falls which, I think, could never have appeared more beautiful, as there was a great deal of water, and the trees were in full foliage, and yet in ver- nal freshness. I was more venturesome in exploring the shelving rocks than I intended to be. I seem, amid such inspiring scenes, to
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lose the feeling of peraonal danger. Mr. Hart va* with me. We descended three hundred feet, and then on a shelf of rock, which art had lent her aid to make continuous, we wendied our waj through the rocks above and below us, scHnetimes slightly inclined, sometimes perpendicular. The torrent below was foaming and mad- dening along, and the opposite bank near us riang so as to make its outline, as we looked up, above the mild heaven. While I stood here my thoughts were those of solemn and heavenly musing. Mr. Hart and I made some observations on the sound of the cataract. We stood in ope place where we could make with our voices a musical sound in perfect unison with the falling waters at other places. It was a deeper, lower soupd than any human voice could make, but the different soujads appeared to be either octaves, thirds, or fifths— in that all were harmonious. Now, if this is so, and I believe it is, it 19 a very curious fact, and shows how the sound of falling waters is so pleasant to a musical ear."
JOHN QDINCY ADAMS.
In the summer of 1843 the venerable ex-President^ John Quincy Adams, honored the city of Utioa by his presence. Mrs. Samuel L. Gkmvemeur, wife of the grandson of James Mon- roe, describes this viait in her entertaining book '^As I Remember; Recollections of American, Society during the Nineteenth Cen- tury'': **I spent several weeks as the guest of the financier and author, Alexander B. Johnson, in Utica, New York. Mrs. John- son's maiden name was Abigail Louisa Smith Adams, and she was the daughter of Charles Adams, son of President John Adams. During my visit there her uncle, John Quincy Adams, came to Utica to visit his relatives, and' I had the pleasure of be- ing a guest of the family at the same time. Hie was accompanied upon this trip by his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Charles Francis Adams, a young grandson whose name I do not recall, and the father of Mrs. Adams, Peter C. Brooks of Boston, another of whose daughters was the wife' of Edward Everett. Upon their arrival in Utica, the greatest enthusiasm prevailed, and the elder- ly ex-President was welcomed by an old-fashioned torchlight pro- cession. In response to ui^ent requeerts, Mr. Adams made an im- promptu speech from the steps of the Johnson house, and proved himself to be indeed 'the old man eloquent.' After the Adams party had rested for a few days, a pleasure trip to Trenton Falls
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in Oneida County was proposed A few prominent citizens of Utica were invited by the Johnsons to aeeompany the party, and amoD^ them seyeral well-known lawyere whose careers won for them a national as well as local reputation. Among these I may especially mention the handsome Horatio Seymour, then in his prime, wiM)se courteous manners and manly bearing made him ex- ceptionally attractive. Mr. Adams bore the fatigue of the trip remarkably well, and his strength seemed undiminisdbed as the day waned."
John Quincy Adams arrived in Utica Saturday evening, July 29th, as he was about completing a tour which included Que- bec, Montreal and Niagara. The Utica Daily Gazette states that on Sunday he attended Trinity Church in the morning, the Re- formed Dutch in the afternoon, and the First Presbyterian in the evening. On Monday he was waited upon by a committee of citi- zens, and a public reception was arranged for Tuesday, August Ist, at ten in the morning, at which time he met a laige concourse of people in the drawing ro(»n of the Bleecker Hbuse (which ad- joined Bagg's Hotel on the north), and in the evening the ladies paid their respects to the ex-President at the home of Mr. John- son.
MISS AMELIA M. MURRAY.
Governor and Mrs. Horatio Seymour brought an enthusiastic geologist, botanist and artist to Trenton Palls in July, 1855, the Honorable Amelia M. Murray, one of Queen Victoria's maids of honor. During her travels in this country her superior scien- tific knowledge brought her in close contact with Prof. Asa Gray and Prof. Louis Aggasiz. Naturally such a devoted student of nature would be charmed with Trenton and Miss Murray ex- presses her appreciation in her published ** Letters from the United States, Cuba and Canada":
'* Trenton Falls, July 8: This is the most charming rural hotel I have seen in America; it is situated in almost a dense hemlock spruce forest, and has a garden quite English in style and neatness; and the rooms, brightly clean and comfortable, are de- corated with prints and drawings chosen with artistic taste. iBfverything about it is in accordance with the beauty and mag- nificence of its natural scenery; no forced ornaments or glaring paint jars upon the feelings or hurts the eye. Here is a kind of
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mesmeric influence which impresses the heart unconsciously; a sincere worshipper of Nature is at once assured that one of her most lovely shrines cannot be desecrated. Mr. Moore is worthy of Trenton both by taste and education. The name Trenton was formerly Olden Bameveld; one regrets it although originating from the Hollanders, for the Indian appropriate appellation was *Kauyahoora' (leaping waters) and the river Eanata (Amber river) was equally descriptive; for at some places the falls re- semble liquid amber, and occasionally the tumbling stream seems to have an edging of gold. The (Jovemor and Mrs. Seymour first took me to see it from the forest walk, where the chasm be- low resembled that of the Tilt at Blair Athol, only filled by a wider, larger river, and by a succession of higher falls.
''The next morning Mr. Moore took** charge of us during a walk to all the falls along the edge of the torrent; without his experienced guidance I should have been afraid to have under- taken this, but as the water was high enough for beauty and not too high for safety, it was very enjoyable. I sketched the three principal cataracts. It will not do to compare Trenton with Ni- agara, it is entirely different, but certainly after Niagara I prefer Trenton to any other water scenery in America."
HENRY W. LONGFELLOW.
In the month of June, 1862, the poet, Longfellow, joined a party of friends for a visit to Niagara Palls, which he had never visited, taking his sons with him. After resuming his Journal, following the long break caused by the death of Mrs. Longfellow, among the first records are these: **June 4th, 1862. A rainy day to begin the Niagara journey. On, on, on, all day long, reach Al- bany at five, to Utica on the 5th by rail. There we took a carri- age for Trenton Falls. Dine and then go down the steep steps to the lovely river, rushing, roaring, along its banks of stone, through a deep, wooded ravine. We follow it up for miles; all loveliness, and a little spice of danger from a slip on the narrow
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THE GOLDEN ERA OB* IBENTON FALLS 287
breakfast In the afternoon another ramble up the beautiful river. It is very lovely."
Mr. Longfellow must have heard the praises of Trenton sung by his brilliant brother-in-law, **Tom'' Appleton, the fa- mous Boston wit who visited the falls on his journey to Niagara in 1847.
WILLIAM H. SEWARD AND PARTY AT TRENTON PALLS.
On the 18th of August, 1863, Trenton Falls was visited by a notable party of gentlemen, led by Secretary of State William H. Seward, and including the following foreign ministers: Lord Lyons of England, M. Mercier of Prance, M. Tassara of Spain, Baron Gerolt of Pliissia, M. Molina of Nicaragua, Baron Stroeckel of Russia, Count Piper of Sweden, M. Bertenatti of Italy, M. Schleiden, Hanseatic, with several secretaries and attaches of the different legations. A greatly prized picture is that of the com- pwiy taken on the spacious platform of rock just below the High Palls.
Curious for information regarding the visit of this extraordi- nary party to Trenton Palls, I wrote to Secretary Seward's son, Greneral WiUiam H. Seward of Auburn, N. Y., regarding it, and learned from him that the *p*^ty, by Mr. Seward's invitation, made the trip from Washington to Niagara in a special car. The excursion was planned not only for pleasure, but to impress up- on the foreigners the extent and resources of the country, in its great struggle with the Rebellion— a matter in which the Powers were deeply interested at the time. Coming from New York up the Hudson River and through the Mohawk Valley, points of in- terest were visited on the journey through the state, and Mr. Seward also entertained his distinguished guests at his family home at Auburn.
GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT.
August 1, 1872, the highway to Trenton wore a truly festal appearance with the Stars and Stripes floating all along the route, in honor of the President of the United States, General Grant, who, with Mrs. Grant and their sons. Lieutenant Preder- ick and Jesse Grant, and General Horace Porter, guests of Sena- tor and Mrs. Conkling, paid a visit to Trenton Piills upon that
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memorable day. A newspaper of the period states that, aft^ dining at the hotel, the President and the gentlemen of the party walked through the glen while the ladies followed the paths above, and at about six p. m. all returned to the city.
When the Society of the Army of the Cumberland met in Utica in September, 1875, with such distinguished persons in at- tendance as President Grant, General Sherman, General ''Joe" HooIkt and General Slocnm, one of the marked features of enter- tainment was an excursion to Oneida County's famous scenic re- seat, Trenton Falls.
''Picturesque America," published in 1872 by D. Appleton and Co. and edited by William CuUen Bryant, contains a fine description of Trenton Falls by the BoBsian writer, B. E. Garezynski, which I quote in part: "Many persons who vmt Niagara from the East make a point of seeing Trenton Falls on their return, as this most picturesque and sup^b chacmi lies al- most npon the road, being some fourteen miles from Utica. Could the secret thoughts of these be made known, it is not impossiUe that we might discover a decided preference for the less famous place. Our expectati<ms are so wrought up with regard to Ni- agara, by the praises of poets from every land, and by the ef- forts of the most famous painters to translate its glories upon canvas, that, when we see it first, the feeling uppermost is, not infrequently, one of disappointment, if n(^ absolute dissatisfac- tion. It is not so with Trenton f^Us, where we expect much less, and find far more than was expected. And, again, the surround- ings of the latter are in every way more pleasant. The exchange from the infinite extortions and swindlings, and the measurriess rapacity of the Niagara cormorants, to the pdished ease and re- fined hospitality of the Trenton Falls Hotel is one that inevitably puts us into good humor with everything we see, and enables us to see everything through a roseate hue of pleasure. And more than this, it must be admitted that the Tories of Niagara are confined to the wonderful chaon through which the enormous body of water fiowa At Trenton the i^proaches to the enchanted land are made through a beautiful pastoral country, where the fields, laden with bearded srrain, rise and fall in undulating
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the f allB themaelvet is in tbe dese Ticinity of the hotel. Leaving a beaniifnl and extensive garden on the right hand, smiling in all the luxuriwice of lush stHnmer vegetation, we plnnge at once into the heart of a forest filled with noble trees, many of them dark cedars of huge size, and spreading, feathery foliage. The light of the July sun streams through the dim cathedral atmosphere, made by the overhanging boughs, in broad golden arrows, which, slanting through the heavier foliage of the trees, fall lovingly up- on the earth beneath, covered in many places with an actual carpet of wild flowers. Among these, the lovely bluebell is the most prominent, and, by contrast with the darker hues around it, es- pecially of the mosses, its azure becomes almost violet in tone. The ground rises higher and higher, and beyond, in the immedi- ate distance, we discern grand hill-forms, covered with noble trees. But, between them and us, there is a great gulf, for sud- denly our progress is arrested. We find ourselves upon the very brink of a great chasm, whose very existence has been hidden from MS, being magged by the rise of the earth, and by the glor- ious growth of the noble trees. Across upon the opposite side is a rock-wall of limestone, hard, and nearly black, that rises al- most perpendicularly, to a height varying from two to three hun- dred feet. This is crowned with great hemlocks, with fine birches, whose white trunks glimmer through the forest obscurity, and with cedars, many of which, from the yielding of the roots, are bent down at a most perilous angle^ and hang over the abyss, nodding to their own expected and imminent fall when the wind strikes among their outstretched branches. Down below the eye drops instinctively, as if to see what would beccHne of them, and catches a glimpse of the Eanata river rushing onward through its rocky bed in a tumultous torrent. Here the first descent is made by a series of wooden ladders, and, after a little exertion, we are landed safely on the bank of the stream, which is compos- ed of flat masses of limestone cut by the hand of Nature into great slabs, as evenly and as regularly as a mason would have done it. We look up and see the blue, brilliant sky, across which the cedars hang in dark lines. We look ahead, and see the flrst one of the series of the falls, which are six in nxunber, and known as Sherman FM, after John Sherman of Revolutionary fame who discovered this superb chasm in 1806. Here the river has formed an immense excavation from the limestone, and falls some forty feet
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into its bed below with a most furious roaring. Its color is a rich brown, which, touched here and there by slanting sun rays, presents the hues of molten gold. Back of this sheet of water, the reaction of the torrent has worn away the rock in an exact circular curve, some ten feet in diameter, which exhibits a furi- ously boiling cauldron of white foam, streaked with every pos- sible shade of brown. Below this is a cloud of spray, which hides the tumult of the falling water. Here, in the. afternoon, is a most lovely rainbow. Above this fall the EJanata boils in a suc- cession of the most furious rapids, where the brown water is forced up into great ridges, on which the sunlight falls with de- licious effect. • ♦ • • Suddenly the rapid Eanata makes a bend to the bank, and drives us all under a low, projecting cliff, where we are all compelled to bow the head. When this obstacle has been surmounted, we find ourselves immediately in the pres- ence of the great fall, two hundred jrards ahead of us. This fall is duplex, but the eye from this point can take in all. Immedi- ately in our front is a tumultous mass of foam, covering a de- scent of forty feet. This distance is not overcome in one bold fall, but has evidently been broken into a succession of rocky stairways^ so close to each other that the whole appears as one huge, extravagant, boiling stretch of whirling, shifting foam, quite covering the rocky ledge. Passing this, nor stopping to ad- mire the great rapidity of the water rushing from the other half of this high fall, we see the latter in its full beauty. The water here rushes over a ledge of rocks, which stretch from bank to bank, diagonally, with a full height of seventy-five feet. Above this the walls rise for one hundred and thirty feet, not quite per- pendicularly, on account of a change in stratification. For, be- tween the great slabs of dark gray limestone, come thin strata of loose, crumbling shale, which afford root-hold to dwarf cedars of low height, but of exquisite fulness of branch and foliage. In the center of the ledge the black limestone shows in frowning masses, like the projecting comer of a bastion or a bartizan tower, and this divides the fall here into two. Between the opposite shore and this dividing rock the stream faUs in a thin, silvery
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poured in one tremendous, arcbing flood down into the bed below. On each side, where the leap is taken, are jutting masses of rock that enviously would hem it in, but by contracting their gates, they only concentrate the strength of the leaping river, and add to the bold force of its curves. The color is of an extraordinary topaz hue, like nothing ever seen in any other land, or in any other part of America. It resembles a cascade of melted topaz, or of liquid, translucent porphyry, as far as the color goes; but what can compare to the exquisite character of its changing tints? For, as the water descends, that which was brown becomes lighter and lighter, until actually white, and then as it nears the smoky clouds of sprays at its base, becomes dark again. It is Uke the changing sheen on velvet, or the glancing hues on the finest fur. Gazuig steadily upon it, and letting its beauties infiltrate into the mind, we realize how bold is the leap, how vigorous is the curve, for it Ib to the latter that this curious effect of color is due. The stream is impelled forward into the air as vigorously as if shot from some wheel constructed by a Titan miller. Hence the im- mense clouds of spray that rise up from the boiling, seething, twisting, tormented flood below. The great chasm is full of it. It not only comes upon us in showers, and makes us hug the side of the bank, but it floats in great wreaths in the upper air, sailing through the chasm at a height far above that which rises from the second section below. Turning ungrateful backs upon the glorious topaz flow, we gaze down the gorge, lost in love and admiration of the God that made the world so fair.'*
In his autobiographical work published in 1913, entitled ** Early Memories," Henry Cabot Lodge in writing of his boyhood days says: **In 1863 we went to New York, a great event to me. • • • • The following summer we took another journey, which seemed to me a very extensive one, indeed. We went to Trenton Palls, now ruined by conversion into power, and thence to Niagara. At Trenton I had an adventure which nearly termin- ated my pronusing career. In company with a Mr. Rand I walked far up the river gorge above the principal falls. It was a beau- tiful walk by the side of the dark browBi swift-rushing streami but very hard going over the rocks, and we decided to climb up the steep cliffs which formed the side of the ravine, where we then were, and return to the hotel. Each of us started at a different
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point and proceeded to serhmMe up. I got nearly to tlie top Tory sueeeaitfiiUy wh^i a Httle ledge oi rook or tartb vpon whidi I had put my foot suddenly gave 'way. It waa a 'bad qvarter of a mm- ute, because below tne was a sbeer drop of considerable hei^ down to the ro<^ of ihe river. Luddly for me a small tree grew outward from the edge of the cliff just above me. I grasped it desperately with a sidcMiing doubt as to whether it would give way. Fortunately it held as I hung to it with both hands^ swing- ing over space, and it was easy to draw my light weight up, get astride of it, amd scramble to the top of the cliff. I was a bacBy frightened boy wheu I rolled over on the grass and looked down into the raviaie below. My companion Irad had no difficulty. B<^- like, I had sdected the diortest, most perpendicular, and mort dangerous route with a cheerful confidence in my powers of dimb- ing anylidng and with no knowledge of the importanoe of foot- holds (m the face of cliffs where rock gradually merges in earth."
Among the long list of prominent people not yet mentioned who ''paid court to Trenton Falls,'' were Joseph Bbnaparte, De- witt Clinton Chancellor Kent, John C. Calhoun, Judge Story, Joeiah Quincy, Amos Lawrence, Nicholas Biddle, George Ticknor, Dr. Channing, Richard Cobden, Millard FiUm(»%, Frances £. Spinner, Edward Everett, Charles Sumner, William H. Prescott, Francis Parkman, Commodore Isaac Hull, General Winfield Scott, Louis Aggasiz, Asa Gray, Edmund Kean, Fanny EUsler, Charlotte Cushman, Madame Alboni, Gottschalk, Edwin Booth, Edwin For- rest, Grace Greenwood, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Bayard Taylor, Elihu Burritt^ Peter Cooper, Edward Everett Hale, Horace Gree^ ley, Cyrus W. Field, and Sir Leslie Stephen.
Such noted artists as George Liness, Durand, Boutelle, Albert Bientodt, and Thomas Hicks found keen delight in painting this lovely scenery. Mr. Hicks so loved the place that, after spending many seasons at Moore's Hotel, he built an attractive summer home, '*Tbomwood"--a veritable artists 's retreat— on the banks of the West Canada Creek, and here the great portrait painter passed away October 8, 1890. Year after year, with unabated in- terest imd faj^iabty, his wddow retntns to this storied nook on Onei- da County, tiiereby perpetuating the very finest traditions of Trenton's palmy days.
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One of the many inteenefltiiig piietaretB at '"TlMniiTDod" is a oopy of J. Milbert\i pjonfeitig of ''Tht Orest Fwlia of Otoacbt Chreek'' wtiok waggesU tiie vBeaae -of a visitor to Trenton one fanm- dred yetrsago. A mtmber of the Academy of Fine Arts and of ''tite leartted soeietieB of £%iladel|)ksa aad New York", the artist and naturalist, Milbert, airived ia New York in the year 1815, to conduct seientific researehes in North America in behalf of the French government In the pnblidied aeconat of his janmeys I found a deBcription of the Trenton Gorge when its wond^*fnl scenery was practically inaccessible, when the visitor had to make his way through the pathless forest, and '^ birds were the only in- habitants of the vast solitudes."
Jacques Gerard Milbert was, indeed, a most persevering and observing traveller for he largely abandoned the public coach to walk through many of the most picturesque parts of the United States.
A FINAL TRTODTE.
I have purposely reserved for the final tribute to the incom- parable Mohawk Valley, and the £Khrine of surpassing natural beauty which has inspired this paper, a particularly pleasing ap- preciation written by the clever Mrs. TroUope upon her return from Niagara. I can easily forgive all her criticism of our new America because she wrote the following, one June day in 1831: **We reached Utica very late and very weary, but the delights of a good hotel and perfect civility sent us in good humor to bed, and we arose sufficiently refreshed to enjoy a day's journey through some of the loveliest scenery in the world.
**Who is it that says America is not picturesque! I forget; but surely he never travelled from Utica to Albany. I really cannot conceive that any country can furnish a drive of ninety miles more varied in its beauty. The road follows the Mohawk Biver which flows through scenes waving with plenty, to rocks, hills and woods. Around the Little Falls are scenes of striking beauty. I never saw so sweetly wild a spot! I confess my incapacity for description for passing so dully through this matchless valley of the Mohawk! I would that some British artist would take my word for it and pass over for a summer pilgrimage through the state of New York. He would do wisely, for I question if the
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world could famish within the same space, so many subjects for his pencil; mountains, forests, rocks, lakes, rivers, cataracts, aU in perfection. But he must be bold as a lion in coloring, or he will make nothing of it. He must have courage to dip his pencil in shadows as black as night, and light that might blind an eagle.
''As I presume my young artist to be an enthusiast, he must first go to Niagara, or even in the Mlohawk Valley his pinioned wing may droop. If his fever run very high he may slake his thirst at Trenton, and while there he will not dream of anything beyond it."
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THE PALATINES IN THE MOHAWK VALLEY.
Bev. Wolcott Webster Ellsworth, Rector St. John's Church, Johnstown, N. Y.
The first fifteen years of the Palatines in Amerioa present a different story from that of any other people in our Colonial times. Judge Benton in his History of Herkimer County, says: *'The events which produced the movement in the heart of an old and polished European nation to seek a refuge and home on the western continent are quite as legitimate a subject of Amer- ican history as the oft repeated relation of the Pilgrim Fathers^'*. The name Palatinate as a political division disappears from the map of Europe before the nineteenth century. There were two Palatinates, the Upper or Bavarian and the Lower or Palatinate of the Rhine. The latter was the more important. The principal cities were Mainz, Spires, Mannkeim, and Worms, all places of his- toric interest. The ruler of the district gave his name to the dominion, and the people were called Palatines.
The great distress which the Palatines endured was due to some terrible wars which were waged from 1674 to 1713. Ref- ugees began to leave France in 1685 upon the Revocation of the Edict of Nantee. Many of these fied to the Palatinate of the Rhine. This fact stirred up the wrath of the French King who vowed vengeance upon those who harbored them. In the invasion of 1688, every large city on the Rhine above Cologne was sacked. In that year began the great exodus which led to the emigration to America. All through the seventeenth century there had been intercourse between England and the Palatinate, sanctioned and stimulated by the royal marriage of Elizabeth, daughter of
-History of Herkimer County, Benton, 8; The Story of the Palatines. Cobb, 7.
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James I, with the Elector Palatine, Frederick V, called tlie '* Winter King. "«
Among the homeless people was the Rev. Joshua von Kocher- thai. In January, 1708, he applied for an English agency in Frankfort-on-the-Maki Jor pasaes and money to go to England. In his request he included in all fifty-three persons.' Arriving in London, Queen Anne allowed each one a shilling a day for sup- port A report of the Board of Trade regarding these people was taken up by Her Majesty May 10, 1708. Bequest had been made that these Palatines be allowed to settle upon the Hudson River in the Province of New York where they might engage in the manufacture of naval stores, and be a frontier against the BVench and Indians.
Fifty-three sailed for New York with Pastor Kocherthal, and made a settlement on the banks of the Quassaick where New- burg is now situated. It was afterwards Imown as ''The Pala- tine Parish by the Quassaick."*
In October, 1709, so many Palatines had crossed over to Eogland that it is said there were 13,000 in London.* According to Conrad Weiser, a distinguii^ed Palatme in America, certain Mohawk chiefs who were in London with Peter Schuyler were so touched by the ab jeet ooodition of these people OiMt they of- fea^ a tra43t of tand to tiie Queen for their use on the Sehoharie Creek. Three large shipments of Palatines were made in 1710. The first went to Ireland, the second to the Carolinas and the third to New York with the new governor. Col. Robert Hunter.' The matter of the Palatines was earnestly taken up by Hunter. Some 3,000 embarked in ten ships at Plymouth in January, 1710.''
2 — ThA Story of the Palatines, Cobb» Chapter 11; The Frontiersmen of New York, Sixnm 8, I. 108 ft; The Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America, Flake, I, 360, tSl; The German Element in Americv Faust, I, 78; Ecclesiastical History of New York. Ill, 1820-1832; The Stone Ara- bia Reformed Protestant Dutch Church. In the Glassis of Montsom- ery, of the Reformed Church in America, Rev. W. N. P. Dalley, Schenectady, N. Y.
8 — Documents Relative to the Colonial History of New York. T, 44, 52, 63: The story of the Palatines, Cobb, 61 ff; Documentary History of New York. IIL 541: History of Herkimer County. Benton. 33.
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The voyage was a very uncomfortable one, and many persons died during the trip. The frigate Herbert was wrecked off the eastern end of Long Island. The disaster gave rise to the legend of the Palatine Ship. Whittier evidently made use of it in his poem, ''The Palatine.'' In the poem the story is that wreckers decoyed the ship by false lights, causing the death of all on board. No one was really lost however.*
''For still, on many a moonless night. From Kingston Head, from Montauk Light, The spectre kindles and bums in sight.
Now low, now dim, now clear and higher, Leaps up the terrible Ghost of fire. Then, slowly sinking, the flames expire.
And the wise Sound skippers, though the skies be fine. Reef their sails, when they see the sign. Of the blazing wreck of the Palatine."
The Attorney (General was instructed to devise a plan for the government of the Palatines and commissions of justices of the peace were issued to some of their number. The chief one of these was John Oonrad Weiser, the father of the Conrad above mentioned. Soon after arrival, Governor Hunter despatch- ed the Surveyor General, Bridger, to survey the land of the Mo- hawks and particularly the Schoharie land, "to which the Indians have no pretense."^ This expression no doubt meant that the In- dians had surrendered their title to the landa About this time occurred the forcible apprenticing of Palatine children. This caused a great commotion. One of the boys was John Peter Zenger, apprenticed to William Bradford, printer. Zenger be- came famous for the prominent part which he took in the strug- gle for the liberty of the press.^^
It was not long before Hunter realized that the two requisites of pine forests and good land were to be found on a tract belong- ing to Robert Livingston on the eastern shore of the Hudson north of the present town of Rhinebeck. Possessing 160,000 acres
8 — Documentary History of New York, III. 669.
9— Ibid, 660.
10 — The Gtorman Element in America. Faust. I. 106-110; The Story of the Palatines. Cobb. 186-189; The Dutch and Quaker Colonies in Amer- ica, II. 249-267.
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of land, Livingston was willing to sell 6,000 acres at a sacrifiee.^^ The land was bought, and in Ootober, 1710, a large nnmbery 2,227, settled among the forests of the Livingston estate. The ooa- tract for supplies was made by Livingston, but great dissatisf ac- tion arose over the way that contract was carried out. The set- tlers did not enjoy their new abode, where they set to work to manufacture tar and turpentine. Quite a number of Palatines re- mained in New York and formed the first Lutheran church there, while others joined their countrymen in Pennsylvania.
In May, 1711, a mutiny broke out among the people and Qov- emor Hunter quelled it with an armed force.^^ The settlers were disappointed because they had not been sent to Schoharie, but some determined to proceed thither. They asserted that the Queen promised them land to the westward. Hunter tried to dissuade them from their purpose and disarmed them. They remained pas- sive for a year. It was not long before the Lords of Ttade in England began to lose confidence in Hunter's ability and his ad- visers. Hunter in fact had been losing heavily in all his business afEairs and really was unable to do more for the Palatines in a financial way. He told them that they must depend upon them- selves.
Hunters and trappers brought them glowing accounts of the beauty of the Schoharie country and the fertility of the soiL^* Johan Conrad, Weiser and Captain Kneiskem wet^ among the number who beat their way from Schenectady through the woods to Schoharie. When Hunter heard that twelve families had gone to that region, he sent a message, ordering them to return,^* but the order was not obeyed.
In March, 1713, others followed. Conrad Weiser gives a graphic account of their sufferings. Friendly Indians saved them from destruction. Several villages soon dotted the Schoharie valley, the southernmost being called Weisersdorf, located on
11— The Colonial Records of New York. V. 174. 176, 196. 211; The History of Herkimer County, Benton, 85; The German Element in America,
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the present site of Middleburgh.^^ Two miles north was Hart- mansdorf . Lack of cattle and a^eultural implements was a great hindrance to these settlers. Salt had to be obtained at Schenectady a long distance away. The first crop of grain how- ever was a pleasant surprise. Ten years later when the emigra- tion to Pennsylvania occurred, they drove herds of cattle and horses before them, and icould provide other places with grain.
The relation between these Palatines and the Mohawk In- dians was very friendly, so much so that Governor Hunter be- came suspicious. Conrad Weiser, spoken of above, was permitted by his father to live while a boy with the Mohawks. He learned their language and knew their customs well. This rendered him a person of invaluable help to his own people, for he acted as an interpreter and intermediary.^^ Later, in 1745, he was deputed to make a friendly tour among the Six Nations, and the results were most satisfactory. Through him very dangerous conditions were overcome. At one time he traveled to the Ohio valley and visited the Lidians of that region. Justice Gerlach is said to have been the only justice of peace in the Schoharie valley. It is said that if the justice wished to bring a culprit before him, he gave his jack knife to the constable who carried it to the accused and required him at the appointed time to appear with it before the justice. What it meant he well understood. If two were to be summoned at the same time, to the second he gave the tobacco box of the justice and as that usually contained a liberal supply of the delectable narcotic the consequence of a failure to return it in due time would be dangerous in the extreme.^''
In 1714 Gtovemor Hunter made a grant of the identical land on which the Palatines had settled, to seven gentlemen in Al- bany.^8 When the Palatines objected vigorously to the purchase of land from these men, a sheriff was despatched from Albany to insist upon it, if they cared to remain where they were. The wo- men of the settlements were equal to the occasion, and Sheriff Adams was roughly handled. He was given a ride on a rail and driven through several villages. He sustained the loss of one eye and the fracture of two ribs for trying to enforce the demands
16 — ^The German Element in America, Faust I, 98; The Story of the Pala- tines, Cobb, 217.
16 — ^The German Element in America, Faust, I. 94.
17 — Schoharie County and Border Wars of New York, Simms, 78.
18 — ^The story of the Palatines, Cobb, 284; The German Element in America, Faust, I, 96-100.
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of the Goyernor.^^ In 1717 three from each village were sum- moned to Albany to answer for theae aeta. In a passion Hunter said he would hang Weiser senior, and then he asked the men three questions.^® The first waa ''Why had th^ gone to Scho- harie without his consent t" The second was ''Why did they not make a compromise with the gentlemen at Albany t" The third was "Why they had so much to do with the Indianst" In brief their reply was "That they had to shift for themselves as the Governor told them they must, after the manufacture of tar was discontinued. Moreover, they had naught to do with the gen- tlemen in Albany, and as the Indians had offered land to the Queen for their use, they believed that they were entitled to set- tle there and purchase land from the Indians. It was necessary for them to be on friendly terms with the Indians for their own good." It was not until five years after Hunter's recall that a Palatine secured title to land save by purchase from the Seven Partners.
The settlers were told to leave the valley if they did not con- sent to the Governor's will. They were forbidden to sow their seed, but this order was disobeyed. In the spring of 1718 three of their number were sent to England to plead their cause before the authorities. These men were Jofaann Weiser, Scheff and Wallrath. Their vessel was captured by pirates and Weiser was thrice tied to a mast and beaten in the hope that he might yield up more money. In England the mien were imprisoned for debt. Release came only after £70 had been sent from Schoharie.^^
In 1720 William Burnet was appointed Governor of New York in place of Hunter.22 Burnet treated the Palatines with greater consideration than his predecessor in office. He apparently per- suaded the people to leave their place of abode for land on the Mohawk. This he believed would be a distinct gain for the prov- ince, thereby extending the frontier forty miles to the westward. At one time Burnet speaks of the Palatines as ungrateful people, but it should be remembered that the Govemorfound his office a
19 — Schoharie County and Border Wars of New York, Simms, 69-Tl; The Story of the Palatines, Cobb, 240, 241; The German Element in America, Faust^I, 97.
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most thaiikless one and his criticism applies equally to others. There can be no question as 1x> the harsh treatment which the Palatines had endured for years. Abont 300 remained at Scho- harie and came to an agreement with the landowners. Conrad Weiser says that others camo from the Hudson settlements of Qermantown and Bhinebeck, so that by the time of the Revolu- tion, Gterman farms extended for twenty-five miles beyond the original seven villages. The land blossomed like a garden. In the Revolution, the Schoharie men were very active. This is what Qovemor Burnet wrote about the Palatines when they were about to start for the Mohawk Valley. *'I did intend to settle the Palatines as far as I could in the middle of our Indians, but finding they could not be brought to that, I have granted their own request, which was to have a license to purchase of the nearest Indians, which are the Mohawks, which I have yield- ed to them with this condition, that it be not nearer than a fall in the Mohocks river(Little Palls) which is 40 miles above Port Hunter and fourscore from Albany, by which the frontier will be much extended. "2'
The leader of the Palatines who acceded to Qovemor Bur- net's proposition was Gerlach.^* Agents had been sent out to spy the land as early as 1721. A patent confirmed January 17, 1722, by the Qovemor allowed them a tract which embraced the present side of Herkimer and German Plats.^^ In the following spring a settlement was made in that region Which was known as Qerman Plats. In 1722 records were made of petitions for license to purchase lands on the Mohawk, of warrants of survey, of Indian deeds and of drafts of patents to Palatines. Several permits give the names of the principals and other distressed Palatines. One license permits the younger Weiser to purchase in the valley three miles distant from any part of the Mohawk River. This might suggest a desire on Burnet's part that so troublesome a fellow might be put in the woods away from the ordinary course of travel. In one place Burnet speaks of the Palatines in a disparag- ing way. **A few cunning persons who lead the rest as they please, who are for tho generalty a laborious, but headstrong and ignorant people.'* We might say that the stubbornness of these
28 — Colonial Records of New York. V, 684.
24 — The German Element in America, Faust, I, 102 and 108; The Story of
the Palatines. Cobb, 275, 276. 25 — In Olde New York, Todd. 118: Colonial Records of New York, VIII, 288,
684; The Frontiersmen of New York, Simms ,162, 168.
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Germans was no greater than tliat manifested by those who threw the tea chests into Boston harbor.
The Palatine settlements in the Mohawk Valley were made on both banks of the river in what are now Herkimer and Mont- gomery counties, west of Fort Hunter. This was the easternmost point while Frankfort was the westernmost point of the Palatine settlements. A distance of fifty miles separated these places. The Palatines settled about two-thirds of this district, which in time of peace and war served as the granary of the Province.
On April 30, 1725, a patent was issued for lands on the Mo- hawk, 24 miles west from Little Falls on both banks of the river to William Burnet and others. This Burnet was doubtless the Governor and the others. Palatines, 92 of whom are named in the instrument. The list is given in the History of Herkimer County. This patent is known as the Bumetsfield Patent.^* One hundred acres were allowed each person, a free grant subject only to the usual quit rent to the crown.^'' Some, like Qerlaoh and Eckard, had independent patents and could purchase lands farther on. The annual quit rent was 2s. 6d. per hundred acres. Each holder was to cultivate three acres within a period of three years out of every fifty granted. The number of families does not appear.
The exact date of the arrival of Palatines in this region is not known.28 This much can be said, however, that the exodus from Schoharie to Pennsylvania and the lower Mohawk Valley did not occur before October, 1722. From the first settling of this portion of the valley under this patent until the Revolution, Cter- man settlers came into the upper valley, some from Schoharie, and the lower Mohawk region into what is now Montgomery and Herkimer counties. Others came from New York and New Jer- sey and the banks of the Hudson. About the year 1725 a log church was erected on the south bank of the river in what is called German Flats,^^ then Burnet's Field, and before 1730 land was given for the site of a stone church. There is a quaint docu- ment relative to this edifice. It is the petition of General Herki- mer's father and reads, in part, as follows : *'The humble petition of Johan Joost Herckheimer of Bumets Field, in the County of
26 — The Frontiersmen of New York, 165, 166; The Story of the Palatines, Cobb, 275, 276; The Historic Mohawk, Diefendorf, 65; History of Herkimer County, Benton, 42.
27 — The History of Herkimer County, Benton, 48.
28 — The History of Herkimer County, Benton, 88, 89.
29— The Historic Mohawk, Diefendorf. 108.
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Albany, yeoniaii in behalf of himself and the rest of the inhabi- tants, High Qermana, living there, humbly sheweth: That your petitioners and sundry other High Qermans to the number of one hundred families and upwards, at present resident at Bumets' Field, in this province, propose with your Excellency's permission to erect a Stone Church on the South side of the Biver."^<^
The Palatines of Stone Arabia erected a church in 1735.'^ It was built of logs and here it was that Calvinists and Luther- €uis worshipped alternately. The Mohawk became a Qerman river for thirty miles. For long distances on either side are tokens of this permanent German occupation. For thirty years the settlers were practically unmolested. The locality was as fertile as could be found. Qood buildings were erected and the inhabitants be- came well to do. Among the number to whom the above patent was issued was Johan Brghemer the father of the famous Nicho- las Herkimer. When the settlers arrived in this region the rapids and falls were all in their primitive grandeur, unadorned or unmarred by the works of man. The water power at Little Falls must have been an attraction, offering as it did facilities for their grist and saw mills. The names of villages such as Mannheim, Palatine, Oppenheim, NeiivSdrk, Frankfort, Minden, etc. show their origin. Mannheim was settled before 1755. While hun- dreds of Qermans left New York for the greater advantages of law and liberty of Pennsylvania which had been settled under republican influences, yet the Palatines who went to the Mohawk and Schoharie regions proved to be one of the best stocks of America. Whatever the Qermans lost or were robbed of in their wanderings, they usually managed to hold to their hymn books and Bibles.^ 2 Their brethren in Pennsylvania published the first Bible in America in a European tongue.
Upon all this prosperity, however, came the ruin which visited many of the frontier towns during the French and Indian War. In November, 1757, M. de Belletre with three hundred French and Indians quietly ascended the Black Eiver Valley and fell suddenly upon the Palatine villages.*' This was during the last
80— Ibid. 108.
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French war. They made a clean sweep, burning buildings and destroying live stock. Some of the inhabitants were slain and others carried oflf. The majorily saved themselves by fleeing to Fort Herkimer, across the river. This the enemy did not attack. Another band composed of French and a large number of Indians appeared on the south bank the n«xt year (April, 1758), but warning had reached Oaptain Nicholas Herkimer, who waa then in command of the fighting force.^* He managed to gather most of the settlers together. The attack on the fort failed but about 30 persons were killed and the usual destruction was carried out. In the fall of 1759 peace was enjoyed again. Houses were re- built and bams erected. Captives returned and prosperity reigned. From the (Jerman Flats to Palatine a sturdy body of yeomanry was organized into nine companies by Sir William Johnson, who counted on them for defense against the French. We have heard of the noble work of the Scotch-Irish settlers along the frontier. The map and records tell us that these could not have had a larger share than the Oermans in protecting the Province. In New York, the Mohawk and Schoharie regions were largely inhabited by Oermans, who pushed out the farthest into the territory of the Six Nations. Sir William Johnson took C(^isiderable interest in all these people. In 1763 he openly espoused the cause of German settlers at Canajoharie against William Livingston and succeeded in upholding the rights of the Palatine settlers against unjust land dealings. Certain Mo- hawk lands were thereupon released.'^ From 1759 until the Revolution general peace reigned in the valley.
Tryon County, set apart from Albany County in 1772, em- braced in its bounds the territory settled by the Palatines of the Mohawk Valley.*^ Johnstown was the county seat. The years directly preceding the Revolution were very prosperous for the Mohawk settlers. A fine church waa erected in 1770, known as the old Palatine Church, situated two miles west of the village of Nelliston.^'^ This church, the Palatine Evangelical Lutheran Church, is the oldest church in Montgomery County. Ctenerous
84 — ^The German Element in America, Faust, I, 270; The Story of the Pal- atines, Cobbi279. _ .«^ .«^
85 — The Life of Sir William Johnson, Stone, II, 176-185.
86 — ^The History of Pulton County, Prothingrham, 72; History of Montg^om- ery and Pulton Counties, Beers, 88; Tryon County Minute Book of the Committee of Safety, 105. , _ -... »,^ ^. ^ _,
87 ^History of Montgromery and Pulton Counties, Beers, 156; The Historic
Mohawk, Diefendorf, 107, 108; The Frontiersmen of New Tork. Simms, t 280-285.
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donations were made towards its erection by several individuals. Peter Wagner and Andrew Reber contributed £100 apiece. The spire is said to have been paid for by the Nellises alone. The devastation of the British did not reach the old church because of the loyalist proclivities of one or more of the Nellis family, it is said. For a century the edifice remained in its original condi- tion. It was then remodelled at a cost of $4,000. The centennial of the Palatine Church was held in 1870. The goblet shaped pul- pit of this church with its sounding board waa slate-colored. A gilded weather cock topped the steeple, and the tinkling triangle summoned the worshippers of earlier days.
When Tryon County was organized it was divided into larg^ districts with a small number of inhabitants in each, and these were subdivided into smaller precincts. The Mohawk District was the easternmost €tnd was under the strong influence of the John- son family. The Canajoharie district was upon the south bank of the river and extended as far as Little Palls. The Palatine District was north of the river and extended westward from the Mohawk District. Oerman Flats was west of Canajoharie and south of the river, while Kingsland was north of the river, oppo- site (Jerman Flats District. The first liberty pole in the valley was erected at Fort Herkimer in 1775, but was cut down by Sheriff White who came with militia from Johnstown.
When matters were approaching a crisis, aa could be seen by all the inhabitants of the valley after the death of the Baronet, a meeting was held in the Palatine District to consider the best course to be pursued. Committees of Safety were the ''Children of the genius of Samuel Adams." The proceedings of this com- mittee were not free from danger. Tryon County, which em- braced a large section of the Province, was a heaving bed of rest- lessness. In the minutes of the Committee of Safety of Tryon County we may learn still more about the spirit of the Palatine settlers. Part of the minutes have been preserved, and within recent years have been printed.*^ The first meeting was held in Stone Arabia August 27, 1774, at the house of Adam Loucks, Esq. Four persona were appointed a standing committee of the county to correspond with committees of New York and Albany. The fifth resolution runs aa follows: '*That we will unite and join
t8 — ^Tryon County Minute Book of the Committee of Safety, xrv, XV; See The Frontiersmen of New York, Simms. II, 488-525.
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with the different Districts of this Colony in giving whatever re- lief it is in our power to the i>oor distressed Inhabitants of Bos- ton, and that we will join and unite with our Brethren of the Best of this Colony in anything tending to support and defend our Eights and Liberties."^*
Adam Loucks, at whose house the first meeting was held, was a Palatine.^^ His house stood about a mile north of the two Stone Arabia churches. The tract known as the Stone Arabia Patent was bought of the Mohawk Tndians in 1723, and was confirmed by letters patent of the King. It contained 12,700 acres. Why this region, a very fertile one, was called Stone Arar bia is not known. It appears tiiat fewer Tories resided in this dis- trict than in almost any other.
Isaac Paris, who was at the second meeting, was a native of Alsace, coming to America in 1737.^^ He was a member of the first State Senate and served in other capacities. He was taken prisoner at the battle of Oriskany and was tortured to death by Indians. A younger son of his married a sister of Washington Irving. Isaac Paris kept a large county store in Stone Arabia^ which was later stockaded and known as Fort Paris in the Eevo- lution. One of Mr. Paris' advertisements of about 1770 has been preserved. John Prey, another member of the committee, be- longed to a Palatine family that came from Zurich in 1688.^^ The family lived on a tract purchased from the Indians. Heinrich Frey, who first settled in the village of Palatine, is said to have been the first white settler in that neighborhood. In 1739 there rose in place of the old house the historic stone building which still stands with its many portholes and which was stockaded during the French and Indian wars. Major John Frey, the grand- son of Heinrich, was a prime mover in inaugurating the Commit- tee of Safety and his life was filled with stirring incidents. Bis wife was a niece of General Herkimer. He was wounded at Oris- kany and carried to Canada a captive. He became a member of the Council of Appointment and of the State Federal Convention. Frey was also a promoter of Union College and a member of the Inland Lock and Navigation Co.
•^rt-m...*.^ T>^^i. ^« *v^ r%^.m
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At the fifth meeting of the Committee^ Nicholas Herkimer was preeeat.'** This was a united meeting of all the districts ex- cept the Mohawk. A committee of four was appointed to go to Albany and buy powder, flints and lead. Thirty members were in attendance. Another person interested in all the proceedings was Peter Wagner, who became a State Senator. Webster Wagner, a descendant of his, was the inventor of the sleeping car.
Col. Jacob Klock, a member of the Committee, was colonel of the second regiment of Tryon County militia. His house where the Committee met still stands in St. Johnsville.^*
Johan Herkimer, the father of the Gfeneral, is said by some to have come over to America in 1722. Other writers say that he came much earlier. He received lot No. 36 in the Bumetsfield Patent, one-half mile east of the Stone Church at Fort Herki- mer.^5 He built a stone mansion three quarters of a mile west of the church. The residence was stockaded in 1756 by order of Sir William Johnson, and the place was called Port Herkimer.^* The French called it Kouari. This was on the south bank of the river. Nicholas Herkimer bought a farm east of Fall Hill where he built a brick house which is an historic landmark, south of the river in the town of Danube. Next to the Johnson family the Herkimers were probably the most influential people in the val- ley. Nicholas was one of thirteen children. The family were politically divided during the war. It might be said here that on the north bank of the river in the present Herkimer was erected Fort Dayton. A road called the King's road ran diagonally across the flats between the two forts.*'' The German settlements were the outposts of American civilization in the territory of the Six Nations. An additional incentive to the Indians to remain loyal to the English was the opportunity for reward from the British, combined with the certainty of plunder from the colonists. The rich ferms and fat herds of the Mohawk and Schoharie valleys were their prey, if the Indians chose to take the warpath against the colonists. It was natural that the Johnson family after the Baronet's death should wield a strong influence over the chiefii of
48— Ibid. 18. 117.
44 — Tryon County Minute Book of the Committee of Safety, 112.
45 — Centennial Celebrations In New York, 117-120; The Story of the Pala- tines, Cobb, 267; The History of Herkimer County, Benton, 89, 40; Narrative and Critical History of America, Wlnsor, V, 619.
46 — ^The Historic Mohawk, Dlefendort 91; Colonial Records of New York, VTII, 720.
47 — The History of Herkimer County, Benton, 87; Centennial Celebrations in New York, 119.
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the Iroquois during the BeyolutioiL Captain Joseph Brant, whose sister had been the wife of Sir William Johnson, was a great war- rior and has been called the scourge of the Mohawk Valley, al- though his cruelty has been exaggerated.
The (Jeimans could not wait for re-inforcements from the State. Four battalions were organized in the summer of 1775. All four of the colonels were Gtermans. The whole force was put under Herkimer's command. It was largely through Herkimer's pressure and persuasion that the whole district had become loyal to the American cause.
In the summer of 1777 the people of the valley were very doubtful as to the outcome of the struggle, but when it was heard that St. Leger had made his appearance at Oswego with his motley forces amounting to 1700 Herkimer made a stirring proclamation. It concluded thus: ''Not doubting that the Almighty Power upon our humble prayers and sincere trust in Him, will then generously succor our arms in battle for our just cause ; and victory cannot fail on our side/'^^ By August 4th, 800 of the militia assembled, taken from localities from Schenectady westward. The Com- mittee of Safety was also able to join the troops at Fort Day- ton with the purpose of marching to the relief of Fort Stanwix. On August 6, 1877, the centennial of the battle of Oriskany was celebrated. The Oneida Historical Association made elaborate preparations for the occasion. The address of welcome was deliv- ered by the Hon. Horatio Seymour. Lieut. Gov. Dorsheimer also spoke. Among the words he uttered were these: "No more im- portant battle has ever been fought in this country ; never has a battle which began with disaster been turned into victory more complete. And this was a Qerman fight. The words of warning and encouragement, the exclamations of passion and pain, the shouts of battle and of victory, the commands which the wound- ed Herkimer spoke and the prayers of the dying were in the Gterman language ''*^ The losses of the Palatines were great. About 200, or one-quarter of the number that went to battle, were slain or severely wounded. There was hardly a home in the val-
48 — Centennial Celebrations In New York. 114; Battle of Oriskany, Its Place in History. Roberts (Utlca. 1877) ; Narrative and CHtlcal His- tory of America, Winsor. VI, 299, 300. 682, 351; The Mohawk Valley, Its Legends and Its History, Max Reid, 418-429; The History of the New York Iroquois, 865-357.
49 — Centennial Celebrations in New York. 78; The Stone Arabia Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in the Classis of Montgomery of the Re- formed Church in America, Dailey (Historical Address).
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ley which was not put into mooming by the d^ath of a member. The severest loss was that of Qenenal Herkimer. "It was Herkimer/' said Washington^ "who first reversed the gloomy scene of the Northern Campaign." Had not the Palatines of the valley stopped the advance of St. Leger, the rich harvest of their farms would have supplied Burgoyne's army. St. Leger's auxiliary forces would have been of great assistance to the north- ern army and might have prevented the surrender. Another far reaching result of the battle was the weakening of the Indians' attachment to the British. During the remainder of 1777 and the first half of 1778 the valley was not troubled by Indians and Tories and the farmers could peacefully till their fields. This re- pose, however, invited new tribulations. Out of the nine companies of militia only seven remained. Fort Stanwix was considerably west of the last Gferman settlements, so that small war parties could slip by and descend upon the settlements. In 1778 Brant determined to fall upon the inhabitants. That year he opened up hostilities by attacking Andrustown in the southeastern i>art of Herkimer County.^^ The next expedition was directed against Qerman Flats. The harvests had just been gathered in. The at- tack was so well planned that but one of the four scouts survived to warn the people. Sixty-three houses, seventy-five barns, three grist mills and two saw mills were fired. It is said that 235 horses, 229 head of cattle, 269 sheep and 93 oxen were driven away.^^ Brant did not attack the forts and escaped from the re- gion as quickly as he came, eluding the 300 men who started in pursuit. Sudden attacks and looting went on for awhile along the New York frontier, but no effective help was rendered until the exi)edition under Sxdlivan in 1779. This was after the terrible massacres of Cherry Valley and Wyoming Valley in July and December, 1778. In both of these massacres German settlers suf- fered with the rest. The Palatines became expert in the methods of Indian warfare through their terrible experiences. The Rev. . Timothy Dwight, travelling up the valley early in the nineteenth century, speaks of the Palatine settlements, giving his impressions of the people and their dwellinga Referring to Gterman Flats he says: "Their village is composed of ordinary houses, built in the Dutch manner with few windows, many doors, dark sheds over
60— The Qerman Element In America. Faust I. 814-816; The Hljitorlo Mo- hawk. Dlefendorf. 199; Life of Joseph Brant, Stone. L 862. 868.
61— The Old New York Frontier. Halsey, 226; History of the New York Iro- quois, Beauchamp, 861.
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the principal doors, leantos behind and awkward additions at the ends. They are of one story and in a few instances of a story and a half, and frequently look like a collection of kitchens. '*^^ Dwight farther speaks of the ignorance of the (Jermans in the valley, but one writer referring to this says **The Palatines no doubt had few and poor schools. Tliere were scarcely any books except the Bible and a few devotional books.'' There was no news- paper west of Albany until 1802. These people diflfered from the Puritans. They believed that religion ought to be characterized by sunshine and hope. Robust men they were and fond of robust sporta They feared Qod and were generally industrious. Elkanah Watson, passing up the valley still earlier, in 1788, thus writes : "The beauty of the country, the majestic appearance of the moun- tains, the state of advanced agriculture exhibited in a large suc- cession of excellent farms and the rich frag^rance of the air redo- lent with the perfume of the clover, all combined to present a scene which he was not prepared to witness on the banks of the Mohawk. Impressive vestiges of the devastations in the Revolu- tion were evident. The safety of the people was secured only by the erection of block houses upon commanding i)Ositions and often mounted with cannon.'' Watson also said that he entered no family without hearing the recital of the massacre of some member by ferocious barbarians or of appalling scenes of de- struction.
The fate of the Palatines was a pathetic one. Their work was memorable in the beautiful valley where they resided and their experiences afford a tale of suflfering and hardship not to be sur- passed. Twice in the seventeenth century the names of their ancestors were destroyed, the people driven away and many killed. The survivors in this country endured twelve years of serfdom under a corrupt and speculating government. At last they settled in what was considered the Ultima Thule of their hopes by Ctov- ernor Burnet. In the last half of the eighteenth century, how- ever, they were doomed to two terrible devastations when fields, dwellings, live stock, besides a number of their own people, suf- fered the results of a pitiless onslaught. In spite of it all there was no submission to the enemy. It is no wonder that their de- scendants are proud of them, and cherish the memory of the
62 — ^Travels in New England and New York, Dwight, III, 178.
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deeds which niay well excite the admiration and evoke the praise of people in every generation.
Before the end of the eighteenth century many immigrants arrived from other countries.^^ In 1785 i>eople came from Con- necticut and planted a settlement within gunshot of Fort Stanwix. Between that year and 1800 several thousand are said to have set- tled in Herkimer County alone. The Palatines were almost sub- merged by tho newcomers who flocked to the fertile lands of the Mohawk. Many were New Englanders. Although the Palatines were soon outnumbered there still remained the evidences of their heroic work. People who have the opportunity of visiting the villages between Fonda and Frankfort will find enough to inter- est them, while the records bearing upon the olden time throw a flood of light over the early years of the settlements of the beau- tiful valley of the Mohawk.
68 — ^The Old New York Frontier, Halsey, 887-889.
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THE EARLY BAR OF ONEIDA COUNTY.
Oswald P. Backus, Borne, N. Y.
When in March, 1798, the homelands of the Oneidas were in- corporated in a separate county and christened with the name of that devoted tribe, the judicial system in vogue in this State since 1790 had had such slight demands made upon it that but few judges were required in its administration.
Prom 1790, the Supreme Court consisted of three judges and they held all of tho Qeneral Terms and the Circuit Courts and Courts of Oyer and Terminer in the several counties of the State; at the General Terms held at Albany and New York reviewing by writs of error, appeals and otherwise, the action of the judges while holding such courts and while sitting at chambers.
A little later, as the legal business of the state increased, two more judges were added and the conditions remained substan- tially the same until the new Constitution of the State went into effect in 1823.
At the time the county was formed, the education of candi- dates for admission to the bar was, practically, in the custody of the active practitioners in the courts. Every candidate was re- quired to spend seven years, as a clerk, in the office of a practicing attorney of the Supreme Court ; unless he devoted four years to the pursuit of classical studies, in which case, the time so occu- pied was credited upon the required period of seven years. Not many years later, admission to practice, at the end of this term, was practically limited to the Courts of Common Pleas, the young
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THB SABLY BAB OF ONSIDA COUNTY 313
such authority was vested in the Governor of the State, upon the roeommendation of the Chief Justice of the Supremo Court.
But one law school existed in the United States, at this time, and that was located at Ldtchfield, Conn., and had been founded by Chief Justice Tapping Reeve, a brother-in-law of Col. Aaron Burr. Though the commentaries of Sir William Blackstone form- ed a part of the curriculum in the colleges of the land, the study of which was deemed a necessary part of a liberal education, none of the institutions of learning pretended to fit its students to practice in the courts ; as a consequence, the entire responsibility devolved upon the members of the bar.
The form of oath required and the one taken by the first mem- bers of the bar, was in the following form : —
I, , do solemnly, without any mental reservation or
equivocation whichsoever, swear and declare that I renounce and abjure all allegiance and subjection to all and every foreign King, Prince, potentate and state, in all matters ecclesiastical, as well as civil, and that I will bear faith and true allegiance to the State of New York as a free and independent state.
I, , do swear that I will truly and honestly demean
myself in the practice of an attorney according to the best of my ability.
Among the oflScers who served under Col. Qansevoort at the siege of Port Stanwix, now Rome, N, Y., in 1777, and later under General Sullivan in the Indian Campaign of 1779, was Lieut. Wil- liam Colbreth of the Third New York Continental Line. There were eight regiments of troops from New England, New York and New Jersey in Qeneral Sullivan's army and the stories told upon their return home by the veterans of these regiments resulted in the immigration to this locality and westward, of great numbers of very high grade men and women, including a host of the best educated men the Bast possessed.
Lieut. Colbreth settled at Port Stanwix at the close of the war, became the first sheriff of Herkimer County and the first sheriff of Oneida County.
At the first term of a court, held in January, 1794, within the limits of Oneida County, as now constituted. Sheriff Colbreth was in attendance and the weather was intensely cold. The Church building in New Hartford, in which the court was convened, was unheated and as night drew near, the members of the bar found
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the condition unendurable, so they induced the sheriff to repair to a neighboring inn and procure a jug of spirita "Upon the jugs appearing, it was passed around the bar table and each of the learned counselors in his turn upraised the elegant vessel and by the simplest process imaginable, partook of so much as he deemed a sufScient dose of the delicious fluid."
While this operation was proceeding, the three judges vrho presided held a consultation and the first judge announced that he saw no reason why they should sit there and freeze to death and ordered the crier to adjourn the Court, whereupon. Sheriff Colbreth hastily passed the jug to the bench, saying, "No, no, no. Judge, don't adjourn yet; take a little gin. Judge, that will keep you warm."
The Court did not adjourn just then.
Notwithstanding the foregoing and the fair inference that un- der the same circumstances a similar tale might be told of other counties, it is well to remember that the meetings of the clergy of the time were somewhat convivial. At a meeting of the asso- ciation of Congregational ministers for the County of Windham in Connecticut, just a few years before, a body of Harvard and Yale graduates, very solemnly resolved: "That the members of this association do abstain from indulgence in spirituous liquors until the business of this association has been transacted,'' and we are informed that the resolution was adopted because recent experience had shown that a majority had not been in a condi- tion to transact business because of preceding and coincident in- dulgence.
Erastus Clark, the elder, was present when the sheriff passed the jug, and later and in another connection recalled from the memories of his student days these lines from Horace: B^acilis decensus avemi sed revocare gradum est, which the elder Judge Bacon rendered as follows :
^'Basy to fall into Pluto's den, but hard to scrabble out again."
Too many members of the bar, as well as the clergy, in those days of long ago, found by bitter experience that spirituous liquors were "the poison of serpents and the cruel venom of asps."
The ctot organizing the County of Oneida provided that the Courts should be held "at the school house near Fort Stanwix,"
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THB EABLY BAB OF ONBIDA COUNTY 315
and that a court house when built should be located within one mile of the fort.
The first term of the Common Pleas was held in May, 1798, and a rule entered that all attorneys and counselors who had been admitted to the Herkimer Common Pleas be admitted to the New Court, and Thomas B. Gold, Joseph Kirkland, Arthur Breese, Erastus Clark, Joshua Hatheway, Joab Griswold, Nathan Wil- liams, Francis A. Bloodgood, Jonas Piatt, Bufus Baston and Medad Curtiss were duly admitted.
The first Circuit Court was held in September, 1798, with five civil causes on the calendar. John Lansing, Jr., Chief Justice of the Supreme Courts presided. The Court of Oyer and Terminer held its first session in the school house near Fort Stanwix, on June 5th, 1798. The school house stood on the site of the present City Hall in Bome, N. Y. At the time the Court began its session. Fort Stanwix was garrisoned by a detachment of one hundred national troops under the command of Major Cherry, which had been stationed there in apprehension of an Indian uprising. Though the original barracks had been destroyed by fire, a block- house had been constructed within the fort. The earthworks were very formidable and cannon were mounted on the angles. Hon. Pomroy Jones, author of the annals of Oneida County, in- formed me that he visited the fort in 1799 and played about the cannon. The northwest portion of the fort was but five hundred feet distant from the building in which the sessions of the court were held.
The presiding Justice waa the Hon. James Kent, who was a student in Yale during the stormy days of the revolution and who graduated in 1781. His great judicial career began with his ap- pointment to the Supreme Court, during the month preceding the formation of Oneida County.
Associated with Judge Kent were Qeorge Huntington, Judge of Oneida County, a son of Hon. Benjamin Huntington (Yale 1761), member of the Continental Congress and Judge of the Su- preme Court of Connecticut; Thomas Cassety and Dr. Elizur Mose- ley (Yale 1787), Assistant Justices. An indictment for murder was tried at the term and the accused was convicted of murdering her husband.
At the time the Courts of Oneida County began their work, it must be remembered, the first volume of reports of judicial
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decisions in this State had not been issued, and when published a few years later, the oldest decision was dated at the January term, 1799, and American writers of law books were yet to be heard from.
Judge Kent was appointed Chancellor of the State in 1814, and after his retirement, when he was sixty-five years of age, he wrote to a friend, "I took the Court as if it had been a new institution and never before known to the United States. I had nothing to guide me and was left to assume all such English Chancery pow- ers and jurisdiction as I thought applicable." He states that in deciding oases he first made himself master of the facts and then he said: **I was master of the cause and ready to decide it. I saw where justice lay and the moral sense decided the case half the time, and then I sat down to search the authorities ••• and I might once in a while be embarrassed by a technical rule, but I most always found principles suited to my view of the case."
It was under the circumstances heretofore stated and under a judge before whom technical rules were forced to yield to the breaking point, in order that justice might be done, that the early bar of Oneida County was developed and precedents made that are today being blindly followed by Judges who are not big enough to walk in the footsteps of the great Chancellor.
Oneida County furnished the Court of Chancery with the first case to come before it involving riparian rights. (Wetmore vs. White, 2 Caines' Cases in Error 87). Tlie complainant charged that his title was based upon a verbal agreement which had been exe- cuted, and that the defendant's interference with the complain- ant's mill rights was, among other things, due to the plaintiff's refusal to join the Presbyterian Church, upon the demand of the defendant. Though this charge is recited in the report of the case, no stress was laid upon it by the Court. Counsel in the case were among the earliest and most distinguished of the first mem- bers of the Oneida County bar.
THOMAS R. GOLD. (Yale 1786.)
A wise man of old said, ''It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth," and it may be aflSrmed of Thomas E. Qold, as of all the men who composed the early bar of Oneida County, that they bore the yoke in their youth, not always by reason of
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financial necessity, but because their parents were wise enough to realixe that it should be so, in order that the most useful manhood might be developed.
Mr. Gold was a son of the Eev. Hezekiah Gold, (Yale 1751) and was born in Fairfield County, Connecticut, and grandson of Rev. Hezekiah Gold, (Harvard 1719), whose father, Nathan Gold, waa Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Connecticut in 1712. Thomaa R. Gfold was the second lawyer to settle in Whitesboro, though his name appears first upon the list of those admitted to practice in the Oneida Common Pleas at the May term in 1798.
He had been admitted to practice before leaving the State of Connecticut and seems to have taken the first rank in the practice of his profession from the beginning, as appears by the records of the Clerks of Herkimer and Oneida Counties, as well as from the reports of judicial decisions which were published within a few years after the formation of the County of Oneida. Mr. Gtold is said to have been about six feet in height and weighed about two hundred pounds. ''He was a good scholar, a close student of the law and a hard worker. He possessed an analytical mind and his mode of presenting facts to the jury or questions of law to the court was earnest, forcible and vehement. He was well read in the fundamental principles of jurisprudence and hence was able to cope with the best lawyers in the land." He was ap- pointed Assistant Attorney General and prosecuted successfully the first two trials for murder, which occurred in 1798 and 1801. He seems to have been State Senator during most of the period in which he was acting as Assistant Attorney General, and his writ- ten opinions during his term as Senator and ex-officio member of the Supreme Court of Errors, appear in the reports of decisions of the time. He served in Congress for three terms, first in 1809 and last in 1817, at his first election in 1808 defeating Joshua Hath- eway of Rome. In 1804, when the district was differently com- posed he ran for Congress against Nathan Williams, of Utica, and was defeated. Besides the foregoing, he served for a time as a member of the Council of Appointment and in 1807 was elected to the Assembly.
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England and elsewhere. Many of those who subsequently became shining lights in the legal profession pursued their studies in the school, and located in this and other counties of the State and in the far West.
Among the many murder trials which he prosecuted and de- fended, the one which attracted the most general notice through- out the State was one in which Mr. Qold and Fortune C. White defended five persons charged with having set fire to the jail in Rome in 1817, which resulted in one of the inmates being suf- focated to death. There was a crack in the door from which a breath of fresh air could be obtained and the crowd of prisoners in the jail were struggling and fighting to obtain the benefit of it. When help arrived, most of the prisoners were nearly dead, and one completely so. Tlie accused were convicted and sentenced to be hung. The coflfins were constructed and the gallows erected in Bome. A great crowd of people assembled for the purpose of wit- nessing the execution, but a few hours before it was to take place the (Governor commuted the sentence to imprisonment for life.
Another trial which excited the popular attention was an ao^ tion brought by Alvin Bronson, afterwards State Senator, and who died at Oswego in 1883, aged ninety-nine years. Mr. Bron- son brought suit against Melancthon T. Woolsey, now known to fame as Commodore Woolsey, to recover the value of a schooner captured by the British at Oswego in 1814. The defendant had engaged the vessel for the purpose of transporting military stores from Oswego to Sacketts Harbor, and had ordered that in case the British succeeded in capturing Oswego, the vessel should be sunk, which was accordingly done, but the water was so shal- low that the British succeeded in raising the vessel and carrying it away, in the course of which they made Mr. Bronson, the plain- tiff, a prisoner. The jury found a verdict of $3,830 for the plain- tiff, which was set aside upon appeal.
After a life of great usefulness and a professional career of
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JOSEPH KTRKTiAND. (Yale 1790.)
Qeneral Joseph Kirkland was bom in Norwich, Oonnecticut, January 18th, 1770, and studied law with Judge Swift of Wind- ham in that state, hia preceptor later beooming Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State and the author of Swift's Evi- dence. Mr. Kirkland was a nephew of the Rev. Samuel Kirkland, (Princeton 1765), the celebrated missionary to the Qneidas and the founder of Hamilton-Oneida Academy, which subsequently became Hamilton College. General Earkland first settled at New Hartford and later removed to Utica, practicing in the courts of Herkimer County until the new County of Oneida was formed. He was an ardent Federalist, and in 1801 ran as a candidate for delegate to the State Constitutional Convention against Henry Huntington, of Rome, but on a tie vote the seat was awarded to the latter. In 1801 he was elected to the State Assembly. For three years from February 13th, 1813, he filled the oflftce of District At- torney for the Sixth District, which included seven counties. BYom 1818 to 1821, he again filled the position of Member of Assembly, which was followed by his election to the seventeenth Congress and in 1825 was again elected to the Assembly. He was chosen the first Mayor of Utica under the City Charter and held the of- fice in 1835, at the time when the first convention of the abolition parly was attempted to be held in Utica, but was dispersed by a mob. It was while he was Mayor that the great scourge of cholera visited the city. He was past the meridian of life, but while oth- ers fled, in the language of Dr. Bagg, he ''remained at his post and continued, during the entire period of this frightful visitation, to perform the duties which devolved upon him. He manifested during this crisis the real boldness and energy of his character and showed that there was in him a spirit, which in more auspi- cisions testify to the part which he took in the practice of his him no ordinary amount of reputation."
General Kirkland, during his entire career, bore the name of an able lawyer and an upright and honorable man. The minutes of the several courts of the county and the reports of judicial de-
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father in the practice of the law, and who was one of the most able and active practitioners in Oneida County and later in New York City, where he died.
ARTHUR BREESE. (Princeton 1790.)
Arthur Breese wias a native of New Jersey, studied law in the office of Elias Boudinot, President of the Continental Congress, was admitted to the bar in 1792 and loeated at Whitesboro in 1793. He was a brother-in-law of Jonas Piatt and by virtue of that relation became Deputy County Clerk of Herkimer County. He was elected to the Assembly in 1796, became first Surrogate of Oneida County and held the office until 1808, when his Feder- alist principles made him obnoxious to the Council of Appoint- ment, which put another in his place. Upon his removal to Utica he was made one of the clerks of the old Supreme Court and Court of Chancery. He held the latter office until his death. He does not seem to have been very active in the practice of the law, but he was a man of fine personal character, of cultivated and schol- arly tastes, who left a family the members of which filled very useful and honorable positions in life. His son, Samuel, was a Rear Admiral in the Navy ; another was the wife of Captain S. B. Griswold of the United States Army, and his son Sidney, after graduating at Union College, studied law with Gk)ld and Sill and settled in Illinois, where he became United States District Attor- ney, Reporter of the Supreme Court of Illinois, Circuit Judge and later United States Senator, finally terminating his career as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Illinois.
BRASTUS CLARK. (Dartmouth 1786.)
Erastus Clark was bom at Lebanon, Connecticut, in 1763. He was the son of Dr. John Clark (Yale 1749). Two of his ancestors were graduates of Harvard College and he was a descendant of John Warham, a graduate of Oxford University and one of the foremost preachers of early New ikigland. He settled in Clinton, in this county, in 1791, and in 1797 removed to Utica, where he spent the remaining years of his life.
In the eighteenth century the office of the lawyer was usually found in a small building, placed in his dooryard, though not in- frequently it was located in his dwelling. A goodly acreage of
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land was oft^n adjaoent, and he was as well trained in its man- agement as he was in his profession. An office or two of the kind may yet be found in Oneida County.
The basic principles in which the progenitors of Erastus Ckrk had been trained were religion, industry, economy and edu- oati<»i.
Timothy Edwards, great-grandfather of Erastus Clark, preached Calvinism to his flock in East Windsor, Connecticut, on Sundays, and during the week, with the aid of his ten daughters, taught the classics and other subjects to recurring bodies of young men who were in preparation for Harvard and Yale, while the mother, Esther Stoddard, superintended the farm on which they lived, and managed, successfully, the finances which were necessary to the support of a large family.
Passing four years in Dartmouth College, during a period of great simplicity and amid primitive conditions, Mr. Clark had been well fitted to take part in making the wilderness of the Mo- hawk Valley ''blossom like the rose."
The men of his time bore faithful testimony to his solid learn- ing, great industry, simple piety and devotion to public education and the general good. In the scienoe of the law he was a learned counselor and diligent in the courts. Those who challenged the exercise of his wit and tested his capacity for repartee furnished entertainment for the bystanders.
JOAB GRISWOLD. (Yale 1793.)
Mr. Griswold was a son of Giles Griswold of Gtoshen, Con- necticut, where he was bom June 29th, 1769. He was prepared for college by the father of Thomas R. Gold and through his ac- quaintance with the family was led to settle in the Mohawk Val- ley. With his admission to the Oneida Common Pleas he disap- pears from view as a practitioner in this county. The remainder of his life was passed in the Village of Herkimer where as a lead- ing Federalist he was engrossed in politics and where he died in 1814, aged forty-five years.
NATHAN WTT/TiTAMS.
Mr. Williams was bom in Williamstown, Mass., in 1773, the son of Revolutionary patriots whose property was lost as a result of the war, and so at a very early age, with little opportunity for
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eduoation, he devoted himself to the acquisition of the necessary knowledge to permit him to accomplish the object of his ambition and engage in the practice of the law. About the year of 1797, he found his way into the new country, was admitted to the bar of Herkimer County and in due course wias admitted to the bar of Oneida County. Mr. Williams had a large practice in all of the courts of the State and soon commended himself to the people of the vicinage, resulting in 1801, in his appointment as District At> tomey, which office he held until 1813, and again from 1818 to 1821. While holding the office of District Attorney he was rep- resentative in Congress during the years 1805-07 and after his re- tirement from the office of District Attorney, he served for three years in the Assembly of the State and was also a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1821. He was for long years Circuit Judge and it was in this position that he obtained his highest rep- utation. It was said of his charges, ''His addresses were fervently moral. Few men could attend his court in any capacity and not obtain instruction in the duties of life, and encouragement for their cultivation. ' ' He was Counsel to the Oneida Indians and im- pressed them so strongly with his high sense of justice that they gave him the name of "Upright Friend." A few months before his death he removed to Geneva, N. Y., where he died September 25th, 1835. He left a numerous and highly respectable family.
FRANCIS A. BLOODGOOD. (Union 1788.)
Mr. Bloodgood was a native of Albany and was admitted to practice August 5th, 1799. His first appearance in Utica was on the 4th day of July, 1797. From the beginning he served as Dep- uty and County Clerk for many years and in 1810 was a member of the State Senate from this district, in which position he was known as a zealous follower of DeWitt Clinton. "He was known as an upright man of scholarly tastes and considerable culture with the courteous refinement of a gentleman. Bis political feel- ings were strong and his influence, both by means of his pen and by personal efforts, was considerable."
Mr. Bloodgood died at Ithaca and among his children left a son, Simeon Dewitt Bloodgood, who graduated at Union College, settled in Albany and followed the profession of the law.
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JOSHUA HATHBWAY. (Yale 1787.)
Mr. Hatheway was bom in Suffield, Connecticut, August 18th, 1761, and was a nephew of Shadrack Hatheway (Yale 1738). His family located in Bennington, Vermont, shortly before the out- break of the American Revolution, and at the age of sixteen years, with his father, six brothers and two brothers-in-law, he participated in the Battle of Bennington. When i>eace returned, he finished his education, studied law with Judges Smith and Robinson and settled at Bennington, where he practiced law until 1795.
During this period he joined an enterprise to form a new town in Vermont, in which several farms were to be set aside for public education. One was to be devoted to common schools, an- other for a grammar school and a third was to provide the income to aid the youth of the town to obtain a college education. More than twenty graduates of Yale and Princeton joined him in the affair, the list of names including Doctors of Divinity, College Presidents, United States Senators, Gbvemors and Judges, as well as a few of his classmates.
In 1795, with his family, he removed to Fort Stanwix, which was the name of the post otSLee until 1802, now Rome, N. Y., where he practiced law for many years.
A partnership with James Sherman under the firm name of Hatheway & Sherman was of quite long standing.
When the County of Oneida was formed he was appointed County Treasurer and in 1808 Surrogate. About this time he abandoned the Federal party and became a Republican.
His classmate in Yale, Qaylord Qriswold, member of Congress from the Herkimer district, who came to the county with Thomas R. Gteld, his chum in college, wrote to Mr. Hatheway expressing great sorrow for his apostacy.
Subsequently, Judge Hatheway was appointed and reappoint- ed Surrogate and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, holding one or the other of these positions during a period of nearly thirty years.
During the war of 1812, he held the rank of Quarter Master General and for a short time commanded the post at Sacketts Harbor.
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He was the only member of the Qiieida County bar who served in the American Revolution and had the rare distinction of participating in two great wars.
He was a man of great piety, unswerving integrity, profound learning and great dignity. His iwrtrait, by Daniel Huntington, hangs in the home he erected in 1806, in which he died and where his granddaughter, Mrs. J. S. Dyett, now resides. H« died in 1835 at Rome, N. Y.
JONAS PLATT.
Mr. Piatt was the son of Hon. Zephoniah Piatt, and was bom at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., June 30th, 1769. The father was a mem- ber of the Continental Congress, tho Committee of Safety, the Provincial Congress of New York and later. State Senator and first Judge of Dutchess County. He was a very wealthy man and a very extensive landholder, including among his possessions a one fourth interest in the Sadequada or Saquoit patent of six thousand acres, looated in Whiteetown.
Jonas Piatt had not been trained to a life of ignoble ease and very early turned his attention to the study of the law, which he prosecuted under Richard Varick, the Attorney General of the State.
He was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court, July 27th, 1790,. and in the following month looated in Whitesboro, where with his young wife he was soon installed in a log cabin.
He was County Clerk of Herkimer and Oneida Counties and in 1799 was elected to Congress. In 1810 he was elected to the State Senate, remaining for two terms.
His success as a standard bearer of the Federal party, in a hitherto invincible district of the Jeflfersonian Republicans, led to his nomination in 1810 for Qovemor, but resulted in defeat.
While in the State Senate he drafted the resolution for the appointment of a commission to examine and survey the route from Liake Elrie to the Hudson River, which was consummated in
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due emphasis 1^>on the outrage perpetrated upon his elient's rights in the effort to eoerce the complainant to beoome a Pres- b3rterian and though defeated in the trial court, success came to him in the Court of Errors. His opponent was Thomas B. Gold, who, doubtless knew well of the long controversy in which the Bev. Hezekiah Gold, senior, upbore the standards of Congrega- tionalism with the rector of the Episcopal Church in Stratford.
As early as 1807, he had been seriously considered for a seat on the Supreme Court bench, but failed by one vote. In 1814, he succeeded by one vote, though the Federalists were in a minority in the Council of Appointment.
The first three terms of court in Oneida County held by Judge Piatt, weire December, 1817, at Whitesboro, at Rome in June, 1818, and in November at Utioa. At the first term there were two hundred and fifty causes on the calendar and one hun- dred and one jury trials took place. At the second term, which lasted four days, there were thirty-four jury trials and at the Utica term he presided at seventy-two. He opened the court early in the morning and held the sessions until nearly midnight. Stenographers were unknown in the courts. A voice from the past might well address many of the trial judges of the present days, exclaiming, ''Gk> to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise.''
The infiuence of Judge Piatt, as early as 1820, located a term of the Supreme Court at Utica, thus enhancing throughout the state the importance of the locality, Albany and New York being the only other places where the court sat in banc.
From the first session in 1820, the people became familiar with the distinguished lawyers of the State.
A gentleman long a resident of Utioa informed me that he well remembered Col. Aaron Burr in his visits to the city and said that he was much impressed by his dignified bearing. Col. Burr was always followed at a short distance by a negro in his employ, who bore a bag of green baize, containing the legal docu- ments of Col. Burr.
Judge Piatt is perhaps better known to the bar for his judicial attainments, by reason of a vigorous dissenting opinion in Vosburg vs. Thayer, 12 Johnson's Bep. 461. The high sense of morality there displayed undoubtedly forced the majority of the court, in order to defend their action, to take a position on the
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question of the admissibility in evidence of books of account, which has exhausted the ingenuity of succeeding courts, in thdr efforts to do justice and sustain that decision.
Upon his retirement from the bench, his personal fortune was nearly exhausted and he at once resumed the practice of the law at Utica, his son, Zephaniah Piatt, (Hamilton 1815), being asso- ciated with him. Patronage came to him from all parts of the State and he soon located in New York City.
''His morals were perfectly pure, he possessed a high sense of honor and had acquired, apparently, an ^itire control over his passions. ••• His address was unobtrusive, modest and concil- iatory. He had a high regard to courtesy in respect to political conduct as well as in the private and social concerns of life.''
In middle life he became interested in religion and was for many years president of the Oneida Bible Society.
In 1830 the condition of his health induced him to retire to a farm in Clinton County, where he died, very suddenly, Febru- ary 22nd, 1834.
His son, before mentioned, removed to Michigan and became Attorney Qeneral of the State and later settled in South Caro- lina, where he was appointed judge of one of the courts.
Judge Piatt, General Kirkland, Thomas R. Gold and Brastus Clark with other members of the bar united in the movement to found Hamilton OoU^e and served in its board of trustees.
BUPUS EASTON AND MBDAD CURTISS.
Little is known of the two last named on the list of those ad- mitted in 1798 to the Oneida Common Pleas. Rufus Easton re- sided in Rome for a few years and in 1800 was one of fourteen followers of Thomas Jefferson who celebrated his election to the presidency by holding a banquet, which was held under most dis- couraging conditions.
THEODORE SILL. (Yale 1797.)
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admisaion to praetioe in 1800 the firm of Gbld & Sill was imme- diately formed. In 1802 Mr. Sill was appointed County Treas- urer and later served three terms in the Assembly. He was also a Brigadier Oeneral in the military service of the State in which he was very active.
Though a very able lawyer, his partner surpassed him in the field of legal science, while Oeneral Sill was the superior as an advocate in trials by jury, where he stood in the first rank. He was a man of imposing appearance and courtly manner. He died in 1836.
HENRY B. STORES. (Yalo 1804.)
A native of Connecticut, Mr. Storrs studied law in Cham- pion, N. Y., the seat of his father's landed possessions, and also with Gk>ld & Sill, and was admitted to the bar about 1809, when he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Fortune C. White, which soon added to the reputation which Whitesboro had acquired as a seat of legal learning.
Mr. Storrs was twenty-nine years of age when first elected to Congress, in which he served for six terms, and had the very un- usual experience of being refused a renomination by the party which had originally elected him, to be followed by the party which he had heretofore opposed nominating and returning him to his old place. His action in favor of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was responsible for his failure to obtain the continued support of his party in the first instance and won him the sup- port of his former enemies. He was appointed first Judge of the Common Pleas in 1826 and held the office during his last two terms in Congress.
He possessed the unusual combination of a lawyer deeply versed in legal science, with the brilliancy of the advocate. Henry Clay stated that Mr. Storrs was the ''most brilliant advocate he ever heard on the fioor of the House of Representatives," and Judge Gridley pronounced an address he made to a jury **the most powerful and thrilling appeal he ever heard." A brother of Mr. Storrs who studied law with him returned to Connecticut, served two terms in Congress and became Judge of the Supreme Court of Errors. Mr. Storrs died very suddenly at New Haven, Conn., July 20th, 1837.
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SAMUEL A. TALOOTT. (Williams, 1809.)
Mr. Talcott, a native of Connecticut, finished his legal educa- tion with Gold & Sill, and was admitted to the bar in 1812. Be- ginning practice in Lowville, he subsequently removed to Utica and in 1830 to New York, where he died in 1836. He took a high position at the bar from the beginning of his practice and was en- gaged in almost every important case at the circuit during his professional career. He was in constant demand in the courts of last resort and left a profound impression on all, including the Supreme Court of the United States, where in the case of the "Sailors Snugg Harbor," involving the law of trusts and per- petuities, he successfully opposed Daniel Webster.
He was appointed Attorney General of the State at the age of thirty-one, at a time when only the best trained men of the bar were considered for the office, and the appointment at first ex- cited criticism because of his youth, but it was quickly silenced.
The eulogies of his biographers have seemed extravagant, but are sustained with one voice by the most eminent mai in the profession. President VanBuren and Daniel Webster concurred in the opinion that Mr. Talcott stood in the front rank of the American bar.
MORRIS S. MILLBR. (Union 1798.)
The son of Dr. Matthew Burnett Miller, a surgeon in the Con- tinental Army, he was the valedictorian of his class at graduation. He settled in Utica in 1806 and rose rapidly in the practice of his profession and in public favor. In 1810 he became first Judge of the Common Pleas, which office he held until his death, at the age of forty-four years, in 1824.
In 1813 the Federal party nominated him for Congress and his election followed.
He was a talented lawyer and an able judge, in the days when the court of Common Pleas was the scene of legal conflicts in which the ablest lawyers iii the profession were participants.
EZEKIAL BACON. (Yale 1794.)
Judge Bacon joined the Oneida County Bar as the second dec- ade of its existence was drawing to a close and his position among the pioneers of the legal profession in the county was unique. His
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Courtesy of ^V W. Canfleld MONUMENT MARKING THE GRAVE OF GENERAL
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THE EABLT BAB OF OMEIDA COUNTY 329
father was the Rev. John Bacon, at one time pastor of the South Church in Boston, Mass., and who later served in the State Leg- islature and in Congress and terminated his career as Chief Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Berkshire County.
The son obtained his legal education in the celebrated law school of Judge Beeve at Litchfield, Conn. While engaged in the practice of law in his native State, he was elected to the Legisla- ture, served six years in the National Congress, and was ap- pointed first Comptroller of the Treasury by President Madison. Ill health compelled him to resign and he removed to Utica where he died in 1870, aged ninety-four years. From his settlement in this locality he became an active practitioner of the law and one of the most prominent men in the county. Li 1818 he was ap- pointed Judge of the Oneida Common Pleas, the next year was sent to the Assembly and in 1821 he became a member of the Constitutional Convention. In 1824 he ran for Congress, but was defeated by Henry R. Storrs.
Judge Bacon held very intimate relations with three presi- dents of tho United States, Mr. Madison, Mr. Monroe and Mr. John Quincy Adams, and also with John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay and Chancellor Kent. His memory was fresh of the days when he witnessed the return home of the soldiers of the Revolution.
Judge Bacon was survived by several children, among them William J. Bacon (Hamilton 1817) distinguished at the bar, in the National Congress and on the bench of the Supreme Court of New York.
GREENE C. BRONSON AND SAMUEL BEARDSLEY.
Shortly before 1812, two young men began the study of law in Oneida County whose illustrious careers have dignified and en- obled the bar and the judiciary of the State. Both were denied the early educational advantages possessed by their preceptors and the bar in general, but both graduated from the college of self-reliance and hard knocks with high honor, and their exam- ples have been an inspiration to the youth of succeeding genera- tions.
Greene C. Bronson was bom in Simsbury, Ct., in 1789, was early compelled to rely upon his personal efforts for subsistance, and began the study of law in Vernon, in the office of John P.
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Sherwood (Williams 1807) some time Judge of the Court of Com- mon Pleas.
Samuel Beardsley was bom in Hoosic, N. Y., in 1790, taught school in Otsego County and at eighteen years of age began the study of law with Judge Hatheway in Rome, N. Y., living in the family of his instructor, one of whose daughters he subsequently married.
Upon their admission to pratice both young men forged rap- idly to the front, professionally and politically. After two years service as Surrogate, Mr. Bronson, in 1821, was elected to the Assembly and Mr. Beardsley was appointed District Attorney and two years later the latter was sent to the Senate.
About 1824 both located in Utica and formed a partnership which lasted until 1829, when Mr. Bronson was appointed Attor- ney General in place of Samuel A. Talcott, from which station he was advanced to the oflSce of Judge of the Supreme Court of the State and finally became Chief Justice. Mr. Beardsley succeeded his old partner in each one of these trusts, being the last incum- bant of the ot&ce of Chief Justice under the old Constitution, Judgo Bronson serving three years in the new Court of Appeals.
While waiting for Judge Bronson to move on. Judge Beards- ley served six years in Congress, during the Jacksonian era and with high distinction.
Friends and companions of a lifetime, these men were great lawyers, profound judges, patriotic citizens, courteous in their relations with their fellow men and devotedly religious. United in life they were not long divided by death. Judge Beardsley died in Utioa on May 6th, 1860, and Judge Bronson at Saratoga, September 3rd, 1863.
Just at this time the words of Chancellor Kent come to us with great force as we consider the record of the early bar. In commenting upon the abolition in America of the English law of primogeniture and entail, he said, "American families must de- pend upon the virtue of their posterity for the perpetuity of their fame.''
An occurrence in 1835, with which a large number of the law- yers named in this paper were connected, received national atten- tion and created intense excitement.
When the county convention of the Jeflfersonian democracy, then called republican, met in this county that year, the call for
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THE BABLY BAB OF ONEIDA COUNTY 331
the meeting of the first state convention of the abolition party in New York had been issued, and it met with great disfavor from the friends of the slaveholders. A resolution was offered in the county convention that the proposed abolition gathering should not be permitted to assemble.
Chester Hayden, first Judge of the Common Pleas, who be- gan practice in Rome in 1815 and who had resided in Utica for a number of years, in a fiery speech said that "he would wade to his knees in gore before he would permit the fair fame of Oneida County to be disgraced by the assemblage of such a band of fan- atics.*'
Hon. Henry A. Foster, then Surrogate of Oneida County, and later a distinguished Judge of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, and my informant, was a delegate in the convention and vigorously, but unsuccessfully, opposed the adoption of the reso- lution.
The debate in the county convention added fuel to the flames which the denunciations of over three hundreds newspapers had kindled, so that when the six hundred delegates to the abolition convention assembled in the Second Presbyterian Church of Utica, in October, 1835, a mob with much violence drove them from the building.
In the tiunult preceding and accompanying the dispersal of the abolitionists more than a score of the legal profession of the county were active in advocating the different iwints of view held by those present, including those who had been active in all good works for more than forty years.
Besides the able men who have been mentioned, there were a score or more of lawyers, who settled in the county within the first fifteen years, who were men of superior talents and many of whom in later years were conspicuous in the public eye. Of such were, John H. Lothrop (Yale 1787), David W. Childs (Williams 1800), Abraham Varick (Columbia 1799), Walter King (Yale 1805), William H. Maynard (Williams 1810), Richard R. Lansing (Union 1809), John Brodish (Williams), all of Utica; Henry Huntington (Dartmouth 1783), James Sherman (Williams 1801), Benjamin P. Johnson (Union 1813), Wheeler Barnes, James Lynch (Columbia 1799), Daniel Wardwell (Brown University 1811), all of Rome; James Dean (Union 1810), Fortune C. White of Whitesboro and Othneil Williams (Yale 1810), of Clinton.
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332 THS NEW TOBK STATE HI8TOBI0AL AS800UTI0N
Though Gideon Granger (Tale 1787), Postmaster General un- der Jefferson, and his son, I^ancis Granger (Yale 1811), were lo- cated in Whitesboro shortly after 1814, where the son studied law with Gbld & Sill, they remained but & brief period, moving to Ganandaigua. In 1841, IVancis Granger served as Postmaster Qeur eral in the cabinet of President William Henry Harrison.
The sentiment of iho bar in the early part of the nineteenth century demanded a broad truning as a pre-requisite to entry upon the practice of the law, which continued to exist until 1847, when under the influence of popular excitement the old rules reg-* ulating admission to the bar were laid aside and for more than twenty years no period of preparation was prescribed.
In 1876 General Tremain in addressing the graduating class of the Albany Law School, said that during the first half of the century if one read a name upon a sign followed by the words, Attorney at Law, he might rest in the assurance that it was a guarantee of fitness to practice the profession, but during the quarter of a century that had elapsed since 1846, whenever a la3nnan read such a sign, he needed to have in mind the maxim, Caveat emptor. Let the purchaser beware.
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Courtesy of Hon. Henry J. Cookinham ORISKANY BATTLEFIELD Upper View Showing Monument and Ravine Lookingr,-. Lower View Showing Easterly Ravine Looklngr""
Sap-oogle
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THE BATTLE OF ORISKANY.
Hon. Henry J. Cookmbam, Utioa.
The effect of an event cannot well be estimated at the time of its occurrence. That which appears of momentous consequence at first sometimes fades away as the years pass, until it is forgotten; while that which at first seems of trivial account, by the lapse of time is often found to be of surpasEong influence in shaping the destiny of nations and opening a new era in the world.
Somewhat like this latter class of events is the incident in American history known as the Battle of Oriskany, which occur- red on August 6, 1777.
The name ** Oriskany" or **Orisca'' — ^meaning ''Nettles" or *'A place of Nettles" — ^was applied to the stream which is still known as Oriskany Creek. This stream rises in Madison county, and flows northerly into the Mohawk River at tho Village of Oris- kany, Oneida oounly. It is probable that the battle took its name from this stream, because it occurred nearer to Oriskany Creek than to any other place having a definite appellation, although it was more than two miles distant from the stream.
Much has been written concerning the stirring events of the Mohawk Valley, and, as much of this is fiction, it is not without difficulty that the true is distinguished from tho fictitious.
Many facts bearing upon the subject, however, are so well authenticated, that it can be said with safety that the conflict in the Bavine at Oriskany was one of the most imiportant events in the struggle of our forefathers for independence.
The flrst year of the war had been favorable to the colonists. But during the second year discouraging reports came from other parts of the country to the patriots of the Mohawk Valley.
To understand the situation it is necessary to call attention to the conditions existing in the locality. The Mohawk Valley be- tween Port Dayton, which is now Herkimor, and Port Stanwix,
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334 THB NEW YORK STATE HISTOHIOAL ASSOCIATION
whieh is now Borne, was a wilderness, through which was a rough road, traversed by Indians and military organizations from time to time, extending along the northerly bank of the river from Herkimer to Old Port Schuyler, now Utica. It there crossed the river at a ford. This ford was about 1,000 feet southeasterly of the overhead railroad crossing at the foot of Gtenesee street in the city of Utica. It has been obliterated by the filling up of the Mohawk River channel as it existed at the time of the Revolution. The river now passes through the new channel about 1,400 feet northeasterly of the old channel, and the tracks of the New York Central Railroad, at its station, are now over the old channel of the Mohawk River. From this ford the road passed on along Whitesboro street, Utioa, the main street in the village of Whites- boro, through the main street of the village of Oriskany, and then diverged from the present highway, and passed some two or three hundred feet northerly from that highway on to Fort Stanwix, now Rome.
Along this part of the valley there were a few settlers. John Roof had settled at Fort Stanwix about 1772, and (George J. Weab- er. Captain Mark Damoth, and Christian Real had settled in what is now Deerfield, but they were all driven out of the country in consequence of the Revolutionary War.
In the spring of 1777 the English ministr}^ had planned a concerted movement by three different armies to crush the re- bellion in the colonies. Sir Henry Clinton was to march from New York City up along the Hudson River to Albany ; Burgoyne wias to invade the State of New York from Canadia, capture Ticon- deroga, follow down the Hudson valley and join Clinton at Al- bany; while Lieutenant Colonel Barry St. Leger, acting brigadier general, was to leave Oswego, capture Fort Stanwix, sweep down the Mohawk Valley, arouse the Tories, and join Clinton and Bur- goyne at Albany.
Mr. Creasy, in his book entitled ''Fifteen Decisive Battles of thie World,'* in the article on Saratoga^ which he refero to as one of the decisive battles of the world, in regard to the British plan says: ''Had the execution of the British plan been equal to its design, the independence whidi they— the states, had proclaimed, ymmlA have been extinguished before it entered the second year.'*
This plan of the English government is severely criticised in
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THE BATTLE OF OBISKANT 33S
a publication issued by the War Department of the United States government, known as '' American Campaigns/' and it is intimat- ed in this work that Howe, in supreme comnnand in New York, being a Whig, and the English government being Tory, bent his efforts more to pacify the colonists than to destroy their armies.
It is unquestionably true that the events which occurred in the Mohawk Valley in July and August, 1777, were potential aid to the patriots in the great struggle between the colonies and the mother country.
The defense of Fort Stanwix and the Battle of Oriskany turn- ed the tide of public sentiment very largely in favor of the colon- ists.
On July 17 (General Herkimer issued his famous proclamation calling the inhabitants of Tryon County to arma He announced the gathering of St. Leger's army at Oswego, and called on those in health between 16 and 60 years of age to prepare for active service, and those over 60 to prepare to defend the women and children ; the disaffected were to be arrested, placed under g^^ard, and required to join the main body of his army.
The patriots of the valley responded heartily to Herkimer's call, and between 800 and 1,000 assembled at Fort Dayton, poorly armed and poorly equipped, to go to the relief of Fort Stanwix.
St. Leger invested the fort on August 3. His force was made up of British regulars, Hessians, New York Loyalists, called ''Johnson's Greens," together with a number of Canadians and Indians under Joseph Brant. Sir John Johnson, Colonel Clauis and Colonel Butler were also with St. Leger.
There has been much controversy about the numerical strength of the forces commanded by St. Leger. The number has been given all the way from 600 to 1,700. After a thorough ex- amination of the authorities, it must be concluded that the latter figure is more nearly correct than the former.
To raise the siege of Fort Stanwix was the task undertaken by Herkimer and his followers.
The gathering of the patriots and the advance by Herkimer was communicated to St. Leger through messengers sent by Molly Brant.
Herkimer left Fort Dayton on August 5, camped near Oris- kany at nigbt, probably upon the bai^ of the Orudcany Creek.
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336 THE NEW YORK STATE HISTOHIOAL ASSOCIATION
The next day a bitter oontroverBy arose between him and his officers over the question of advancing upon St. Leber's forces around Fort Stanwix before the signal agreed upon was sounded from the fort. He had sent messengers to notify its commander, Colonel Peter Gansevoort, that he was approaching, and requested that three guns be fired when the messengers had reached the fort. The subordinate officers insisted upon an early advance, irrespec- tive of the signal. They charged Herkimer with being a coward and a Tory, until he was goaded into ordering the advance with- out the necessary precaution.
At the ravine in the dense forest, two miles beyond the Oris- kany Creek, were oonoealed some 500 British soldiers, Canadians and Tories, and as many Indians under the great leader, Thay- endanegea.
Unconscious of danger, the patriots passed along the rough woods road into the ravine. Suddenly a thousand rifles cracked. The air about them was filled* with smoke, and the yells of the Indians reverberated through the forest.
Surprised — appalled — staggered — the 800 patriots were thrown into confusion. But their commander did not lose his self control, and, with courage unsurpassed, he rallied his men and sent back a well directed fire.
Early in the conflict Gteneral Herkimer was wounded, and then, seated upon the ground, with courage, than which none is greater, he directed the battle to the end.
The flerceness of this struggle was never surpassed in modem warfare. Of the 800 patriots who participated in the flght, less than 200 remained unscathed when the retreat began ctfter the battle was over.
The loss upon the side of the enemy, as reported by St. Leger, was 300, but this, probably, does not include the loss among the Indians, which was very great, as Joseph Brant, Thayendanegea, many times after referred to the suffering of his poor Mohawks in this conflict.
During the battle there was a sortie from Fort Stanwix led by Colonel Willett, the second in command, and it was most suc- cesful in capturing the camp of Sir John Johnson, a vast amount of property, and the order book of Sir John.
Both sides claimed to have won the fight at Oriskany, but as
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THE BATTLE OF OBISKANY 337
Herkimer's men held the ground when the battle was over, to him must be accorded the victory.
The credit of planning the ambuscade, as it is called, has been accorded to Sir John Johnson. But Sir George Otto Trev- elyan, the English historian, in his history of the American Rev- olution, says that the ''ambuscade was planned and planted with consumate art by the famous Indian Chief, who is known to his- tory under his English appellation of Joseph Brant.'' He also says, **Oriskany, for the strength of the force engaged, proved to be the bloodiest conflict of the entire war."
It may be added, also, that it was one of the bloodiest con- flicts in history.
A digression perhaps is permissible here, to draw comparison between the destruction of life in war at the time of the American Revolution and at the present day. There has been a popular no- tion that the improved firearms of to-day have been much more destructive of life than the firearms of an earlier date. It is true that the range of small arms now in use is much greater than it was formerly, but it must br - ^-^y^^^ +ii«^ \e small arms
naeA in the Revolution, altb jfi were suflS-
ciently powerful to kill as far t another.
In this Battle of Oriska to hand, with
musket, sword, bayonet, knJ and every im-
plement of destruction kn« i the battle
ceased some of the contest ocked in each
other's arms. We read of the great war
which is now raging in E^
The killing of men ^ war seems to be at long range, and, e numbers en- gaged, even with theii ^y^^^ „ ^ iction of life is
much less than it is with short range guns at close contact. This is because of the fact that no marksman is capable of hitting his opponent at the great range of the guns used, except, substanti- ally, by accident.
T6 describe in detail the Battle of Oriakany wKmld be to re- count the horrors incident to all wcms. But there is one phase of it that requires attention. It is the employment of Indians by the English government. Of the prisoners captured by the Brit- ish at Oriskany a few afterwards made their escape, and describ-
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338 THB MXW YOBK 8TATB HI8T0BICAL A8800IATION
ed some of the tortures whieh had been inflicted upon them and their fellow oaptives, whieh are too horrible to relate.
The employment of Indians was severely condemned by many of tho English people^ and their most prominent statesman, Liord Chatham, in the debate in Parliament, condemned it in these words:
''My Lords, we are called upon as members of this house, as men, as Christian men, to protest against such notions, standing near the throne, polluting the ear of Majesty. 'That God and na- ture put into our hands !' I know not what ideas that Lord may entertain of Gk>d and nature, but I know that such abominable principles are equally abhorrent to religion and humanitj.
What! to attribute the sanction of God and nature to the massacres of the Lidian scalping-knifel to the cannibal savage, torturing, murdering, roasting and eating, literally, my lords, eating the mangled victims of his barbarous battles!
I call upon that right reverend bench, those holy ministers of the gospel and pious pastors of the church ; I conjure them to join in the holy work and vindicate the religion of their God. I appeal to the wisdom and the law of this learned bench to defend and support the justice of their country. I call upon the bishops to interpose the unsullied sanctity of their lawn; upon the learned judges to interpose the purity of their ermine to save us from this pollution. I call upon the honor of your lordships to reverence the dignity of your ancestors and to maintain your own. I call upon the spirit and humanity of my country to vindicate the na- tional character."
What sorrowing households received back the remnant of the army that marched forth from Fort Dayton on August 5, 1777 ! Fathers, husbands, sons, brothers and lovers never returned !
Among those who returned, but so severely wounded as to survive but a short time, was the gallant commander. He was conveyed to has own home near the Mohawk River, a few miles below what is now the city of Little Falls, where his leg, which had been shattered five or six inches below the knee, was ampu- tated about ten days after the battle, by a young French surgeon in the army of General Arnold, and contrary to the cuivice of the
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THB BATTLB OF ORISKANY 339
ants, to staunch the blood. Colonel Willett called to see him soon after the operation. He was sitting up in his bed, with a pipe in his mouth, smoking, and talking in excellent spirits. He died that night. And, being himself satisfied that the time of his de- I>arture was nigh, he called for the Bible to be brought to him. He opened it and read, in the presence of those who surrounded the bed, with all the composure it was possible for any man to exhibit, the XXXVHI Psalm, beginning :
'* O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath ; neither
'^ chasten me in thy hot displeasure. ''For thine arrows stick fast in me, and
*Hhy hand presseth me sore."
The Oneida Historical Society is fortunate in having the only true picture of the Hero of Oriskany. It is, perhaps, permissible to give here a little history of this portrait. It was originally the property of Mrs. Samuel P. Lyman of Utica. It was left by her to her niece. Miss Flora Wheaton. Before Miss Wheaton's death she sent for a committee of the society, and stated that she desired to present this most valued oil painting of General Herkimer to the Oneida Historical Society. The society was most grateful for the gift, and counts it one of the choicest relics of its treasure house. This is the only authentic portrait of General Herkimer, although it has been copied many times and generally distorted.
In the painting he is represented as in his shirt sleeves, fill- ing his pipe. Some illustrations give him the same face, but they have clothed him in black and given him a standing collar.
Congress passed a resolution requesting the Governor and Council of New York to erect a monument of the value of five hundred dollars, at the expense of the United States, to the mem- ory of this brave and worthy hero. This resolution was trans- mitted to the Governor of New York, George Clinton, but the mon- ument was not erected, and his resting place was left substanti- ally unmarked, until our own day, when a substantial granite shaft was erected at his grave. And later still, his residence was purchased by the State of New York, and is to be forever kept by the State in memory of his great deeds.
Eminent writers have of late appreciated the great results that followed the Battle of Oriskany and the Siege of Fort Stan-
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340 THE NBW YORK STATE HISTOBICAL ASSOCUTION
wix. It is sometimes in the world's history that momentous con- sequences hiang upon minor events, and it is certain that such was ^ the case with the bloody conflict in the ravine at Oriskany and the gallant defense of Fort Stanwix.
Had St. Leger succeededi the Mohawk Valley would have been at his feet. The tide would have turned in favor of the King. Burgoyne's defeat would most likely have been turned into victory. France would not have given its essential aid to the American cause, and British arms would have prevailed. But abil- ity and superb courage at Oriskany and at the fort, worked out most important results, and changed the ''tide of times."
Says VonEelking, the Qerman historian, who was a soldier in St. Leger 's army, in his account of the siege : ''So ended the op- eration which, if it had turned out more successfully, would, in any event, have prevented the tragic fate of Burgoyne's army."
J. Watts DePeysfter, in an article on the "Battle of Oriskany," and also in an article entitled ' ' The Ambuscade at Oriskany, ' ' both published in the volume with Sir John Johnson's Order Book, lauds the British commanders, simply mentions Joseph Brant, and belittles the services of Herkimer, yet closes the last mention- ed articles as follows:
"It was the self-devotion and desperation of Herkimer's militia that saved the Mohawk Valley and constitutes Oriskany the Thermopylae of the American Revolution ; the crisis and turning point against the British of the Burgoyne campaign ; and the decisive conflict of America's seven years' war for ind^)end- ence."
If, then, this event so tragic in its details, made the victory at Saratoga possible, and moved the French King to recognize the new Republic, it achieved its final triumph only when the white flag was raised over the British fortifications at Yorktown.
All hail then, heroes of Oriskany! High upon the scroll of fame may your names ever stand, and may your example inspire
-^X»__
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Courtesy of Hon. Henry J. Cooklnham SCENE AT DEDICATION OF ORISKANY MONUMENT AUG. 6, 1884
««T.. fha^ ^n..1. ^^ralP At. r«»H r\^l€.^^n^tr
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OUR CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
Adelbert Moot, LL. D^ Buffalo.
Government of some sort is very old, but written constitutions are very young, when considered as a part of human evolution. In the early records, we find that the ruler promised his i>eople that he would do, or would omit to do, certain things, and even today politicians are prone to promise their people that they will do, or omit to do, things, according as they may be agreeable or disagree- able to the people, although, alas, the people long since learned that in altogether too many cases these promises are merely made to catch votes, and not with a view to fulfillment. Nor is this any new development in human nature, for very ancient records are full of proverbs showing that the people observed the same pecu- liarity about the promises of those who desired to rule over them, or those who had become their rulers. Now and then, records, old and new, show some great character, like Alfred the Great, or George Washington, or Abraham Lincoln, who promised little but did much, who did more than he promised, whose very character became a monument to his own achievements. The illuminating character of such monuments is partly due to the fact that they present such a striking contrast to those of thej great majority of rulers. Naturally the pec^le early found it wise to have witnesses to the words of the ruler, and when man- kind had finally succeeded in translating the spoken into the writ- ten word, then the written word of the ruler waa preferred to the spoken word before witnesses, because the witnesses might die, or be bought off, but the written word of the ruler could be preserv- ed as a witness against him, if his word was not kept.
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342 THE NEW TOBK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
could disregard the written laws and precedents of the people, and of preceding rulers.
Considering how far the ruler was at liberty to disregard the written law, or the previous precedent in a case, it was but natural that the leaders of the people, who were frequently those learned in the law, should require of the ruler that he promise in future that he would not go contrary to the written law and the estab- lished precedent, in ruling over his people. The ruler being thus bound to rule over his people according to law, and a record of that law appearing in writing, the people could tell what was their just measure of obedience to the ruler, and the ruler could tell what he might justly require of his people.
In such considerations as these, deeply embedded in human nature and human history, we find the very corner stone of con- stitutional development among English speaking peoples.
Alfred the Great had done much to promote learning and an orderly administration of the law, so that Englishmen then were reasonably certain of their rights and privileges in his kingdom, but when he died and his successors came to rule after him, be- tween their incompetence and their wars, many laws, well known and carefully administered at the time of Alfred the Great, were disregarded or violated by ruler and people, to the great detriment of the Nation. Naturally the ones to suffer most from such viola- tions of law were not the ruler, nor yet his strong nobles, who could combine to protect themselves, but were, instead, those people who lacked the means and the standing to maintain their rights according to law, against the encroachments of the ruler. It took a long time, some centuries, for this state of affairs to grow so bad as to force the subjects of the English king to demand an adequate remedy. It was not until the very strongest nobles in the kingdom, men of sufficient wealth to main- tain their own little armies, found themselves unable to get their rights, that the nobles finally banded together to force a king, somewhat worse than his predecessors, to rule over them accord- ing to law.
At first, the barons tried to obtain a recognition of the law by petition, and by peaceful means, but the shifty king thought to evade his barons without in terms answering their petition. The barons, truly divining the intent of the king, brought together
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OUB OONSKITUTIONAL DBVBLOPMENT 343
their little armies and levied war on the king. The king, in a few months time, finding there were too many powerful barons who had combined against him to be saccessfnlly withstood, fin- ally sued for peace upon the basis generally of acceding to the previous petition of the barons to the king.
The net result of all this was the first written constitution 80 to speak, of all English speaking people, the document signed by King John and his barons, which we know as the Magna Gharta of June 15, 1215.
This document has sometimes been supposed to be a grant of new rights to Englishmen, but a careful reading of history and examination of the document will show, that it was not a charter of new rights, but it was, instead, the written pledge of the King to cut out many of his abuses, to redress many of the wrongs he and his predecessors had committed, and to thereafter rule his subjects in accordance with the established law.
It is not my purpose to go into detail as to the contents of this document. Some of its provisions are very quaint One of them throws much light upon the rights of w(»nen at that time, as compared with women's rights today. While making careful provision for the widow's dower, even as against her husband's debts to Jews, or other creditors, it shows how commour the prac- tice had been to practically compel a widow to marry again, con- trary to her natural right, because we find in it this provision giving a widow a qualified freedom as such:
''No widow shall be distrained to marry herself, while she is willing to live without a husband; but yet she shall give se- curity that she will not marry herself without our consent, if she hold of us, or without the consent of the lord of whom she does hold, if she hold of another."
After making provisions with reference to the king's courts, and to compel them to hear causes without undue delay, and to put a stop to the practice of excessive fines and of confiscating the lands of one convicted of felony, this document in effect tells us that it had been the practice of the king's constables and bailiffs to take com, horses, carts, and wood, without the consent of the owner, or without compensation for them, but it forbids such offi- cials to continue these illegal practices, or to take such properly
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344 THB NEW YORK STATE HI8T(»UCAL ASSOCIATION
without the consent of the owner, unless it be com,, in which case they are to instantly pay money for the com.
Nor, in this time of a great war, are we to overlook a pro- vision showing that the England of that day was not blind to the demands of justice, even in the case of an alien from a country with which England was at war, for we find in this document a provision showing a more just spirit than that shown by some of the warring nations in Europe today. I quote the provision :
**A11 Merchants shall have safety and security in coming into England, and going out of England, and in sta3dng and in travelling through England, as well by land as by water, to buy and sell, without any unjust exactions, according to ancient and right customs, excepting in the time of war, and if they be of a country at war against us; and if such are found in our land at the beginning of a war, they shall be apprehended without injury of their bodies and goods, until it be known to us, or to our Chief Justiciary, how the Merchants of our coun- try are treated who are found in the country at war against us; and if ours be in safety there, the others shall be in safety in our land."
It was not that such provisions might be inserted, however, that the mighty barons levied war upon their king, but it was that they might secure from him a document that would make them and all freemen secure in their persons and property by making it certain that they could have a hearing in court, and that in court judgment would be declared according to law. Up to that time, unfortunately, English Judges had received such small salaries that bribery was very common, delays were very common, and justice was really bought and sold. To put an end to judicial delay, bribery and injustice, was one of the purposes of the barons. As the king appointed the courts, and was responsible for this state of affairs, in terse language the great lawyer who prepared this document made the king promise that he and his courts would no longer continue sudi abuses. That promise is contained in an article so short and clear, there can be no mistake about it, for it reads :
''To none will we sell, to none will we deny, to none will we delay, right or justice.*'
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OUB CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT 345
But it was needful to go farther than this to satisfy these barons, who were well advised by the beet lawyers of the day, some of whom were among them, and some one of whom put this great document into the form in which it was signed. It was necessary that some standard of justice should be set up by which the courts should pass judgment, and in one brief article is set forth a stdndard that from that day to this has been the stand- ard of all English speaking people. The immortal paragraph which embodies this standard reads:
''No freeman shall be seized, or imprisoned, or dispossess- ed, or outlawed, or in any way destroyed; nor will we condemn him, nor will we commit him to prison, excepting by the legal judgment of his peers, or by tiie laws of the land."
**The laws of the land", then, were the standard set up al- most seven hundred years ago for English speaking people as their standard of justice, and *'the laws of the land" are still the standard of justice for all English speaking people.
But who are to make the laws of the land, and how are the laws of the land to be enforced t Upon this point, history and this great charter alike furnish us with too little reliable information. We know that from the Saxon days, and from the time of Alfred the Great, down to the time of King John, there were from time to time gatherings of the nobles and wise men, at the instance of the king, called witenagemots. We know that these gatherings aided the king with advice, and more or less informally agreed with him upon taxes to he levied, or wars to be declared. We know that without the support of a considerable portion of the nobles and wise men, few kings were strong enough to continue their govern- ment long, unless such government was so good that there was no considerable complaint concerning it. Those were not the days of stenographers, printing presses, newspapers, and bound volumes of statutes, and, therefore, we have no authentic records of such gatherings, and are left largely to traditional sources for our information concerning the extent to which such assemblies were held, and the extent to which they participated in the govern- ment.
It will be noticed however, from our quotations that this whole document is predicated more upon the established laws than upon any thought that any one i^ould have power to change
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346 THE NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
the establialied laws and customs of the kingdom. And yet there is nothing in the document that expressly forbids the making of new laws that should become a part of the laws of the land. At that time, we know that new laws were comparatively rare, and it was not expected, therefore, that the king would nuike new laws to undo in any way this great charter. Indeed, the king expressly bound himself, in these words, not to undertake anything of the kind:
''And we will obtain nothing from any one, by ourselves, nor by another, by which any of these concessions and liberties may be revoked or diminished. And if any such thing shall have been obtained, let it be void and null ; and we will never use it, either by ourselves, nor by another."
In other words, any law contrary to this great charter was to be null and void, and the king thus pledged himself and all his officers to that effect; so unconstitutional laws are not a recent in- vention.
Having said all this, however, we still see tfiat there was almost no provision made for the participation of the people in the making of new laws. Indeed, the document took no note of many of the people, but confessedly it had to do only with the king, dei^, and the barons who were a party to it^ and with free- men who were covered by it. At that lime, a large number of the inhabitants of England were villains, mere serfs, bound to service to their lords, unable to depart from the domains of their lords, as helpless before the law as the peons of Mexico are today, and for all such the great charter then furnished little or no relief.
It did contain, however, another provision that was the germ of what has grown to be one of the most important parts of it all. By it, the king gave his pledge that:
''No scutage nor aid shall be imposed in our kingdom, un- less by the common council of our kingdom."
It also contained a provision that is at the very foundation of the almost omnipotent parliament of the Oreat Britain of to- day, and that provision reads:
"And also to have the common council of the kingdom, to assess and aid, otherwise than in the three oases aforesaid; and
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for the assesaing of scatages, we will cause to be summoned the Archbishops, Bishops, Abbotts, Earls, and great Barons, individ- ually, by our letters. And besides, we will cause to be sum- moned in general by our Sheriffs and Bailiffs, all those who hold of us in chief, at a certain day, that is to say at the distance of forty days, (before their meeting,) at the least, and to a certain place ; and in all the letters of summons, we will express the cause of the summons; and the summons being thus made, the business shall proceed on the day appointed, according to the counsel of those who shall be present, although all who had been summoned have not come.''
Now in these provisions for scutages and aids, and for sum- moning the common council of the kingdom, as they called it, we have the provision under which kings were forced to summon such meetings, which meetings have become the parliaments of today. While these provisions do not provide in so many words for the making of laws by these gatherings, as they do provide, in sub- stance, that the king should not impose taxes upon the kingdom without having summoned the common council in this way, it is assumed, of course, that if the majority of the common council should be adverse to a proposed tax, the tax would not be levied, otherwise, summoning the common council for action on the sub- ject would be a futile thing. (Note— But this was not the begin- ning of such law making, for Mr. Freeman shows this had been their custom for centuries.)
So, too, it was inevitable if such a common council was sum- moned, that it should provide the conditions upon which the tax should be laid, and that it might provide conditions as to the dis- bursement of the moneys obtained by taxation, and this is precisely what occurred.
It is easy to see, of course, that it was but a step from the making of laws with reference to the levying and spending of taxes, to the making of laws generally with reference to the af- fairs of the kingdom. It is weU known to legal students that the kings of England did not conform to this great charter at aU times and in all respects, and that for centuries there were at- tempts to disregard it, or to modify it, or to extend it on the one side or the other. But ultimately the power to withhold taxes and refuse financial support to the king, compelled the king to
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come to his common council, or house of commons, or parliament, for support as to any important measure he desired to carry out in his kingdom.
Without following the long contest between king and parlia- ment that gradually resulted in greater and greater power passing to parliament, and in the king having less and less power, we may come down four centuries in the course of this struggle, and briefly consider but a single case that illustrates the growth of the power of parliament, and the decrease in the power of the king.
When Charles the First* came to the throne of England, as a bright young man. he was possessed of that headstrong, willful character, some admire in rulers, and he felt quite suflScient to the government of his kingdom without the help of parliament. As parliament manifesrted a disposition to consider its power and rights in the matter from time to time when it was called together, he finally concluded to dispense with the aid of parliament^ and to take the so-called ship money and spend it as he saw fit, to run his government and conduct his wars. For about eleven years he managed to get along in this way, without calling parliament to- gether, but then dire extremity compelled him to call upon his par- liament for aid to raise additional moneys to defray the expenses of his kingdom. But when parliament came togetiier in obedience to his summons, instead of bestirring themselves to raise addi- tional money for him, they again began to discuss his right to do what he had been doing, and what he was doing, and they mani- fested a disposition to curb his arbitrary power and compel him to rule England in accordance with the principles of the magna charta which we have been discussing.
They were prompted to this discussion in part by the fact that large numbers of liberty loving Puritans had emigrated to Nfcw England becausetheyfeltthatthecause of liberty in England was in desperate straits, and partly by the fact that John Hamp- den's refusal to pay the ship money tax had led to a twelve days' discussion in court of the legality of that tax witiiout the con- sent of x>arliament, cmd to a dividod decision of the court, al- though a majority of the Judges appointed by the King sustained the tax. There were Puritans enough left, however, to think for themselves, and because of the power recognized in parliament centuries before by the document &om which I am quoting, and
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because of the exercise of that power for centuries, in spite of kings, and at the request of kings, to aid them in their wars, the mass of the common people of England reached the conclusion that the king was in the wrong, and, therefore, they stood by par- liament in the contest between the king and parliament.
Without following this contest in all its details, or follow- ing the fortunes of the king in the open war between himself and the forces of parliament, it is enough to say that Cromwell, com- manding the forces of parliament, won decisive battles, that finally put the king within the power of the parliamentary leaders. In due time therefore, Charles I was impeached for high treason to the people of England, and the result of his trial by commissioners upon this charge, was that he was condemned and his head was cut off, and for all time the power of parliament to levy taxes and make laws was established.
Nay more, it was also thus established that the king of Eng- land dare not disregard the recorded action of parliament in his government of the people. In other words, that parliament could make laws, although for a long time it waa granted that the king had the power to veto all new laws made by parliament; a power that has only in effect ceased to exist because for a century or two no sovereign of Great Britain has deemed it wise to veto any act of parliament.
But while the supremacy of parliament was thus established, when the head of Charles the First was cut off at Whitehall, Janu- ary 30, 1649, it does not follow that this supremacy of parliament was established as to the colonies of Great Britain. The English colonists had come to America under charters of various forms, but charters which gave the various colonies the right to make their own laws, within certain limits, but subject generally to the action of governors appointed by the crown, or to the action of governors and governors' councils so appointed. These colonies, therefore, having the right to make their own laws in their own affairs, proceeded to exercise these rights with great freedom. The colonies were so small and so far away, that for a long time
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were ended by some reasonable compromise, or else the people of the colony finally had their own way, because the governor gave in, or was ultimately succeeded by another governor who no longer opposed their wishes.
Moreover, the colonists were many of them well advised as to their rights, partly from reading and study, partly from enjoy- ing the rights of freemen in E!ngland, and partly because the Pil- grims lived for years in The Netherlands, to which country they had removed to enjoy a liberty in religious matters even greater than that permitted to them in England.
This being so, it is easy to see that in New England, in par- ticular, the legislation and the habits of the people became quite free from the conventionalities of the old world, and an atmos- phere of liberty came to pervade the country that had been quite unknown in their old home.
And now we must take note of the fact that not only did the customs, laws and liberties of The Netherlands influence many people in New England, but in our own State, in particular, we owe our constitutional development to the union of two legal streams, the stream of English constitutional and other law coming to us from England, and the stream of civil law coming down to us from Rome, through The Netherlands. Rome had gradually worked out a system of law and equity that enabled her to rule the then civilized world for a thousand years in accordance with the dictates of justice. The civil law of Rome, which is the foundation of the legal systems of continental Europe, was the foundation of the legal system of The Netherlands, and the or- der, stability and justice promoted by this system of law materi- ally affected New England governments. It was at the very foun- dation of the government established by the Dutch in the New Netherlands as they called New York, when New York was set- tled by the Dutch shortly after Hudson sailed up the great river that still bears his name.
Indeed, the civil law reached England through the Roman conquest and the Roman church, and it always has been and still is a point of much dispute between legal scholars as to how much the law of England has been affected for the better by the civil law. Whatever may be the truth as to the disputed fact, it cer- tainly is an undisputed fact that England drew from the civil
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law those great maxims of equity and justice that are at the foun- dation of what we know as equity jurisprudence, and, therefore, from Rome, on the one side, either through England or Holland, and from magna charta, and the common law on the other side, through England, we have two streams of law from which, by a process of natural selection we have picked the best to enrich our own jurisprudence.
At the time the Dutch settled New York, however, but little of all this appeared, for *they settled under a charter frcMn the Dutch East India Company, that had more reference to trade than to developing a great state. The natural consequence of this was that the early government of the New Netherlands was crude, and the settlers had but a slight part in it. As the popu- lation increased, another result was that these sturdy Dutchmen, who had enjoyed political and religious freedom at home, and who perceived that English colonists upon both sides of them were enjoying such freedom, demanded some part in the govern- ment, that they, too, might enjoy that freedom for themselyes. The contest over whether or not they should have any part in making the laws under which they were governed began while New York was still a Dutch colony, and continued for forty-two years, only terminating after New York had long been an Eng- lish colony. This contest was terminated when Thomas Dongan was appointed Oovemor, and instructed to redress the grievances of the colony by issuing writs, with the advice of his council, for the election of a ''general assembly of the freeholders". The general assembly of these freeholders was to have the right to rep- resent them, and to consult with the governor's council, in order that there might be made such laws as were—
''fit and necessary to make and establish for the good weal and government of said colony and its dependencies, and all the in- habitants thereof."
This first general assembly was elected and met October 17, 1683. It knew its own mind so well that by the 30th day of Octo- ber, 1683, it had made the first great charter of this State, sometimes known as the Dongan charter. That charter opens with the very direct and simple statement that it was made for the purpose of —
"the better establishing the government of this Province of
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New York, and that justice and right may be equally done to all persons within the same."
In the fewest possible words, it provides that the supreme legislative authority shall be in—
''a governor, council, and the people met in general assembly."
The governor and his council are to administer the govern- ment "according to the laws thereof "» The charter provides what the representation of the freeholders of the various counties in the assembly shall be. It requires that the governor approve of bills before they shall become law. It then contains three provisions of such importance that I will quote them :
'*13. {Freemen's rights.)— TBIAT Noe freeman shall be taken and imprisoned or be disseized of his ffrehold or Libertye or ffree Custom or be outlawed or Exiled or any other wayes destroyed nor shall be passed upon adjudged or condemned But by the Lawf ull Judgment of his peers and by the Law of this province. Justice nor Bight shall be neither sold denyed or de- ferred to any man within this province. "
*'15. (Due process of Law.) — THAT Noe man of what Estate or Condicon soever shall be putt out of his Lands or Tenements, nor taken, nor imprisoned, nor disherited, nor ban- ished nor any wayes distroyed without being brought to An- swere by due Course of Law."
'*20. (Martial Imdl reguMed.)^(rRAT Noe Commissions for proceeding by Marshall Law against any of his Majestyes Subjects within this province shall issue forth to any person or persons whatsoever Least by Colour of them, any of his Majestyes Subjects bee destroyed or putt to death Except all such officers, persons and Soldiers in pay throughout the Gk)v- ernment."
It will be seen that the first of these provisions is substanti- ally in the language of the famous provision heretofore quoted from nuurna charta: that the second is not from masma charta.
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By these provisions, then, the very first thing the colonists of this State proceeded to do was to secnre their own rights, to make it certain that they could not be deprived of them by martial law, or without due process of law. This charter however did not long continue in effect, because James II became King of England in 1685, and made no provision for an Assembly in Oov. Dongan's new Commission. King James, however, had to flee from Eng- land in 1688, and when William and Mary succeeded him, the Assembly was restored in 1689, under Gov. Bloughter and there- after it continued.
Upon this basis, the colonists of New York continued to take part in governing themselves through their Assembly, in spite of reactionary governors, until the Revolution. When the Revolu- tion came, and the colonies united in a Declaration of Independ- ence, such leaders as John Jay saw that the time had come for the people of the colony to adopt a new constitution, that would be in harmony with the great national change produced by the Revolu- tion, and would at the same time preserve these fundamental principles of law and justice which had been tested by centuries of struggle with tyrannical power.
It is a part of traditionary history that John Jay drew our first constitution, although we have' no direct tangible evidence to that effect at the present time. Whether or not it be the fact that he retired to the country for the purpose of drawing this constitution, it is certain he had a large part in its preparation, and that it was considered a model for such dociunents at the time. It was adopted at Kingston April 20, 1777, and it recites, briefly, the connection of New York with the acts leading up to the Declaration of Independence, and it embodies the Declaration of Independence as of the very substance of its body and spirit. In very direct terms it then provides that no authority can be exercised over the people of this State except ''such as shall be derived from and granted by them."
It next vests the supreme legislative power of the State in the Senate and Assembly of the State, determines how many sen- ators and how many assemblymen shall be elected from each coun- ty, provides a small property qualification for the electors, pro- vides for changing the representation in the Senate and Assem- bly when the census requires it, gives to the Qovemor the execu-
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tive power of the State, provides for a lieutenant governor, a treasurer, and a council, to be chosen by the Assembly frcMn the Senators, gives the Governor power to appoint judges and sherifF^, with the advice and consent of his councU, makes town officers eli- gible by the people of their towns, provides that ministers and priests cannot be elected to office, although^ the exercise of religion shall be free, and continues the right of trial by jury in all cases where it had theretofore existed. It expressly continues the com- mon law of England down to April 20, 1777 as part of our law; a very sound provision.
It will be seen from what has been said, that her^ we have a very complete government of the people, for the people, by the people. But I have not yet called attention to those provisions in this document that put limitation upon the power of the legisla- ture to destroy or impair the rights of the people themselves. The statesmen and lawyers who framed this constitution, however, were too mindful of the history that had preceded them, and of the struggle in which they were taking part, not to know that if the people were recognized as the source of all power, it might some- times be necessary to prevent the people from committing great acts of injustice, in violation of individual rights, through acts of the Legislature. It was, therefore, expressly provided that the Legislature in the future should pass ''no acts of attainder" ; also that no acts they should pass should ''work a corruption of blood''; and thus it was forever made impossible for the Legis- lature of this State to perpetrate some of the great wrongs that had been perpetrated from time to time by Acts of Parliament.
But our forefathers did not stop witii such mere limitations upon injustice, but, to affirmatively secure to every citizen his rights, they further provided, almost in the language of magna charta —
"No member of this State shall be disfranchised, or de- prived of any of the rights or privileges secured to subjects of this State by this Constitution, unless by the law of the land, or the judgment of his peers."
This language had proved efficient to protect individual rights through centuries of struggle in England, and so efficient in de- f eating unjust laws in violation of individual rights has it been in this country, and this State, that it has continued to be a part of
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our constitutions, in substantially this form, from the 20th day of April, 1777, to the present time. To be sure we have added to it that no man shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, but this is only a modem way of saying the same thing.
It is such language that has so frequently rendered it neces- sary for our highest oourts to decide that certain laws are unc<m- stitutional, and it is this language that has a history almost seven hundred years old, that is still troublesome to strong minded poll- ticians who have notions of their own that they would like to make into laws, whether or not they are consistent with individual rights. To be sure it has always been open to such politicians to appeal to the people for an amendment that would modify, or change, or cancel this provision of our Constitution, or entirely wipe out our constitution, but they have never dared to make an open issue upon this question, because a slight acquaintance with the history of the subject would furnish so many striking examples showing how unwise it would be to make such a change, that it would be useless even to propose it. In fact, from the time that substantially this language first found its place in magna charta to the present time, there has never been a king, or a political leader, who dared openly to question the wisdom and right of such a fundcunental provision of law and justice.
October 27, 1801, in Albany, a convention met to amend our first constitution, and it did amend it by providing for increasing the number of Members of Assembly and Senators; also by giv- ing a construction to the Twenty-third Article of the Constitu- tion as it stood that would give members of the Governor's Coun- cil the same power to nominate officers, which the Governor him- self possessed.
A slight consideration of these amendments will show that they really had to do with nothing more nor less than thef manner of nominating officers, and the number of assemblymen and sena- tors to be chosen ; in other words, they are confined wholly to gen- eral political offices, which is just what we would expect of con- stitutional amendments attested by the signature of A. Burr, as President of the Convention. These trivial dianges are the best possible negatiye evidence of the satisfaction giyen by the Con- stitution which had been in effect almost a quarter of a century when these amendments were made.
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Our next revision of our Constitution was made November 10, 1821, and goes more into detail as to the selection of officers and terms of office.
In the Constitution of 1821, the governor's council of selected senators disappears, and, instead, the judges and other import- ant officials still left to his appointment were to be appointed by him, with the advice of and by the consent of the Senate.
At that time, a provision was introduced to the effect that judges could not continue to serve as judges after they became sixty years of age, and thus we lost the invaluable service of Chancellor Kent as a Judge, but the world thereby gained Kent's Commentaries, the most important, comprehensive and valuable legal work that has yet seen the light on this side of the At- lantic.
The Constitution itself makes provision for the canal funds, and shows a growing sense of the importance of common schools, in the provisions made for a school fund.
The moral improvement of the time is evidenced by the pro- vision prohibiting lotteries; a provision that in 1894 witnessed further moral growth in the addition prohibiting gambling, under which horse racing in connection with gambling has since become impossible.
The Constitution of 1821 provided for the first time a quick and easy method of amending the Constitution, by passing any proposed constitutional amendment through two successive legis- latures and then permitting the people to vote upon it, and if the people approvied, thereby making such amendment a part of the Constitution. This provision has remained substantially unchang- ed as a part of our Constitution, to the present time, and under it we recently amended our Constitution so as to nullify the much discussed decision of the Court of Appeals in the Ives case, by permitting our Legislature to pass a Workman's Compensation Act, as it has since done.
In 1834, an amendment was adopted that evidenced the pros- perity of the State, by permitting the salt and auction taxes to be restored to the general fund as soon^ as the canal fund had been provided for from these and other sources. Another amendment was adopted the same year permitting the citizens of New York City to elect their mayor.
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In 1839, the Democratio tendency of the time further mani- fested itself in the provision permitting citizens of all other cities to elect their mayors, when authorized to do so by law; the mayors of cities having been appointed by the governor, with the consent of his council, or of the senate, until these constitutional amendments permitting their election.
November 3, 1^46, the Constitution of 1846 was approved. This Constitution represented the deliberations of a very eminent body of men, thoroughly representative of the steadily increasing Democratic tendency of the times, that wias then sweeping all over the world, and soon manifested itself in attempts at revolution in Qermany, Hungary, and otiier countries in Europe.
Instead of leaving the appointment of a large number of the State officials to the governor, including the judges, this consti- tution made substantially all officials, from the top to the bottom, elective, including among the rest the judiciary. It no longer left the judges to serve long terms upon condition of good be- havior, but, instead, it gave them comparatively short terms.
With minor changes, the government of the State has since 1846 remained substantially unchanged in form, as we know it today. The only recall provided for in that constitution was that savage form of recall or removal that came to this country from England with her colonists, which we know as an impeachment. The very first constitution adopted had provided for:
''impeaching all officers of the State for mal and corrupt con- duct in their respective officers."
And the Constitution of 1821 had retained this language and added, also, the words: ''and for high crimes and misdemeanors".
In 1846, however, these apt words defining the limits within which the Legislature could impeach a state officer were dropped from the constitutional provision, thereby apparently leaving it to the judgment and discretion of the Legislature as to whether or not tiiey should impeach a state officer for things done by him before actually taking office, and it was for this reason that it was permissible for the last Legislature to impeach Oovemor Sulzer for things done by him before he had become Governor of the State; although it will be remembered that the Judges of our Court of Appeals divided very evenly upon the question as to whether or not there was legal cause for his impeachment; and
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had the members of the Senate divided as evenly, he would not have been successfully impeached, no matter what his moral guilt, because it takes two-thirds of the Court of Impeachment to cessfuUy imi>each a state officer.
Aside from the great increase in elective offices,, and in mak- ing the judiciary elective instead of appointive, the Constitution of 1846 is also notable for the clearness of its first article, pre- serving the rights and privileges of all persons until taken from them according to the law of the land, or the judgment of their peers, in the very language of magna charta. Not only is the first article notable for this, but it is also notable for the clearness with which it preserves trial by jury, religious liberty, the right of habeas corpus, freedom from excessive bail, the right to just com- pensation for private property taken for public use, freedom of speech and of the press, the right to petition for changes in igov- ernment, and the right of the people to take any property in the State for public use, upon making just compensation.
For the first time, that Constiution gives what is known as ''manhood suffrage'*, by no longer attaching any property quali- fication to the voter, although it preserved the prox)erty qualifica- tion for the colored voter.
The large number of corporations that had already come into being then, through Acts of the Legislature and otherwise, gave rise to an article prohibiting the formation of corporations except for municipal purposes, except under general laws, and making other provisions with reference to corporations, especially bank corporations, whose stockholders were to remain liable to the ex- tent of their stock.
Common schools still remained entrenched in this Constitution, which provided for their support from the common school fund.
Simplification in the law was provided fon by abolishing the Court of Chancery, and giving general equity power to the Su- preme Court, and providing for the preparation of a ''written and systematic code*' of "the whole body of the law of this State". The eminent commissioners appointed to prepare this code pre- pared it, and a small part of it, called the ''Code of Ptttctice", was adopted; but it has been greatly enlarged and extended from
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practice in the civilized ivx>rld; consequently a Commission has been busy for more than a year trying to condense these 3,000 sections into a few hundred sections of statute and rules of court, that will give us, instead, a simple, inexpensive, and up-to-date practice, such as is now possessed by England, and by such States as Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey.
The Constitutional Convention of 1867 was composed of very able men, and proposed many radical changes in our Constitution, but the pec^le were not ready for these changes, and they voted them all down, with the exception of the Sixth Article, providing for longer terms of office and other important changes in connec- tion with the judiciary, and this article was adopted, and is at the foundation of our Court of Appeals and our Supreme Court as they exist today, although in 1894 changes were made that intro- duced an appellate division in the place of the General Term. In November, 1899, ain amendment was adopted providing for an in- crease in the number of Judges serving in the Court of Appeals, by giving the Qovemor the power, since exercised, to appoint ad- ditional judges to the Court of Appeals from the Bench of the Supreme Court, when the work of the Court of Appeals makes this necessary.
The Constitution of 1867 having failed of adoption, various amendments were made by the Legislature, or at the instance of a Commission that proposed certain amendments, between 1867 and 1894, the principal of these amendments being the ones that pro- hibited towns from giving aid to railroad and other corporations, and prohibited cities from incurring indebtedness exceeding ten per cent, of the assessed valuation of the property within the city.
In 1894, our Constitution was revised by a convention com- posed of able men, who had the wisdom to practically continue the Constitution as it stood at that time, with some changes as to terms of office, and some additions and amendments as to details. The number of Assemblymen and Senators was increased, and an important change was introduced in giving the mayor of a city veto power in case of legislation affecting his city, although the ViCto of the mayor only has the effect of requring delay, a pub- lic hearing before the mayor, and that the Legislature pass a vetoed bill over the mayor's veto by a bare majority. While this
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provision has not, perhaps, accomplished all that was expected of if, it has been of great value, because it has forced delay, and pub- licity and public discussion of amendments to city charters, and has resulted in not a few such amendments being defeated, be- cause of their vicious character.
The most notable single change in the Constitution of 1894, is Article IX, making it obligatory upon the Legislature to pro- vide— ^'for the maintenance and support of a system of free common schools, wherein all the children of this State may be educated."
The Regents of the University, and the common school fund, are also recognized as parts of the State educational system by the change then made, and it is expressly provided that neither the State nor any subdivision thereof shall, directly or indirectly, use the property, credit, or public money of the State, to aid or main- tain schools or institutions of learning ** under the control or direc- tion of any religious denomination".
By Article XII, as amended in 1905 and 1907, the State at- tempts to classify and r^ulate the affairs of cities, the idea be- ing to give cities a measure of home rule not then enjoyed, but it must be said that this article so far has proved rather ineffective. There is undoubtedly great need for a larger measure of home rule for cities, that shall be absolutely beyond State legislative tinkering.
In this brief review of the main features of our constitutional development during seven centuries, many things, in themselves important, are necessarily omitted. And what does this review suggest as to future changes t
It suggests that none be made that are not supported by sound reasons, as to which there is clearly known and favorable public opinion. A constitution is a document into which should be inserted no mere experiments in government; instead, it should contain foundation stones upon which a reasonably large majority of our citizens agree. We are to look up, not down, forward and not backward, in examining all proposed amendments, and when we think the road fairly clear, we are to make any needed change to make human righta more secure, and the burdens of government as light and even as possible. But when all is over, remember our government is only a means to an end, and that end is evenhanded justice.
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Of course all will agree that some changes should be made in our constitution; for instance, we have too many local bills that are needless or iinjnst. Now all local and private billfl> whether applying to cities or towins, or other local or private interests, might very well be required to be published locally in advance, and to be presented to the Legislature for passage only after a hearing upon them shall have been had before a Board composed of the Attorney Oeneral, the Lieutenant Governor, and the Speak- er of the Assembly, or some like body, upon due notice, and after such Board shall have approved them as worthy of consideration by the Legislature, notwithstanding any objections that may be made to them. In some such lawful way wa must cut down our large volxunes of laws all over the country; volumes largely filled with local and private bills, a large proporticm of which are either unjust or unnecessary. When we have forty-eight different State Legislatures busy making or altering lawB pretty much all the time, and the fifteen or twenty thousand statutes they pass about every year are more than any lawyer can possibly read, let alone understand, it is time to reform this abuse. For instance, the last Legislature of this State enacted 838 laws, filling four volumes of 2,487 pages, too many, too voluminous, too crude, the majority of them unnecesary, or worse. Instead of needing an ini- tiative to enable any busybody with nothing else to do, to formu- late a petition that will enable him to help these legislative bodies breed more laws, if possible, in a country filled with newspapers, public speakers, and public discussicm, we have plenty of ways of proposing and enacting new laws, and what we need most of all is some way to keep the good laws we have unalter.ed, and to prevent all these legislative bodies from foisting upon us any additional laws that are not well considered and sound.
'We can now change our Constitution in any respect after two Legislatures have approved of such change, and a bare majority of the people voting upon the proposed change have voted in favor of it, and when we can thus so easily and quickly add to, or wipe out, or change our existing Constitution, there is certainly no reason for having any further referendum upon the Constitution. Even now it is difBcult to get aa many as half the voters to vote upon a proposed constitutional amendment, no matter how imi>ortant it may be, and when numerous constitutional amendments have
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shown this to be the case, it is unwise to carry the referendum any farther as to the Constitation.
As to officials, the wisest ref erendnin is the referendnm that has been employed in New England for centuries, that is, the short term of office, that brings the officials up for reconsideration it may be every year, that the voters may consider and approve of their official acts, or may disapprove of them and elect other <^- cials to take their places.
As to the recall, as I have pointed out, the Legislature has the power of impeachment to recall all state officials for any seri- ous offense, and is now unlimited in the exercise of that power. True, it cost us $100,000 just for the lawyers on both sides, to try Governor Sulzer, but if we had had the recall, it would have been necessary to have had a special election all over the State to vote upon the recall, and it wx>uld have cost at least five times as much for that special election, to say nothing about all the incidental expense we would have been put to in public meet- ings and the like in getting ready for it. Crude and antiquated as the remedy of impeachment is, I am inclined to think it is bet- ter than any such recall in our great and busy State.
And when it comes to the recall of judicial decisions, does any one suppose that a recall of the decision of the Court of Im- peachment that impeached Governor Sulzer would have been any more just or lawful than the decision of that Court, even though the Judges of the Court of Appeals divided so evenly, and the political part of the Court so generally condemned Governor Sul- zert
I would change the Court of Impeachment by requiring aU impeachments to be before the Court of Appeals or the Court of Appeals and the Justices of the Appellate Division convened to- gether as a court of impeachment, thus shutting out the political part of the court that is likely to do injustice in such a case. But when we discuss the recall of judicial decisions, what does the average voter know about **the laws of the land", and ''due pro- cess of law," and similar terms that have come down to us from magna charta, imd like sources, during the centuries t
What chance would the average noor man stand afirainst a
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corporation having the money to hire able speakers and news- papers to present its side of the case in taking form, and the poor man being utterly unable thus to present his side of the case to a great body of voters who were to pass upon the right or wrong of the decision involved?
Whatever else may be necessary in the way of constitutional change, it seems to me extremely clear that just as it was neces- sary to make English judges independent of English kings, so it is necesary that our judges be independent of politics, so that they may know, when they make their decisions according to the evidence and the law, that those decision will stand, unless they are over- turned in the regular way by appeals to our higher courts. True, it is that even our highest courts are not infallible, but there must be an end of litigation somewhere, and it is better that the Court of Appeals, or the Supreme Court" of the United States, should pro- nounce tlie final judgment than that it should be pronounced at some election as the result of a harum scarum political discus- ion of the legal questions involved. If our highest court makes a decision, right or wrong, that is not satisfactory, we can adopt an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, as we adopted the Thirteenth Amendment and thus wiped out slavery and the Dred Scott case, or we can adopt an amendment to the Constitution of the State of New York, as we have just done, and thus wipe out the decision in the Ives case and authorize work- men's compensation.
What does the history of jgovemments, constitutions andl courts demonstrate to be the course of wisdom in the making of constitutions t First and foremost, we are to remember that no people will ever be contented with any constitution, or any system of law, that does not do its utmost to make every man equal be- fore thA law, and render to every man right and justice according to the law. Whether the man be poor or rich, whether he be liti- gating with the state, or the nation, or a wealthy corporation, or a poor workman, he should be certain that an independent tri- bunal, learned in the law, will hear the evidence and consider the
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ister the laws as to bring about eternal justice; for justice is eter- nal, and the principles of justice never change.
As all govemments are justified only if they cause equal jus- tice to be done to the millions of ''plain people", as Presictent Lincoln called them, we must, therefore, see to it that every one of these plain pe(^le is guaranteed that justice by the Ocmstitu- ticm, even as against all the rest of the people, or the highest <^- cials of the people. Written constitutions, and independent and competent courts to enforce them, are the only reasonably sure guarantees of justice for all yet established by mankind. Whether political battles, or civil war, result in settling fundamental ques- tions of justice and right, let written constitutions put what is set- tled into lasting f orm^ as was done in Magna Charta, and as was done as to the slavery question in the Thirteenth Amendment, and as to workmen's compensation in our recait amendment. But re- member whether it is a civil war thus settled by a constitutiimal amendment, or a foreign war settled by an international treaty, it may not stay settled unless you set up and maintain independ- ent courts to declare and enforce the law at the suit alike of a humble human being, or a great nation. It is thus only that peace, security, and human rights can he permanently safe- guarded.
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Widi Some Notes and Gmunents on the Amencanism of Herldmer and Hit
Troopt» the Americanwm of the RevohitioDaiy Mohawk VaD^
and die Piretent-Day American IdeaL
By Nebon Greene, Grand View-on-Hudson, N. Y.
Reader, let us, yoa and me, take a shiort trip into the ahadow- land of yesterday. Oar argosy will be (me of the flatboats which floated upon the Mohawk in the big days prior to the Bevolution and the fairyland of our voyage will be the wonderland of the Mohawk of that day— balf savage, half civilized— all encompassed by the great Adirondack forest
It is the year 1764 and! the stordy Schenectady boatmen are heaving against their shoulder pads and laboriously poling the la- den batteau against the flood of the dark river. Along the deated sides these strong men battle the current in answer to the cap- tain's commands of ^'bowsmen up", ''second men up". The captain handles the tiller and the four men in alternate pairs scurry forward leaning against their poles until they are almost on all fours, while; the boat shoots forward at an astonishing pace, considering its motive power. In the waist or hold of the boat lies a miscellaneous cargo of goods— a ton or more— in casks, crates and barrels. We can surmise the powder and ball, the axes, the cloths, the ^uns, the frontiermen's tools and the omni- present rum therein ooncealed. At the stem is a family of Ger- mans with multitudinous offspring huddled amid their packs. They are on their way to kinsfolk among the Qerman Flatts peo- ple on the river beyond the Little Falls.
Never mind about ourselves — nobody will ever notice a couple of twentieth century ghosts amid these lusty dghteenth century people of solid flesh and warm blood.
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Slowly our joum<ey lengthens ite way westward with the waning day. We passed the frowning Noses in the morning and skirted Fonda's brick house and Spraker's on our right and came to the great ''rift" called Eeators, where we ascended with tre- mendous effort the fall of ten feet We passed the rift at Gana^ joharie Greek and the stone Frey house on the north bank, where the first intrepid Swias Fr^y had settled— the first white man in the wide forest west of Schenectady. On the south shore lay Van Alstine's stone house. On we went past Ehle's stone house on the north bank past the rift below the Otsquago the wooden Dutch church with its glowing brass ball atop its steeple surrounded by a small cluster of buildings on the south shore. Then came Wormuth's, Wagner's and Block's stone houses on the north bank with another Dutch church near the latter. Many other smaller stone, log and frame houses did we see, to- gether with some Indian huts along the shore and some newer settler's homes on clearings back on the hills. We are nearing the end of the broad basin of the Mohawk which lies between the Noses and the Pall Hill and which the Mohawks along its banks have called "Canajoharie" from time immemorial, a river region twenty miles long.
At last our craft floats in the stretch of smooth deep water which lies below the Little Falls. A good easterly breeze springs up and the captain and crew set a mast and sail forward, and the tired watermen take a weU earned rest as the dumcfy craft glides slowly over the rippling waters.
We are leaving the upper or Ganajoharie Gastle of the Mo- hawks well astern and the outlines of the small stockade and the few frame and log houses of the Indians recede in the distance. We hear the boat's captain say that Sir William Johnson is to here erect a mission church for the people of old King Hendrick just as he here built the stockade for their defense ten years before at the outbreak of the war which ended in the downfall of Gan- adian French Empire.
The river here flows between wide fertile meadows or flats well cultivated by the settlers in the occasional log, frame and stone houses we have passed. Nodding fields of wheat and com wave in the breeze of this late golden summer afternoon. Great elms line the banks and cast theb shadows athwart us as we pass.
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On either side the dark green forest covering the hills comes nearly to the flatland's odge, while here and there black stamps dot a field wrested from the ever encroaching wilderness with in- finite care and human effort.
Along this forest edge, where the tiny figure of an occasional horseman shows the river trail or road, infrequently stand the habitations of the Qerman, British or Dutch pioneer river far- mers. The dense black smoke we see back on the hills comes from a clearing where a newcomer has located, on finding all the fer- tile fiats were long since occupied. Hie is burning white pine treeS) a hundred f eeft long and! six feet acrosB the stump to get a clearing on which to sow his wheat.
Seemingly blocking our journey to the westward in the dis- tance a great forest-covered bluff cuts across our route, rising ab- ruptly from this smiling fertile harvest plain. Its nortiiem slopes climb eastward in a great blanket of forest toward the Adirondack foothills. This is the Pall H511 through which our river and glacial ice cut a deep gorge in ages long past.
Th^re is a slowing of our craft as our helmsman swings the boat over to the southern shore and we make a landing at a low steep bank, where several skiffs are tied to trees on the shore. Back across a wide field, against a background of the ever present pine trees, we see a cluster of buildings incidental to the greater farms of the early Mohawk.
Chief among them is a large new dwelling of brick, whose out- lines seem palatial after the smaller houses and cabins wie have passed on our westward journey after leaving Mount Johnson, the stone river home of Sir WiUiam, some forty miles below.
Our boat's captain blows a long tin horn and a couple of our burly boat hands put several crates ashore, which are in turn put aboard a cart by a couple of black slaves who come hotfoot from the brick house which lies a full quarter mile distant across the broad fiats on which other blackamoors are sickling the yel- low wheat and binding it in shocks.
Along the path to the house comes clattering a horseman— **a big, square-built Dutchman*'. This is the owner of the new red brick house, of the old black slaves and of the big crates which are being put ashore. These crates contain new furniture for the new house and the horseman solidtiously superintends its
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unloadingy particiilarly as the hanclling has partly torn the wrap- pings trcm ODie, disdosing a red mahogany table leg with a clawed foot holding a ball.
''All aboerd^'y snd we are off again on our q>irit jonraegry af- ter having introduced oorselYes to Nicholas Herkimer and the red brick house he built on the banks of the M](diawk under the shadow of Fall Hill in the year of our L(^ 1764.
Today, after a varied existence of over a century and a half this same red brick house stands amid the same beautiful land- scape of fertile flatland, flowing river and wooded mountain. It stands much as Nicholas Herkimer built it and its future is in- violate because it is today (1915) the property of the State of New York who have entrusted its care to the General Nicholas Herkimer Homestead Association.
Man, with aU his puny efforts at war or civilization^ can but little alter the great forms of nature, and the landscape of old in this wide basin of the Mohawk remains much the same as a century and a half ago except that broad farmlands have mostly replaced the forest blanket of that day.
Then the Mohawk riveii and its paralleling Indian trails formed the Indians' and pioneers' westward pathway; today they are the nation's greatest commercial road and waterway frcmi the Atlantic seaboard to the Oreat Lakes, the upper Mississippi valley and the Canadian northwest.
No review of the Mohawk Valley is complete without due con- sideration of Nicholas Herkimer. The story of General Hlerkimer is the history of the early years of the Revolution in the Mcdiawk valley, while the history of the Herkimer house is practically that of civilization along the Mbhawk.
On April 3, 1752, Joban Jest HeiriBimer and his son, Hendriek Bjerkimer, were granted 2,324 acrea of land along the Mohftwk, aofuth of Intde Falb, which. w|B8 knowai as the Fall Hill Patent In May, 1760, Johan Joat Herkimer ccmveyedl to his son, Nicholas, 500 aiirefl of land (m nresent Danube), nortiona of the Fall Hill,
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bruA hoDBd^ v/bkh he btdlt on tbe land his faliier gave laim^ -y^iaa oomplerted in 1764 and ihftt is probably the date i^en he became here a leflident, two and one-half mileB below Hoe Little Falla.
The Herkimer house is today a dirine of American patriotism, not (mly for the people of the Mohawk Yall^, where General HIerkimer was bom and died, but for the people of all these Unit- ed States whose present freedom and democratic institutiiMis are largely due to the efforts and pure American patriotism of men like HIerkimer. To the dweller in the Mjohawk Valley the Herki- mer house, in its staunch construction represents all the best ideals typical of valley life and civilization. Around it clusters memory of men like Johnson, Brant and Eirkland, who here conferred with the hcmiestead owner. Joseph Brant was a dose friend of Herkimer and Samuel Eirkland, the famous missionary among the Iroquois, here Uved, about 1770, with Herkimer, and here a son, later president of Harvard College, was bom. We can imagine the plans that were here laid for valley and In£an civil- ization and advancement and that were here dSscussed between these two valley leaders of the day— plans that were rudely shattered by the outbreak of war in 1775. The Herkimer house was a center of American patriotism from the time of the first patriotic meet- ing in Palatine in 1774 until the General's death in 1777. Nicholas Herkimer, as lieutenant of militia, had served at Fort Herkimer in the French war, his detachment driving off an attack of the enemy in 1758. As chairman, for a time, of the Tryon County Committee of Safety and Chief Colonel of the Valley Molitia, Nicholas Herkimer made his Danube residence a center and stronghold of American patriotic activity.
From this red brick house Herkimer started his march to the battlefield of (Mskany and here is located the first marker of the many placed along tbaa famous route by the valley Daughters of the American Revolution imd other organizations in the summer of 1912.
The locality where Nicholas Herkimer settled in 1764 is one of the miost important in the history of the United States and of North America and even of the world at large, for it was dose to Herkioier's river home that the Great Upper or Oanajoharie Castle of the Mohawks was located. It is probable that this upper castle or stockaded village had been located here, near the con-
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fiuenoe of the Nowadaga, and the Mohawk prior to the Dutch oc- cupaiu^y in 1609. Thia Indian settlement is of the gneatest interest to stadents of American aboriginal life, as it wias the most impoort^ ant seat of the Mohawk tribe — ^the most powerful and warlike of that Iroquois conf edieracy wihioih largely shaped the destinies of North America and which is said to have greatly influenced the fathers of our own r^ublic as ^ model for their new United States of America. See ''The Mohawks" by S. L. Prey, one of the publications of the Oneida Historical Society. Mr. Prey lives (1915) on the Prey place at Palatine Bridge, which has been in the Prey family for 230 years. He is generally regarded today as our greatest authority on the Mohawks and their life.
King Hendrick, the great chief of the Mohawks, was here a res- ident and from here started for England in 1709 with three other Mohawk chiefs oa that eventful trip which cemented the Iroquois- English alliance at a critical period. From here King Hendrick and his 200 Iroquois warriors left to join General William John- son and his M]ohiawk Valley, Hfudsou Valley and Yankee Militia which 80 decisively defeated' the French* and Indian invaders un- der Dieskau at the battle of Lake George. On this momentous field, fate willed that Hendrick should fall, while Johnson, though wounded, here gained lasting fame and fortune. Gten. Lyman commanded the Americans throughout most of this action as Johnson was wounded in the leg at its commencement. Gen. Stark, of Bennington fame, fought here in Bogers' Rangiers.
In 1755 Johnson stockaded the Mohawk village here and it was called both Fort Hendrick, in honor of the fallen and lament- ed chieftain, and Fort Canajoharie. Here lived a young full- blooded Mohawk — Joseph Brant — ^who was later destined to be- come more fam^ons (and infamous) than the great Hendrick and whose sister, Molly Brant, was to become mistress of Johnson Hall and the lady of a great baronial manor as well as the brown chief lady of the Mohawk Valley.
In 1769 Johnson built here an Indian mission church for the religious instruction of the Mohawks. Here many Indian mission- aries preached, including Samuel Kirkland and here Brant evinced tiiat peculiar ^'piety'^ wbich, after the Revolution led him into the religious uplift of his people and the translation of the gospel
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of St. Mark into the Mohawk tongue. This church is still stand- ing in a good state of preservation.
Heire at Oanajobarie Castle^ or later Fort CSanajoharie, was an important gathering place for militia trainings and here Sir William Johnson met and became enamored of that pretty Mo- hawk squaw, Molly Brant, who subsequently became his wife. In a spirit of bravado die took a *'dare" fromi a young mounted militia officer and springing on the back of hde spirited charger the pair flew about the i)arade ground. Sir William was attracted by the spirit and beauty of face and form of the young squaw and soon installed her as the mistress of Johnson Ball. The Mo- hawk Valley militia, who played an important part in the last •French war, were several times here convened for active service and here also Johnson held important councils with Iroquois chieftains. The Mlobawfe Valley played a most imx>ortant part in the French and Indian war and the conquest of Canada (1760). The important expeditions for the conquest of Fort Niagara, Fort Frontenac and Montreal passed up the valley, as well aa a num- ber of other British- American expeditions which failed ignomini- ously. In several of these movements Fort Canajoharie was a factor of importance. In the year 1760 in which Herkimer's father gave him the Danube property and but four years before the Qeneral here built his brick house, Qeneral Amherst's great army of 10,000 British and Americans passed up the vall^ to Oswego on its way to the reduction of Montreal cmd the con- quest of CSanada. This most important event, in the very import- ant history of our most important valley and highway and water- way— ^this important event is barely mientioned in historical works dealing with the Mohaw|c Valley.
Warned by the gathering storm of rebellion in 1775 the greater part of the Mohawks left the valley with CoL Guy John- son, the Indian commissionar, and went to Canada. From there they, with their Tory and British and Hessian comrades at arms, Tf^iarred upon their former neighbors along the Mohawk. Their part in the Revolution, it is needless to say, was marked by the most hideous croelties, particularly against womi&n, and children, in which th^ were heartily joined by those **blue-^ed Indians" —their Tory comrades, who were generally renegades from along
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the MohAwk. When St. Leger's motley smiy of soldiera and say- a^es descended on Fort Schayler^ Atignst 2, 1777, Fort Oaiugo- hairie, then fall^i into deeay, was oocnpied by bat a few friendly IndiaxM^ women and childTen. Among these was M oUy Brant. On learning of Btartimer's plan to relieve Gensevoort's beleagored American garrison of Fort Scbnyler, this remArkable Mohawk woman sent a messenger froin the Can^joharie Castle to her brother, Gaptaia Joseph, then with St. Leger's ttoops and that sob- tie savage thereupon prepared the ambuscade in the glen at Orisk- any to entrap the advancing AmeiicaDS— an amboscade which Herkimer did his best to avoid, but into which he fell because of the mutinous conduct of his troops who insisted on rushing for- ward before Fort Schuyler was prepared for a mutual attack. Oriskany, which should have been an American victory, resulted in a drawn battle — the bloodiest in the Revolution. In effect, however, it was an American success and strongly aided in the British defeat at Saratoga.
At the dose of the Bevdution the few; remaining Tndians left the place and GaDajobarie Gaatle ceased to exist save only in memory and in its mission church, which still stands on the gentle slope of a low hill. Prior to the Bevolutioin, however, we have seen that here was an important center of valley Indian and colon- ial life and Herkimer's coming here in 1764, brought with him the vital elements of Americanism and patriotism to here work out their influence in the valley.
After Oriskany the .wounded Herkimer was brought on a Utter over the mountain from Fort Herkimer to his residence, reaching here August 7, 1777, and here he died of his wound August 17, after being assured by Golonel Willett that Arnold's relief expedi- tion was passing up the valley to Fort Schuyler.
Gaptain George Herkimer, who was with Nicholas at Orid:- any, was willed the house and occupied it until his death in 1786. A band of hostile Indians fired upon it in 1781 and l^Crs. George HIerkimer had a narrow escape from death. In the summer of 1783 Washington stopped here on his tour of the valley. Mrs.
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war of 1812 and was in action at Sacketts Harbor, when the Brit- ish were driven off. He sold the Herkimer honse probably be- cause the Erie canal was to be dug immediately in front of the place. It is pertinent here to remark that (General Herkimer was married twice, but left no descendants whatever. So far as known there is no one of the name of Herkimer living in the coun- ty of Herkimer at this writing, 1915, although there are prob- ably several hundred descendants by the female line from Johan Jest Hierkimer, the pioneer. For nearly a century after the sale by Judge Herkimer the Herkimer house and farm were occupied by a tenant, until its sale to the State in 1913. This in brief is the story of this famous Mohawk valley house.
The Herkiiner bouse externally is today (1915) much as it was when erected and the interior has been largely restored to its original form. To the south are the farm barns. More build- ings w)ere probably here at an early date, as Herkimer family ac- counts say that there were at one time 20 negro slaves attached to the place. To the southeast of the house, lies the Herkimer family burial plot where Hd^amere and their connections have been interred for nearly a century and a half. Here in 1847 War- ren Herkiiner, a grandson of George Hierkimer, erected the first monument over General Herkimer's grave.
In 1777 the Continental Congress appropriated $600 for a monument to General Herkimer, a provision which was never car- ried out. About 1890, the Oneida Historical Society started a movement for the erecticm of a memorial over Herkimer's grave. An appropriation of $2,000 for this purpose by the State Legisla- ture wiBS vetoed in 1892.
In 1895 the New York Logislature appropriated $3,000 for this purpose. (Chapter 618, Laws of 1895). In 1896 a fcuiher appro- priation of $2,500 was secured. A monument commii8si<(m of five members was appointed by Govemor Morton, which secured title to the burial plot and additional ground to thei extent of two and one-half acsrea A stone wall w]B8 built about the plot and a hand- some granite obelisk, 60 feet high, was erected.
On its north side is the single word '' Herkimer '^ in raised letters eight inches high.
On the west ade: "Erected by the State of New York, 1896.''
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On the south side: ''To the memory of General Nidiolas Herkimer, w)io died August 17, 1777, of wounds received at the battle of Oriskany, August 6, 1777, where oommanding the Tryoo. Counly ^itia, he defeated the English troops with their Tory and Indian allies."
On the east side is a cut, a facsimilie of tiie General's signa- ture taken from an old deed, "Niedas herchhimer" and under- neath it the words ''Honor to Patriots."
The monument was dedicated with Masonic rites on Novem- ber 12, 1896. See "Report of the Herkimer Monument Commis- sion, 1897." It is fitting here to say that the valley chapters of the Daughters of the Revolution and the Herkimer County His- torical Society, as well as the Oneida County Historical Society, bore a prominent part in this monument erection.
In 1913 the New< York State Legislature passed an act appro- priating funds for the purohase of the General Berkimer home and farm, (160 a<5res), which was put in the care of an associa- tion known as the "General Niciholas Herkimer Homestead As- sociation" composed of members of the Valley Chapters, Daugh- ters of the American Revolution and of the German-American AUiance. A caretaker is here resident and plans for the fitting out of the rooms with Revolutionary and Herkimer furniture and relics arei now^ (1915) under consideration. The house and grounds and burial plot are open to the public. Here many im- portant meetings of patriotic and historical societies have been held in recent years.
The Herkimer house (as it has always been called) offers a splendid opportunity for the ooUection, housing and exhibition of valley historical relics as well as of articles which will vividly illustrate Mbhawk valley &rm, home and Indian life of the im- portant hnstorioal x>eriod during which this house was built — ^the fruitful years of development between the ending of the French war in 1760 and the beginning of the Revolution in 1775. The Herkimer house is one of three pre-Revolutionary Mohawk Val-
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The following interesting descriptions of the Herkimer house are by Benson J. Lossing who visited the place in 1848 and by a reporter of the Albany Enickerbocker-Press which was printed in that paper October 1, 1913. These accounts are interesting be- cause LoflBing saw the Herkimeir house 84 years after it was built and 33 years after it had passed from Herkimer ownenahip. The Ejiickerboeker-Press reporter's visit was 149 years after the house's erection and 65 years after Lossing's inspection.
Pp. 259, 260, Vol. I. Lossing's Pictorial Field Book of the American Revolution:
''After breakfast I rode dow^ to Danube, to visit the resi- dence of Qeneral Herkimer while living and the old Castle church, near the dwelling place of Btrant in the Revolution. It was a pleasant ride along the tow path between the canal and river. Herkimer's residence is about twjo and a half males below Little Falls, near the canal, and in fuU view of the traveler upon the railroad, half a mile distant. It is a substantial brick edifice, wleui erected in 1764, and was a splendid mansion for tiie time and place. It is now owned by Daniel Conner, a farmer, wjho, is 'modernizing' it, when I was there, by building a long, fashion- able piazza in front, in place of the (former) small old porch, or stoop. He was also 'improving' some of the rooms within. The one in wilueh Qeneral Herkimer died (on the right of the front entrance), and also the one, on the opposite side of the passage, are left precisely as they were when the general oocupied the house ; and Mr. Conner has the good taste and patriotism to pre- serve them so. These rooms are handsomely wiainscoated with white piue, wrought into neat mouldings and panels, and the case- ments of the deep windows are of the same material and in the same style. Mr. Conner has carefully preserved the great lock of the front door of the 'castle'— for castle it really wlas in strength and appointments against Indian assaults. It is sixteen inches long and ten wide. Close to the house is a subterranean room, built of heavy masonry and arched, which the general used as a magazine for stores belonging to the Tryon County militia. It is stiU used as a storeroom but with more pacific intentions. The family burying ground is upon a knoll a few rods southeast of the mansion, and there rest the remains of the gallant soldier, as se- cluded and forgotten as if they were of ^common mold.' Seventy
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years ago tfaa Ooatinental CaagreBB, grateful for hia services, re- solved to erect a monmnjent to his memory of the value of five himdied dollars; but the stone that mlay yet be reared is still in the quarry, and the patriot inseription to declare its intent land the soldier's wiorth is not yet oonoeiyed: Until 1847 no st(»e identified his grave. Then a plain marble slab vmas set up with the name of the hero up<m it; and when I visited it (1848), it wss overgrown vf^th weeds and l^ambles. It wu ereoted by his grandnephew, Warren Heridmer."
Lossing also interestingly describes the Indian Mission churob whidi wias built 1769, at Oanajohtoie Oastle (now Indian Castle) about two miles east of <3eneral Herkimer's house.
The f <dlow)ing aooount is from the Albany Enickerboeker- Preas, October 1, 1913:
''The house is a two-story brick structure with basement and attic. The foundaticm is of limestone. The bricks are shorter than those made nowtadays and about six inches wide. The fire places are immense affairs, and are found in the basement as well as on the first and second floors. The hallwtay running through the center of the house ifi| a very wide one, and has in it a parti- tion shutting off the stairway. This partition may not have been in the original house. The walls are tiiick and the windows are panel backed and have w|indiow seats. The stair risers are from one inch to two inches higber than those now built. The boards in such of the original floors as remain are from twenty inches to two feet wide and it is evident that th^ were never run through a planer. The laths used are split by the use of a hatefaet, and the roof timbers are hewn oat of red pine and very substantial. In one part of the cellar are port holes, indicating that it was built to withstand a siege, and in the other to the rigbt of the firq^lace are the remains of v^bat appears to have once been a tun- nel leading out to the powder magazine.
''All the rooms on the first and second fioors are generous in size, and adjoining the main rooms are v^hat may have been re- cesses or sleeping rooms, connected by an arch and treated like an alcove. On the first floor are few decorative features. On the second floor is a guest chamber, said to be the room in which Gen- eral Herkimer died. The panels in the doors and under tiie win- dows are in gotfaic designs, and also have a Qreek pattern. The
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THE HOBiE AND NAME OF GENERAL HERKTMEB 377
numldmg ajxnmd the mantel and archway is omaineDted by ros- ettes some of which have been abstracted by vandals. This room easily might be restored with good effect. In the attic, the roof is supported by trusses and these are skilfully and substantially built.
''While th« outside of the walls might be improved by pointing up, it is noticeable that the mortar is solid and holds the bridoB firmily. Although these walls wiere built 150 years ago, the mortar is more solid than that in. the stone walls surrounding the ceme- tery laid in 1896. The roof is hipped, having a double slant. The powder magazine is situated undei: the large bam. in the rear of the house and about forty yards distant. This is an underground masonry structure about 18x24 feet and ten feet high. It has an archied ceiling of heavy masonry. At the front are two port holes.
' ' In the dooryard is a granite marker with bronze tablet, placed there by the GtermanrAmerioan Alliance of the state, June 14, 1912. It is surrounded by an iron fence. Nearby is w|hat appears to have been a neighborhood graveyard containing perhaps a hun- dred marked graves of memibers of his family. This graveyard is surrounded by a nuassive sUme wall laid random. It is covered with a creeping vine, which just now is scarlet, and the bright blue of the Michaelmas daisies make a strong oontrast in colors.
"The granite shaft erected by the State of New York in 1896, rises to a height of about seventy-five feet and is a stately monu- ment worthy of the man. It can be seen for miles.'*
General Herkimer's life may be briefly summarized as fol- lows: Bom near Fort Herkimer 1728, the son of Johan Jost Herkimer, an emigrant from the Rhine Palatinate; made lieuten- ant in the Schenectady militia 1758 ; repulsed a French and Indian attack on Fort Herkimer 1758; builds brick house in present town of Danube, Herkimer county, on land given by his father, and removes there from Fort Herkimer 1764; m^nber of Tryon County Committee of Safety and chairman for a time, 1775 ; in- strumental in formation of patriot Tryon county militia, July, 1775 ; commands Tryon county militia in conjunction with General Schuyler in the disarmament of Sir John Johnson and his Tory troops at Johnstown, January, 1776 ; chief colonel of Tryon coun- ty militia, August, 1776 ; made brigadier-general of Tryon county
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militia by ''convention of representatives of the State of New York," September 5, 1776; Herkimer has nnsuccessfol confer- ence with Brant at Unadilla May, 1777; BJerkimer calls Tryon county militia to arms July 17, 1777, to oppose St. Leger's invas- ion ; Greneral Herkimer in command of Tryon county militia starts march from Fort Dayton to Port Schuyler August 4, 1777 ; Gener- al Herkimer commands at battle of Oriskany, mortally wounded August 6, 1777 ; dies at home in Danube August 16, 1777.
It is not of General Herkimer and the importance of his ser- vices to our country or of the heroic fight of his farmer soldiers in the w)ood of death at Oriskany, that this paper treats, but it is his and his family name that the balance of this paper concerns.
In considering the name of Herkimer it is well to remember a few things regarding the settlement of the Mbhawk valley by different races. Following the settlement of Schenectady by Hollanders in 1661, the eastern end of the valley was peopled by Low Dutch. About 1713 the Palatine German immigration began into Schoharie and the western Mohawk valley. In 1725 the upper valley from the NcMsies westward was largely German while the lower or eastern valley from the Noses (near Sprakers) eastward was Low Dutch. Scotch and Irish later made settlements in Ful- ton county at Johnstown, Perth and Broadalbin and at Oierry Vhlley and some other points. With a few French, Welsh, English and Yankees these were the racial elements and their distribution in the Mohawk valley at the beginning of the Revolution in 1775. Some writers persist in confusing the Dutch and German ele- ments. They were considerably intermarried after a time. Three of Herkimer's brothers and sisters married Dutch residents, two of them being Schuylers. The Dutch Beformed ehurch was the strongest in the valley and spread the Dutch influence. It should also be very decidedly understood, in our consideration of Mo- hawk Valley history, that the Hollanders, and not the Palatines, were the first settlers along the Mbhawik. Th^y explored the lower valley as early as 1614 and were settiers therein over a half cen- tury before tiie arrival of the first Palatines. However, American climate environm^it and institutions were Amerioanizing all these peoples when the wlar broke out. Johan Jost Herkimer was of German birth, while Nicholas, although of German descent, was
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THE HOME AND NAME OF GENERAL HERKIMEB 379
American bom. It is well to remember these thingB in consider- ing Bferkuner's name.
The name of Hierkimer has many points of interest and many of its features have demanded considerable public attention of re- cent months.
The name of Herkimer has probably been spelled more vari- ously than any other American name both by HbrMmers them- selves, by State and military officials and by the public at large.
There is much that is confusing about the early history of the Herkimers in America as well as about their ^ame and its original form and the writer does not believe these miatters will ever be cleared up.
There is an assurance of truth, however about certain points which will be briefly enumerated. The ancestor of the family in America is generally considered to be Johan Jost Herkimer, one of the Palatine Germans allotted land in the upper Mohawk val- ley (from Little PaUs to Frankfort) by Governor Burnett April 30, 1725. This deed is known as the Bumetsfleld jmtent.
On this paper appears, for the first time in America, the name of Herkimer with its first spelling — ^''Erghemar.*' The Bumetsfield patent gave land to four of this name, viz. : Jurgh Erghemar, lot 44, 100 acres; Johan Jost Erghemar, lot 36, 100 acres; Madalana Erghemar, lot 24, 70 acres and large island in river; Catharina Erghemar, lot 5, 100 acres. These lots were all on the south side of the river. Johan Jost Herkimer's lot was about an eighth of a mile east of the present Fort Herkuner church. Here he built a house where he resided until about 1740. At this spot Nicholas Her- kimer, his eldest son, wtas bom about 1728. The original house was torn down about 1850. Its site was marked on June 14, 1912, wben Colonel William Feeter Chapter, Daughters of the Ameri- can Revolution, placed a marker here showing that this was the birthplace of General Nicholas Herkimer. Johan Jost Hterkimer about 1740 built the stone house which later became Fort Herki- mer as mentioned elsewhera
Further than the above facts concerning the early history of the Herkimers there is a divergence of opinion. Catharina Erghe- mar was the wife of Johan Jost Ei^hemar, who was a young man of twenty-five or thereabouts at the time of the granting of the patent. Jurgh Erghemar and Madalana Erghemar are supposed
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by some to have been parents of Johan Jost while others say that Jurgh and Johan Jost were brothers. Johan Jost was a native of the Rhine Pf alz or Bihine Palatinate in southwestern Germany. Some accounts say he came trom Hblland. This can probably be explained by the fact that many Palatines sailed. from HloUand and some, after leaving their Germad homes, lived in Hidland a long time before finally emigrating to America. Johan Jost Her- kimer may have lived in Holland some time and there he may have taken a Low Dutch wife which may account for the preval- ence of Holland first or given name forms among the Herkimers. This, of course, is mere supposition.
Now "Erghemar" is the translation by a clerk of the spoken sound of the ^me and does not necessarily give us the original form. We have the assurance of M)ajor John Prey that the origi- nal name wias ''Herchmer", and yet we know thiat Johan Jo0t Herkimer spelled his name both '^Hercheimer" and ''Herch- heimer", but these signatures were made many years after the Burnetsfield patent of 1725 and may not represent tiie original fonn. Also Johian Jost Herkimer spelled hiis name variously as did his son. It seems to have been a family failing of the time, and it is curious that neither father nor sons seemed to spell their names similiarly.
Major John Prey was a brother of Hendrick Prey, who mar- ried Elizabeth, sister of Nicholas Herkimer. Major Prey himself married a niece of General Herkimer's, so that he was well in- formed on the history of the family. Major Pr^ wtas a confrere of Herkimer's in all the patriotic movements in the valley prior to the beginning of hostilities along the Mohawk in 1777. Prey and Herkimer were both on the Tryon County Committee of Saf- ety and both were at Oriskany, where Herkimer was mortally wounded and Prey was captured and taken to Canada. Major Prey's account of the Herkimers says in part:
''The first Herkimer who came to America v^as from the Rhine Pf alz or Palatinate of the Khine. His name was spelled Hlerchmer, and there is a branch of the family now in Canada, who sDell it so now. He and his wife carried all their iroods and
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THE HOME AND NAME OF GENERAL HEHKIMEB 381
Indian, but showed the Indians some bread and wheat and by signs gave them to understand that he wanted to clear off a piece of ground and sow his wheat. But the Indians shook their heads in the negative, whereupon HIerkimer became very much cast down. At length the Indians told him to build a hut against the upturned roots of a tree and they assisted* him in building it. A few days after his arrival, the Indians invited him to help them bring a dugout canoe from the highland down to the river. (When he came to the canoe he took hold of one end of it to see howl heavy it was. When ha^raised it up^ the Indians looked at each other in astonishment at his strength. He motioned to them all to go to one end of canoe and he would take the other. They did so and when they came to the river the Indians came to him and patted him on the back and called him a bear.
''From that time Herkimer was at home with the Mohawk In- dians. They assisted him in building a good cabin. He cleared off a piece of ground and sowed his wheat and shared with them in hunting and fishing. From time to time he cleared more land and extended his cultivation of wheat. He used to take his wheat to Schenectady in a canoe, carrying it around the Little Flails on his back. He succeeded well and in a few years the British took his place for an outpost garrison and fortified it with a ditch and palisades and moved the three companies of troops that had been stationed for three years at the Frey place, which was also surrounded with pickets and fortified.
"Herkimer had a little store and was sutler to the garrison and traded with the Indians and ultimately acquired wealth and position. He was without a doubt the first of the early traders as far west as the (German Flatts. Others succeeded him: John Roof at Fort Stanwix, Hendrick Frey at Canajoharie, Jelles F<m- da at Oaughnawaga, and subsequently James and Archibald Kane and Boeeboom at Canajoharie ; but that he was the first trader at German Flatts there is little doubt."
The "eldest child" carried on the back of Johan Jost Herki- mer was not Nicholas Herkimer, for he was not the eldest child. The eldest child was Barbara Elizabeth, who was bom at Qerman Flatts about 1726, so that the child in question must have died, as Johan Jost is supposed to have settled on the Mohawk at least as early as 1721 or 1722. The Mohawfas called the locality where
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Herkimer settled Eoaari or Oquari, meaning ''bear". Herkimer seems to have started a small store after bis settlemenit and bis store and tbe adjaoent loeality beoama known as ''Herkimer's''. The large stone bouse and store bo boilt after 1740, became, after 1755, Fort Eouari, a name soon cbanged to Fort Herkimer. An interesting description of this bistoric boose may be found in Mrs. Cowen's "Herkimeis and Scbuyleis". During tbe enlargement of the Erie Oanal tbds historic building was unfortunately torn down about 1840.
Major Frey's account, we have every reason to believe, is authoritative both as the settlement of Johan Jost Herkimer at Kouari, and as to his name which Major !Frey says was originally "Herchmer". This is borne out by the fact that all of the early signatures of Qeneral Niobolas Hbrkimer are written "Nioolas Hlercbmer", and the eight or ten other variations of his name by himself came later. In the vernacular "M]ohawk Duteh" of Her- kimer's day the "ch" in "Herchmer" was pronounced like "k" just as it was in all the other variations of the name of Herkimer where "ch" occurs. Thus "Herchmer" was pronounced "Herk- mer" or, perhaps, to be more phonetically accurate, "Herghmer". Thus we see the close connection between this "Herghmer" pro- nounced slowly, as was the manner of the time, and the "Ergbe- mar" of the Bumetsfield patent. M you will pronounce both forms slowly you will see their phonetic similarity and their like- ness to a slowly pronounced "Herkimer" of the present day.
The writer believes that the original form of the name closely approximated that of the present one of "Herkimer". It was so spelled and pronounced as early as 1728. In an act of the Assembly of the Province of New York passed in that year ap- pears the name Johan Jost Herkimer and from there on for a period of sixty years we find the name frequently so spelled until its official sanction by the State of New York in the creation of the township of "Herkimer" in 1788 and in the setting oflf of the county of "Herkimer" in 1791.
While the sound of the name Herkimer has remained practi- cally the same since the arrival in America and the settling in the upper Mohawk valley of the first Herkimer, the variations in its written form have been numberless. The writer believes that it has had more chirographic interpretations than any other
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THB HOME AND NAME OF GENERAL FFRT^Tyii^^^ 383
American name, without exception. If there is any family name in the United States that has suffered more changes and written distortions, perhaps this essay will bring it forth.
It is weU known by aU students of Mohawk valley history that the names of the early Palatine pioneers were subject to a great variety of written forms.
In the ''Printed Proceedings Herkimer County Historical Society 1896" is a paper by Mrs. Mary Shepard Warren on the "First Settlers of the Mohawk Valley."
She states among other things that the following names which appear in the original patent have been modified until Pel- linger has become Bellinger; Pears, Barse; Pell, Bell; Edich, Edigh, Ittich, Bdick; Volz, Vols, Polts; Herter, Herder, Harder, Hatter, Harter; Schumacher, Shoemaker; WoUever, Wollaber; Welleven, Wohleben, Wolleben, WoUeaver; Teymuth, Temouth, Demot, Dimouth, Demooth, Demuth, Damuth; Deichert, Dygert; Kopemol, Coppemoll; Peiper, Piper. In the paper the author notes there were innumerable changes rung on the name of Herki- mer.
The Herkimer family, however, greatly exceeded any of the other "MJohawk Dutch" valley pioneers in the variety of its fam- ily name forms. The writer has seen nine signatures or tracings of signatures of Herkimers all varying in form and has unearthed, in all, eighteen forms of Herkimer signatures as signed to letters, legal, state or military documents. As to the writing of the name Herkimer by the members of the family and others the writer knows of forty differing spetlings of the name. Theee are the re- sults of the research of but one individual and there are probably many other forms that could be unearthed. As to the spellings by General Herkimer himself the writer is cognizant of nine dif- ferent signatures and there are probably others. But in all tiiese variations the name Herkimer predominates. We must remem- ber that a great part of these varying forms are due to the slip- shod writing, the carelessness and general lack of rudimentary education at and prior to the Bevolution. Also the use of goose quill pens, and particularly worn quill pens, make the deciphering of some of these signatures very difficult, so it is hard to say sometimes just what spelling was intended.
For reasons of analysis let us, in considering the name of Her-
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kimer, go from the large to the suLall— from the many writings of the name by the general public and ofScials, through those by the Blerkimer family, to the Herkimer signatures of General Nicholaa Herkimer.
The full list of all the forty spellings of the name of Herki- mer, which the writer has come across foUow:
Herkimer, Erghemar, Herchmer, Harkemar, Herchamer, Herchimer, Qerkemer, Herkermer, Harchamer, Herkheimer, Herchhimer, Hercimer, Herckheimer, Herkemier, Herkimar, Herk- mere, HarMmar, Herohmer, Herkman, Hei^emeyer, Herkymer, Herckimer, Herchemer, Harchjmar, Herchheimer, Herehkeuner, Hergheimer, Herchkeemer, Harcymur, Herkiemer, Harcamur, Herkhimer, Herkkimer, Harckhemer, Hermkemeyer, Her- kemeyer, Harkemer, Harkemeis, Eerchmer, Harkeman, Hhreniger.
This exceeds the famous variety of libe spdlings of the name of Shakespeare. Twenty-five spellings of the name of the Bard of Avon are given on page four of Joseph Hunter's *'New Illus- trations of the life, Studies and Writings of fflukbespeare."
Interesting spellings of tiie name of Herkimer are found in ''Calendar of Land Papers''. (State of New York, 1864.)
In the above record the name commonly written Johan Jest Herkimer is spelled as follows, with the dates of spelling: Johan Joost Herkimer (1750), Johan Jost Herckimer (1751), Johan Joost Hierkimer (1751), Johan Joost HercUheimer, (1753), Johan Jost Hierkimer (1754), Johan Joost Herchheimer (1765).
In the foregoing the name of (General ^Hcholas Herkimer is spelled as follows: Nicolas Herkem^er (1768), Nicdas Herkey- mer (1769).
The name of HenBrick Herkimer appears as foUows in the land papers: Hendrick Herkimer (1751), Hendrick Herckimer (1751).
On the F^ Hill patent of 1751 appears tiie names '* Johan Joost Herkimer and his son Hendrick Herckimer" linked as here.
In the ''Calendar of Historical Manuscripts in the Ofiice of the Secretary of State" (1866) the name of Johan Jost Herkimer has tile following variations: Herchemer (1737), Hanyost Hei>
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THE HOME AND NAME OF OBNEBAL TTERKTMEB 385
(1771), Hans Joost Herkiiner (1771), Hans Joost Herchlieimer (1774).
Herkuner's oonmusEdan as ''second lieutenant in the Scho- nectady Batalion, i^dieoreof WillJAm Wormtwood, Esq., is captain,'' is dated January 5, 1758. In it his name is spelled ''Han Nicholas Herchkeimer*' and "Han Nicholas Herchkimer". The Qeneral seems to have beensometimes£amiliarl7called"Honikol" evidently an abbreviation for "Johan Nicolas.*' The (Jenerars father's given name "waa " Jciban Jest". We have no record of the miatter but this suggests that the American brigadier's original name was "Johan Nicolas" and that like many another American (President Wilscm for example), he dropped his first name and used only the second. On Herkimer's oommisBion as brigadier- general of the Tryon County militia, his name is spelled "Nicholas Herkemer".
General Herkimer's name was spelled as it is today by writers contemporary with him, Qeneral Schuyler spelled it "Herkimer'* as did CSolonel Marinus Willett (wjho knew Hlerkimer and visited him on his deathbed), in his miost interesting description of the operations about Fort Schuyler. The Penmsylvania Evening Post of Philadelphia, in its issues of August 19 and 21, 1777, published a despatch from this front detailing the Oiiskany aiction and the American commander's name is given as "Oeneral Herkimer". Herkimer is by far the commonest eipellin^ in BevolutHmary times.
The spellings of the name of "Herkimer" by the Herkimers themselves which the writer has seen follow :
Herkimer, Herchmer, Herchemer, Herchhimer, Hercimer, Herkiemer, Harkemer, Herkemer, Harcjmar, Herkemier, Herch- heimer, Herkimar, Hbrckheimer, Hercheimer, Herkman, Herke- mere, Herkheimer, Herckmer.
The writer has tracings of nine signatures by Herkimers which appear in the foregoing eighteen forms.
In "Archives State of New York— The Revooltion" (1887), Vol. I., p. 392, the following names of Herkimers appear (evidently self-signed) as privates in the Tryon County M!ilitia: Geo. Her- kemer, John Herkemer, Geo. Herkemier, Nicholas Herkimer. Abraham Herkimar, Geo. Herkman, Jost Herkemere.
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On p. 297 of the same work appears the name of the Gen- eral's brother as ''Capt. George Herkheimer." As commanding oflSoer of the Tryon County Battalion of Minute Men (on the same page) his name reads: ''Cd. George Herkheimer/'
In "New York in the Revolution" (1898) the following Her- Mmers appear as privates in the militia regiments of Tryon coun- ty: In the Second or Palatine Regiment: Gerg Herkimer, Nicol Herkimer, Abraham Herkimer, Abram Harkimar. In the Fourth or Eingsland (German Flatts) Regiment: Jost Herchmer, Abra- ham Herckmer, George Herkimer, I<nchola8 HIerkimer, Jdin Her- kemer. The difference in spelling indicates that these men per- sonally signed these rolls and here we have Ave different spellings of the name by Herkimers themselves. It will here also be seen that the name was written "Herkimer" during the Revolution, as it doubtless was before, by the Herkimers themselves.
The writer has seen besides six different signatures by Gen- eral Nicholas Herkimer, tracings of personal signatures by two of his brothers and his father, from the manuscript collection of Dr. E. J. Abbott, of Fonda, N. T. The father signed himself "Jost Herchheimer," while the brothers signed themselves "Jost Harcjmar" (junior) and "George Harkemer." In the curious form "Harcjmar" the "j" carries the sound of "y," viz.: "Harkymar" as sounded.
Gteneral Herkimer's own signatures are many and varied. It is psychologically interesting to speculate on what curious mental trait is revealed in this variation of such a personal and intimate matter as a signature. The writer is cognizant of the nine forms which follow and there are probably many others. The signatures with the dates of their use (which have come under the observa- tion of the writer) follow in chronological sequence.
1. Nicolas herchmer (1764, 1765, 1768).
2. Nicolas hercimer (1765).
3. Nichs. Herchemer (1772).
4. Nicholas Herckheimer (1775).
5. Nicholas Herkimer (1776).
6. Nicolas Herchheimer (1776).
7. Nicolas herckheimer (1773, 1777).
8. Nicolas Herkiemer.
9. Nicolas Hierchhimer.
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THE HOME AND NAME OF GENERAL HEBEIMEB 387
These signatures occur as follows :
1. Signature on rolls of St. Patrick's lodge, No. 4, P. and A. M., Johnstown, N. T., April 7, 1768. Used many times else- where. The (General's commonest signature up to about 1770, Major Prey says '*Herchmer'' was the original family spelling. Pl*onounced '*Herkmer."
2. Lease of land, with others, to Sir William Johnson of land near Bumetsfield, Sept. 13, 1765; collection of Thomas B. Ptoctor, Utica, N. Y., '*Hercimer" would be pronounced ''Ber- kimer."
3. Prom ms. in the possession (1915) of Harry V. Bush, Canajoharie, N. Y. ''Herchemer" would be pronounced "Herke- mer.'*
4. Signature to document of Tryon County Committee of Safety. Sept. 13, 1775. See N. Y. Revolutionary Papers (1868).
5. Signature to letter to Maj. G^n. Ph. Schuyler, dated ''Canajohary, 25th Oct., 1776,'' from Vol. 1, '*N. Y. Revolution- ary Papers" (Albany 1868), pp. 519-520.
6. Signature to document of Tryon County Committee of Safety, Sept. 19, 1775. See "N. Y. Revolutionary Papers" ( 1868) . Pronounced ' ' Herkheimer. ' '
7. Signature (1773) in collection of Dr. E. J. Abbott, Pon- da, N. Y. Signature (1777) to will of General Herkimer on file in office of the clerk of the Court of Appeals, Albany, N. Y.
8. Signature on rolls of Tryon County Militia. See ''Arch- ives, State of New York— in the Revolution (1887)."
9. Signature on an old deed in the former possession of the late A. H. Greene of Little Palls, N. Y., Pronounced ''Herkhimer."
The writer has tracings of five of the foregoing signatures.
The earliest signature of General Herkimer of which the writer has information is one of 1764 and is an order for brick sent to the well-known Capt. Jelles Ponda, who had a fine brick house (burned by Johnson in 1780) at present Schenck's Hollow, at the junction of the Eanagara and the Mohawk, where the pres- ent Montgomery county home is located in a most beautiful spot under the shadow of the Big Nose. Herkimer was building his Danube house in this year and Capt. Ponda may have supplied Herkimer with brick, sending it up the river on flatboats. This, with other incidents disposes of the story (which is told of many
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old valley houses) that the Herkimer house was built of bricks brought from Holland. This note can be found in Simms's Frontiersmen of New York, Vol. I., p. 335, and is as follows:
Caned, Sdioharie, 6, 1764L
Bles do led de berer half as menne bris for a schimle as hie wants an so duing yu wil obleygs yur humble Sv.
Nicolas Herchmer. Capt JoUes Fonda.
So here we see how accomplished the General was as a phon- etic speller of old Mohawk Dutch-English and can surmise how easily he could, with his pen, take liberties with his own name. The bris means bricks, the ''ck" being carelessly omitted and all conversant with the English of old Mohawk Dutch folk will re- cognize '' schimle" as chimney. Even Captain Fonda's first name is wrongly spelled as it was '' Jelles" and not '' Jolles".
Another and well-known example of the General's ''Herch- mer" signature is that on the roUs of St. Patrick's Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 4 of Johnstown. Nicholas Herkimer became a member of this celebrated lodge (of which Sir William Johnson was the first master) on April 7, 1768, and on its rolls he signed his name ''Nicolas herohmer." Mr. Alfred D. Dennison of Johnstown bas most kindly favored me with a tracing of this signature which is here reproduced in facsinule, but slightly smBller than the origi- nal.
t?^z€:^;^£^y
Regarding this signature Mr. Dennison says: "The signa* ture is General Herkimer's own signature to the By-laws of St. Patrick's Lodge, No. 4, written at the time of his initiation, April 7, 1768."
Begardiug signature No. 5, "Nicholas Herkimer," it takes on great interest because it is the present form and also because it is appended to one of Hlerkimer's most important letters.
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THB HOME AND NAME OF GENERAL HWRKTMEB 389
The great castle of the Mohawks was the Canajoharie Castle at Indian Castle. Here was located Fort Canajoharie, a British post erected during the French and Indian war all of which has been mentioned. In Indian times and until the formation of Tryon county in 1772 the entire river section on both shores from the Noses to Little Falls was called Canajohary. The name was particularly applied to the section about the palisaded village or chief '^ castle" of the Mohawks in present Danube. It was not until about 1800 that the name became identified solely with pres- ent Canajoharie village and township, although (as is well known) the name ^'Oanajdiarie'' originated from) the great pot hole still visible in the bed of Canajcbarie Creek on the southern limits of the village — ^the original Canajoharie, or ''the pot which washes it- self." To the person unversed in Mohawk Valley Revolutionary history the various ''Conajoharys" of the time prior to the war for independence are very confusing. [See ''The Story of Old Fort Plain and the Middle Mohawk Valley," (pp. IX, X., 16, 17) by the writer, published 1915.]
The writer attempted to obtain a tracing of the signature to this letter but found that the original manuscripts contained in this important State publication had been destroyed in the dis- astrous fire in the State Library in the Capitol at Albany, several years ago. The letter was undoubtedly signed personally by General Hjerkimer although the body of it was evidently dictated to a secretary.
The invasion (feared by Herkimer at the time of the letter) did not happen until the following summer when Burgoyne and St. Leger made their disastrous British-Tory-Hessian-Indian in- vasion of New York, which eventuated in the battles of Oriskany, Bennington and Saratoga. In {he fall of 1776 Qen. Burgoyne was in Canada with a large British force, preparing for the subsequent descent upon the Hudson and Mohawk Valleys, and this fact gave rise to the fear of immediate attack by the patriots along the Mo- hawk River, as indicated in this Herkimer-Schuyler letter.
Great care was exercised in the preparation of this "Calen- dar of New York Historical Manuscripts," as is evidenced by the verbatim printing and the fact that Herkimer's signature appears therein in several varying forms as appended to military docu- ments or documents of the Tryon County Committee of Safety of
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which he was a memiber. The letter follows as it appears in full in the work in question. The Yi^oirda ''£aU EjII" probably should have been transcribed ''fall Hill".
Pp. 519-520. Vol— Calendar of New York Hfistorical Manu- scripts Relating to the War of the Revolution ; in the Office of the Secretary of State, Albany, N. Y. • • 1868.
(No. 16) [Mil. Comm. 25; 2541
Canajohary, 25th Oct. 1776.
Honorable Sir: I have to acquaint Your honor that last Saturday night Peter Ten Btoeck of the fall Kill, Hanyost Schuyler, Kachyaho Johnson, with about Twelve others from the Klau Burragh, went off to our Enemies. I endeavored to enquire for their Rout and found out a very credible person a wife of one of those Bun away & Traitors, that they are gone to Oswego in hopes to meet the Enemy there. The same woman declared that the leaders of this Runaway party received a letter from our Ene- mies, which mentions that within six days from the date of their escape the enemy would be assembled in Oswego. Sir John shall Command 600 Regulars and Twenty two Nations of Indians hav- ing joined them. An Indian Squaw was the Express of the above mentioned letter, to the Canajohary Castle, and a belt should have been sent from those Nations to Oneida, to invite them to join with those Threatenings, that if they would not agree to their proposal, they (the Oneidas) should depend upon, that they would be attacked first and not a child's life would then be spared-.
This hostile Invasion, says the above mentioned woman, shall exist soon, and surely upon our Mohawk River.
The Circumstances of our present situation are so powerless that we are not able to resist such a force against us and have noth- ing to expect but to be Slaughtered and Drove off to the Enemy's Pleasure. I must therefore lay and recommend this to your honors discreet consideration. Begging that you would please to procure us an Expeditious succor of Troops, to oppose such cruel enemies, and to stop and annihilate their fatal intentions. I must add that I apprehended already, that if we should not be assisted with a sufficient number of Troops, the Inhabitants or the Major part of them are inclined to lay down their arms before they would be so hdpless Sacraficed.
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It is really my opinion that now is the time to hinder the Enemy to invade the Country here and to ravage the Same. It wonld be a pity to let the true patriots of this Country in sueh a desolate condition, and therefore I don't doubt you will not delay with your needful assistance.
I flatter myself of your answer in a few lines by the Express, and am as always with great respect Honorable Sir Your Obdt Humble Servt.
NICHOLAS HEORKIMER.
P. S. I understand also yesterday of Oneidas passing my house, to go hunting that most all the Oneidas have gone at pres- ent to hunt, and but a few Chiefs left in the Castle.
To his Excellency MJajor General Philip Schuyler. Port Ed- ward.
After the Revolution there was a general settling upon the one name form *' Herkimer" by the members of the family them- selves and the public at large. So that no other name form has been used, other than ** Herkimer" for the past 125 years or more.
In 1788 the towns of Herkimer and German Matts were formed in Montgomery (formerly Try on) county, to replace the old ''districts" of German Platts and Kingsland. The town of Herkimer was intended to be on the south side of the river where Fort Herkimer, the seat of the Herkimer family, was located. German Flatts was the proposed name of the north shore town, where Herkimer now lies. A clerical error reversed the names of the towns making it more difficult for the student of Revolution- ary history of this section to place the German Platts and Herki- mer sections. It may be remarked that the whole river section west of Little Palls was known as **(Jerman Platts" prior to 1800. The town of Herkimer takes its name from Johan Jost Herkimer and Port Herkimer, rather than from General Nicholas Herki- mer, and it may be that even Herkimer county gets its name from the Herkimer family rather than from the brigadier as, when the county was created in 1791, the General's home and grave was in Montgomery county, the western line of which ran through Pall Hill up until 1817 when the western limits of Montgomery county and the eastern borders of Herkimer county ran north and south
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at a point where the East Canada Creek enters the Mohawk, just as they do today.
The creation by the State of New York of the township of H)erkimer in 1788, of the county of Herkimer in 1791 and (^ the village of Herkimer in 1807 gave the State's official seal of ap- proval to the form of the name which emerged as the simplest and best from the riot of family chirography which produced a score or more of others. It has been said that Herkimer is an ''Americanization". This is so to only a slight extent, however, as the difference between the original "Herchmer" and ** Herkimer" is very slight. However, if it is an ''Americanization", so much the better because General Herkimer was an American, first, last and all the time— one of the American makers of America.
The writer took occasion to protest, in the summer of 1915, against any tampering with the name of General Nicholas Herki- mer and of the family name of Herkimer. This protest took the form of a series of five letters which appeared in whole or part in the Herkimer Citizen, Dion Citizen, Frankfort Citizen, Utica Observer, Little Emails Journal and Courier, St. Johnsville Enter- prise, Port Plain Standard. Extracts or fiynopses of these letters were printed by the Gloversville Leader-Republican and the Her- kimer Telegram.
The several attempts to alter or add to the time-honored spelling of the name of Nicholas Hlerkimer have been as follows:
Hon. Warner Miller, (Ex-TJnited States Senator) of Herki- mer, gave the beautiful bronze statue of General Herkimer to the village of Herkimer, the presentation being made on the occasion of the centennial of Herkimer in 1907. It was an eventful afiEair and thousands were present and witnessed the patriotic exercises which marked the celebration. Citizens deeply versed in local his- tory, contributed important papers pertinent to the occasion.
The statue was modeled by a talented sculptor, Burr Miller, a native of Hlerkimer and the son of the donor. The bronze figure is most inspiring and one of the finest of its kind in the United States. The basic granite boulder is characterstic of the Mohawk Vialley and was placed as the base of the figure through contri-
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Herkimer, were largely instrumental in the placing of this boulder and the raising of funds for its location.
The statue and the boulder base represent an expenditure of $8,000 by Senator Miller and the citizens of Herkimer and Hlerki- mer county.
The name ^'Herchheimer" is on the boulder — ^no other name whatever appears thereon.
Later a bronze tablet was placed on a stone marker which stands beside the boulder. It has the following inscription:
''Statue of General Nicolas H^rchheimer. Gift of H<m. Warner MJiller. Placed on the boulder and presented to the Vil- lage of Herkimer by General Nicholas Herkimer Chapter, Daugh- ters of the American Revolution.'?
Here we have in enduring bronze the first example of this tampering with the name of Herkimer.
The General's name is spelled ** Nicolas Herchheimer," while the D. A. R. Chapter named for him is down as the ** General Nicholas Herkimer" Chapter, and the village named from the Herkimer family (not from the (Jeneral) is known as ** Herkimer."
Now for the second instance I copy the following from the Herkimer Citizen of Jan. 26, 1915, in its account of the meeting of the General Nicholas Herkimer Homestead Association held at Little Falls, Jan. 20, 1915:
''Dr. Sutro called attention to the fact that the real name of General Herkimer was 'Nikolaus Herchheimer.' Hie said he did not want to revolutionize the spelling or pronunciation of the name at this late day, but he suggested that, in the name of the association, 'Nicholas Herkimer' he followed in parentheses by (Nikolaus Herchheimier). This suggestion was unanimously adopted as an amendment to the name of the organization."
It is pertinent to here state that the name ''Nikolaus Herch- heimer" is a pure fiction, because he never wrote his name ''Niko- laus." Nicholas Herkimer spelled his own name in probably ten different ways but he never spelled his name "Nikolaus Herch- heimer." General Herkimer usually spelled his first name "Nicolas," which is an abbreviation of the Dutch name "Nicolaas." Very rarely be used the "Nichs." wbicb is an abbreviation for the English form of the name "Nicholas." On very rare occasions,
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he used the form *' Nicholas," but he never used the name ''Niko- laus," which is the German form. Still, the latest instance :
On July 5, at the General Herkimer home in Danube the ''General Nicholas Herkimer (Nikolaus Herchheimer) Homestead Association" held a flagpole and flag raising. Here the new badge of the association was first publicly seen. The steel flagpole was the gift of Congressman Snyder of the Herkimer district and bore a brass tablet reading ''Presented to the General Nicholas Herki- mer (Herchheimer) Homestead Association, by the Hbn. Homer P. Snyder, July 4, 1915."
The badge of the association first shown here publicly consist- ed of a bar bearing the insignia of the German-American Alli- ance and its decoration of German oakleaves, a ribbon of the Conti- nental and D. A. B. colors of gold and white suspending a circular gold medal on which was a representation of the Herkimer house surrounded by the inscription "General Nicholas Herkimer (Hercheimer) Association."
Here the "General Nicholas Herkimer Homestead Associa- tion" attempted to foster two "official" spellings of the name on one day— Herchheimer and Hercheimer. The Kamestead Associa- tion is directed by the German- American Alliance and the Talley Chapters of the Daughters of the American Bevolution in whose charge the house was placed by the New York Legislature.
Thus we see that on the boulder base of the spirited bronze figure of Herkimer at Herkimer, the name "Herkimer" does not appear, but instead the name "Herchheimer." The name "Herchheimer" is on the marker at the side of this statue. The name "Hierohibeimier" appears with. "Herkimer" on the bronze tablet on the flagpole at the H^Mmer house, while the name "Hercheimer" appears with "Herkimer" on the offidal badge of the AsBociatioiL
The writer suggests that a movement be started to obliterate these confusing and useleast variations of the name of Herkimer from all monuments or markers in Herkimer county, as well as from the name of the "General Nicholas Herkimer Homestead Associa* tion" itself. The writer believes it is, moreover, illegal for the association to add to the name given it by act of the Legislature of New York, without official amending of this act. It is a very
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creditable thing that the markers of General Herkimer's ronte from Danube to Oriskany bear only the name of ''Herkimer/' These were arranged for and put in position under the auspices of the Chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution of the upper Mohawk Valley in the summer of 1912.
It seems wisest for us all to stick to the single fi^elling of the name (as we always did up to 1907)— that sanctioned by the fam- ily and made official by the State of New York— (the sole spelling we have had for 125 years— the name Herkimer and the name Nicholas Herkimer.
It is pertinent here to speak of several matters which con- cern the history and Americanism of General Herkimer cmd his men. It bears directly on a number of phases of several different conceptions of General Herkimer, his Americanism, and what Americanism means. These remarks are not only pertinent to the Mohaw Valley but, particularly in these days, to our nation at large, they suggest matters which call for consideration and ac- tion on the part of all Americans. They contain the bitter thought that if, in these trying times, Americans do not rouse themselves and prove themselves worthy Americans in every way, our won- derful country may eventually loee its proud position as one of the world's leaders of liberty, thought and action.
Of recent years there has been a strong tendency in certain quarters to constantly affirm that General Herkimer and his men were Germans. Certain writers and speakers so refer to them. One instance was at the unveiling of the Herkimer monument in 1896. As shown herewith this is wrong, as Herkimer and most of his men were American-bom and Americans — ^nothing else. It savors of a concerted effort on the part of certain persons or so- cieties to ''control" the memory, chirography and history of the valley brigadier, just as does the affixing of the name ''Herch- heimer" to his monument at Herkimer and its bracketing with his name in that of the association which controls his home.
It is high time that Am,ericans discredited their un-Ameri- can efforts to exploit various nationalities at the expense of pure Americanism. These various racial propagandas pursued in this country are mischievous and hurtful particularly to children in the formative period and the thoughtless class of mature people, who are only too easily led into error.
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Similar movements would not be tolerated for a moment in European countries, any more than would our unrestrained and ludicrous immigration policy.
We need today real American leaders of thought just as well as American leaders of action and policy. More than anything else we need the instillation into our people of our old time Amer- icanism and aggressiveness and action — ^let us be first ''from Mis> souri" (a great safeguard) but after ''being shown" let us be quick to action and strike the hardest. It is in our strength and not in our altruism that the assurance of our national future lies.
Now the foregoing is all pertinent in that we should insist that these racial propagandas should not include the distortion of the Americanism of our great national figures. We refuse to consider Washington as an Englishman, Jefferson as a Welshman, Monroe as a Scotchman, Jackson as an Ulsterman or Van Buren as a Hollander. Furthermore they were not. They were separ- ated by several generations from their immigrant ancestors and, in that early formative period, one or two generations — ^yes even one generation — ^was suflScient to produce a true American. That wonderful American historian, Parkman, has shown how imme- diate was the change from the European to the American type in this country.
In the same manner Herkimer was not a Qerman, for he was American bom and an American from first to last, as were most of his little army of good American Htohawk Valley farmer militia. It makes little difference whether he spoke perfect English or had the broadest of Mohawk Dutch accenta Such things would not affect his Americanism which is evidenced in every act of his strenuous career — ^filled with effort for his native American land. The writer does not think that it is sufSciently brought out that Americans of colonial days considered their particular colony and, in a vague way, all the colonies as one land — ^" these United States of America." Early sporadic efforts at colonial union show this and the English government fully realized it and con- stantly endeavored to suppress the American idea. The French and Indian war was largely fought and its success attained by American militia and this has conduced largely to the feeling of Amerioan unity. But the Amerioan idea existed long prior to this and seems to have been strong around even the year 1700, at the dawn of the fateful eighteenth century.
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It is interesting, in regard to the foregoing to note that, in research among Mohawk Valley records, one finds no reference whatever to any jxarticular love or affection for the *'old country'* on the part of any of the early valley Amerioans^— whether Ger- man, Hollander, Scotch, Irish, English, Welsh or French. They were all mighty glad to be out of the *'old country" and in their new country — ^America — ^the only fatherland or motherland to which they owed allegiance — their own country just aa it is the one and only country of all real Americans today. And today, of «ill days, is no time for the brave old American idea to lie down and collapse from inanition. The danger is slight for, as the years pass, the nation will realize the strength of the old Amer- ican idea and reassimilate it.
It is needless to here show the futility of any foreign pro- paganda as directed toward our national history or our national historical figures. Our country is without a superior in its con- tributions to the sum of human knowledge, inventions, liberty, manufactures, industry, arts, literature, commerce, social wel- fare, government, politics — in fact to all the elements which go to the betterment and happiness of the human being. It is no dis- credit to us Americans that we have not as yet fully solved all the questions of a perfect social system. The land which first de- clared all men ''to be created free and equal" stands the best chance of producing, as nearly as possible, a perfect social system by the co-ordination of individualism and socialism. The pli- ability of our social structure, of our national character, and the general unity of our vast land gives hope that in America, at last, will be found the land of human happiness — as much as any such condition is possible. Such a realization, however, is only possible if we retain our old national vigor and utilize it toward such achievement. Certain concerted (and at present proposed) methods of united national action can conserve and improve our national and individual vigor, courage and defensive ability. *' A chain is no stronger than its weakest link." Recent years have shown our weakness. Let us pray that the links of Americanism may make the chain of liberty about our country forever invio- late. To attain that consummation let us clothe ourselves in the virtues of our Revolutionary American forefathers and adopt their uncompromising American spirit.
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There ure some poorly-informed foreign r^idents of this country who consider that it is populated entirely by British- Americans, Scandinavian- Americans, Holland-Americans, Franco- Americans, German-Americans, Italian-Americans, Russian-Amer- icans, Jewish-Americans, etc. Such ideas are absolutely false. Even today the majority of the American people have an ancestry dating back a century or more — ^they form a true American type and have nuide and built up our nation. The later comers merely have shared in the fruit of their labors.
Our American republic is the result of conditions of growth under American conditions and influences.
America makes Americana It is not the immigrant who makes America, but America that makes the immigrant and turns him and his children into Americans. This is the American spirit in every true American heart Aside from a social and political environment (peculiar only to America and unlike Europe) and our unusual individual opportunities in which the immigrant at once shares, our American climate and soil begin to influence the European settler here from the time he lands on our shores. Am- erican conditions change the shapes of the skulls and the bodily structure of the children of immigrants toward an approximation and flnal development (after a generation or two) of the typical American. No hoisting of foreign flags above the Stars and Stripes (by misguided foreign residents) can change this condi- tion. It is a scientiflc fact, much discussed and written about. It is a fact realized in America even in the early days. Mrs. Orant, in her famous ''Memoirs of An American Ladbr," tells how strongly the Dutch traders of Albany were influenced by their travels through the American wilderness and life among the American Indians, until they became, in looks and largely in spirit, more like the Indians than their Holland forbears.
The flrst pioneers of our land have left the deepest impress, because they were the flrst sculptors to begin to roughly shape the plastic clay. The three million Americans who were here in the thirteen colonies, at the time of the Revolution, have done far more toward the making of America and the upbuilding of civil- ization on the American continent than all the tens of millions who have landed on our shores. These latter merely joined the procession — they did not start, lead or direct it. This statement
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of Amerioanism is intended to show plainly that men bom in America were and are Americanfi — ^just as Nicholas Herkimer was an American. This country is American, American in spirit, and ruled by Americans and that American spirit — and it will always be American.
In regard to attempts to make our valley Revolutionary fighters Germans and not Aimericans, I would say that the major- ity of Herkimer's little army was composed of men who were one, two and even three generations removed from the German immigrants from the Rhine Palatinate, and as many or more gen- erations removed from their British, Dutch or French immigrant ancestors. If these valley Revolutionary jxatriots were not Amer- icans, then what were theyT
The writer does not mean to imply that the virtues and ser- vices of the (Jerman race in helping to settle and build up Amer- ica are not duly appreciated. They have been (particularly in the Mohawk Valley) the subject of much praise and many writings. (See the writer's *' Story of Old Port Plain and the Middle Mo- hawk Valley," pp. 147, 148.) But we must remember that no one race has been vitally important to the America of today, because it has been compounded of all the best races of Europe. We ap- preciate the importance of all the elements that have gone to the making of the American nation — ^the Irish, the Scotch, the Eng- lish, the Welsh, the Hollanders, the Scandinavians, the Germans, the Russians, the Jews, the SlavSj the French, the Italians, the Spaniards and even the Indians. Gov. Seymour has shown us how the strength of our nation depends upon the amalgamation of all these races into one strong type. If such amalgamation be- comes defective then it were for us to take means to remedy it by more stringent supervision (and restriction if need be) of the elements which enter into this amalgamation; for on our pure Americanism depends our national life and our national future.
We of America who call ourselves Americans resent an in- sistence upon the extra importance of one particular element or race— a propaganda as it were. We honor the good part of the old world icfeals, but we wlish here in America to build anew a social fabric and to be nothing but Amjcricans. It is deeply un- fortunate that any single race among us should fail to realize this fact or to understand our American character. It will eventually
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be their loss. Also any super-egotism which gratuitously depre- ciates our American nation will be its own destruction. Our tre- mendous and beloved land gives more to any immigrant than he ever brings to it. We are all but tiny parts of a great nation which is shaping itself and its future. Small as we or our of- ficials may be, the whole is splendid and impressive — strong and mysterious. Propagandisms intended to affect American Uf e are like the pebbles which, lying in the path of a mighty glacier, think they will stop it entirely, or at least deflect its course.
Our American ideal is not involved with that of any foreign country. Our American ideal is native to and born from Ameri- can soil, and developed by an amalgamation of races forming a special American human type — developed under native condi- tions—climate, social and political — conditions unique with Am- erica and North America.
Our American ideal is concise and clear cut and cannot be mistaken for that of any other national ideal. It admits of no double construction, of no ambiguity and of no alliance with, or mixture with the national ideal or ideal of any other country or countries. Any variation or attempted variation of our Ameri- can ideal is inimical to our national unity, solidarity and strength, a danger to our existence and future — a danger to American liber- ties and progress, and through them, a danger to the liberties and progress of the entire world.
Such attempted variations from our national ideal are com- pletely repugnant to all true Americans, whether of foreign birth or descended through many generations of American forbears — and a man of foreign birth may, by inclination and love for America, be as good an American (and somietimes a better Amer- can) than the man who counts back seven generations or more to his own American ancestor of foreign birth.
We have thousands of such foreign bom, true Americans, while WiC also deeply regret the presence here of many foreign bom men who, while they are so-called American citizens, love more and are far more loyal to their native land — their fatherland— than they are to their far better adopted one of the United States of America. These latter must be eventually totally eliminated as an influential element in American life — or the future of America will surely be imperilled.
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In this present world turmoil, which is rending the fabric of civilization and evolving a new social structure which is as yet undefined— in this annihilating cataclyami of wiar— the future of humanity seems to lie largely with America. Therefore we should strenuously endeavor to keep pure and undefiled our true Amer- ican ideals — ^ideals gained by the blood of our forefathers and passed on to us by their worthy sons.
In conclusion it seems pertinent here to add the following relative to General BJerkimer's character and position in Mohawk Valley, New York State and American history.
The * 'little Palls Journal and Courier" of Sept. 6, 1915, published a letter by the writer relative to a communication which appeared in that newspaper concerning the aforementioned ''additions" or "variations" of the name of Herkimer. In part the letter in question by the writer follows:
"Another item which caused me surprise was the deprecia- tion (intentional or unintentional) by your correspondent of August 24, of General Herkimer, particularly as it appeared in a paper published in a city close to the scene of the life work of the only valley Revolutionary brigadier. Your correspondent said, "<We all know that General Herkimer had so little education that he never wrote his name twice alike in English and I prefer to take the spelling used by his father, John Jost Herkimer, who in education, enterprise and industry, was far ahead of any of his children."
Now old Johan Jost Herkimer was a clever man, a great trader, builder and landholder, a man of enterprise and progres- siveness. He was a leader of the people of the upper valley. But Nicholas Herkimer, his son, was a far greater man than his father, for he w as a national and a world figure. His spelling of his name has nothing to do with his abilities. Shakespeare wrote his name variously but possessed one of the greatest minds of all time. C. P. Yates (in Simms) and others testify to the intelligence, ability, tact, fine manliness, executive power and leadership of Nicholas Qerkimer. He was a leader of the valley patriots. Not alone at the battle of Oriskany did Herkimer do his work. For two years before he organized and kept firm (with others) the patriot ele- ment in the valley— a most difficult task in such a chaotic period. The valley militia organization was largely due to him. He was
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chosen the *' chief coloner' of the brigade of Tryon county militia, and any man who was thus selected by a thousand brawny front- iersmen must have been a man of parts. Bom leaders are tre- mendously rare, but Herkimer was a bom leader and his presence and leadership in the valley at a critical time undoubtedly in- fluenced the history of our country and of the world at large, and aided in the progress of democratic ideals the world over — ideals which are today in Europe iuBpiring the battles against absolutism, military aristocracy and the 'divine right' of kings." And also the following extracts from the Fort Plain Standard of different issues:
**We who were bom in the M)ohawk valley I think consider Herkimer in something besides a personal light He embodies for us that sturdy, fearless independence, that love of liberty, that muscular opposition to wrong, which is the true American heritage and which should be the ideal of every two-legged animal that considers himself a man. Herkimer typifies for us also, our true Mohawk valley traditions and this explains to us his popular in- terest—interest which one man alone would hardly merit and a tribute which if personal would have been distasteful to the Gen- eral himself.
'' Herkimer's life and heroic death take <m additional Ameri- can lustre, for not only did the brave stand of his little American army at Oiiskany make it one of the crucial battles of the world, but Herkimer there received his death wound (together with two hundred of his brave fellow Americans) on the very day that the glorious banner of the United States of America^-the stars and stripes— was first flown to the breeze in the smoke of battle— from the ramparts of Fort Schuyler at the western end of that momentous battlefield.
'^ Nicholas Herkimer's life of loyalty, whole-hearted devotion, service and sacrifice to his country— America— land its ideals may well serve as an example to all Americans— native or foreign bom — both of the Mohawk Valley, of New York State and of the nation at large. Herkimer was not only an American, but he lived an American life for America — ^for America first and only.''
Let us have but one spelling of the historic American name of this historic American — ^Nicholas Herkimer.
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Courtesy of Mohawk Valley Chapter D. FORT HERKIMER CHURCH. ERECTED 1759 (Restored by Mohawk Valley Chapter D. A. R., 1912)
A. R.
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Defivered Before The New York Stale Historical AitociatioD at Old Fort Herkimer Church, October 7. 1914.
FORT HERKIMER CHURCH.
Mcrs. Estella Folts Callan, Regent Mohawk-Yalley Chapter, D. A.
B,. Eion, N. Y.
Mr. Ghairman, Members of the Hew York State Historieal Society and Gueets:
As Regent of the Mohawk Valley Chiapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, it is my pleasant duty as well as great privi- lege to bid yoa all welcome.
Welcome to this old church, whose very walls reverberate with historic reminiscenses.
For a few moments visit with me the ruins of the old church at Jamestown, Yirgroia. There stands only the towier of the most historic relic of America. It was the first church spire in this country lifted toward heaven. Prom that day to this, over three hundred years, the church has led the people through the wilder* ness of sin and laid broad the deep foundations of Christianity^ Civilization and Liberty.
Not long ago under the direction of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, much excavating was done around the old church and in time it will be completely re- stored and the cemetery surrounding it will be properly eared for.
Only seven miles distant from Jamestown yoa will find the old Colonial Capital of Williamsburg, the oldest incorporated city of America — ^its charter dating back to 1632. Old Bruton Church is one of the msost important and interesting features of the city. Five Presidents of the United States have worshipped within its walls, besides generations of statesman, warriors, Sen-
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ators and Governors. The font in the church is said to be one from which Pocahontas was baptized. They also have three com- munion sets, the Jamestown set, donated in 1661, the Queen Ann set and the third, the King George set. The church also possesses a rare old Bible presented by the late King Ed^viard and a beauti- ful bronze lectern, presented by Elz-President Roosevelt.
St. John's Church, at Hampton, has survived three wars and twice been laid in ashes, but the reverence for this sacred spot was an incentive to each time replace it.
Christ Church, at Alexandria, organized in 1773 and where Washington worshipped so many years, is filled with pleasant memories and contains many rare belongings, although the interior has been completely rstored. Leaving Virginia let us visit Massa- chusetts. A glimpse of Old Plymouth y^iiH reveal a modem gothio structure which replaces the old log meeting house, where the little band of Pilgrims worshipped.
Leaving Plymouth we find Boston rich in precious memorials upon every side. The Old North Church with Copps Hill near by, the (Md South Church, King's Chapel, the Granary Burying Ground and so many rare and interesting spots.
We are compelled to admit that Mjassachusetts has been most loyal to her soldiers and statesmen and honored their memory and their deeds by marking their graves with national emblems, and their historic spots are recognized by magnificent boulders and granite shafts throughout the entire State.
Giving them full credit for tbeir glorious reooird, let not the trials, sufferings and noble achievements of the people of the Em. pire State be forgotten. No other State has so noble and so glori- ous a history.
Pause one moment at New York City, at dear old Trinity, with its wonderful possessions and its broadening influences. And too, New York can boast of two rare old homes, the Van Cort- landt House and the Jumel Mansion.
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deed to those interested in the fact that General Herkimer's father petitioned for this church and i¥ias aa long as he lived a great factor in the life of the chnrtdiy as well as his coontry, and that (General Herkimer, his son, always worshipped here. If you will pardon the reference, your speaker is very proud to state that she is the granddaughter of the petitioner, four generations removed.
History tells us that since 1723 there has been a church on this same spot. For as early as 1730 Nicholas WoUaber deeded this site for a stone church, as the. amiaU log house which bad been used as a place of worship, had been outgrown by the needs of the community. An interesting bit of data is found in the will of Nicholas Feller, made in 1734, in which he bequeathed his pew in this church to John Christman. Then in 1750 Johan Jost Hergheimer (Herkimer), petitioned His Excellency, Gbvemor George Clinton, in behalf of the inhabitants to collect funds with- in this province to complete the church, but it was not finished until after the French and Indian War, which delayed its comple- tion.
It is said that the first liberty pole was raised here in 1755.
Because of the frequent attacks madie by the Frenoh and In- dians the church was surrounded with an earthwork in 1758. To it the inhabitants from miles around oame again and again for protection and refuge. No one suffered greater hardships during those trying times of the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars than did the people of this vicinity. This locality was over- run by savages more barbarous than the native barbarians of the forest. Time and again when the Indians were on the war path, homes were deserted and all worldly possessions left behind few the bloodthirsty savages wjiile our pioneer ancestors fled to Fort Herkimer for safety. Would we be willing today to endure the sufferings and hardships which they didt I fear not Bat it was these noble, sturdy people who founded our great nation.
Johan Jost Herkimer built his first home just about a half a mile east of this church, and in that home General Herkimer wns bom. The home is no longer standing, but the site has been marked by a granite marker placed there by the Col. William Feeter Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, of Lit- tle Falls.
Later, in 1728, Johann Jost Herkimer built another stone
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house about fifty roda west of the church, where Qeneral Herki- mer spent has boyhood and in fact, lived there until he was mar- ried, when his father deeded to him several hinndred' aores of land in the Town of Danube and ^ere he built the home in which he died. This home having been purchased by the State of New York is fast being restored, and it is a source of regret that we are not able to show you the home as planned, but we hope to do so later, when it is restored to its original self.
The home built west of the church was a very large stone house. It was fortified and called Port (Kourai) by the French. This Fort also played an important part during the time between 1756 and 1776, and wtas used as a storehouse for supplies for the soldiers. Several councils with the Qneidas and the Tuscaroras were held here and at a meeting in 1785 they ceded to libe State of New York all the land lying between the Chenango and Unandil- la Rivers.
In the summer of 1783 Washington and his retinue visited Fort (Kourai), established a magazine of supplies for the West- em garrison, sufScient for 500 men for ten months under the com- mand of Colonel Marinus Willett The Old Fort was utilized as a ten^nent house for many years; in fact until the Erie Canal was enlarged in 1840. It was then sold to the State by Bethel Palmer, and the stone of this splendid old building used to con- struct the locks near by.
This church, as before stated, was originally but one story high, but in 1811 a second story was added and the laige gallery. The door vMxsh was on the north side of the building wa» closed and the present entrance made on the west side. One can very easily note the difference between the old stone and the new in the addition and also the port holes. The keystone over the ori- ginal entrance bears the inscription: '' J. H. ESQ. 1767.'' (Pre- sumably the initials of Johan Jost Herkimer, the petitioner.)
You will observe the interior of the church is very quaint with its original high pulpit and sounding board; the narrow dainty stairs leading to the pulpit makes us wondier if anything but a slender clergyman could have ascended these stairs.
The first minister of this church was the Bev. Ifir. Bosencranz, of Dutch Reformed faith, very little is known as to the date of his ministry, but he was succeeded by his brother, the Rev. Abram
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Bosenkranz, and the records show that he was here as early as 1762 and eome historians claims the date to be 1754. He died in 1794 and for eight years the pulpit was supplied by a number of min- isters.
In 1802 the Rev. John P. Spinner was called and faithfully served the parish for forty-six years until he died in 1848. After the death of the Rev. Mr. Spinner, a great change took place in the congregation of the church, so many other churches having been formed nearby, taking from it many members, so that fin- ally, from what was once a most flourishing church with a very large congregation, it is left with few interested in its upkeep.
Through the efforts of the Mohawk Valley Chapter, Daugh- ters of the American Revolution, of Ilion, the classis of Mont- gomery County has taken the church in charge. The old church has wieathered the storms of almost two centuries and may it stand for many more.
It stands as a sentinel, guarding the sacred memories of the past, and in the old cemetery surrounding it, are the graves of many of the first settlers of thfe Port Herkimer settlement.
The interior of the church was renovated and decorated by the Mohawk Valley Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolu- tion, of Dion, and they have recently put a large concrete step before the entrance with this inscription impressed:
**This land was deeded for a church site by Nicholas Wolla- ber in 1730.''
On the south side of the church are found two very old tombs ; in fact the oldest in. the valley of the upper Mohawk. It is with the greatest feeling of awe and reverence that we read the inscriptions upon them. What a romantic story could have been written about them or possibly what unsolved mystery hovers about them. The inscription on one reads:
'*Here reposes the body of John King, Esq., of the Kingdom of Ireland, a Captain of His Mlajesty^s Independent Company of the Province, wfho departed this life the 20th day of September, 1755, in the 30th year of his age."
On the north side of the church you will find two graves marked with wreaths, the resting places of the parents of General Nicholas Hierkimer. As a mark of respect to the brave general it would be wiell for us laiter to tarry there a moment
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In closing I would say, 'We trust you will carry away with you tender mennories of this sacred old churdi, the oldest in the valley.
In this age of too great devoticm to commercialism- and per- sonal advancement; and in this time of strife and bloodshed across the sea, horrible cruelities of nvlary coupled with its every jealousy and hatred, echoes of whichh reach us in the farthermost hamlets, and affect us deeply and sincerely.
And I am sure you will agree with me vfiien. I say that it is restful and helpful to come together today to this old historic spot, to live apart from the world, even if but for a few moments. We all need moments of solitude and meditation such as these. The past and the present are indissolubly linked together. We could not separate them if we would.
''You can build more costly habitations, but you cannot buy, with gold, the old associations."
INCIDENTS IN THE LIVES OF SOME OF THE EARLY SETTLERS OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY.
By Hon. Charles Bell.
In the historical research of the inhabitants and events of the Miohawk Valley John Yost Herkimer stands out prominently.
He was bom in Qermany in the latter part of the seventeenth century ; came to this country in 1710 and settled in what is now Columbia County ; after a few years he moved to Schoharie Coun- ty and while residing there, he with others petitioned Governor Burnett for the right to purchase lands in the Mohawk Valley, and pursuant to this petition Governor Burnett in September, 1721, granted permission to him, with others, to purchase from the Indians lands in this county on both sides of the Mohawk River from Little Falls to Frankfort and a grant was obtained from the Indians in July, 1882. This was followed by the Colon- ial Patent, Bujmetts-field on April 30, 1725, which allotted to Jo- phan Yost Erghemer and 93 other persons the lots in this patent.
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house upon this lot and moved in and resided there for a number of years. Some evidence of the cellar still remains.
It was there that his son, General Nicholas Herkimer and probably his four other sons and eight daughters; were bom.
On June 14, 1912, Col. William Peeter Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, placed a marker on the north side of the highway on Lot 36 to let the traveler know there was the birthplace of (General Nicholas Herkimer.
Sometime before 1757 John Tost built a stone mansion a short distance west of here, which remained until about 1839. He died in 1775. He was a successful contractor with the Colonial Government in furnishing supplies to the garrison, and ^vas asso* elated with prominent men in the Mohawk Valley and else- where ; held public office and faithfully performed his duties. He became well to do for his time and was a strong and useful man.
This church is located on Lot 30 which was granted to Nicho- las Welleven, which is now called '*'Woolever.*'
Among the names in the patent to whom lots were granted are: Bowman, Edick, Herkimer, Fulmer, Polts, Pox, Helmer, Hess, Casler, Miller, Orendorf, Bell, Bellinger, Petrie, Rick- ert, Shoemaker, Stauring and Weaver— most of all these names were then spelled diflferently and pronounced diflferently.
"It is indeed a desirable thing to be well descended, but the glory belongs to our ancestors." However from these patentees there were and are many descendants who have been and are prominent in the agricultural, industrial and official life of the Valley of the Miohaw>k.
Lot 33 was allotted to Johari Michael Edpgh. He had a son, John Michael, Jr., who succeeded in title and possession. John Michael, Jr., had a son, Michael, Who was bom on this lot June 14, 1834, and who served as a Captain in Col. Peter Bellinger's Regiment of Militia from the German Platts District, Tryon County.
He was succeeded in occupation by his son, Michael, Jr., who was bom in 1772. Michael, Jr., was succeeded by his son, James, who was bom in 1809 and died on this lot in 1887.
Mrs. Amanda Widrick, a daughter of James Edick, succeeded him and who in turn was succeeded by her son, James Edick Wid- rick, the present owner and occui)ant.
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Five generations of the same blood and name owned and oc- cupied Lot 33 for 162 years and it is now owned and ooenpied by the seventh successive generation, 189 years from the original patent.
Frederick and Anna Mary Pell, afterwards called **Bell,'' were granted Lots 15 and 16 respectively. Frederick with one of his sons was killed by Brandt and his Indians in the attack upon the settlement in Henderscm's Patent in 1778.
Catherine Herkimer, a daughter of Johan Yost Herkimer, married George Henry Bell; he was well educated, active, and a Justice of the Peace for twelve years ; although not a militia offi- cer, he commanded a company at the Battle of Oriskany, was wounded and disabled for life. Hie had two sons in the battle, Joseph and Nicholas. Joseph was killed and Nicholas ran away during the action but afterwards regained his courage, came back and was sometime after killed and scalped by the Indians and Tories near his father's home.
Nicholas left a son by the name of '*Tost" who became a Col- onel and wealthy for his time.
Qeorge Hienry left a will in which he gave to his granddaugh- ter, Oatharina Bell, 50 acres and such of the household furniture as her brother, Hanyost, should think proper and the balance he gave to his grandson, Hanyost; he made his grandson, Hanyost, and nephews, George Bioserantz and Henry Tule, executors.
The will is dated February 10, 1804, and was probated Juno 13, 1807, before Philo M. Hackley, Surrogate. The will was signed ** Qeorge Henrick Bell."
The inventory on file contains among other things the fol- lowing:
One negro wench, value Sixty Pounds.
One large German Bible, value Two Pounds.
The cattle were inventoried at about Seven Pounds each and the horses at about 14 Pounds each.
The inventory of the estate of Yost, who died the 8th of No-
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Tub of pickled oabbage 3.00
Negro wencih IIO.OO
Sword, belt and sash 35.00
Pistol, holders and valise 13.00
Cag of apple aanee 3.0O
Cask of dried apples 1.00
Masonic apron 1.00
German Bible 5.00
This Inventory contains a large number of tables, chests and different colored blankets, and has in all 216 items besides 20 good notes and 15 outlawed notes, and is a very interesting docu- ment.
While much has been written of and concerning this historic church, and its early pastors, I desire to pay a tribute of respect to one of its later pastors, Bev. Doctor Daniel Lord, minister pastor and physician.
He preached Sunday afternoons in the summer months dur- ing the 80's and if there is such a thing as a minister fitting into a pulpit, Dr. Lord, plain anJ dignified, broad and refined, elo- quent and cultured, fitted into and filled this historic pulpit and ministered to the many hundreds who came from far and near to see and hear him.
HERKIMER'S MONUMENT.
Miss Clara Louise Hale Bawdon, Regent Astenrogen Chapter,. D, A. R., Little Falls, N.Y.
Mr. President, Members of the New York State Historical As- sociation, Ladies and (Gentlemen: Deeming it a great honor to appear before this splendid and representative organization and ait the request of Col. Yrooman, I present these facts regarding the monument erected in memory of General Nicholas Herkimer, the hero of Oriskany. In pursuance of the laws of 1895, Chapter 618, (Governor Morton appointed five men commissioners to obtain title to tine land and thereon erect a monimient, for which an appropriation was made by the Legis- ture of $2,500, and which by the appropriation, asked on the 15th
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of February, 1896, and granted by Chapter 531 of Daws of 1896, raised the total amount to $5,500. The men appointed were: John W. Vrooman, Titus Sheard, Alonzo H. Gteen, Elijah Beed, David H. Burrell. The monument wfas completed and dedicated on November 12, 1896, the report thereon being made to the Legislature January 18, 1897. On the north side of the base of this monument, whose total height is 60 feet, is the single word ''Herkimer" in eight inch raised letters, on the west **Ereeted by the State of New York 1896," on the south **To the Memory of General Nicholas Herkimer, who died August 17, 1777, of wounds received at the battle of Oriskany August 6, 1777, where command- ing the Tryon County militia, he defeated the English troops with their Tory and Indian allies." Under the words "Hianor to Pa- triots" is cut upon the east side, a fac-simile of the Generars sig- nature ** Nicolas Herchimer," taken from an old deed. The dedi- cation day of this long delayed' tribute to a hero was a gala one in the Mc^wk Yialley, and with pardonable pride I state, the then newly formed **Astenrogen" Chapter of Little Palls, the first between Utioa and Albany (the name Astenrogen given by the Mohawks to this locality), had a large share in the impressive ceremonies. I may be pardoned if I also state that in the same year, 1896, a resolution was drawn by this Chapter, the public attention called for the first to lihe matter of the greait desirability, the very great appropriateness of making the homestead, so close to his resting place. State property. Addresses that day wtere made by men famous in Masonic, military, judicial and civic Ufe. Of these General Butterfield, Judge Earl, Judge Hardin, Alonzo H. Green have passed to the Great Beyond.
That the services of Herkimer were recognized by the Conti- nental Congress, is evidenced by the fact that in October, two months after his death, a resolution was passed that a monument should at the cost of $500.00 be erected to his memory, and the Gk)vemor of New York received the communication in these words: ''Every mark of distinction shown to the memory of such illustrious men as oflfer up their lives for the liberty and happiness of this country, re- flects real honor on those who pay the grateful tribute, and by holding up to others the prospect of fame and immortality will animate them to tread the same path." Of this resolution, en-
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closed to the Tryon Ckranly Committee of Safety, by Governor Gkorge dinton, he wrote: *' While with you I lament the causes. I am impreseed with a due sense of the great and justly merited honor the Congress has in this instance paid to the memory of the brave man." Of him our iounortal Washington Ti^ote : **Her- kimer firat reversed the gloomy scene of the northern campaign." **The severe blow General Herkimer gave Johnson and the scalp- ers under his command" are the words of General Gates. In an- swer to Herkimer's report General Schuyler said: **The gallantry of you and your few men that stood with you and repulsed such a superior number of savages reflects great honor upon you." **The pure minded hero of the Mohawjk Valley served from love of country, not for reward," are the recorded words of our great historian, Bancroft.
That resolutions often \fail is shown by the fact that no money was ever appropriated in pursuance of the resolve of Con- gress. In 1827 Governor DeWitt Clinton urged on the Legislature the erection of a monument to General Herkimer and the bill for that purpose failing, in 1844 Judge William Campbell, author of Tryon County Annals sought unsuccessfully for an appropriation from Congress to redeem the 1777 pledge, renewing the applica- tion, but again without success to the succeeding Congress. Sup- ported by a petition of the New York Historical Society, for sev- eral terms a member of Congress between 1870-1880, Hon. Clark- son N. PottOT, also sought, but without result, to carry out the 1777 res\>lution by obtaining the appropriation. That the Centennial celebration of the Oriskany battle was productive of good is evi- denced in the receiving from Congress by the Oneida Historical Society, aided by the then President of the Society, Hon. Horatio Seymour, the sum of $4,100, being the $500.00 pledged in 1777, with the accumulated interest.
^'At length it is seen complete justice has been done in the completion of a monument which should have been reared a cen- tury ago by a grateful people," are the words of Judge Earl the day of the dedication.
Of the facts connected with the Battle of Oriskany we are all familiar— Herkimer's quick response when danger threatened, his call to arms of all able-bodied men, the gathering at Port Day- ton, the onward march, then the awtful battle recorded as the
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bloodiest of the BevoluiticHi. We are familiar with that nnexeelled example of heroism which today we have seen depicted in bronze by the sculptor's art.
Herkimer-Oriskany — To the west in majestic beauty rising against the autumnal sky stands the Oriskany Mcmument, bearing the names of fallen heroes, wfao gave allegiance to their general end their life for the eause. On the highway for miles eastward stand memorials to the men who made that historic march, the enduring stone and bronze typical of their sturdy characters. In the east rises a shaft of rock dressed granite, amid af scene of un- excelled pastoral beauty and bearing the word ^'Herkimer." There in the shadow of the home so dear to him the hero sleeps^ ''His work well done, his race well run, his crown well won."
HERKIMER HOMESTEAD.
Mrs. Delight E. R. Keller, Regent Col. William Feeter Chapt^, D. A, R., Little Palls, N. T.
The General Nicholas Herkimer Homestead ia situated on the south side of the Mbbawk River, two and one-half miles east of Little Falls in the town of Danube.
In 1760 Johan Jest Herkimer conveyed to his eldest son, Nicho- las, 500 acres of land, portions of Lindsay's, Livingstone and Fall Hill Patents, and on this land in 1764 he erected this fine old homestead. It wias built of brick at a cost of $8,000, and at that time was one of the elegant homes of the valley. Because of the hostile oonditioiDS of the country, it soon became a ''fortified'* house and it was here that helpless women and children fied for protection. Its hospitable doors were always open to both rich and poor alike and often during those troublesome times the vast attic wias filled with mothers and their little ones who were pray- ing for the safety of the men who had gone to meet the enemy.
In this house were enacted consultations by the committee of
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From here Herkdmer issued his command to all men between the ages of 16 and 60 to rally for the protection of the homes in the Mohawk Valley, and then with his brave men, went out to meet the foe and make famous the battlefield of Oriskany.
To this bouse he returned after victory and gathered his fam- ily about him and with hia Bible in his hand, gave up the life he had sacrificed for our freedom.
This baptism of soul and blood has made sacred every brick and timber of the Old Herkimer Home, and a precious monument to the heroes of Oriskany.
Tardy recognition of their bravery has been made to Herkimer and his men, and until recently many people living almost under the shadow of the house have been ignorant of its historic value, and the famous route to Oriskany.
But today all honor is given to these heroes. During the after- noon, some ladies from the Canadian border said to me, ''You need not feel so proud of Historic Mohawk Valley and Oriskany. We of Canada entertained St. Leger first." To this I replied, **Yes, and because of our brave Herkimer, you also entertained him last."
When I became Begent of Astenrogen, my attention was call- ed to the importance of preservinj^ the Herkimer Home. I began the work and you know the result. Last February I wias called to Albany, and was present at the meeting of the Land Board when the State of New York purchased the Herkimer Homestead, and the keys of the house w)ere put into my hands.
Patriotic men and women, descendants of the men of Orisk- any—Herkimer's Home is ours— preserve it, care for it, love it, precious monument to the men of 1777.
FORT DAYTON.
Mrs. Frederick E. Milne, Regent General Nicholas Herkimer Chapter, D. A. R., Herkimer, N. T.
Fort Dayton, the site of wMch we have just visited, was one of the chain of forts along the Mbhawk Vblley, wbSch played such an important part in the latter part of the Revolution.
It was built in 1776 by Colonel EKas Dayton of New Jersey
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more particularly as a place of refage for the nearby inhabitants when attacked by the Indians.
Soon after its oompletion, tte fort was given in charge of Captain Allen wdtb a protecting force of 123 men andi four swivel guns. In July, 1777, (Jeneral HIercheimer received information that Colonel St. Leger had left Canada on his expedition to the Mohawk Valley and had arrived at Fort Stanwix, so (General Hercheimer issued a proclamation calling on all able-bodied men between 16 and 60 years of age to meet and march to repel the invaders.
In a few days General Bercheimer was informed by a half- breed Indian that St. Leger 's forces wtere near Port Stanwix.
It was then that he gave the order for the Tryon County mili- tia to assemble at Fort Dayton. The response was prompt and on August 4 General Hercheimier with about 800 men left Fort Day- ton on that memorable march.
The ambuscade and bloody battle at Oriskany on August 6th are memorable facts in history. The day after the battle the sur- vivors returned to Fort Dayton and the fear and anxiety of the garrison and inhabitants on learning of the repulse at Oriskany and failure to relieve Fort Stanwix oan well be imagined.
At the risk of their lives, Colonel Willett and Major Stock- wtell left Fort Stanwix and broughft word of the situation to Gen- eral Schuyler, so General Arnold with' a force of volunteers went to Fort Dayton, arriving about August 20th, and with the militia started the second expedition for the relief of Fort Stanwix.
The British and Indians, learning of Arnold's approach, hastily abandoned the siege and returned to Canada. For about a year Fort Dayton was occupied by soldiers alono, there being no occasion for the protection of the nearby inhabitants.
In the fall of 1778 Brandt and his Indians entered the Mohawk valley from the south and attacked the settlements surrounding Fort Dayton. A brave man, John Adam Helmer, however, warned the people, who hurried to Fort Dayton, leaving their homes and belongings, which were burned by the savages, but no attempt was made to capture the fort.
Having no homes the people w|ere obliged to continue at the Fort and when they tried to cultivate the sorronnding lands,
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many were killed by the Indiazia In 1781 Fort Stanwix was destroyed by fire and Fort Dsijioa wtts then, strengthiened and en- lai^ed, becoming a very important point.
The exact boundaries of Fort Dayton could not be aacertained, as no trace of the fort was found except what was supposed to be part of tho old brick oven of the fort about in the middle of the block north of the Court House, so it is probable that the spot wbere stands the monument marker was within the stockade.
THE HERKIMER ROUTE.
Extract taken from the report prepared by Mrs. Charlotte A. Pitcher of the marking of the Herkimer Route.
On Pl€ig Day, 1912, the people of the Mohawk Valley paid a great tribute of gratitude to the heroes of Qriskany, when a chain of fourteen granite and bronze memorials were unveiled along the line of march of General Herkimer and his army to the battlefield. With what joy and satisfaction the Daughters of the American Revolution who had worked so faithfully for the cause witnessed the consummation of their plans!
**We owe these markers," said one of the speakers of the day, **to the energy that has preserved Mount Vernon and a thousand sacred places in city, village and town, — ^to that spirit, that pluck, that genius which is highest and best in nature — in the home, church, the school and society— the state and the nation's life — ^the first and the last, the American woman."
The first marker, placed at the Herkimer homestead by the German American Alliance, told the story of General Herkimer's start August 3, 1777, to take command of the troops who had volunteered to fight in defenae of the valley.
The second was erected by Caughnawaga, St. Johnsville and Henderson Chapters, in memory of the men from the nearby set- tlements who answered Herkimer's call to arms.
The third, placed by Col. William Feeter Chapter, marked the birthplace of the hero of Oriskany. Impressive features con- nected with the ceremonies at this point were the reading from the family Bible used by Gen. Herkimer of the thirty-eighth
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PBalm, which he read shortly before his death, and the display of the identical master's jewel which was worn by Sir William Johnson, baronet, when Nicholas Herkimer received his Masonic degree in 1768, in St. Patrick's Lodge, which held its meetings in the historic Johnson Hall at Johnstown. Even the sword worn by Qen. Herkimer at the battle of Oriskany was in evidence on this occasion. The precious Herkimer relics were loaned by Col. John W. Vtrooman, the speaker at this marker, a kinsman of Oen. Herkimer, and may be seen in the rooms of the Herkimer County Historical Society.
The site of Fort Herkimer, where the wounded general rest- ed when returning from the battle of Oriskany, was marked by Astenrogen Chapter. Close by, that ancient landmark the old Port Herkimei* Church, stands like a grim sentinel guarding the spot. Here Gen. Herkimer spent his boyhood. Here he render- ed gallant service defending the early settlers from the incur- sions of the French and Indians. Here, in 1775, the first Liberty Pole was erected in the Mohawk Valley.
Crossing to the north side of the Mohawk, Gen. Nicholas Herkimer Chapter and Kuyahoora Chapter placed the fifth mem- orial on the site of Fort Dayton, now Herkimer, where Gen. Her- kimer took command of the Tryon County militia.
Setting out the fourth of August, on the long march through the wilderness for the relief of Fort Stanwix, the army camped the first night west of Staring Creek — ^the point marked by the Mohawk Valley Chapter.
On the morning of the 5th the patriots turned to the south and crossed the river. Col. Marinus Willett Chapter erecting the seventh marker here.
At the overhead crossing Oneida Chapter marked the Great Ford of the Mohawk, fifteen hundred feet east, which was used by Gen. Herkimer and his army.
The ninth marker was erected by the school children on the site of old Fort Schuyler. At the conclusion of the exercises here luncheon was served at the beautiful new Hotel Utica, the only intermission in the day's program.
The tenth marker, placed by the Utica Chamber of Com- merce, denoted the turn westward.
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Courtesy of Oneida Chapter D. A. R. ONE OF THE FOURTEEN MONUMENTS MARKING ROUTE TAKEN BY GENERAL HERKIMER FROM HIS HOMESTEAD TO THE ORISKANY BATTLEFIELD
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BROSa TALKS 419
The eleventh memorialized the toilsiHne journey aicng the winding Indian trail, through the present Whitesboro Street, and was erected by the enterprising Boosters' Club of Utiea.
Pushing through the dense forests, Herkimer and his men reached their final encampment before the battle. Fort Schuy- ler Chapter, Sons of the Revolution, marked the resting place of the rearguard, and Oneida Chapter the head of the column, the camping ground extending from the Sauquoit to the Qriskany Creeks.
The most sacred ground of all, the battlefield, was reserved for the Oriskany Chapter and the Sons of Qriskany. Here they erected the fourteenth and final marker, not far from the famous beech tree which sheltered the wounded Gen. Herkimer when directing' the battle. Here he calmly faced the enemy and gave orders which saved his little army from destruction, turned the tide of British invasion and decided the fate of a nation. ''Here," said Washington, ''Herkimer first reversed the gloomy scenes of the opening years of the Revolution."
It is interesting to note that in most instances the memorials were unveiled by members of the Herkimer family, although Gen. Herkimer himself left no descendants.
On Flag Day, 1912, surely New York State, too little recog- nized for her contribution in behalf of American independence, oame to her own, so far as honoring Gen. Herkimer and his heroic army is concerned. All along the historic route Old Glory waved from every house and vantage point. The Mohawk Valley was in festival attire. The people cheered and the school children waved their starry banners and lustily sang the songs of their country. Floral tributes were reverently laid on the markers. Military escort wfts provided and martial music lent its charm. The Boy Scouts were everjrwhere, mounted and on foot, a pic- turesque feature of the triumphal progress of unveiling cere- monies which were inaagurated at nine o'clock in the morning at the Herkimer homestead and' closed at the battlefield at sun- set. Truly June 14, 1912, was Patriots' Day in the Mohawk Valley!
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HISTORICAL FEATURES IN ROME.
From circular prepared by Rome Chamber of Commerce.
At the siege of Port Stanwix, Rome, on August 3, 1777, the stars and stripes were first unfurled in battle. On the 7th day of the preceding month of July Congress had adopted the form of the flag and when the news reached Fort Stanwix, it was standing off a siege by St. Leger's forces. The white shirt of a soldier, a petticoat for the red, and the blue of an officer's over- coat were sewn together and flung to the breeze over the fort where it proudly floated until lowered by friendly hands! for Fort Stanwix was an exception to every other fortification in the **01d Thirteen" in that it never surrendered.
In Colonial times Fort Stanwix guarded the Carrying-place from the basin of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers to the streams which drain to Lake Ontario. The portage was about three miles long, the Indians making use of a somewhat shorter one when "going light." The forts to the north had fallen and the Mohawk Valley was guarded only by this one fort, Colonel Gan- sevoort, with seven hundred fifty men, commanding. The bat- tle of Oriskany did not bring relief. It was the report of Bene- dict Arnold's advancing forces '* numberless as the leaves of the forest," brought by a half-witted Tory, and the stubborn fight- ing of the defendants of the fort that finally sent the British back to Canada. The flight once begun became a panic and their path was strewn with arms <ind accoutrement thrown aside. It was thus that the carrying-place was preserved to the Ameri- can arms and a decisive blow given, preventing the union of St. Leger's and Burgoyne's forces and the cutting in two of the ool- onies.
The old portage was from the Mohawk River a short dis- tance below East Dominick street past Fort Stanwix (now Rome Club) and the present post office, westward to Wood Creek, ca-
£ -_ x"L ^ J. T -X J.
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SHOET TALES 421
ment have since that time been recovered from tu reek bot> t(»n, from which the water was diverted on the boiluing of the Erie Canal.
In 1797 the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company com- pleted a canal which skirted the then southerly margin of the village, connecting the navigable waters of the Mohawk Biver and Wood Creek. This canal was two miles long, had a brick lock at each end <ind a feedei: from the Mohawk Biver in the center and boats of forty tons burden were by it enabled to pass the entire distance from Oneida Lake to Schenectady.
On the 4th of Jidy, 1817, ground was first broken at Rome for the excavation of the Brie Canal. The place selected for the ceremony was a few rods west of what was then the United States Arsenal near Wood Creek, and to Oneida County Judge Joshua Hatheway of Rome waa assigned the honor of casting the first shovel-full of earth.
More recently Rome has added to its historic interest by the erection four miles north of the city of the Delta dam, which confines the water of the Mohawk, preventing the annual fioods in the valley and conserving the water to feed the Barge Canal when completed. Important as a transportation point in early times, its extensive industries, particularly in brass and copper, of wfhich it uses one-tenth that manufactured in the United States, have continued its importance in more recent times.
LORD HOWE'S BURIAL PLACE.^ William D. Goold, Albany.
(Verse inspired by dedication of the Lord Howe Memorial Tab- let at St. Peters Church in the City of Albany on Miemorial Sunday, May 30, 1915.)
''Beneath this pavement lies The body of Lord Howe." Strangest of mysteries 1 Will some one make it known —
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And quickly, pie How underneath thk sUme Lord Howe can lie. When up at Ti These eyes of mine have seen, Upon the village green, A bit of stone whose cry To every passer-by Is that same ''Here doth lie The body of Lord Howe"t Well now!
I'd like to know, as I have said — Mind, I don't question Lord Howe's dead! — But can his body lie Up there at Ti And also here at Albanyt It don't seem possible to met And yet therein a paradox we see ; A paradox, for both stones say ''I lie Above the body of the EngUsdi Lord" And truth and falsehood both are in that word I But s<Hne day— on that mom When the loud summoning horn Of Gabriel bids the dead arise- There 11 be a great surprise In store for those who wait beside One of those stones! But whicht I oan't decide; Old Ti is satisfied Lord Howe is buried there: St. Peter's knows The grim black carven square Of slate which shows Within her weU-wom pave, Marks the dead hero's grave; "
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Courtesy of the Rector of St. Peter's Church, Albany
LORD HOWE MEMORIAL TABLET (In vestibule of St. Peter's church, Albany)
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THE BATTLE OF PLATTSBURG.
PRIZE ESSAY.
Edifviapd O 'Toole, Jr., Ossining, N. Y.
In every noteworthy straggle or undertaking there has always been someone who stands out as the principal figure, someone whoee name is always coupled with the memory of that event or achievement. This is because there is always one person who takes the leadership in situations requiring trained minds, clearheaded- ness, and foresight. Thus Themistocles receives most of the credit for "the victory of the Grecian fleet over the superior Persdan fleet in tie Bay of Salamis. Scipio's name is forever linked with the defeat of Hannibal, the brilliant and terrible enemy of the Bo- man people, wihile Nelson and Trafalgar are. synonymous in Eng- lisb history. In our own country, George Washington is known as the "father of his country," Madison as^'the father of the Con- stitution." It was during the presidency of the latter in 1814, that a new name and occurrence were emblazoned on the pages of American history. The name wtas that of Thomas Macdonough, the occurrence was the battle of Plattsburg.
It was in 1812, during the latter part of Madison's first term, that war was declared with Eligland. The United States were wholly unprepared for war, having a regular army composed of less than seven thousand soldiers, many of whom w|ere raw undis- ciplined troops. England's. navy far outclassed the American ships in number and equipment. From the outset our land forces met with disaster, but the few Yankee warships surprised the world with their astonishing successes.
The land reverses, altiiougb they were balanced by the sue-
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toriee became more and more acute. In 1813, Perry's famous victory on Lake Erie and the subsequent recapture of Detroit and regaining of the Lake Erie frontier brought temporary relief to the American cause, but the situation that arose in 1814 brought renewed forebodings, for the downfall of Napoleon in Earc^>e enabled several thousands of Wellington's veterans to join the British forces in Canada.
The English now held control of the frontier from Niagara to Lake Champlain, and fearing no resistance from that region, laid their plans for an invasion of United States territory by way of the Champlain Valley. The first obstacle which they would en- counter was Plattsburg and plans were accordingly made for its capture. This was to be accomplished by a simultaneous land and naval attack.
The Americans at Plattsburg were not idle in the face of this danger. General MSacomb prepared to defend the town with his small force and labored incessantly erecting redoubts and plac- ing obstacles along the British line of march.
The command of the American fleet on Lake Champlain had been entrusted to Commodore Macdonough, whose quiet, resource- ful manner inspired confidence among the American supporters. Both British and Americans began to build ships in preparation for the conflict. Otter Creek, fifteen miles southi of Burlington, was the scene of American activity in ship-building. Vergennes, seven miles up this creek, was the actual site of the navy yard and was surrounded with swamps that made it safe from land attack, while shore batteries guarded it from an attack by water. There, Macdonough's fiag-ship, the Saratoga, w^ built and launched. Then in company with the schooner Ticonderoga and the sloop Preble, it took a position in the narrows north of Plattsburg, and during the following summer, prevented the English forces from entering, thus giving the Americans unmolested use of the lake in transporting militia and supplies.
Macdonough in order to keep pace with the ship-building ac- tivities of the British, persuaded the Navy Department to author- ize the building of another ship. Accordingly a new ship, the Eagle, wjas started at Vergennes, the keel being laid July 23, 1814. By August 11th it was completed' and on August 29, it joined the rest of the fieet in the narrows.
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LORD HOWE STONE (Unearthed at Ticonderoga Oct. 1889. Now Preserved Black Watch Memorial)
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The British army, consisting of about fourteen thousand vet- erans and a number of well trained and officered recruits, with Sir George Prevost, Governor-General of Canada, as commander started for United States territory August 31st. By the sixth of September they had taken a position before Plattaburg, where they waited for the British naval commander, Downie, to bring up his fleet.
Meanwhile Macdonough had left the narrows and had an- chored in Plattsburg Bay. The bay, open to the south, but closed to the north, was of such a shape that the winds which would bring Downie 's fleet from the north, would be a great hinderance to the British w9ien they attempted to sail up the bay. Macdonough had to decide the perplexing problem of how to make the best use of this natural advantage. If he anchored his fleet too far north, the British might place guns on the northern shore and force him to retire; if he were too near Plattsburg, the British might, if they captured the town, drive him out into the open lake where the British would be superior. Macdonough carefully considered this problem, found the solution, and placed his ships accordingly. His twK) heaviest ships, the Saratoga and the Eagle, were placed at the north of the line, the Eagle being the lef^ling north ship. The line from the Eagle extended in a southerly direction for about half a mile in the following order, the Eagle, Saratoga, Ticondero- ga and Preble. Ten galleys or gun-boats were placed so that three were a little north of the Eagle, strengthening the point at which the English would probably concentrate their attack, wbile three others were placed between the Ticonderoga and the Preble. Two occupied the space between the Eagle and the Saratoga, while the remaining two were situated between the Saratoga and the Ticon- deroga.
By placing his two heaviest ships at the north of the line, they could, if necessary, easily sail to the aid of the others who were to the southward, for a north wind would necessarily acc(»n- pany Downie 's fleet. The larger British ships w|ould also have to sail a greater distance against an unfavorable wind, for if they did not seek the biggest American ships at the north end of the line, their efficiency would be lessened. Thus by a careful choice of
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on the American side. Miacdanoagb also made provisions for turning his ship about wjiile at anchor so that he could brin^ a fresh battery to bear upcm the enemy at the critical moment
While Maodonough was making such elaborate preparations, Downie was laboring industriously, getting his fleet fitted out. Finally on the morning of September 11, 1814, the wind boingr from the north, he set sail for Plattsburg. At about 8 o'clock he entered the bay where Macdonough's fleet awlaited him.
In guns, men and equipment, the British fleet excelled the American flotilla. The Americans had about eighty-six guns, the English had about ninety-five, many being superior in range to the American guns. There were about eight hundred and twenty men in the American fleet while the British had aibout one thou- sand sailors. The British fleet consisted of Downie 's flag-ship, the Confiance, the Linnet, the Finch, the Chub and eleven gunboats. According to Dowkiie's plan, the Chub and Linnet should confine their attention to the Eagle, the Confiance should press ahead of these two and drift down past the Eagle to a position opposite the Saratoga, giving the Eagle a broadside as she passed her. The Finch and all the British gun-boats were to concentrate their at- tack upon the Ticonderoga and Pireble.
As Macdonough had foreseen however, the wind failed the British and the Confiance barely reached a position abreast of the Saratoga. The Linnet a lighter ship, succeeded in attaining her berth opposite the Eagle, but the Chub, with sails and rigging damaged by the American shots, failed to get to her position and drifted helplessly through the American line. As she came out on the other side, she hauled down her flag. Thus the Linnet was left alone with the Eagle. The wind turned the Confiance about a little so that she could bring a third of her battery to bear on the Eagle, thus making the contest more equal for the Linnet, but the Confiance was in turn wteakened, as she could use only two- thirds of her battery against hfer opponent, the Saratoga. The British experienced another reverse at the southern end of the battle line, for the French failed to reach her allotted position oppo- site the Ticonderoga and drifted ashore on Crab Island about a mile south of the fleets.
So instead of the formation he had planned, Downie found his fleet arranged so that the Linnet was opposite the Eagle and
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the Oonfiance opposite the Saratoga, Tinhile only the eleven gun- boats were opposite the Ticonderoga and Preble. Thtis before the battle had really began, Doivvjaie bad lost two fillips, but this was not a very great handicap, for the main contest and the one upon which the outcome really depended was between the two lai^gest ships, the Saratoga and the Confiance.
The battle was hotly contested. Almost at the beginning of the conflict a shot shattered a ben-coop on the deck of the Sara- toga and a young game cock which had been within, flew unin- jured upon a gun side and crowed defiantly. With sailor-like superstition this was regarded as a good omen by the men and they entered the fray cheering lustily. After the fighting bad continued for about an hour, the guns on the engaged side of the Eagle were silenced by the combined fire of the Ldnnot and Con- fiance. Her commander wished to bring his unused guns into the fight, so he cut his cable and took a position in the rear of the Saratoga where the Eagle's fresh batteries could be used wtith good effect.
At this point the Saratoga's guns on the engaged side were mostly disabled while only four of the guns in the engaged bat- tery of the Confiance could be used. lifOacdonough saw that this was the critical moment in wbich he should bring his reserve bat- tery into action. Accordingly the Saratoga was turned about easi- ly and quickly through the contrivance prepared by Macdonough which consisted of an arrangement of anchors so that the vessel could be turned around by pulling on the anchor cables. The Brit- ish commander also attempted the same manoeuver with the Con- fiance, but it was clumsily executed. The Confiance began to swting slowly around and when it waa turned half .way, it wavered and became motionless at right angles to the side of the Saratoga. The guns of the Saratoga's fresh battery poured a terrible broad- side into the Confiance, which swept the whole length of the deck and wrought .much destruction. It was the deciding action. The oflScers of the Confiance could not make their men return to their posts, so at 11 o'clock, the flag of the Confiance was hauled down in token of her surrender. This left the Saratoga free to fire a crushing broadside at the Linnet and fifteen minutes after the Confiance surrendered, thei Linnet's flag was also lowered. Of the other two American vessels, the Preble was driven from her an-
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chorage early in the battle and ran ashore near the American shore batteries. The Ticonderoga easily repelled all attacks made upon her by the gun boats. Thus, ended one of the most fiercely contested naval battles of oar history.
During the engagement the Oonfiance received one hundred and five round shots in her hull, while the Saratoga received fifty- five. The British casualties in killed and wounded were over two hundred, the Americans lost about one hundred and ten. The masts and sails of both fleets were greaitly damaged by the shots» but the British to such an extent that one of their officers com- pared their sails to a bundle of rags and their masts to a bundle of matches.
Meanwhile the land farces had been making a spirited re- sistance. Two a;ttempts of the British to cross the Saxanac Biver and charge the American forces had been repulsed. Another at- tempt to effect a crossing was then made at a ford quite a distance up the stream and a few British troops had succeeded wben the news of the American victory on the lake was brought to the American soldiers, whose wildly enthudastic cheers bore some forebodings to the minds of the British, who wavered and retreated back across the stream. Prevost, seeing that the naval force was defeated, ordered a retreat. Something gave him additional alarm for at midnight he started his army in full retreat into Can- ada.
This victory was of much importance, for through it the northern territory of the United States was saved and Great Brit- ain's plan to control the terms of peace was foiled. On the con- trary, the United States by reason of this victory, were enabled to obtain their territorial and boundary rights in the peace signed at Ghent, December 24, 1814.
Just as Horatius, in Macaulay's tale, received honors and land from the grateful Boman populace, so Macdonough ivtes kindly remembered by the American people. Congress voted him a gold medal and the thanks of a nation. He received a grant of two thousand acres of land from New York State, while Vermont pre- sented him with a fine estate of two hundred acres on Cumber- land Hwui overlooking the scene of his exploit. These were the
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means by whdeh the people ^ideavored to express their gratitade to the man, who, when the crisis osmey was not found lacking, bnt who by a happy combination of courage and intelligent foresight, so successfully performed his task that his name has always been honored and pointed out as one of the brightest on the pages of his country's history.
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JAMES BYRON BROOKS.
On June 17tb, 1914, Jamee Byron Brooks passed from his earthly home at Syracuse, N. Y., to his eternal rest. Bom at Bockingham« Vermont, on June 27th, 1839, he lacked but ten days of completing his seventy-fifth year.
To few men is given the ability or the opportunity to excel in so many lines of work as did Dean Brooks. In early life he served with much credit as a volunteer in the Union Army until a severe wound incapcicitated him for further service. Later as a practicing lawyer he was associated with some of the most emi- nent barristers of the Sitate and was the acknowdedged peer of the best amongst them. His services in divers ways in behalf of his adopted city, Syracuse, were manifold and always tended to the public welfare. Among other things his efforts to obtain a supply of pure and wholesome water for the city were among the strong- est influences which resulted in procuring such water supply some thirty years ago. So deep was his unselfish interest in this public improvement that he pledged his individual responsibility for the completion of a portion of the work.
In the affairs of his church— The University Avenue M. E. Church— he wM ever deeply interested and ** zealous in every good word and work".
In him Syracuse University found one of its most loyal and useful supporters. As one of its trustees, as a member of its faculty, and as the Dean of its Law College, he gave his whole heart to the establishment and success of the institution; and he received in return the fullest possible measure of respect, esteem and aflfection from his fellow professors and from the alumni and the undergraduates of the College. For forty years he was promi- nent in the counsels of the University and during most of those years he was the Dean of its College of Law. His relations with his students seem to have been peculiarly friendly and confidential and with the other members of the faculty of the University he
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was on terms of the most intimote comradeship. And so when the '^Silent Messenger" came to summon him hence he was mourned by his church, by the bench and bar of his adopted city, by the University whose counsels he had adorned, for so many years, and by friends innumerable who all united to do honor to his memory., 'We may show a becoming respect to the memory of a just man, but sincere grief will only be felt at the death of one who has been both just and generous, and such an one was James Byron Brooks.
THOMAS BAILEY LOVELL, LL. D.
Thomas Bailey Lovell, LL. D., who died on May 4th, 1914, at Niagara Palls, N. Y., had been a resident of that city since 1888, and during most of that time had been connected with the educational system in positions of much imx)ortance and influence. For several years after going there, he was the principal of the Cleveland Avenue School, €ind afterwards of the Niagara Falls High School, of wthich he was the first bead.
In the year 1908, when he had reached his ''three score years and ten", he retired from the distinctive work of his profession, but he continued to take an active and useful part in various or* ganizations in which he had theretofore been interested. In the First Baptist Church of Niagara Falls, of which he was an active member, he frequently filled the pulpit by request He was the President of the Niagara Frontier Historical Society at the time of his death and for seven years preceding that event. He was one of the charter members of the Civic Club of his adopted city and for two terms its President, and his interest in its work continued until his death. In these and various other movements for public betterment. Doctor Lovell continued as long as he lived to exert an infiuence along educational lines for the development of the public spirit and higher life of the community in which he had made his home. But these were his avocations. His real vo- cation, his life's work, was that of a teacher of the young. In this he was eminently successful in that he not only developed the men- tal powers of his pupils but also so impressed) them with his own loving €ind forceful personality that to them he became an inspira- tion to a more complete and perfect development of the best that was in them, mentally and spiritually. In the case of a teacher so
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fitted by nature for his ivDrk ''The good that men do lives after them'' and that this is true in the case of Dootor Lovell is the uniform and emphatic testunony of the coimnanity in which his work was done.
He was bom on November 12th, 1838, in Brooklyn, N. Y., and in the public schools of that city he received his early edu- caXioa. He took his collegiate course at the University of Bochester and graduated from that institution more than hialf a century ago. His degree of LL. D. was conferred, however, by Hobart Col- lege, (of Geneva, N. T.), which honored itsdf in thus honoring him. In 1864, on April 14th, he was married at Nunda^ N. Y., to Miss Adelaide V. Hammond, and one son, the issue of that marri- age, survives him, Mr. W. W. Lovell, of Toronto, Ont
Of Doctor Lovell it can be truly said that ''that which should accompany old age, as honor, love, obedience, troops of friends" were his in fullest measure.
J. SANPORD POTTER.
J. Sanford Potter died at Whitehall, N. Y., on February 7th, 1914, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. He wlas bom at White- hall and spent substantially his whole life there. His preparation for college was made at Norwich University and he took his col- lege course at Williams.
After leaving college he studied law in the office of his father, Hon. Joseph Potter, who was later a Justice of the Supreme CJourt, and a Judge of the Court of Appeals (Second Division), and in 1871 he was admitted to the bar. With such excellent opportuni- ties for study he became, as might be expected), thoroughly well grounded in the principles of the law and was sooq recognized everywhere as a capable and learned lawyer. He was interested also in church wjork. As President of the Board of Trustees of the church of which he was a member (Preefcyteriian) and for- merly Superintendent of its Sunday school he rendered services to that church and to the community which men of his training and ability too often evade. Nor were Ms services in behalf of the public weal confined entirely to his ow|n church.
He was a trustee of the Railroad Young Men's Christian Association and at one time its President.
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His end came soddenly, one clear call and a brief fllneeB and he bad paaaed over ''to the great majority".
As a lawyer be was widely and favorably knowlQ; as a citizen be was bigbly respected and esteemed; in bis own social circles and by bis family be wlas sincerely loved. He is survived by bis widow, nee Anna 'Webster, by a daugbter, Lillian, and a son, Boies, wbo resides at Port Obester, N. Y., and is tbe General Manager of tbe New York & Stamford Railroad Company.
Mr. Potter's cbief interest aside from bis borne, bis cburcb and his business centered in tbe work of tbe Free Masona He was a member of several Masonic bodies and a frequent and welcome speaker at their meetings and conventions.
JOSEPH T. COOK, M. D.
The subject of this sketch was bom at Ludlowville, N. Y., on November 4, 1855, and died at the City of Buffalo on January 18, 1915, after a very brief illness. He was a son of Rev. Philos G. Cook and Clarissa, his wife, whose maiden name was Tottingham, and it was her family name which constituted the middle name of Doctor Cook.
At the Buffalo Classical School be completed his academic education and was prepared for college. • His medical degree was given him by the Homeopathic Hospital College of Cleveland, Ohio, from which institution he graduated in the year 1881. Later, Doctor Cook continued his medical studies abroad, spending a year in study at the London Hospital, at London, England, where he studied under Dr. Samuel Penwick and Dr. Ernest Sansom; after which he continued his studies at the Royal Imperial Gen- eral Hospital at Vienna, Austria.
Returning to this country Dr. Cook settled at Buffalo, N. Y., and speedily became one of the leading physicians of his school (the Homeopathic) in that city. He was for a time the Secretary, and later the President, of the medical and surgical staff of the Buffalo Homeopathic Hospital.
His interest in historical matters was very keen and was evinced not only by his membership in the New York State His* torical Association but by his active participation in the work of a number of other similar organizations. He was a member of the Buffalo Historical Society; of the Sons of the Revolution (N. Y.
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State Society) and President of the Buffalo Association of that Society. He was also a member of the Pennsylvania Society of the War of 1812. These, and his membership in other similar associations and in a number of medical societies, indicate the interest taken by Doctor Cook in organizations such as these and his readiness to work in connection with others for the promotion of the public welfare.
REV. EDWARD POLSOM BAKER.
Among the many losses sustained by the New York State Historical Association during the past twelve months through the death of one and another of its members is tha;t caused by the death of Rev. Edward Folsom Baker, which occurred on Friday, February 6th, 1915, at his home at East Aurora, New York. His whole active life had been consecrated to his work as a priest in the Protestant Episcopal Church, to which denomination he was devotedly attached. In its service he was ordained a deacon in 1858 and a priest in 1860. At that time he was about twenty-nine years old, having been bom at Portland, Maine, on November 8th, 1831. After serving as minister at various churches in this State and in New Jersey he was called to be the rector of St. John's Church at Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, N. Y. There he re- mained for twenty-eight years and then retired as pastor emeritus.
His influence and success in his work as a priest were greatly promoted by his rare charm of manner and his attractive person- ality, and perhaps also by the tact acquired through his exper- ience and discipline in the diplomatic service of his country — ^for between the years 1852 and 1855 he was for a portion of the time the Secretary of th« Legation at the Hague under his uncle, Hon. Oeorge Folsom, who was then the United States Minister at that court.
Hamilton College, from which he had graduated in 1852, gave him the degree of M. A. in 1858, in which year he graduated from the General Theological Seminary.
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Other" and so "Along the cool sequestered vale of life he held the even tenor of his way."
The relations which existed between him and his congrega- tion at Cold Harbor were ideaL To them he was "Father Baker" and the title was an expression of loving regard rather than of reverence for his ofQce. By his wide circle of friends, but even more by his congregation, his death will be deeply and long mourned.
MBS. COBNELIA WING PEEBISS.
On June 29, 1914, in the city of Glens Palls, there passed to her eternal reward Mrs. Cornelia Wing (Carpenter) Perriss, a member of this Association, who was a daughter of the American Bevolution, as well as one of the few remaining descendants of Abraham Wing, the founder and first permanent settler in Glens Palls. Mrs. Perriss was the oldest child of Wait Smith Carpenter and Miraette Higby. During the early years of the then village of Glens Falls, the Carpenters were very prominent in the social and business life of the community. In fact it was in May, 1864, in the kitchen of the old Glens Palls Hotel, then being conducted by Mr. Carpenter, as the leading landlord of the locality, that the blaze started which was to develop into what was known in local and vicinity annals as the "big fire of '64", which consumed the central part of the village, necessitating its complete rebuilding. So that during her lifetime Mrs. Perriss had seen Glens .Falls grow from an unincorporated hamlet into a prosperous village, and then into a populous and progressive city.
In 1860, Cornelia Wing Carpenter became Mrs. Orange Per- riss. Judge Perriss was the son of John Aiken Perriss who came to Glens Palls in 1794, and soon became the leading citizen of the community, later on its first postmaster, founder of its first academy, and a principal property owner. His son, Orange Per- riss, was a remarkable man, who was destined to become a prom- inent local lawyer, Warren county's judge and surrogate before the civil war, and representative in Congress for the two terms from 1867 to 1871, during which he took part in the impeach- ment and trial of President Johnson. For eight years he was one of the Commissioners *'for ascertaining and determining the claims of the loyal southerners for losses sustained during the
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436 NBW YORK STATE HISTOaiCAL ASSOCIATION
Rebellion." On finishing his duties as such Commissioner he was made Second Auditor of the Treasury by President Hayes, serving through the administrations of Presidents Garfield and Arthur. In 1884, on the accession of President Cloveland, Judge Perriss resigned and returned with Mrs. Ferriss to Glens Falls to take up the threads of community life severed by nearly twenty years of official residence in Washington. During her life in the capital city Mrs. Ferriss naturally gained a wide acquaintanceship with people of prominence, and her anecdotes and stories of those days threw many interesting sidelights on our national history, from an intimate and personal standpoint. Judge Ferriss died sud- denly in 1894, and from then on Mrs. Ferriss* time wes spent partly in Glens Falls, and partly in Washington, New York, and other places.
January 3, 1898, Mrs. Ferriss became a member of Mary Washington Colonial Chapter D. A. B. of White Plains, N. Y. Her application for membership was based upon the services of her paternal grandfather, Elias Carpenter, of Strafford, Vt., who was bom on the 7th day of October, 1761, and died on the 16th day of February, 1851. He was a private in Captain Wells' com- pany of Samuel B. Webb's regiment. Mrs. Ferriss in her appli- cation says, regarding her ancestor: ''He was the first soldier of the Army to enter Yorktown at the surrender of the British Army. He was a lineal descendant of John Carpenter who founded the London School, now situated on the Thames Embank- ment, London, bom 1377, died 1441. The first person bearing the name of Carpenter who made permanent settlement in America was William Carpenter's son and heir of Bichard Carpenter of Amesbury, Wiltshire, Eng. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of William and Christiana (Peck) Arnold, both of whom died about 1625.
"My grandfather was but a stripling of a boy when he volun- teered to go into the ranks to serve his country and served the last three years of the war. His record as a soldier and i>ension- er is in the War Department, Washington, D. C."
During her membership in that chapter, Mrs. Ferriss served as its delegate to the National Congress. April 25, 1912, Mrs. Ferriss was transferred to Jane MeCrea Chapter, and at the time
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of her death was one of its most interested, and insofar as her health permitted, active members.
In many respects the subject of this sketch may be said to have been one of Glens Falls' most remarkable women. Living for years in a groat cosmopolitan city, having unusual opportuni- ties to meet and mingle with the most cultured and entertaining classes in the Nation's capital, including presidents, and cabinet officers, diplomats and officers of the army and navy, senators and congressmen, she had gained a wide experience which in social and society matters w«u3 of much value to herself, as well as to the various organizations with which she was connocted. Prom a yoxing girl Mrs. Ferriss, after having been confirmed as a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, had been a tower of strength in the local organization of that church. She was not only a constant and faithful attendant upon its services, but a most generous and unselfish giver. To her is due much of the beauty and adornment of the chancel of the local Church of the Messiah, which she had rebuilt in memory of her husband and dear ones, gone before. The fine r&^^ hal] of that church is partly an evidence of her faith in the endurance of things spir- itual. Even in her death, her church was not forgotten, a gen- erous provision for its perpetual maintenance having been made for it, by her last will and testament.
Such characters as that of Mrs. Ferriss are indeed rare, wherein are mingled benevolence and charity, devotion to church and civil duties, high regard for family and public welfare, and intense Ipve of her home town, as well as a i>atriotic love of country.
Glens Palls is in every way the better for her having lived in it, our Association the richer for her having been a member of it. Though gone her memory must ever be a sweet and blessed one among us :
''Like flowers whose summer course is done.
Their blossoms shed, their green leaves seared and fallen,
For a short season it shall seem to die ;
Yet only seem, — ^bursting again to life
Beneath a brighter, purer sky ; and there
Amidst an endless spring, blooming forever."
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN,
Albany, January 1, 1914. To THE Officers and Members op the Association :
The acoessions and ecmtributions to the AiBsociati<»i Library for 1914 are noted below.
While the Aasodation is slowly aognmnlating a valuable col* lection of exchanges, it still needs the active support of its mem- bers which the librarian has earnestly urged from year to year.
If it is ever to amount to much as an useful reference library, it will need funds for its endowment, maintenance and enlarge- ment, and liberal contributions in books, pamphlets and Americana from its members.
Once more, those of our members who are authors of histor- ical or reference works are asked to contribute to the library copies of their books, thus adding to its value and effectiveness as a part of our educational machinery. The library has been re- moved to Albany and all contributions may be sent to the under- signed, who will gladly care for them.
James A. Holden, Librarian.
Room 330, Education Building, Albany, N. Y.
Abbatt, WnjJAM— Magazine for History, Vols. XVI-XVII for 1913, and XVIII-XIX for 1914.
Albany Medical Collbqe — ^Annals, July 1913; Alumni Proceed- ings, 1909.
American Antiquarian Society— Proceedings, VoL 23, part 2, 1913; Vol. 24, parte 1-2.
American Historical Association— Review for 1914; Annual Report for 1913 and 1914; Correspondence Robert Tombs, Stephens, Cobb. VoL U, 1911.
American Jewish Historical Society— Publications, 1914.
American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society— Annual Reports for 1913, 1914.
Anderson Auction Company— Catalogs for 1914.
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REPORT OP THE LIBRARIAN 439
Bardbbn, C. W., (Nella Zada Rice Molyneux)— History and Genealogy, Molyneux families, (1914).
Bean, Charles — Souvenir Program, Beoeption, etc., Phi Eappa Psi, and M. 0. V. P. E. B., Got. 15, 1914.
Bell, Dr. C!lark— Medico Legal Joamal, 1913-1914.
Boston Book Company— Magazine Subject Index, 1913-1914.
** Booster, The''— Apr., 1913.
Caledonia Publishing Co.— 2 pamphlets.
Californli, UNiVBRsmr of^ Publications, Diary, Nelson Kingsley.
Chicago Historical Society— Annual Eeport 1913, 1914; Ad- dress Lincoln and Douglas' Debate.
Colonial Wars, Society op— HTear Books, 1913-14.
D. A. B., National Society— Lineage Books, 1899, 1900; Errata VoL 1-36, inclusive.
Essex Institute — Collections, 1913, 1914.
French, Alvah P.— Mlagazine of American History, Vols. XLII, 1913; XLIII, 1914.
Government Printing Office- Archeological Livestigations in Ste. Genevieve Co., Missouri.
Granite State Magazine— Vol. VII, 1914.
HIazard, Blanche E. — Colonial Children No. 1; Indians and Pioneers; Beaumarchais and the American Revolution; Cor- nell Beading Courses- '* Attic Dust and Treasures"— "Farm- house Aimiusements for Girls and Boys"; Cornell Country- man, May 1914; Cornell Countryman, November 1914; Cayuga Indian Festival
Holland Society of New York— EOandbook^ 1912.
Johns Hopkins University— Studies for 1914, Vol. XXII, Nos. 1- 2-3-4.
Huguenot Society of South Carolina — TransactiaDs, 1914.
Iowa, Historical Department of— Annals for 1914, Vol. XI, 3d series.
Iowa, State Historical Society of — Journal of History and Politics for 1914; 100 topics in Iowa Hjstory; Decisive Epi- sodes in Western History by L. G. Weld.
Indiana Unxversfty— Department of History, Magazine of His- tory, Vol. in. No. 4. Vols. IV-VIII complete. Vol. IX for 1914.
Indiana Historical Society— Publicalioiis for 1914.
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440 . NSW TOBK STATE HISTOaiCAL ASSOCIATION
Kansas State Historical Society— Nineteenth Biennial Beport, 1912-1914.
Lynn Historical Society— Annual Registers from 1897-98 to 1913 (17 Nos.) ; Historic Priorities in Lynn.
Library of Congress- Journal Continental Congrees, Yds. XXII and XXin. Report of Librarian, 1913, 1914. Publications issued, 1913, 1914.
Louisiana Historical Society— Publications, Vol. Vn, 1913-14; Louisiana State Museum, Fourtli Biennial Report 1912-14; Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904, Vols. I-II.
Medford HiSTCtticAL SOCIETY — Historical Register for 1914.
MicmoAN^s Historical Commission— Bulletin- 1-2.
Missouri State Historical Society — ^Historical Review for 1914.
MiERwiN Sales Co.— Catalogs for 1914.
Memoirs of John Marshatjj Newton, by John M. Stevenson.
New England Society, (New York)— 108th Anniversary Cele- bration 1913.
New England Society, (Ohio) — ^Annual, 1913.
New Hampshire Historical Society— Manual 1913-1914.
New York Historical Society— Pamphlet, W. M. Sloane, Treaty of Ghent, 1914; Publications 1913, 1914.
New York State Museum— Bulletins.
New York Genealogical and Biographical Society — Quarterly Record, 1913-1914.
New Jersey Historical Society— Proceedings for 1914, VoL IX, 3d series.
North Carolina University— James Sprunt, Historical Publica- tions for 1914.
North Dakota, University op — Quarterly Journal for 1914.
Norwich University, Montpelier, Vt. — General History, 1819- 1911.
Ohio Historical and Philosophical Society — Quarterly for 1914.
Ohio Aroheological and Historical Society— Quarterly for 1913-14.
Ohio State Univeestty — ^W. H. Siebert, Flight of American Loy- alists, 1911; Legacy of American Revoluticm, 1913.
ONEmA SssroBicAh Society— Year Book for 1914.
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BEP(»T OF THE LIBRABIAN 441
Ontabio, Peovincb op— 10th Report Bureau of Archives, Alex Praser, Provincial Archivist, 1914.
Old Cobneb Book Store, Springfield, Mass., (Exchange list) — History Middlesex County, Mass., 3 vols. (N. Y., 1908) ; Map Boundary Massachusetts and New York; History Town of Tyringham, Mass., Edwin Brewer; Second Centennial Cele- bration Landing of Pilgrims by Qiardiner Spring (N. Y., 1821) ; Oration by Mark Hopkins, D. D., (N. Y., 1854) ; Mr. Webster's Speeches at Buffalo, Syracuse and Albany, May 1851, (N. Y. 1851) ; Springfield Bfemories, by Mason A. Green, (Springfield, 1876) ; Index to American Pedigrees, Daniel I. Durrie (Albany, 1878) ; History of First Church in Springfield, Mass., 1^ Henry Morris; New England Gazetteer^ , Hayward, John; Speech delivered at Rochester, Monday, Oc- tober 25, 1858, Seward, William; Funeral discourse on death of Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer, Vermilye, Thomas E. ; His- torical Memoirs of The Western Railroad, Bliss, George; *' Buffalo Fifty Years Ago," before BuJSfalo Historical Society, April 27, 1886, Howes, Lucy William; The Scenery of the Catskill Mountains; ** Missed by the Residue of One's Years", a sermon by T. W. Coit; Historical discourse Centennial Anni- versary at Atkinson, N. H., of Congregational Church by C. F. Morse; Brattleboro, Vt., Its Early History, Bumham, Henry; Beaumarchais and **The Lost Million,'* StiUe, Charles J. ; Oration 100th Anniversary of the Congress of 1774, Brown,^ Henry Arwitt; ''Cadillac's Village" and History of Settle- ment; In the Footsteps of Cadillac, Burton, C. M.; Early Set- tlers of Colerain, Mass., McClellan, Charles H. ; Historical Discourse, Addresses, etc., 25th Anniversary St. Peter's Church, Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Oration, Life and Character, Gilbert Motier De LaFayette, Adams, John Quincy; An Abridgment of the American Gazetteer, etc.; Diary of David Zeisberger, Among Indians of Ohio, Bliss, Eugene F. ; Gazetteer of State of Massachusetts, Nason, Rev. Elias; Complete Gazetteer of United States of America, Haskel, Daniel and J. Calvin Smith.
Pennsylvania Society, (in New York) — ^Program Fifteenth An- nual dinner, 1913, also Sixteenth Annual Dinner, 1914; An- nual for 1914; Women in New York, 1914.
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442 NEW YOEK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Pbn;nsylvanu Pedebation op Histobical SooiBTiBa— 9tli An- nual Meeting.
Schenectady County Historical Society— Tear Book, 1913-14-
Sons op the Revolution, Qeneral Society— Prooeediiigs Trien- nial Mieeting, 1914.
Secretary op State^ New York— Session Laws 1914.
Smith H. E., Editor— Journal of History, 1914.
Smithsonian Institute— Bulletin 87, U. 9. National Museum, 1914.
SuppoLK Co. Historical Society— Tear Book, 1913-14.
TuPTS College— Bulletin, 1913-14.
Washington University, Missouri — Studies, 1914.
War Department— lEleport Gtettyeburg National Comanission, 1913-1914.
Wisconsin State Historical Society — ^Proceedings and Annual Mieeting, 1914.
Wyoming Historical and Genealogical Society- (Wiikeabarre, Pa.) History of 1858-1913.
ViNELAND (N. J.) Historical and Antiquarian Society— An- nual Report to Oct 14, 1913, Addreas, Religious Forces and Other AJctivities, Joseph A. Oonwell, 1914. Annual Report to Oct. 14, 1914.
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ROSETTE
INSIGNIA OF THE NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
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INSIGNIA OF THE ASSOCIATION.
The Insignia of the Aasociation consists of a badge, the pend- ant of which is circular in f orm, one and three-sixteenths inchea in diameter and is su£fpended on scarlet and orange ribbon (scar- let for British, orange for Dutch), which are the colors of the Association.
Obverse: In the center is represented the discovery of the Hudson Biver; the ''Half -Moon" is surrounded by Indian Canoes, and in the distance is shown the Palisades. At the top is the coat-of-arms of New Amsterdam! and a tomahawk, arrow and Dutch sword. At the bottom is shown the seal of New York State. Upon a ribbon, surrounding the center medallion, is the legend, ''New York State Historical Association," and the dates 1609 and 1899 ; the former being the date of the discovery of New York, and the latter the date of the founding of the Historical Association.
Reverse : The Seal of the Association.
The badges are made of 14k gold, sterling silver and bronze, and will be sold to miembers of the Association at the following prices:
14k Gtold, complete with bar and ribbon $11.00^
Silver Qilt, complete with bar and ribbon 5.50
Sterling Silver, complete with bar and ribbon 5.00
Bronze, complete with bar and ribbon 4.00
Application for badges should be made to the Secretary of the Association, Frederick B. Richards, Glens Palls, N. Y., who will issue permit, authorizing the member to make the purchase from the official Jewelers, J. E. Caldwell & Co., 902 Chestnut Street, Hiiladelphia.
ROSETTE.
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ORIGINAL ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION.
We, Daniel C. Farr, James A. Holden, and Elmer J. West, of Glens Falls, Grenville M. Ingalsbe, of Sandy Hill, and Morris F. Ferris, of Dobbs Ferry, all in the State of Niew York, and all of us cltisens of the United States, liave associated ourselTes together in a member- ship corporation, and do hereby make this our certificate under the laws of the State of New York.
The name of such corporation is the "New York State Historical Association."
The principal objects for which said corporation is formed are:
First To promote and encourage original historical research.
Second. To disseminate e greater knowledge of the early history of the State, by means of lectures, and the publication and distribution of literature on historical subjects.
Third, To gather books, manuscripts, ];4ctures and relics relating to the early history of the State, and to establish a museum at Cald- well, LAke George, for their preservation.
Fourth. To suitably mark places of historic interest
Fifth. To acquire by purchase, gift, dertee, or otherwise, the title to, or custody and control of, historic spoto and places.
The territory in which the operations of this corporation are to be principally conducted is Warren, Washington, E2ssez, Clinton, Saratoga, and Hamilton counties, in the State of New York.
The principal office of said corporation is to be located at Caldrwell, on Lake George, county of Warren, in tbe State of New York.
The number of the directors of said corporation, to be knowa mm the Board of Trustees, is tw^ity-flye.
The names and residences of the directors of said corporation, to hold office until the first annual meeting, and who shall be known ae the Board of Trustees, are:
James A. Roberts, Buffalo; Timothy L.. Woodruff, Brooklyn; Daniel C. Farr, Glens Falls; Everett R. Sawyer, Sandy Hill; James A. Hdden, Glens Falls; Robert O. Bascom, Fort Edward; Morris Patterson Ferris, Dobbs Ferry; Elwyn Seelye, Lake Gorge; Grenville M. Ingalsbe, Sandy Hill; Frederick B. .Richards, Ticonderoga; Anson Judd Upson, Glena Falls; Asahel R. Wing, F6rt Edward; William O. Steams, Glens Fftlls; Robert C. Alexander, New York; ESlmer J. West, Glens Falls; Hugh Hast- ings, Albany; Pliny T. Sexton, Palmyra; William S. Ostrander, Schuyler- ville; Sherman Williams, Glens Falls; William L. Stone, Mt Vernon; Henry E. Tremain, New York; William H. Tippetts, Lake George; John Boulton Simpson, Bolton; Harry W. Watrous, Hague; Abraham B. Valen- tine, New York.
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ABTIOLBB ,0P INCORPORATION 445
Tbe first meeting of the ocnrporation, for the purpose of organiza- tion, will be held cm the 2l8t day of March, 1899.
The time for heading the annual meeting of the said corporation will he the kust Tuesday In July of each year.
In Witness Whereof, We haye hereunto seyerally subscribed our nauMs and afiOxed our seals this 21st day of March, in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine.
DANIEL C. FARR, (l. s.)
JAMES A. HOLDEN, (l. s.)
ELMER J. WEST, (l. s.)
GRENVILLE M. INGALSBE, (l. s.)
MORRIS P. FERRIS. (l. s.)
\
STATE OF NEW YORK,
County of Warren, ^ ®*''
On thifi 21st day of March, in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine, before me personally appeared Daniel C. Farr, James A. Holden, Elmer J. West, Grenville M. Ingalsbe, and Morris Patter- son Ferris, to me known to be the indiyiduals described in and who executed the foregoing articles of incorporaticm, and they duly severally acknowledged to me that they executed the same.
E. T. JOHNSON, (SEAL) Notary Public.
CHARTER OF NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
WHEREAS, A petition for incorporation by the University has been duly received, containing satisfactory statements made under oath as to the objects and plans of the proposed corporation, and as to the pro- vision made for 'needed buildings^ furniture, equipment!,! «nd for maint enan ce.
THEREFORE, Being satisfied that all requirements prescribed by law or University ordinance for such an association have been fully met, end that public Interests justify such action, the Regents by virtue of the authority conferred on them by law, hereby incorporate James A. Roberts, Daniel C. Farr, James A. Holden, Morris Patterson Ferris, Orenville M. Ingalsbe, Anson Judd Upson, Robert C. Alexander, Hugh Hastings, William S. Ostrander, William L. Stone, William H. Tippetts, Harry W. Watrous, William O. Steams, Timothy L. Woodruff, Everett R. Sawyer, Robert O. Bascom, Blwyn Seelye, Frederick B. Richards, Asahel R. Wing, Elmer J. West^ Pliny T. Sexton, Sherman Williams, Henry E. Tremain, John Boulton Simpson, Abraham B. Valentine, and their successors in office under the corporate name of
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
This corporation shall be located at Caldwell, Warren county, New Tork.
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446 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCUTION
Its fint tniBtees shall be the twenty-fire abore named inoorporatora.
Its object shall be to promote historical research, to disseminate knowledge of the history of the State by lectures and publications, to estoblish a library and museum at Caldwell, to mark places of historic interest, and to acquire custody or control ot historic iriaces.
IN WTTNESS WHERSOF, the Regents grant thia charter No. 1,245, under seal of the UniYerslty, at the Capitol at (SEAL) Albany, April 24, 1899.
ANBON JUDD UPSON, ChanceUor. MELVIL DEWBY, Secretary.
At a special meeting of the New York State Historical Asso- ciation duly called and held at the Publio Library in the City of Mount Vernon, New York at eleven o'clock A. M., October 19th, 1909, the following resolutions were adopted :
"Resolved: That it is desirable to extend the purposes for which this corporation was created, and to that end to make the following changes in the Original Articles of Incorporation:
First: In the paragraph numbered "Third" of the said Articles to strike out the words "and to establish a museum at Caldwell, Lake George," and to insert in the place thereof the words "of New York and to establish a museiun therein."
Second: In the paragraph next following the paragraph numbered "Fifth" of the said Articles to strike out the words **Warren, Washing- ton, Essex, Clinton, Saratoga and Hamilton Counties, in."
Third: In the next succeeding paragraph to strike out the words "Caldwell on Lake George, County of Warren, State of New York," and to insert in the place thereof the words "the City of Albany, New York."
And be it Further Resolved: That a committee be appointed to take charge of the matter, with power to take such steps as are neces- sary to incorporate the proposed amendment of our charter."
A certificate was prepared and duly executed, approved by Supreme Court Judge, forwarded to the Board of Regents of the State of New York, by which the original charter of the Association was granted, was approved by Hon. Pliny T. Sexton, Chainnan of the standing committees of the Begents on charters and was acted upon formally by the Regents at their meeting held in October, 1912
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ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION. CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS
AS AMENDED TO JANUARY I, 1915.
The name of such corporation la the ''New York State Historical Association."
The principal object for which said corporation is formed are:
First: To prcmiote and encourage original historical research.
Second : To disseminate a greater knowledge of the early history of the State, by means of lectures, and the publication and distribution of literature on historical subjects.
Third: To gather books, manuscripts, pictures, and relics relating to the early history of the State of New York and to establish a museum therein for their presenration.
Fourth: To suitably mark places of historic interest
Fifth: To acquire by purchase, gift, derise or otherwise, the title to, or custody and control of, historic spots and places.
The territory in which the operations of this corporation are to be principally conducted is the State of New York.
The principal office ot said corporation is to be located at the City of Albany, New York.
The number of directors of said corporation, to be known as the Board of Trustees, is twenty-fire.
CONSTITUTION.
ARTICLE I.
Name.
This Society shall be known as '^ew York SUte Historical Asso- ciation."
ARTICLE IL
Objects.
Its objects shall be:
First. To promote and encourage original historical research.
Second. To disseminate a greater knowledge of the early history of
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448 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
the State, by means of lecturee and the publication and distribution of literature on historical subjects.
Third. To gather books, manuscripts, pictures and relics relating to the history of the State of New York, and to establish a museum therein for their presenration.
Fourth. To suitably mark places of historic interest.
Fifth. To acquire by purchase, gift, devise, or otherwise, the title to, or custody and control of, historic spots and places.
ARTICLO m. Members*
Section 1. Members shall be of four classes — ^Active, Associate, Cor- responding and HoncH'ary. Active and Associate members only shall hare a voice in the management of the Society.
Section 2. All persons interested in American history shall be eligi- ble for Active membership.
Section 3. Persons residing outside the State of New York, inteiv ested in historical investigation, may be made Corresponding members.
Section 4. Persons who have attained distinguished eminence as historians may be made Honorary members.
Section 5. Persons who shall have given to the Association doner tions of money, time, labor, books, documents, MSS., collections of antiquities, art or archaeology of a value equivalent in the judgment of the trustees to a life membership may be made Associate members.
ARTICLE IV. Misnagement.
Section 1. The property of the Association shall be vested in, and the affairs of the Association conducted by the Board of Trustees to be elected by the Association. Vacancies in the Board of Trustees shall be filled by the remaining members of the Board, the appointee to hold office until the next annual meeting of the Association.
Section 2. The Board of Trustees shall have power to suspend or expel members of the Association for cause, and to restore them to mem- bership after a suspension or expulsion. No member shall be suspended or expelled without first having been given ample opportunity to be heard in his or her own defense.
Section 3. The first Board of Trustees shall consist of those desig- nated in the Articles of Incorporation, who shall meet as soon as may be after the adoption of this Constitution and divide themselves into three classes of, as nearly as may be, eight members each, such classes to serve respectively, one untfl the first annual meeting, another until the second annual meeting, and the third until the third annual meeting of the
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CONSTITUTION 449
Association. At each annual meeting the Association shall elect eight or nine members (as the case may be) to serre as Trustees for the ensuing three years, to fill the places oC the class whose terms then expire.
Section 4. The Board of Trustees shall have no power to bind the Association to any expenditure of money beyond the actual resources of the Association except by the consent of the Board of Trustees, expressed In writing and signed by erery member thereof.
ARTICLE V. Ofllciart.
Section 1. The officers of this Association shall be a President, three Vice-Presidents, a Treasurer and a Secretary, all of whom shall be elected by the Board of Trustees from its own number at its first annual meeting after the annual meeting of the Association, and shall hold office for one year and then until their successors shall be elected.
Section 2. The Board of Trustees shall appoint an Assistant Secre- tary at its mid-winter session from among the members of the Association residing near the place at which the ensuing annual meeting is to be held. The Assistant Secretary shall hold office for one year.
Section 3. The Board of Trustees may appoint such other officers, committees, or agents, and delegate to them such powers as it sees fit, for the prosecution of its work.
Section 4. Vacancies in any office or committee may be filled by the Board of Trustees.
ARTICLE VI.
Feeit and Dues.
Section 1. Ektch person on being elected to active membership between January and July of any year, shall pay into the Treasury of the Association the sum of two dollars, and thereafter on the first day of January in each year a like sum for his or her annual dues. Any person elected to membership subsequent to July 1st, and who shall pay into the treasury two dollars, shall be exempt from dues until January 1st of the year next succeeding his or her consummation of membership.
Section 2. Any member of the Association may commute his or her annual dues by the payment of twenty-five dollars at one time, and there- by become a life member exempt from further payments.
Section 3. Any member may secure membership which shall descend to a member of his or hw family qualified under the Constitution and By- Laws of the Association for membership therein, in perpetuity, by the payment at one time of two hundred and fifty dollars. The person to hold the membership may be designated in writing by the creator of such
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450 NEIW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
membersliip, or by the fiubseqaent header thereof sabject to the approval of the Board of Trustees.
Section 4. All receipts from life and perpetual memberships shall be set aside and rested as a special fund, the Income only to be used for current expenses.
Section 5. Associate, Honorary and Corresponding Members and persons who hold Perpetual Membership shall be exempt from the pay- ment of dues.
Section 6. The Board of Trustees shall have power to excuse the non-payment of dues, and to suspend or expel members for non-payment when their dues remain unpaid for more than six months.
Section 7. Historical societies, educational Institutions of all kinds, libraries, learned societies, patriotic societies, or any Incorporated or unincorporated association for the advancement of learning and intel- lectual welfare of mankind, shall be considered a "person" under Section 1 of this article.
ARTICLE Vn.
Meetings.
Section 1. The annual meeting of the Association shall be held at such time and place as shall be fixed by the Board of Trustees. A notice of said meeting shall be sent to each member at least ten days prior thereto.
Section 2. Special meetings of the Association may be called at any time by the Board of Trustees and must be called upon the written re- quest of ten members. The notice of such meeting shall specify the ob- ject thereof, and no business shall be transacted thereat excepting that designated in the notice.
Section 3. Ten members shall constitute a quorum at any meeting of the Association.
ARTICLE Vm.
8eal.
The seal of the Association shall be a group of statuary representing the Mohawk Chief, King Hendrick, in the act of proving to Gen. William Johnson the unwisdom of dividing his forces on the eve of the battle of Lake George. Around this a circular band bearing the legend. New York State Historical Association, 1899.
AJITICLE IX. Amendments. Amendments to the Constitution may be made at any annual meeting.
Digitized by
BY-LAWS 451
or at a special meeting called f6r that imrpose. Notice of a proposed amendment with a copy thereof most have been mailed to each member at least thirty days before the dity upon which action is taken thereon.
The adoption of an amendment shall require the favorable vote of two-thirds of those present at a duly-constituted meeting of the Asso* elation.
BY-LAWS.
ARTICLQL
Memb^rai
Candidates for membership in the Association shall be proposed by one member and seconded by another, and shall be elected by the Board of Trustees. Three adverse rotes shall defeat an election.
ARTICLE a Board of Trusteea.
Section 1. The Board of Trustees may make such rules for its own government as it may deem wise, and which shall not be inconsistent with the Constitution and By-Laws of the Association. Five members of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
Section 2. The Board of Trustees shall elect one of its own number to preside at the meeting of the Board in the absence of the President.
Section 3. The Board of Trustees shall at each annual meeting of the Association render a full report of its proceedings during the year last past.
Section 4. The Board of Trustees shall hold at least one meeting each year, beside the meetings held during the annual meeting of the Association.
ARTICLE m.
President.
The President shall preside at all meetings of the Association and of the Board of Trustees, and perform such other duties as may be delegated to him by the Association or the Board of Trustees. He shall be ex-officio a member of all c<«imittees.
ARTICLE IV.
Vioe-Presidenta.
The Vice-Presidents shall be denominated First, Second and Third Vice-Presidents. In the absence of the President his duties shall de- volve upon the senior Vice-President
Digitized by
452 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
ARTICLE V. TrMiMjr«r.
Section 1. The Treasurer shall have charge of all the funds of the Association. He shall keep accurate books of account, which shall at all times be open to the inspection of the Board of Trustees. He shall pre- sent a full and comprehenaive statement of the Association's financial condition, its receipts and expenditures, at each annual meeting, and shall present a brief statement to the Board of Trustees at each meeting. He shall pay out money only on the approval of the majority of the Bx- ecutive Committee, or on the resolution of the Board of Trustees.
Section 2. Before assuming the duties of his office, the Treasurer- elect shall, with a surety to be approved by the Board, execute to the Association his bond in the sum of one thousand dollars, conditioned for the faithful performance of his duties as Treasurer.
Section 3. The President shall, thirty days prior to the annual meet- ing of the Association, appiont two members of the Association who shall examine the books and vouchers of the Treasurer and audit his accounts, ing of the Association, appoint two members of the Association who shall
AUTICUBVL Secretary.
The Secretary shall preserve accurate minutes of the transactions of the Association and of the Board of Trustees, and shall conduct the cor- respondence of the Association. He shall notify the members of meet- ings, and perform such other duties as he may be directed to perform by the Association or by the Board of Trustees. He may delegate any por- tion of his duties to the Assistant Secretary.
ARTICLE Vn.
AMistant Secretary.
The Assistant Secretary shall work in conjunction with, and under the direction of the Committee on Program.
ARTICLE Vin.
Executive Committee.
The officers of the Association shall constitute an Executive Commit- tee. Such committee shall direct the business of the Association between meetings of the Board of Trustees, but shall have no power to establish or declare a policy for the Association, or to bind it in any way except in relation to routine wo/tIl. The Committee shall have no power to direct a greater expen^ture than fifty dollars without the authority of the Board of Trustees.
Digitized by
BY-LAWS 453
ARTICLE IX. Procedure.
Section 1. The following, except when otherwise ordered by the Association, shall be the order of business at the annual meetings of the Association.
Call to (Mtler.
Reading of minutes of previous annual, and of any special meeting, and acting thereon.
Reports of Officers and Board of Trustees.
Reports of Standing Conmiittees.
Reports of Special Committees.
Unfinished business.
Election.
New business.
Adjournment
Section 2. The procedure at all meetings of the Association and of the Board of Trustees, where not provided for in this Constitution and By-Laws, shall be governed by Roberts' Rules of Order.
Section 8. The previous question shall not be put to vote at any meeting unless seconded by at least three members.
Section 4. All elections shall be by ballot, except where only one candidate is nominated for an office.
Section 5. All notices shall be sent personally or by mail to the ad- dress designated in writing by the member to the Secretary.
ARTICLE X. Nominating Committee. A committee of three shall be chosen by the Association at its annual meeting, to nominate Trustees to be voted for at the next annual meeting. Such Committee shall file its report with the Secretary of this Associa- tion at least thirty days prior to the next annual meeting. The Secretary shall mail a copy of such report to every member of the Association with the notice of the annual meeting at which the report is to be acted upon. The action of such committee shall, however, in no wise inter- fere with the power of the Association to make its own nominatins, but all such independent nominations shall be sent to the Secretary at least twenty days prior to the annual meeting. A copy thereof shall be sent to each member of the Secretary with the notice of meeting, and shall be headed "Independent Nominations/' If the Nominating Committee fails for any reason to make its report so that it may be sent out with the notice of the annual meeting, the Society may make its own nomi- nations at such annual meeting.
ARTICLE XI.
Amendments.
Tbese By-Laws may be amended at any duly-constituted meeting of the Association by a two-thirde vote of the members present. Notice of the proposed amendment with a copy thereof must have been mailed to each member at least twenty days before the day upon which action thereon is taken.
Digitized by
NOTE— lilat of members oorreoted to Maj let, 1916.
MEMBERS NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
HONOBABY MEMBERS.
Beauchamp, Bev. William Martin,
S. T. D. 121 Mark Ave., Syracuse.
Belcher, Rev. Henry, M. A.
LL. D. Lewes, Sussex, England.
Hadley, Arthur Twining, LL. D. Pres. Tale University, New Ha- ven, Conn. Hoes, Chaplain Roswell Randall,
U. S. N. Cosmos Club, Washington, D. C.
Roosevelt, Col. Theodore, Ph. D.,
LL. D. Oyster Bay.
Wilson, Woodrow, Ph. D., Litt.
D., LL. D. Washington, D. C.
CORRESPONDING MEMBERS.
McMaster, John Bach, A. M.,
Ph. D., Litt. D. University of Pennsylvania, Phil-
adelphia. Pa. Wheeler, Arthur Martin, M. A., LL. D. Yale University, New Haven,
Conn.
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
Ingalsbe, Hon. Grenville M. Hudson Falls.
Roberts, Hon. James A. LL. D. 257 Broadway, New York.
LEPE MiEMBERS
Arnold, Lynn J. 48 Willett St., Albany.
Bamhart, John Hendley, A. M., M. D. N. Y. Botanical Garden, Bronx
Park, New York. Beckett, James A. Hoosick Falls.
Digitized by
MEMBERS NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
455
Bixby, W. K. Delafield, Lewis L. Ferris, Van Wyck Ferris, Morris P. Field, Cortlandt de Peyster Pish, Sta3ryesant French, Charles Edward Fulton, Louis M. Hanna, Charles A.
Hartley, Mrs. Frances G.
Hawes, Harry Hammond
Howland, Fred D.
JeflPers, Henry Leavens
Jones, Mrs. Oliver Livingston
Lippitt, Moses B.
Marshall, Hon. Louis, LL. D.
Mingay, James
Mingay, Mrs. James
Pitcher, Mrs. Charlotte A.
Potts, Charles Edwin
Putnam, Hon. Harrington, LL. D.
Ralph, Mrs. George F.
See, Mrs. Horace
Stevens, Hon. Frank L. Stillman, Charles Chauncey Straus, Hon. Oscar S., LL. D., Tracy, Ira Otis, M. D.
Van Cortlandt, Augustus Webb, Dr. W. Seward Wheeler, Edward J., Ph. D. White, George H. Witherbee, Hon. Prank S.
Bolton Landing.
20 Exchange Place, New York.
Roxbury Road, Garden City.
Garden City.
Fieldhome.
52 Wall St., New York.
Amsterdam.
31 Nassau St., New York.
15 Bockledge Boad, Montclair,
N.J. 232 Madison Ave., New York. 315 Smith St., PeekgkiU Hudson Falls. 86 Warren St., Glens Falls. 116 W. 72nd St., New York. Cooperstown.
47 East 72d St., New York. 100 Lake Ave., Saratoga Spa. 100 Lake Ave., Saratoga Spa. 15 Faxton St., Utica. 170 Rugby Eoad, Brooklyn. 404 Washington Ave., Brooklyn. 837 Genesee St., Utica. Care Mrs. Miner, 264 So. Franklin
St., Wilkes Barre, Penn. North Hoosick. 9 E. 67th St., New York 5 W. 76th St., New York. Long Island Hospital, Flatbush,
Brooklyn. Sharon, Conn. 51 E. 44th St., New York. 79 Chapel St., Albany. Cooperstown, Port Henry.
MEMBERS.
Abbatt, William AbercronAie, David T.
Abrams, Alfred W. Acker, Charles Ernest Acker, Milo M. Ackerly, Orville B. Adams, Henry Sherman
Tarrytown.
197 Ballantine Parkway, Newark,
N. J. 429 Western Ave., Albany. Ossining-on-Hudson Hlomell.
210 Warburton Ave., Yonkers. 152 Montague St., Brooklyn.
Digitized by
456
NSW YORK STATE BJffTOBlOAh ASSOCIATION
Adams, Rev. John Quincy Adams, John S. Adamson, W. H. Adirondack Chapter D. A. R. Adler, Elmer
Ainsworth, Hon. Danforth E. Alexander, Charles B., LL. D. Alexander, Hon. D. S., LL. D. Allen, Charles C. Allen, Freeman H., Ph. D. The American Irish Historioal So- ciety Andrews, Capt. James M. Anthony, Walter C. Archibald, Harry A. Armstrong, Thomas Hoyt Arthur, Miss L. Louise Astenrogan Chapter, D. A. R. Atkins, Dubois G. Atkins, Miss Kate Augsbury, Mrs. Willard S. Augur, Monroe F. Auringer, Rev. 0. C.
82 North St., Auburn.
516 Madison Ave., Albany.
Glens Falls.
Malone.
561 University Ave., Rochester.
93 State St., Albany.
120 Broadway, New York.
31 North St., Buffalo.
Schuylerville.
Hamilton.
52 Wall St., New York.
Saratoga Spa,
Newburgh.
55 Mayflower Ave., New Bochelle.
90 Wilmington St., Rochester.
515 Lexington Ave., New York.
Little Falls
43 John St., Kingston.
Antwerp.
280 Broadway, New York.
Cooperstown
Forestport.
Bacon, Carroll B., M. D.
Baker, Smith, M. D.
Bailey, Theodoras, M. D.
Baldwin, Stephen C.
Ballard, W. J.
Banker, Albert M.
Banker, Dr. Silas J.
Banta, J. Edward
Barber, Arthur William, LL. M.
Barber, Junius E.
Barcus, James Q.
Bardeen, C. W.
Barhydt, T. Low
Barker, Mrs. Daniel Folger
Barker, Darwin R., Library Assn.
Barkley, James A.
Barnes, Ezra A.
Barney, Edgar S., Sc. D.
Berrinper High School Bartholomew, Aianson Douglass Barton, Lieut. Commander Gkorge De Forest, U. S. N.
Waterloo.
1100 Rutger St., Utica. 122 W. 78th St., New York. 73 Remsen St., Brooklyn. Waterford, R. F. D. Brookwood. Johnstown. Fort Edward.
Care Seymour School, Syracuse. 34 Nassau St., New York. 4 Dix Ave., Glens Falls. 57 State St., Albany. 315 E. Washington St., Syracuse. Schenectady.
12 So. Catherine St., Plattsburg. Fredonia, Mount Kisco. 40 E. Bridge St., Oswego, c/o Hebrew Technical Institute, 36 Stuyvesant St., New York. Newark, N. J. Whitehall.
150 Broadway, New York.
Digitized by
IffEMRICBS NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
457
Bartlett, Edward 0. Bartlett, Eugene ilL Barton, Philip P.» Ph. B. Bamch, Mrs. Simon Bassette, Alfred S. Batcheller, Geo. Clinton Bates, Edward W. Bates, Norman L. Battle Pass Chapter, D. A. B. Beach, Edward Stevens Beadle, Miss Cynthia H. Bean, Charles D., LL. D. Beard, Curtis J. Beardslee, Boosevelt Beardslee, Mrs. Boosevelt Beekman, Hon. Dow Beemer, James G. Beer, George Lewis Belford, ISon. Joseph M. Belknap, Ernest Bell, Hon. Charles Bell, Charles E. Bell, Mrs. Charles E. Bell, aark, LL. D. Bell, Miss S. Louise Bennet, Hon. William 3. Bensber;?, F. W. Betts, Chas. H. Betts, Hon. James A. Bevier, Miss Margaret S. Bigelow, Rev. Dana W., D. D. Blackburn, John T. D. Blauvelt, George A. Bliss, John C, Ph. D. Bloodgood, Clarence E. Bloss, Mrs. A. Elizabeth. Botsford, Elmer P., A. M. Boxall, George H. Brackett, Hon. Edgar T. Brandow, Rev. John H. Brandow, Mrs. J. H. Brayton, M. Jesse Bridgman, Miss Annie T. Brinckerhoff, Rev. J. Howard Brink, Theo. Bristol, George P. Bristol, John I. D.
Amsterdam.
644 EUicott Sq., Buffalo.
352 Buffalo Ave., Niagara Falls.
61 W. 70th St., New York.
Schoharie.
237 W. 72nd St., New York.
East Greenbufidi, Rensselaer Co.
Oswego.
150 Sixth Ave., Brooklyn.
Singer Building, New York.
33 W. 6th St., Oswego.
Geneva.
41 W. 34th St., New York.
East Creek, Herkimer Co.
East Creeky Herkimer Co.
Middleburgh.
Yonkers.
329 W. 71st St., New York.
Riverhead.
Lockport.
Herkimer.
45 Church St., Amsterdam.
45 Church St, Amsterdam.
52 Broadway, New York.
45 Church St, Amsterdajn.
60 Wall St, New York.
1419 Oneida St., Utica.
41 William St, Lyons.
204 Pearl St, Kingston.
Marbletown.
410 State St, Utica.
Albany.
Mousey.
New Paltz.
Catskill.
625 Central Ave., Dunkirk.
Plattsburg.
366 Plymouth Ave., Buffalo.
Saratoga.
69 Manning Boulevard, Albany.
59 Manning Boulevard, Albany.
222 Genessee St, Utica.
320 W. 83rd St, New York,
2 Park Place, Herkimer.
Lake Katrine, Ulster Co.
5 Grove Place, Ithaca.
Chappaqua, Westchester Co.
Digitized by
458
NEW YORK STAIB HISTORICAL ASSOCUTION
Broadhead, Miss Stella F. Brockport State Normal Library Brockway, Miss Mary L. Bronx Chapter, D. A. R. Brooklyn Public Library Brooklyn Manual Training High School (Dept. of History), Broughton, Charles H. Broughton, Mrs. Charles H. Broughton, Harry L. Brown, Hon. Charles H. Brown, Edwin J. Brown, Ernest C. Brown, Rev. Samuel B. Bruce, Robert Branson, Miss F. M. Bugbee, Percy L, D. Sc. BuUard, Charles E. Bullard, Frederick H. Bunnell, A. H, Burnham, Stewart Henry Burroughs, John H. Burt, George Noyes
Callan, Earl Folts. Callan, Mlrs. Frank D. Callan, Peter A., M. D. Camden Chapter, D. A. R. Cameron, Edward M. Cameron, Frederick W. Camp, Col. Walter B. Campbell, Rev. T. J., S. J. Canfield, Palmer A. Cannon, James G. Cardoze, Frederic T. Carman, Nelson G. Carmody, Hon. Thomas Carpenter, Charles W, Carpenter, Hbn. Francis M. Carrington, Augustus B. Carroll, Fred linus Carson, Charles HL Carson, Russell M. L. Carter, Robert C. Carvalho, S. S.
Carville, Miss Eatherine J. C. Case, L. V.
130 So. Main St., Jamestown.
Brockport.
417 Broadway, Saratoga Spa.
102 Hillside Ave., Mount Vernon.
26 Brevoort Place, Brooklyn.
Brooklyn. 307 Turin Road, Rome. 307 Turin Road, Rome. Hudson Falls. Belmont.
56 Main St., Oneida. 52 Vlanderbilt Ave., New York. 200 Walnut Place, Syracuse. Clmton, Oneida Co. 15 Pinnacle Road, Rochester. Oneonta. Glens Falls. Glens Falls. Fort Edward.
R. F. D. No. 2, Hudson Falls. 15 William St., New York. Oswego.
Dion.
nion.
452 5th Ave., New York.
Camden.
173 Western Ave., Albany.
34 Elk St., Albany.
Sacketts Harbor.
30 West 16th St., New York.
72 McEntee St., Kingston.
Golden Bridge, Westchester Co.
So. Hawk St., Albany.
166 Montague St., Brooklyn.
61 Broadway, New York.
526 West End Ave., New York.
Mount Eisco.
200 Broadway, New York.
Johnstown.
Glens Falls.
Glens Falls.
Glens Falls.
238 William St., New York.
257 Webster Ave., New Rochelle.
Tarry town.
Digitized by
MEMBERS NEW TOBK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
459
Catlin, Maj. Qen. Isaac S. Caughey, Eev. John Lyon, D. D. Cayuga County Historical So- ciety Chalmers, Arthur A. Chalmers, Mrs. Arthur A. Champion, Charles S. Champlain Chapter, D. A. B. Channing, J. Parke Chase, Hon. Emory A. Chase, (Jeorge
Chase, Rev. Piatt N., Ph. D. Cheney, Hon. O. H. CSierry Vall^ Chapter, D. A. B. Chesebrough, Robert A. Chester, Hon. Alden Chorley, Rev. E. Clowes Chormann, Frederick Christie, H. C.
Church, Irving P.
Clapper, Prank 8.
Clark, James T.
Clark, John W., Jr.
Clark, Miss Mary Hodges
Clarke, Frederick 0.
Clarke, John M., LL. D. Ph. D.
Clearwater, Hon. Alphonso T.,
Mi. D. Cleaveland, Miss Dorothy K. Cleaveland, Prank N. Clemans, Dr. Sylvester C. Clews, Hon. Henry Clinch, Hon. Edward S. Clinton, Oenl. James, Chapter
D. A. B. Close, Stuart, M. D. Clute, Jesse H.
Coddington, Bev. Herbert G.,
D. D. Coffin, Charles A. Cc^swell, William Brown Cole, Rev. Arthur S. Cole, Charles K., M. D., A. M. Cole, HJarry E.
Apalachin, Tioga Co. 319 Glen St., Glens Falls,
Auburn.
Amsterdam.
Amsterdam.
2 Rector St., New York.
Port Henry.
61 Broadway, New York.
25 Prospect Ave., Catskill.
174 Fulton St., New York.
15 Green St., Kingston.
78 Madison Ave., New York.
Cherry Valley, Otsego Co.
17 State St., New York.
County Building, Albany.
Garrison-on Hudson.
315 Jefferson Ave., Niagara FaUs. Room 908, Diamond Bank Bldg.,
Pittsburgh, Pa. Ithaca.
507 Union St., Hudson. 100 W. 5ih St, Oswego. 34 No. Pine Ave., Albany. Osw^o. Oswego. State HIall, Albany.
316 Albany Ave., Kingston. 21 Lincoln St., Gloversville. Canton.
20 Spring St., Gloversville. 15 Broad St., New York. 133 W. 121st St., New York.
East Springfield, Otsego Co. 248 Hancock St., Brooklyn. Room 601, 39 W. 34ih St., New York.
1006 Harrison St., Syracuse.
30 Church St., New York.
The Solvay Process Co., Syracuse.
193 Clinton Ave., Kingston.
Chelsea-on-Hudson.
Rensselaer.
Digitized by
460
NEW YORK STATE HISTOBICAL ASSOCIATION
Cole, Peter B.
Coleman, Frank B.
Coles, IMjs. Theodore
Coley, Rev. Edward BL, S. T. D.
Colgate University Library
Collin, Hon. Frederick
Collins, Hon. C. V.
Collins, Halsey M.
Colonial Dames of America
Colton, Bt. Rev. Chas. H.
Columbia University Library
Colvin, Hon. Addison B.
Colvin, Andrew
Conant, Mrs. George F.
Conway, John B.
Cook, Mrs. Joseph
Cook, Newton, M. D.
Cook, Thos. J.
Cooke, Harris L.
Cooley, Dr. James S.
Cooley, Dr. Leroy C.
Coolidge, Thomas S.
Coon, Richard K
Cooperstown High School
Cooperstown ViUage Club and Li- brary
Corbin, Harold H.
Corbin, Mss Sarah E.
Corbusier, Lt. Col. Wm. H.
Cornell, Doaglas
Corse, F. Dudley
Cortelyou, Hon. George B.
Cortland State Normal and Training School
Corwith, Frederick B.
Covey, George H.
Cox, Rev. Henry M.
Craig, Charles S., M. D.
Crandall, Dr. Floyd MI
Crandall, William Henry
Crandall Library
801 0. C. S. Bank Bldg., Syra.
cuse. 2 Pleasant St., Fttchburg, Mass. 2 Broad St., Oneida. 1103 Howard Ave., Utica. Hamilton. Elmira. Troy. Cortland.
157 B. 35th St, New York. 1025 Delaware Ave., Buffalo. 116th St., New York. Glens Falls.
280 Broadway, New York. Camden. Argyle. TLcmideroga. Sandy Creek. TLconderoga. Cooperstown. Mmeola, Nassau Co. 2 Reservoir Square, Poughkeq;>sie. Glens Falls.
21 Balding Ave., Poughkeepsie. Cooperstown.
Cooperstown.
Saratoga Spa.
Owego, Tiogti Co.
Saratoga, Santa Clara Co., CaL
Municipal Building, uffalo.
Sandy Creek.
130 B. 15th St., New York.
Cortland.
696 Hudson Ave., Albany.
Katonah, Westchester Co.
Harrington Park, N. J.
Hamlin.
113 W. 95th St., New York.
8 So. Main St., Alfred.
Glens Falls.
Digitized by
MBMBEBS NEW YOBK 8TATB HI8T0SICAL ASSOCIATION
461
Croes, Dr. Andrew Jay Croiifley Mrs. Daniel N. Grouse, N. M. Cmikshank, Frederick B. Cnlyer, Chas. Mortimer^ M. D. Culver, Miss Mary Louise Cummings, Dr. W. A. B. Cunahunta Chapter, D. A. B. Cunningham, CoL J. L. Curran, George L. Curtis Miemonal Library Curtis, Miss May Belle Curtiss, Benjamin DeForest Cutler, Hbn. James G. Danf orth, Loomis L., M. D. Darrow, J. Wallace Daughters of the Empire Sta4;e, Boratio Seymour Chapter Davidson, Silvanus Miller
Davies, Julien Tappen
Davies, Bichard T.
Davis, MSss Alice
Davis, Gen. Charles L., U. S. A.
Davis, Maj. William Church
U. S. A. Dawson, Edgar Day, Benjamin Dean, Bobert E. Decker, Hton. Martin S.
DeGarmo, Miss Susan Stewart De Lamater, Mrs. Badcliff, Hon- orary Begent de la MJcmtanye, James DeLano, Hon. Clayton H. de Laporte, Mrs. Theo. Delehanty, John A. Demarest, Dr. Samuel A. DeMott, John Jacques Denham, Edward
Denman, Frederick H. Denniston, Bear Admiral Henry
Martyn Denslow, Bev. Herbert M., D. D. Denton, Miss Adelaid L.
20 E. 23rd St., New York. 315 Genesee St., Utioa. 24 Shaw St, Utica.
1 Liberty St., New York. 36 Eagle St, Albany.
11 Oark Place, Utica.
Ticonderoga.
Alton, Cl^nango Co.
Glens F^lls.
274 Genesee St, Utica.
Meriden, Conn.
4 Park Ave., Glens Falls.
983 Park Ave., New York.
Cutler Building, Bochester.
49 W. said St, New Yoi*.
Chatham.
262 Genesee St, Utica
7 Stratford Ave., Beacon,
Dutchess Co. 34 Nassau St., New York. 314 W. 77th St, New York. 23 Nagle Ave., New York. 23 Front St, Schenectady.
Fort Barrancas, Pensacola, Fla. Hlunter College, New York. 118 E. 28th St., New York. Fishkill.
Public Service Commission, Al- bany. Stillwater.
Gloversville.
220 Broadway, New York.
Ticonderoga.
Bhinebeck.
451 State St, Albany.
Glens Falls.
Metuchen, N. J.
128 School St., New Bedford,
Mass. 170 Broadway, New York.
Washingtcmville.
2 Chelsea Sq., New York. 4 East Ave., Saratoga Spa.
Digitized by
462
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Denton, Mrs. Elizabeth B. Deo-on-go-wa Chapter, D. A. B. Derby, Archibald S. Derby, Hon. John H. Detroit Public Library Dewar, B. W., M. D., F. A. C. S. Dief endorf , Miss IMCary Biggs Diefendorf, Warren T. Diehl, Hon. Clarence A. Dillenhack, Col. John W., U. S. A. Ditmas, Charles Andrew Dodds, Bev. B. C, DD. Doherty, Henry L. Dolan, James C. Don, John Dom, David B. Dorrance, Charles Pierson Dorrlamm, George Dougherty, Hon. J. Hampden Douglas, Edward W. Douglas, Janies LIi. D. Dowling, Hon. 75ctor J., LL. D. Downey, Bobert A. Downey, Mrs. Susan Jermyn Downing, Augustus 3., L. H. D.,
JJL. D. Dows, Henry A.
Draper, Bev. Gideon Frank
DuBois, Charles A.
Dudley, Miss Marguerite A., B. N.
Duflfey, Edwin
Dunn, Gano
Dunn, Henry E.
Dunn, Dr. Joseph H.
Dunn, Hon. T. B.
Dunnell, Bev. Wm. Nichols, D. D.
Dunning, William B., D. D. S.
Durkee, Mrs. James Henry
Duryee, Charles C, ML D.
Dutton, E. P.
Eager, Miss Margaret MacLaren Earl, Bobert Earp, Wilbur, F. Eastman, Henry M. W. Eaton, James W.
Hudson Falls.
Bichmond Library, Batavia.
Hudson Falls.
Hudson Falls.
Detroit, Mich.
Cooperstown
1342 Union St, Brooklyn
164 Montague St, Brookljm.
95 William St., New York.
312 Washington St, Watertown.
350 Fulton St, Brooklyn.
195 Tremper Ave., Kingston.
60 WaU St, New York.
Gouveneur.
676 N. Broadway, Saratoga.
Cooperstown.
35 Nassau St, New York.
1873 Harmon St, Brooklyn.
27 William St., New York.
207 Pawling Ave., TVoy.
99 John St,, New York.
27 Madison Ave., New York.
Oswego.
8 Montcalm St, Oswego.
141 So. Allen St, Albany.
25 Fort Washington Ave., Newf
York. P. O. Box 187, Clifton Springs. 3551 Broadway, New York. Lebanon Hlofiqntal, Westchester
Ave., New York. Cortland.
117 W. 58th St, New York. 346 Broadway, New York. Glens Palls.
296 East Ave., Bochester. Bector Place, Bed Bank, N. J.
118 R 80th St, New York.
202 Montgomery St., Newburgh. 1352 Union St., Schenectady. 24 W. 51st St, New York.
r
Old Deerfield, Mhss.
Herkimer.
80 Wall St., New York.
Boslyn, Nassau Co.
Babylon, Suffolk Co.
Digitized by
HEMBSRS NSW YORK STATE HIST(«ICAL ASSOCIATION
463
EdBon, Walter HL Ehrhora, Oscar W. Eileri, Frederic Anton Elizabeth Annesley Lewis, Chap- ter D. A. R. Ellinwood, Mrs. Grace M.
EUis, George w7
Ellis, Willis C.
Ellsworth, Rev. Wolcott W.
Elmendorf, George M.
Elting, Philip
Emerick, F. A.
Emerson, George D.
Empire State Society, S. A. R.
Empire State Socie^ of Chicago
Englehordt, Francis Ernest
Ph. D. Eftiyart, H. Shugart Ei^anian, John K., D. D. S. Estee, James A., M. A. Everest, Mrs. Lillian Pike Everett, Major James Hervey Fairbank, Alexander W., M. D. Fairley, William Famham, George A. Famham, Mrs. George A. Faust, Albert Bernhardt, Ph. D.
Fay, MSss Amy Fenton, George Ferris, Mortimer Tale Fielding, Dr. Fred G. Fiero, Hon. James Newton Finegan, Thomas E. LL. D. Finley, Hbn. John H., LL. D. Fitch, Hon. Charles Elliott Flagler, John Haldane Flower, The Roswell P. Memorial
Library Foote, Miss Anna Elizabeth Foote, George C. Fordham.. HcrhftiH- T, 111
Falconer.
15 William St., New York.
751 St. Marks Ave., Brooklyn.
88 Willett St, Jamaica.
Hotel Belleclaire, Bdway & 77th
St., New York. 149 Broadway, New York. Shortsville.
301 So. William, Johnstown. 424 Margaret St., Herkimer. 106 Maiden Lane, Ejngston. Oswego.
171 Whitney Place, BnflPalo. 220 Broadway, New York. Room 213 Hotel LaSalle, Chicago,
m.
405 City Hall, Syracuse.
1147 Fulton Ave., New York.
175 Fifth Ave., New York.
Gloversville.
Plattsburg.
105 Maiden Lane, Kingston.
Cha^.
195 Kingston Ave., Brooklyn.
Hotel American, Sarat(^a Spa.
150 Warburton Ave., Yonkers.
Cornell University (125 Kelvin
Place), Ithaoa. 68 W. 9l8t St, New York. The Marshall, Utica. Ticcmderoga. Glens Falls. 100 State St., Albany. State Education Dept., Albany. State Education Dept, Albany, Skaneateles. 200 Broadway, New York.
Watertown. ' '
The Franklin, Jamaica. Port Henry.
XT xr^^x.
Digitized by
464
NEW YORK STATE HISTOBICAL ASSOCIATION
Foster, Mrs. Elizabeth J. Foulds, Dr. Thos. H. Fowler, Everett Fowler, Hon. Joseph M. EVancis, Rev. Lewis, D. D. Francis, Lewis W. Fredonia State Normal School Friederang, Maximilian BVanz Frisbie, Hpn. M]iles B. Fuller, Mrs. Abbie, E. H. Fnmesi, Charles Y.
Gallagher, James Gallup, P. A,, A. M. Ganowauges Chapter, D. A. B. Gardner, Mirs. Edwin Pond General Richard Montgomery
Chapter D. A. B. Gilbert, Charles N. Gilbert, F^ank B. Gilbert, J. J. Gilbert, Mrs. J. J. Gilman, Hon. Theodore P., A. M. Gilpin, C. Monteith, A. B., LL. B. Glens Falls High School Goodrich, Miss Susan Goodyear, Bradley Goodridge, Edwin Alonzo, M. D. Goold, William D. Gordon, Wellington B., Ph. D. Goshen library & HSst. Sodely Gourley, N. B. Granger, Bfiss A. P. Granger, William A,, D. D. Granl, John C. Gray, Niel, Jr. Greenman, Mrs. J. C. Greenslet, G. B. Griffith, Elbert W., Ph. D. Griswold, E, T. Gnnn, Franklin F.
Hadley, Howard D. Haight, Hon. Albert Haldane, Miss Miary H. HIeOI, Fred J. Halliday, Qark W.
515 Highland St., Fulton.
Glens Falls.
Kingston.
293 Wall St., Kingston.
Port Henry
2 Bector St., New York.
Fredonia.
1236 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn.
514 State St., Schenectady.
425 Broadway, Saratoga Spa.
Glens FaUs.
Cleveland.
74 So. Allen, Albany.
Bichfield Springs.
140 Gibson St., Canandaigna.
Gloversville.
668 Hudson Ave., Albany.
69 So. Lake Ave., Albany. Little Fklls.
Little Falls.
440 West End Ave., New York.
11 WaU St., New York.
Glens Falls.
508 State St, TJtica.
190 Bryant St, BufEalo.
632 N. Broadway, Saratoga Spa.
Care of The GooW Co., Albany.
Patchogue.
(jk»hen.
Glens Falls.
Canandaigna.
70 No. Fulton Ave., Mt Vernon. 116 Union Ave., Saratoga Spa. Oswego.
262 Genesee St, Utica. Glens Falls. Glens Falls. Bennington, Yt Glens Falls.
Plattsburg.
307 Electric Bldg., Buffalo.
Cold Spring.
4 Benedict Ave., Tarrytown.
North ChathanL
Digitized by
MBMBEBS NSW YOBK 8TATB BlffTOBlCAL ASSOCIATION
465
Halsey, Frands Wi.
Ham, Charles Band, Hon. Edward J. Hanson, Willis T., Jr. Harris, William Laurel
Hart, Mrs. H. Gilbert
Hartley, Bobert M.
Hasbronck, Hem. Gilbert D. B.
Hlasbrouck, Mrs. G. D. B.
HkusBrouck, J. DePny
Hftnsmann, Philip Wm.
Hawkins, George K., D. Sc.
Hayden, Henry W.
Hayes, Harold A.
Hayes, Mrs. Ida Thomas
Hays, Etigene D.
Hazard, Miss Blanch Evans
Healey, Hon. R. E.
Healey, A. Augostns
Heermance, Van Ness
Herkimer Gen'l Nicholas Chapter, D.A.R.
Herkimer Co. Hist. Society
Herrick, Mrs. Frank
Hewitt, Fred W.
Higgins, Charles M.
Higgins, John D.
Higginson, Rear Admiral Fran- cis J., U. S. N.
Higinbotham, Miss Louise A.
Higley, Brodie G.
Hill, Albert Clark, Ph. D.
Hill, Edward B.
Bill, Mrs. Erastus D.
HiU, Hon. Henry Wayland
Hogue, Arthur S.
Holcomb, Mrs. Catherine C.
Holden, C. E.
Holden, Hon. James A.
Hollister, Frank M.
Holmes, William H. A.
Hloopes, Maurice
Hopkins, Rev. William Herman, D. D.
Hopson, Rev. George B., D. D.
Century Club, 7 W. 43d St., New
York. 280 Sterling St, Brooklyn. 455 Gay Park Ave., Amsterdam. 20 Union Ave., Schenectady. 120 Central Park, South, New
York. 366 Genesee St., Utica. R. D. No. 1, Amsterdam. 209 Clinton Ave., Kingston. Ejngston.
238 Fair St, Kingston. 39 Central Ave., Albany. ?lattsburgh.
16 Exchange Place, New York. 593 W. Ferry St, BuflEalo. 59 Brinkerhoff St., Plattsbui^. Premium Point, New Rochelle. Cornell University, Ithaca. Plaittsburgh. 90 Gold St, New York. 97 Taylor St., Brooklyn.
Herkimer.
Herkimer.
Rhinebeck.
Granville.
271 9th St, Brooklyn.
Oswego.
Kingston.
176 Main St., Oneida.
Hudson Falls.
865 Madison Ave., Albany.
49 Wall St, New York.
1528 Union St, Schenectady.
471 Linwood Ave., Buffalo.
Plattsburg.
Fredonia.
Whitehall.
Glens Falls.
186 North St, Buffalo.
9 Greystone Terrace, Yonkers.
Glens Falls.
42 Dove St., Albany. Annandale, Dutchess Co.
Digitized by
466
NEW YORK STATE HISTOBICAL ASSOCIATION
Homer, Harlan Hoyt Hjortoiiy Dr. Claade A. .Horton, Dr. Ernest T. Horton, Mlrs. John Miller Hough, Azel C. Howard, Hon. Harry A. Hpwland, Mies Emily Hull, Philip M. Hunt, Mliss M. B^ma Hunt, William J., M. D. Huntington HSstorical Society Hurd, Arthur W., M. D. Hyde, Louia Fiake Hyland, John
Ingalls, George A. Ingalabe, Mrs. Franc G. Ingalsbe, Miss Myra L. Ingalsbe, Was Buth H. Ingraham, Charles A., M. D. Irish, Edward F. Irondequoit Chapter, D. A. B.
Jackson, George R. Jackson, Miss Georgina A. Jackson, Rev. T. G., D. D. Jeflfers, 'Willard G. Jewett, Hon. Edgar B. Johnston, Allen W. Johnson, G. L. Johnson, Mlrs. G. L. Johnson, 'W. D. Jolhftistowin Historical Society Jones, Lewis A. Judson, Miss Eatherine Berry Judson, William Pierson Judson, Mrs. William Pierson
Eayendatoyona Chapter, D. A. B. Keating, Daniel Keller, Mrs. Delight E. R. Kellogg, Rev, Charles D., D. D.
'Kfii\^^^^rct PTnTi .T A Tiiriml.ua
872 Lancaster St., Albany.
Glens Falls.
Whitehall.
477 Delaware Ave., Buffalo.
Janesville, Wis.
Gleiis Falls.
Sherwood.
Kenwood, Oneida Co.
Chatham.
Glens Falls.
Huntington, L. L
State Hospital, Buffalo.
Glens Falls.
Fenn Tan.
Biadson Falls.
Hudson Falls.
Hartford.
South Hartford.
Cambridge.
216 Glen St., Glens Falls.
160 Spring St., Rochester.
Manchester, N. H
155 Broad St, CatskilL
68 St. Paul Place, Brooklyn.
North Rose, Wayne Co.
27 Chandler St., Buffalo.
500 State St., Schenectady.
Oswego.
Oswego.
Cooperstown.
Johnstown.
Glens Falls.
N. T. State Library, Albany.
Broadalbin, Fulton Co.
Broadalbin, Fulton Co.
208 Worth St., Fulton. Ondda. Little Falls. Hudson Falls.
Digitized by
HSMBEBS NEW YORK STATE HISTOBICAL ASSOCIATION
467
Kexmedjy John
Eernaoy Mi» Elizabeth B.
Eeman, Hon. John D.
Eeakeflkiek Chapter, D. A. B.
Eilbonm, Mrs. JucURm O.
King, Charles F.
King, Fred De Lano^
King Manor Asan.
Kings Co. Historical Society, Inc.
Kingsford, Thomas P.
Kingsley, Dr. H. F.
Kline, William J.
Knapp, Hbn. Clyde W.
Knapp, George O.
Knapp, H. Jason
Knapp, Robert D.
Kneeland, Miss Frances
Kneil, Thomas B., A. M.
Eretzmann, Bev. Karl
LaFountaine, Hon. Louis C. Lamb, Mrs. Qeorge E. L'Amoreanz, Hon. J. 3. Lange, Gustave, Jr. Lansimg, Mra. Catheriaie Ganae-
voort Lansing, Hugh H. Lansing, J. Townsend Lapham, Byron Law, Robert B. Lawrence, Rev. Ejgbert Charles
Ph. D. Le Fevre, Hon. Frank J. Leggett, George H. Lent, Andrew Wright Lenz, George, ML D, Leonard, Edgar Cotrell Leonard, Gardner Cotrell LeBoy de Chaumont Chapter,
D. A. R. Lester, Arthur H. Lesser, Robert Lewis, Leon Ray Lewis, Theodore G. Liddle, Henry S., M. D. Lincoln, Hon. Charles Z. Lincoln, Rev. Julius A. M.
Batavia.
318 Elizabeth St., Utica.
62 Chancellor Square, Utica,.
Manor Hiall, Yonkers.
247 Genesee St., Utiea.
Glens FUUa.
Lawrence, Naasan Co.
Jamaica, L. L
350 Folton St, Brooklyn.
Oswego.
Schoharie.
Amsterdam.
Lyons.
Shelving Rock.
North Tonawanda.
Purdy Station.
Skaneateles.
Saratoga Spa.
585 E. 178th St, New York.
Champlain.
308 Pearl St., Burlington, Vt
Ballston Spa.
257 Broadway, New York.
115 Washington AVe., Albany. Watervliet.
Albany. Glens Falls. Cambridge.
36 University Place, Schenectady.
New Paltz.
Glens Falls.
Newburgh.
68 Bleeker St, Gloversville.
Albany.
Albany.
29 School St, Watertown.
Warsaw.
51 Lincoln St., New Rochelle.
Hudson Falls.
605 Richmond Ave., Buffalo.
212 Union St, Schenectady.
523 Ellicott Square, Buffalo.
116 Chandler St, Jamestown.
Digitized by
468
NEW YOBK STATE HISiTOBICAL ASSOCIATION
Ldtile, Bnasell A. Locke, P. T. Lockwood, Mrs. Mary S. Loftis, Mrs. James J.
Lowv WUl H., K A, Lo¥mdes Arthur, D. D., LL. D. LowviUe Chapter, D. A. B. Lnckhorst, Mrs. Charlotte T. Lndlow, Henry S.
McAneny, Hon. Qeorge MeCabe, John J. McCarroI, H|on. William McClumpha, Charles F. MacCracken, Bev. Henry M.,
D. D., LL. D. MacDonald, Benjamin J. McDonald, WiUiam A. Mclnlyre, James D. MicLellan, Hugh McMasters, Clarence B. MicNetton, Dixon McNutt, Mrs. Evelyn McNntt, Bandolph McYicker, Mrs. Bobert Mace, Plx)f. William H. Maher, John L. Malmar, Ernest E. Manhattan College Mann, Col. William D. Mianning, William H. Marsh, Homer P., M. D. Marshall, Charles A. Marshall, Mrs. J. P. Martin, Bey. Daniel Hoffman,
D. D. Mason, A. Eugene Mason, Miss Elizabeth Mead, Leroy B. Menges, Fred Menges, Mrs. Frederick MIeredith, Mrs. Louise Hardjen-
burg Merrell, A. J. Merritt, Edward L. Merritt, Ernest L., M. A. Merwin, Judge Milton H.
Glens Falls.
Ticonderoga.
Cdumbia, Washington, D. C.
The Olbiston, Utica.
Lawrence Park, Bronxville.
143 E. 37th St., New York.
Lowville.
446 Hulett St, Schenectady.
Saratoga Spa.
19 E. 47th St, New York.
Glens Falls.
758 St. Marks St, BrocAlyn.
Amsterdam.
University Heights, New Ycwrk.
44 Third St, Newburg. GloTersville.
86 North Broadway, Yonkers. 3 W. 29th St, New York. 720 Gotham St., Watertown. 47 N. 34th St, New York. Markeen Hotel, Buffido.
45 Swan St, Buffalo.
269 No. Fulton Ave., Mt Vernon.
127 College Place, Syracuse.
1217 Kemble St, Utica.
632 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn,
3280 Broadway, New York.
Hague.
Saratoga Spa.
708 James St., Syracuse.
Saratoga Spa.
305 W. 87 St., New York.
650 W. 170th St., New York.
Glens Falls.
12 Church St, Cortland.
Ticonderoga.
472 Broadway, Saratoga Springs.
136 Circular St, Saratoga Spa.
San Luis Obispo, Cal.
(Geneva.
Elingston.
62 Washington St, Gloversville.
Utica.
Digitized by
MEMBERS NEW TQBK 8TATB HISTOBICAL ASSOCIATION
169
Mjesser, L. Franklin
Metcalf , Mrs. F. M.
Michael, Edward
Michael, Myron J.
Michigan State Library
Milholland, Hon. John E.
Miller, Miss Helen L.
MSller, John P.
Mills, Miss Phebe
Milton, J. E.
Minisink Chapter, D. A. B.
Mrnisink Valley Histories 1 So- ciety.
Mohawk Valley Chapter, D. A. E.
Molynenz, Mrs. Robert A.
Montgomery Co. Historical So- ciety.
Moore, Edwin G.
Moore, William A., A. M.
Moot, Hon. Adelbert
Morehouse, Frank D. Morrow, H. T. Morton, Hon. Leyi IiL. D.
Parsons,
Mosher, Charles L.
Mother Ml Loretta
Mott, Elliott B.
Mott, Hon. Lather W.
Mott, Hlon. John T.
Moolthrop, Samuel P.
Moyer, Fayette E.
Mulford, Rev. Henry D. B., D. D.
Munger, H. G.
Munson, Samuel L.
Nassau Co. Hist. & Genealogical Soc.
Navamere, Miss Martha J.
Nelson, Mrs. E. J.
Nelson, Ven. Dr. Geo. F.
Newark High School
Newburgh Bay and the High- lands. Historical Society of
New Century Club, Gov't and History Dept.
New Paltz State Normal School
New York Public LiKraiy
195 Linwood Ave., Buffalo.
14 The Olbiston, Utioa.
ei^Brisbane Bldg., Buffalo.
[Kingston.
Lansing, Mich.
926 Columbia Ave., Phila., Pa.
18 Oxford Road, New Hartf(Mrd.
95 W. 3rd St, Oswego.
Glens Falls.
Brewerton.
Goshen.
Port Jervis.
nion.
1622 So. Salina St., Syracuse.
Amsterdam.
Plattsburg.
54 Laurel Place, New Rochelle.
Erie Ca Savings Bank Bldg.,
Buffalo. Glens Falls. 258 Guy Park Ave., Amsterdam.
1500 Rhode Island Ave., Wash- ington, D. C. 163 Circular St., Saratoga Spa. Ursuline Academy, Maddletown. Oswego. Oswego. Oswego.
40 Phelps Ave., Rochester. Johnstown.
Upper Red Hook, Dutchess Co. Herkimer. Albany.
Rockville Center.
Ossining-on-Hudson.
428 Genesee St., Utica.
416 LaFayeEie St., New York.
Newark.
Newburgh.
253 Genesee St., Utica. New Paltz. New York.
Digitized by
470
NEW YOBK STAIS HI8T0BICAL ASSOCIATION
Nichols, Edgar B.
Noble, Henry Harmon
Noeth, George E.
North Tonawanda High School
INottangham^ WUl&am
Odell, Charles Mortiiiier OlmHted, Bt. BeT. Chas. Tyler QneidA Chapter D. A. B. Oneida Historical Society O'Neill, Lonis P. Ontario Co. HSst. Society Oneonta Normal School Oppenheim, Samuel
Osbome, Thiomas IMbtt, A. B.,
L. H. D. Otsego Chapter D. A. B. Owasco Chapter, D. A. B. Owen, Ifoa. William H.
Page, Mrs. David B. Paine, Silas H. Palmyra Historical Society. Paltsits, Hon. Victor H.
Paradis, Adrian Parry, Mrs. John E. Parsons, John S. Patchogue Library Patterson, Mortimer Bliss Peabody, George Foster, LL. D. Peek, Gen. Theo. S. Peckham, Stephen Famum Pell, Hon. Howland Pell, Stephen H. P. Penfield, James Kedzie Fennsylyania^ Elistorical Sodely
of Pettis, Hon. CliflPord B. Pettit, Miss Catherine Mary Philip Livingston Chapter, Sons
of the Eevolution
76 Mohawk St, Cohoea.
Essex
28 Main St. Eaist, Bochester.
No. Tonawanda.
604 University Ave., Syracnse.
285 Quail St., Albany. 1101 Park Ave., Utdca. 1403 Oneida St., Utioa. Utica.
c/o Coonly Bldg., Albany. Canandaigaa. Oneonta.
811 Dawson St., Bronx, New York.
Auburn.
Cooperstown.
Auburn.
410 Chancellor Sq., Utica.
157 W. 3d St, Oswego. Silver Bay. Palmjrra.
2240 Grand Boulevard and Con- course, New York. Bockaway Park, L. I. Olens Falls. Oswego. '4 Patchogue. ^ Nyack. ^
Saratoga Spa. Burlington, Vt. 1154 Sterling Place, Brooklyn. 25 Liberty St., New York.
43 Exchange Place, New York. Delhi, Delaware Co.
1300 Locust St., Philadelphia, Pa. 916 Myrtle Ave., Albany. Fort Miller.
44 Tweddle Bldg., Albany.
Digitized by
IfFiMBKRfi NEW YORK 8TATB HISTCttlCAL ASSOCIATION
471
Plimpton, George A^ LIL. D.
Porter, Hon. Peter A.
Potter, Bev. Clayton J.
Poacher, J. Wilscm, M. D.
PowelflOQ, Mifls Lonise
Powers, C. P.
Pratt Institute Free library
Preston, Miss Helen G., Ph.D.
Proctor, Thomas Bedfield
Pruyn, Frederick F.
Pryer, Charles
Pugh, Mrs. Ezra B.
Putnam Co. Historical Society
Pyrke, Berne A.
Queen of the Bosary Academy Library
Bawdon, Miss Clara Louise Hale Bay, Hon. George W., LL. D. Bay, Mrs. J. Johnson. Beeves, George W. Beist, Henry G. Beynolds, Cuyler Beynolds, Henry 8. Beynolds, V. Bev. Pidelis B^molds, Samuel J. W. Bichards, Frederick B. Edchfield Springs Public Library Bichmond, Charles Alexander,
LL. D. Biggs, James G., Pd. D. Biley, Hon. John B. Bisley, A. W. Boberts, Mrs. Frances W. Bobertson, D. L. Bobison, Hanford Robison, Mrs. William Bochester Historical Society Bockwood, Hon. Nash Boney, Irving S. Roosa, DeWitt Boosevelt, Hon, Franklin D. Bosch, Hon. Joseph Bowe, Louis Cass Bowe, Franklin A. Boyce, Mrs. Caroline H.
70 Fifth Ave., New York.
North Tonawanda.
107 Union St., Schenectady.
339 ma St, Poughkeepsie.
232 K Main St., Middletown.
Schuylerville.
Byerson St, Brooklyn.
8 Ithaca St, Ehnhurst, L. L
Utica.
Glens Falls.
New Bochelle.
279 South St, Utioa.
Cold Spring.
Port Henry.
Amityville, L. I.
71 Prospect St., Little Falls. Norwich, Chenango Co. No. Broad St., Norwich. Court Hiouse, Watertown. 110 Avon Boad, Sdienectady. 197 Western Ave., Albany. 950 Madison Ave., New York. St. Bonaventure. Herkimer. Glens Falls. Bichfield Springs.
Union College, Schenectady.
Oswego.
Plattsburg.
703 Hudson Ave., Albany.
14 Clinton Place, Utica.
Glens Falls.
6 Front St., Schenectady.
Massapequa, L. L
Exposition Park, Bochester.
Saratoga.
354 Fourth Ave., New York.
212 Fair St., Kingston.
Hyde Park, Dutchess Co.
Liberty.
40 B. Utica St., Oswego.
Glens Falls.
476 Fifth Ave., New York.
Digitized by
472
NEW YORK STATE HIBTOBICAL ASSOCIATION
Budd, Hon. iWiUiam P. Byan, John J., LIL. B.
Sagoyewatha Chapter, D. A. B. Samscm, William H. Sanders, Charles P. Saranac Chapter, D. A. B. Saratoga Chapter, D. A. B. Saratoga Spa High School Public
Library Saratoga Historical Society of, Sarre, Mrs. Olive Brown Satterlee, Esther E. Saugerties Chapter, D. A. B. Sawyer, Bev. Everett B., D. D. Sawyer, John E. Sawyer, Hon. Samuel Nelscm Sawyer, WiUoughby L. Sayre, Miss Amelia Y. B. Sayre, Theodore S. Saxton, Andrew B. Saxton, Harold N. Schermerhom, Mrs. Lizzie Bradt Schenectady Chapter, D. A. B. Schenectady Co. Hist. Society Schmid, Dr. H. Ernest Schuyler, Aickley C. Schuyler, Miss Fanny Scollard, Clinton, L. H. D. Scully, Mrs. William T. Sears, Mrs. Prank L. Seaman, James H. Seay, James Miller Seelye, Elwin Selth, Walter B. Seneca Chapter, D. A. B. Seneca Palls Historical Society Severance, Hon. Pra^k H. Sexton, Hon. Pliny T^ LL. D. Sexton, Mrs. Pliny T. Shaw, Mrs. Elton A. Shea, James A. Shear, Sylvester B. Sheldon, Mark L. Shepherd, Miss Caroline Shepherd, P. B.
City Hall, Albany. Medina.
219 W. Pall St., Seneca Palls.
454 Bivendde Driven New York.
Scotia, Schenectady.
Platteburg.
200 Caroline St., Saratoga Spa.
Saratoga Spa Saratoga Spa. Napanoch.
517 W. Gray St, Elmira. 172 Main St, Saugerties. Hudson Palls. Hudson Palls. Palmyra Hudson Palls. 1006 Park Ave., Utica. 310 Genesee St, Utica. Oneonta.
Slingerlands, Albany Co. 9 Brandywine Ave., Schenectady 218 Glenwood Bldg., Schenectady. Schenectady. White Plains.
333 West 36th St, New York. 380 Pelham Eoad, New Bochelle. Century Club, New York. Schuylerville. 208 Worth St., Pulton. 308 Glen St, Glens Palls. 17 Horicon Ave., Glens Palls. Lake George.
106 Eleventh Ave., Mt Vernon. Geneva. Seneca PUls Buffalo. Palmyra. Palmyra.
33 Third St., Schenectady. 1904 James St, Syracuse. Poughkeepsie. Salem. Port Miller. 98 W. 5th St., Oswego.
Digitized by
mWBWRS NSW T0BK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
473
Shepard, Miss Julia A. Sherman, Karl M. Shriyer, Miss Gertrade Ellicott Sidway, Frank St. John Sidway, Mrs. Frank St. J(din Silas Towne Ch^ter, D. A. B. Sills, Rev. Chas. Morton, D. D. Sill, Bev. Frederick S*, D. D. Sim, John B.
Simpson, John Bonlton Sims, Clifford S. Singletcm, J. Edward Sister M. Ignatia Sister M. Maroella Sister M. Margaret
Skahasegao Chapter, D. A. B. Skenandoah Chapter, D. A. B. Skinner, Avery W. Slade, John A.
Slade, Mrs. Emma H. Smith, A. T. Smith, Abram D. Smith, Mrs. Abram D. Smith, Ernest E. Smith, James F. Smith, Lee H., M. D. Sohmer, Hon. William Spalding, Chas. A. Spencer, Gharlea Worthen, Ph. D.
Spencer, Miss Jane L. Sprague, Wilbur B. Spraker, Mrs. B. F. Squire, Watson C, LL.D. Squire, Mrs. Ida Remington Squires, Bben H. P. St. Clare, Bev. C. C. Stanton, Hon. Lucius M. Start, Mrs. W. H. Steele Memorial Library Steers, Mrs. Eatherine V. Stephens, W. Hudson Stevens, Miss Harriet E.
170 Main St., Oneida.
953 Paulding St., Peekskill,
East Creek, Herkimer Co.
37 Oakland Place, Buffalo.
37 Oakland Place, Buffalo.
Mexico.
Trinity Bectory, Geneva.
Cohoes.
Amsterdam Ave., cor. 138ih St.,
New York. Sagamore-on-Leke George, c/o D. & H. Co., Albany. Glens Falls.
Holy Angd's Academy, Buffalo. Nazareth Academy, Bochester. Ladycliff Academy, Highland
Falls. Lima, Livingston Co. Oneida.
Mexico, Oswego Co. 10 Citizens' Bk. Bldg., Saratoga
Spa. 332 W. 87th St., New York. Herkimer.
Newark, Wayne Co. Newark, Wayne Co. Boys' H3^h School, Brooklyn. S. Hartford. 663 Main St., Buffalo. 75 WiUiam St., New York. Saugerties.
114 Fitz Bandolph Boad, Prince- ton, N. J. 239 East First St., Oswego. 13 Elizabeth St., Utica. Palatine Bridge. Ilion. Ilion.
2 Grand St., White Plains. Port Henry.
896 Broadway, New York. 9 Clinton Place, Utica. Elmira.
606 Liberty St., Schenectady. Lowville, Lewis Co. 142 West Seneca St., Oswego.
Digitized by
474
NBW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
SteveiiBon, Miss Helen G., FL B.
Stilbnkan, William Olin, IL D.
Stoddard, S. B.
Stover, Dr. CJharles
Strong, Hon. Alonzo P.
Staar^ Henry Clarence
Stomp, Mrs. Herman
Sturges, James Y.
Stupplebeen, Charles A.
SulUvfui, Hermon E.
Sutro, Theodore
Swartwout, P. Bobart
Syracuse Public library
Tait, Qeorge
TalliDiadge, Henry Overing
Tate, Lewis A.
Teflft, Miss Prances A.
Teflft, Richard C.
Teller, Myron S.
Tennant, Horace G.
Tewey, Miss Margaret M.
Thayer, Miss Estelle
Thayer, Stephen H.
Thompson, Alfred C.
Thompson, Miss Annie S.
Thompson, Charles Bothwell
Throop, Charles Ml
Thornton, Mrs. C. H.
Tibbits, Miss Mary Bdla
TiUotson, B. H.
Tinning, Mrs. Cornelia Stevens
Tinstman, B. E.
Tipling, Chas. A., LL. B.
Todd, Hiram C.
Troy Public library
Turner, Mrs. W. H.
Tuttle, Mrs. George P.
Underwood, Henry C.
TIniversity of Michigan^ General
Library Utica Public Library Vallonia Historical Society Van Alstine, Sanford D. Van Buren, Miss Catherine G. Van Buskirk, Miss Frances L. Van Camp, Frederick W.
136 Second Ave., Newark, N. J, 287 State St., Albany. Glens Falls.
ATngt.Affifi|i.Tw.
311 State St, Schenectady.
450 Riverside Drive, New York.
Bel-Air, Barford Co., Mid.
Geneseo.
Glens Falls.
WhitehalL
320 W. 102nd St., New York.
105 So. Division St, PeekskilL
Syracuse.
336 Glen St., Glens Falls.
80 Wall St, New York.
Gloversville.
Hudson Palls.
Hudson PaUs.
280 Wall St, Kingston.
Schoharie.
60 Main St., Lrvington-on-Hudson
Bumside.
12 Windsor Terrace, Yonkers.
Brockport.
78 Livingston Ave., Yonkers.
Olem Palls.
Schoharie.
70 Ridge St., Glens Falls.
34 Brookside Place, New Bochelle.
126 R Park St, Olathe, Kansas.
18 Glenwood Blvd., Schenectady.
Glens Palls.
1 Bridge Plaza, Long Island City.
Sarat(^a Spa.
Troy.
65 St. James St., Elngston.
Plattsburg.
Penn Yan.
Ann Arbor, Mach.
Utica.
Bameveld.
148 Main St, Palmyra.
Spring Lake^ N. J.
65 River St., Saranac Lake.
Southern Pines, No. G.
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475
Van Campezi, C. H.
Van Cortlandt, MisB Anne S. Van Cortlandt, Jamea 8. Van Dyke, Mtb. Orson, VanderVeer, A., 1£ D. Van Dewater, Arthur Van Hee, Daniel L. Van Home, C. F. Van Kirk, Hon. C. C. Van Leer, Arnold J. R Vann, Hkin. Irving G. Van Orden, Miss Mary L. Van Bensselaer, Mrs. Sehnyler Van Santvoord, Seymour Van Vliet, George Stoekwell Van Voast, Horace 8. Van Wormer, Bodney Vtermilyea, Miss Helen P. Viele, Miss Eathlyne K Voebnrgh, Boyden W. Vrooman, Col. John W. Vrooman, Mrs. John W. Waddell, Miss Helen
Wadsworth, Mrs. David
Wait, John C.
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Wait, William
Wakeman, Abram
Waldron, Charles N.
Waldron, Mrs. Wm. Gunsaul
Walker, Mrs. Ada C.
Wallander, A. H.
Wallin, Wm. J.
Walters, Mrs. Katherine P.
Walton, Alonzo Paige
Walton, Charles
Ward, Hon. Geo. W.
Ward, Louis B.
Warner, Clarence Macdonald
Warner, J. B. T. Warner, Walter A.
328 Security Bank Bldg., Mjnne-
apdis, MiTiTi Manor Hkmse, Croton-on-Hudacm* Croton-<»i-HudBon.
1412 Oneida St., Utica. 28 Eagle St., Albany. 184 liadison Ave^ Ilufihing.
236 Dartnuouth St, Bochester. Glen, Montgomery Co. Greenwich.
433 Western Ave., Albany.
454 James St, Syracuse.
Catskill
9 W. 10th St, New Tort
Troy.
Staatsburgh.
511 State St., Schenectady.
Argyle.
298 Saratoga St, Cohoes.
357 Park Ave., Tonkers.
13 Lenox Place, New Brighton.
Herkimer.
Herkimer.
Hoosick Falls.
186 Genesee St., Auburn. 233 Broadway, New York. Hudson F^Us.
237 Smith St., Peekskill. 96 Water St., New York. Union College, Schenectady. 151 Guy Park Ave., Amsterdam 423 State St., Albany.
168 Park Ave., Mount Vernon.
16 Livingston Ave., Yonkers.
68 Warren St., Glens Falls.
26 Front St., Schenectady.
Kingston.
Little Falls.
264 Ontario St., Albany.
51 Wedgemere Ave., Winchester,
Mass. Scottsville. Whitehall.
Digitized by
476
NBW YOBK STATE HI8T0BICAL ASSOCIATION
WnTwick Historical Society
Waterbury, W. H.
Waterloo Union School
Watkins, DeLancey W.
Watkins, Mrs. Thomas D.
•Watrous, Harry W.
Watrons, Mrs, Harry W.
Watson, M^ Lacy Carlile .
Webster, W. B., M. D.
Weed, Hon. Geo. S.
Weed, Him. Smith M.
Wells, Frederick H.
Wemple, Hon. William W.
West, Arthur F.
West, Charles F.
West, Elmer J.
West, Fenton E.
West, Col. Frank, U. S. A.
Weston, Albert T., M. D.
Westover, Myron F.
Wetmore, Edmund, LL. D.
Wheat, Benjamin P.
Wheeler, Hon. Charles B., UL. D.
Wheelock, Charles F., UL. D.
Wheelock, Edward, M. D.
White, Wmu Pierrepont
Whitney, Roy F.
Wickes, Charles E.
Wickes, Frank B.
Wight, Percy L.
Wightman, Orrin Sage, M. D.
Wilder, Frank J.
Wiley, Oeorge M.
Willard Mountain Chapter,
D. A,B. Col. Marinus Willett Chapter,
D. A. R. Willey, Rev. John H. Williams, Charles Splicer Williams College Wflliams, Chauncey P. Williams, Hon. Clark Williams, David Williams, Sherman, Pd. D. Willis, Clarence
Warwick.
159 Phila. St., Saratoga Springs.
Waterloo.
23 Washington Ave^ Seheneetady.
425 Genesee St, Utica.
145 W. 58th St, New Tort
Hague-on-Lake George.
270 Genesee St, Utica.
SchuylerviUe.
Plattsburg.
Plattsburg.
41 DeKalb Ave., White Plains.
Schenectady.
Lake George.
300 Glen St, Glens Falls.
Glens Falls.
22 Hunter St, Glens Galls.
Mohawk.
170 W. 74 St., New York.
Schenectady.
170 W. 74th St, New York.
Saratoga Spa.
Supreme Court Chambers, Buffalo
Education Dept, Albany^
26 Gibbs St, Rochester.
2800 Whitesboro St., Utica.
69 W. Cayuga St., Oswego.
New Hamburg.
Ticonderoga.
Clinton.
113 W. 78th St., New York.
46 Comhill, Boston, Maai.
Education Dept, Albany.
Greenwich.
Frankfort
311 So. Graham St, Pittsburg, Pa.
Hudson.
WiUiamstown, Mass.
284 State St., Albany.
293 Mladison Ave., Ne^ York.
427 nth Ave., New York.
Glens Falls.
1 Liberty St, Bath.
Digitized by
MEMBEBS NEW YOBK STATE BlSTOBICAh ASSOCIATION
477
Wiltsie, Charles Hastmgs 'Wing, Ashad R. WiDston, James 0. WiswelL Leon O. Witherbee, Hon. Walter C. Witherill, 0. B. Wood, Prank H. Wood, Mrs. Joseph S. Worden, Edwin J. Wotherspoon, lijajor General William Wallace
Wright, Mrs. Caroline V. R.
Wright, Miss Abbie A. Wright, Harold A. Wright, Mrs. Jennie Esmond Wright, Tobias A. Wyckoff, Mrs. Alice Brooks Wyer, Mrs. Frederick Wyer, James I., Jr. Yeisley, Eev. George Conrad,
D. D. Tankers Hisrtoirical and LObtrary
Association Tonng, Alonzo M.
123 Plymouth Ave., Rochester.
Fort Edwiard.
Kingston.
Education Dept., Albany.
Port H]mry.
12 Elm St., Glens Falls.
Education Dept., Albany.
135 Sec<md Ave., Mt. Vernon.
Lake George.
Dept. of Public Works, Capitol, Albany.
127 Mersereau Ave., Port Rich- mond.
Hudson Falls.
R. D. 4, Fulton.
Saratoga Spa, R. F. D. No. 1.
150 Bleecker St, New York.
Elmira.
42 Franklin St., Auburn.
N. Y. State Library, Albany.
Hudson.
Yonkers. Johnstown.
Digitized by
GEXXIRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
Albany.
AbramB, Alfred W. AidaiDB, John S. Ainsworth, Hon. Daiiforth B. Arnold, Ljorn J. Barcua, James Q. Blaekbnm, John T. D. Brandow, Bev. John H. Brandow, Mrs. J. H. Cameron, Edward M. Cameron, Frederick W. Cardoze, Frederic T. Chester, Hon. Alden Clark, John W., Jr.
Judson, ICiss Eatherine Berry Lansing, Mrs. Catherine Ganse-
voort Lansing, J. Tofwusend Leonard, Edgar Cotrell Leonard, Gardner Gotrell Mnnson, Samuel L. Odell, Charles Mortimer CNeil, Louis F. Pettis, Hon. Clifford B. Philip Livingston Chapter, S. of B Reynolds, Ooyler Risley, A. W.
Clarke, John M., LL. D., Ph. D.Rudd, Hon. William P.
Corwith, Frederick B. Sims, Clifford S.
Culver, Charles Mlortimer, Ml D.Stillman, William Clin, M. D.
Decker, Hon. Martin S. Delehanty, John A. Downing, Augustus S. Fiero, Hon. James Newton Finegan, Thomas E. Finley, John H., LL. D. Gallup, F. A., A. M. Gilbert, Charles N. Gilbert, Frank B. Goold, William D. Hiausmann, Philip Wm. Hill, Albert Clark, Ph. D. Homer, Harlan Ho3rt Hopkins, Rev. William Herman, D. D.
Vander Veer, A., M. D.
Van Laer, Arnold J. F.
Walker, Mrs. Ada C.
Ward, Louis B.
Wheeler, Edward J., Ph. D.
Wheelock, Charles F., LL. D.
Wiley, George M.
Williams, Chauncey P.
Wiswell, Leon 0.
Wood, Frank H.
Wotherspoon, Maj. €^en. Wm.
Wallace Wyer, James L, Jr.
Crandall, William Henry
Alfred.
AmityviUe.
Digitized by
MEMBERS NEW YORK STATE HISTCttlCAL ASSOCIATION 479
AiiurtardanL
Bartlett, Edward 0. Hartley, Robert M.
Bell, Charles K Eline, Wm. J.
Bell, Mrs. Charlee E. MbClumpha, Charles F.
Bell, Miss S. Louise Mont Co. Hist. Society
Chalmers, Arthur A. Morrow, H. T.
Chalmers, Mrs. Arthur A. Stover,, Dr. Charles
French, Charles Edward Waldron, Mrs. Wm. Ounsaul Hand, Hon. Edward J.
Anandale. Hopson, Rev. George B., D. D.
Apalaohin.
Catlin, Major General Isaac S.
Afton. Ctmahnnta Chapter, D. A. R.
Antwerp. Augsbury, Mrs. Willard S.
Argyle. Conway, John B. Van Wormer, Rodney
AubiinL
Adams, Rev. John Quincy Owosco Chapter, D. A. R.
Cayuga Co. Hist. Society Wadsworth, Mrs. David
Osborne, Thomas M5ott> A. B. Wyer, Mrs. Frederick
Babylon. Eaton, James W.
I^^ifftiffl Spa. L'Amoreauz, Hon. J. S.
Bameveld.
Vallonia Historical Society
Digitized by
480 NEW YORK STATE HISTOBICAL ASSOCUTION
Bftth.
Willis, Clarence
Behnout. Brown, Hon. Charles H.
Bolton Tending. Bixby, W. K.
Brswarton. Milton, J. E.
BroadalMn. Judson, William Pieirson Judson, Mrs. William Pierson
Thompson, Alfred C.
Brookport
State Normal SchooL
BrooUyn.
Adams, Henry Sherman Baldwin, Stephen C. Brooklyn Public Library little Pass Chapter, D. A. E. Carman, Nelson G. Close, Stuart, M. D. Diefendorf, Miss Mary Riggs Diefendorf , Warren T. Ditmas, Charles Andrew Dorlamm, George Eilers, Frederic Anton Pairley, William Friederang, Maximilian F. HIam, Charles
Heermance, Van Ness Higgins, Charles M. Jackson, Eev. T. G., D. D. Kings Co. Hist. Society, Inc. Mianuel Training High School Malmar, Ernest E. McCarroll, Hon. William Peckham, Stephen Famum . Potts, Charles Edwin Pratt Institute Free Library Putnam, Hon. Harrington, LL. Smith, Ernest E. Tracy, Ira Otis, M. D.
Bronxville.
Wilson, Thomas A.
Thayer, Miss Estella
Low, Will H., N. A.
Bomside. Buffalo.
Digitized by
mnfRBBS NEW YORK STATE HISTCttlOAL ASSOCIATION 481
HayeB, Hbrold A. McNutt, Bandolph
Hill, Hom. Henry Wayland Messer, L. FraoMm
HoUister, Frank M. Michael, Edward
Holy Angela' Academy Uioot^ Hbn. Addbert
Horton, Mrs. John Miller Severance, Hon. Frank H.
Hard, Arthur W., M. D. Sidway, Frank St John
Sister M. Ignatia Sidway, Mlrs. Frank St John
Jewett, Hon. Edgar B. Smith, Lee H., M. D.
Kennedy, Hngh Warren, Mrs. Edward S.
Lewis, Theodore G. Warren, Edward Stevens
Lincoln, Hon. Charles Z. Warren, William Y.
McNntt, Mrs. Evelyn Wheeler, Hkm. Charles B.
Oamtaridgo. Ingraham, Charles A., M. D. Law, Bobert B.
Oamdim.
Camden Chapter, D. A. B. Conant, Mrs. Qeorge F.
Oaaaadaigna.
Gardner, Mrs. Edwin Pond Ontario Co. Hist. Society
Granger, Miss A. P.
Cleaveland, Frank N.
Oanton.
CtatsUlL
Bloodgood, Clarence E. Chase, Hon. Emory A.
Van Orden, Miss Mary L. Jachson, Miss Georgina A.
GhamplahL LaFonntaine, Hon. Lonis C.
(Jhappaqiuk Bristol, John I. D.
Ohatbant Hunt, Miss M. Bema Darrow, J. Wallace
flhanr.
Digitized by
482 NEW YOSK STATE HISTOBICAL A8S0CUTI0K
0b6UmM>n-Hiid8oiL Cole, Charles K, IL D.
Cherry Valley. Cherry Valley Chiq?ter, D. A. B.
Clif ton Springs. Draper, Bev. Oideon F.
dereland.
Gallagher, James
OUnton. Wight, Percy L. Bruce, Bobert.
Oohoes.
Nichols, Edgar B. Yermilyea, Miss EOelen F.
Sill, Bev. Frederick S., D, D.
Gold Spring.
Haldane, Was Mary H. Putman Co. Hist. Society
Eemble, Qouvemeur
Oooperstown.
Augur, Mjonroe F. Johnson, W. D.
Cooke, Harris L. Lippitt, Moses E.
Cooperstown High School Oteego Chapter D. A. B.
Crist, Arthur H. Village Club and Library
Dewar, B. W., MJ)., F. A C. S White, George H. Dom, David B.
Oortland.
Collins, Halsey M. State Normal and Training
Duffey, Edwin School
Mason, Miss Elizabeth
Oroton-on-Hudson.
Van Cortlandt, MSss Anna S. Van Cortlandt, James S.
Delhi Penfield, James Eedzie
Dunkirk.
Bloss, Miss A Elizabeth.
Digitized by
MEMBKB8 NEW YORK STATE HISTOBICAL ASSOCIATION 483
Eaifc Greek.
Bearddee, Boosevelt Shriver, Miss Ctertrude E.
Beardslee, Mrs. Boosevelt
Eaifc Ctreenbash.
Bates, Edward W.
East Sprlngfleld.
General James Clinton Chapter, D. A.B.
Elndniw
Collin, Hon. Frederick Satterlee, Eferfiher E.
Steele Memorial Library Wyckoff, Mrs. Alice Brooks
EbnhiiTBt^ L. L Preston, Miss Helen O.
Noble, Henry Harmon
Falocmer. Crosby, Hon. Harley N. Edson, Waltar H.
Fine View. Van Camp, Frederick W.
FlshUll-on-Hiidsoct Bayidson, Silvanos Miller Dean, Robert E.
Ftauddnff. Van Dewater, Arthnr
FoiOilpoi L Anringer, Bev. 0. C.
Fort Miller. Shepherd, Miss Caroline Pettit, MSss Catherine Mary
Fredonia.
Darwin B. Baker Library Assn. State Normal School Holcombe, Mrs. Catherine C.
Digitized by
484 NEW TOEK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Fnuikfort«
Col. MariBUS, Willett, Chapter D. A. B.
Fort Edward.
Banker, Dr. Silas J. Wing, Ashael B.
Btiimell, A. HL
Fiiltoii,
Kayendatoyona Chapter, D. A. B. Wright, Harold A. Sears, Mrs. Frank L. Foster, Mrs. Elizabeth J.
Garden Otby. Ferris, Morris P. Ferris, Van Wyck
CkuTiaon-onrHadson.
Chorley, Bev. E. Clowes
Oenaseo. Sturges, James V.
G€D0VE«
Bean, Charles D., LL. D. Seneca Chapter, D. A. B.
Sills, Bev. Charles Morton D. D.Merrell, A, J.
Oten, Montgomery Oo. Van Home, C. F.
Olens FUls.
Adamson, W. H. Dunn, Joseph H., D. D. S.
Barber, Jnnins E. Fieldmg, Dr. Fred Q.
Bnllard, Cterles E. Foulds, Dr. Itos. H.
Bnllard, Frederick H. Fomess, Charles V.
Carson, Charles H. Olens Falls High School
Carson, Bnssell M. L. Gonrley, N. B.
Carter, Bobert C. Greenslet, Q. B.
Digitized by
MKMBBBS NEW YOBK STATE HI8T0BIGAL ASSOCUTIOK 485
Hyde, Louis Fiake Bowe, FranUm A.
Insh, Edward F. Seaman, James H.
JefFers, Hepiy L. Seay, James Miller
JoneB, Lewis A. Singletoiiy J. Edward
Kellogg, HoiL J. Angastos Stoddard, S. B.
King, Charles F. Stapplebeen, Charles A.
Lapham, Byron Tait^ George
Leggett, Oeorge H. Thompson, Charles Bothwell
Little, Bnssell A. Thornton, Mrs. C. H.
Mlason, A. Eugene Tinstman, B. E.
McCabe, John J. Walters, Mrs. Eatherine P.
Mills, Miss Fhebe West, Charles F.
Morehouse, Frank D. West, Elmer J.
Parry, Mrs. John B. West, Fenton E.
Pruyn, Frederick F. Williams, Sherman, Pd. D.
Bichards, Frederick B. Wilson, Mrs. Charles H.
EobertBon, D. h. Witherill, 0. B.
OlovmndUe.
Cleaveland, Miss Dorothy K. Lenz, Geoi^, M. D.
Clemans, Dr. Sylvester C. McDonald, William A.
DeLamater, Mrs. Baddiff Meritt, Ernest L.
Estee, James A. Tate, Lewis A.
General Bichard Montgomery Chapter D. A. B.
Golden Bridge, Westchester Ck).
Cannon, James G.
Ooavenenr.
Dolan, James C.
Ooslien*
Goshen Library & Hist. Society Minisink Chapter, D. A. B.
GiMnwich. Willard Mt. Chapter, D. A. B. VanKirk, Hon. C. C.
OranvUle. Hewitt, Fred W.
Mann» Col. William D. Watrons, Mrs. Harry W.
Digitized by
486
NEW TOSK STATE HISTOBICAL AS80GUTI0K
Hamittan. Allen, Freeman H., Ph. D. Colgate University Library
Craig, Charles S., M. D.
Ingalsbe, Miss Myra L.
HamUn.
Hartford.
HorUniflr.
Bell, Hon. Charles Brinckerhoflf, Rev. J. Howard Earl, Bobert Elmendorf , Oeorge M.
General Nicholas Herkimer Chap-Vrooman, iMJrs. John W, ter, D. A. B. Vrooman, OoL John W.
Herkimer Co. Hist. Society Hunger, H. G. Reynolds, Samuel J. W. Smith, A. T.
HlsblaiidlUls.
Sister M. Margaret, Ladycliff Academy
Hoodi<& Falls.
Waddell, Miss Helen
Beckett, James A.
Acker, Milo M.
Homell.
Hudson Falls.
Brou^hton, Harry L. Bumham, Stewart Hbnry Denton, M!rs. Elizabeth Derby, Archibald S. Derby, Hlon. John H. Higley, Brodie G. Howland, Pred D. Ingalls, George A. Ingalsbe, Hon. Grenville 1 Ingalsbe, Mrs. Franc G.
Kellogg, Bev. Charles D., D. D.
Lewis, Leon Bay
Sawyer, Bev. Efverett E., D. D.
Sawyer, John K
Sawyer, Willoughby L.
Tefft, Miss Frances A.
Tefft, Bichord C.
Wait, Mrs. J. W.
Wright^ Mjsb Abbie A.
Hudson.
Digitized by
\ffii!ifttTi!Bfi NEW YOBK 8TATB HISTOBICAL ASSOCIATION 487
HuntiB^ftoiL Huntington Hist. Society
Hyde Park. Roosevelt, Hon. Franklin D.
Dion.
Callan, Mrs. Frank D. Squire, Watson C, LL.D.
CcdlAn, Earl Folts. Squire, Mrs. Ida Remington.
Mohawk Vcdley Chapter, D. A. R.
Irrington-onrHiidson.
Tewey, Miss Margaret M.
Ithaca.
Bristol, George P. Hazard, Miss Blanche E.
Church, Irving P. Faust, Albert Bernhardt, Ph. D.
Jamaica.
Foote, Miss Annft Elizabeth Elizabeth Annesley Lewis, Chap-
Eing Manor Assn. ter D. A. R.
Jamestown. Broadhead, Miss Stella F. Lincoln, A. M., Rev. Julius
Johnstown.
Carroll, Fred Linus Moyer, Fayette E.
Ellsworth, Rev. Wolcott W. Young, Alonzo M.
Johnstown Hist. Society Banker, Albert M.
Katonah. Covey, George H.
Kenwood, Oneida Co. Hull, Philip M.
Kingston.
Atkins, Du Bois G. Dodds, Rev. R. C, D. D.
Betts, Hon. James A. Elting, Philip
Canfield, Palmer A. Everett, Maj. James Hervey
Chase, Rev. Piatt N., Ph. D. Fowler, Everett
Clearwater, Hon. Alphonso T. Fowler, Him. Joseph M.
Cole, Rev. Arthur S. Hasbrouck, Mrs. G. D. B.
Digitized by
488 NEW TOBK STATE HISTOBICAL ASSOCIATION
Hasbronck, Hon. Oilbert D. B. Boosa, DeWitt Hasbrouck, J. DePny Ub. D. Teller, Myroa 8. Higginson, Bear Admiral FrancisTamer, lif^. W. H.
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J. Merritt, Edward L. Michael, Myron J. |
Walton, Charles Winston, James 0. |
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Seelye, Elwin Warren, E. Burgess |
West, Arthur P. Worden, Edwin J. |
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Brink, Theo. |
Lake. Katrine. |
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Lawrence. |
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King, Fred DaLancey |
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Uber^. |
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Bosch, Hon. Joseph |
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TAmtL |
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Skahasegao Chapter, D. A. B. |
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Little Falls. |
Astenrogen Chapter, D. A. B. Keller, Mrs. Delight E. B. Gilbert, J. J. Bawdon, Miss Clara LfOuise Hale
Gilbert, Mrs. J. J. Hon. Geo. W. Ward
LociqK)rt. LongUand Oi^.
Belknap, Emmet
Tipling, Chas. A.
LowviBe. Stephens, W. Htadson Lowville CSiapter, D. A. B.
lijroni.
Betts, Charles H. Enapp, H<m. Clyde W.
Digitized by
MSMBSBS NEW TOBK STATE HISTORICAL AS80CUTI0N 489
MarUttown. Bevier, Miss Margaret S.
Bbitapaqiiai L. L
Robiaon, Mrs. William
Ryan, John J., LL. D.
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Uezioo. |
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Skinner, Avery W. |
Silas Towne Chapter, D. A. H |
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mddlebiirgfa. |
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Middlatown. |
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Mather M. Loretta Powelson, Miss Louise |
Ursaline Academy |
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IDneola. |
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Cooley, Dr. Jamea S. |
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Mohawk. |
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West, Col. Prank, U. S. A. |
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BSons^. |
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Blanvelt, Georgia |
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Maimt Eifoo. |
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Carp^ter, Hon. Franeia M. Barkley, James A. |
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Mt. Venion. |
Bronx Chapter, D. A. EL Seltb, Walter B.
Granger, William A., D. D. Wallander, A. H.
McVickar, Mrs. Robert Wood, Mrs. Joseph 9.
Napanoch. Brown-Sarre, Mrs. Olive.
Digitized by
490
NEW YOBK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Nowbnrgb.
Anttumy, Walter C. Durkee, Mrs. Jam^s Henry Leat, Andrew Wright
Historical Society of Newbnrgh
Bay and the Highlands MjacDonald, Benjamin J.
Vosbnrgh, Bc^den W, Wickes, Charles E. Miller, Miss Eiden L.
Bliss, John C, Pd. D. Le Fevre, Hon. Frank J.
New Brighton. New Hamburg. New Hartford.
NewPalti.
New Paltz State Normal School
NewBocheUe.
Archibald, Harry A. Garville, Miss Katherine J. G. Hays, Eugene D. Moore, William A.^ A. M.
Lesser, Bobert Pryer, Charles Schuyler, Miss Fanny Tibbits, Mass Mary Edla
New Tork Oi^.
Abbatt, William Arthur, Miss L. Louise Atkins, Miss Eate Alexander, Ohaa. B. Am. Irish Hist. Society Bailey, Theodoras, M. D.
Callan, Peter A., M. D. Campbell, Rev. T. J., S.J. Carmody, Hon. Thomas Carpenter, Charles W. Carrington, Augustus B. Carvalho, S. S.
Barber, Arthur William, LL. Iff. Champion, Charles S. Barney, Edgar S., Sc. D. Channing, J. Parke
Bamhart, John Hendley, A. M., Chase, George
M. D. Cheney, Hon. 0. H.
Barton, Lieut. Commander Cteo.Chesebrough, Bobert A.
DeForest, U. S. N. BatcheUer, Geoige Clinton Baruch, Mrs. Simtm Beach, Edward Stevens Beard, Curtis J. Beer, George Lewis Bell, Clark, LL. D. Bennet, Hon. William S. Bridgman, ^HHas Anne T. Brown, Ernest C. Burroughs, John H.
Clews, Hon. Henry Clinch, Hon. Edward S. Clute, Jesse H. Colonial Dames of America Columbia University Library Coffin, Charles A. Colvin, Andrew Cortdyou, Hon. George B. Crandall, Dr. Floyd M. Crimmins, Hlon. John D. Crisp, W. Benton
Digitized by
HEMBEBS NEW YOBK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
491
Crofls, Dr. Andrew Jay
CmlkHhank, Frederiek B.
Curtiss, Benjamin DeForest
Danforth, Loomia L., M. D^
Davies, Julien Tappen
Dayies, Richard T.
Davis, Miss Alice
Dawson, Edgar
Day, Benjamin
Delafield, Lewis L.
de la Montanye, James
Denman, Frederick H.
Denslow, Herbert M., D. D.
Diehl, Hon. Clarence A.
Doherty, Henry L.
Dorrance, Charles Pierson
Dougherty, Hon. J. Hampden
Douglass, James, LL. D.
Dowling, Hon. Victor J., LL.
Dows, Henry A.
DuBois, Charles A.
Dudley, Miss Marguerite A., B.
Dunn, 6ano
Dunn, Henry E.
Dunning, William B., D. S.
Dutton, E. P.
Earp, Wilbur F.
Ehrhom, Oscar W.
Ellinwood, Mrs. Orace M.
EUis, George W.
Empire State Society, S. A. B.
Enyart, H. Shugart
Erganian, John K., D. D. S.
Fay, Miss Amy
Fish, Stujresant
Flagler, John Haldane
Fordham Herbert L.
Francis, Lewis W.
Fulton, Louis M.
Oilman, Hon. Theodore P.
Oilpin, C. Monteith, A. B., LL.
Halsey, Francis W.
Harris, William Laurel
Htartley, M!rs. Frances G.
Hayden, Henry W.
Healy, A. Augustus
Hill, Edwiard B.
Jones, Mrs. Oliver livingston
Eretzmann, Bev. Earl
Lange, Gustave, Jr.
Lowndes, Arthur, D. D., LL. D.
Martin, Bev. Daniel H., D. D.
Manhattan College
MacCracken, Bev. Henry M., D. D., LU D.
McAneny, Hom. George
McLeUan, Hugh
McNetton, Dixon
Marshall, Hbn. Loois, LL. D.
Marshall, Mrs. J. P.
Ndson, Ven. Dr. George F.
New York Public Library
Oppenheim, Samuel A.
Paltsits, Hon. Victor H.
PeU, Hon. Howland D.Pell, Stephen H. P.
Plimpton, George A.
Beynolds, Henry S. N.Boberts, Hon. James A., LL. D.
Boney, Irving S.
Eoyce, Mrs. Caroline H.
Samson, William H.
Schuyler, Ackley C.
Scollard, Clinton, L. H. D.
Sim, John B.
Sl€tde, Mrs. Emma H.
Sohmer, Hon. William
Stanton, Hon. Lucius M.
Straus, Hon. Oscar S., LL. D.
Stuart, Henry Clarence
Stillman, Charles Chauncey
Sutro, Theodore
Tallmadge, Henry Overing
Van Bensselaer, Mrs. Schuyler
Wait, John C.
Wakeman, Abram
Watrous, Harry W. B.Webb, Dr. W. Seward
Weston, Albert T., M. D.
Wetmcwe, Edmund, LL. D.
Wightman, Dr. O. S.
Williams, Hon. Clark
Williams, David
Wright, Tobias A.
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482
NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCUTION
Niagara Falb.
Chormami, Frederick
North Cbatham.
Nortb Hooiick.
North Boae.
Barton, Philip P.
Halliday, Claxk W.
Stevens, Hjcm. Frank L.
Jeffers, WiUard 0.
NorwidL Bay, Hon. Geoige 'W., LL. D. Bay, Mrs. J. Johnson. North Tonawaada.
North Tonawanda High School Nyack.
Enapp, H. Jason Patterson, Mortimer Bliss
Brown, Edwin J. Colefi^ Mrs. Theodore Keating, Daniel
Bugbee, Percy I., D. Sc. Saxton, Andrew B.
Oneida.
Skenandoah Chapter, D. A. B. Shepard, Miss Jnlia A. Higinbotham, Miss Louise A.
Oneonta.
Qneonta Normal School
Acker, Charles Ernest
Osstning-on-Hudson.
Navamere, Miss Martha J.
Oswego.
Barnes, Ezra A. Bates, Norman L. Beadle, Miss Cynthia H. Bart, Qeorge Noyes Clark, James T. Clark, M{u98 "Mkry Hodges Clarke, Frederick O. Dowmey, Bobert A. Downey, Mrs. Sosan Jermyn
Emerick, F. A. The Fortnightly Club Gray, Niel, Jr. Higgins, John D. Johnson, O. L. Johnson, Mrs. 0. L. Kingsford, Thomas P. Miller, John P. Mott, Elliott B.
Digitized by
MEMBEBS NEW YORK 8TATE HISTOBIOAL ASSOCIATION 493
Mott, Hon. Lather W. Bowe, Lewis Cass
Mott, HloiL Johix T. Sh^herd, F. B.
Page, Mrs. David B. Spencer, Miss Jane L.
Parsons, John S. Stevens, Miss Harriet E.
Biggs, James O. Whitney, Boy P.
Owago.
Corbin, Miss Sarah E.
Oyster Bay.
Boosevelt, Theodore, LL. D.
Palatine Bridge.
Spraker, Mrs. B. F.
ValmyxE.
Sexton, Pliny T. Van Alstine, Sanford D.
Sexton, Mrs. Pliny T. Sawyer, Hon. Samuel N.
Palmyra Historical Society.
PMobogna.
€k>rdon, Wellington E., Ph. D. Patchogue Library
Peekskffl.
Hawes, Harry HiamODUHid FieLd, Cortlandt de Peyster
Swartwont, F. Bobert Wait, William
Sherman, Earl M.
PennTan.
Hyland, John Underwood, Henry C.
nMbaxg.
Barker, Mrs. Daniel Folger Moore, Edwin G.
Botsford, Elmer F. Plattsburgh Public Library
Everest, Mrs. Lillian P. Biley, Hmi. John B.
Hadley, Howard D. Saranac Chapter, D. A. B.
Hawkizis, Qecarge K., D. Sc. State Normal and Training School
Hayes, Mrs. Ida Thomas Tnttle, Mrs. George F.
Healey, Hon. B. B. Weed, Hon. Georger S.
Hogue, Arthur S. Weed, Hon. Smith M.
Port Henry.
Champlain Chapter, D. A. B. St. Clare, Bev. C. C.
Foote, George C. Withierbee, Hon. Frank S.
Francis, Eev. Lewis D.D. Witherbee, Hon. Walter C. Pyrke, Berne A.
Digitized by
494 NBW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCUTION
Port Jdrvis.
Miniflink Valley Sst. Society
Port Bichmoad, Wright, Mrs. Caroline V. R.
PoQglikoopdo.
Cooley, Dr. Leroy C. Poucher, J. Wilson, M. D.
Coon, Bichard E. Shear, Sylvester B.
Pard^ StatioiL
Knapp, Bobert D.
Boniflilflfrr Cole, Harry B.
BhinabedL de Laporte, Mrs. Theo. Blerrick, Mrs. Frank
Biehlield Springs.
Qanowanges Chapter D. A. B. Bichfield Springs Public Library
Biwhead. Belford, Hon. James
Boeh€6t0r.
Adler, Elmer Moalthrop, Samuel P.
Armstrong, Thomas Hoyt Noeth, George E.
Cutler, Hon. James G. Bochester Historical Society
Branson, Miss F. M. Sister M. Mareella
Dunn, Bon. T. B. Van Hee, Daniel L.
Foreman, Edward B. Wheelock, Edward, M. D. Irondequoit Chapter, D. A. B. Wiltsie, Charles Hastings
Bockaway Park, L. I. Paradis, Adrian
Bockvilla Center. Nassau Co. Hist. & Gen. Soc.
Digitized by
MEMBERS NEW TORE STATE HI6T0EICAL ASSOCIATION 495
Broaghton, Charles H. Corbin, IGbb Sarah E.
Brought(m, Mrs. Charles Q.
EoslyiL
Eastman, Henry M. W.
Saoketls Harbor.
Camp, Col. Walter B.
Sagamore-on-Lake George.
Simpson, John Bonltcm
Sheldon, Mark L.
Sandy Creek. Cook, Newton, M. D. Corse, F. Dudley
Saranao Lake.
Van Bnskirk, Miss Francis L.
Saratoga Springs.
Andrews, Capt. James M. Menges, Fred
Brackett, Hon. Edgar T. Menges, Mrs. Frederick
Brockway, Miss Mary L. Mingay, James
Corbin, Harold H. Mingay, Mrs. James
Denton. MiaB Adelaide L. Mosher, Charles L.
Don, John Peabody, George Fdster
Farnham, George A. Bockwood, Hon. Nash
Foller, Mrs. Abbie B. H. Saratoga Chapter, D. A. B.
Goodridge, Edwin Alonzo Saratoga High School Library
Granl, John C. Slade, John A. Historical Society of Saratoga SpaTodd, Hiram C.
Kneil, Thomas B. Waterbury, W. HI
Ludlow, Henry S. Wheat, ^njamin P.
Marshall, Charles A. Williams, l&s. Helen
ManninfiT, Wm. H. Wright, Mrs. Jennie Esmond
Sangerties.
Spalding, Charles A. Sangerties Chapter, D. A. B.
Schaneotady.
Barhydt, T. Low Duryee, Charles C, M. D.
Davis, Gen. Charles L., U. S. A. Erisbie, Hkm. MSIes B.
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NEW YOBE STATE HISTOBICAL A8S0CUTI0N
Hanson, Willis T., Jr. Schenectady Co. Hist. Society
Hill, Mm Erastns D. SchennerlMn^n, Mrs. Lizzie Bradt
Johnston, Allen W. Shaw, Mrs. Mton A.
Lawvence, Bey. I^bert Charles, Steers, Mirs. Eatherine Y.
Ph. D. Stnmg, Hlon. Alonzo P.
liddle, Henry S., M. D. Tinning, Mrs. Cornelia Stevens
Laokhnrst, lbs. Charlotte T. Van Yoast, Horace S.
Potter, Rev. Clayton J.
Beist, Hleniy G.
Richmond, Charles Alexander
Bobison, Hanford
Sanders, Charles P.
Schenectada Chapter, D. A. R
Waldron, Charles N. Watkins, DeLancey W. Westover, MSyron N. Wemple, Hon. William W. Walton, Alonzo Paige
Bassett, Alfred S. Kingdey, Dr. H. F.
Allen, Charles C. Powers, C. F.
Warner, J. B. T.
Sobobaiie.
Tennant, Horace G. Throop, Charles M.
lohnylarviUe.
Scully, Mrs. Wm. T. Webster, W. B., M. D.
SoottafiUs.
lenM&rUIs.
Sagoyewatha Chapter, D. A. B. Seneca Falls Historical Society Seneoa Chapter, D. A. B.
Enapp, George 0. Howland, Miss Emily Ellis, Willis C. Paine, Silas H.
ShalviogBodL Sharwood. Shortsvile. aavarBay.
Fitch, Hon. Charles Elliott
Eneeland, Miss Frances
Digitized by
MEMBEBS NEW YOBK STATE HISTtHUCAL ASSOCIATION 497
Smith, James F.
Soath Htrtford.
Ingalsbe, MisB Bath H. Staftbibarg. Van VUet, George Stockwell
St. Boiuiy6otiiX6. Reynolds, Y. Bev. Fidelis
SUiiMrbiids. 3azt<ni, Harold N.
StUlwater. DeGarmOy Miss Snsaii Steewart
Beanchamp, Bev. Wm. Malting Kellogg, Mrs. Minnie L.
S. T.D. " ""
Banta, J. EdTvnrd Bardeen, C. W. Brown, Bev. Samuel E. (Toddington, Bey. Herbert G. Cogswell, William Brown Cole, Peter B. Englehardt, Francis Etaest, Ph.
D.
Maoe, Prof. "IK^lliam H. Mandi, Homer P., M. D. Molynenz, Mrs. Bobert A. Nottingham, 'William Shea, James A. Syracuse Public Library Vann, Hlon. Irving G.
Hall, Fred J.
Tanytown.
Case, L. V. Tioondsiroga.
Cook, Mrs. Joseph Co<^, Thomas J. Cummings, Dr, W. A. B. DeLano, Hon. Clayton H.
Aldrich, Charles S. Collins, Hon. C. V. Douglas, Edward W.
Baker, Smith M. D. Bensberg, F. W.
Ferris, Mortimer Yale Locke, F. T. Mead, Leroy B. Wickes, Frank B.
Troy.
Foster, C. H.
Troy Public Library.
Ylan Santvoord, Seymour
IWoa.
Bigelow, Bev. Dana W., D. D. Brayton, M. Jesse
Digitized by
NSW TGBK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCUTION
CWey, Bev. Bdivard H., S. T. D.Nelson, Mrs. E. J. Cronse, Mrs. Daniel N. Olmstead, Bt. Bev. Chas. Tyler
Grouse, N. M. Oneida Chapter D. A. B.
Culver, Wm Mary L. Oneida Historical Society
Daughters of the Empire State,Owen, Mrs. Wiffiam H.
Horatio Seymour Chapter Pitchw, Mrs. Charlotte A.
Fenton, George Proctor, Thomas Bedfield
Goodrich, Miss Susan Balph, Mrs. G. F.
Greenman, Mrs. J. C. Boberts, Mrs. Frances W.
Hart, Mrs. H. Gilbert Sayre, Miss Amelia V. B.
Keman, Miss Elizabeth B. Sajrre, Theodore S.
Keman, Hon. John D. Sprague, Wilbur B.
Loftis, Mrs. James J. Siart, Mrs. W. H.
Maher, John L. Utica, Public Library
Merwin, Judge Milton H. VanDyke, Mrs. Orson
Metcalf, Mrs. F. M. Watkins, Mrs. Thomas D.
New Century "Club, Gov't and Watson, Miss Lucy C.
History Dept. White, Wm. Pierrepimt
Upper Bed Book. Mulford, Bev. Henry D. S., D. D.
Warwidc.
The Hist. Society of Warwick
Warsaw.
Lester, Arthur H.
Waddngtonville.
Denniston, Bear Admiral Henry Martyn
Watexford, B. F. D. Brookwood. Ballard, W. J.
Waterloo.
Bacon, Carroll B., M. D. Waterloo Union School
WatertowB.
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MKMR1SB8 NBW YORK 8TATB HIOTOBIOAL AS80CUTI0N 499
WUtahalL
Bartholomew, Alaoson Douglass Sullivan, H. E. Holdeo, C. E. Warner, Walter A.
Hbrton, Dr. Emert T.
White Plains.
Schmid, Dr. H. Ernest Warren, Oscar LeBc^'
Squires, Eben H. P. Wells, Frederick H.
xonksfB.
Ackerly, Orville B. Thayer, Stephen H.
Beemer, James G. Thompaon, Miss Annie 9.
Famham, Mis. (George A. Yiele, Miss Eathlyne E.
Eeskeskick Chapter, D. A. B. Wallin, William J.
Holmes, William H. A. Tonkers Hist, ft Library Assn. Mclntyre, James D.
San Luis Obispo, OaL Meredith, Mrs. Louise Hardenburg
Saratoga^ Santa Clara Co., OaL Corbusier, Lt. Col. Wm. H.
Msridan, Oonn.
Curtis Memorial Library
Maaobeater, N. H.
Jackson, George B.
Neiw Haven, Oonn. Hadley, Arthur Twining, LL. D.Wheeler, Arthur Martin, LL. D.
Sharon, Oonn.
Van Cortlandt, Augustus
Washington, D. 0.
Wilson, Woodrow, LL. D., Ph. D.Morton, Hon. Levi P., LL. D. Hoes, Chaplain, B. B.-, U. S. N. Pierce I^Gss Grace M. Lockwood Mire. Mary S.
Penaaoola, Florida.
Davis, Maj. Wm. Church, U. S. A.
OUoago^ UL
Empire State Society
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500 NEW YOBK STATE HISTOBICAL ASSOCIATION
Olatli0| Kamas. Tillotson, B. H.
Bel-Air, BU.
Stomp, Mr& EDerman
Boston, Maia.
Crane, Ralph Adams Wilder, Frank J.
ntobbnrg, Man. Coleman, Frank B.
Neiw Bedford, Mais.
Denham, Edward
OldDeerfldd^Mais. Eager, TSim Margaret MacLaren
WUUamfffeown, MaM.
Williams College
Winchester, Mass. Warner, Clarence M.
Ann Arbor, Mich. University of Michigan
Lansing, Mich. Michigan 3tate Library
Detroit^ Mich.
Detroit Public Library
Manchester, N. H. Jackson, George It
lOnnoapolis^ BDnn. Van Campen, C. H.
Harrington Paxfc, N. J. Cox, Bey. Henry M.
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MEMBTCRS NEW YGBK STATE HISTOBICAL ASSOCIATION 501
Motiiidioiif N. J. De Mott, John Jacques
Montdlair, N. J.
Hanna, Charles A.
Neiwaiki N. J.
Abereronibie, DaTid T. Barringer Hi^ Schod
Stevenson, Miss Helen G.
Princeton^ N. J.
Spencer, Charles W., Ph. D.
Bed Bank, N. J.
Dmmell, Eev. Wm. N., D. D.
Spring Lake, N. J.
Van Bnren, Miss Catherine G.
Sontiliem Pines, No. OaroUna.
VanCamp, Frederick W.
PUladelpUa^ Pa.
MolhoUand, Hon. John E. Pennsylvania Hist. Society
MhMaster, John Bach, A. M.
Pfttsbnigh, Pa.
Willey, Rev. John H. Christie, H. C.
Wilkes Bane, Pa.
See, Mrs. Htorace
JanesviUe, Wis. Hough, Azel C.
Bennington, Vt. Griswold, E. T. Lamb, Mrs. George E.
Borlingfam, Vt Peck, Gen. Thco. S.
Etagland.
Belcher, Bev. Henry, LL. D., Lewes Sussex
Digitized by
502 NEW YGBK 8TATE HISTOBICAL AS80CUTI0N
School!, Colleges, Ubrariae, Hirtorloal and Patriotic Societiei .
Adirondack Chapter D. A. B., Maloiie.
Astenrogen Chapter, D. A. B., Little Falls.
The American Irish Historical Society, 52 Wall St., New York.
Barringer High School, Newark, N. J.
Battle Pass Chapter, D. A. B., Btrooklyn.
Brockport State Normal Library, Brockport.
Bronx Chapter Daughters of the Am. Bevolution, Mount Yenum.
Brooklyn Public Library, 26 Brevoort Place, BrocAlyn.
Camden Chapter, D. A. B., Camden.
Cayuga Co. Hist. Society, Auburn.
Champlain Chapter, D. A. B., Port Henry.
Cherry Valley Chapter, D. A. B., Cherry Valley.
Col. Marinus Willett Chapter, D. A. B., Frankfort.
Colgate University Library, Hiamilton.
Colonial Dames of America, 157 E. 35th St., New York.
Columbia University Library, 116th St., New York.
Cooperstown High School, Cooperstown.
Cortland State Normal and Training School, Cortland.
Crandall Library, Glens Falls.
Cunahunta Chapter, D. A. B., Afton, Chenango Co.
Curtis Memorial Library, Meriden, Conn.
Darwin B. Barker Library Assn., Fredonia.
Daughters of the Empire State, Horatio Seymour Chapter, Utica.
Dept. of History, Manual Training High Sdhool, Brooldyn.
Detroit Public Library, Detroit, Mich.
Deo-on-go-wa Chapter, D. A. B., Batavia.
Elizabeth Annesley Lewis, Chapter D. A. B., Jamaica.
Empire State Society of Chicago, Chicago, lU.
Empire State Society, S. A. B., 220 Biroadway, New York.
Flower, The Eoswell P., Memorial Library, Watertown.
The Fortnightly Club, Oswego.
PVedonia State Normal School, Fredonia.
Ganowauges Chapter D. A. B., Bichfield Springs.
(General James Clinton Chapter, D. A. B., East Springfield.
General Nicholas Herkimer Chapter, D. A. B., Herkimer.
General Bichard Montgomery, Chapter D. A. B., Gloversville.
Glens Falls High School, Glens Falls.
Goshen Library and Historical Sodely, Goshen.
Hempstead High School, Hempstead.
Herkimer Co. Hist. Society, Herkimer.
Historical Society of Newburgh Bay and the Highlands, Newburgh.
Historical Society of Saratoga^ including the Upper Hudson, Lake
George and Lake Champlain, Inc., Siu^atoga Spa. Holy Angels' Academy, Buffalo. Huntington Historical Society, Huntington, L. I.
Digitized by
MEMBERS NEW YOBK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 503
Irondequoit Chapter, D. A. B., Rochester.
Johnstown Historical Society, Johnstown.
Kayendatsyona Chapter, D; A. B., Pulton.
Eeskeskick Chapter, D. A. B., Mantm Hall, Tonkers.
Kings County Historical Society, Inc., 350 Fulton St., Brooklyn.
King Manor Assn., Jamaica.
Ladycliff Academy, Highland Falls.
LeRay de Chaumont Chapter, D. A. B., Watertown.
Lowville Chapter, D. A. R., Lowville.
Manhattan College, New York.
Michigan State Library, Lansing, Mich.
Minisink Chapter, D. A. B., Gkisben.
Minisink Valley Historical Society, Port Jerris.
Mohawk Valley CSiapter, D. A. R., Hion.
Montgomery Comity HSstorical Society, Amsterdam.
Nassau Co. Historical & Genealogical Society, Bockville Center.
Nazareth Academy, Rochester.
New Century Club, Govt, and HBstory Dep't., 253 Genesee St.,
Utica. New Paltz State Normal School, New Paltz. Newark High School, Newark. New York Public Library, New York. North Tonawanda High School, North Tonawanda. Oneida Chapter D. A. R., Utica. Oneida Historical Society, Utica. Oneonta Normal School, Oneonta. Ontario County Historical Society, Canandaigna. Otsego Chapter D. A. R., Coopers town. Owoseo Chapter, D. A. R., Auburn. Palmyra Historical Society, Palmyra. Patchogue Library, Patchogue. Pennsylvania Historical Society of Philadelphia, Pa. Philip Livingston Chapter, Sons of the Revolution, Albany. Plattsburgh Public Library, Plattsburgh. Plattsburgh State Normal and Training School, Plattsburgh. Pratt Institute Free Library, Ryerson St., Brooklyn. Putnam County Historical Society, Cold Spring. Queen of the Rosary Academy Library, Amilyyille. Richfield Springs Public Library, Richfield Springs. Rochester Historical Society, Rochester. Sagoyewatha Chapter, D. A. R., Smeca Falls. Saranac Chapter, D. A. R., Plattsburgh. Saratoga Chapter, D. A. R., Siaratoga Spa. Saratoga High School Library, Saratoga Spa. Saugerties Chapter, D. A. R., Saugerties. Schenectada Chapter, D. A. R., Schenectady. Schenectady Co. Historical Society, Schenectady.
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504 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Seoeea Chapter, D. A. E., Gkneva.
Seneca Falls Historical Sodely, Seneca Falls.
Skahasegao Chapter, D. A. B., Lima, Livingston Co.
Skenandoah Chapter, D. A. B., Oneida.
Silas Towne Chapter, D. A. B., Mexico.
Steele Memorial Library, Elmira.
Syracuse Public Library, Syracuse.
T^oy Public Libra^, Troy.
University of Michigan. General Library, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Ursuline Academy, Middletown.
Utica Public Library, Utica.
Vallonia Historical Society, Bameveld.
Village Club and Library, Oooperstown.
Warwick, The Historical Society of, Warwick.
Waterloo Union School, Waterloo.
WiUard Mountain Chapter, D. A. B., Greenwich.
Williams CoUege, Williamstown, Mass.
Yonkers Historical and Library Association, Yonkers.
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