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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



OF 



NEW YORK 

A Life Record of Men and Women of the Past 

Whose Sterling Character and Energy and Industry Have Made 
Them Preeminent in Their Own and Many Other States 



BY 



CHARLES ELLIOTT FITCH, L. H. D. 

'r 

Lawyer, Journalist, Educator ; Editor and Contributor to Many Newspapers 

and Magazines ; ex-Regent New York University ; Supervisor 

Federal Census (N. Y.) 1880; Secretary New 

York Constitutional Convention, 1894 



ILLUSTRATED 



THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

INCORPORATED 

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 

I 9 I 6 



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Both justice and decency require that we should bestow on our forefathers 
an honorable remembrance — Thucydides 



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BIOGRAPHICAL 



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7 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



GRAY, Asa, 

Distingnished Botanist. 

Asa Gray was born at Sanquoit, Oneida 
county, New York, November i8, 1810, 
son of Moses and Roxana (Howard) 
Gray ; grandson of Moses Wiley and Sally 
(Miller) Gray; great-grandson of Robert 
and Sarah (Wiley) Gray; and great- 
great-grandson of John Gray, who emi- 
grated from Londonderry, province of 
Ulster, Ireland, in 1718, and settled in 
Worcester, Massachusetts. 

He was sent to a district school at the 
age of three years, and at odd times 
helped in the work of his father's tannery, 
being entrusted, as he grew older, with 
feeding the bark mill and driving the 
horse which turned the mill. When 
twelve years old he was sent to the Clin- 
ton grammar school, and from there was 
transferred to Fairfield Academy. While 
a student there, he attended the chemistry 
lectures of Professor James Hadley, at 
the Medical College, and in 1826 he en- 
tered upon the study of medicine at that 
college, graduating in 1831. In the mean- 
time he had become interested in the sub- 
ject of botany from reading an article in 
Brewster's "Edinburgh Encyclopsedia," 
had begun an herbarium, and had entered 
into a correspondence with Dr. John Tor- 
rey. In 1831 he was invited to deliver a 
course of botanical lectures at the Fair- 
field Medical College, and several months 
later was appointed professor of natural 
sciences at a school kept by a Mr. Bart- 
lett, in Utica, New York. Until 1835 he 
taught chemistry, mineralogy and botany 
to boys, devoting summer vacations to 
botanizing in central New York, north- 



eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In 
the summer of 1834 he took Professor 
Hadley's place at Hamilton College, Clin- 
ton, New York, and gave a course of in- 
struction in botany and mineralogy. The 
following winter he obtained leave of ab- 
sence from the Bartlett school to assist 
Dr. John Torrey during a course of chem- 
ical lectures at the College of Physicians 
and Surgeons in New York City. In De- 
cember, 1834, he read before the New 
York Lyceum of Natural History a paper 
on the new or rare plants of the State of 
New York, which attracted the attention 
of scientists, and led to a long series of 
contributions to the "American Journal 
of Science." In 1835, while spending the 
summer at his father's farm, he planned 
and partly wrote "Elements of Botany," 
which was published in 1836 and brought 
him one hundred and fifty dollars. This 
book was adopted in schools, and for a 
long time was the only text-book on 
botany in popular use. In the autumn of 
1836 he became curator of the Lyceum 
of Natural History in New York. The 
same year he was appointed botanist of 
the Wilkes exploring expedition to the 
South Pacific, but owing to the delay in 
starting the expedition, he resigned the 
position in 1838 to accept the chair of 
botany and zoology in the University of 
Michigan. The trustees gave him a year's 
leave of absence in Europe, with a salary 
of $1,500 for that year, and put into his 
hands $5,000 with which to lay a founda- 
tion for their general library. At Glas- 
gow he was the guest of Dr. (later Sir) 
William J. Hooker, who gave him letters 
of introduction to several eminent Euro- 
pean botanists. On his return home the 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



University of Michigan gave him another 
leave of absence without pay, and he 
turned his attention to the writing of 
parts iii. and iv. of "Flora of North Amer- 
ica," parts i. and ii. of which had been 
published in 1838 in collaboration with 
Dr. John Torrey. In the summer of 1814 
he went on a botanical trip up the valley, 
of Virginia, to the mountains of North 
Carolina, and in January, 1842, he made 
his first visit to Boston, Massachusetts. 
During his visit he dined with President 
Quincy 01 Harvard, who later used his 
influence to secure the appointment of 
Dr. Gray to the Fisher chair of natural 
history. In 1842 Dr. Gray resigned his 
position at the University of Michigan, 
and in the spring of the same year en- 
tered upon his duties at Harvard Univer- 
sity, where he remained during the rest 
of his life, being relieved by the appoint- 
ment of George L. Goodale as associate 
in 1872 ; Charles S. Sargent to the care of 
the botanic garden in 1873; and Dr. 
Sereno Watson as curator of the her- 
barium in 1874. He created the botanical 
department of Harvard University, and 
in 1864 presented to the university his 
herbarium of about 200,000 specimens, 
and library of 2,200 volumes, on condition 
that a fire-proof building be provided for 
their reception, which building was erect- 
ed by means of a donation from Nathaniel 
Thayer, of Boston. 

Dr. Gray was elected a fellow of the 
American Academy of Arts and Sciences 
in 1841, and was its president in 1863-73; 
was also president of the American Asso- 
ciation for the Advancement of Science in 
1871 ; and in 1874 succeeded Louis Agas- 
siz as a regent of the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution. He was one of the charter mem- 
bers of the National Academy of Sciences, 
and besides his connection with learned 
societies in the United States, he was 
elected a corresponding or an honorary 
member of the more prominent scientific 



societies of Europe. The degree of Mas- 
ter of Arts was conferred on him by Har- 
vard in 1844, and that of Doctor of Laws 
by Hamilton in 1864, by Harvard in 1875, 
by McGill in 1884, and by the University 
of Michigan in 1887. During his last visit 
to Europe in 1887 he received from Cam- 
bridge the degree of Doctor of Science, 
from Edinburgh that of Doctor of Laws, 
and from Oxford that of Doctor of Civil 
Law. Dr. Gray reported on the collec- 
tions of the United States government 
exploring expeditions, including those 
made by the Wilkes (1854), Perry (1857), 
and Rogers (1859) expeditions. He con- 
tributed largely to periodicals, was on the 
editorial staff of the "American Journal 
of Science" for years, and wrote biograph- 
ical sketches of many eminent scientists. 
His numerous publications include : "Ele- 
ments of Botany" (1S36) ; the unfinish- 
ed "Flora of North America," the pub- 
lication of which was begun in 1838 by 
himself and Dr. Torrey, and in which the 
classifications were made according to 
the natural but hitherto disregarded basis 
of affinity ; "Manual of the Botany of the 
Northern United States" (1848, fifth edi- 
tion, 1867) ; "Genera of the Plants of the 
United States," illustrated (two volumes, 
1848-49) ; "Botany of the United States 
Pacific Exploring Expedition" (1854) ; 
"First Lessons in Botany and Vegetable 
Physiology" (1857) ; "How Plants Grow" 
(1858) ; "Free Examination of Darwin's 
Treatise" (1861) ; "Field, Forest and Gar 
den Botany" (1868); "How Plants Be- 
have" (1872) ; "Darwiniana" (1876) ; "Sy 
noptical Flora of North America" (1878, 
1884) ; "Structural Botany or Organog- 
raphy with Basis of Morphology" (1879) ; 
and "Natural Science and Religion" 
(1880). For complete bibliography of 
Dr. Gray, see the "American Journal of 
Science" for September and October, 
1888; also "Memorial of Asa Gray," by 
William G. Farlow (1888) ; and "Letters 




'Oa.iD ®uctfc.j SFicfJ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



of Asa Gray," edited by Jane Loring 
Gray (two volumes, 1893). 

He married, in 1848, Jane, daughter of 
Charles Greely Loring, of Boston, Massa- 
chusetts. He died in Cambridge, Massa- 
chusetts, January 30, 1888. 



FIELD, David Dudley, 

Prominent Lawyer and Anthor. 

David Dudley Field was born in Had- 
dam, Connecticut, February 13, 1805, sou 
of the Rev. David Dudley and Submit 
(Dickinson) Field, and grandson of Cap- 
tain Timothy Field and of Captain Noah 
Dickinson, officers in the American army 
during the Revolution. 

He was graduated at Williams College 
in 1825, and was admitted to the New 
York bar in 1828. His labors in the direc- 
tion of law reform largely influenced 
legislation in his adopted State, and 
shaped constitutional amendments. He 
was a member of the commission on prac- 
tice and procedure in 1847 that formed 
the code of procedure introduced in Feb- 
ruary, 1848, and enacted into law their 
first report in April, 1848, and the entire 
code of civil and criminal procedure in 
four instalments completed January, 
1850. Most of the States of the Union 
followed New York in adopting this sys- 
tem, and England and the English colo- 
nies, including India, made it the basis of 
new judicature acts. Field's criminal 
procedure was also adopted by the legis- 
latures of at least half the States. In 
1857 he was appointed by the State of 
New York the head of a commission to 
prepare a political code, a penal code 
and a civil code, designed to supersede 
the unwritten or "common" law. The 
work of the commission was completed 
in 1865, ^"<i covered the entire province 
of American law. The penal code was 
adopted by the State, and other States 
drew largely from the civil code, Cali- 



fornia and Dakota adopting the entire 
scheme. In 1866, at a meeting of the 
British Association for the Promotion 
of Social Science, he introduced a scheme 
for the revision of the general law ol 
nations. In 1872 he presented to the 
Social Science Congress the result of 
seven years' labor devoted to the formu- 
lation of his "Draft Outlines of an Inter- 
national Code," which attracted the at- 
tention of jurists and was translated into 
French, Italian and Chinese. This plan, 
which included the settlement of disputes 
between nations by arbitration rather 
than war, resulted in the formation in 
1873, at Ghent, of an Institute of Inter- 
national Law, an association formed to 
promote the principles of arbitration, and 
to reform and codify existing laws, and 
Mr. Field was made its first president. 

He was originally a Democrat, but 
when the question of the perpetuation of 
slavery became uppermost as a political 
issue, he supported the Republican party 
in 1856, i860 and 1864. In the electoral 
dispv.t: ::' 1876 he again took part with 
the Democrats, and was a representative 
in the Forty-fourth Congress to fill a 
vacancy caused by the election of Rep- 
resentative Smith Ely as mayor of New 
York City. In 1890 he presided at the 
great Peace Convention in London. He 
published : "Letters on the Reform of the 
Judiciary System" (1839) ; "The Reorgan- 
ization of the Judiciary" (1846) ; "What 
shall be done with the Practice of the 
Courts? Shall it be wholly reformed? 
Questions Addressed to Lawyers" (1847) > 
"The Electoral Votes of 1876 : Who should 
count them, what should be counted, and 
the remedy for a wrong count" (1877); 
"Suggestions Respecting the Revision of 
the Constitution of New York" (1867) ; 
"Draft Outlines of an International Code" 
(1872, second edition, 1876) ; "Speeches 
and Arguments before the Supreme Court 
of the United States, and Miscellaneous 



liNCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Papers" (two volumes, 1884) ; and "Amer- 
ican Progress in Jurisprudence," prepared 
tor the Columbian Exposition in Chicago 
( 1893). He died in New York City, April 
iS, 1894. 



WEED, Thurlow, 

Distinguished Joarnalist. 

Thurlow Weed was born in Cairo, 
Greene county. New York, November 
'5. I797' son of Joel and Mary (Ells) 
Weed ; grandson of Nathan Weed, a sol- 
dier in the Continental army, and a de- 
scendant of Jonas Weed, who emigrated 
from England in 1030 and settled in Stam- 
ford, Connecticut. 

He removed with his parents to Cats- 
kill. New York, in 1799, where he attend- 
ed school in 1803, and obtained employ- 
ment in a local tavern, and later shipped 
as a cabin boy on a sloop trading between 
Catskill and New York. In iSoS he was 
employed in the office of the "Catskill 
Recorder." but in March of that year his 
family removed to Cincinnatus, Cortland 
county. New York, and he engaged in 
clearing land and in farming. In 1809, 
the family having removed to the vicin- 
ity of Onondaga. New York, he was em- 
ployed in an iron smelting furnace. In 
181 1 he was associated with the "Cort- 
land County Lynx," and in 1812 with the 
"Cayuga County Tocsin." and in the 
printing office of Seward & Williams, 
Utica, New York. He enlisted as a pri- 
vate in a New York regiment in 1812. 
and served on the northern frontier until 
18 1 5. when he removed to New York 
City, and worked as a journeyman printer. 
In 1817 he became an assistant editor of 
the ".Mhany Register," and contributed 
political articles to the columns of that 
paper. He was married, April 26. 1818, 
to Catharine, daughter of Moses and 
Clarissa (de Montford) Ostrander. of 
Cooperstown, New York, and they re- 



moved to Norwich, Chenango county, 
where he established "The Republican 
Agriculturist." He founded the "Onon- 
daga County Republican" at Manlius, 
New York, in 1821, but the following 
year removed to Rochester, where he be- 
came junior editor of "The Telegraph," 
and through its columns advocated the 
policies of DeWitt Clinton and John 
Ouincy .Adams. In 1S25 he purchased 
"The Telegraph" from Everard Peck, and 
Robert Martin became his partner the 
next year. During the autumn of i82(>, 
on the abduction of Captain William 
Morgan for publishing the alleged secrets 
of Free Masonry, Mr. Weeil. in an edi- 
torial, favored his restoration, which 
suggestion caused many Masons who 
were his best patrons to withdraw their 
patronage from his paper. He accord- 
ingly assigned his interest in the paper 
to Martin, and founded the ".Vnti-Mason 
Enquirer." On March 22, 1830, he estab- 
lished the ".Mbany Evening Journal." in 
which he opposed the administration of 
.\ndrew Jackson and the nullification act. 
He was active in securing the nominatiitn 
of AX'illiam Henry Harrison for jiresitlent 
in 1836 and 1840; supported Henry Clay 
in the national convention of 1844. Win- 
field Scott in 1852, John C. Fremont in 
1856, and William H. Seward and Horace 
Greeley in the overthrow of the Demo- 
cratic political organization known as the 
.\lbany regency, and for many years he 
was the acknowledged leader of the Whig 
party in New York. He was one of the 
founders of the Republican party, and on 
the nomination of .Xbraham Lincoln, 
notwithstanding his disappointment that 
Seward failed to receive the nomination, 
he supported his candidacy and his ad- 
ministration. In 1861 he was sent to 
Europe in company with Archbishop 
Hughes and Bishop Mcllvaine to influ- 
ence the foreign governments to support 
the United States government in the Civil 



ENCVCl.cMM'.niA OF BIOGRAPHY 



War tinu'. llo rcsij;tu-il ihc editorial con- 
trol of the "Albany l-lvoiiinj^ Journal" in 
1865, and in 1807 bccanu' eilitor of the 
"Commercial Advertiser," in New York 
City, wliioh i)i>sition he held till i8(>S. 
when ill healtii eaused his retirement, lie 
was a member of the printing lK>use of 
Weed & Parsons, which in i8_^i) was 
awardeil the contract fi>r State printing, 
and lieUI it under successive Wiiig and 
Republican administrations, lie was the 
author of : "Letters from Abroad" ( 1866) ; 
"Reminiscences" (1876), and an auti> 
hiofrrai)hy edited by his dau,s,'hter, Har- 
riet A. Weed (i88j), anil completed by 
his prandson, Thurlow Weed Barnes 
(1884V He died in New York City. No- 
vember 22, i88j. 



COOPER, Peter. 

Philnuthroiilat. 

I'eter (.oojier was born in New York 
City, I'ebruary 12, 1791. His father was 
a hatter, brewer and brickmaker, and 
served as a lieutenant in the American 
army dnrinj^ the Revolution; and both 
his grandfathers were in the same war, 
his grandfather Cami)bell being a deputy 
quartermaster, and snbse(|uently an alder- 
man in New York. Peter Cooper was 
brought up in his father's hat manu- 
factory, working at the trade from the 
time he could reach the bench by stand- 
ing on a stool, and became a proficient 
workman in all the details of hatmaking. 
His entire attendance at school was a 
half-day session during one school year, 
probably not eighty school days. The 
business not proving iirolit.ible. his father 
removed to Peekskill, \cw \ovk. wiiere 
he engaged in brewing, and lure the ln)y 
helped in the brewery and delivering the 
ale. The elder Cooper then removed to 
Catskill, New York, where he resunud 
the hatter's business, and comiiined with 
it the manufacture of bricks. Merc Peter 



was made useful in the haiulling of bricks 
(.luring the ilrying process. The business 
nut being satisfactory to the eliler Cooper, 
he removed to Brooklyn, New York, 
where with his son he established a hat 
niaini factory on a small scale. They then 
ueut to Newburg, New York, where the 
father established ,1 brewer)'. In i8tx*< 
Peter went to New N'ork with his sav- 
ings, amounting to ten dollars, which he 
invested in a lottery ami lost. He was 
then apprenticed io John Woodward, a 
carriage-maker in New N'ork City, for a 
term of four years. He lived in a room 
in a rear building on I'lroadway, ownetl 
b\ his Grandmother Campbell, and in 
this room he carried on a workshop, doing 
carving of parts of coaches, mortising 
hubs, and such other work out of busi- 
ness hours as he could reailily turn into 
money. He invented .i machine for mor- 
tising hubs. His employer, when hi^ 
time had been served. olTcred to loan him 
the money to establish a carriage slu^p 01 
his own. but young Cooper woulil not 
run in debt, and declined the olTer. About 
iSij lie located at Hempstead, New York, 
where he fountl emi)loyment in a shop 
for making ntachines for shearing cloth. 
In 1815 he had saved suflicient monev to 
purchase the right to maiuifacture for the 
State of New York, and he added to the 
patent an improvement of his own. His 
business was very profit.ible owing to the 
embargo on foreign trade caused i)y the 
war with Great Hritain. At this time he 
was married to Sar.ah Hedell, of Hemp- 
stead. The cli>se of the war caused a 
depreci.ation in the v.alne of his machines, 
.•uid he added to his business cabinet- 
making, lie Jifterward removed to New 
\'ork and engaged in the grocery busi- 
ness, .'uul soon after invested all his sav- 
ings in a glue factory in New ^■ork Cit\. 
which he purchased, with its stock and 
liuildings, on a lease of twenty-one years. 
Mere he pro(lnce<l glue, oil. whiting, pre- 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



pared chalk and isinglass. At the expira- 
tion of his lease he purchased ten acres 
of land at Maspeth, Long Island, where 
he erected extensive glue works which 
proved very profitable. In 1828 he pur- 
chased three thousand acres of land with- 
in the city limits of Baltimore, and con- 
structed thereon the Canton iron works, 
where in 1830 he built a steam locomo- 
tive engine after his own design, the first 
practical steam locomotive engine en- 
tirely constructed on the western conti- 
nent. It was put into practical use on 
the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, and its 
timely introduction saved the road from 
threatened bankruptcy, and gave to Mr. 
Cooper the credit of being the pioneer in 
the application of steam to American 
railways. He sold his Baltimore prop- 
erty, a portion to the Abbott Iron Com- 
pany and the remainder to what became 
the Canton Iron Company, taking his pay 
in stock at forty-four dollars a share, 
which he subsequently sold at two hun- 
dred and thirty dollars a share. He then 
returned to New York, where he erected 
an iron foundry which he changed into a 
rolling mill, using anthracite coal, and 
made iron wire for the use of the tele- 
graph, in which invention he was inter- 
ested. In 1845 he built three blast fur- 
naces at Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania, and, 
in order to control the manufacture, pur- 
chased the Andover iron mines, connect- 
ed the mines with the furnaces by a rail- 
road over a mountainous country, a dis- 
tance of eight miles, and used forty thou- 
sand tons of ore per year. This plant be- 
came the Ironton Iron Works, and pro- 
duced the first wrought iron beams used 
in building. He then organized the Tren- 
ton Iron Works, including rolling mills, 
blast furnaces, a wire factory, and eleven 
thousand acres of land known as the 
Ringwood property. His interest in teleg- 
raphy in its earliest stages encouraged its 
projectors, and when the Atlantic cable 



8 



was introduced he was the first and only 
president of the New York, Newfound- 
land &: London Telegraph Company, and 
advanced to the company large sums of 
money at a time when the project was 
ridiculed by capitalists and the company 
had no credit except the backing of its 
president. For twelve years he held up 
the concern, and then the stock placed on 
the market at fifty dollars per share was 
taken by an English company at ninety 
dollars per share. He invented a machine 
for grinding plate of any size to a perfect 
plane ; a cylindrical machine for puddling 
iron and reducing ore and pig metals to 
wrought iron ; and a device for using con- 
densed air as a propelling power. He de- 
voted careful thought and study to ques- 
tions of finance and good government, 
and made his views widely known, espe- 
cially on the subject of currency and the 
duty of the government to provide cheap 
money. This theory brought him in sym- 
pathy with the Greenback party, and 
when the Independent National Conven- 
tion was held in 1876, he polled 81,740 
popular votes. He had previously served 
as city alderman, a member of the com- 
mon council, a trustee of the public 
school society and a school commissioner. 
He chose to be his own executor and 
his wealth was distributed under his per- 
sonal direction, while he witnessed the 
results of his beneficence. His own lack 
of liberal education induced him to pro- 
vide for the class to which he had be- 
longed as a boy and young man. W^ith 
this end in view he directed the policy of 
the public school system of New York 
City as far as his authority as a trustee 
and commissioner extended, and in 1859 
he completed the great monument to his 
memory, "The Cooper Union for the Ad- 
vancement of Science and Art," at a cost 
of $630,000, and further sums between 
1859 and 1882 aggregating $1,603,614.17, 
expended by trustees in enlarging the in- 




oyvk.^ /ya^^~-^u^j^^L^/&,j^^ 



-f-t-t-^ 



LNCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



stitution and rendering it more effective. 
The design of the projector and bene- 
factor was to devote the institution "to 
the instruction and improvement of the 
inhabitants of the United States in prac- 
tical science and art, including instruc- 
tion in branches of knowledge by which 
men and women earn their daily bread ; 
in laws of health and improvement of 
sanitary conditions of families as well as 
individuals ; in social and political science, 
whereby communities and nations ad- 
vance in virtue, wealth and power; and 
finally in matters which affect the eye, 
the ear, and the imagination, and furnish 
a basis for recreation to the working 
classes." Free lectures, free reading 
rooms and free galleries of art, with free 
instruction in the arts of design by which 
both men and women can gain a liveli- 
hood, were established and maintained. 
There was also provision made for a free 
polytechnic school as soon as the funds 
were sufficient for the purpose. Air. 
Cooper in his will left a further endow- 
ment of $100,000, and his children added 
to it $100,000 additional from his bequest 
to them. 

The one hundredth anniversary of the 
birth of Peter Cooper was fittingly cele- 
brated in the large hall of the Cooper 
Union, at which Mr. Cooper's son-in-law 
and partner, the Hon. Abram S. Hewitt, 
presided, and Seth Low, president of Co- 
lumbia University, read the address of the 
evening. He was president and director 
in various banking, insurance and indus- 
trial associations, and was given the hon- 
orary degree of Doctor of Laws by the 
regents of the University of the State of 
New York in 1879, and by the College of 
New Jersey in 1883. His son and part- 
ner, Edward, mayor of New York City. 
1879-80, administered his estate and car- 
ried out his plans as to benefactions. A 
bronze statue of heroic size by St. Gau- 
dens, supported by a pedestal of Italian 



marble designed by Stephen White, 
standing in the little green triangle south 
of Cooper Union, was unveiled February 
12, 1897. He published: '"Ideas for a 
Science of Good Government, in Ad- 
dresses, Letters and Articles on a Strictly 
National Currency, Tariff and Civil Serv- 
ice (1883). He died in New York City, 
April 4, 1883. 



BEECHER, Henry Ward, 

Distinguislied Clergyman. 

The Rev. Henry Ward Beecher was 
born in Litchfield, Connecticut, June 24, 
1813, the fourth son of Lyman and Roxana 
(Foote) Beecher. His mother died when 
he was but three years old ; his step- 
mother, under whose guardianship his 
childhood days were spent, was an Epis- 
copalian. Both parents were devoted 
Christians ; his father was one of the most 
influential of New England pastors in an 
important transition period of her his- 
tory. His home training was of the severe 
New England type, alleviated, however, 
by an irrepressible sense of humor in his 
father, and a poetic and mystical spirit 
in his stepmother. He was graduated 
from Amherst College in 1834, in his 
twenty-first year. He did not stand high 
in college studies, and was characterized 
there, as throughout his life, by follow- 
ing the bent of his own inclination rather 
than any course marked out for him by 
others. But that course he followed with 
diligence, energy, and a patient assiduity. 
He made a careful study of English litera- 
ture, submitted himself to a very thor- 
ough training in elocution, took hold of 
phrenology and temperance, and partici- 
pated in prayer meetings and religious 
labors in neighboring country towns with 
characteristic fervor and self abandon. 
His father was an intense and polemical 
evangelistic divine, yet, for his time, was 
liberal, taking an active part in the theo- 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



logical controversies of his age as against 
the old school or extreme Calvinistic 
party in the orthodox church, laying 
stress on human liberty and responsibil- 
ity, and also as against the Unitarian de- 
nomination, then just coming into promi- 
nence in New England, urging the doc- 
trine of the depravity of the race, the 
divinity of Jesus Christ, the vicarious 
atonement, regeneration, and the inspira- 
tion and authority of the Scriptures. On 
these doctrines Henry Ward was reared, 
with them he was familiar from his boy- 
hood, and he never to the day of his death 
lost the impression they made upon his 
character and method of thought. But 
at a very early period they passed with 
him from a dogma to a vital spiritual ex- 
perience in which, through a conscious 
realization of Christ as the manifestation 
of a God of infinite mercy, coming into the 
world not to judge, but to redeem and edu- 
cate, Mr. Reecher himself entered into a 
new spiritual consciousness, in which love 
took the place of duty in the law of life, 
and the place of justice in the inter- 
pretation of God. He has described with 
characteristically simple eloquence the 
■'blessed morning of May" when this 
thought first took possession of him, and 
it never left him. Henceforth, with no 
other change than that of increasing 
clearness of perception, strength of con- 
viction, and depth of experience, theology 
took its form ; the depravity of the race 
was selfishness; the divinity of Jesus 
Christ, the personal disclosure of a God 
of love set forth clearly to human appre- 
hension in the life of Jesus of Nazareth ; 
the atonement, a moral and spiritual ac- 
cess to God the Father, through the reve- 
lation of Him in Jesus Christ ; regenera- 
tion, a new life born of God, manifesting 
itself in practical fruits of love ; and the 
Scriptures, a book infallible and authori- 
tative only in so far as it revealed through 
the words and experiences of holy men 



of old these transcendent truths. This 
experience settled what was to be his life 
work, and he determined to devote him- 
self to the Christian ministry. 

Upon graduating from Amherst Col- 
lege, he entered Lane Theological Semi- 
nary (Cincinnati), where at this time his 
father had become professor of system- 
atic theology, and pursued his studies 
there, receiving probably quite as much 
from the spiritual life and keen dialectic 
conversation at home as from the more 
formal instructions of the seminary. At 
the same time he engaged in Christian 
work as a Bible class teacher, and in 
journalistic work in connection with a 
Cincinnati paper in which he took an 
active part as an ardent Abolitionist in 
the anti-slavery campaign then fairly be- 
gun. His first parish was the Presby- 
terian church at Laurenceburg, Indiana, 
a small settlement on the Ohio river. 
Twenty persons, nineteen women and 
one man. constituted the entire church. 
He was both sexton and preacher, lighted 
the lamps, swept the church, rang the 
ball, and took general charge of the edi- 
fice. After a year or two of service here 
he was called to a Presbyterian church 
in Indianapolis, the then growing capital 
of the State. His remarkable gifts as an 
orator gave him almost from the first a 
crowded church. His influence was felt 
throughout the State in intellectual and 
moral impulses given to members of the 
legislature, and to public men, who, at- 
tracted by his originality, earnestness, 
practicality and courage, came in great 
mimbers to hear him. His pulpit did not. 
however, absorb either his thought or his 
time. He preached throughout the State 
in itinerant revival labors: lectured fre- 
quently, generally without compensation, 
for impecunious charities; and edited 
weekly the agricultural department of the 
"Indiana Journal." 

.•\fter eight years of increasingly suc- 



lo 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



cessful ministry in Indiana. Mr. Beecher 
received and accepted a call to the then 
newly organized Plymouth Church of 
Brooklyn, New York, entering upon the 
duties of his pastorate October lo, 1847, 
and with this church he remained until 
his death, March 8, 1887. The history of 
these forty years is the history of the 
theological and polemical progress of this 
country during that time. There was no 
theological question in which he did not 
take an interest, no problem having any 
recognized bearing on the moral well 
being of the country which he did not 
study, and upon the practical aspects of 
which he did not express himself, and no 
moral or political reform in which he did 
not take an active part. His fertility of 
thought was amazing. He rarely ex- 
changed; he preached twice every Sab- 
bath, usually to houses crowded to over- 
flowing; he lectured through the week, 
so that there is scarcely any city and few 
towns of any considerable size and any 
pretension to literary character in the 
country in which he has not spoken. He 
also wrote profusely as a contributor of 
occasional articles, or as an editor, at 
one time of the New York "Independ- 
ent." and subsequently of the "Christian 
Union," which he founded, and of which 
he was editor-in-chief until within a few 
years of his death, when the necessary 
demands upon him as a lecturer led him 
to resign the charge of the paper to other 
hands. A career such as his, so im- 
mersed in conflict, in which hard blows 
were both given and taken, could not be 
passed without arousing bitter enmities, 
but of all the numerous assaults upon his 
memor}', only one was sufficiently signifi- 
cant to pass into history, and that has 
already, for the most part, faded from 
men's minds, leaving his name unsullied. 
It is safe to say that no man, unless it be 
Ceorge Washington or Abraham Lincoln, 
has ever died in America, more widely 



honored, more deeply loved, or more uni- 
versally regretted. 

Mr. Beecher's great work in life was 
that of a pulpit and platform orator, and 
the effects of such an one are necessarily 
transient ; yet he wrote enough to prove 
himself master of the pen as well as of 
the voice. His principal works, apart 
from his published sermons, are his "Lec- 
tures to Young Men," delivered during 
his Indiana ministry ; "Yale Lectures on 
Preaching," delivered on the Henry Ward 
Beecher foundation at Yale Theological 
Seminary; "Norwood: a Tale of New 
England Life," a novel, first published in 
serial form in the "New York Ledger;" 
"Star Papers," and "Flowers, Fruits and 
Farming" (one volume each), made up 
from occasional contributions to various 
journals; and the "Life of Jesus Christ," 
left unfinished at his death, but subse- 
quently completed by his son, with ex- 
tracts from sermons. As an orator, Mr. 
Beecher has had no superior, if any equal, 
in the American pulpit, and probably 
none in the history of the Christian 
church. His themes were extraordinarily 
varied, everything that concerned the 
moral wellbeing of men being treated by 
him as legitimate subjects for the pulpit. 
He had all the qualities which art en- 
deavors to cultivate in the orator — a fine 
physique, rich and full blood currents, 
that overmastering nervous fire which 
we call magnetism, a voice equally re- 
markable for its fervor and flexibility — a 
true organ of speech, with many and 
varied stops — and a natural gift of mim- 
icry in action, tongue, and facial expres- 
sion. Training would have made him one 
of the first actors of dramatic history, yet 
he was not an actor, for he never simu- 
lated the passion he did not feel. Genuine- 
ness and simplicity were the foundations 
upon which he built his oratorical suc- 
cess, and he never hesitated to disappoint 
an expectant audience by speaking col- 



li 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



loquially, and even tamely, if the passion 
was not in him. Hence he was equally 
liable to disappoint on special occasions 
when much was expected of him, and to 
surprise on an occasion when no expec- 
tation had been aroused. To these natural 
qualities he added, as the fruit of long 
and patient training, perfect elocutionary' 
art become a second nature, an over- 
whelming moral and spiritual earnestness 
which took complete mastery of him, and 
a singularly combined self-control and 
self-abandon, so that in his more impas- 
sioned moments he seemed utterly to for- 
get himself, and yet rarely failed to per- 
ceive instinctively what could serve his 
purpose of immediate persuasion. He 
was always in sympathy with his audi- 
ence, but never robbed his humor of its 
spontaneity by the self-conscious smile, 
or his pathos of its power by breaking 
down himself in eye or voice. His five 
great orations delivered in England dur- 
ing the Civil War in 1863, the most 
potent, though not the only influence in 
turning public sentiment in that country 
against slavery and the cause of the 
South, were, in the difficulties which the 
orator encountered, his self-poise and 
self-control, his abundant and varied re- 
sources, his final victory, and the imme- 
diate results produced, unparalleled in 
the world's history of oratory. There is 
no space in so brief a notice as this for 
any critical analysis of either the man or 
his teaching. It must suffice to say, that 
the excellencies and the defects of both 
belonged to a man, who, living himself 
by the power of spontaneous life within, 
sought to develop a like life in others. 
More than any man of his time, he led the 
church and the community from a re- 
ligion of obedience under external law, to 
a life of spontaneous spirituality ; from a 
religion which feared God as a moral gov- 
ernor, to one which loves Him as a 
father; from one which regarded atone- 



ment and regeneration as an inexorable, 
but too frequently dreaded necessity, to 
one that welcomes them as the incoming 
of God in the soul ; from one which yield- 
ed a blind intellectual submission to the 
Bible as a book of divine decrees, to one 
which accepts it in a spirit of glad yet 
free allegiance, as a reflection of the 
divine character and purposes in the 
minds and hearts of his enlightened chil- 
dren. 

Mr. Beecher was married, in 1837, to 
Eunice Bullard, who survived him ; he 
also left four children, three sons engaged 
in business pursuits, and one daughter, 
married to Samuel Scoville, a Congrega- 
tional clergyman of New England. On 
January 13, 1893, a tablet in honor of its 
famous preacher was dedicated and un- 
veiled in the vestibule of Plymouth 
Church. The tablet is of brass and 
enamel, mounted on a great panel of an- 
tique oak. A border of interlaced oak 
leaves surrounds the tablet, upon which 
appears a medallion bust in bronze. The 
inscription is in bas relief: "In memoriam 
Henry Ward Beecher, first pastor of 
Plymouth Church, 1847-1887. 'I have not 
concealed Thy loving kindness and Thy 
truth from the great congregation'." Mr. 
Beecher died at his home in Brooklyn, 
New York, March 8, 1887. 



VANDERBILT, William Henry, 

Man of liarge Affairs. 

William Henry Vanderbilt was born in 
New Brunswick, New Jersey, May 8, 
1821, son of Cornelius and Sophia (John- 
son) Vanderbilt. He attended the gram- 
mar school of Columbia College, and in 
1838 engaged in business as a ship chand- 
ler, and later held a position in the bank- 
ing house of Drew, Robinson & Com- 
pany. He was married, in 1841, to Maria 
Louisa, daughter of the Rev. Samuel H. 
Kissam, of Brooklyn, and in 1842 failing 



12 




saSaiis Son. 



Sm.JT"'^''' 




ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



health caused his retirement to a small 
farm at New Dorp, Staten Island. He 
was appointed receiver of the Staten 
Island railroad, and became business 
manager of the railroads under the con- 
trol of his father. 

He was vice-president of the Harlem 
& Hudson River railroads in 1864, and 
of the New York Central in 1865, and it 
was on his suggestion that the two roads 
were consolidated and a continuous line 
from New York to Buffalo was estab- 
lished in 1869. On his father's death, in 
1877, he became president of the New 
York Central Sz Hudson River railroad, 
and also obtained control of the Lake 
Shore & Michigan Southern, the Michi- 
gan Central, the Chicago & Northwestern 
and of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincin- 
nati & Indianapolis railroads. On May 
4, 18S3, he resigned the office of president 
of the Vanderbilt system, and his sons, 
Cornelius and William Kissam, were 
elected to succeed him. 

In payment of a debt of $150,000, bor- 
rowed by General Grant from Mr. Van- 
derbilt, two days before the failure of 
Grant & Ward, Mr. Vanderbilt received 
from the General deeds of real estate and 
his swords, medals and paintings, which 
he placed in the archives of the govern- 
ment at Washington — a gift to the gov- 
ernment. Mr. Vanderbilt erected a fine 
mansion on Fifth avenue, New York 
City. His benefactions were many ; he 
presented $200,000 to the endowment of 
Vanderbilt University, and $100,000 each 
for a theological school and library in 
connection with the university ; $500,000 
to the College of Physicians and Sur- 
geons ; $50,000 to the Church of St. Bar- 
tholomew. In 1881 he gave $103,000 for 
the removal of the great obelisk from 
Alexandria, Egypt, to Central Park, New 
York. In his will he bequeathed $10,- 
000,000 to each of his eight children ; $2,- 
000,000 more to his eldest son, Cornelius ; 



$1,000,000 to Cornelius, the eldest son of 
the latter; and the residuary estate to his 
two eldest sons, Cornelius and William 
Kissam, subject to the payment of an an- 
nuity of $200,000 to the widow. 

While engaged, at his residence, in a 
spirited discussion of railroad matters 
with Robert Garrett, the president of the 
Baltimore & Ohio railroad, Mr. Vander- 
bilt was suddenly attacked with apoplexy, 
and died in his study in New York Cit\', 
December 8, 1885. 



ARTHUR, Chester Alan, 

President of the United States. 

Chester Alan Arthur, twenty-first Pres- 
ident of the United States, was born at 
Fairfield, Franklin county, Vermont, Oc- 
tober 5, 1830, the eldest son of William 
and Malvina (Stone) Arthur. His father 
was educated in Ireland, a graduate of 
Belfast College, who came to America 
and settled in Vermont, where he became 
a Baptist preacher. His maternal grand- 
father, Uriah Stone, was a pioneer set- 
tler of New Hampshire, who located in 
Piermont about 1763. 

Chester Alan Arthur attended school 
first at Union Village, New York, and 
afterwards at Schenectady. He entered 
the sophomore class at Union College 
when fifteen years old, and during his 
course taught school for two terms to 
aid in defraying his expenses. He was 
graduated with high honors in the class 
of 1848, entered the law school at Balls- 
ton Spa, and after a short term of lec- 
tures returned to his father's home at 
Lansing, New York, where he continued 
his law studies, fitted a class of boys for 
college, and taught in the academy at 
North Pownal, Vermont, as principal, 
having not yet reached his majority. 

In 1853 he entered the law office of 
Erastus D. Culver in New York City, 
was admitted to the bar in 1854, and be- 



13 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



came one of the firm of Culver, Parker 
& Arthur. He had imbibed anti-slavery 
principles from his father, who was one 
of the early Abolitionists, and became an 
advocate of that party, and was one of 
those who formed the New York Anti- 
Slavery Society at the house of Gerrit 
Smith, at Peterboro, New York, Octo- 
ber 21, 1835. In several notable suits at 
law he defended the rights of negroes, 
both as escaped slaves and as citizens, 
and in these suits was opposed by the 
most learned legal talent in the country, 
and won his causes in the highest courts. 
(See Lemmon vs. People, and the case of 
Lizzie Jennings, 1855). He was a dele- 
gate to the New York Republican State 
Convention at Saratoga in 1856, and was 
conspicuous in his active support of Gen- 
eral Fremont in the presidential cam- 
paign of that year. In 1857 he took an 
active part in the reorganization of the 
State militia, was made judge advocate 
of the Second Brigade, and in i860 Gov- 
ernor Morgan appointed him engineer-in- 
chief on his stafT, with the rank of briga- 
dier-general. On the breaking out of the 
Civil War he was made acting quarter- 
master-general of the State. General 
Arthur displayed remarkable executive 
ability during his administration of this 
office, having to provide clothing and 
transportation for nearly 700,000 men fur- 
nished by the State of New York for the 
suppression of the rebellion. His war 
account with the national government, 
although much larger than that of any 
other State, was the first audited at Wash- 
ington, and it was allowed with the re- 
duction of one dollar, while the accounts 
of many other States were cut down from 
one million to ten millions of dollars. In 
December, 1861, he was one of a board 
of engineers, and submitted to the gov 
ernment a report on the harbor defences 
of the State and the conditions of the 
Federal forts. In February. 1862, he was 



commissioned inspector-general, and in 
May he officially visited the New York 
troops in McClellan's army, and while on 
this duty also served as an aide on the 
staff of Colonel Henry J. Hunt, com- 
manding the artillery reserve of the army, 
in anticipation of an immediate attack on 
Richmond. He was ordered back to New 
York in June by Governor Morgan, and 
acted as secretary of the meeting of the 
governors of the loyal States at the Astor 
House, New York, June 28, 1862, which 
prompted the President to call for 300,000 
volunteers on July i, 1862. 

At Governor Morgan's request. Gen- 
eral Arthur resigned his commission as in- 
spector-general, and was recommissioned 
as quartermaster-general July 10, 1862. 
The multiplicity of cares laid upon him 
at this time is shown in his report made 
at the close of the official year, under date 
of January 27, 1863, in which he says: 
"From August to December ist, the space 
of four months, there were completely 
clothed, uniformed and equipped, sup- 
plied with camp and garrison equipage, 
and transported from this State to the 
seat of war, sixty-eight regiments of in- 
fantry, two battalions of cavalry, and four 
battalions of artillery." Horatio Seymour 
having succeeded Governor Morgan as 
chief executive of the State, General 
Arthur resigned as quartermaster-gen- 
eral, his resignation taking effect Janu- 
ary I, 1863. 

In 1862 Mr. Arthur formed a law part- 
nership with Henry C. Gardner, which 
in 1867 was dissolved, and General Arthur 
practiced alone until January i, 1872, 
when the firm of Arthur, Phelps & 
Knevals was formed. Despite an exten- 
sive law practice, he retained his interest 
in city, State and national politics, and so 
strengthened his position through his 
membership with political organizations 
that he was regarded as one of the most 
prominent and influential leaders of the 



14 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Republican party. Pie was for a time 
counsel to the city Department of Assess- 
ment and Taxes, a position which he re- 
signed. He was appointed Collector of 
the Port of New York by President 
Grant, November 20, 1871. His term ex- 
pired in 1875, and he was promptly re- 
appointed by the same administration, 
and his second confirmation by the United 
States Senate was made without refer- 
ring it to a committee. The Republican 
State Convention of 1876, held March 22, 
at Syracuse, elected delegates, most of 
whom were pledged to support Senator 
Conkling for the presidential nomination. 
Alonzo B. Cornell and Chester A. Arthur 
were his most active advocates before the 
National Convention, and not until the 
seventh ballot was Mr. Conkling's name 
withdrawn, and sixty-one of the votes of 
New York given to Rutherford B. Hayes, 
of Ohio, which secured his nomination. 
The election was not decided until the 
following March, 1877, when the Electoral 
Commission declared that Mr. Hayes was 
to be president. He selected Hon. John 
Sherman for Secretary of the Treasury, 
who deemed it important that the custom 
house appointments should be in the 
hands of one more friendly to the Hayes 
administration than Mr. Arthur. Under 
the operation of civil service reform, spe- 
cial agents and commissions were ap- 
pointed by the new administration to 
make rigid and searching investigation 
into General Arthur's official conduct. 
The commission, known as the Jay Com- 
mission, reported adversely, and Col- 
lector Arthur replied in a letter to Secre- 
tarj' Sherman. November 23. 1877. On 
December 6, Theodore Roosevelt was ap- 
pointed collector, and L. Bradford Prince, 
naval officer ; but the United States Senate 
refused to confirm the appointments, and 
Arthur and Cornell held their respective 
offices until the adjournment of Congress 
on July II, 1878, when they were sus- 



pended. Arthur had previously declined 
to resign, as requested by Secretary Sher- 
man, notwithstanding he was promised a 
foreign mission. A petition for his reten- 
tion was signed by the judge of every 
court in the city, by all the prominent 
members of the bar, and by eighty-five 
per cent, of the importing merchants in 
the collection district ; but at General 
Arthur's urgent request it was not pre- 
sented. During his six years of office the 
percentage of removals was only two and 
three-quarters per cent, per annum. All 
appointments except two, to the one hun- 
dred positions commanding salaries of 
two thousand dollars a year, were made 
on the plan of advancing men from the 
lower to the higher grades on recom- 
mendation of heads of bureaus. 

The New York delegation to the Chi- 
cago Republican Convention in June, 
1880, in which General Arthur was a 
delegate-at-large, expected to see General 
Grant nominated for the presidency for 
a third term. It had no second choice, 
although several candidates, hopeful of 
Grant's defeat, were pushing their own 
names forward with energy and persist- 
ency. The State of Ohio, with the ex- 
ception of General Garfield's district, had 
instructed its delegates in behalf of John 
Sherman. After a determined contest, 
which lasted several days, and during 
which the stalwart New York delegation 
stood firm, and "302" in the convention 
voted repeatedly and persistently for 
General Grant, the convention was stam- 
peded by the Sherman supporters flock- 
ing to the standard of James A. Garfield, 
and New York's favorite went down to de- 
feat. In order to placate the "Stalwarts," 
rather than as an expression of the will 
of their successful opposition, Chester A. 
Arthur was unanimously named as the 
vice-presidential candidate, and Garfield 
and Arthur were elected president and 
vice-president of the United States, in 



15 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



November, 1880. Mr. Arthur appeared 
as presiding officer of the Senate at its 
extra session, March 4, 1881. He in- 
gratiated himself with the senators 
through his easy manner and kindly dis- 
position. The Senate was equally divided 
politically, and he used his influence 
against his enemies when their names 
came before the Senate for confirmation. 

Upon the announcement of President 
Garfield's death, September 19, 1881, Mi. 
Arthur, at the suggestion of the cabinet, 
took the oath of office as President of the 
United States, September 20, 1S81, before 
Judge James R. Brady, of the New York 
Supreme Court, and immediately repaired 
to Elberon, New Jersey, where he met 
the cabinet and arranged for the funeral 
ceremonies. On September 22nd he went 
to Washington, and in the vice-presi- 
dent's room the oath of office was for- 
mally administered by Chief Justice 
Waite. President Arthur, as his first 
official act, appointed Monday, Septem- 
ber 26th, as a day of mourning for the 
late President, and the next day pro- 
claimed an extraordinary session of the 
Senate, October 10, to elect a president 
of the Senate pro tempore. He requested 
the members of the cabinet of Mr. Gar- 
field to retain their respective portfolios 
until the regular session in December, 
and this request was complied with, ex- 
cept in the case of the Secretary of the 
Treasury, who desired that his resigna- 
tion be accepted, in order that he might 
become a candidate for the office of Sena- 
tor from his State. President Arthur 
offered the portfolio to Edwin D. Mor- 
gan, the War Governor of New York, 
whose appointment was confirmed by the 
Senate, but he declined to serve, and the 
choice then fell to Charles J. Folger, of 
New York, who was confirmed October 
27, 1881. 

President Arthur's administration was 
marked by no startling conditions calling 



for extraordinary action. He officially 
presided at the dedication of the monu- 
ment at Yorktown, Virginia, erected to 
commemorate the surrender of Corn- 
wallis, in which dedication America's 
French allies and German participants 
were represented. The President, at the 
close of the celebration, ordered a salute 
to be fired in honor of the British flag, "in 
recognition of the friendly relations so 
long and so happily subsisting between 
Great Britain and the United States, in 
the trust and confidence of peace and 
good will between the two countries for 
all the centuries to come, and especially 
as a mark of the profound respect enter- 
tained by the American people for the 
illustrious sovereign and gracious lady 
who sits upon the British throne." Presi- 
dent Arthur made efforts to secure peace 
between the warring nations in South 
America, and to that end proposed a 
Peace Conference, which suggestion, how- 
ever, was not acted upon by Congress. 
The administration also offered its 
friendly offices to determine peaceably the 
boundary lines between Mexico and 
Guatamala, and relocated the boundary 
line between Mexico and the United 
States. Through a commission, in which 
General Grant and W. H. Trescott acted 
for the United States, reciprocal treaties 
affecting commercial relations with South 
American countries were made with 
Santo Domingo. December 4, 1884, and 
with Spain in reference to Cuba and 
Porto Rico, November 18, 1884. These 
treaties were, however, withdrawn by 
President Cleveland as inexpedient, with- 
out affording the Senate an opportunity 
to act upon them. 

President Arthur proposed a monetary 
union of the American countries to secure 
a uniform currency basis, looking to the 
remonetization of silver. He strongly 
urged the construction of the interoceanic 
canal across the Isthmus of Panama, and 



16 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



through correspondence with Great Brit- 
ain asserted that the provisions of the 
Clayton-Bulwer treaty of April 19, 1850, 
could not be allowed to interfere with the 
rights of the United States in controlling 
such a route in view of the spirit of the 
"Monroe Doctrine." On December i, 
1884, a treaty was made with the repub- 
lic of Nicaragua, which authorized the 
United States government to build a 
canal, railroad, and telegraph line across 
Nicaraguan territory by way of the lake 
and San Jose river. This treaty was re- 
jected by the Senate, and before that body 
could consider its vote, the treaty was 
withdrawn by President Cleveland, March 
12, 1885. President Arthur obtained from 
the British government a full recognition 
of the rights of naturalized American 
citizens of Irish birth, and all such ar- 
rested as suspects were liberated. A bill 
passed by Congress, prohibiting the im- 
migration of Chinese laborers for twenty 
years, was vetoed by him April 4, 1882, 
as in violation of a treaty with China. 
Congress sustained the veto, and passed 
a modified bill, suspending immigration 
for ten years, which was amended July 
5, 1884, and approved by the President. 
A law was passed August 3, 1882, by 
which convicts seeking a home in the 
United States were returned to Europe, 
and the importation of contract laborers 
was prohibited by a law passed February 
26, 1885. President Arthur repeatedly 
advised the suspension of the coinage of 
standard silver dollars, and recommended 
the redemption of all outstanding trade 
dollars. The removal of stamp taxes on 
many articles of merchandise and on bank 
checks and drafts, as well as the taxes on 
surplus bank capital and deposits, were 
recommended, and on March 3, 1883, the 
acts enforcing them were repealed, this 
resulting in the reduction of the collec- 
tion districts by one-third. Legislation 
was recommended looking to the con- 

N Y-Vol II-2 



struction and maintenance of ocean 
steamships under the American flag; and 
the subject of coast defences was repeat- 
edly brought to the attention of Con- 
gress, an annual appropriation of $1,500,- 
000 being recommended for the armament 
of fortifications. In his last annual mes- 
sage. President Arthur urged the appro- 
priation of $60,000,000 to be expended 
during the next ten years, one-tenth an- 
nually, for coast defences; and his plans, 
considerably enlarged, were taken up and 
carried out by the succeeding administra- 
tion. He vetoed a river and harbor bill 
appropriating $18,743,875, on the ground 
ihat the sum greatly exceeded the needs 
of the country, that the distribution was 
unequal, and for the benefit of particular 
locations ; the bill was passed over his 
veto. He also vetoed the bill passed July 
2, 1884, restoring to the army and place 
on the retired list Major-General Fitz 
John Porter, then under sentence of court 
martial ; this veto was also overruled. 
Important reforms were instituted in the 
navy, the number of officers was reduced, 
habitual drunkards were discharged, the 
repair of old wooden vessels was dis- 
continued, and the construction of a new 
fleet of steel ships with modern arma- 
ments was begun under an advisory board 
appointed for that purpose. During this 
administration the postal rates were con- 
siderably reduced, and many improve- 
ments were initiated in the general mail 
service. 

President Arthur appointed Horace 
Gray, of Massachusetts, to the vacancy 
on the bench of the United States Su- 
preme Court caused by the death of Jus- 
tice Clififord, of Maine, and he was com- 
missioned December 20, 1881. On the 
retirement of Justice Hunt, of New York, 
Roscoe Conkling was appointed to the 
United States Supreme bench, February 
24, 1S82, and the appointment confirmed, 
but he declined the office on March 3, 



17 



ExVCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



1882, and Samuel Blatchford, of New 
York, was appointed and confirmed 
March 22, 1S82. In his annual message 
of 1884, President Arthur recommended 
a suitable pension to General Grant, and 
upon the refusal of the general to accept 
any pension whatever, he by special mes- 
sage, February 3, 1885, urged upon Con- 
gress the creation of the office of General 
of the Army on the retired list. The bill 
was passed March 3, 1885, and on its 
passage the President named to the office 
Ulysses S. Grant, and the nomination 
was confirmed the same day in open 
Senate amid the demonstrations of ap- 
proval of a crowded chamber. When the 
Republican National Convention met at 
Chicago, June 3, 1884, President Arthur's 
name was presented by the delegations 
from New York, Pennsylvania, Aiissis- 
sippi, North Carolina and Louisiana. On 
the first ballot he received the votes of 
278 delegates, on the second 276, on the 
third 274, and on the fourth 207, a plu- 
rality of votes nominating James G. 
Blaine. He at once telegraphed to the 
successful candidate his congratulations 
and assurance of his earnest and candid 
support. The National Convention en- 
dorsed the administration of President 
Arthur as "wise, conservative and pa- 
triotic, under which the country had been 
blessed with remarkable prosperity." 

President Arthur, as the guest of the 
citizens of Boston, attended the celebra- 
tion of the Webster Historical Society 
and made an address in Faneuil Hall. 
October 11, 1882. and at Marshfield, Octo- 
ber 13. At Louisville, Kentucky, August 
2, 1883, he opened the Southern Exposi- 
tion with an address, and at the opening 
of the New Orleans World's Industrial 
and Cotton Centennial Exposition, he per- 
formed the function by telegraph from 
the national capital, transmitting his ad- 
dress and starting the machinery by the 
electric current. On September 25, 1883. 



he was present at the ceremonies of un- 
veiling and dedicating the Burnside 
monument at Bristol, Rhode Island, and 
on November 26th of the same year at- 
tended a similar ceremony in New York 
City, when Washington's statue was first 
disclosed to public view on the steps 
of the United States Sub-Treasury build- 
ing in Wall street. His last official public 
address was made at the dedication of the 
Washington Monument in Washington, 
which was completed during his adminis- 
tration. 

Mr. Arthur was married, October 29, 
1859, to Ellen Lewis, daughter of Com- 
modore William Lewis Herndon, United 
States Navy. She died January 12, 1880, 
leaving two children — Chester Alan and 
Ellen Herndon. While President, Mr. 
.•\rthur's sister, Mrs. Mary Arthur Mc- 
Elroy, presided over the White House, 
and the elegance of her hospitality was 
a marked characteristic of his adminis- 
tration. At the close of his official term, 
March 4, 1885. Mr. Arthur returned to his 
home in New York City, where he died 
suddenly of apoplexy, November 18, 
1886. His funeral was attended by those 
who had been members of his cabinet, 
by President Cleveland. Chief Justice 
Waite, ex-President Hayes, Generals 
Sherman, Sheridan, and Schofield, and 
Hon. James G. Blaine. He was buried 
in the Rural Cemetery, Albany, New 
York. 



SEYMOUR, Horatio, 

Distingnished Statesman, 

Horatio Seymour was born at Pompey 
Hill. Onondaga county. New York, May 
31, 1810. He derived his origin from the 
Seymours who were among the first set- 
tlers of Hartford, Connecticut, his grand- 
father. Major Moses Seymour, being 
captain of a troop of horse during the 
Revolutionarv- War, and having distin- 



18 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



guished himself at the surrender of Bur- 
goyne. Major Seymour had five sons and 
a daughter; of his sons, one became dis- 
tinguished as a financier and bank presi- 
dent, two were high sheriffs, one was a 
Representative and Senator in the State 
of New York, and one was for twelve 
years United States Senator from Ver- 
mont. Horatio Seymour's grandfather on 
his mother's side was Lieutenant-Colonel 
Forman, of the First New Jersey Regi- 
ment in the Revolutionary army. His 
grandmother was a niece of Colonel Wil- 
liam Ledyard, who commanded at Gro- 
ton, Connecticut, when that place was 
sacked and burned by the British, Sep- 
tember 6, 1781, under command of Bene- 
dict Arnold. Of the five sons of Major 
Seymour, Henry, the father of Horatio, 
settled in Onondaga county, New York, in 
the beginning of this century and there in 
the midst of the wilderness was born the 
future governor of the State. About nine 
years later the family removed to Utica. 
Henry Seymour was a colleague of De- 
Witt Clinton. Like most of the early 
settlers of Onondaga county, he was a 
man of a high order of merit and ability. 
One of the first things done by the pio- 
neer settlers in this country was to raise 
money by mortgaging their lands in order 
to build and endow an academy, and in 
this academy Horatio Seymour received 
the rudiments of his education. When 
he was ten years old, Horatio Seymour 
was sent to the Oxford Academy, at the 
time one of the foremost educational in- 
stitutions of the State, where he remained 
for about two years, going thence to 
Geneva (now Hobart) College, where he 
remained for a like period. From Geneva 
he went to Captain Partridge's celebrated 
military academy at Middletown, Con- 
necticut, where he was graduated. Re- 
turning to Utica, he began to study law 
under the two noted jurists, Greene C. 
Eronson and Samuel Beardsley, and in 



1832 was admitted to practice as an at- 
torney and counsellor of the Supreme 
Court of the State of New York and a 
member of the Oneida county bar. It 
was about this time that Mr. Seymour 
married Mary Bleeker, daughter of John 
R. Bleeker of Albany. 

Although Mr. Seymour was thoroughly 
versed in the law, he never practiced, 
from the fact that he was almost immedi- 
ately obliged to devote his whole time 
and attention to the large estate which 
he inherited. He made many acquaint- 
ances, however, among the foremost men 
in the State, and when Martin Van Buren 
became President, having found in Mr. 
Seymour, as he believed, the elements of 
a popular leader, he recommended Gov- 
ernor Marcy to make him his military 
secretary, which he did. This appoint- 
ment assisted in bringing about intimate 
personal relations between Mr. .Seymour 
and the great Democratic leaders in the 
State, and he continued to hold his con- 
fidential position near Governor Marcy 
until 1839. In 1841 he accepted the nomi- 
nation for the Assembly from the county 
of Oneida, and was elected by one of the 
largest majorities ever received by a 
Democratic candidate in that county, and 
thus at the age of twenty-seven years 
actually began his public career. In the 
Assembly Mr. Seymour at once took 
rank as a prominent and leading member, 
and during his first term made a most 
satisfactory impression. In 1842 he was 
elected mayor of Utica, and was renomi- 
nated for that position in 1843, but was 
beaten by sixteen votes. In the autumn 
of the same year he was re-elected to the 
Legislature, of which he was a member 
until the close of 1845, ^^ which session 
he was elected speaker. In 1850 he re- 
ceived the nomination from the Demo- 
cratic party for Governor of the State ; 
he was defeated, however, by Washing- 
ton Hunt, the Whig candidate, but, al- 



19 



F.NCVCI.(MM-.1)IA Ol- lUOGRAl'lIY 



though till- latter was assisted by tlu- 
"ai\ti-rciit" voto, ho only gaincil his I'lcc- 
tioii hy -'()J majority in the total poll of 
429,000. Ill 1852 Mr. Seymour was a 
tlclegate to the Democratic National 
Convention at lialtimore, ami worUeil in 
the interest ot William L. Many for 
I'resiilent. In the same year he was 
again nominateil hy the Oemocrats for 
tlie j;overnorshii) of .New \'ork, aij^ainst 
his old competitor. Washin.i^ton Hunt, 
whom he this time ilefeatetl by a major- 
ity of 22,90(1. The administration of 
Go\en\or Sevniour was eminentl)' suc- 
cessful. Hltlunii;li it occurred at a period 
of j;eneral parly ilisturbance. Tiie 
temperance ajjitators were particularly 
active, and the Lei::islature passeil a pro- 
hibitory l.iw which was vetoed hy Ciov- 
ernor Seymour. Meanwhile the repeal 
of the Missouri Compromise had thor- 
oughly shaken the Democratic party of 
the North, while the Whig party was 
abandoned b\' its leaders and was already 
making way for the Republican ixirt)- of 
the future. All of these discordant and 
even dangerous elements had to be en- 
countered in the course of Governor Sey- 
mour's administration, and were met 
with the courage and fidelity of a states- 
man and a patriot. In 1S54, Governor 
Seymour was renominated, there being 
four tickets in the field. He was defeated 
by Myron H. Clark, the Whig and Tem- 
perance candidate, by a plurality of 309 
votes in a grand total of 469.431. In 
1S56 Governor Seymour went to Cincin- 
nati as a delegate to the Democratic Na- 
tional Conventit^n. and gave his support 
to Buchanan and Breckenridge in the 
succeeding campaign. His views on the 
conditions and elements of the existing 
political situation were deemed to be of 
so much importance that he was request- 
ed to give public expression to them. 
Accordingly, at Springfield. Massachu- 
setts, on July 4, 1836, before an assem- 



blage numbering many thousands, he de- 
livered an address on "The Democratic 
Theory of Government," which was pub- 
lished throughout the country and cir- 
culated wiilely as a campaign document, 
contributing in no small degree to the 
Democratic victory of that year. He 
argued against centralization and for 
local authority, claiming that under such 
conditions the slavery question would 
settle itself by all the States becoming 
free, the tendency of events being such 
that [lower was passing to the free 
States, ami ultimately the ideas which 
controlled these .'States would control the 
CiiiiMi. On the accession of James Buch- 
anan to the presiilential chair, he tend- 
eretl to (Governor Seymour a lirst-class 
mission to one of the European courts, 
but this olTer was gracefully declined, and 
Governor Seymour returned to his farm, 
where be always showed great interest in 
agricultural pursuits. 

At the beginning of the L"ivil War, 
Governor Sevniour, like man}' other loyal 
men. sought earnestly to avert the dit'h- 
culties and dangers which he saw were 
threatening the stability of the Union. 
He addressed meetings in his own and 
other States, at which he sought to do 
awa>- with the false impression then prev- 
alent throughout the North with regard 
to the staying power of the Southern 
people. "Ninety days" was the hmit 
generally fixed for the war which was 
obviously to take place, and no etl'ort on 
the part of such statesmen as were un- 
willing to swim with the tide against 
their own convictions had any etYect in 
changing this impression. Governor 
Seymour had opposed the Republicans 
during the campaign, but he actively- sup- 
ported the administration after President 
Lincoln took oftice. At a Democratic 
ratification meeting held in Utica in 1S62. 
he announced in the most spirited manner 
the intention of Northern Democrats to 



20 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



lose no opportunity of showing their 

loyalty to the Union. He contributed 
largely in Uneida county to the funds 
raised for the purpose of enlisting sol- 
diers, and while attending a meeting of 
the State Military Association in 1862, at 
Albany, he began his address by saying, 
"We denounce the rebellion as most 
wicked, because it wages war against the 
best government the world has ever 
seen." In September of that year, he was 
enthusiastically renominated as a candi- 
date for the executive chair of the State 
of New York. Upon receiving this nomi- 
nation, he adopted a course at that time 
unusual in the political history of the 
State, which was to undertake a personal 
campaign, by traversing the State and 
addressing meetings. He spoke at out- 
door gatherings as many as nine times a 
week during the campaign, a most trying 
and fatiguing undertaking, but which re- 
sulted in his being elected by a majority 
of 10,752 votes. In his message to the 
Senate after his election. Governor Sey- 
mour put on record his declaration that 
under no circumstances could the division 
of the Union be conceded, and in the 
strongest manner announced his inten- 
tion to aid in upholding the government, 
and showing respect to the authority of 
its rulers. He protested against arbitrary 
arrests, the suppression of newspapers, 
and the imprisonment of persons without 
due process of law, holding that the fact 
of an existing rebellion could not sus- 
pend a single right of the citizens of loyal 
States. Throughout his administration 
Governor Seymour was conspicuous by 
his energy and ability in raising troops. 
Within three days after the special de- 
mand which was made on the occasion of 
the invasion of Pennsylvania, 12,000 State 
militia, thoroughly equipped, were on 
their way to Harrisburg. It was while 
the New York militia were absent from 
the city in Pennsylvania that the series 



of outbreaks known as the "draft riots" 
took place. A more unfortunate time 
could not have been even accidentally 
appointed for the announcement in New 
York of the names of those who were 
drafted. It has never, however, been 
satisfactorily shown that this particular 
period was not chosen designedly by the 
War Department. Two points with re- 
gard to the draft were especially obnox- 
ious — one was, that while the poor must 
go to the war, "willy-nilly," the rich could 
avoid it I^y paying $300 to buy a sub- 
stitute; the other was, that the quota 
demanded from New York was inaccu- 
rate and unjust, so excessive in fact that 
the general government was forced after- 
ward to correct it. Governor Seymour 
endeavored to have the quota corrected 
and the draft postponed, but the latter 
began on Saturday, July 11, 1863, the 
names being published on Sunday. From 
that time until Thursrlay evening the city 
was in the hands of the rioters ; about a 
thousand lives were lost, and property 
amounting to several million dollars was 
destroyed. As soon as the riots began. 
Governor Seymour went at once to the 
metropolis, where he issued proclamations 
declaring the city to be in a state of 
insurrection, ordering all persons engaged 
in riotous proceedings to return to their 
homes and employments, and declaring 
that he should use all the power neces- 
sary to restore peace and order. He made 
public addresses urging the mob to dis- 
perse, and insisting upon obedience 
to the law, while at the same time he 
used every effort to obtain troops and 
enroll volunteers. By judiciously re- 
fraining from stirring up the already 
excited passions of the rioters, and, aided 
by the few soldiers in the forts under the 
command of Major-General John E. 
Wool, Governor Seymour did much to- 
ward allaying the excitement, which end- 
ed on Thursday evening, July i6th. On 



21 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



April i6, 1864, the State Legislature, 
which was Republican, passed a resolu- 
tion thanking Governor Seymour for 
having procured the correction of the 
errors committed in regard to the draft 
by the authorities at Washington. In 
the same year Governor Seymour was a 
candidate for re-election as governor, but 
was defeated by Reuben E. Fenton, by a 
majority of 8,293. 

After the war was ended. Governor 
Seymour continued to be prominent in 
politics. He strongly opposed the Re- 
publican party, as was natural from a 
Democratic standpoint, and after pre- 
siding over State conventions in 1867 and 
1868, he was elected permanent chairman 
of the National Convention which met in 
New York City on July 4, 1868, when 
Seymour and Blair were nominated as the 
Democratic candidates for president and 
vice-president. At the election, Governor 
Seymour was defeated by General Grant, 
the popular vote being 3,015,071 for 
Grant, and 2,709,213 for Seymour. From 
this time forward, Mr. Seymour refused 
to let his name be used as a candidate 
for any public office. In 1864 he had 
built on the Deerfield Hills, near Utica, 
New York, a plain frame cottage, spacious 
and hospitable, located on the highest 
point on his farm. Here he devoted him- 
self to reading and agricultural pursuits, 
up to the time of his death, which occur- 
red February 12, 1886. 



HUNT, Ward, 

Distinguished Jnrist. 

Ward Hunt was born at Utica, New 
York, June 14, i8io. His father was 
Montgomery Hunt, for many years cash- 
ier of the Bank of Utica, and his mother 
a daughter of Captain Joseph Stringham, 
of New York City. 

Ward Hunt attended Hamilton Col- 
lege, New York, later entering Union 



(New York) College, from which he was 
graduated in 1828. He attended the legal 
lectures of Judge Gould at Litchfield, 
Connecticut, and continued his profes- 
sional studies with Judge Hiram Denio, 
afterward Judge of the Court of Appeals 
of the State of New York. He became 
Judge Denio's partner in law practice, 
and was his successor on the same 
bench. In 1838 he was chosen to the 
New York State Assembly, and served 
for a single term. In 1844 he was elected 
mayor of Utica. In the political excite- 
ment of the time, he took ground with 
that wing of the Democratic party which 
opposed the annexation of Texas by the 
United States and the extension of 
slavery, and in 1848 took a leading part 
in the movement for free-soil which se- 
lected as the nominees of its party Van 
Buren and Adams. Later, with others, 
he broke away from old ties and became 
a prime mover in the formation of the 
Republican party. In 1865 he was elected 
by a majority of 32,000 to succeed Judge 
Denio upon the bench of the New York 
State Court of Appeals, and became chief 
judge of the court in 1868. This tribunal 
having been reconstructed under a con- 
stitutional amendment. Judge Hunt was 
retained as Commissioner of Appeals, 
which position he resigned January 7, 
1873, to accept his place as one of the 
justices of the Supreme Court of the 
United States, to which office he had 
been appointed by President Grant on 
the eleventh of December next preceding. 
In 1883, owing to a failure in health, he 
resigned his judgeship. 

He was adorned by a generous culture, 
and was in all relations singularly self- 
poised. He was faithful to his principles, 
and devoted to his friends. He excelled 
in judgment and solidity of acquirements, 
rather than in brilliancy. His accom- 
plishments, moreover, extended beyond 
his profession, for he kept his eyes open 



22 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



to the world of letters and affairs, as well 
as the narrower sphere of practice and 
politics. He was a communicant in the 
Protestant Episcopal church, and often 
sat in its conventions. As a thinker he 
was clear and logical ; as a public speaker 
he was deliberate, and convinced by argu- 
ment rather than captivated by sentiment 
or ornament. On the bench, no man 
labored with more patience and earnest 
zeal for justice than he. His decisions 
are simple in diction, forcible in state- 
ment, and exhaustive in their treatment 
of the cases at issue. Both Union and 
Rutgers College gave him the degree of 
LL. D. He died at Washington, D. C, 
March 24, 1886. 



TILDEN, Samuel Jones, 

Distinguished Statesman. 

This distinguished statesman and im 
maculate citizen was born at New Leba- 
non, Columliia county, New York, Feb- 
ruary 9, 1814. His English ancestor, Na- 
thaniel Tilden, who had been mayor of 
Tenterden, Kent, emigrated in 1763 and 
settled at Scituate, Massachusetts, 
whence his son removed to Lebanon, Con- 
necticut. The grandfather of Samuel 
J. Tilden founded New Lebanon, New- 
York ; his father was a farmer, merchant, 
and friend of Van Buren. 

At the age of eighteen, young Tilden 
drew up an address which was approved 
by Van Buren, signed by prominent 
Democrats, and published in the "Albany 
Argus." Soon after this he spent some 
time at Yale, but transferred himself to 
the University of New York, where he 
was graduated in 1837. In that year 
sundry articles from his pen on the treas- 
ury question appeared in "The Argus," 
over the signature of "Crisso." In 1838 
he wrote the resolutions for two meet- 
ings of workingmen in Tammany Hall, 
February 6th and 26th, and at a debate 



in Columbia county answered a speech 
of United States Senator N. P. Tall- 
madge. His speech at New Lebanon, 
October 3, 1840, on currency, prices and 
wages, including the history of the United 
States Bank, was circulated as a cam- 
paign document, and pronounced by 
Conde Raguet "the clearest exposition of 
the subjects that has yet appeared." He 
was admitted to the bar in 1841, and 
opened an office in Pine street. New 
York. In 1S44 he began the publication 
of the "Morning News," and edited it 
through the campaign which ended in 
Polk's election. In 1845. he was elected 
to the New York Assembly, and in 1846 
was a member of the Constitutional Con- 
vention and of its committees of finance 
and canals. Beginning in 1846 he de- 
voted himself to his legal practice, which 
rapidly became lucrative and important, 
including much railroad business. He 
won much reputation by his defence of 
the Pennsylvania Coal Company against 
a claim of the Delaware and Hudson 
Canal Company for extra toll, in a case 
which occupied the court for ten weeks. 
His services were given without fee to 
A. C. Flagg, whose election as city comp- 
troller was contested in 1856. Another 
famous case was the claim of Mrs. Cun- 
ningham, the supposed murderess, tri- 
umphantly opposed by Mr. Tilden, to 
administer the Burdell estate in 1857. 

However busy at the law, Mr. Tilden 
never lost his interest in municipal, State 
and national politics He joined the free- 
foil movement of 1848, urged constitu- 
tional methods in connection with canal 
improvements in 185 1, and was the "softr. 
shell" nominee for attorney-general in 
1855. At the outset of the political dis- 
turbances which culminated in the Civil 
War, he warned a Southerner, in Decem- 
ber, i860, that the South "must not expect 
Northern Democrats to hold the govern- 
ment while they were whipping it," and 



23 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



said: "I will do everything to sustain 
President Lincoln in a civil war, if ii 
occurs, that I would do to sustain An- 
drew Jackson if he were president." 
General Dix blamed him somewhat later 
for not uniting in the call for the mass- 
meeting, nor attending it, after the attack 
on Fort Sumter. His course during the 
war was moderate, and he disliked extra 
constitutional methods. His most illus- 
trious public service was his unrelenting 
war on the notorious Tweed ring, and 
his highest praise came from Tweed him- 
self in 1869 : "Sam Tilden wants to over- 
throw Tammany Hall. He wants to 
drive me out of politics. He wants to 
stop the pickings, starve out the bugs, 
and run the government of the city as if 
it was a blanked little country store up in 
New Lebanon. He wants to bring the 
hayloft and the cheese-press down to the 
city, and crush out the machine. He 
wants to get a crowd of country reform- 
ers in the Legislature * * * And then, 
when he gets everything well fixed to 
suit him. he wants to go to the United 
States Senate." Mr. Tilden did, indeed, 
"want" most of these things, and he ob- 
tained them. As chairman of the Demo- 
cratic State Committee, and in the Legis- 
lature, which he re-entered for this pur- 
pose, he brought all his influence to bear 
against the criminal misgovernment of 
the city. He was a founder of the Bar 
Association, and directed its impeach- 
ment of Judges Barnard and Cardozo in 
1872. After exposure of ring methods in 
July. 1871, by "The Times" he pursued 
the conspirators individually. These 
labors of reform were his almost exclusive 
business for si.xteen months. His friends 
estimated that the neglect of his profes- 
sional and private aflfairs during this time 
cost him "enough to endow a public 
charity." The sum was quite as well 
spent in furthering public justice; the 
ring was broken, and its members pris- 



oners of fugitives. (See "The New York 
City Ring: Its Origin, Maturity, and 
Fall," 1873). 

In 1874 Mr. Tilden was elected gov- 
ernor, with 50,000 majority over General 
John A. Dix. Among the more notable 
deliverances of his administration were 
his messages of January 5, January 12, 
I\Iarch 19 (against the canal ring), and 
May II, 1875 ; June 4, March 24, 1876, and 
his speeches at Buffalo and Utica, August 
10 and September 30, 1875. During his 
administration the construction of the 
present capitol building at Albany was 
begun. The National Democratic Con- 
vention meeting at St. Louis in June, 

1876, nominated him for president on the 
second ballot. The election was un- 
usually close, and its result long doubtful. 
Mr. Tilden had a popular majority over 
Mr. Rutherford B. Hayes of nearly 251,- 
000, and over all rivals of near 160,000, 
but the votes of Louisiana, South Caro- 
lina and Florida were claimed by both 
parties ; intimidation of Republican 
voters in States, and false returns by Re- 
publican canvassing boards, were charg- 
ed. The excited passions of that anxious 
time and the unprecedented embarrass- 
ment of the situation, live in the memory 
of all mature Americans. To avoid a 
deadlock in Congress, the Senate agreed 
to leave the decision to an Electoral Com- 
mission of fifteen, and this, by a strict 
party vote of eight to seven, accepted the 
returns of the canvassers in the three 
doubtful States, and reported, March 2, 

1877, the majority of a single vote for Mr. 
Hayes. Many counseled seating Mr. Til- 
den by force, and civil war would un- 
doubtedly have resulted had not Mr. Til- 
den strenuously resisted everything but 
acquiescence in the decision of the Elec- 
toral Commission. Mr. Tilden retained 
the respect and confidence of his party in 
an enlarged degree, but refused to allow 
the use of his name as a presidential can- 



24 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



didate in 1880 and 1884. During the latter 
years of his life Mr. Tilden was probably 
the chief figure in the Democratic party, 
and his opinion was sought on all ques- 
tions of State or national politics. His 
last important expression of opinion was 
in a letter to J. G. Carlisle, then speaker 
of the house, urging the necessity of 
liberal appropriations for a system of 
coast defences, that the seaboard of the 
country might be secured against naval 
attacks. 

Mr. Tilden died at his country- house, 
Greystone, near Yonkers, New York, Au- 
gust 4, 1886, leaving a large part of his 
fortune of $5,000,000 to found a free 
library in New York ; but his heirs (he 
was a bachelor) contested the will, which 
was broken, after which the heirs con- 
tributed a much smaller sum to endow 
the library. Probably Mr. Tilden drew 
more wills disposing of large estates than 
any man of his day in the legal profes- 
sion, but, when making his own, he did 
not succeed in avoiding legal obstruc- 
tions which invalidated the instrument. 
A campaign life of him was written by 
T. P. Cook (1876); his "Writings and 
Speeches" were edited by John Bigelow 
(two volumes. 1885). 



WHEELER, WUliam Almon, 

La^ryer, Statesman. 

William Almon Wheeler was born in 
Malone, Franklin county. New York, 
June 30, 1819. His ancestors both on his 
father's and his mother's side were Revo- 
lutionary soldiers. The two families 
moved respectively from Massachusetts 
and Connecticut, and settled near High- 
gate and Castleton, Vermont, where Mr. 
Wheeler's father was born. After a par- 
tial course in the University of Vermont, 
he became a lawyer, married Eliza Wood- 
ward, and removed to Malone, where he 
died, leaving his son William A. Wheeler 



at the time eight years old, with two sis- 
ters and their mother, without means of 
support. 

Young Wheeler was kept at school 
until he was able to teach, when he took 
charge of a country school, gradually 
earning enough to justify him in passing 
two years at the University of Vermont. 
He then studied law for four years at 
Malone, New York, where he was admit- 
ted to the bar, and from that time for- 
ward he was almost continuously in pub- 
lic office. W^hile studying law he was 
elected town clerk at a salary of twenty 
dollars a year, and then was made school 
commissioner and subsequently school 
inspector. In 1847, although a Whig, he 
was elected district attorney on a Union 
ticket which carried a Democrat for 
county judge. At the close of his term 
as district attorney he was elected to the 
Assembly, and served in that body in 
1850 and 1851. In 1857 he was elected 
to the State Senate, in which he served 
until 1859. Two years later he was elec- 
ted to the Thirty-seventh Congress. He 
remained in Washington City during the 
Congressional term, and then retired to 
private life, holding no other official posi- 
tion until his election to the Forty-first 
Congress, after which he was in the 
House of Representatives continuously 
until 1877. 

In the meantime, Mr. Wheeler had 
other appointments of a business or pri- 
vate character, involving a great many 
important trusts, being one of the com- 
missioners of the State Parks, commis- 
sioner of the State Survey, and for some 
time cashier of the Malone Bank. He 
was also a member of the board of trus- 
tees for the management of the bank- 
rupt Northern Railroad, afterward the 
Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain road. 
It is said while Mr. Wheeler did not own 
a dollar's stock in the road, he brought 
the bonds up to par from about a valu- 



25 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ation of four cents on the dollar, in eleven 
years, and they were paid in lull, with 
interest. While Mr. Wheeler was a mem- 
ber of Congress, the notorious "salary 
grab"' act was passed. Mr. Wheeler took 
the addition of salary which fell to him, 
bought government bonds with it, assign- 
ed them to the Secretary of the Treasury, 
and turning them over to the latter, had 
them canceled, in this way putting the 
money beyond the possible reach of him- 
self or his heirs. In 1875 Mr. Wheeler 
was chairman of the house committee on 
southern affairs, and did good service to 
the country by pacifying the political 
situation in Louisiana, a plan which he 
had formulated for the adjudication of the 
seriously complicated condition of affairs 
in that State, being the means of settling 
the existing tioubles. In the Republican 
convention at Cincinnati in 1876, Mr. 
\Mieeler was one of the candidates for 
the presidency, but, on the nomination of 
Rutherford B. Hayes, he was made the 
candidate for vice-president. The duties 
of president of the Senate, however, had 
no particular attractions for him, al- 
though he discharged them satisfactorily. 
In 1879, ^evv York politics were con- 
vulsed by the factional fight between the 
"stalwart" and "half-breed" sections of 
the Republican party. It became essen- 
tial that an end should be put to this con- 
dition of things, and when the State Con- 
vention met in Saratoga, Roscoe Conk- 
ling, at the time Senator, was made 
temporary chairman, and Vice-President 
Wheeler permanent chairman. The re- 
sult was a temporary reconciliation be- 
tween the "stalwarts"' and "half-breeds," 
which was marked by Mr. Conkling 
striding up to the chair, and shaking the 
vice-president by the hand. Two years 
before, Mr. Conkling and Mr. Piatt at 
Rochester had assailed the administration 
ruthlessly. Two years afterward, the 
party feud culminated in the destructive 



senatorial fight in Albany, and the assas- 
sination of President Garfield at Wash- 
ington City. In 1881 Mr. Wheeler was 
asked to allow the use of his name as a 
candidate for the United States Senate, 
but he declined the honor, having re- 
solved to pass the remainder of his life in 
the community where he was born, and 
where he was known as a warm friend 
and a wise counselor. His health also 
was poor, and indeed from this time for- 
ward he continued to lose ground, being 
always able, however, to go about until 
the winter of 1886. In 1887, he received 
a chill, followed by fever, out of which 
he rallied, and continued in a better con- 
dition until June. He then suddenly 
failed, sank into an unconscious condition 
from which he could not be roused, and 
died on June 4, 1887, so easily and pain- 
lessly that those who were at his bed- 
side could scarcely tell the moment when 
he expired. 



TAYLOR, Bayard, 

Traveler, Poet, Lecturer, Diplomat. 

Among American men of letters. Bay- 
ard Taylor occupies a high place. He 
was a voluminous writer, but never hack- 
nied or careless. His phrase was scholar- 
ly and pure, yet graceful and sparkling. 
He featured the "Tribune," even when 
Raymond. Dana, Reid and Hay contrib- 
uted to its columns. As a traveler he was 
the keenest of observers and the most 
fascinating of narrators. He caught the 
local coloring wherever he went and drew 
vivid pictures of the lands he visited and 
the men and manners with which he be- 
came conversant. There are few books 
of travel of larger repute for wealth of 
information or accuracy of information 
than those from his pen. They are stand- 
ard works. As a lecturer he was a "bright, 
particular star" in the "Golden age of the 
Lvceum." His verse was keved to lofti- 



26 





^s-'L-<56 <-Sl^/1^^,^l_^ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



est strains — rhythmical and noble ; with 
something of Browning, but without any 
of Browning's obscurity ; and never de- 
scending to the lower scale. His "Faust" 
is by all reviewers conceded to be the 
most felicitous translation of the great, 
great Goethe's immortal drama. Taylor 
"touched nothing he did not adorn." 

Bayard Taylor was born in Kennett 
Square, Chester county, Pennsylvania, 
January ii, 1825, son of Joseph and Re- 
becca (Way; Taylor, grandson of John 
and Ann (Bucher) Taylor; and a de- 
scendant of Robert Taylor, of Little 
Leigh, Cheshire, England, and of Beija- 
min Mendenhall, who immigrated to the 
United States with William Penn in 
1681, the former settling near Brandy- 
wine Creek, and the latter at Concord, 
Pennsylvania, and of Melchior Breneman, 
a Mennonite minister, whose grand- 
father came from Switzerland in 1709, 
and settled in Lancaster county. 

Bayard Taylor was named for Janie^ 
A. Bayard, of Delaware, and originally 
signed his name J. Bayard Taylor. In 
1829 the family removed to Hazeldel! 
farm, in East Marlborough township, 
which was part of the original land- 
grant made by William Penn to Robert 
Taylor. At the age of six he attended 
a Quaker school, and in 1837-40 was a 
student at Bolmar's Academy, Westches- 
ter, Pennsylvania. He completed his 
education at Unionville Academy, 1840- 
42, serving as tutor during his course ; 
and while so engaged he collected a 
mineralogical cabinet and an herbarium, 
and attempted drawing and painting. 
His first essay, "On the Art of Painting," 
was read before the Kennett Literary 
Circle, 1838; a description of a visit to the 
Brandywine battlefield appeared in the 
"West Chester Register" in 1840, and his 
first published poem, "The Soliloquy of a 
Young Poet," appeared in the "Saturday 
Evening Post" in 1841. He was appren- 



ticed to Henry E. Evans, printer and 
publisher of the "Village Record," West 
Chester, 1842-44, where he continued the 
study of German and Spanish, and aided 
in organizing "The Thespians," a dra- 
matic society. Through the friendly in- 
terest of Rufus W. Griswold he published 
and sold by subscription, "Ximena, and 
Other Poems" in February, 1844. After 
reading "The Tourist in Europe," he was 
consumed with a desire to travel abr.oad, 
and to that end sold several of his poems, 
and by the advice of Nathaniel P. Willis 
applied to J. R. Chandler, of the "United 
States Gazette," and S. D. Patterson, of 
the "New York Post," who each engaged 
him as a foreign correspondent, paying 
him fifty dollars in advance. These 
orders were supplemented by an order 
from Horace Greeley for contributions to 
"The Tribune," and he sailed for Oxford 
in July, 1844. He made a pedestrian 
tour through Scotland, England and Bel- 
gium ; spent the winter of 1845 in Frank- 
fort, Germany, in the home of Richard 
S. Willis, American consul, perfecting his 
knowledge of the German language ; and 
continued his walking tour in the spring 
through Bohemia, Moravia, and Vienna, 
to Florence, Italy, where he began the 
study of Italian. He embarked in Janu- 
ary, 1846, as a deck passenger for Mar- 
seilles. Upon his arrival in Lyons, he 
was sufifering from lack of food and 
clothes, and from exposure, and was 
obliged to send for funds to Paris, which 
city he reached in February. While in 
London, awaiting aid from home, he was 
employed in making out catalogues and 
in packing books by Mr. Putnam, Lon- 
don agent of the American publishing 
firm. He arrived in New York City on 
June I, 1846. He visited Boston, and 
published anonymously "The Norse- 
man's Ride," 1846-47, which Whittier 
copied in the "National Era," and which 
through correspondence led to a loyal 



27 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



friendship with the poet. He was asso- 
ciate editor of "The Pioneer," Phoenix- 
ville, Pennsylvania, 1846-47, and publish- 
ed his foreign letters as "Views Afoot," 
in December, 1847. In the following 
January he removed to New York, where 
he was first employed by Charles Fenno 
Hoffman, and as a teacher of belles-lettres 
in Miss Green's school. Later he was 
connected with "The Tribune," of which 
he became a stockholder in 1849. He 
was editor of "The Union Magazine and 
Christian Inquirer," from March to Sep- 
tember, 1848; wrote book-reviews for 
George R. Graham ; and was New York 
correspondent for the "Saturday Evening 
Post." He was offered the permanent 
editorship of "Graham's Magazine," 
which did not materialize, owing to the 
financial condition of the paper. Through 
Hoffman, with whom he lived, and N. 
P. Willis, he was introduced to the liter- 
ary and social circles of New York. As 
correspondent of "The Tribune," he in- 
vestigated the gold fields in California in 
1849-50, an account of his observations 
appearing the same year in "Eldorado." 
On October 24, 1850, he was married to 
Mary S. Agnew, who died the following 
December 21. 

After editing the "Cyclopaedia of Liter- 
ature and Fine Arts " Mr. Taylor sailed 
as "Tribune" correspondent for Liver- 
pool, April 19, 185 1. He spent some time 
in London, and arrived in Alexandria on 
November i, 1S51. He traveled up the 
"White Nile;" subsequently visited Pales- 
tine, Sicily, Italy, Spain, and Asia Minor; 
and in May, 1853, under the auspices of 
"The Tribune," joined Commodore 
Perry's expedition to Japan, enlisting as 
master's mate, and resigning after four 
months' service. While in Japan, Hum- 
phrey Marshall, United States commis- 
sioner, offered to attach him to his staff. 

He reached New York on December 
20, 1853. He lectured on "The Arabs," 



"India," and "Japan and Loo Choo," 1854- 
55 ; wrote voluminously, and was engaged 
in building a summer residence on Pusey 
farm, near Kennett, Pennsylvania. His 
health failing in July, 1855, he revisited 
Germany, taking with him his sisters and 
brother, and on December i, 1856, set out 
for Norway and Lapland, which journey 
he described in "Northern Travel" 
(1857). He married (second) in Octo- 
ber, 1857, Marie, daughter of Peter An- 
dreas Hansen, of Gotha, Germany, astron- 
omer and director of the Ducal observa- 
tory, and they had one child, Lilian, born 
August 3, 1858, who married Dr. Kiliani, 
of Halle, Germany. His wife translated 
several of his works into German, and 
subsequently edited his poems, plays and 
essays. 

After his marriage, Mr. Taylor visited 
Greece, Poland and Russia, and arrived 
at Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, on Oc- 
tober 24, 1858. He continued his connec- 
tion with "The Tribune;" contributed 
literary sketches of travel to the "New 
York Mercury ;" conducted extensive lec- 
ture tours, and dedicated his new home, 
"Cedarcroft," by a famous house-warm- 
mg, October 18-19, i860. In 1861 his 
contributions to the press were "trumpet 
calls" to the defence of the Republic, 
"Scott and the Veteran" rousing the 
greatest enthusiasm, and, guarded by a 
force of police, he defended George Wil- 
liam Curtis in an oration delivered in 
Brooklyn and in Philadelphia. In May, 
1862, he was appointed secretary to 
Simon Cameron, United States Minister 
to Russia ; he was charge d'affaires at St. 
Petersburg, September-May, 1863, when 
he resigned, and for a time was occupied 
in the study of the life of Goethe in 
Gotha, returning to the United States 
upon the death of his brother, Colonel 
Frederic Taylor, at Gettysburg. The 
year 1867 he spent in European travel, in 
letter writing and painting; translated 



28 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



"Faust" at Corsica, in 1868 ; was non- 
resident lecturer on German literature at 
Cornell University, 187077, subsequently 
repeating the lectures before the Pea- 
body Institute, Baltimore ; visited Cali- 
fornia for his health in the spring of 
1870; lectured upon earliest German 
literature in Ithaca, New York, in 1871, 
and the same year was associate editor of 
Scribner's "Library of Travel." In conse- 
quence of financial embarrassment, he 
leased "Cedarcroft," and removed to 
New York, whence he sailed, June 6, 
1872, for Weimar, Germany, to collect 
materials for his lives of Goethe and 
Schiller, and where in January, 1873, he 
repeated a lecture given in Hamburg the 
previous December, on American liter- 
ature, for the benefit of the Frauenverein, 
the whole court being present. Obliged 
to seek Italy for his health, he reported 
the Vienna exhibition of 1873 for "The 
Tribune," contributed the Cairo letters, 
February-April, 1874, and as press corre- 
spondent visited Iceland on the occasion 
of its millennial anniversary. He returned 
to New York, September 9, 1874; collec- 
ted and published his letters on Egypt 
and Iceland; and was engaged in lectur- 
ing, edited Appleton's "Picturesque Eu- 
rope," and in 1876 resumed daily work 
on "The Tribune." 

He was appointed United States Minis- 
ter to Germany by President Hayes in 
February, 1878, his appointment being the 
occasion of many receptions and banquets 
in his honor. He was made an honorary 
member of the Phi Beta Kappa society of 
Harvard College in 1850, writing at its 
request the commencement poem of that 
year, "The American Legend." He was a 
member of the Century Association from 
185 1 ; composed the "Gettysburg Ode" 
for the dedication of the national monu- 
ment, July I, 1869; the "Shakespearian 
Statue," for the unveiling of Ward's 
statue in Central Park, New York, May 



23, 1872 ; and was requested to write the 
national ode for the United States Cen- 
tennial Exhibition at Philadelphia, July 
4, 1876. In addition to his translation ot 
Faust (Part I., 1870; Part II., 1872;, his 
miscellaneous works include: "Hannah 
Thurston" (1863) ; "John Godfrey's For- 
tunes" (1864) ; "The Story of Kennett" 
1 1866) ; "Joseph and His Friend" (1870) ; 
"Beauty and the Beast, and Tales of 
Home" (1872) ; "A School History of 
Germany" (1874) ; "The Echo Club" 
1 1876) ; "Boys of Other Countries" 
(1876) ; "Studies in German Literature" 
(1S7Q); 'Critical Essays and Literary 
Notes" (1880) ; the two latter works were 
edited by his wife, previously mentioned, 
and published posthumously. His works 
of travel, not already mentioned, include: 
"A Journey to Central Africa," and "The 
Land of the Saracen" (1854); "A Visit 
to India, China and Japan" (1855) ; 
"Travels in Greece and Rome" (1859); 
"At Home and Abroad" (first series, 
1859; second, 1862) ; "Colorado: A Sum- 
mer Trip" (1867) ; "By-Ways of Europe" 
(1869). He was author of the following 
dramas : "The Golden Wedding," a 
masque (1868) ; "The Masque of the 
Gods" (1872); "The Prophet" (1874), 
and of the poems (not already noted) : 
'Rhymes of Travel, Ballads and Poems" 
(1849); "^ Book of Romances, Lyrics 
and Songs" (1851) ; "Poems of the 
Orient" (1854) ; "Poems of Home and 
Travel" (1855) ; "The Poet's Journal" 
( 1862) ; "The Poems of Bayard Taylor" 
(1864) : "The Picture of St. John" (1866) ; 
"Lars: a Pastoral of Norway" (1873); 
"Home Pastorals, Ballads and Lyrics" 
(1875). The "Poetical Works and the 
Dramatic Works of Bayard Taylor" were 
edited by his wife, and published posthu- 
mously (1880). 

Bayard Taylor died in Berlin, Ger- 
many, just after the publication of his 
"Prince Deukalion," December 19, 1878. 



29 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



His body was brought to America on 
March 13, 1879, and lay in state in the 
New York City Hall, where an oration 
was delivered by Algernon S. Sullivan, 
and was buried in the Hicksite Cemetery, 
I-ongwood, Pennsylvania. "In Memo- 
riam" verses were published by his 
friends, Stedman, Stoddard and Boker, 
and a monody was composed by T. B. 
Aldrich. The date of his death was De- 
cember 19, 1878. 



CONKLING. Roscoe, 

Distinguished Political Leader and Orator. 

Roscoe Conkling was born in Albany, 
New York, October 30, 1829, the son of 
Alfred Conkling, who practiced law at 
Canajoharie in the early part of the nine- 
teenth century, was a Congressman, and 
in 1825 United States district judge for 
the Northern District of New York, a 
position which he held for twenty-seven 
years. He was also a voluminous writer 
on law topics. The family originally 
migrated from England in 1635, John 
Conkling having landed at Boston and 
settled at Salem in Massachusetts, where 
he and his sons were among the first to 
manufacture glass in America. From 
Massachusetts the family removed to 
Long Island, two of John Conkling's 
sons having settled respectively at East- 
hampton and Southold, and trom Ananias, 
the former of these. Judge Conkling was 
descended. His wife, who was Roscoe's 
mother, was Eliza Cockburn, who lived 
in Schenectady, and was called for her 
beauty "the belle of the Mohawk valley." 
She is said to have been a relative of the 
late Lord Chief Justice Cockburn, of 
England. She named her son Roscoe, a 
favorite name with her on account of the 
author of the "Lives of Lorenzo de Medici 
and Pope Leo X." 

During the first nine years of his life, 
young Roscoe resided in Albany, but in 



1839 Judge Conkling removed his resi- 
dence to Auburn, where the family con- 
tinued to live until about the year 1864. 
Roscoe, however, left home in 1842, and 
entered the Mount Washington Collegi- 
ate Institute in the city of New York. In 
1846 he removed to Utica, and entered the 
law offices of Spencer & Kernan, com- 
posed of Joshua A. Spencer and Francis 
Kernan, two of the leading lawyers of the 
State. His leisure time the young law 
student devoted to the study of English 
literature, and within a year after settling 
at Utica he was called upon to speak in 
public, and during the campaign of Tay- 
lor and Fillmore began to be known as a 
political stump speaker. Mr. Conkling 
was admitted to the bar in the early part 
of 1850, and in the same year was ap- 
pointed by Governor Fish district attor- 
ney of Albany. At the end of his term 
of office he began the practice of law in 
Utica, entering into partnership with 
Thomas H. Walker, an ex-mayor of the 
city, with whom he remained engaged in 
business until 1855. He now rapidly 
rose to prominence at the Oneida county 
bar, which included some of the most emi- 
nent lawyers in the country. Among 
these able men, Conkling soon gained a 
reputation not only for brilliancy as a 
pleader, but also for the care and skill 
with which his cases were prepared. 
During the political campaign when Gen- 
eral Winfield Scott was the candidate for 
the presidency on the Whig ticket, Ros- 
coe Conkling first won his reputation as a 
campaign speaker, although the result of 
the election was disastrous to the Whigs. 
In the canvass of 1854 he took an active 
part. This was the beginning of the 
movement which resulted in the Repub- 
lican party. From 1855 to 1862 Mr. 
Conkling was associated in business with 
Montgomery H. Throop, the author of 
the New York annotated code, who re- 
sumed the position of office-lawyer, while 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Roscoe Conkling acted as advocate. On 
June 25, 1855, Roscoe Conkling married 
Julia, daughter of Henry Seymour, and 
sister of Horatio Seymour, who at that 
time had just completed his first term of 
service as governor of New York. 

On the nomination of John C. Fremont 
by the Republicans for the presidency, 
Mr. Conkling began to make speeches 
throughout the counties of Oneida and 
Herkimer, and New York State went 
Republican both for president and gov- 
ernor. At this time, while Mr. Conkling 
was unwilling to have the reputation of 
being a criminal lawyer, he was remark- 
ably successful in such criminal cases as 
he undertook, and he had now become 
so formidable as an advocate that it was 
customary for lawyers in Oneida county 
to advise their clients to retain him in 
important cases, for the purpose of keep- 
ing him from the service of the other 
side. In 1858 Mr. Conkling carried his 
city, and was elected mayor, while at the 
same time Oneida county elected him to 
represent it in Congress. He remained 
in the mayor's office until the latter part 
of 1859, when he resigned to take his seat 
in Congress. He now went with his 
family to Washington City, where he set- 
tled, and entered upon his larger career. 
He entered the House of Representatives 
at a most exciting period. Slavery was 
then a supreme issue throughout the 
country ; the raid of John Brown in V^ir- 
ginia had just occurred ; and, soon after 
Mr. Conkling's first appearance in the 
House, he was one of those who stood 
by the side of Thaddeus Stevens to pro- 
tect him from personal assault at the 
hands of southern fire-eaters. After the 
nomination of Lincoln and Hamlin at 
Chicago, Mr. Conkling left Washington 
to take the stump in their behalf. In the 
election following, Mr. Conkling received 
a majority of 3,563 votes over his com- 
petitor for Congress. During the next 



session he began to make his influence 
felt and his remarkable eloquence recog- 
nized in the house. At the extra session 
of the Thirty-seventh Congress, called 
July 4, 1861, Mr. Conkling took an active 
part in the work, being chairman of the 
committee on the District of Columbia. 
On January 6, 1862, he spoke to the ques- 
tion of the terrible military blunder at 
Ball's Bluff, and his speech produced a 
profound impression upon the house arid 
upon the country, accompanied as it was 
by the passage of a resolution demand- 
ing from the Secretary of War informa- 
tion as to the responsibility for the dis- 
astrous movement in question. The 
speech made by Mr. Conkling at this 
time gave him a national reputation as an 
orator. A notable incident in his career 
was his opposition to the legal tender act 
of i8t)2, one of the few occasions when he 
agreed with his brother, Frederic A. 
Conkling, who was then in Congress with 
him, in opposmg a motion without regard 
to party lines. The bill, which provided 
for the issue of $150,000,000 of non-inter- 
est bearing United States notes and the 
issue of bonds to an amount not exceed- 
ing $500,000,000, was passed despite the 
Conkling resistance. Mr. Conkling advo- 
cated and voted for a bill to confiscate the 
property of rebels, and also for an act re- 
ducing congressional mileage. His posi- 
tion in Congress was always that of one 
resisting extravagant expenditures, and 
using every effort to obtain economy in the 
public expenses. In the election of 18&2. 
Roscoe Conklmg was defeated by ninety- 
eight votes. He returned to Utica, and 
resumed the practice of his profession, in 
the meantime receiving at the hands of 
prominent citizens of New York the 
honor of a complimentary dinner. For 
the next two years he remained at home 
in Utica. occupied with the practice of 
law. His real legal ability had now an 
opportunity to show itself, especially his 



31 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



genius for cross-examination and the in- 
fluence which he exerted in addressing 
juries, which caused him to remark: "My 
proper place is to be before twelve men 
in the box." At the election of 1S64, Mr. 
Conkling labored earnestly in behalf of 
Mr. Lincoln, and he was himself renomi- 
nated for Congress by a convention held 
at Rome, September 22 in that year. He 
was strongly supported by the leading 
New York papers, and was successful by 
a majority of 1,150 votes, receiving the 
suffrage of a very large number of Dem- 
ocrats, some of whom were among his 
most profound admirers. Mr. Conkling 
was re-elected to Congress in 1866, re- 
ceiving thirty-nine more votes than Reu- 
ben E. Fenton obtained for governor. 
On December 17, 1S66, in the House of 
Representatives he voted, in company 
with eighty-nine others, for the resolu- 
tion proposing to impeach President 
Johnson. In the winter of 1866, the New 
York Legislature was called upon to elect 
a successor in the United States Senate 
to ex-Judge Ira Harris. Mr. Conkling 
was nominated by a Republican caucus 
held January 9, 1867. His competitors 
were the retiring senator. Judge Ira Har- 
ris, and Noah Davis. On the tifth ballot, 
Mr. Conkling received fifty-nine votes, 
against forty-nine for Judge Davis, when 
he was declared by the Legislature elect- 
ed in due form. From this time forward, 
Mr. Conkling was a power to be con- 
sidered in the government. He was a 
member of the committees on appropria- 
tions, judiciary, and mines and mining. 
His first speech in the Senate was on the 
proposed impeachment of Henry A. 
Smythe, collector of the port of New 
York, and which was described as "elec- 
trifying" the Senate. Three weeks after 
he had entered that body, it was said of 
Mr. Conkling that, although "the young- 
est man as well as the youngest senator 
on the floor, he is alreadv the leader of 



the Senate." He continued to hold the 
office during three terms, and in that 
time possibly no other member was lis- 
tened to with the same earnestness and 
consideration as he. Mr. Conkling felt 
the defeat of the movement to impeach 
President Johnson as a great personal 
disappointment, and he did not cease to 
antagonize him during the remainder of 
his administration. President Grant's ad- 
ministration, on the contrary, he support- 
ed zealously, while he undoubtedly ex- 
ercised over it more influence than any 
other Senator. In the Cincinnati Con- 
vention of 1876, Mr. Conkling received 
ninety-three votes as a candidate for the 
Presidency. At the convention of the Re- 
publican party in 1880, Mr. Conkling 
nominated General Grant for a third term, 
quoting in beginning his speech, the lines 
of "Miles O'Reilly" (Charles G. Halpine) : 

When asked what State he hails from, 

Our sole reply shall be, 
He comes from Appomatto.x, 

And its famous apple-tree. 

Following came the most famous short 
speech of Senator Conkling's life. He 
stood on a reporter's table, and every 
word he uttered was heard by everyone 
within the great hall, which was packed 
to the walls. In closing he said: "The 
purpose of the Democratic party is spoils. 
Its very hope for existence is in the solid 
South. Its success is a menace to order 
and prosperity. I say this convention 
can overthrow that party; it can dissolve 
and emancipate the solid South. It can 
speed the nation in a career of grandeur 
eclipsing all past achievements. Gentle- 
men, we have only to listen above the din, 
and look beyond the dust of the hour, to 
behold the Republican party advancing, 
with its ensigns resplendent with illus- 
trious achievements, marching to certain 
and lasting victory with its great marshal 
at its head." From this time throughout 



32 



E^XYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



the desperate battle of the convention, 
the 306 who formed "the Old Guard" 
which stood by Grant, followed unflinch- 
ingly the lead of Roscoe Conkling, but 
the tune of the convention had been set 
to the keynote of "Anything to beat 
Grant!" Efforts were even made to in- 
duce Senator Conkling to permit his 
name to go before the convention for 
nomination. On the thirty-sixth ballot 
the deadlock was broken. James A. Gar- 
field and his followers deserted John 
Sherman, and the former received 399 
votes, and was declared nominated for 
president of the United States. It was 
not until after the most earnest solicita- 
tion on the part of General Grant that 
Mr. Conkling decided to speak in the 
interest of Mr. Garfield in the campaign 
which followed. He did this at a cost to 
himself of $29,000, with which he pur- 
chased from his clients the legal services 
which they had retained him to perform. 
At the solicitation of Simon Cameron, 
Senator Conkling finally joined with Gen- 
eral Grant in a visit to Mr. Garfield at 
Mentor, Ohio, which visit was considered 
by Garfield to have saved him from de- 
feat at the subsequent election, as it in- 
sured the support which Mr. Conkling 
gave to the ticket from that time on until 
election. This fact, however, did not pre- 
vent the action on the part of President 
Garfield which resulted in the resignation 
of Roscoe Conkling and Thomas C. Piatt, 
the two Senators from New York, in 1881. 
The immediate cause of their resignation 
was the removal by the President of the 
collector of the port of New York, Mr. 
Merritt, and the appointment to that posi- 
tion of Mr. Robertson, against which 
action a most earnest protest was made 
and signed by Chester A. Arthur, T. C. 
Piatt, Thomas L. James and Roscoe 
Conkling. At the ensuing election in the 
Legislature of the State of New York, 
the places of Senators Conkling and Piatt 
N Y— Vol II— 3 33 



were filled by Elbridge G. Lapham and 
Warner Miller respectively. This ended 
Mr. Conkling's public life. It is said of 
him that during his last seven years in 
the Senate, no other member of that body, 
since the time of Webster and Clay exer- 
cised so much influence on legislation as 
did he. 

Soon after his political retirement, Mr. 
Conkling became the counsel of the 
Northern Pacific Railroad Company. He 
had an office in New York City. In Feb- 
ruary, 1882, he was nominated by Presi- 
dent Arthur as Associate Justice of the 
Supreme Court of the United States, and 
the nomination was confirmed by the 
Senate, but was declined by Mr. Conkling. 
From this time forward he practiced his 
profession in the courts of New York and 
before the Supreme Court at Washing- 
ton with great success, his fees in some 
cases being as much as $50,000. His last 
illness was believed to be the result of 
terrible exposure during the great bliz- 
zard of March 12, 1888, when he walked 
from his office at Wall street to the New 
York Club at Twenty-fifth street, being 
nearly prostrated at the time, and never 
entirely recovering thereafter. He died 
in New York City, April iS, 1888. 



ASTOR, John Jacob (3rd), 

Capitalist. 

John Jacob Astor (3rd) was born in 
New York City, June 10, 1822, eldest son 
of William B. and Margaret Rebecca 
(Armstrong) Astor, and grandson of the 
first John Jacob Astor. He was gradu- 
ated from Columbia College in 1839, he 
then studied at Gottingen. and was after- 
wards graduated from the Harvard Law 
School, and practiced his profession for 
a year. 

His occupation in life was mainly ad- 
ministering the interests of his share of 
the familv estate. Like his father and 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



grandfather, he was conservative in his 
methods, buying land where he saw good 
prospects of accretion in value, and part- 
ing with it very slowly. From 1859 until 
1869 he was a trustee of Columbia Col- 
lege. In 1861, on the outbreak of the 
Civil War, Mr. Astor offered his services 
to his country, was commissioned colonel 
on the staff of General McClellan, and 
served as aide-de-camp with the Army of 
the Potomac. He also aided, by gener- 
ous donations of money, in fitting out the 
quota of New Y'ork troops called for in 
the proclamation of President Lincoln. 
In 1865 he was promoted to brigadier- 
general by brevet for meritorious con- 
duct during' the Peninsular campaign. 
President Hayes offered him the position 
of United States Minister to Great Brit- 
ain, which he declined. He promoted 
with great liberality various beneficent 
interests with which the name of Astor 
had been associated, and his practical 
benefactions, mainly dispensed through 
the instrumentality of his wife, were mul- 
tifarious. In 1879 he gave to the Astor 
Library three lots of land on Lafayette 
Place, upon which he afterward erected 
the North Library building, the construc- 
tion of which cost $250,000. To this he 
later added a very valuable gift of rare 
manuscripts and books, and $50,000 as a 
trust fund for the payment of the trus- 
tees. In conjunction with his brother 
William he presented the reredos and 
altar to Trinity Church, New York, in 
memory of his father. The New York 
Cancer Hospital owes its existence to his 
liberality, and the Woman's Hospital and 
Children's Aid Society were largely bene- 
fitted by him. In 1887, after the death of 
his wife, he gave her magnificent collec- 
tion of laces to the Metropolitan Museum 
of Art. He was so quiet and simple in 
his tastes and habits, so unostentatious, 
so correct and careful in his expenditures, 
as to win a name for eccentricity, while 



his unassuming charity was brightening 
hundreds of lives. He bequeathed $100,- 
000 to the New York Cancer Llospital, 
$100,000 to St. Luke's Llospital, and $50,- 
000 to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 
Mr. Astor died February 22, 1890. In 
1846 he married Charlotte Augusta Gibbs, 
of South Carolina, by whom he had one 
son, William Waldorf. 



WHITMAN, Walt, 

Poet, Author. 

Walter ("Walt") Whitman was born 
at West Hills, Long Island, New York, 
May 31, 1819. His father's family was 
of English, and his mother's of Dutch 
descent. Most of the men of the latter 
were seafarers. Mrs. Whitman herself 
was known as a bold rider. The Whit- 
mans lived in a rambling farm house until 
1823, when they removed to Brooklyn, 
New York, where the father worked as 
a carpenter. It is narrated that when 
Lafayette rode in state through the 
streets of Brooklyn, in 1824, he stooped 
down and kissed little Walt, who was 
standing on a pile of stones watching the 
procession. 

"Walt," while a mere boy, was appren- 
ticed to the "Long Island Star," of Brook- 
lyn, and afterward to the "Long Island 
Patriot," with which he served out his 
time. At eleven or twelve, according to 
his own statement, he began to write 
"sentimental bits" for "The Patriot," and 
soon after he succeeded in getting one or 
two of his pieces into the "New York 
Mirror," edited by George P. Morris. In 
1839, having saved some money by teach- 
ing in country schools for two or three 
years in various parts of Suffolk and 
Queens counties, he determined to start 
a paper for himself. Being encouraged 
by his friends, he bought a press and type 
in New York, and began the publication 
of the "Long Islander," at Huntington, 



34 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Long Island. He did most of the work 
himself, including the presswork. The 
paper was published weekly, and after it 
was out he rode through the Long Island 
towns on horseback, delivering copies. 
He soon became restless, however, and 
went to New York City, where he ob- 
tained work on "The Aurora" and "The 
Tattler." After a time he was offered a 
good position on the "Brooklyn Eagle," 
with which he remained two years. 
About 1847-48, being again free, he de- 
voted his time to making pedestrian tours 
through various parts of the United 
States and Canada. At length he was 
offered a position on the staff of the "New 
Orleans Crescent," in which he continued 
for something over a year, when he re- 
signed, giving up a large salary, to travel 
with his brother, who was suffering from 
consumption. Returning to Brooklyn he 
started "The Freeman," at first as a 
weekly, then as a daily. During the first 
years of the war he wrote for "Vanity 
Fair," and other comic or satirical papers 
in New York, and was a recognized mem- 
ber of a group of young "Bohemians," as 
they were called, made up of musical, 
dramatic and literary critics attached to 
the daily and weekly press. At this time 
he led the life of a literary free-lance. 
The continuance of the war, however, 
and the concentration of the public mind 
upon its episodes and exigencies, drew 
him to Washington, and from there to the 
front, where he became known as the 
friend and comrade of the sick and 
wounded. He labored in the army hos- 
pitals, showing a tenderness which only 
the very few who knew him best had ever 
appreciated. He received a clerkship in 
the Department of the Interior from 
President Lincoln, from which he is said 
to have been removed by Secretary Har- 
lan, on account of the character of his 
poetical writings. He then received an 
appointment in the Attorney-General's 



office. In 1873, owing to a paralytic 
shock, he was obliged to give up his posi- 
tion and retire to his brother's house in 
Camden, New Jersey. A few months 
later, the sudden death of his mother in 
his presence brought about a relapse. He 
was physically disabled from that time, 
but his mind continued clear, and his oc- 
casional literary efforts evinced the orig- 
inality and quaint power of his earlier 
writings. 

As a poet Walt Whitman became 
known to the public through his "Leaves 
of Grass," the first edition of which was 
printed in Brooklyn, much of the type 
being set up by the author himself. It 
was published in New York in 1855. The 
boldness of the manner and matter of 
this volume, while it attracted general 
attention, incurred the most severe criti- 
cism. Those who were attached to the 
conventional forms of literature opposed 
it on account of its complete divergence 
from these ; while those who insisted on 
immaculate language and pure ideas, 
called it simply indecent. Very few copies 
of the first edition of "Leaves of Grass" 
were sold, and a number of those sent out 
by the author as gifts were returned to 
him with scathing criticism ; yet Ralph 
Waldo Emerson wrote under date of 
Concord, Massachusetts, July 21, 1855: 
"I give you joy of your free and brave 
thought. I have great joy in it. I find 
in it incomparable things said incom- 
parably well, as they must be. I find the 
courage of treatment which so delights 
us, and which large perception only can 
inspire." E. C. Stedman complained: 
"Not that he discussed matters which 
others timidly evade, but that he did not 
do it in a clean way. That he was too 
anatomical and maladorous. withal. Fur- 
thermore that in this department he 
showed excessive interest, and applied its 
imagery to other departments as if with 
a special purpose to lug it in." A second 



35 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



edition of "Leaves of Grass" was pub- 
lished in Boston in i860, and it was re- 
published in London by Longmans & 
Company, edited by Rossetti. By the 
best literary minds of Great Britain, Walt 
Whitman was quickly recognized as a 
new poetical avatar. "He is the first 
representative democrat in art of the 
American continent," said Edward Dow- 
den. "At the same time he is before all 
else a living man and must not be com- 
pelled to appear as mere official repre- 
sentative of anything. He will not be 
comprehended in a formula. No view of 
him can image the substance, the life ana 
movement of his manhood, which con- 
tracts and dilates, and is all over sensi- 
tive and vital." His work has also been 
admirably characterized by Robert L. 
Stevenson : "In spite of an uneven and 
emphatic key of expression, something 
trenchant and straightforward, some- 
thing simple and surprising, distinguishes 
his poems. He has sayings that come 
home to one like the Bible. We fall upon 
Whitman, after the works of so many 
men who write better, with a sense of re- 
lief from strain, with a sense of touching 
nature, as when one passed out of the 
flaring, noisy thoroughfares of a great 
city into what he himself has called, with 
unexcelled imaginative justice of lan- 
guage, 'the huge and thoughtful night'." 
In 1865 Mr. Whitman published: 
"Drum Taps," in 1867 "Memoranda Dur- 
ing the War," and in 1870 a volume of 
prose essays called "Democratic Vistas." 
His other works are: "Passage to India" 

(1870) ; "After All, Not to Create Only" 

(1871) ; "As Strong as a Bird on Pinions 
Free" (1872); "Two Rivulets" (1873); 
"Specimen Days and Collect" (1883); 
"November Boughs" (1885) ; and "Sands 
at Seventy" (1888). In the meantime 
new editions were issued of "Leaves of 
Grass" in the United States, England and 
Scotland. It will take the judgment of 



posterity to decide whether Whitman or 
his accusers are right, but the fact re- 
mains that if there was anything un- 
healthy or unworthy in the recesses of 
Whitman's moral nature, his acts contra- 
dict it. Those who have known him inti- 
mately from his youth acknowledge his 
life to have been pure and wholesome, 
charitable and beneficent. 

In 1889, on the occasion of his seven- 
tieth birthday, Mr. Whitman was ten- 
dered a public dinner by a large num- 
ber of his friends and admirers. He died 
March 26, 1892. 



BOWEN, Henry Chandler. 

Founder of "The Independent." 

Henry Chandler Bowen was born in 
Woodstock, Connecticut, September 11, 
1813. In 1833 he went to New York City 
as clerk with the drygoods firm of Arthur 
Tappan & Company. In 1838 he formed 
with another clerk, Theodore McNamee, 
the firm of Bowen & McNamee. He 
afterwards was head of the firm of Bowen, 
Holmes & Company. The outbreak of 
the Civil War compelled the firm to re- 
tire from business. He was married, 
June 6, 1843, to Lucy Maria, daughter of 
Lewis Tappan. 

At the time of the fugitive slave law 
excitement in 1852, Mr. Bowen's firm was 
boycotted in the south and elsewhere on 
account of his denunciation of the fugi- 
tive slave law, and the letter in which he 
refused to sign the call for the Castle 
Garden meeting in support of that enact- 
ment, became famous on account of the 
sentence in which he said that the firm of 
Bowen & McNamee had "its goods, but 
not its principles, for sale." Mr. Bowen 
was a member of the "Albany Conven- 
tion" of Congregationalists in 1852, which 
abrogated the "Plan of Union" with Pres- 
byterians. Later, with others, he organ- 
ized the Congregationalist Union, to 



36 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



which he gave the sum of $5,000. At the 
Albany Convention, Mr. Bowen pledged 
the sum of $10,000 to aid in building Con- 
gregational churches, on condition that 
$40,000 more should be raised by the 
churches, and over $60,000 was raised. 
He was one of the original founders of 
the Broadway Tabernacle and of the 
Church of the Pilgrims and Plymouth 
Church, Brooklyn. He heartily adopted 
the anti-slavery views of Arthur and 
Lewis Tappan, and, with a view to pro- 
viding an organ for liberal and anti-slav- 
ery Congregationalism, he established 
"The Independent" in 1848, under the 
editorship of Dr. Leonard Bacon, Dr. 
Joseph P. Thompson, Dr. R. S. Storrs, 
and Dr. Joshua Leavitt. When the orig- 
inal editors retired, he made the paper un- 
denominational, under the editorship of 
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. After 1871 
he was himself editor, as well as pro- 
prietor and publisher, withdrawing from 
all other business. He died in Brooklyn, 
New York, February 24, 1896. 



WILLARD, Frances Elizabeth, 

Educator, Temperance Reformer. 

Frances Elizabeth Willard was born in 
Churchville, New York, September 28, 
1839, daughter of Josiah Flint and Mary 
Thompson (Hill) Willard; granddaugh- 
ter of John and Polly (Thompson) Hill; 
and a descendant of Major-General Simon 
Willard, who came from Horsmonden, 
England, in 1634, and founded Concord, 
Massachusetts, in 1635, serving as judge 
of the supreme, superior and admiralty 
courts. 

She was taken by her parents to Ober- 
lin, Ohio, in 1840, and in 1846 to Wiscon- 
sin, where her mother engaged in teach- 
ing school and her father in farming. She 
attended the Milwaukee Female College 
in 1857; and was graduated from the 
Northwestern Female College, Evanston, 



Illinois, in 1859. She was Professor of 
Natural Science in the last-named col- 
lege, in 1862-66 ; and preceptress of Gene- 
see Wesleyan Seminary, Lima, New York, 
in 1866-67. She studied and traveled in 
Europe and the Holy Land in 1868-70. 
From 1871 to 1874 she was president of 
the Woman's College of Northwestern 
University, and introduced the system of 
self-government which became generally 
adopted in other colleges. She was Pro- 
fessor of Esthetics in the Northwestern 
University in 1873-74, resigning in the 
latter year to identify herself with the 
cause of temperance. She was corres- 
ponding secretary of the National 
Women's Christian Temperance Union 
from 1874 to 1878, and president of the 
Union from 1879 to 1898. In 1882 she 
became a member of the central commit- 
tee of the National Prohibition party, and 
in 1883 toured the United States, organ- 
izing and strengthening the women's tem- 
perance work. She also founded in 1883 
and was president (1883-98) of the 
World's Women's Christian Temperance 
Union. She presented, under the aus- 
pices of the National Women's Christian 
Temperance Union, memorials to each of 
the four political conventions for the 
nomination of president of the United 
States in 1884. She was a founder of the 
Home Protection party in 1884, and a 
member of its executive committee, and 
accepted the leadership of the White 
Cross movement in her own union in 
1886, which remained her special depart- 
ment until her death. She was president 
of the Woman's Council of the United 
States from its organization in 1887; a 
delegate to the General Conference of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church in 1887, and 
was elected to the Ecumenical Confer- 
ence of 1889, but was refused admittance. 
She was president of the American branch 
of the International Council of Women 
of the World's Women's Christian Tem- 



Z7 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



perance LTnion in 1888; chairman of the 
World's Temperance Committee of the 
Columbian Exposition in 1893, and was 
also head of the purity work of the 
World's and National Women's Chris- 
tian Temperance Unions. The honorary 
degree of Master of Arts was conferred 
upon her by Syracuse University, 1871, 
and that of Doctor of Laws by Ohio Wes- 
leyan University in 1894. She lectured 
extensively in Europe and the United 
States on temperance; edited the "Chi- 
cago Daily Post," and the "Union Sig- 
nal ;" was a director of the Women's Tem- 
perance Publishing Association of Chi- 
cago; associate editor of "Our Day," Bos- 
ton, Massachusetts ; and author of : "Nine- 
teen Beautiful Years" (1864) ; "Women 
and Temperance" (1883); "Hints and 
Helps" (1S75); "How to Win" (1884); 
"Glimpses of Fifty Years" (1889); 
"Woman in the Pulpit" (1888); "A 
Classic Town" (1890) ; and the following 
leaflets : "A White Life for Two," "The 
White Cross Manual," and "The Coming 
Brotherhood." 

She died in New York City, February 
18, 1898. A white marble bust by Lorado 
Taft was placed to her memory in North- 
western University in 1898. Her estate 
was bequeathed to the eventual benefit of 
the National W^omen's Christian Tem- 
perance Union. 



INGERSOLL, Robert Green, 

Lawyer, Orator, Author. 

Robert Green IngersoU was born at 
Dresden, Yates county, New York, Au- 
gnst II, 1833, son of John and Mary 
(Livingston) IngersoU. His father was 
a Congregational clergyman, well known 
in New York State for his eloquence and 
broad views ; his mother was a daughter 
of Judge Robert Livingston, of Ogdens- 
burg. New York, and his wife, Agnes O. 
Adams. 



Having completed his education in the 
schools of Illinois, whither his father had 
removed in 1843, Robert G. IngersoU stud- 
ied law and was admitted to the bar. He 
opened an office at Shawneetown, Illinois, 
in partnership with his elder brother, 
Eben C. IngersoU, who was representa- 
tive in Congress from Illinois (1864-70), 
and both became active in law and poli- 
tics. In 1S57 he removed to Peoria, Illi- 
nois, then a rapidly growing business 
centre, and here in i860 he was an unsuc- 
cessful candidate for Congress on the 
Democratic ticket. From the opening of 
the Civil War he was active in his ad- 
vocacy of the Federal cause, and in 1862 
went to the front as colonel of the Elev- 
enth Illinois Cavalry Regiment. He was 
captured and held prisoner for several 
months, but was finally exchanged, and 
in 1864 resigned from the army to resume 
the practice of law. 

Having changed his allegiance to the 
Republican party, in 1866. Mr. IngersoU 
was appointed attorney-general of Illi- 
nois, and further demonstrated his polit- 
ical importance as delegate to several suc- 
cessive national conventions. In the con- 
vention of 1876 he proposed the name of 
James G. Blaine as candidate for presi- 
dent, with a brilliant oration, in which he 
originated the famous title, "Plumed 
Knight" as a designation for the Maine 
senator. In 1877 he declined appoint- 
ment as minister to Germany. He ap- 
peared is several historic litigations, most 
notedly as counsel for the alleged "Star 
Route" conspirators, Brady and Dorsey, 
when he secured an acquittal. On ac- 
count of his enhanced reputation he re- 
moved to Washington City, and some 
years later to New York City, where he 
resided until his death. 

He was one of the most eloquent and 
powerful orators of the day ; he had few 
equals before a jury, and was equally ac- 
ceptable as a campaign speaker and on 



38 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



the lecture platform. His widest reputa- 
tion, however, rests on his many attacks 
on certain popular forms of Christain 
teaching, as well as on the divine author- 
ity of the Bible, and which abounded in 
sarcasm and humor. His lectures, which 
were published complete in 18S3, con- 
tain such titles as "The Gods," "Ghosts," 
"Skulls," "Some Mistakes of Moses." 
Some of the best sayings were issued in 
book form in 1SS4, under the title, "Prose 
Poems and Selections." He also lectured 
repeatedly on the life and work of 
Thomas Paine and on Shakespeare. Colo- 
nel Ingersoll was pre-eminent among 
modern orators for high poetical power 
and command of apt and beautiful 
imagery in expressing his ideas. He had 
few, if any, equals in his ability to touch 
the deepest chords of feeling. 

In 1862 he was married to Eva A. 
Parker, of Groveland, Illinois. They had 
two daughters. He died at Dobbs Ferry, 
New York, July 21, 1899. 



STANTON, Elizabeth Cady, 

Reformer. 

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born in 
Johnstown, New York, November 12. 
1815 ; daughter of Judge Daniel Cady and 
Margaret (Livingston) Cady; and grand- 
daughter of Colonel James Livingston. 

She was graduated from Johnstown 
Academy, taking the second prize in 
Greek, in 1829, and from Mrs. Emma Wil- 
lard's seminary^ Troy, New York, in 1832. 
She subsequently read law in her father's 
office, also acting as his amanuensis, and 
through this environment became inter- 
ested in obtaining equal laws for women. 
She was married. May i. 1840, to Henry 
Brewster Stanton, whom she accom- 
panied to the World's Anti-Slavery Con- 
vention at London, England, participat- 
ing in the debate in regard to the admis- 
sion of women as delearates to the con- 



vention. While abroad, she formed a 
friendship with Airs. Lucretia Alott, with 
whom she issued the call for the first 
Woman's Rights Convention, held in 
Seneca Falls, New York, July 19-20, 
1848, and which inaugurated the woman 
suitrage movement. Although not ad- 
mitted to the bar, as women were not 
at that time, she became really a great 
lawyer, especially versed in constitu- 
tional law. In 1848 she secured the 
passage of her "married woman's prop- 
erty bill," and in 1854 addressed both 
houses of the New York Legislature in 
opposition to the unjust laws for women. 
She again addressed the legislature in 
i860, by request, advocating divorce for 
drunkenness, and in 1867 urged upon the 
legislature and the State Constitutional 
Convention the right of women to vote, 
and she subsequently canvassed numer- 
ous States in behalf of equal suffrage. 
She was a candidate for representative in 
the United States Congress in 1868, and 
from 1 868 annually appeared before a 
committee of congress, advocating a six- 
teenth amendment to the constitution of 
the United States, granting suffrage to 
women. She stands historically as for 
years the foremost and ablest cham- 
pion of female suffrage and the enlarge- 
ment of the legal rights of her sex. 
She resided in Tenafly, New Jersey, 
1870-90, and subsequently in New York 
City. She was the mother of Dan- 
iel Cady Stanton, Louisiana State Sena- 
tor, 1870; Henry Stanton (Columbia, 
Bachelor of Law, 1865). corporation law- 
yer: Hon. Gerrit Smith Stanton (Colum- 
bia. Bachelor of Law, 1865) ; Theodore 
Stanton (Cornell, Bachelor of Arts, 1876; 
Master of Arts"), journalist and author of 
"Woman Question in Europe :" Margaret 
Stanton Lawrence (Vassar, Bachelor of 
Arts, 1876), professor of physical train- 
ing; Harriet Stanton Blatch (Vassar, 
Bachelor of Arts, 1878; Master of Arts), 



.-^9 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



president New York Equal Suffrage 
League (1902-03) ; Robert Livingston 
Stanton (Cornell, Bachelor of Science, 
1880; Columbia, Bachelor of Law, 1881). 
Mrs. Stanton was president of the na- 
tional committee of her party, 1855-65 ; 
of the Woman's Loyal League, 1861 ; of 
the National Woman Suffrage Associa- 
tion, 1865-93, and honorary president, 
1893-1903 ; and first president and founder 
of the International Council of Women, 
1888. In 1868. with Susan B. Anthony 
and Parker Pillsbury, she established and 
edited "The Revolution," a weekly re- 
form newspaper. She was the author of : 
"The History of Woman Suft'rage" (with 
Susan B. Anthony and Matilda J. Gage, 
three volumes, 1880-86; volume four, 
1903) ; "Eighty Years and More," an auto- 
biography (1895) ; "The Woman's Bible" 
(1895) ; and of contributions to period- 
icals at home and abroad. Her eightieth 
birthday (1895) was widely celebrated. 
She died in New York City, October 2, 
1902, the funeral address being delivered 
by the Rev. Moncure D. Conway, and 
was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, New 
York City, where her husband was also 
buried, the Rev. Phoebe A. Hanaford 
officiating. A memorial service was held 
in New York City, on November 19, 
1902, William Lloyd Garrison delivering 
an address. 



CLEVELAND, Grover, 

Ijtfwyer, Statesman, President. 

Grover Cleveland, son of Rev. Richard 
Falley and Ann (Neal) Cleveland, was 
born March 18, 1837, in Caldwell, New 
Jersey, in a small two-story building 
which was the parsonage of the Presby- 
terian church of which his father was 
then pastor, and which is yet standing. 
He was named Stephen Grover for his 
father's predecessor in the pastorate, but 
in childhood thp first name was dropped. 



When he was three years old his par- 
ents removed to Fayetteville, Onondaga 
county, New York, where he lived until 
he was fourteen, attending the district 
school and academy. He was of studious 
habits, and his frank open disposition 
made him a favorite with both his teach- 
ers and fellows. He left the academy be- 
fore he could complete the course, and 
took employment in a village store, his 
wages being fifty dollars for the first year 
and one hundred dollars for the second 
year, but soon after the beginning of the 
latter period he removed to Clinton, New 
York, whither his parents had preceded 
him, and resumed studies at the academy 
in preparation for admission to Hamilton 
College. The death of his father, how- 
ever, disappointed this expectation, and 
made it necessary for him to enter upon 
self-support. He accordingly accepted a 
position as bookkeeper and assistant 
teacher in the New York Institution for 
the Blind, which he filled acceptably for 
a year. Starting west in search of more 
lucrative employment, with twenty-five 
dollars to defray his expenses, he stopped 
on the way at Buffalo, New York, to 
make a farewell visit to his uncle, Lewis 
F. Allen, a stock farmer, who induced 
him to remain and aid him in the com- 
pilation of "Allen's American Shorthorn 
Herd Book." In return he received the 
sum of fifty dollars, and with this aid he 
entered the law offices of Rogers, Bowen 
& Rogers, at Buffalo, as a clerk and law 
student. His student life was one of 
arduous labor and vigorous economy and 
self-denial. For a few months he served 
without compensation as a copyist, and 
then received a wage of four dollars a 
week. He became confidential clerk to 
his employers, and was admitted to the 
bar in 1S59. 

Mr. Cleveland's public life began in 
1863, when he was appointed assistant 
district attorney for Erie county. A 



40 







^. 



-<. C^ c- 



C <i <ft«, ^ t . 



^^4^ »^ C- ^4A^ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



staunch Democrat from his first studies 
in American history and politics, he had 
been a sturdy supporter of his party and 
an industrious worker from the day in 
1858 when he cast his first vote. In the 
office to which he was chosen he acquit- 
ted himself so well that at the expiration 
of his term he received the unanimous 
nomination for district attorney. He had 
for his Republican opponent a warm per- 
sonal friend, Lyman K. Bass, who was 
elected by a plurality of five hundred ; 
Mr. Cleveland, however, polled more than 
his party vote in all the city wards. Re- 
tiring from office in January, 1866. he 
formed a law partnership with Isaac V. 
Vanderpoel, former State Treasurer, 
under the firm name of Vanderpoel & 
Cleveland. In 1869 he became a mem- 
ber of the law firm of Laning, Cleveland 
& Folsom, his partners being Albert P. 
Laning, former State Senator, and for 
years attorney for the Canada Southern 
and Lake Shore railways, and Oscar Fol- 
som, former United States District At- 
torney. As in previous years, he sent the 
large portion of his earnings to his 
mother, to aid her in support of her fam- 
ily. In 1870 at the earnest solicitation of 
his party friends, and against his own 
earnestly expressed desire, he consented 
to become candidate for sherifif, and 
was elected after a stubbornly contested 
canvass. His official conduct was warmly 
approved by the people. At the expira- 
tion of his term of office he resumed the 
practice of law, in association with Ly- 
man K. Bass and Wilson S. Bissell. Mr. 
Bass retired in 1879 on account of ill 
health, the firm becoming Cleveland & 
Bissell. In 1881 George J. Sicard was 
admitted to partnership. During all these 
changes Mr. Cleveland shared in a large 
and lucrative business, while he had at- 
tracted the admiration of bench and bar 
for the care with which he prepared his 



cases, and the ability and industry with 
which he contested them. 

In 1881 Mr. Cleveland was nominated 
for Mayor of Buffalo on a platform ad- 
vocating administrative reform and econ- 
omy in municipal expenditures, and was 
elected by the largest majority ever given 
a candidate for that office, and at an elec- 
tion where, although the Democrats car- 
ried their local ticket to success, the Re- 
publicans carried the city for their State 
ticket by more than one thousand plural- 
ity. His administration carried unstinted 
approval, for his courageous devotion to 
the interests of the people and his suc- 
cess in checking unwise, illegal and ex- 
travagant expenditures, saving to the city 
a million dollars in the first six months 
of his term, and he was a popular favorite 
as "The \'eto Mayor." He was now a 
State celebrity, and the convention of his 
party held September 22, 1882, at Syra- 
cuse, nominated him for Governor. He 
was elected over the Republican nomi- 
nee, Charles J. Folger, by the tremendous 
plurality of 192,854 — the largest plurality 
ever given a gubernatorial candidate in 
any state in the Union. Among the chief 
acts of his administration were his ap>- 
proval of a bill to submit to the people a 
proposition to abolish contract prison 
labor ; his veto of a bill permitting wide 
latitude to savings bank directors in in- 
vestment of deposits ; his veto of a similar 
bill respecting insurance companies ; and 
his veto of a bill to establish a monopoly 
by limiting the right to construct certain 
street railways to companies heretofore 
organized, to the exclusion of such as 
should hereafter obtain the consent of 
property owners and local authorities. 

Mr. Cleveland was nominated for Pres- 
ident by the Democratic National Con- 
vention in Chicago, in July, 1884, receiv- 
ing 683 votes out of a total of 820. His 
Republican opponent was Hon. James G. 



41 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGR.\PHY 



Elaine. The campaign was remarkable 
for the discussion of the personal char- 
acters and qualifications of the candidates 
rather than political principles. At the 
election Mr. Cleveland received a major- 
ity of thirt>--seven in the Electoral Col- 
lege, and a majority in the popular vote 
of 23,005, out of a total of 10,067,610. At 
his inauguration, March 4, 1885, he de- 
livered an admirable inaugural address, 
with flowing ease, and his modesty and 
sincerity impressed all hearers. He took 
his official oath upon a small morocco- 
bound, gilt-edged Bible, a gift from his 
mother when as a lad he first left home. 
Among the most important acts of his ad- 
ministration was his proclamation of 
March 13, 1885, for the removal of white 
intruders from Oklahoma, Indian Terri- 
tory ; and, after the burning of Aspinwall, 
Panama, by the revolutionists, March 31, 
1885, his ordering a naval expedition to 
protect American persons and property. 
Mr. Cleveland was unanimously re- 
nominated for President in 1888, but was 
defeated by Benjamin Harrison, Repub- 
lican, although his plurality in the popu- 
lar vote was more than 100,000. He then 
located in the city of New York and again 
took up his profession. In June, 1892, he 
was nominated for the Presidency a third 
time, by the Democratic National Con- 
vention in Chicago, receiving on the first 
ballot 6i7>S votes out of 910, the nomi- 
nation then being made unanimous. At 
the election he defeated Benjamin Harri- 
son by a plurality of no in the Electoral 
College, and a plurality of 379,150 in the 
popular vote. He was inaugurated March 
4, 1893, in the presence of a vast multi- 
tude in midst of a blinding snowstorm. 
The militarj- and civic parade was more 
imposing than on any other similar occa- 
sion. His administration was marked by 
some most unusual features. His first 
important act was to call a special session 
of Congress, August 7, 1893, and in pur- 



suance of his recommendation was re- 
pealed the act of 1890 calling for the 
monthly purchase of $4,500,000 of silver 
bullion. In this he was opposed by the 
silver wing of his party. Elected as he 
was on a tariff-reform platform, both 
houses of Congress were in accord with 
him on that issue, and in 1894 was passed 
the Wilson bill, a tariff-for-revenue-only 
measure. The industrial and financial 
stagnation of that period was ascribed by 
the Republicans to this measure, while 
the Free-Silver Democrats attributed it 
in large degree to the repeal of the silver- 
purchase measure, and in November of 
the same year the Republicans won a 
protective tariff victory, with the result 
that during the latter half of President 
Cleveland's administration he had to deal 
with a Republican Congress. He per- 
formed invaluable service to law and 
order and protection to property by his 
firm stand with reference to the railroad 
riots in July, 1894, ordering United States 
troops to Chicago and other railroad cen- 
ters to enforce the orders and processes 
of the Federal Courts, and to prevent 
interference with inter-state commerce 
and the transmission of the United States 
mails. On January i, 1895, he appointed, 
with the consent of the Senate, the com- 
mission to inquire into the Venezuelan 
boundary. During the insurrection in 
Cuba he took strong measures against 
the violation of the neutrality laws. In 
Februarv-, in order to preser%-e the na- 
tional credit, he ordered an issue of four 
per cent, thirty-j^ear bonds to the amount 
of $62,000,000. May 29th he vetoed the 
river and harbor bill calling for an imme- 
diate expenditure of $17,000,000, and au- 
thorizing contracts for the further sum of 
$62,000,000, but the bill was passed over 
his veto. In the summer of the same 
year he received the signal compliment of 
being chosen as arbitrator in the dispute 
between Italy and Colombia, in which the 



42 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



former claimed large pecuniary damages 
for injuries sustained by Indians during 
the revolution of 1885. Late in 1895, in 
his annual message, he recommended a 
general reform of banking and currency 
laws, and accomplished the settlement of 
the Venezuelan boundary, the treaty 
being signed February 2, 1896. In the 
latter year he issued an order under which 
thirty thousand additional posts in the 
civil service were placed under restric- 
tions formulated by the Board of Civil 
Service Commissioners. In the same year 
he sent General Fitzhugh Lee to Havana 
as consul-general — an appointment which 
was approved by a great mass of Union 
veterans almost as heartily as it was by 
the ex-Confederates. On June 16, 1896, 
he issued an open letter condemning the 
free-silver movement, and approving the 
principles of the Gold Wing of the Dem- 
ocratic party, a document which had a 
salutary and far-reaching effect. Before 
the expiration of his official term he had 
the great pleasure of witnessing the exe- 
cution of a treaty between the United 
States and Great Britain providing for 
the establishment of an international 
tribunal of general arbitration. 

One of President Cleveland's last pub- 
lic appearances before retiring from his 
high office, was the delivery of an address 
at the sesquicentennial celebration of 
Princeton College, which took on its more 
appropriate title of University. Shortly 
afterward he purchased a home in Prince- 
ton, where his first son was born. Known 
as a polished and forceful writer, Mr. 
Cleveland's most important papers have 
been widely published. His annual mes- 
sage of 1887 was issued in a sumptuous 
edition de luxe, illustrated by the famous 
artist, Thomas Nast. An important com- 
pilation of his utterances was made by 
Francis Gottsberger, of New York, under 
the title, "Principles and Purposes of Our 



Form of Government, As Set Forth In 
Public Papers of Grover Cleveland," and 
George F. Parker edited a volume ."Writ- 
ings and Speeches of Grover Cleveland." 
In 1904 appeared "Presidential Prob- 
lems,"' a volume of essays by Mr. Cleve- 
land, two of which were originally de- 
livered at Princeton University, the others 
being articles which had their original ap- 
pearance in leading magazines. 

Mr. Cleveland was of striking personal- 
ity, commanding respect and confidence 
under all circumstances and before all 
manner of assemblages. Physically of 
large and powerful frame, in motion he 
was deliberate and firm, yet without 
slowness. In manner and voice he was 
genial and agreeable. Broad-minded and 
liberal in thought, he was tolerant and 
charitable. In religion he was a man of 
conscience rather than of any set creed. 
All his personal habits were marked by 
Democratic simplicity, and totally de- 
void of ostentation. After his retirement 
from the loftiest place open to an Amer- 
ican, he steadily grew in the regard and 
affection of the people, while publicists 
and political students are only beginning 
to adequately measure the wisdom and 
beneficence which were the characteris- 
tics of his public career. He died June 
24, 1908. 

In the second year of his first Presi- 
dential term, June 2, 1886, President 
Cleveland was married to Miss Frances 
Folsom, the ceremony being performed 
by Rev. Byron Sunderland, D. D., in the 
Blue Room in the White House. Chil- 
dren : Ruth, born in New York City, Oc- 
tober 3. 1891 ; Esther C. in Washington 
City, (the first child ever born in the 
White House), September 9, 1893; Maria 
C, at "Gray Gables," Buzzards' Bay. 
Massachusetts, July 7, 1895 ; Richard 
Folsom, at Westland, New Jersey, Octo- 
ber 28, 1897. 



43 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



BIGELOW, John, 

Anthor, Diplomat. 

John Bigelow was born in Maiden, 
Ulster county, New York, November 25, 
1817. He entered Union College at an 
early age, and was graduated in 1835. 
On leaving college he entered the office 
of Robert and Theodore Sedgwick, New 
York City, and in 1839 began the practice 
of law. He became a frequent contrib- 
utor to leading journals, and was editor 
of "The Plebeian" and the "Democratic 
Review." His articles attracted much at- 
tention, especially those on "Constitu- 
tional Reform ;" "The Reciprocal Influ- 
ences of Religious Liberty and Physical 
Sciences," and "Executive Patronage." 
In 1844 he prepared a work entitled "Com- 
merce of the Prairies," and was otherwise 
engaged in literary pursuits. He was ap- 
pointed inspector of the Sing Sing State 
Prison by Governor Wright in 1845, and 
held the office three years. During his 
term of service he made three important 
reports to the State Legislature concern- 
ing a more discreet and economical man- 
agement of the institution. 

He gave up the practice of law in the 
fall of 1849, and became joint editor and 
proprietor with William Cullen Bryant 
of the "New York Evening Post." He 
visited the island of Jamaica in 1850, and 
afterward collected his letters to the 
"Evening Post," and published them in 
book form under the title, "Jamaica in 
1850; or the Efifect of Sixteen Years of 
Freedom on a Slave Colony." He also 
visited Hayti, and made a careful study 
of the resources and government of the 
island, which was given to the "Evening 
Post" in a series of letters. In 1856 he 
wrote a biography of John C. Fremont. 
In 1859 and i860 he was in Europe, and 
during his absence continued to write to 
"The Post" sketches of his travels, arti- 
cles on the political questions of the day, 



and carefully studied essays on conspicu- 
ous Frenchmen, such as Montesquieu and 
BufTon. In 1861 he was appointed Con- 
sul-General to Paris by President Lin- 
coln, and while there he published his 
"Les Etats-Unis d'Amerique en 1863." 
In 1865 Mr. Bigelow was appointed 
charge d'affaires, and as soon as the sen- 
timents of the French government could 
be ascertained, he was confirmed as En- 
voy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni- 
potentiary to France, and served as such 
until 1867. Returning home, he was 
elected Secretary of State for New York 
and served during 1867 and 1868. He re- 
visited Europe in 1870, taking up his resi- 
dence in Berlin, and during the period of 
the Franco-German war remained in that 
city. He then returned home, and was 
in 1875 appointed a commissioner of State 
canals by Governor Tilden, and in the 
same year was re-elected Secretary of 
State. In 1874 he compiled a "Life of 
Franklin," which, after much diligent 
search he had found in France. In 1886, 
under the authority of the New York 
Chamber of Commerce, he made an im- 
portant report concerning the Panama 
Canal, in recognition of which he was 
elected an honorary member of the cham- 
ber. In this year he also received from 
Racine College, Wisconsin, the degree of 
Doctor of Laws. By the will of Samuel 
J. Tilden, Mr. Bigelow was appointed his 
biographer, and a trustee of the bulk of 
his estate set apart for the establishment 
of a public library in New York City. 
After Mr. Tilden's death, August 4, 1886, 
the will was broken by the heirs, after a 
memorable litigation, the Court of Ap- 
peals making the final decision October 
27, 1891. One of the heirs, Mrs. Wil- 
liam B. Hazard, a niece, relinquished to 
the trustees over two million dollars of 
her share of the estate to aid in carrying 
cut her uncle's wishes. On February 22, 
1895, a joint committee representing the 



44 





^ ^A^-'i^y^-.^/L.-ir-i^^-^^--'^^ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Tilden fund and the Astor and Lenox 
libraries, agreed to the establishment of 
a great public library, to be known as the 
New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox 
and Tilden foundations, incorporated by 
the Act of Legislature, and on May 27. 
1895, Mr. Bigelow was elected president 
of the consolidated board of trustees, and 
was afterwards appointed chairman of 
the executive committee and of the com- 
mittee on library books. 

He wrote and published: "Les Etats- 
Unis d'Amerique en 1863" (1863) ; "Some 
Recollections of the Late Antoine Pierre 
Berryer" (1869) ; "The Wit and Wisdom 
of the Haytians" (1876) ; "Molinos the 
Quietist" (1882); "The Life of William 
Cullen Bryant" (1886) ; "Emanuel Swed- 
enborg" (1888) ; "France and the Confed- 
erate Navy, 1862-1868" (1888) ; "The Life 
of Samuel J. Tilden" (two volumes, 1895), 
and "The Mystery of Sleep" (1896). He 
died in 1911. 



MORGAN, John Pierpont, 

Man of Largest Affairs. 

Celtic in origin, the name Morgan, in 
the principality of Wales, is older than 
the advent of the Saxon race or language. 
The derivation has not been conclusively 
determined, but Dixon, an English au- 
thority on surnames, says that it means 
by sea, or by the sea, which is probably 
as nearly accurate as any explanation 
may be. The name is allied to the Scotch 
ceann mor, meaning big head, or perhaps 
big headland. Another possible deriva- 
tion is from the Welsh more can, mean- 
ing sea burn, which is not essentially dif- 
ferent from the former interpretation, by 
the sea. The name was common at the 
time of the Conquest, and appears in the 
Domesday Book and in the Battle Abbey 
Roll. 

In the latter part of the sixteenth cen- 
tury the family from which were derived 



the ancestors of the American branch, 
moved from Wales to Bristol, England. 
The immediate family of Miles Morgan, 
who came to Massachusetts, was of Gla- 
morganshire, Wales, and there is reason 
to believe that his father was William 
Morgan. Among the early families of 
the American pioneers there was tradi- 
tion of a little book owned by James Mor- 
gan, the brother of Miles Morgan, dated 
before 1600, and inscribed with the name 
of William Morgan of Llandaff. Other 
evidence in the shape of antique gold 
sleeve-buttons stamped "W. M.," in the 
possession of James Morgan, pointed to 
the same conclusion, and these were said 
to have been an heirloom from William 
Morgan of Llandaff. Arms : Or, a griffin 
segreant sable. Crest : A reindeer's head 
couped or, attired gules. Motto: Onward 
and Upward. 

(I) Miles Morgan, who founded the 
family of his name in New England, was 
born probably in Llandaft, Glamorgan- 
shire, Wales, about 161 5. Accompany- 
ing his older brother James Morgan, who 
settled in New London, Connecticut, and 
John IMorgan, who went to Virginia, he 
sailed from Bristol, England, and arrived 
in Boston in April, 1636. His first resi- 
dence was in Roxbury, and there it is be- 
lieved he remained some years. Subse- 
quently he joined the company which, led 
by Sir William Pynchon, had founded 
Agawam (Springfield) on the Connecti- 
cut river. It is not a historical certainty 
that he was with the first company which 
went inland from Boston, or that he was 
one of the founders of Agawam. That 
place was established in 1636, and the 
name of Miles Morgan appears on the 
records in 1643, showing that he was 
there before that time, but how long be- 
fore is not known. 

He became one of the leading men of 
Agawam. He acquired an extensive tract 
of land, and was also a trader, sailing a 



45 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



vessel up and down the river. One of the 
few fortified houses in Agawam belonged 
to him, and he was one of the leaders of 
the militia, having the rank of sergeant. 
In all the fighting in which the little set- 
tlement was engaged to protect itself 
from the attack of the surrounding sav- 
ages, he was much depended upon for his 
valor and his skill as a soldier. When, 
during King Philip's War, in 1675, the 
Indians made an attack on Agawam and 
nearly destroyed the town, his house was 
the central place of refuge for the be- 
leagured inhabitants. His sons, follow- 
ing the footsteps of their father, were 
two noted Indian hunters, and one of 
them, Pelatiah Morgan, was killed by the 
Indians. In the "records or list of ye 
names of the townsmen or men of this 
Towne of Springfield in February, 1664, 
written by Elizur Holyoke," he appears 
as Serj. Miles Morgan. In 1655-57, 1660- 
62-68 he was a selectman. He served as 
constable one year, and at different times 
as fence viewer, highway surveyor, and 
overseer of highways, and also on various 
town committees. He died May 28, 1699. 
A bronze statue of a Puritan soldier 
standing in one of the public parks of 
Springfield enduringly commemorates his 
fame. 

He married (first) in 1643, Prudence 
Gilbert, of Beverly Massachusetts. The 
tradition is that on the vessel on which 
he came to Boston, Prudence Gilbert was 
also a passenger, and there he made her 
acquaintance. She was coming to the 
new world to join members of her family 
already located in Beverly. After he had 
settled in Springfield he sent word to her 
and proposed marriage. She accepted 
the offer, and the young man, with two 
friends and an Indian guide leading pack 
horses, marched across Massachusetts 
from the Connecticut river to the "land 
of the people of the east," where the two 
young people were married. After the 



marriage the household goods of the 
young couple were laden on the pack- 
horses, and the bride, on foot, tramped 
back to Springfield, one hundred and 
twenty miles, escorted by the bridegroom 
and his friends. She died January 14, 
1660. He married (second) February 15, 
1670, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas and 
Margaret Bliss. 

(II) Nathaniel, son of Miles and Eliz- 
abeth (Bliss) Morgan, was born in 
Springfield, June 14, 1671. He settled in 
West Springfield, where he made his 
home during his entire life and was a suc- 
cessful farmer. He died August 30, 1752. 
He married, January 17, 1691, Hannah 
Bird, who died June 7, 1751. Of the 
seven sons and two daughters of this 
marriage, all the sons and one daughter 
lived to be over seventy years of age. 

(HI) Joseph, son of Nathaniel and 
Hannah (Bird) Morgan, was born De- 
cember 3, 1702. He lived on the paternal 
farm in West Springfield. He died No- 
vember 7, 1773. He married, in 1735, 
Mary Stebbins, daughter of Benjamin 
Stebbins ; she was born July 6, 1712, and 
died December 6, 1798. 

(IV) Joseph (2), son of Joseph (i) 
and Mary (Stebbins) Morgan, was born 
February 19, 1736. He was a captain of 
militia, and in character as well as in 
physique he was reckoned one of the 
staunchest men of western Massachu- 
setts. He married, September 9, 1765. 
Experience Smith, born October 23, 1741. 

(V) Joseph (3), son of Joseph (2) and 
Experience (Smith) Morgan, was bom 
January 4, 1780. Leaving home when he 
was a young man, he settled in Hartford, 
Connecticut, and became a successful and 
respected hotelkeeper. He died in 1847. 
He married Sarah Spencer, of Middle- 
town, Connecticut. 

(VI) Junius Spencer, son of Joseph 
(3) and Sarah (Spencer) Morgan, was 
born in West Springfield, Massachusetts. 



46 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



April 14, 1813. His early years were 
spent in Hartford, Connecticut, where he 
was educated. When he had grown to 
manhood he went to Boston and entered 
the banking house of Albert Wells, where 
he gained his first knowledge of that busi- 
ness in which he afterward became suc- 
cessful and distinguished. In July, 1834, 
he moved to New York, entering the 
banking house of Morgan, Ketchum & 
Company. Remaining in New York only 
about two years, he returned to his native 
city and there established himself in busi- 
ness as a dry goods merchant in the firms 
of Howe, Mather & Company and Mather, 
Morgan & Company. Subsequently he 
went again to Boston, and, still continu- 
ing in the dry goods business, became a 
partner of J. M. Beebe in the famous firm 
of Beebe, Morgan & Company, which in 
its prime was one of the largest and most 
influential houses in that trade in the 
United States. 

Mr. Morgan visited England in 1853, 
and, upon the invitation of George Pea- 
body, became associated with that great 
banker as his partner in October, 1854. 
In ten years he succeeded entirely to the 
business of Mr. Peabody, and established 
the house of J. S. Morgan & Company, 
which shortly became one of the largest 
banking houses in the world. The later 
}'ears of his life were spent largely abroad, 
but he never lost his love for his native 
country, and during the civil war he gave 
substantial assistance to the cause of the 
national government. He was a man of 
generous instincts, and contributed hand- 
somely to the support of educational and 
public institutions. His activity as a lay- 
man in the affairs of the Protestant Epis- 
copal church was noteworthy, and among 
other institutions. Trinity College, of 
Hartford, Connecticut, owed much to his 
munificence. He died in Nice, France, 
in 1895. ^s the result of an accident. He 
married, in Boston, in 1836, Juliet Pier- 



pont, daughter of Rev. John and Mary 
Sheldon (Lordj Pierpont. 

(VII) John Pierpont Morgan, only son 
of Junius Spencer and Juliet (Pierpont) 
Morgan, was born in Hartford, Connecti- 
cut, April 17, 1837; died in Rome, Italy, 
March 31, 1913. 

He was educated in the English high 
school in Boston, and then studied in the 
University of Gottingen, Germany, where 
he completed a full course, returning to 
the United States when twenty years of 
age. He engaged in the banking busi- 
ness with Duncan Sherman & Company, 
of New York City, in 1857, and there ob- 
tained a full knowledge of finance in a 
house which at that time was one of the 
most prominent in the country. In i860 
he became .•\merican agent and attorney 
for George Peabody & Company, of Lon- 
don, with which house his father was 
connected, and in 1864 he engaged in 
banking on his own account in the firm 
of Dabney, Morgan & Company. In 1871 
he became a member of the famous bank- 
ing house of Drexel, Morgan & Company, 
the name of which in 1895 was changed 
to J. P. Morgan & Company. At the 
same time he was also a member of the 
firm of J. S. Morgan & Company, of Lon- 
don, of which his father was the founder, 
and, upon the death of his parent, he suc- 
ceeded him in that concern. Thus he was 
head of the greatest private bank in Amer- 
ica, and of one of the most influential 
monetary institutions in England. 

His pre-eminence as a banker and finan- 
cier was recognized for nearly a quarter 
of a century. In those respects he was 
one of the most potent powers that the 
United States has ever known, and rival- 
led even the strongest men in Europe. 
In the wonderful industrial and financial 
development which characterized the clos- 
ing years of the nineteenth century in the 
United States, and especially in the de- 
velopment of that movement toward the 



47 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



consolidation of industrial enterprises, 
Mr. IMorgan was not only prominent, but 
it is not too much to say that, at that 
time, he exercised the most powerful and 
helpful influence ever displayed by any 
man in the financial history of the coun- 
try. Particularly will his genius and in- 
defatigable labors in the organization and 
development of the United States Steel 
Corporation be long remembered as a 
masterly achievement, and, in the opin- 
ion of many, as laying the substantial 
foundation for the great industrial pros- 
perity of the country which followed in 
the years immediately after this accom- 
plishment. 

Mr. Morgan was connected with nearly 
all notable financial undertakings of his 
time, and his influence was always of the 
soundest character and conducive to the 
public welfare as well as to the investing 
interests. A list of the important re- 
organizations of railroad companies, the 
negotiations of loans, and the underwrit- 
ing of industrial enterprises which have 
been handled by him would be long and 
imposing. Also in public affairs were his 
services to the country of inestimable 
value. Especially in 1894 and 1895, ^nd 
at other times of threatened monetary 
stringency, he contributed substantially 
and effectively to protecting the credit of 
the United States treasury. 

Although, when the banking disturb- 
ances which developed in New York City 
in the autumn of 1907 threatened to over- 
whelm the entire country with supreme 
disaster, he had been largely retired from 
active participation in affairs, Mr. Mor- 
gan came forward again to save the situ- 
ation. In the grave emergency which 
then arose he took the lead in measures 
instituted to prevent the widespread de- 
struction of public credit and overthrow 
of industrial and financial institutions 
that was imminent. His leadership in 



those trying days was unreservedly ac- 
cepted by men who were foremost in the 
financial world in New York City, and 
as well throughout the United States. 
Among his associates he was relied upon 
for initiative and for powerful influence, 
and even the national administration de- 
pended upon his advice and his assist- 
ance. After the battle had been won and 
confidence restored, it was everywhere 
recognized that his financial genius and 
his masterly control of men and affairs 
had been the main instruments in saving 
the country, if not the world, from the 
worst disaster that had impended for a 
generation. The great masters of finance 
in London, Paris, and other monetary 
centers of Europe did not withhold their 
warmest praise and indorsement of his 
accomplishment, while his associates in 
the American fields of finance and indus- 
try have been profuse in acknowledgment 
of the pre-eminent service that he ren- 
dered to the country. 

Mr. Morgan was also a large investor 
in the great business enterprises of the 
country, and a director in more than two 
score financial, railroad, and industrial 
corporations. Typically foremost among 
the enterprises in which he held impor 
tant interests and exercised pronounced 
influence in the direction of their affairs 
were the following: The United States 
Steel Corporation, the Cleveland, Cincin- 
nati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad Com- 
pany, the First National Bank of the City 
of New York, the General Electric Com- 
pany, the Lake Erie & Western Railroad 
Company, the Lake Shore & Michigan 
Southern Railway Company, the Michi- 
gan Central Railroad Company, the Na- 
tional Bank of Commerce of New York, 
the New York & Harlem River Railroad 
Company, the New York Central & Hud- 
son River Railroad Company, the New 
York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad 



48 




e 



\.£-6yC^ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Company, the West Shore Railroad Com- 
pany, and the Western Union Telegraph 
Company. 

A man of broad culture and refined 
tastes, Mr. Morgan did not confine him- 
self to business affairs. He was particu- 
larly interested in art, being one of its 
most generous patrons, and one of the ac- 
complished connoisseurs of the world. 
Some of the finest works of the great 
masters of olden times and of the present 
were owned by him. His collection of 
art objects is recognized as one of the 
largest, most important, and most valu- 
able ever brought together by a single 
private individual. .\ considerable part 
of this great collection was acquired dur- 
ing the ten years or so preceding iQoS, 
and has been kept in Kensington Mu- 
seum. London, in the Metropolitan Mu- 
seum of Art. in Xew York City, and in 
Mr. Morgan's private galleries in London 
and New York. It consists not only of 
rare and valuable paintings, but exquisite 
porcelains, marble reliefs, bronzes, en- 
amels, fabrics, and other objects. 

Mr. Morgan's New York residence was 
in Madison avenue, and he had a country 
seat. "Cragston." at Highland Falls. New 
York. He also had a house at Roehamp- 
ton, near Wimbledon, a suburb of Lon- 
don, and one near Kensington. Adjoin- 
ing his New York City residence he had 
a fine private art gallery which con- 
tains many of his art treasures. He was 
a member of the leading clubs of New 
York City and London, was one of the 
founders and president of the Metropoli- 
tan Club of New York, and was for sev- 
eral years commodore of the New York 
Yacht Club. Particularly interested in 
the Metropolitan Art Museum, he was a 
generous benefactor to that institution 
and was its president. He arranged to 
erect in Hartford. Connecticut, an art 
building in memory of his father, to be 
called the Morgan Memorial : the corner- 

N Y-Vol n— 4 



stone of this edifice was laid April 23, 
1908. He was one of the trustees of Co- 
lumbia L^niversity, a director or trustee 
of various other educational and philan- 
thropic institutions, a member of the 
Protestant Episcopal church, and several 
times was a lay delegate from the diocese 
of New York to the general conventions 
of that religious body. 

He married (^first"> Amelia, daughter of 
Jonathan and Mary i^Cadyl Sturgess, of 
New York City. She died, and he mar- 
ried (^second') in 1S65, Frances Louise, 
daughter of Charles and Louise (Kirk- 
land") Tracy, of New York City: Issue: 
I. John Pierpont Morgan, bom 1S67; 
graduated frc>m Harvard L'niversity. class 
of i&?9. and since then has been engaged 
in the banking business with his father. 
He resides in Madison avenue. New York 
City, and is a member of the Metropoli- 
tan. L^nion. L^niversity. Riding. New York 
Yacht, and other clubs. He married, in 
iSoi, Jane Norton Grew, daughter of 
Henn." Sturgis and Jane Norton (Wig- 
glesworthl Grew, of Boston ; she was 
born in Boston. September 30. 1S6S. The}' 
have one son, Junius Spencer Morgan, 
bom in 1892. 2. Louisa Pierpont Mor- 
gan, married Herbert L. Satterlee. 3. 
Juliet Pierpont Morgan, married W. Pier- 
son Hamilton. 4. Anne Tracy Morgan. 



GRANT, Ulysses Simpson, 

Distingnislied Soldier. President. 

Ulysses Simpson Grant, eighteenth 
President of the United States, was born 
at Point Pleasant. Ohio. April J7. 1S22, 
the eldest son of Jesse Root and Hannah 
(Simpson) Grant ; grandson of Captain 
Noah and Rachel (Kelly") Grant, and of 
John Simpson, of Montgomery county. 
Pennsylvania : great-grandson of Noah 
and Susannah (Delano) Grant, and of 
John Simpson, an early settler in Penn- 
svlvania: great-great-grandson of Noah 



49 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and Martha (.Huntington) Grant; great- 
great-great-grandson of Samuel and 
Grace (Miner) Grant ; great-great-great- 
great-grandson of Samuel and Mary 
(Porter) Grant; and great-great-great- 
great-gxeat-grandson of Matthew and 
Priscilla Grant, who left Plymouth, Eng- 
land, on the ship "Mary and John," 
landed at Nantasket, Massachusetts, and 
purchased land of the Indians at East 
Windsor Hill, Connecticut, where the 
settlement and the farm remained the 
property of the Grant family, and in 1900 
was occupied by Roswell Grant. In the 
homestead built in 1697, the descendants 
of Matthew Grant have lived in peace ex- 
cept for two years during the Revolution- 
ary War, when it was used as a prison 
for captured British officers. 

The father of Ulysses S. Grant was a 
tanner, and also owner of a small farm 
at Point Pleasant, and Ulysses, prefer- 
ring farm work and driving horses to 
work in the tannery, was indulged in his 
preference, and besides conducting the 
farm and grinding bark at the tannery. 
he cared for the horses, did the teaming, 
and carried passengers between the neigh- 
boring towns. He attended the subscrip- 
tion school of the village, and was sent 
for the term of 1836-37 to the academy at 
Mavsville, Kentucky. His father was 
ambitious to give him a better education 
than the neighborhood afforded, and as 
the boy had saved over one hundred dol- 
lars of his earnings with which to pay his 
entrance fees to some school, he consult- 
ed with Ulysses as to his preference, and 
the boy selected the United States Mili- 
tary Academy at West Point. His father 
wrote to Senator Samuel Morris, at 
Washington, applying for an appoint- 
ment, and was referred to Representative 
Thomas L. Hamer, of Georgetown. In 
writing to Mr. Hamer, who was an ac- 
quaintance of the family, Mr. Grant re- 
ferred to his son as H. Ulysses, the boy 



having at his birth received the name of 
Hiram Ulysses. Just before leaving for 
West Point, young Grant changed the 
initials on his trunk from H. U. G. to 
U. H. G., and entered his name at the 
hotel "Ulysses H. Grant." When Rep- 
resentative Hamer filled the official ap- 
pointment, knowing his familiar name 
and also the maiden name of his mother 
(Simpson), he wrote the name Ulysses 
S. Grant. When the young cadet reached 
West Point he notified the officials of the 
error, but they were not willing to cor- 
rect it, and he adopted the official name. 
.A-t the academy he had among his class- 
mates Sherman. Thomas, McClellan, 
Burnside, Hancock, Rosecrans, Pope, 
Franklin, Longstreet, Ingalls, and several 
others who afterward became prominent 
in the Civil War. He was a good mathe- 
matician and a superior horseman, but 
only an average student, and was gradu- 
ated twenty-first in the class of thirty- 
nine in 1843. He was brevetted second 
lieutenant and attached to the Fourth In- 
fantry, stationed at Jefferson barracks. 
Missouri. The next year he accompanied 
the regiment to Camp Salubrity, Louisi- 
ana, and in September, 1845, received his 
commission as second lieutenant, and 
with his regiment was ordered to Corpus 
Christi, to become part of the army of 
occupation recruiting for General Tay- 
lor's invasion of Mexico. His first battle 
was Palo Alto, May 8, 1846, and at 
Resaca de la Palma the next dav he was 
in command of the company. As regi- 
mental quartermaster of the Fourth In- 
fantry, he was given charge of the pack- 
train and army wagons on the march of 
the army to Monterey. In the reduction 
of Black Fort, on September 21, he joined 
his regiment, and being the only officer 
mounted, led the charge, taking full com- 
mand on the death of the adjutant. When 
General Taylor called for a volunteer to 
order up the delayed ammunition train. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



then far in the rear, cut off from the com- 
manding general and his forces by the 
Mexicans, Lieutenant Grant performed 
the hazardous mission with success. 
With his regiment he was transferred to 
the army under General Scott, and 
reached Vera Cruz on March 9, 1847. He 
took part in the siege that terminated in 
the capture of the city, March 29, 1847. 
In the march to the Mexican capital he 
fought in the battle of Cerro Gordo, April 
17-18; the capture of San Antonio, and 
the battle of Churubusco, August 20, and 
the battle of Molino del Rev, September 
8, 1847. For action in the last-named 
battle he was brevetted first lieutenant, 
and for action in the battle of Chapul- 
tepec he was brevetted captain. He was 
personally commended by General Worth 
for his bravery as exhibited on the march, 
and on reaching the Mexican capital he 
was promoted to first lieutenant. He had 
as companion officers in Mexico, Davis. 
Lee, Johnston. Holmes, Pemberton. 
Buckner, Longstreet, Hebert, and other 
noted Confederate leaders. He remained 
in Mexico until the summer of 1848, when 
he accompanied his regiment to Pasca- 
goula, Mississippi. He was then sta- 
tioned at Detroit, Michigan, and Sackett 
Harbor, New York, and in July, 1852, 
was ordered with the Fourth United 
States Infantry to San Francisco, Cali- 
fornia, and Fort \^ancouver, Oregon, by 
way of New York and the Isthmus of 
Darien. His position as quartermaster 
made his labors severe in crossing the 
isthmus, as the recruits were attacked by 
yellow fever. On August 5, 1853, ^^ was 
promoted to captain, at Fort Humboldt, 
California. 

Not finding army life in the far west 
congenial, he resigned his commission, 
July 31, 1854, and returned to New York, 
where he borrowed fifty dollars of a class- 
mate, S. B. Buckner, which sum enabled 
him to reach his father's home at Cov- 



ington, Kentucky. He then went to St. 
Louis, and settled on a farm near that 
city, which, together with three slaves, 
had been given to his wife as a wedding 
gift by her father. In May, i860, failing 
to succeed either as farmer, a real estate 
agent, or a collector of taxes, he removed 
his family to Galena, Illinois, where he 
was a clerk in his father's store, con- 
ducted by his two brothers and a brother- 
in-law. At the outbreak of the Civil War 
he presided at a patriotic meeting held at 
Galena to raise a company for service in 
the Federal army, and volunteered to 
drill the Jo Daviess Guard, a company of 
volunteers then forming. On April 25, 
1861, he took the company to Springfield, 
where Governor Yates secured his tem- 
porary services as mustering officer in 
the adjutant-general's office. He then 
wrote to the adjutant-general at Wash- 
ington, D. C, offering his services to the 
government, but the War Department 
never answered his communication. After 
visiting Cincinnati, Ohio, to see his class- 
mate, George B. McClellan, and after 
offering his services to Governor Deni- 
son at Columbus, Ohio, he returned to 
Springfield, Illinois, and entered the vol- 
unteer service as colonel of the Twenty- 
first Illinois Infantry Regiment, June 17, 
1861, which regiment he marched into 
Missouri. On July 31 Colonel Grant was 
made commander of a sub-district under 
General John Pope, commanding the 
military district of Northern Missouri. 
He was made brigadier-general of volun- 
teers, August 7, 1861, by President Lin- 
coln, at the request of Representative 
Washburne, his commission dating from 
May 17. He was sent to fronton, thence 
to St. Louis, from there to Jefferson City, 
and back to St. Louis, all within eighteen 
days, and was finally assigned to the 
command of the district of southeastern 
Missouri, with headquarters at Cairo, 
Illinois. He occupied Paducah, Ken- 



Si 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



tucky, September 6, 1861, and on the 
morning of the 7th attacked the Confed- 
erate forces at Belmont, Missouri, and 
with 2,500 men drove out the enemy and 
captured their camp, after a sharp battle 
in which he had a horse shot under him. 
The Confederates were reinforced and re- 
newed the fight, forcing Grant to fall 
back to his transports before a force of 
upwards of 7,000 men. He brought oS 
with him 175 prisoners, and lost 485 men, 
the Confederate loss being 642. He then 
conceived the plan of capturing Forts 
Henry and Donelson by a co-operation of 
the army with the navy represented by 
iron-clad gunboats under Commodore 
Foote. The consent of General H. W. 
Halleck, the department commander, was 
reluctantly given after repeated urging, 
and on February 6, 1862, Fort Henry fell 
into the hands of the naval force under 
Admiral Foote. Fort Donelson, with 
15,000 men, increased on the 15th to 
27,000, withstood a three days' assault, 
and, after a desperate efifort on the part 
of the Confederate commanders to cut 
their way out of the fort, in which Gen- 
erals Floyd and Pillow escaped in the 
night on a steamboat, and 3,000 infantry 
and Forrest's cavalry escaped through 
the Union lines. General S. B. Buckner 
unconditionally surrendered on January 
16, 1862, after some parley, conforming 
to the terms dictated by General Grant. 
The capture included 14,623 men, 65 
cannon, and 17,600 small arms. The loss 
in killed and wounded was about 2,000 
on each side. On receiving his parole 
General Buckner received from Grant a 
sum of money which enabled him to 
reach his home with comfort, a thought- 
ful provision on the part of the conqueror 
to the conquered, and a return for the 
favor received by Captain Grant from 
Buckner in 1854. 

General Grant was made major-general 
of volunteers, his commission dating Feb- 



ruary 16, 1862. He urged the prompt 
following up of his victory with an ad- 
vance on Nashville, and on February 28 
set out for that place without awaiting 
orders, after having telegraphed to Gen- 
eral Halleck that he should proceed if he 
were not directed to the contrary. He 
was ordered to remain at Fort Henry, 
and at the same time was superseded in 
the command by General Smith. On 
March 13, 1862, he was restored to com- 
mand, the Confederate troops having 
concentrated near Corinth, Mississippi, 
and he transferred his headquarters on 
the 17th to Savannah on the Tennessee 
river, where he found an army of 38,000 
men encamped on both sides of the river. 
He immediately mobilized the force on 
the west bank of the river near Pittsburg 
Landing with the right resting on Shiloh 
church, making a line of battle nearly 
three miles in length. Here he was 
directed to await the arrival of General 
Buell's army, 40,000 strong, who were 
moving through Tennessee by forced 
marches. On April 6, 1862, the Confed- 
erate army, under General A. S. John- 
ston, made an early morning attack on 
the right of Grant's line and drove it 
back, following up their success all along 
the line. About noon General Johnston 
was killed, and General Beauregard took 
the command. With the aid of the gun- 
boats in the river. Grant was enabled by 
falling back to the river to withstand the 
the onslaught of Beauregard's troops 
until Buell came up in the evening, when 
the fortunes of war turned in favor of the 
Federal army, and the Confederates fell 
back upon Corinth. There they en- 
trenched and maintained their position 
till May 29, when Beauregard evacuated 
the place and retreated southward along 
the line of the Mobile & Ohio railroad. 
General Halleck took command of the 
Federal army in person on April 11, and 
Grant became second in command, in 



52 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



charge of the right wing and reserve. 
The army had been reinforced to about 
100,000 men, officered by Thomas, Pope, 
Buell and McClernand, and the Confed- 
erates were 70,000 strong and entrenched. 
An advance on Corinth was begun April 
30, 1862, and on May 30 the place was 
found evacuated, and Grant moved his 
headquarters to Memphis, Tennessee. On 
July II, 1862, Halleck was appoipted gen- 
eral-in-chief of all the Federal forces ; on 
July 15 Grant returned to Corinth as 
commander of the Army of the Tennes- 
see, and on October 25 he was made com- 
mander of the Department of the Ten- 
nessee, including Cairo, Forts Donelson 
and Henry, Northern Mississippi, and 
Kentucky and Tennessee west of the 
Tennessee river. On September 19-20, 
1862, the battle of luka was fought, and 
on October 3-4 the battle of Corinth, 
where the Confederates were repulsed 
with great loss, and on the 5th the battle 
of the Hatchie River took place, which 
still further demoralized the Confederate 
forces, and Grant pursued the retreating 
army into Mississippi. On November 4, 
1862, he seized Grand Junction and La 
Grange, on the 13th the cavalry occupied 
Holly Springs, and on December 5 Grant 
reached Oxford. On the 8th he ordered 
Sherman to take transports down the 
Mississippi to co-operate in the attack on 
Vicksburg, and on December 20 the Con- 
federates recaptured Holly Springs, where 
the Federals had a large supply of stores. 
This determined Grant to abandon the 
land expedition, and he took personal 
command of the expedition down the 
Mississippi, establishing his headquarters 
at Memphis, January 10, 1863, and on the 
29th with 50,000 men, in co-operation 
with Admiral Porter's gunboat fleet of 
280 guns and 800 men, and with the army 
of General Banks, who was ascending the 
Mississippi from New Orleans to capture 
Port Hudson, he began the investment of 



Vicksburg, with the purpose of besieging 
the city from the high ground to the east 
of the place. He constructed a canal 
across the peninsula to open a line for 
supplies, but was detained by high water 
and constant breaking of the levees. He 
next undertook to turn the Mississippi 
from its course by opening a new chan- 
nel to the Red river, but this plan, too, 
was abandoned. He then determined to 
run the batteries of Vicksburg and ferry 
the army across the river thirty miles 
south of Vicksburg, and march to the 
rear of the city by way of Port Gibson. 
He drove General Bowen, the Confed- 
erate commander, out of the place, routed 
his army, captured 650 prisoners, took 
possession May i, 1863, entered Grand 
Gulf on the 15th. Pemberton was at 
Vicksburg with 52,000 men, Joseph E. 
Johnston at Jackson with an equally 
eflfective army, and Grant placed his force 
between the two armies and determined 
to prevent their concentration. He de- 
feated Johnston at Raymond, May 12, 
1863, captured the city of Jackson on the 
14th, and attacked Pemberton at Cham- 
pion's Hill on the i6th, defeating him and 
causing a Confederate loss of 4,000 killed 
and wounded, besides 3,000 prisoners and 
30 guns. He carried Big Black River 
bridge. May 17, where he captured 1,757 
prisoners and 18 guns, and on the i8th 
drove Pemberton's army within the works 
at Vicksburg. The siege began May 23, 
and by June 30 the Federal army had 220 
field guns in position and 71,000 troops 
who, besides conducting the siege, had to 
defend their rear against the army of 
Johnston, work night and day in mining 
the enemy's works, and meet the con- 
stant assaults in front and rear. Gen- 
eral Pemberton surrendered July 4, 1863, 
with 31,600 officers and men, 172 can- 
non, 60.000 muskets, and quantities of 
ammunition. On the fall of Vicksburg, 
Port Hudson surrendered to General 



S3 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Banks, and the Mississippi river was 
opened to the Federal army. Grant was 
made a major-general in the regular 
army, and Congress voted a gold medal 
to him, and its thanks to him and his 
army. He proposed to the government 
that he move on Mobile, but was over- 
ruled, and his army was divided up to re- 
inforce Banks and Schofield, and for use 
in Kentucky. He then visited New Or- 
leans, where he was injured by a fall of 
his horse. On recovering from his injury 
he returned to Vicksburg, and on Octo- 
ber 6, 1863, was directed to send what 
force he could to Chattanooga to co- 
operate with Rosecrans, and to report at 
Cairo to take command of the Military 
District of the Mississippi. He reached 
the place October 16, and on October 23, 
1863, assumed command of the army at 
Chattanooga, and concentrated his troops 
around the place. The same day he as- 
saulted the enemy's lines, continued the 
assault on the 24th, and on the 25th re- 
pelled the lines and drove the Confed- 
erates out of Tennessee, after capturing 
6.442 men, 40 pieces of artillery, and 7,000 
stand of small arms. He was in Knox- 
ville, Tennessee, December 25-28, and 
then went to Nashville, where he estab- 
lished his headquarters, January 13, 1864. 
On March i, 1864, General Grant was 
nominated by President Lincoln for lieu- 
tenant-general, the rank having been re- 
vived by Congress, and on March 2 the 
appointment was confirmed by the Sen- 
ate. He arrived in Washington, D. C, 
on the 8th, and there first met President 
Lincoln on the 9th, and received from 
him his commission. He was given com- 
mand of the entire Federal army, March 
12, 1864, and established his headquarters 
at Culpeper, Virginia, on the 26th. He 
planned a vigorous and continuous move- 
ment against the armies of the Confed- 
eracy wherever stationed, and assigned 
Sherman to move against Johnston, 



Banks to operate against Mobile, Sigel 
against Breckinridge, Butler against Rich- 
mond from the south of the James, and 
Meade to cover Washington and assume 
the offensive against the army of Lee — 
all to move May 4, 1864. Grant fought 
the battle of the Wilderness, May 5-6-7. 
On the morning of the nth he sent to 
Washington the famous sentence: "I pro- 
pose to fight it out on this line if it takes 
all summer," and from this time there 
was continuous fighting between the two 
armies. Grant directing the Federal move- 
ments day by day, until April 7, 1865, 
when Grant sent a note from Farmville 
to Lee, asking for the surrender of his 
army. On the morning of the 8th Lee 
sent his reply that, while his cause was 
not hopeless, he would be pleased to learn 
the terms proposed. Grant replied that 
he would insist on but one condition, that 
the men and officers surrendered should 
be disqualified for taking up arms until 
properly exchanged. Meanwhile the Sec- 
ond and Sixth Corps were pursuing Lee's 
troops in full retreat on the north side 
of the Appomattox, and Sheridan, Ord 
and the Fifth Corps were equally active 
on the south side to prevent Lee from 
escaping toward Lynchburg. Toward 
midnight, on the 8th, Grant received a 
note from Lee proposing a meeting ar 
10 o'clock the next morning, the 9th, to 
make terms that might lead to peace. 
Grant replied that he had no authority 
to treat on the subject of peace, but that 
if the South would lay down their arms, 
such an act would save thousands of 
lives and hundreds of millions of prop- 
erty, and do much toward hastening the 
event. Lee's advance reached Appomat- 
tox Court House early in the morning of 
April 9th, and Ord, Sheridan and Grif- 
fin reached the same point at the same 
time, and Lee attacked the Federal cav- 
alry, but finding infantry also on his 
front, he sent in a flag of truce with a 



54 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



note to General Grant asking for an inter- 
view. This note was received wliile 
Grant was on the road approaching Ap- 
pomattox Court House, and he replied 
that he would move forward and meet 
the Confederate leader at any place he 
would designate. The reply from Lee led 
Grant to a house in the village where, on 
the afternoon of April 9, 1865, the terms 
of surrender were drawn up by General 
Grant and accepted by General Lee, after 
a conference of three hours. The army 
of 28,356 men were paroled and afterward 
20,000 stragglers and deserters came in 
and were also paroled. Grant promptly 
suppressed all demonstration of rejoicing 
on the part of the victorious army on the 
field and on April loth started for Wash- 
ington to hasten the disbanding of the 
armies and stop needless expense to the 
government. He left Washington to 
visit his family on the morning of April 
14, and consequently was not in the city 
on the night of the assassination of the 
President, and the attempted assault on 
members of the cabinet. He went to Ra- 
leigh, North Carolina, upon learning of 
Sherman's unacceptable terms for the 
surrender of Johnston's army, and, after 
consulting with General Sherman, allow- 
ed that commander to renew negotiations 
and receive the surrender in modified 
terms, April 26, 1865, when Sherman 
paroled 31,243 of Johnston's army. Gen- 
eral Canby captured the defences of Mo- 
bile, Alabama, April 9, and the city was 
evacuated on the nth leaving 200 guns 
and 4,000 prisoners, after 9,000 of the 
garrison escaped. Wilson's cavalry oper- 
ating in Alabama captured Selma on 
April 2, Tuscaloosa on the 5th, occupied 
Montgomery the capital on the 14th, cap- 
tured West Point and Columbus, Georgia, 
on the i6th, and Macon, Georgia, surren- 
dered on the 2 1 St. The command of 
Kirby southwest of the Mississippi sur- 



rendered on the 26th, and the Rebellion 
was ended. 

The people of the whole country were 
anxious to see and do honor to the hero 
of Appomattox, and he visited the north- 
ern states and Canada in June, July and 
August, 1865, and was everywhere re- 
ceived with civic, military and social 
honors. The citizens of New York City 
welcomed him in November by a ban- 
quet and reception in which the enthusi- 
asm knew no bounds. In December he 
made a tour of the southern States, and 
his observations made the basis of the 
reconstruction laws passed by Congress. 
He defended the rights of paroled mili- 
tary officers of the late Confederacy 
against the action of the United States 
courts in cases of indictment for treason, 
and claimed that the conditions of sur- 
render placed such officers outside the 
jurisdiction of civil courts. In this he 
opposed the administration, and when it 
became a personal matter between him- 
self and the President, he declared his 
intention to resign his position in the 
army if the armistice granted by him 
should be disregarded by the courts or 
the President. This decision resulted in 
the abandonment of the position taken 
by the executive and judicial branches of 
the government. He visited Buffalo, 
New York, in June, 1866, and there took 
effective measures to stop the invasion 
of Canada by Fenians, accredited citizens 
of the United States in sympathy with 
Irish patriots. On July 25, 1866, he was 
made general of the United States army, 
a grade higher than had ever before ex- 
isted in America, and created by Act of 
Congress as a reward for his services in 
the suppression of the rebellion. Presi- 
dent Johnson, in his official position of 
commander-in-chief of the army, ordered 
(jeneral Grant to proceed on a special 
mission to Mexico and subsequently to 



55 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



the far west, both of which orders Grant 
disregarded as not included in his duties 
as a military officer, and not suggested 
for the benefit of the army of the coun- 
try, but made in a spirit of pique because 
he had refused to approve the policy of 
the President toward the south. On 
March 4, 1867, the Thirty-ninth Congress, 
in order to protect General Grant in his 
action, passed an act providing that "all 
orders and instructions relating to mili- 
tary operations shall be issued through 
the general of the army," and further 
provided that the general of the army 
should "not be removed, suspended or re- 
lieved from command or assigned to duty 
elsewhere than at the headquarters at 
Washington, except at his own request, 
without the previous approval of the Sen- 
ate." The clause was attached to the 
army appropriation bill, which received 
the signature of the President under pro- 
test against this clause. The Attorney- 
General declared the clause unconstitu- 
tional, and the President undertook to 
send out this opinion to the district com- 
manders through the Secretary of War, 
who refused to distribute the opinion, 
and the President issued it through the 
Adjutant-General's office. General Sheri- 
dan, in command of the Fifth Military 
District, sought the advice of the general 
of the army, who replied that a "legal 
opinion was not entitled to the force of 
an order," and therefore he was at liberty 
"to enforce his own construction of the 
law until otherwise ordered," and in July 
Congress passed an act making the orders 
of district commanders "subject to the 
disapproval of the general of the army." 
In this way Grant became superior to 
the President in shaping the affairs of 
reconstruction in the southern States, and 
the President met the situation by re- 
moving General Sheridan immediately 
after the adjournment of Congress, and 
appointing General W. S. Hancock in his 



place. Subsequently some of the orders 
of Hancock were revoked by the general 
of the army, and this caused some bitter- 
ness between the two officers, which, 
however, was not lasting, as when Con- 
gress undertook to muster Hancock out 
of the United States service for his acts 
in Louisiana, Grant opposed the measure 
and it was defeated, and he soon after 
recommended Hancock to promotion to 
the rank of major-general in the regular 
army, and secured his appointment. On 
August 12, 1867, President Johnson sus- 
pended Secretary of War Stanton and 
appointed Grant secretary ad interim. 
Grant protested against this action, but 
retained the position until the Senate had 
refused to confirm the suspension, Janu- 
ary 14, 1868, when Grant informed the 
President that he could not hold the 
office in opposition to the will of Con- 
gress, and General Thomas was appoint- 
ed in his place. 

The Republican National Convention 
of 1868 on its first ballot unanimously 
nominated General Grant for the Presi- 
dency, and in his letter of acceptance he 
made use of the famous words: "Let us 
have peace." In the general election in 
November, 1868, the electors on his ticket 
received of the popular vote 3,015,071 to 
2,709,615 for the Democratic electors and 
on the meeting of the electoral college in 
1869 he received 214 votes to 80 for 
Horatio Seymour, three States (Missis- 
sippi, Texas and Virginia) not voting. 
He was inaugurated the eighteenth Presi- 
dent of the United States, IMarch 4, 1869. 
He called to his aid as executive advisors. 
Elihu B. Washburn, of Illinois, as Secre- 
tary of State, and on his resignation the 
same year to accept the mission to France, 
Hamilton Fish, of New York; George S. 
Boutwell, of Massachusetts, as Secretary 
of the Treasury ; John A. Rawlins, of Illi- 
nois, as Secretary of War, and on his 
death, September 9, 1869, William W. 



56 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Belknap, of Iowa ; Jacob D. Cox, of Ohio, 
as Secretary of the Interior, and on his 
resignation in December, 1870, Columbus 
Delano, of Ohio; Adolph E. Borie, of 
Pennsylvania, as Secretary of the Navy, 
and on his resignation, June 22, 1869, 
George M. Robeson, of New Jersey; John 
A. J. Creswell, of Maryland, as Post- 
master-General ; and Ebenezer R. Hoar, 
of Massachusetts, as Attorney-General, 
and on his resignation, June 23, 1870, 
Amos T. Akerman, of Georgia, and on 
his resignation, December 14, 1871, 
George H. Williams, of Oregon. Presi- 
dent Grant advocated in his inaugural 
address the speedy return to specie pay- 
ment, and Congress passed the act on 
March 18, 1869, which was a pledge to 
pay the debts of the United States in coin 
unless the obligation expressly stipulated 
to the contrary, and in accordance with 
his views as expressed in his annual mes- 
sage to Congress a bill was passed and 
approved July 14, 1870, authorizing the 
funding of the public debt at a lower rate 
of interest, through the issue of $200,- 
000,000 of bonds at five per cent., 300,- 
000,000 at four and a half per cent., and 
$1,000,000,000 at four per cent. His In- 
dian policy was shaped to the end of 
civilizing the savages with a view to their 
ultimate citizenship, and his policy while 
not always successful introduced human- 
ity and justice to take the place of brute 
force. He favored the annexation of 
Santo Domingo, and recommended the 
adoption of the fifteenth amendment to 
the constitution of the United States. He 
also advanced the principles of civil serv- 
ice reform in the civil administration, ap- 
pointing a commission which recom- 
mended competitive examinations, and 
it was put in operation June i, 1872, but 
failed to be effective at the time on ac- 
count of opposition from Congress. On 
May 4, 1872, he issued a proclamation 
ordering all unlawful armed bands to dis- 



perse in the states in which conflicts be- 
tween the white and colored races were 
rife, and said that he would "not hesitate 
to exhaust the powers vested in the exec- 
utive, whenever and wherever it shall be- 
come necessary to do so for the purpose 
of securing to all citizens of the United 
States the peaceful enjoyment of the 
rights guaranteed to them by the consti- 
tution and the laws." As the proclama- 
tion was disregarded he issued a further 
warning October 12, and on the 17th sus- 
pended the writ of habeas corpus in parts 
of North and South Carolina, and after a 
few vigorous prosecutions of offenders 
the outrage ceased. The famous treaty 
of Washington, made May 8, 1871, by a 
high joint commission, by its terms re- 
ferred the claims of the United States 
against Great Britain growing out of the 
operations of the Confederate cruiser 
"Alabama," to a court of arbitration held 
in Geneva, Switzerland, and in Septem- 
ber, 1872, awarded to the United States 
$15,500,000, which was paid in full. This 
was largely the result of the policy of 
President Grant and his secretary of state, 
and was the beginning of a friendship 
between the two English-speaking na- 
tions of the globe that suggested arbi- 
tration as an acceptable substitute for 
war in the settlement of disputes between 
equally intelligent nations. President 
Grant's first administration left him some 
enemies in the Republican party, who 
classed his actions as imperial and his 
measures as arbitary. This disaffection 
resulted in the calling of a national con- 
vention at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1872, under 
the name of "Liberal Republicans," and 
the nomination of Horace Greeley for 
President. The convention claiming to 
be regular met at Philadelphia, Pennsyl- 
vania, June 5, 1872, and renominated 
Grant and approved of his administra- 
tion. In the election in November, 1872, 
he was re-elected, receiving of the popu- 



57 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



lar vote 3,597,070 to 2,843,079 for Horace 
Greeley, and in the electoral college of 

1873 he received 286 votes to 42 for 
Thomas A. Hendricks, 18 for B. Gratz 
Brown, 2 for Charles J. Jenkins, and one 
for David Davis, the 14 votes of Arkan- 
sas and Louisiana not being counted by 
reason of charges of fraud and illegality. 
In making up his cabinet he continued 
the portfolio of state in the hands of Ham- 
ilton Fish ; gave the treasurership to Wil- 
liam A. Richardson, of Massachusetts, 
who had been assistant secretary under 
Secretary Boutwell through his first ad- 
ministration, and on his resignation in 

1874 to accept a seat on the bench of the 
United States Court of Claims, to Ben- 
jamin H. Bristow, of Kentucky, and on 
his resignation in June, 1876, to Lot M. 
Morrill, of Maine ; the portfolio of war 
was left with William W. Belknap, of 
Iowa, and on his resignation, March 7, 
1876, was transferred to Alphonso Taft, 
of Ohio, and on his transfer to the attor- 
ney-generalship, to James D. Cameron, 
of Pennsylvania; the portfolio of the in- 
terior was continued in the hands of Co- 
lumbus Delano, of Ohio, until 1875, when 
he resigned, and it went to Zachariah 
Chandler, of Michigan ; the naval port- 
folio was continued with George M. Robe- 
son, of New Jersey ; the postmaster-gen- 
eralship with John A. J. Creswell, and on 
his resignation, July 3, 1874. it was tem- 
porarily filled by Assistant Postmaster- 
General James W. Marshall, of Virginia, 
and permanently later in the same year 
by Marshall Jewell, of Connecticut, and 
on his resignation in 1876 by James N. 
Tyner, of Indianapolis, former assistant 
postmaster-general ; and the attorney- 
generalship was continued by George H. 
Williams, of Oregon, until May 15, 1875, 
when he resigned to practice law, and 
was succeeded by Edward Pierrepont, of 
New York. 

The second administration of Presi- 



dent Grant was marked by the passage 
of the resumption act and the detection 
and punishment of the prominent United 
States officials conspicuous in the forma- 
tion of a ring designed to enrich the mem- 
bers under cloak of their official positions 
and by wrongfully using the name of the 
President. His words, "let no guilty man 
escape," rang the death-knell of the ring. 
He attended the inauguration of Presi- 
dent Hayes, March 4, 1877, and at once 
withdrew to private life. On May 17, 
1877, he set sail with his wife, his son, 
Frederick Dent Grant, and a private sec- 
retary, for his memorable tour of the 
world, and was received with distin- 
guished honors by the chief ruler of every 
country visited. The record of his tour 
was preserved by John Russell Young, 
who accompanied him through most of 
his tour and published "Around the 
World with General Grant, 1877-79" (two 
volumes, 1880). In 1880 he visited Cuba 
and Mexico, and returning to the United 
States, went with his family to his old 
home at Galena, Illinois. The Repub- 
lican National Convention of June, 1880, 
assembled at Chicago, Illinois, presented 
his name as a candidate for the Presi- 
dency, and for thirt3'-six consecutive bal- 
lots his name was recorded as having re- 
ceived from 302 to 313 votes, standing 
in almost every vote 306, and the num- 
ber was attached to his loyal friends, who 
after the convention caused an iron medal 
to be cast with the legend, "Loyal 306," 
as a souvenir of the event. It is not 
known that General Grant was in any 
way a party to this struggle, and the only 
suggestion came from his lips after he 
returned from his tour, when he spoke of 
the superior insight that the intercourse 
with the chief rulers of the world gave 
to a man entrusted with the administra- 
tion of governmental affairs. He sup- 
ported the candidacy of James A. Gar- 
field. On December 25. 1883, he received 



58 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



such injuries to his hip from a fall on the 
ice as made him permanently lame. He 
became a silent partner in the banking 
firm of Grant & Ward in New York, his 
son, Frederick Dent Grant, and Ferdi- 
nand Ward being the active partners. In 
this business he not only invested all his 
savings and those of other members of 
his family, but when he was appealed to 
for further funds he borrowed $100,000 
from William H. Vanderbilt on his per- 
sonal credit. The entire sum was lost 
through the dishonesty of Ward, whose 
will dominated the concern, and who was 
found to have absorbed most of the capi- 
tal and to have traded in imaginary gov- 
ernment contracts which he represented 
as obtained through the influence of Gen- 
eral Grant. When the end came, the 
Grant family were all bankrupt, and the 
greatest general of his age and the twice 
chosen President of the United States 
was obliged to depend on money thrust 
upon him by his friends, and to give up 
his swords, medals and other evidences 
of the esteem of the peoples of the globe, 
a sacrifice voluntarily made by him to 
secure a debt of honor. Mr. Vanderbilt 
subsequently returned these priceless 
souvenirs to Mrs. Grant, who made them 
the property of the nation by depositing 
them in the National Museum at Wash- 
ington, D. C. In 1884 he was attacked 
by a disease which proved to be cancer at 
the root of the tongue, and, knowing that 
his days were numbered, the heroic in- 
valid accepted the suggestion of an enter- 
prising publisher, and set out to write 
his "Personal Memoirs," in which he told 
the story of his life down to the close of 
the war. This work was done between 
February 27, 1885, when he signed the 
contract with the publishers, and July 21, 
1885, two days before his death. His 
widow received as a copyright from the 
sale of this remarkable book over $500,- 
000, and before the general died he knew 



that the proceeds from his work had 
already put his family beyond the dan- 
ger that threatened the closing years of 
his life. The government also tardily 
came to his aid, and on March 4, 1885, 
Congress created him a general on the 
retired list, thus restoring him to his for- 
mer rank, with full pay. His last days, 
spent at Mt. McGregor, near Saratoga, 
New York, were anxious ones for the 
family gathered in the Drexel cottage, 
and for the nation watching with the fam- 
ily the news of his death, which came 
Thursday morning, July 23, 1885. His 
funeral was most imposing and was at- 
tended by 12,000 United States soldiers 
in uniform ; representatives from every 
State, and, in fact, from every nation ; the 
chiefs of the departments of the Federal 
government ; the ranking officers of the 
army and navy; 18,000 veterans of the 
Civil War, north and south, mingled; and 
representatives from both houses of Con- 
gress. The two ex-Presidents, Hayes 
and Arthur, were present. His remains 
were committed to a tomb in Riverside 
Park, on the banks of the Hudson river, 
in New York City, and a grateful public 
through a popular subscription erected 
on the spot an appropriate monument, 
the corner-stone of which was laid by 
President Harrison, April 25, 1892, and 
the casket containing the dust of the 
great commander was deposited in its 
final resting place April 29, 1897, when 
the completed monument was dedicated. 
He received the honorary degree of Doc- 
tor of Laws from Bowdoin and Union col- 
leges in 1865, and from Harvard in 1872. 
See "Military History of Ulysses S. Grant 
from April, 1861, to April, 1865," by Adam 
Badeau (three volumes, 1867-68) ; "Life 
of Gen. U. S. Grant," by Gen. James H. 
Wilson and Charles A. Dana (:868) ; 
"Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, writ- 
ten by himself" (two volumes, 1885-86) ; 
General Grant in "Great Commanders" 



59 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



series, by James Grant Wilson (1897) ; 
and "General Grant's Letters to a Friend" 
(1897). He married, August 22, 1848, 
Julia, daughter of Frederick T. Dent, and 
a sister of Captain Frederick T. Dent, a 
classmate at West Point. He died at Mt. 
IMcGregor, near Saratoga, New York, 
July 23, 1885. 



FRANCIS, John Morgan, 

Journalist, Diplomat. 

John Morgan Francis was born in 
Prattsburg, New York, March 6, 1823; 
son of Richard and Mary (Stewart) 
Francis. His father was a midshipman 
in the British navy, whose admiration 
for America was so great that he re- 
signed his commission, emigrated from 
Wales to the United States about 1795, 
and first settled near Utica, New York, 
and became an American citizen, mov- 
ing later to Steuben county, and locating 
at Prattsburg. Joseph Stewart, his 
grandfather on the maternal side, served 
in the American army from the begin- 
ning to the end of the Revolution, and 
was present at the execution of Major 
Andre, the spy, near West Point, in 1780. 

John Morgan Francis was the twelfth 
of thirteen children, and in 1838, when 
in his fifteenth year, he entered the office 
of the "Ontario Messenger" at Canan- 
daigua, New York, where he served until 
1843. I-ater he became assistant editor 
of the "Wayne County Sentinel' of Pal- 
myra; of the "Rochester Daily Adver- 
tiser," and in 1846 of the "Troy North- 
ern Budget," a Democratic paper of which 
he became joint proprietor and sole edi- 
tor. He supported the candidacy of Tay- 
lor and Fillmore in 1848, and in 1849 
joined Henry O'Reilly, proprietor of "The 
Advertiser," Rochester, New York, in his 
telegraph enterprise. He was next em- 
ployed as editorial writer on the "Troy 
Post" and on the "Daily Whig." He 



founded the "Troy Daily Times," June 
25, 1851, and for forty-six years continued 
as its editor-in-chief and senior proprietor, 
making it one of the leading Republican 
journals of the State, with a circulation 
as large as that of any newspaper in the 
State, outside of New York City. In 
1867-68 he was a member of the State 
Constitutional Convention. In 1871 Pres- 
ident Grant appointed him United States 
Minister Resident to Greece, and he re- 
mained at Athens for three years, when 
he resigned, November 17, 1873, ^"d 
made a tour of the world with his wife. 
In 1 88 1 he was selected by President 
Garfield for United States Minister Resi- 
dent to Belgium, but before the name 
was presented to Congress the President 
was killed. In 1882 he was appointed by- 
President Arthur, United States Minis- 
ter Resident to Portugal, and in 1884 was 
promoted Envoy Extraordinary and Alin- 
ister Plenipotentiary to Austria-Hungary. 
He resigned and returned to America in 
1885, on the accession of President Cleve- 
land, and resumed his editorial labors on 
the "Troy Daily Times." In 1893 he was 
one of fifteen prominent citizens nomi- 
nated by the Republican State Conven- 
tion for delegates-at-large to the consti- 
tutional convention provided by law to be 
held the following year, all of whom were 
elected, Mr. Francis receiving the largest 
vote cast for a delegate-at-large. He took 
a very active part in the proceedings of 
the convention, which was in session in 
the capitol at Albany throughout the en- 
tire summer of 1894, and he was influ- 
ential in shaping many of the sections of 
the revised constitution which was sub- 
mitted to the people and adopted by a 
large vote in the November election of 
that year. He was chairman of the com- 
mittee on bill of rights, and the second 
member of the committees on cities and 
civil service. The arduous labors of Mr. 
Francis in the constitutional convention 



60 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BlOGRAl'HY 



undoubtedly led to the breaking down of 
his health and the illness which termi- 
nated fatally. 

For many years prior to his death, his 
son, Charles S. Francis, had been asso- 
ciated with him in conducting the "Troy 
Times," holding an equal partnership, the 
firm name being J. M. Francis & Son. 
During that period Charles S. Francis 
had the active management of "The 
Times," and became sole editor and pro- 
prietor upon his father's death, which 
occurred at his residence in Troy, New 
York, June i8, 1897. 



GOULD, Jay, 

Noted Financier. 

Jay Gould was born at Stratton's Falls, 
near Roxbury, Delaware county, New 
York, May 27, 1836, son of John Burr 
and Mary (More) Gould, and a descend- 
ant of Abraham Gould, a lieutenant-colo- 
nel in the Continental army. Fourth Con- 
necticut Regiment, who was killed when 
Tryon made his raid on Danbury ; and 
also a descendant of Major Nathan Gould, 
who emigrated from England to Connec- 
ticut in 1646, and was one of the nine- 
teen signers of the petition for the Con- 
necticut charter. John Burr Gould was 
the first white male child born in Dela- 
ware county. New York. 

Jason, afterward Jay Gould, was edu- 
cated at the district school and at Hobart 
Academy. When fifteen years old, he 
was a clerk in a tinshop in Roxbury, and 
when sixteen a partner and manager of 
the business. Meanwhile he studied sur- 
veying and civil engineering, deriving his 
instruction from books without the aid of 
a master. His father sold his farm and 
became a clerk for the son, who engaged 
to survey Ulster county, and who was 
promised twenty dollars per month for 
his services, but his employer failed to 
pay him, and he completed the work and 



sold it for $500. He then sold his tinshop 
and removed to Albany, where he can- 
vassed the legislature for the contract of 
surveying the State, but was unsuccess- 
ful. He then undertook the work him- 
self, employing men to survey the variou^ 
counties. He wrote histories of Ulster, 
Sullivan and Greene counties and from 
the sale of his books and maps accumu- 
lated $5,000. With this money he joined 
Zadock Pratt in establishing a tannery 
in Pennsylvania, the place becoming 
known as Gouldsboro, where a postoffice 
was established, and Mr. Gould, then 
twenty years old, was made postmaster. 
He also became the largest stockholder 
and a director in the bank at Strouds- 
burg. In 1859 he bought out Pratt's in- 
terest and sold it to Charles L. Leupp & 
Company for $80,000. This led to a law- 
suit and dispossession proceedmgs ac- 
complished by force, and Mr. Gould be- 
came sole owner. He then sold the tan- 
nery and removed to New York City, 
where in 1S62 he was married to Helen 
Day, daughter of Daniel G. Miller, of the 
grocery firm of Philip Dater & Company, 
and through his father-in-law he engaged 
in speculation in railroad stock. He 
bought the entire issue of the first mort- 
gage bonds of the Rutland & Washing- 
ton railroad at ten cents on the dollar, 
and soon afterward, with Russell Sage, of 
Troy, took up the Rensselaer & Saratoga 
railroad. Making considerable money, he 
bought the stock of the Cleveland & Pitts- 
burgh railroad at sixty-five and sold it at 
one hundred and twenty. He lost some 
money in Union Pacific, but made mil- 
lions in Missouri Pacific, and soon after 
obtained control of the Erie railway, be- 
coming its president and a partner in a 
series of questionable transactions with 
James Fisk, Jr. This introduced him to 
the legislature of New York, to Supreme 
Court judges, and to association with 
William M. Tweed, the financial and rail- 



61 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



load magnate of the time, and Mr. Gould 
retired from the presidency of the road 
with a colossal fortune. This was largely 
augmented by the transaction in gold in 
which President Grant's brother-in-law, 
Corbin, was a prominent factor, and this 
incident was the inauguration of private 
and public dinners given to executive offi- 
cials by the holders of large interests 
subject to official action, and resulted in 
the great panic in Wall street known in 
the history of finance as "Black Friday," 
September 24, 1869. He then became in- 
terested in the American Telegraph Com- 
pany, with which organization he laid an 
Atlantic cable, broke down the rates of 
the monopoly, the Western Union Tele- 
graph Company, and thus forced an amal- 
gamation of the two, with Mr. Gould as 
a chief stockholder. He afterward be- 
came largely interested in the Wabash, 
the Kansas Pacific, the Union Pacific, the 
International & Great Northern, the Man- 
hattan Elevated, the St. Louis, the Iron 
Mountain & Southern, the St. Louis & 
Southwestern, and the Texas Pacific rail- 
roads, and at the time of his death his 
railroad holdings were estimated at $75,- 
000,000. 

His wife died January 13, 1889, and 
left six children, four boys and two girls. 
George J., Edwin, Howard and Frank be- 
came the owners of the railroad properties 
of their father, held positions as directors 
and officers in many of them, and proved 
themselves able business managers. 
Helen Miller retained possession of the 
city and country homes of her parents, 
and devoted her life to charity, which she 
personally dispensed ; she married, Janu- 
ary 22, 1913, at Tarrytown, New York. 
Finley J. Shepard. Her sister Anna 
was married to Count de Castellane of 
France. The children of Jay Gould gave 
to the village of Roxbury, New York, as 
a memorial to their father, a church edi- 
fice costing about $150,000, and which 



was dedicated October 13, 1894. Jay 
Gould died in New York City, December 
2, 1892. 



FISH. Hamilton, 

Liegislator, Diplomat, Statesman, 

Hamilton Fish, one of the important 
men of the Civil War period, and a man 
of great intellectual and personal worth, 
was born in New York City, August 3, 
1808; son of Colonel Nicholas and Eliza- 
beth (Stuyvesant) Fish. He was gradu- 
ated at Columbia University in 1827, and 
studied law, and was admitted to the bar. 
In 1834 he was defeated with the Whig 
ticket as a candidate for the State As- 
sembly. In 1842 he was elected a repre- 
sentative to the Twenty-eighth Congress 
from the Sixth New York District, de- 
feating John McKeon, Democrat. He was 
an unsuccessful candidate for re-election 
in 18^4. In 1846 he was the unsuccess- 
ful Whig candidate for Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor, but was elected to that office in 
1847 to fill the unexpired term of Lieu- 
tenant-Governor Addison Gardiner, re- 
signed. He was elected Governor of 
New York in 1848, and in 185 1 to the 
United States Senate as successor to 
Daniel S. Dickinson, Democrat. In the 
Senate he strenuously opposed the repeal 
of the Missouri Compromise and in 1856 
aided in the organization of the Repub- 
lican party. 

On retiring from the Senate, March 4. 
1857, he resumed the practice of law in 
New York City. He visited Europe with 
his family, 1859-60. He advocated the 
nomination of William H. Seward for the 
Presidency in i860; but cordially sup- 
ported Abraham Lincoln in the Presi- 
dential canvass, and from 1861 upheld 
the TJnion cause with voice and purse. 
He was a commissioner with Bishop 
Ames, appointed by Secretary of War 
Stanton, in January, 1862, "to relieve the 



62 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



necessities and provide for the comfort 
of Federal soldiers in Confederate pris- 
ons," and the refusal of the Confederate 
governors to receive the commissioners 
except for the purpose of arranging for 
a general exchange, resulted in the sys- 
tem of exchange soon after adopted. On 
March ii, 1869, Mr. Fish became Secre- 
tary of State of the United States in Pres- 
ident Grant's cabinet, to succeed Elihu 
B. Washburn, appointed United States 
Minister to France, and he held the posi- 
tion up to the close of President Grant's 
second term, March 3, 1877, and in Presi- 
dent Hayes's cabinet up to the 12th of 
March, when William M. Evarts was 
called to the office. He originally sug- 
gested the joint high commission to ar- 
range the differences with Great Britain 
in 1871, of which he became a member, 
and plenipotentiary to sign the treaty set- 
tling the Alabama claims and the north- 
western boundary question with Great 
Britain the same year. In November, 
1873, he negotiated the settlement of the 
Virginius question with the Spanish min- 
ister at Washington. 

Governor Fish was a trustee of Colum- 
bia College, 1840-93, and chairman of the 
board, 1859-93; president of the general 
society of the Cincinnati, 1854-93 ; chair- 
man of the Union Defence Committee, 
1861-65 ; president of the New York His- 
torical Society, 1867-69; trustee of the 
Astor Library, and one of the original 
trustees of the Peabody Education Fund, 
appointed by the founder. Mr. Fish be- 
queathed $50,000 to Columbia College ; 
$5,000 to St. Luke's Hospital, and $2,000 
to the Bellevue Training School for 
Nurses. He received the honorary de- 
gree of Doctor of Laws from Columbia 
in 1850, from Union in 1869. and from 
Harvard in 1871. 

He was married, in 1836. to Julia, 
daughter of the Hon. John Kean, of New 
Jersey. She died in 1887, leaving three 



sons — Hamilton, Nicholas and Stuyve- 
sant ; and four daughters, who married, 
respectively, William E. Rogers, Colonel 
Samuel N. Benjamin, the Hon. Hugh 
Oliver Northcote, of England, and Sid- 
ney Webster. He died at Glen-ClyfFe, 
near Garrison-on-Hudson, New York, 
September 7, 1893. 



BARNARD, Frederick Augustus, 

Distinguished Educator and Author. 

Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard, a 
distinguished educator whose great abil- 
ities made him a principal factor in the 
large development of Columbia Univer- 
sity, was born at Sheflield, Berkshire 
county, Massachusetts, March 5, 1809, 
son of Robert Foster and Augusta (Por- 
ter) Barnard. 

He was graduated from Yale College 
in 1828, and at once entered upon edu- 
cational work. He taught in a grammar 
school in Hartford ; was tutor in Yale 
College, and a teacher in the Asylum for 
Deaf Mutes at Hartford, and in the New 
York Institution for the Instruction of 
the Deaf and Dumb. From 1837 to 1848 
he was Professor of Mathematics and 
Natural Philosophy in the University of 
Alabama, and afterwards Professor of 
Chemistry in the same institution. In 
1854 he was ordained to the priesthood of 
the Protestant Episcopal church. He 
was made Professor of Astronomy and 
Mathematics in the University of Mis- 
sissippi, and two years later he was elect- 
ed president and chancellor. Upon the 
threatened outbreak of the Civil War he 
went to Labrador to observe the esclipse 
of the Sim, and in 1862 journeyed to the 
southern hemisphere to carry out astro- 
nomical researches. In 1862 he was ap- 
pointed director of the printing and litho- 
graphing of the maps and charts of the 
Coast Survey, which office he held until 
1864, when he was chosen president of 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Columbia College, in New York City. In 
1S67 he was United States Commissioner 
to the Paris Exposition, and on his return 
he published a valuable "Report on Ma- 
chinery and the Industrial Arts." He 
was again commissioned to the Paris Ex- 
position of 1878. 

President Barnard transformed Colum- 
bia College into one of the great univer- 
sities of the United States. The Law 
School, the School of Mines, the School 
of Political Science, and the Barnard Col- 
lege for Women, were housed and almost 
founded through his exertions. The wide 
range of his scholarship admirably fitted 
him to sympathize with the many depart- 
ments of a great university, and, in addi- 
tion to the schools already established by 
his influence, at the time of his death he 
was planning for a School of Letters and 
Philosophy. He also originated a sys- 
tem of the teaching of the deaf and dumb. 
He was editor-in-chief of "Johnson's Cy- 
clopaedia," many articles on the exact 
sciences and mathematics being from his 
pen. President Barnard won many scien- 
tific honors. He was one of the original 
incorporators of and foreign secretary to 
the National Academy of Sciences from 
1874 to 1880; president of the American 
Meteorological Society, also of the Amer- 
ican Association for the Advancement of 
Science, of the board of experts of the 
American Bureau of Mines, of the Amer- 
ican Institute, and also an honorary cor- 
respondent to many foreign scientific 
associations. In 1855 Jefferson College, 
Mississippi, conferred upon him the de- 
gree of Doctor of Laws ; Yale College 
conferred the same degree in 1859; the 
Universit}' of Mississippi gave him the 
degree of S. T. D. in 1861, and in 1872 
the University of the State of New York 
that of L. H. D. He published a "Treatise 
on Arithmetic" (1830) ; one on "Ana- 
lytical Grammar" (1836) ; "Letters on 
Collegiate Government" (1855) ; "A His- 



tory of the United States Coast Survey" 
('•^S/); "Recent Progress of Science" 
(1859); "The Metric System" (1871) ; 
"Mono-AIetallism, Bi-Metallism, and In- 
ternational Coinage" (1879) ; "Two 
Papers on Academic Degrees" (1880) ; 
"Imaginary Metrological System of the 
Great Pyramid" (1884), and "Theory of 
Magic Squares and of Magic Cubes" in 
National Academy of Science (1888). 

Professor Barnard died in New York 
City, April 27, 1889, and is buried in the 
old cemetery at Sheffield, Massachusetts. 



BADEAU, Adam, 

Soldier, Author, 

General Adam Badeau's fame princi- 
pally rests upon his three volume "' Mili- 
tary History of Ulysses S. Grant," which, 
from its first publication, has been recog- 
nized as not only a very complete narra- 
tive of the military career of the great 
commander, but also as the fullest and 
most complete history of the Civil War. 
The entire work was written, so said a 
capable critic, "with that soldierly re- 
spect for high qualities which is the first 
characteristic of a good military history." 
It is painful to record that in the produc- 
tion of this admirable work, were in- 
volved financial difficulties which seri- 
ously clouded the friendly relations of 
author and subject. 

Adam Badeau was born in New York 
City, December 29, 1831. He was edu- 
cated by private tutors and at a boarding 
school in Tarrytown, New York. As a 
young man he served as a clerk in the 
New York Street Department, and dur- 
ing the same period wrote essays and 
dramatic criticisms for "Noah's Sunday 
Times," which were afterwards put into 
book form under the title of "Vaga- 
bondia." In 1862 he entered the military 
service as aide-de-camp on the stafif of 
General Thomas W. Sherman, serving at 



64 




L^a.a/yrLy. {Sou^Ucma^ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



New Orleans, and in the investment and 
siege of Port Hudson, on the Mississippi 
river, where he led an assault upon the 
Confederate works and was severely- 
wounded. In March, 1864, Badeau be- 
came military secretary to General 
Ulysses S. Grant, on the personal recom- 
mendation of that officer's adjutant-gen- 
eral. General John A. Rawlins. Badeau 
served in that capacity, in closest rela- 
tionship with General Grant, from the 
beginning of the Wilderness campaign 
until March, 1869, nearly four years after 
the close of the war, at first with the rank 
of lieutenant-colonel and afterward of 
colonel of volunteers, and being retired as 
captain in the regular army and brevet 
brigadier-general. 

Soon after General Grant entered upon 
the Presidency, General Badeau was sent 
to London as secretary of legation, serv- 
ing as such from May to December, 1869. 
Early in the following year he was made 
bearer of government dispatches to 
Madrid, and in May was returned to Lon- 
don as Consul-General, and served in that 
capacity until September, 1881, except- 
ing the years 1877-78, when, under leave 
of absence he accompanied General Grant 
on his journey around the world. Mean- 
time he had declined proffered ministerial 
appointments to Brussels and Copen- 
hagen. For two years beginning in May, 
1882, he was Consul-General at Havana, 
resigning that post because of differences 
with the Department of State. 

Soon after retiring from the diplomatic 
service, General Badeau entered upon an 
engagement to assist General Grant in 
the preparation of his personal memoirs, 
his duties being mainly those of an aman- 
uensis. When General Grant's health be- 
gan to fail, Badeau demanded a certain 
monthly stipend, also a share of the 
profits arising from publications. Gen- 
eral Grant, regarding this as practically 
a demand that Badeau should perform 

N Y— Vol U-5 65 



all the literary work and that he himself 
(Grant) should appear as the author, pro- 
tested in a severe letter, and dismissed 
Badeau from his service. After the death 
of General Grant, Badeau made certain 
demands upon the estate, based upon the 
prior arrangement with General Grant, 
and the disputed claim was settled by 
General Frederick D. Grant at the sum 
of $10,000. 

General Badeau now devoted himself 
to writing for magazines and newspapers, 
principally upon his personal experiences 
and observations at home and abroad. 
Continuous application impaired his eye- 
sight seriously, and successive operations 
for cataract undermined his physical 
strength. He finally succumbed to apo- 
plexy, dying March 19, 1S95, ^t Ridge- 
wood, New Jersey\ Besides the works 
previously mentioned, he published "Con- 
spiracy : a Cuban Romance" (1885); 
"Aristocracy in England" (1886) ; and 
"Grant in Peace, from Appomattox to 
Mt. McGregor" (1887). 



HALLECK, Henry Wager, 

Civil War General-in-Chief. 

Major-General Henry Wager Halleck 
was born in Westernville, New York, 
January 16, 1815. He was a descendant 
of Peter Halleck (or Hallock), of Long 
Island, 1640, and of Henry Wager, an 
early settler of central New York. 

He was a student at Union College, 
Schenectady, New York, and was gradu- 
ated from the United States Military 
Academy in 1839, third in a class of 
thirty-one. He was commissioned sec- 
ond lieutenant in the Engineer Corps, 
and was retained at the academy as As- 
sistant Professor of Engineering. On 
July 28. 1840, he was transferred to the 
Board of Engineers, Washington, D. C, 
as assistant ; was engaged on the forti- 
fications in New York harbor, 1840-47, 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and during' that period visited Europe on 
a tour of inspection of public works, lie 
was promoted to first lieutenant in 1845, 
and in 1847 was ordered to California as 
engineer for the western ct)ast. He sailed 
on the transport "Lexington," and land- 
ed at Monterey, California, which he 
made a military base by fortifying the 
port, and which also became the rendez- 
vous of the Pacific squadron. He ac- 
companied several exjicditions ; was chief 
of staff to Cok)iiel liurton, and took part 
in various skirmishes in Lower California 
in November, 1847; commanded the vol- 
unteers who inarched to .San Antonio, and 
on March 16, 1848, surprised the Mexi- 
can garrison ; engaged in a skirmish at 
Todos .Santos, March 30; and aided Com- 
modore .Shubrick, \J. .S. N., in the capture 
of Mazatlan, of which i)lacc he was for a 
time lieutenant-governor. He was brev- 
ctted captain to date from May i, 1847, 
for "gallant and meritorious services" in 
these engagements. 1 le was military 
secretary to the military governors, Ma- 
soti and Riley, and was commended for 
"great energy, high administrative (]ual- 
ities, excellent judgment and admirable 
.ui.'iptability to his varied and onerous 
duties." He was a member of the con- 
vention tiiat met at Monterey, Septem- 
ber I, 1849, to frame a constitution for 
California, wrote the instrument, and re- 
fused to represent the State in the United 
States Senate, preferring to continue his 
service in the army as aide-de-camp on 
the stafT of General Riley. He was in- 
spector and engineer of lighthouses, 1852- 
53 ; a member of the board of engineers 
for fortifications on the Pacific coast, 
1833-54; was promoted captain of engi- 
neers, July I, 1853, and resigned from 
the army, August, 1854, to become head 
of a law firm in San Francisco, with large 
landed interests in the State. He was 
director-general of the New Almaden 
quicksilver mines. 1850-61 ; president of 



the Pacific & Atlantic railroad from San 
Jose to San Francisco, 1855-61 ; and 
major-general of the State militia, 1860- 
61. The Civil War having broken out, at 
the urgent recommendation of General 
Scott, he was commissioned major-gen- 
eral in the United States army, to date 
from August ly, 1861. He was made 
commander of the Department of Mis- 
souri, which embraced western Kentucky, 
Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, 
Missouri and Arkansas, with headquar- 
ters at St. Louis. He brought to this 
position a military training and experi- 
ence that in three months jjlaced the fed- 
eral army in possession of all the terri- 
tory under his control, save southern 
Missouri and western Kentucky, and 
then, with the aid of the gunboat flotilla 
of Admiral I'oote and the army of Gen- 
eral (irant, he directed the military oper- 
ations that resulted in the capture of 
I'orts Henry and Donelson ; the posses- 
sion of Howling Green, Columbus, and 
Nashville ; of New Madrid, Columbus and 
Island No. 10 on the Mississippi, and of 
the whole of Missouri and northern Ar- 
kansas, establishing the Federal army on 
a line extending from Chattanooga to 
Memphis. 'The departments of Kansas 
and Ohio were i)laced in his department 
March 11, i86j, and the whole became 
known as the Department of tlie Missis- 
sippi, which included the territory be- 
tween the Alleghany and Rocky moun- 
tains. .After the battle of Shiloh, Gen- 
eral Halleck personally took the field and 
moved against Corinth, which had been 
fortified by the Confederate army, and 
on reaching the place. May 30, it fell into 
his hands without an assault, the enemy 
having evacuated the ])lace. He directed 
the pursuit of the fleeing Confederates, 
General Pope following up the direct re- 
treat, while General William T. .Sherman 
marched to Memphis, already captured 
by the gunboats before his arrival, and 



66 



ENCYCi.orKniA OF nuxiKAruv 



General Huell marched against Chatta- tor of Laws in iSoj. He delivered before 

nooga. General llalleck lu'ld the forti- the Lowell Institute, Uoston, Massaehn- 

tications at Corinth, repaired railroad setts, in the winter of 1845-40, twelve lee- 

coniniunications, and prepared to oper.ite tuies on the science of war. which were 



agtiinst X'icksbnrg, when on July J,^ he 
accepted the appointment, made by Lresi 
dent Lincoln, as general-in-chief oi tlie 
armies of the I'nited States, with !>ead- 
quarters at Washington. P, t'. 

General llalleck at once ordered the 
withilrawal of lieneral McClellan's arm\ 



published ,»s "I'Mements of Military Art 
and Science" (.iS-(0, jd ed. i8c>i), and this 
work became the manual for volunteer 
otVicers of the l"ivil War. Pnring his 
seven niontlis" voy.ige lo (.'alifoinia 
around "The Horn," he translated Karon 
Jomini's "Vie Polititiue et Militaire de 



from the Peninsula, and his letter to that Napoleon." which he published in iS{>4. 
commander under date of October j8, He also published: "A Collection of Miii- 
i8(\^ was the only otlicial explanation of ing Laws of Spain and Mexico" (1S50); 



the rem.oval of Mct'lellan from the com 
mand of the Anu> of the I'otontac, No- 
vember ~, iSo^v When tieneral luaut 
was made lieutenant-geiteral. March 12, 
1864. under a special act of Congress cre- 



.1 translation of Pel'oo/ on "Tlie L.iw of 
Mines. with Introdiutoiy Uemarks" 
(iStx^l : and "Intern.itioual Law on Kules 
regulating the Intercom se of States ii\ 
Peace and War" (iSciit. coudenscil .uul 



ating the rank for him, General llalleck adapted to use in schools and colleges 

was made chief-of-statY. and coutii\ued in ( iSooV lie died at Louisville, Kentucky, 

Washington until April IQ. 1865, when he January o. 1S7J. 

was transferred to Richmond. \'irginia. 



as coimnander of the Militaw Pivision 
of the James. His orders to the otVicers 
in couMuand of the fiM'ces operating in 
North t'arolina against the army of lien 
eral Joseph 1'. Johnston, "to pav no re- 



COX. Samuel Sullivan. 

DiatluKnIahtftI Stutpsiiitkn niiil Drittor. 

Samuel Sidliv.in t'ox was i>orn at 



/anesville. Ohio. Septeuiber 



.S-'4 



ganl to any truce or orders of General His graudf.ither was tlenev.it l.unes lUx, 



Shortuan respecting hostilities." and "to 
push onward regardless (>f ordeis friMU 
any one except (General Grant and cut olY 
Johnston's retreat." caused a breach in 
the long existing friendship between the 
two ciMUmanders. C)n August ,^>. iS(>5, 
he was transferred to the connnaiul of tin- 
Military Division of the raeilu- ai\d on 
being relieved by (ieneral tieoige II 
Thomas was transferred to the Militarv 



of Monmouth, New lersev, .1 soKliei in 
the l\e\olution. wlu> (ought ni the b.ittles 
ot the lir.utdy wn\e. Germ.intown and 
Monmouth, Mr. t'ox's l.ilher was b/e 
kiel I .i\ lor (."ox. a protniuiMit Peinoei.it. 
ami in i8_^.' _^_^ .1 iiu'mber ot the Ohio 
I^eiuite, who in iSiS in.iiried the daugh- 
ter of Sanniel ."^nlliv.m. .State Tieasnrer 
ot (Miio, after whom he named his son. 
S.muiel S. Cox. after studying in the 



Division of the South, with lie.id<|nartei s public schools of /.anesville, ( >hio, eu- 
at Louisville, Kentuckv, March i(>, i8(k), tered the ( Miio I'niversitv, at .Athens, and 



He was elected Professor of luigineer- 
ing in the Lawrence Scientilic Sclu>ol of 
ll.arvard University, in iS.|S, but declined 
the aii])ointnu'nt. Union t'ollege con 
fcrred upon him the honorary degree of 
Master of .\rts in iS.|?, and that of Poc 



afterwards Ibown Ui\iversity, Providence 
Rhode Isl.ind. where he was graduated 
in \^\(< I laving deteiniined to adopt the 
l.iw .IS his profession, Mr (dx went lo 
t'incinnali, .md entered the olVu c of a Mr. 
Woi thington, and from that time until 



<'7 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



1851 devoted himself to his legal studies. 
In the latter year he crossed the ocean 
and traveled in Europe, and on his return 
published a description of his tour under 
the title of "The iiuckeye Abroad." Mr. 
Cox had natural gifts in the direction of 
literature, and even while in college he 
was able to assist in maintaining himself 
by his literary work, besides obtaining 
prizes in classics, history, literature, and 
political economy. In 1853 he went to 
Columbus, Ohio, where he assumed the 
position of editor of the "Ohio States- 
man," and from this time forward inter- 
ested himself in political affairs. It was 
shortly after this period that the sobriquet 
of "Sunset" Cox i)egan to be ajii^lied to 
him. The occasion for this was an article 
lie wrote entitled "The Great Sunset," 
and in which occurred the following pass- 
age: 

Wli.it a stormful sunset was that of last night! 
How glorious was the storm and how splendid 
the setting of the sun! We do not rcincnibcr 
ever having seen the like on our round globe. 
The scene opened in the West with the whole 
horizon full of golden inter-penetrating lustre, 
which covered the foliage and brightened every 
bough in its own rich dyes. The colors grew 
deeper and richer until the golden lustre was 
transformed into a storm-cloud full of finest 
lightnings, which leaped in dazzling zig-zags all 
over and around the city. The wind arose in 
fury. The tender shrubs and giant trees made 
obeisance to its majesty — some even snapped 
before its force. The strawberry beds and grass 
plots "turned up their whites" to see Zephyrus 
march by. Then the rains came, and the pools 
and gutters filled rapidly and hurried away; the 
thunders roared grandly, and the fire-bells caught 
the excitement and rang with hearty chorus. 
The South and the East received the copious 
showers, and the West at one time brightened 
up into a border-line of azure worthy of a Sici- 
lian sky. 

This brilliant style of writing was a 
new feature in Ohio journalism, and, as 
the title "Sunset" chanced to agree with 
Mr. Cox's two initials, and as the article 



in question achieved a wide newspaper 
])opularity, he was ever after alluded to 
in the press as "Sunset" Cox. 

Erom his entrance into journalism and 
political life, Mr. Cox was a Democrat. 
In 1855 President Pierce offered him the 
position of secretary of legation at the 
.\merican Embassy in London. He de- 
clined this position, but afterward accept- 
ed that of secretary of legation at Lima. 
Peru ; but on his arrival at the Isthmus 
of Panama, while en route there, was 
seized by an attack of tlie local fever and 
was obliged to return home; whereupon 
he resigned the office. In 1857 Mr. Cox 
began his long period of legislative serv- 
ice, having been elected to Congress on 
December "tli from the old Licking- 
Eranklin district of Ohio. It happened 
that his speech on the Lecompton (Kan- 
^as) Constitution was the first delivered 
in the new hall of representatives in the 
Capitol at Washington, on the day when 
it was first occupied for legislative busi- 
ness, December 16, 1857. In the debate 
on the important questions under consid- 
eration Mr. Cox soon made an impression 
upon the house. Mis active mind and 
keen foresight anticipated the possible 
consequences of raising a sectional issue, 
and from this time forward he used his 
best efforts to accommodate the ques- 
tions at issue, and provide, if possible, 
for a peaceful solution of them. During 
the administrations of Presidents Bu- 
chanan and Lincoln, including the stir- 
ring years of the Civil War, Mr. Cox was 
three times elected to Congress from 
Ohio. During the war he sustained the 
government by voting for money and 
men to prosecute it, although he not in- 
frequently differed from the policy of the 
administration. In 1863 Mr. Cox was the 
Democratic candidate for speaker of the 
House of Representatives, in opposition 
to Schuyler Colfax ; but as the Repub- 
lican party was in the majority in the 



68 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



house, he was defeated. In 1865 Mr. Cox extremely valuable, ami he frequently 
pulilished a volume entitled "ICight Years served as speaker /to ton. 



in Congress," in which he presented his 
observations and experience while a 
member of the House of Representatives 
up to that time. He was defeated in his 
district in Ohio for re-election in the 
same year. 



During the I'"orty-tifth Congress, Mr. 
Cox took upon himself by special resolu- 
tion the work of the new census law, 
which he successfully advocated, being 
also the author of the plan of a])portion- 
mcnt adopted by the house. The ability 



He had by this time obtained a national with which he handled this important 



reputation, not only as an able represent- 
ative in Congress, but as a brilliant, 
humorous and popular speaker. He fore- 
saw that Ohio was destined to soon be- 
come a permanently Republican State, 
and, wishing to live where his own jiartv 



matter drew from (General l''rancis A. 
Walker, the distinguished statistician and 
economist who sujierintended the tenth 
census, a graceful and most flattering 
public testimonial. In his treatment of 
legislative ([uestions Mr. Cox was a close 



held the supremacy, in 1866 he changed student of every subject which would 

his residence from Ohio to New York throw any light upon it. lie always 

City. The wisdom oi this was made a]v aimed at obtaining for the people of the 

parent by his election in 1868 to the United States the widest liberty of indus- 

Forty-first Congress as a representative try, trade and self-government. He was 

from New York City. In 1869 Mr. Cox the introducer and chaini>ion for many 

paid another visit to fuirojie, during years of an important bill concerning the 



which excursion he traveled through 
Italy and northern ,*\frica. lie busied 
himself in writing during his tour, and on 
his arrival in London on his way honie. 
published an account of his journo\' en- 
titled "A Search for W inter .'Sunbeams," 
and which was afterward reprinted in the 
United States. In 1870 he ran against 
Horace Greeley for Congress, defeating 
him by about (uu- tlumsand \otes. 'I'wo 
years later he was defeated by Lyman 
Tremain for Congressman-at-large ; he 
was, however, elected to the same Con- 
gress to fill the vacancy caused by the 
death of James Urooks. b'rom this time 
forward down to the day of his death, Mr. 
Cox was re-elected continuously as a 
member of Congress from the citv of 



Life-saving Service, and finally witnessed 
its passage, and also introduced and car- 
ried through a bill for the i)rotection of 
immigrants, and for the inspection of 
steamships, which put an end to many 
scandalous abuses. 1 1 is work in Con- 
gress also brought .ibout the r.iising of 
the salaries of letler carriers, and the 
granting them a vacition without loss of 
]!ay— an accomplishment xvliich made the 
letters-carriers of the country his friends 
for all time. During all the long jieriod 
in which Mr. Cox was a metropolitan 
congressman, he took a prominent part 
in .'ilniost everv important debate which 
occupied the attention of the house, sus- 
taining the interests of the city of New 
York by every means in his power. He 



New York. .At the opening of the Forty- opposed high tariff and monopolies. He 

fifth Congress, in 1877, he was once more served on important sj)ccial committees 

a candidate for the sjjcakership, and al- of the house, such as the one appointed 

though he was never elected to that posi- to investigate the doings of "Black Fri- 

tion, his knowledge of parliamentary law day," and the one on the Kti-KInx-Klan 

and his appreciation of the amenities of troubles. 

legislative intercourse, made his services Mr. Cox was for many years a regent 

60 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



of the Smithsonian Institution. In the 
summer of 1881 he made his third trip 
to Europe, during which he visited Hol- 
land, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Turkey, 
Egypt and Greece. One of the first acts 
of President Cleveland on taking his seat 
in the Presidential chair in 1885, was to 
appoint Mr. Cox Minister to Turkey, 
which resulted in the most happy man- 
ner. He made a very favorable impres- 
sion upon the Sultan, and during his stay 
in Turkey was successful in clearing up 
several diplomatic complications. He re- 
signed, however, at the end of one year, 
and, at the close of his embassy, both Mr. 
and Mrs. Cox were decorated by the Sul- 
tan. On his return to the United States 
he was re-elected to Congress. Besides 
the works previously mentioned, he pub- 
lished : "Puritanism in Politics" (1863); 
"Why We Laugh" (1876); "Arctic Sun- 
beams" (1882) ; "Orient Sunbeams" and 
"The Three Decades of I'ederal Legisla- 
tion" (1885). His death was felt as a 
national loss. It occurred just after his 
return from a visit to the four new States 
of the Northwest, which, in Congress, he 
had been largely instrumental in creating 
The strain of his long journey, with its 
sightseeing and public speaking, proved 
to be more than his constitution could 
bear, and he died at his residence in New 
York, No. 13 East Twelfth street, Sep- 
tember 12, 1889. He was married in early 
life to Julia Buckingham, of Muskingum, 
county, Ohio. 



SCHOFIELD, John McAllister. 

Distingni'hed CItU "Wax Soldier. 

General John McAllister Schofield was 
born in Chautauqua county. New York. 
September 29, 1831. His father, a clergy- 
man, removed to Bristol, Illinois, when 
the son was about twelve years of age, 
and in 1845 to Freeport, in the same 
State. 



In June, 1849, young Schofield entered 
the United States Military Academy at 
West Point, from which he was gradu- 
ated in 1853, seventh in the same class 
with McPherson, Sheridan, Sill, Terrill, 
Tyler and Hood, all of whom became 
general officers in the Union army dur- 
ing the Civil War, except the last named, 
who served in the Confederate army. 
July I, 1853, he was made brevet second 
lieutenant of artillery, serving at Fort 
Moultrie, South Carolina, and August 31, 
1853 ; promoted to second lieutenant of 
the First Artillery, stationed in Florida, 
1854-1855. From November 19, 1855, 
until August 28, i860, he was on duty at 
the West Point Military Academy as act- 
ing assistant, and then as assistant Pro- 
fessor of Natural and Experimental Phil- 
osophy. While on leave of absence for 
one year, he held the chair of Professor 
of Physics at Washington University, St. 
Louis, Missouri, but when the Civil War 
began he waived the remainder of his 
leave, and was made mustering officer of 
Missouri troops, April 20, 1861, serving 
one month. By permission of the War 
Department he accepted the commission 
of major of the First Regiment Missouri 
Volunteers, April 26th, and on May 14th 
he received the rank of captain in the First 
Artillery of the regular army, remaining, 
however, with the Missouri troops. As 
chief-of-stafT to General Nathaniel Lyon 
he participated in the battle of Wilson's 
Creek, Missouri, August loth. In the fall 
of the same year he was charged with the 
conversion of the First Missouri Infantry 
into an artillery regiment, and with Bat- 
tery A, hastily forwarded from St. Louis, 
took part in the battle of Fredericktown. 
Missouri. October 19th. On November 
2Tst he was appointed by the President 
brigadier-general of volunteers, and on 
the 26th he received a similar commis- 
sion from the governor of Missouri in 
the Missouri State militia, with orders to 



70 





/ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



organize and equip a force of ten thou- 
sand men to be at the service of the Fed- 
eral government, within the limits of the 
State, while the war should last, and 
which should relieve the main armies for 
service in more important fields. From 
February 15th till September 26, 1862, he 
was thus engaged, commanding the Dis- 
trict of the Missouri. From the last date 
until April, 1863, he organized and com- 
manded the Army of the Frontier in the 
southwest part of the State and in north- 
west Arkansas, driving the Confederates 
south of the Arkansas river, having been 
made major-general of volunteers No- 
vember 29, 1862. For about one month, 
April 20th till May 13, 1863, General 
Schofield commanded the Third Division 
of the Fourteenth Army Corps (Army of 
the Cumberland), but was assigned to 
the command of the Department of the 
Missouri, May 13, 1863, and retained it 
until January 31, 1864, sending troops to 
assist General Grant in the capture of 
Vicksburg, operating successfully to ob- 
tain possession of the line of the Arkan- 
sas river, and clearing the State of guer- 
rilla and border war. 

By request of General Grant, January 
31, 1864, General Schofield was assigned 
to command the Department and Army 
of the Ohio, the last consisting of the 
Twenty-third Corps, numbering 13,559 
men, and twenty-eight guns, with about 
4,000 cavalry, forming the left wing of 
General William T. Sherman's army in 
Georgia. With this force he took part in 
all the battles and operations of the en- 
tire Atlanta campaign, viz. : the demon- 
stration at Buzzard's Roost Gap, the bat- 
tles of Resaca and Dallas, the movement 
against and engagements near Lost 
Mountain, the action of Kulp's Farm, the 
battle of Kenesaw Mountain, the passage 
of the Chattahoochee river, and the bat- 
tles near and siege of Atlanta, ending in 
the capture of that city September 2, 



1864. In October, 1864, General Scho- 
field was sent by General Sherman to 
Tennessee, to the assistance of General 
George H. Thomas, commanding the 
troops in the field opposed to General 
Hood, from November 3d till December 
1st. Falling back and skirmishing from 
Pulaski to Columbia, and from the latter 
place to Spring Hill, he finally gave bat- 
tle at Franklin, November 30th, and re- 
pulsed the enemy's largely superior force 
with a loss to them of 1,750 killed, 3,800 
wounded, and 700 prisoners, while the 
total loss of the Federal forces was only 
2,300. General Schofield also participated 
in the battle of Nashville, December 15th 
and i6th, and was engaged in the pur- 
suit of Hood's army until January 14, 

1865, which terminated the campaign. 
His commission of brigadier-general in 
the United States army was dated from 
the battle of Franklin, and March 13, 
1865, he also received the rank of brevet 
major-general in the regular army, for 
"gallant and meritorious services" in the 
same battle. 

To co-operate with General Sherman's 
army on the Atlantic coast after 
its famous "March to the Sea," the 
Twenty-third Army Corps, commanded 
by General Schofield, was transported in 
fourteen days, with all its material, from 
Clifton, Tennessee, to Washington, D. C, 
and by February 8, 1865. reached North 
Carolina. Fort Anderson was taken Feb- 
ruary 19th; Wilmington, February 22d ; 
and Kinston, March 8th-ioth, a junction 
being effected with General Sherman at 
Goldsboro, North Carolina, March 22d. 
At the surrender of Johnston's army at 
Durham Station, April 26th, General 
Schofield executed the military conven- 
tion of capitulation, receiving the arms 
and paroling prisoners. He remained in 
command of the Department of North 
Carolina until June 21st. After the war, 
he visited Europe on a special mission 



71 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



relative to the occupation of Mexico by- 
French troops. From August i6, 1866. 
till June, 1868, he was in command first 
of the Department of the Potomac, and 
then of the First Military District of Vir- 
ginia, as constituted under the reconstruc- 
tion laws. On June 2, 1868, he was ap- 
pointed Secretary of War by President 
Johnston, retaining the office under Pres- 
ident Grant until March 14, 1869, and 
March 4th of the same year he was made 
major-general. From March 20, 1869, till 
May 3, 1870, he was in command of the 
Department of the Missouri, and from the 
last date to July, 1876, of the Military 
Division of the Pacific ; the period from 
December 30, 1872, to April, 1S73. being 
spent on a special mission to the 
Hawaiian Islands. Until January 21, 
1881, he was superintendent of the. Mili- 
tary Academy at West Point. For a few 
months thereafter he commanded the 
Division of the Gulf, spending the year 
subsequent in travel in Europe, October 
15, 1882, he again commanded the Mili- 
tary Division of the Pacific, and Novem- 
ber I, 1883, he succeeded General Sheri- 
dan in command of the Military Division 
of the Missouri, with headquarters at 
Chicago. Illinois. From April 2, 1886, he 
commanded the Military Division of the 
Atlantic, and August 14, 1888, on the 
death of General Sheridan, was assigned 
by President Cleveland to command the 
United States army, with headquarters at 
Washington, D. C. 

In addition to his military services in 
the field. General Schofield presided over 
important boards of officers, notably that 
of 1870, which adopted the "Tactics," 
soon .after adopted for use in the army, 
and the Fitz-John Porter board of 1878. 
He was later under Act of Congress ex- 
officio president of the board of ordnance 
and fortifications. He died in 1906. 



PAULDING, Hiram, 

Distinguished Naval Officer. 

Hiram Paulding, son of the famous 
John Paulding, one of the captors of 
Major Andre, was born December 11, 
1797, near Peekskill, New York, and died 
October 20, 1878. He was brought up 
on his father's farm, and led the usual 
life of a country boy, laboring on the 
tarm in the summer and attending school 
in the winter, until he attained his four- 
teenth year, when Mr. Pierre Van Cort- 
landt, then a member of Congress, sent 
to the father a midshipman's commis- 
sion for PI i ram. 

Young Paulding, on receiving the ap- 
pointment, September i, 181 1, was 
placed in charge of a certain Master Gib- 
bons, an Irish exile, for the purpose of 
receiving instruction in mathematics and 
I'.avigation ; but the next year, as soon as 
war with Great Britain was declared, his 
studies were brought to a close, and he 
was ordered to join Commodore Chaun- 
cey's squadron on Lake Ontario. His 
journey northward in the summer of 
1812 was an eventful one, he making the 
trip from New York to Albany in an 
oyster schooner, and from thence to 
Utica in a lumbering old stage. He had 
at the latter place met a good natured 
drum major bound to Sackett's Harbor, 
and the two joined the regiment of Colo- 
nel Tuttle, which was making a forced 
march to the frontier. The regiment 
reached Sackett's Harbor just in time to 
repulse a raid of the Canadian forces, 
which had landed in that vicinity, and 
young Paulding's endurance and pluck 
made a favorable impression upon Colo- 
nel Tuttle and his officers. Reporting to 
Commodore Chauncey, he soon saw some 
stirring service. He was soon transferred 
to the "President," on Lake Champlain, 
the flagship of the squadron of Master 



72 




-''^co^yi^^^'zjot^ . JN^UxOun^'i^^ vcot,<^'0::i'Cin.' 



■r 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Commandant Macdonough, an officer of 
great spirit and experience, who had 
fought side by side with Decatur at 
Tripoli. But the years 1812-13 were not 
fortunate ones for the American flotilla. 
Two of the latter were captured after 
a sanguinary contest, and the third was 
soon blockaded in Burlington Bay by the 
British squadron, Macdonough having 
but one vessel, originally a transport, to 
oppose to the enemy's power on the lake. 
Being a man of indomitable energy, he 
set to work and during the winter of 
1813-14 succeeded in building another 
fleet. Two new vessels were built, other 
lake craft purchased and adapted to the 
service, and by September 3, Macdon- 
ough found himself with his improvised 
squadron anchored in Plattsburg Bay, 
where he was joined by the bark "Eagle," 
which had been built with unexampled 
rapidity. Paulding participated in the 
numerous skirmishes which our seamen 
had with the enemy, both on land and on 
water, before the completion of the new 
flotilla, and thus became mured to tne 
vicissitudes and dangers of war. About 
the same time the British army, admir- 
ably equipped, and nearly 12,000 strong, 
appeared before Plattsburg, held by 
General Macomb with less than 1,500 
men. Their object was to penetrate if 
possible as far as Albany, and the control 
of Lake Champlain thus became a mat- 
ter of vital importance. One of the 
American gunboats, in opposing the 
march of the British troops, became dis- 
abled, and, with some of the cutters of 
the squadron. Midshipman Paulding, 
now attached to the "Ticonderoga," was 
sent to tow her to a position of safety. 
This, his first responsible service, he ac- 
complished in the midst of a gale and 
under a heavy fire, with great difficulty 
and some loss of life, the results, how- 
ever, being satisfactory to his superiors. 
Sir George Prevost, the commander of 



the British forces, now merely awaited 
the arrival of Commodore Downie's 
squadron to make a combined land and 
water attack on the Americans. Finally 
it arrived, September nth, Sunday morn- 
ing, and shortly after the fleet rounded 
Cumberland Head, with true British 
pluck, it steered boldly for the Amer- 
ican anchorage. A light breeze set in, 
and soon the hostile squadron was with- 
in range of Macdonough's broadsides. 
Though greatly superior in force, the 
enemy was completely routed, and, at 
the close of the engagement, of the sev- 
enteen British flags which had previously 
been displayed, not one was to be seen. 
The British flagship "Confiance" lost in 
killed and wounded, out of a crew of 
300, no less than 124 men, including the 
Commodore. The flagship of the Amer- 
ican squadron, the "Saratoga," lost fifty- 
seven in killed and wounded out of a 
crew of 212. All the enemy's large ves- 
sels were captured, some row-galleys, 
which had previously struck their colors, 
only escaping because there was not a 
mast in the American flotilla which 
would bear the pressure of canvas, so 
riddled were they by shot. On this 
memorable occasion young Paulding, 
though only seventeen years of age, was 
entrusted with the duties of a lieutenant, 
on board the "Ticonderoga." This ves- 
sel bore the whole brunt of the attack 
of the British row-galleys, and its crew 
fought nobly. Paulding, who had charge 
of the second division of great guns, was 
not conscious at the close of the long and 
bloody contest that he had performed 
any very special service, and his gratifi- 
cation may be imagined when in the 
evening he overheard his commander 
say to one of his officers, "that youngster 
Paulding is a brave little fellow." The 
consequences of the battle were immedi- 
ate and important. Sir George Prevost 
beat a hasty retreat, abandoning much 



73 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



of his heavy artillery and stores, and 
from that moment until the close of the 
war the frontier was clear of the enemy. 
Upon the declaration of peace, Pauld- 
ing joined the squadron of Commodore 
Decatur, fitted out to demand redress of 
the Barbary powers for their insults to 
the American flag, and June 17-19, 1815, 
he participated in the capture of the Al- 
gerine vessels "Masora" and '"Estedio." 
The "Masora" was fought singlehanded 
by the "Guerriere" of forty-four guns, 
under the immediate command of Com- 
modore Decatur, she being the flagship of 
the squadron. The action took place ofi 
the Cape de Gait, in Spain, and resulted 
in the capture of the two vessels, the 
"Masora" being a line-of-battle ship of 
sixty-four guns, under command of the 
Algerine High Admiral Hamida. The 
squadron soon appeared before Algiers, 
and forced the Bey to terms. Thence it 
proceeded to Tunis on a similar mission, 
and the result was a complete subjuga- 
tion of the Bey, who became a firm 
friend of the United States. The success 
of this expedition was doubtless due in 
large measure to the prestige won by our 
navy in the war with Great Britain in 
1812, a prestige towards the winning of 
which Paulding's gallant conduct in the 
battle of Lake Champlain had in no mean 
degree contributed. From 1816, when 
he became a lieutenant by promotion, 
until 1818, when he joined the "Mace- 
donian," he was not particularly active. 
During the following three years he 
made a cruise in the Pacific, and had the 
good fortune to witness one of the most 
daring exploits in naval warfare — the 
cutting out of the Spanish frigate "Es- 
merelda" by Lord Cochrane, from under 
the batteries of Callao Castle, Peru. On 
his return to the United States in 1821, 
Paulding procured a leave of absence for 
eighteen months, which he employed in 



study at the Military Academy of Cap- 
tain Partridge, in Norwich, Vermont. 
His forethought enabled him to take 
rank with the best informed men in the 
navy. In the autumn of 1822, Paulding 
joined Commodore Porter's squadron for 
the suppression of piracy in the West 
Indies, serving as first lieutenant of the 
"Sea Gull," the first steamer ever used 
for war purposes, which had originally 
been a Jersey ferry-boat, and was the 
cause of a good deal of merriment ; but 
Porter rigged her as a galliot, and with 
her battery of three guns she rendered 
good services in Cuban waters, though 
it was predicted by many that she would 
founder in the first gale she encountered. 
In 1824 Paulding was ordered to the frig- 
ate "United States," and made a cruise of 
nearly four years in the Pacific, perform- 
ing while there the important service of 
conveying dispatches from Commodore 
Hull to the camp of Simon Bolivar, the 
"Liberator." In the performance of this 
duty he traversed a belt of wild arid and 
mountainous country, making a journey 
of nearly fifteen hundred miles on horse- 
back. An account of his adventures, 
under the title of "Six Weeks in the 
Camp of Bolivar," was published on his 
return to this country. While on duty 
on the "United States," in 1826, Pauld- 
ing volunteered to go on the schooner 
"Dolphin" to the savage Mulgrave 
Islands, in search of the American muti- 
neers of the whaler "Globe." The 
"Dolphin" was commanded by Lieuten- 
ant John Percival, better known in the 
navv as "Mad Jack." Among the mid- 
shipmen was the late Rear-Admiral 
Charles H. Davis, who related an act 
performed on this expedition by Lieu- 
tenant Paulding, which he said was the 
boldest he had ever witnessed. With 
only a cutter's crew, he landed in face of 
a mob of infuriated savages, several hun- 



74 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



dred in number, armed with clubs and 
spears, and, while holding a parley, sud- 
denly seized his man and rapidly march- 
ed him to the boat, a cocked pistol at his 
ear. So taken aback were the natives by 
his audacious conduct that, although 
friendly to the mutineer, they made no 
attempt at recapture until it was too late. 
A very interesting account of this cruise 
was published by Paulding in New York, 
in 1831. The preface is so quaint and 
humorous as to show that he possessed 
much of the wit that distinguished the 
author of "The Dutchman's Fireside" — 
James K. Paulding, afterward .Secretary 
of the Navy. When the "Dolphin" re- 
turned to the coast of South America, 
Paulding rejoined the frigate "United 
States" and in 1828 found himself again in 
New York. From 1830 to 1844, though 
constantly employed at sea, his life was 
comparatively uneventful. For two years 
he served in the Mediterranean, on the 
frigate "Constellation," and in the same 
waters commanded the schooner "Shark," 
from 1834 to 1837. In February of 
the latter year he reached the rank of 
commander, and for three years served 
in that capacity on the "Levant," in the 
West Indies. In 1841, for the first time 
in thirty years, he was assigned to shore 
duty as executive officer of the New 
York Navy Yard, under Commodore 
James Renshaw. Promoted to a captain- 
cy in 1844, he was ordered to the East 
Indies in command of the "Vincennes," 
of twenty guns. This cruise lasted three 
years, and proved the most dismal of his 
life, for, while in China, dysentery broke 
out among the crew and a large number 
of them succumbed to its fatal eflfects. 
The return of Commodore Biddle to the 
United States left Captain Paulding in 
command of the Asiatic squadron, a 
position wherein he displayed zeal, dis- 
cretion and entire devotion to his coun- 



try's interests. Returning home, after a 
brief respite he was given the command 
of the "crack" frigate "St. Lawrence" of 
forty-four guns, and entrusted with a 
diplomatic mission to the north of Eu- 
rope. The French revolution was at its 
height at this period, and its influence 
penetrated the remotest corners of Eu- 
rope. This, probably, made the cruise 
the most interesting that Paulding ever 
took in his life. Our government was 
desirous of aiding the German Confeder- 
ation to establish a navy, and, while at 
Rremerhaven, several young Prussians 
were received on board the "St. Law- 
rence" to be instructed in nautical 
science. Captain Paulding was treated 
with the utmost courtesy by the King of 
Prussia and Prince Adelbert, the German 
admiral, being invited to visit Berlin, 
where he was handsomely entertained at 
the royal palace, and presented to the 
members of the German Parliament at 
Frankfort-on-the-Main. He returned 
home in 1851, and assumed command of 
the Washington Navy Yard, where he 
remained three years. At the expiration 
of this period, he was appointed to the 
highest position in the gift of the govern- 
ment, the command of the West India 
squadron. On December 8, 1857, he ar- 
rested Walker, the fillibuster, with all 
his men, at Greytown, Nicaragua, and 
sent him to the United States for trial. 
The republic of Nicaragua, whose soil 
Walker was alleged to have violated, 
hastened to tender Paulding its thanks, 
and presented him with a large tract of 
land and a magnificent jeweled sword, 
which present Congress by special act 
allowed him to accept in 1861. Presi- 
dent Buchanan did not, however, approve 
of Paulding's course, and he was accord- 
ingly relieved from his command, having 
been at the head of the squadron nearly 
three years. 



75 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



The three years from 1858 to 1861 
Paulding spent in comparative inactivity, 
but on the breaking out of the Civil War 
he was detailed by President Lincoln to 
assist Secretary Welles in the Navy De- 
partment, with the rank of commodore. 
Among the many onerous duties devolv- 
ing upon him was the destruction of the 
Norfolk Navy Yard. His conduct in this 
matter was much criticized, but received 
the entire approval of the President and 
Secretary of the Navy. In September, 
1861, he served as a member of the board 
to examine the plans of iron-cased ves- 
sels, and upon its recommendation that 
wonderful invention of Ericsson, the 
"Monitor," was constructed. Shortly 
after this he was ordered to the command 
of the New York Navy Yard, the most 
important station the government pos- 
sessed. His duties here were extremely 
arduous, but, although in his sixty-fifth 
year and technically on the retired list, 
he displayed an energy and foresight that 
aided materially in the final success of 
the Union. It was entirely due to his 
foresight that the "Monitor" was so 
speedily equipped for service and enabled 
to confront and disable the Confederate 
ram "Merrimac," in March, 1862, and 
thus arrest her destructive career. In 
July, 1862, the grade of rear-admiral was 
created, and President Lincoln directed 
the appointment of ten of the most dis- 
tinguished retired officers of the navy to 
that grade. Hiram Paulding was one of 
the ten upon whom the honor was con- 
ferred, and, having survived all his com- 
rades, was at the time of his death the 
senior rear-admiral in the navy. During 
the draft riots in New York City in 1863, 
Admiral Paulding was largely instru- 
mental in preventing the destruction of 
public and private property From 1866 
to 1869 he was governor of the Naval 
Asylum in Philadelphia. 3.nd in 1870 was 



assigned to the merely nominal duty of 
port admiral at Boston. This position 
he relinquished in 1871, after which he 
resided quietly on his farm at Lloyd's 
Harbor, on Long Island Sound, where 
he led a peaceful, happy life, surrounded 
by his children and grandchildren. In 
1814 Congress voted him a sword for 
gallantry on Lake Champlain, and King 
Victor Emanuel, of Italy, conferred upon 
him the equestrian order of St. Maurice, 
whose acceptance Congress authorized, 
but he rarely displayed it, and probably 
few of his neighbors at Lloyd's Harbor 
knew that an Italian knight resided 
among them. During his long and event- 
ful life, Admiral Paulding always acted 
with ability and discretion, having ever 
in view the public good. Many anecdotes 
are related illustrating his kindness of 
spirit. His officers and men universally 
admired and respected him, and, though 
a man of most positive views and char- 
acter, he probably never had an enemy 
in the service during his long connection 
with it. The Captain-General of Cuba 
declared him to be the most distinguish- 
ed naval officer in bearing whom he had 
ever seen in the port of Havana. Of 
stalwart frame, he combined with dig- 
nity of mien the greater dignity of intel- 
lect, and although a strict disciplinarian, 
his kind, benevolent manner irresistibly 
attracted all who came in contact with 
him. For many weeks previous to his 
death he had been gradually failing. All 
his comrades in the exciting events of 
1812-15 had preceded him, and he often 
felt a sense of loneliness of which he 
wearied and to which death afforded a 
welcome relief. Brave, honest and pa- 
triotic, he will always have a foremost 
place in the hearts of his countrymen, 
and take rank with the most celebrated 
naval heroes of the age. 



76 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPIJ^ 



PARKER, Willard, 

Distingniialied Medical Scientist. 

Willard Parker was born at Hillsbor- 
ough, New Hampshire, September 2, 
1800. From an ancestry of English Pur- 
itan stock he inherited a strong physical 
constitution, as well as sound mental 
capacity for the laborious and useful life 
that lay before him. When he was five 
years old his family moved to Chelms- 
ford (now Lowell), Massachusetts, and 
there the lad worked on his father's farm 
until he was nineteen. During the latter 
years of this period he taught a district 
school, and so earned the money to take 
him to Harvard College, from which he 
was graduated A. B. in 1826. It was the 
wish of his parents and of himself that 
he should enter the ministry, but fate de- 
cided otherwise. The story reminds one 
of Nathan Smith's awakening. While 
Parker was in his freshman year, his 
chum was brought low by a strangulated 
hernia, which the efforts of a neighbor- 
ing physician failed to reduce. John C. 
Warren was sent for, and his diagnosis, 
as well as the facility with which he re- 
duced the obstruction, so impressed 
young Parker that he resolved to devote 
his life to the study and practice of medi- 
cine. His first advantage was in obtain- 
ing (1827) the position of house phy- 
sician at the United States Marine Hos- 
pital, in Chelsea, Massachusetts, where 
he served two years under S. D. Town- 
send. Later he was a pupil of John C. 
Warren, and upon the creation of the 
office he was appointed (February 26, 
1829) house-pupil at the Massachusetts 
General Hospital, having secured his 
medical degree from Harvard College 
meantime, graduating M. D. in Febru- 
ary, 1830. 

Though Parker was not yet thirty 
years of age, he had already established 



a reputation as a lecturer. Accordingly, 
he was invited in the summer of 1829, 
a year before his graduation, to deliver a 
course of lectures on anatomy in the 
Medical School at Woodstock, Vermont. 
This he did in the winter following, and 
was appointed Professor of Anatomy in 
the Vermont Medical College. In 1830 
he was also elected to the Professorship 
of Anatomy at the Berkshire Medical 
Institution. He lectured twice daily at 
Berkshire, and in 1833 the chair of sur- 
gery was added to his previous appoint- 
ment. In 1836 he was offered the Pro- 
fessorship in Surgery at the Cincinnati 
Medical College. There he taught for 
one term, and then went to Europe for 
study in London and Paris. 

Upon returning to America, Parker 
was given the chair of Clinical Surgery 
in the College of Physicians and Sur- 
geons in New York, where he worked for 
the next thirty years of his life (1839- 
1869), and where his work and his ac- 
complishments were brilliant and un- 
usual. His rise in his profession seemed 
instantaneous and complete. He was 
immediately recognized as a teacher and 
surgeon of a high order, and his bold 
operations and distinguished talents soon 
placed him in the foremost rank. He 
was a man of high character and broad 
public spirit. Parker's far-seeing mind 
appreciated early the deficiencies in the 
method then employed for teaching sur- 
gery, and upon his acceptance of the Pro- 
fessorship of Clinical Surgery he set 
about making better use of the oppor- 
tunities offered in a large city. Not hav- 
ing a hospital service, he visited daily 
with his students the two city dispen- 
saries, and gradually succeeded in ob- 
taining material sufficient for demonstra- 
tion before the class at the Medical Col- 
lege, then located in Crosby street; New 
York City. The anatomical rooms were 



17 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



utilized for the teaching of clinical diag- 
nosis, and later for the performance of 
operations illustrating the cases from the 
dispensaries. Thus grew up a method 
of holding those "clinics" which are now 
a factor in medical education. Such 
work stamped Parker as a resourceful 
teacher. In i8j? Parker became asso- 
ciated with James R. Wood in reorgan- 
izing the City Alms House and develop- 
ing it into Bellevue Hospital, under a 
board of governors. Parker and Wood 
were made the visiting physicians. He 
was also one of the founders of the Acad- 
emy of Medicine, and was its president. 
The Health Department of the city was 
notoriously inefificient, and this inefifi- 
ciency the Academy of Medicine set out 
to correct. Under Parker's initiative 
they brought about the formation of a 
board of health. Long afterwards a trib- 
ute to its founders was thus expressed: 
"This board has inspired most of the 
legislation upon hygiene, reforming our 
building laws, giving us improved sew- 
erage, checking the adulteration of food ; 
demonstrated the necessity of pure 
water, and proper ventilation in all parts 
of our dwellings; it has fought manfully 
for the preservation of our public parks, 
the lungs of the city; it has stimulated 
tree planting, and aided in beautifying 
the city in a variety of ways." In 1856 
Parker was appointed surgeon to the 
Kew York Hospital. In 1865 he was ap- 
pointed successor to Valentine Mott as 
president of the State Inebriate Asylum 
at Binghamton, the first establishment 
ever founded for the treatment of 
drunkenness as a disease. 

Princeton College conferred upon him 
the degree of LL. D. in 1S70, at a time 
when he was consulting surgeon to the 
New Y'ork Hospital, Bellevue Hospital, 
St. Luke's Hospital, Roosevelt Hospital, 
Mt. Sinai Hospital, and Emeritus Pro- 

78 



fessor of Surgery at the College of Phy- 
sicians and Surgeons. In addition, he 
had been Professor of Anatomy at 
Geneva College, and Professor of An- 
atomy and Surgery at Colby University. 
During his active career, Parker con- 
tributed a great deal to the advancement 
of surgical science. He was the first 
to suggest the condition which is known 
as "concussion of the nerves," as distin- 
guished from concussion of the nerve 
centers — a state previously mistaken for 
an inflammation ; he introduced cystos- 
toniy for the relief of chronic cystitis; 
he was one of the first to operate for ap- 
pendicitis, as we recognize it today; he 
introduced the division of the sphincter 
of the rectum near the coccygeal attach- 
ments, and the widening of the denuded 
surface in the operation for repair of 
lacerated perineum. As a teacher Parker 
had a high reputation. With a fine per- 
sonal presence and a rare courtesy, he 
won the regard of his pupils. By his 
direct and lucid manner he made each 
step of an operation plain; and he con- 
stantly impressed upon his students, 
both by his own methods and by his dis- 
course upon the practice of others, the 
value of simplicity and common sense in 
operating and in general treatment. His 
countenance was characterized by a 
freshness and vigor which showed in his 
every action the possession and advan- 
tages of a sound physique. 

The Willard Parker Hospital in New 
York was erected and named in honor of 
this man who did so much for medical 
education. He died in New York. April 
25, 1884. 



LESLIE, Frank, 

Noted Pnblislier. 

Frank Leslie was born in Ipswich, 
England, March 29, 1821. His real name 
was Henry Carter, and he was the son of 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Joseph Carter, well known throughout 
England for his extensive glove manu- 
factory. The latter designed to bring up 
his son so that he could succeed him in 
business, and accordingly gave him the 
benefit of a careful education, and when 
he was seventeen years of age, placed 
him in a wholesale drygoods house in 
London. The boy, however, had from an 
early age evinced a strong artistic 
talent, and before he left school had be- 
come proficient in the use of both the 
pencil and the graver. On arriving in 
London, he soon began to make sketches, 
and some of these he sent to the "Lon- 
don Illustrated News," which had then 
recently begun publication. These 
sketches, he signed "Frank Leslie," 
adopting the nom de plume in order that 
his family and friends should not know 
what he was doing. His efforts were well 
received, his sketches being promptly 
accepted, and he decided to give up the 
drygoods business, and accordingly made 
application at the office of the "News" 
for a position. He was placed in the en- 
graving department, and before he was 
of age was superintendent of it. He 
studied the different branches of the 
business, besides becoming an expert en- 
graver on wood. 

While engaged on the "News," he 
formed the idea of emigrating to Amer- 
ica, and starting an illustrated paper. In 
1848 he arrived in New York, and thence 
went to Boston, where he was first em- 
ployed on "Gleason's Pictorial." Re- 
turning to New York, he obtained by 
legislative act the right to use the name 
of Frank Leslie in business, doubtless 
with some foreshadowing in his mind of 
its possible employment in the future at 
the head of an illustrated paper or maga- 
zine. He became superintendent of the 
engraving department of the "Illustrated 
News," a pictorial paper published by 



Moses Y. Beach. In 1854 he began the 
publication of a periodical called "The 
Gazette of Fashion," on his own account, 
with the small capital which he had ac- 
cumulated. This became immediately 
popular, and was soon followed by the 
issue of the "New York Journal." On 
December 14, 1855, appeared the first 
number of the new illustrated paper bear- 
ing the title "Frank Leslie's Illustrated 
Newspaper." Among the first illustra- 
tions in this paper were those represent- 
ing the Arctic explorations of Dr. Kane, 
and the World's Fair in the Crystal 
Palace, London. From the beginning of 
the Civil War, Mr. Leslie had a corps of 
correspondents and artists employed, and 
kept them scattered all over the country, 
illustrating the battles, marches, sieges, 
and other incidents of the great struggle, 
which were afterward gathered together 
and published in two large folio volumes, 
under the title "The Soldier in our Civil 
War." During this period his paper be- 
came extraordinarily successful, reaching 
a very large circulation. Mr. Leslie was 
the first to introduce into his engraving 
department a method of speedily execut- 
ing the work on his illustrations. His 
process consisted in dividing the block 
into a great many different parts, each 
of which was given to a separate work- 
man to execute, by which means he was 
enabled to reproduce scenes and occur- 
rences and publish them in his news- 
paper in the shortest possible time. One 
such case occurred in regard to the 
great prize-fight in England between 
'J'om Sayers and John C. Heenan, the 
latter being a native of Troy, New York, 
but known as the "Benicia Boy," from 
his having first displayed his prowess as 
a pugilist in Benicia, California. When 
the fight was about to take place, Mr. 
Leslie sent over his most expert artists, 
and sketches were made of the scene, 



79 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



taken on the spot, and as quickly as pos- 
sible after the fight was over, the artists 
took steamer for America. While on 
board the ship the drawing was made 
upon wood, to represent a double-page 
cartoon of the prize ring and its sur- 
roundings, while the fight was in prog- 
ress. The block was made up of thirty- 
two diiiferent sections joined together, 
and immediately on the arrival of the 
steamer in New York a different en- 
graver was put on each section. The re- 
sult was that the illustration was com- 
pleted and the paper, with a full account 
of the occurrence and this startling 
double-page cartoon, was on the streets 
long before any advancement in that 
direction had been made by rival news- 
papers. 

Mr. Leslie's establishment grew in im- 
portance with the growth of his business. 
For a long time he published ten differ- 
ent illustrated papers and magazines 
from his large building in Pearl street, 
but eventually removed to a fine marble 
structure in Park place, where all the 
processes of his vast business were car- 
ried on, Mr. Leslie employing several 
hundred persons in the diiiferent depart- 
ments of his establishment. He had 
gradually added to his first publications, 
"The Ladies' Journal," "The Boys' and 
Girls' Weekly," "Chimney Corner," 
"Boys of America," "Pleasant Hours," 
"The Budget of Fun," "The Jolly Joker," 
"Chatterbox," "Illustrated Almanac," 
"The Sunday Magazine," and the "Pop- 
ular Monthly." He became very wealthy, 
and owned a beautiful country-seat call- 
ed "Interlaken," on Saratoga lake, where 
he had terraced grounds, fine gardens, 
kept a steam-yacht, and entertained on 
a magnificent scale. In New York, he 
lived in the former residence of William 
M. Tweed, in Fifth avenue, and on a 



scale of corresponding affluence and lib- 
erality. The result of this was that in 
the time of financial stringency, coming 
on in 1877, he was unable to meet his 
engagements, and made an assignment. 
He continued to direct the work of his 
establishment, however, for the benefit 
of his creditors, who were represented 
by Isaac W. England, the publisher of 
the New York "Sun." 

Mr. Leslie was a prominent Free Ma- 
son, and a member of the Lotos, Manhat- 
tan and New York Jockey clubs. As 
early as 1848 he received from the Amer- 
ican Institute the medal for perfection 
in wood engraving. In 1867 he was sent 
as a commissioner to the Paris Expo- 
sition, in the department of fine arts, and 
was personally presented by Napoleon 
III. with a gold medal for his services as 
a juryman. In 1876 he was president of 
the New York State Centennial Com- 
mission. During the same year he enter- 
tained at his country home the Emperor 
and Empress of Brazil. Mr. Leslie had 
remarkably fine artistic taste and appre- 
ciation, and possessed a thorough knowl- 
edge of every detail of his business. He 
was greatly liked and admired by all in 
his employ, or who had dealings with 
him. He was personally a most agree- 
able and courteous gentleman, and was 
a most pleasant social companion. He 
died January 10, 1880. 

Mr. Leslie was twice married. By his 
first wife he had three sons, all of whom 
were, previous to his failure, engaged 
with him in the publishing business. He 
married, late in life, the former wife of 
E. G. Squier, at one time United States 
Minister to Peru. She survived him, and 
carried on the business of the house, 
which she reduced materially from time 
to time by disposing of various of the 
publications. 



80 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



FOSTER, Henry Allen, 

LiCLvryeT, Jurist, Ijegislator. 

Henry Allen Foster was born in Hart- 
ford, Connecticut, May 7, 1800. In early 
life he removed with his parents to Caze- 
novia, New York, and in the common 
schools of that place obtained a practical 
education which prepared him for an ac- 
tive career. Later he became a clerk in 
the office of David B. Johnson, under 
whose excellent preceptorship he pursued 
a course of study in law, and was ad- 
mitted to the New York bar in 1822. 

He early evinced a keen interest in poli- 
tics, advocating the principles as laid 
down by the Democratic party, and in 
183 1 he was elected to serve in the State 
Senate, his term expiring in 1834; he was 
again elected in 1841, and served until 

1844, and in 1836 was elected to represent 
New York State in the Twenty-fifth Con- 
gress (1837-39). On November 30, 1844, 
he was temporarily appointed to the 
United States Senate, as successor to 
Silas Wright, Jr., who had resigned to be- 
come Governor, and he continued a mem- 
ber of the upper house until January 18, 

1845, when he was succeeded by John 
A. Dix. He was a delegate to the Na- 
tional Democratic Convention of 1848 
that nominated Lewis Cass for President, 
and in 1863 he became a Supreme Court 
Judge for the Fifth District, serving as 
such until 1869, meriting the approval 
and approbation of his constituents and 
the community-at-large. He possessed 
considerable talent, as evinced in his posi- 
tions of legislator, judge and lawyer, in 
all of which he gained an enviable repu- 
tation, and he continued in the active 
practice of his profession up to within a 
few years of his death. Of the combina- 
tion of Democratic leaders known as the 
"Albany Regency," he was the last sur- 
viving member. He was a member of the 
board of trustees of Hamilton College, 

N Y— Vol 11-6 S 



1836-89, and the honorary degree of 
LL.D. was conferred upon him by that 
institution of learning in i860. He served 
as vice-president of the American Colon- 
ization Society. Judge Foster made his 
home at Rome, New York, for many 
years prior to his death, which occurred 
there on May 12, 1889. 



HARRIS, Towmsend, 

Diplomatist. 

Townsend Harris, the first United 
States minister to Japan, was born in 
Sandy Hill, Washington county, New 
York, ^October 3, 1804, son of Jonathan 
Harris, grandson of Gilbert and Thank- 
ful (Townsend) Harris, of Ticonderoga, 
New York, and a descendant of Welsh 
ancestors, who emigrated to America with 
Roger Williams. His maternal grand- 
father, John Watson, served with Gilbert 
Harris in the Continental army under 
General Gates. The early ancestors sen- 
tied first in Massachusetts and later gen- 
erations settled in Ulster county. New 
York, and thence to Essex and Washing- 
ton counties. 

Townsend Harris was educated partly 
by his mother, a woman of noble char- 
acter and stately presence, and partly at 
the district school. In 1817, when only 
fourteen years of age, he removed to New 
York City, and there became a clerk in 
a drygoods store, and a few years later 
his father and elder brother removed to 
New York and the three organized the 
business of importing china and earthen- 
ware. After the great fire in New York 
in 1835, when their store was blown up 
with gunpowder to prevent the spread of 
the fiames, the business was reorganized 
as John & Townsend Harris, and it so 
continued until 1847, '^ which year Town- 
send Harris disposed of his interest in 
the same. He then purchased a half in- 
terest in a vessel bound for California. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



He sailed around Cape Horn to Califor- 
nia, touching at points in South America, 
and at San Prancisco he purchased the 
other half of the vessel and projected a 
trading voyage to China and the Dutch 
and English Indies. In 1848 he sailed 
as supercargo on one of his own vessels 
to the South Pacific ocean, visiting all 
the Asiatic countries on the Indian ocean. 
For five years he continued in commercial 
voyaging, and his journal notes his 
Christmas as follows : 1849, at sea in the 
North Pacific ocean ; 1850, at Manila ; 
1851, at Pulo-Penang; 1852, at Singa- 
pore; 1853, at Hong-Kong; 1854, at Cal- 
cutta; 1855, at Ceylon; 1S56, in Japan. 
He was acting vice-consul for the United 
States at Ningpo, China, in 1854, and on 
March 24th of that year wrote to Secre- 
tary Marcy setting forth the capabilities 
and importance to the United States of 
the island of Formosa as a coaling station 
and depot, and proposed that the United 
States acquire the island by purchase. He 
was summoned to the United States by 
the Secretary of State, and on his way 
visited India, the Red Sea, Egypt, Alex- 
andria, Gibraltar, London and Liverpool, 
and arrived in New York on July 27, 1855 
On August 4th he was appointed consul- 
general to Japan, to make a treaty with 
that government, then first visited by 
Commodore Perry, and he was also en- 
trusted by President Pierce to make a 
commercial treaty with the kingdom of 
Siam. His appointment as the first com- 
missioner to Japan was made upon the 
joint recommendation of William H. 
Seward and Commodore Perry. He per- 
sonally purchased the presents sent to 
the respective rulers. He left New York, 
October 17, 1855, arrived at Penang, 
January 19, 1856, where the non-arrival 
of the "San Jacinto" with his secretary 
and the rest of his suite kept him waiting 
seventy-six days, and he reached Siam, 
April 4th, where he concluded the treaty. 



He left Bangkok, on May 31, 1856, and on 
August 25, same year, in company with 
Commodore Perry, he was received by 
the governor and vice-governor of Shi- 
moda. He subsequently visited Yeddo, 
and after two years' residence and numer- 
ous interviews, much opposition and 
many vexatious delays, the written prom- 
ise of the Yeddo government was gained 
February 17, 1858, and the treaty signed 
July 29, 1858, by which Japan was opened 
to the world. On January 7, 1859, Presi- 
dent Buchanan nominated and the Senate 
confirmed his appointment as Alinister 
President of the United States to Japan. 
On June 30 the consulate was removed 
from Shimoda to Kanagawa, and the 
American flag was hoisted July i, 1859. 
At Yeddo the American Minister held his 
position alone amid murders, assassina- 
tions and incendiarisms, after all his col- 
leagues had retired to Yokohama, and on 
January 14, i860, his interpreter and pri- 
vate secretary, Mr. Heusken, was murder- 
ed. At his suggestion, a Japanese em- 
bassy of seventy-one persons headed by 
Shimmi left for the United States by way 
of San Francisco to exchange ratifications 
of the treaty which had been signed by 
the Mikado in 1868, and to obtain a fresh 
copy of the Perry treaty. On July 10, 
1861, Mr. Harris sent his resignation to 
President Lincoln, which was reluctant- 
ly accepted, October 21, 1861. Before 
leaving Japan he gave $1,000 for the erec- 
tion of the .'Vmerican L^nion Church at 
Yokohama, built in 1875, ^.nd standing on 
the old Perr}- treaty ground. After wel- 
coming his successor, Robert H. Pruyn, 
he spent some time in travel in Asia and 
Europe, and then settled in New York 
City. He received from Queen Victoria 
a gold watch studded with diamonds, in 
recognition of the assistance he had given 
to the British minister to Japan. 

Mr. Harris was a member of the Board 
of Education of New York City for 



82 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



several years, and president of the board, 
1846-47. He was one of the prime movers 
in founding the Free Academy, afterward 
the College of the City of New York, and 
he was also one of the founders of the 
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to 
Animals. He was a member of the Volun- 
teer Fire Department and of the State 
militia. He was brought up in the Pres- 
byterian faith, and later joined the 
communion of the Protestant Episcopal 
church. He was a member of the Union 
and other clubs, and learned societies of 
Europe and America. He was a man of 
wide culture, of sterling integrity, of great 
moral strength, and of singularly pure 
character. He never married. He died in 
New York City, February 25, 1878. 



LEFFERTS, Marshall, 

Inventor, Soldier. 

Marshall Lefferts was born in Bedford 
District, Brooklyn. New York, January 
15, 1821, son of Leffert and Amelia Ann 
(Cozine) Lefferts, grandson of John L. 
and Sarah (Cowenhoven) Lefferts, great- 
grandson of Rem and Ida Cowenhoven, 
and a descendant of Leffert Pieterson van 
Haughwout, of Holland, who settled in 
Flatbush, Long Island, New York, before 
1688. 

Marshall Lefferts received his educa- 
tion in the Brooklyn public schools. He 
became a civil engineer, and subsequently 
an importer and manufacturer of galvan- 
ized iron ware. He joined the Seventh 
Regiment, National Guard State of New 
York, in 1851, and in the following year 
was made its lieutenant-colonel, and suc- 
ceeded Abram Duryee as colonel in 1859. 
In response to Lincoln's call for troops to 
defend the national capital in 1861, the 
Seventh Regiment was the first New 
York regiment to march to the front. 
Colonel Lefferts transporting it by boat 
to Annapolis, Maryland, and marching 



83 



thence across the State to Washington, 
the march being attended with consider- 
able hazard. After thirty days' service 
the regiment returned home, and in 1862 
and again in 1863 he led the regiment in 
emergency service at critical periods of 
the Civil War. While in Frederick, Mary- 
land, in 1863, Colonel Left'erts was made 
military governor of the city. The regi- 
ment was recalled to New York in July, 
1863, to protect the city from rioters who, 
in resistance to the draft for military serv- 
ice, had held the citizens and their prop- 
erty at their mercy for two or three days. 
The presence of the Seventh Regiment 
and its steady and determined march 
through the streets aided the authorities 
in gaining control of the rioters, and in 
the restoration of order. Lefferts resigned 
the colonelcy of the Seventh Regiment in 
1865, declined the position of brigadier- 
general of militia, and accepted the com- 
mand of the veteran corps of the Seventh 
Regiment. 

He furnished the first zinc plated wire 
which came into general use as rustproof. 
He early recognized the commercial pos- 
sibilities of the telegraph as invented by 
Morse, and was a director and president 
of the companies first organized in New 
York and New England between 1849 
and i860. He perfected and patented a 
system of automatic transmissions, and 
his invention was purchased by the 
American Telegraph Company, which 
employed him as electrical engineer and 
consulting engineer. He devised the in- 
strument to measure the distance to de- 
fects in wires used in the transmission 
of messages, and made it possible to raise 
and repair broken submarine cables. The 
American Telegraph Company consoli- 
dated with the Western Union Telegraph 
Company in 1866, and in the following 
year Mr. Lefferts resigned his position as 
electrical engineer of the Western Union, 
and organized the Commercial News De- 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



partment of that company. In 1869 he 
was made president of the Gold and Stock 
Telegraph Company, which company in 
1871 purchased the Commercial News 
Department of the Western Union, and 
he became president and manager of the 
combined interests. While accompany- 
ing his military corps to Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania, to attend a Fourth of July 
parade in connection with the Centennial 
Exhibition, he died suddenly on the cars 
near Newark, New Jersey, July 3, I870. 

Mr. Leflferts was married, June 4, 1845, 
to Mary, daughter of Gilbert and Ann 
(Raymond) Allen. 



RICHARDSON, Albert Deane, 

Journalist, Author. 

Albert Deane Richardson was born in 
Franklin, Massachusetts, October 6, 1833, 
son of Elisha and Harriet (Blake) Rich- 
ardson, and grandson of Timothy and 
Julia (Deane) Blake. He was reared on 
a farm, and his education was obtained 
in the public schools and at Holliston 
Academy, where he edited the academy 
paper and contributed both prose and 
verse to the "Waverly Magazine" and 
other Boston publications. He taught 
school two terms in Medway, Massachu- 
setts, and in 1851 went to Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania, where he taught for a short 
time in a district school before engaging 
in journalistic work on the "Pittsburgh 
Journal." He also attempted some dra- 
matic writing at this time, several of his 
farces being purchased by Barney Wil- 
liams, and he also appeared a few times 
on the professional stage. 

He removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 
1852, where he was local editor of "The 
Sun," and correspondent for several news- 
papers. In 1853 he went an a journalistic 
trip to Niagara Falls and there formed 
the acquaintance of Junius Henri Browne, 
who became his life-long friend. He was 



subsequently detailed to report the cele- 
brated "Matt Ward" trial in Kentucky, 
the sale of his published report exceeding 
twenty thousand copies. In 1854 he 
was employed on the "Cincinnati Union- 
ist," and afterward edited the Cincinnati 
"Columbian," declining its entire manage- 
ment in 1855. In 1857 he went to Kan- 
sas, and there participated in the exciting 
events of the anti-slavery agitation, which 
he graphically described in a series of 
letters to the "Boston Journal," and he 
also served as secretary of the territorial 
legislature. In 1859 he joined Horace 
Greeley and Henry Villard in a journal- 
istic expedition to the gold fields of Pike's 
Peak, in Colorado, and later in the same 
year he journeyed on horseback through 
the southwestern territories, visiting the 
Cherokee and Choctaw reservations, and 
sending periodical descriptions of his 
travels to the "New York Sun" and other 
newspapers. In i860 he made a second 
trip to Pike's Peak as special correspon- 
dent of the "New York Tribune," in com- 
pany with Colonel Thomas W. Knox, 
with whom he established and edited the 
"Western Mountaineer." He traveled 
through the southern states as secret cor- 
respondent of "The Tribune" in 1860-61, 
and afterward accompanied the army as 
a war correspondent. On May 3, 1863, 
with Junius H. Browne, also of "The 
Tribune," and Colburn, of the "New York 
World," he joined the party of thirty-four 
men who attempted to pass the Vicks- 
burg batteries on two barges lashed to 
a steam-tug. They were captured, and 
held prisoners for twenty-two months at 
Salisbury, North Carolina, being in six 
other southern prisons, but finally escap- 
ed, and after a journey of four hundred 
miles reached the Federal lines at Straw- 
berry Plains, Tennessee, in 1865. Dur- 
ing his imprisonment his wife and infant 
son, had died, and he himself had con- 
tracted pneumonia, and was obliged to 
84 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



visit California for the benefit of his 
health in the spring of 1865 and again in 
1869. He subsequently resided in New 
York City, but made frequent visits to 
other cities of the north, delivering lec- 
tures on his w^ar experience. He was the 
author of: "The Field, the Dungeon and 
the Escape" (1865) ; "Beyond the Missis- 
sippi" (1866) ; and "Personal History of 
Ulysses S. Grant" (1868). He was mar- 
ried in November, 1869, while on his 
death-bed, to Abby, daughter of William 
Sage, of Manchester, New Hampshire, 
and after his death his widow published 
a collection of his fugitive writings, en- 
titled "Garnered Sheaves" (1871), to 
which she prefixed a biographical sketch 
of the author. ]\Ir. Richardson died De- 
cember 2, 1869, his death being the result 
of a shot received while in "The Tribune" 
office, November 26, 1869, inflicted by 
Daniel MacFarland. 



SPINNER, Francis Elias, 

U. S. Treasnrer Dnriug Civil ^Var. 

Francis Elias Spinner was born in Ger- 
man Flats, New York, January 21, 1802; 
son of John Peter Spinner. His father 
was a Roman Catholic priest who became 
a Protestant and came to America, be- 
coming pastor of Reformed churches in 
New York State. 

The son engaged in business at Herki- 
mer, New York. He early became active 
in the state militia, entering the service 
as a lieutenant, and in 1834 had risen to the 
rank of major-general. In 1839 ^^ entered 
the Alohawk Valley Bank of which he 
subsequently became president. He serv- 
ed in the naval office of the New York 
customs-house from 1845 to 1849. He 
was a Free-soil Democratic representative 
from New York in the Thirty-fourth Con- 
gress, 1855-57, and a Republican represen- 
tative in the Thirty-fifth and Thirty-sixth 



Congresses, 1857-61, serving on several 
important committees, and on the special 
committee appointed to investigate the 
Brooks-Sumner assault. He was appoint- 
ed United States Treasurer by President 
Lincoln, at the instance of Secretary 
Chase, March 6, 1861, and held the posi- 
tion through successive administrations 
until June 30, 1875. He was the first 
person to employ women in government 
service, and his unique signature became 
well-known on the various issues of 
greenbacks. He died in Jacksonville, 
Florida. December 31, 1890. 



McCLOSKEY, Rt. Rev. John, 

First American Cardinal. 

John McCloskey, cardinal, and second 
Archbishop of the Diocese of New York, 
was born at Brooklyn, New York, March 
20, 1810. His parents were natives of 
Derry county, Ireland. He was baptized 
in St. Peter's Church, one of the two 
Roman Catholic churches then in New 
York City. His father dying when he 
was ten years old, the care of his educa- 
tion was left to his mother, who, having 
ample means, gave her son every, educa- 
tional advantage. He was prepared for 
college in the New York City parochial 
schools, and was then sent to Mt. St. 
Mary's College, Emmitsburg, Maryland, 
and after a brilliant college career he was 
graduated with high honors in the class 
of 1827. Having decided to enter the 
priesthood, he at once began his theo- 
logical studies, and on January 9, 1834, 
at the age of twenty-five, was ordained a 
priest in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Mott 
street, New York. He was granted the 
privilege of continuing his studies for two 
years at the College of the Propaganda, 
Rome, at that time a mark of great favor. 
He sailed for Europe in November, 1834, 
and remained abroad for three years, trav- 



8S 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



eling through France and the different 
countries of Europe after completing his 
course at the Propaganda. 

Upon his return to America, he was 
appointed pastor of St. Joseph's Church, 
New York City, a position which he held 
for seven years. In 1841 Bishop Hughes 
appointed the talented young priest presi- 
dent of St. John'^ College, Fordham. He 
subsequently resumed the rectorship of 
St. Joseph's Church, and on March 10, 
1844, was consecrated Bishop of Axieren, 
and coadjutor to Bishop Hughes, with 
right of succession. He meanwhile con- 
tinued his pastorate at St. Joseph's, and 
in 1847, when the see of Albany was 
created, was placed in charge of the new 
diocese, which then contained only forty 
churches and a few priests. When he 
was called to the archiepiscopal see of 
New York, seventeen years later, there 
were one hundred and thirteen churches 
in the diocese, eight chapels, fifty-four 
mission stations, eighty-five missionaries, 
three academies for boys and one for 
girls, six orphan asylums, and fifteen pa- 
rochial schools. As bishop he introduced 
a number of religious orders, prominent 
among which were the Jesuits, Oblates, 
Franciscans, Capuchins, Augustinians, 
Sisters of Mercy, and Sisters of St. 
Joseph. He founded the Theological 
Seminary at Troy, and erected St. Mary's 
Cathedral at ./Mbany. In 1851 he went 
abroad, where he was received with 
marked distinction, especially by Pope 
Pius IX. Upon the death of Archbishop 
Hughes in 1864, Bishop McCloskey suc- 
ceeded to the archbishopric of New York, 
and was installed on August 21st of that 
year. The see then included New Eng- 
land, New Jersey and New York. Arch- 
bishop McCloskey was in disposition and 
character entirely unlike his illustrious 
predecessor. He was able to reap the 
results of the controversial administra- 
tion of Archbishop Hughes, without con- 



tinuing the controversies, and his own 
administration was like oil on the troubl- 
ed waters. "He was never hasty or im- 
prudent in his public life, but ever silent, 
persevering, gracious, winning, and final- 
ly triumphant. He had the bearing of a 
prince, was a ripe scholar, and a bold and 
devoted churchman. His eloquence was 
of a tender, deeply religious kind, uttered 
with fervid sincerity, and in language at 
once simple and elegant. He was a man of 
energy and of sleepless vigilance in the 
discharge of his duties, which he perform- 
ed in the most unostentatious manner. He 
provoked no conflicts, offered no opinions, 
but with humility and prayerfulness toil- 
ed on in the sphere of his own duties." 
He was of a delicate but commanding 
physique, and had a countenance which, 
with its broad, high forehead, was strong- 
ly expressive of amiability and benevo- 
lence. He was energetic in the adminis- 
tration of his diocese, was particularly 
active in the building of the Catholic 
Protectory in Westchester, erected not 
only many handsome churches, but the 
Institute for Deaf Mutes at Fordham, 
homes for destitute boys and girls in con- 
nection with St. Stephen's and St. Ann's 
churches, and the Foundling .Asylum ; 
and established orphan asylums and 
homes for aged men and women through- 
out the city of New York. He especially 
devoted himself to the completion of the 
cathedral begun by Archbishop Hughes, 
to the interior arrangements of which he 
gave his personal supervision. 

Archbishop McCloskey attended the 
^^atican coinicil in 1869. serving on the 
committee on discipline. In 1874 he again 
went abroad, principally to look after the 
construction of altars, statues, stained 
windows, and interior decorations for the 
cathedral, to which he contributed $30,000 
from his private fortune. On March 15, 
1879, he was elevated to the dignity of 
cardinal, in the consistorv then held at 



86 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



the Vatican, being the first American pre- 
late to be thus honored. On April 27, of 
the same year, the ceremony of investing 
him with the insignia of his new office 
was performed by Archbishop Bayley of 
Baltimore, before the very altar at which 
he had been ordained a priest and con- 
secrated a bishop. He continued the ac- 
tive administration of his diocese until 
1880, when, on account of failing health, 
he requested that Bishop Corrigan, of 
Newark, be appointed his coadjutor, with 
right of succession. Cardinal McCIoskey 
attended the conclave which was held at 
Rome in 1878, to elect a successor to Pius 
IX, and on May, 1879, dedicated the new 
St. Patrick's Cathedral. In January, 1884, 
the golden anniversary of his elevation to 
the priesthood was celebrated, and on this 
occasion the clergy of his diocese present- 
ed him with an address which read: 
"Fifty years ago there were in this city 
but six churches ; now there are sixty. 
There were then but twenty priests in the 
diocese ; now there are three hundred and 
eighty. At that time there were in the 
whole United States only nine bishops ; 
now there are fifty-nine. Then there was 
but one archbishop ; now there are eleven, 
one of whom has been raised to the great 
senate of the Universal Church." 

Cardinal McCloskey's declining days 
were marked by the same tranquillity 
that had characterized his entire life. 
-A.fter his death, his body was with appro- 
priate ceremonies deposited in the vault 
under the sanctuary of St. Patrick's Ca- 
thedral. At that time the New York 
"Sun" said of him editorially: "His learn- 
ing, his piety, his humility, his truly 
Christian zeal, earned for him universal 
respect which will be today manifested 
as his body is carried to the tomb. The 
first American cardinal has died at a time 
when all Christians are ready to honor 
his memory as that of a man who has 
done measureless service in the cause 



of religion, good morals and humanity 
* * * Protestants and Catholics will 
join in sincerely mourning the first 
American cardinal as a Christian hero 
lost." Cardinal McCIoskey died October 
10, 1885. 



HAMILTON, Schuyler, 

Soldier, Civil Engineer. 

Schuyler Hamilton was born in New 
York City, July 25, 1822, son of John 
Church and Maria Eliza (Van den Heu- 
vel) Hamilton ; grandson of General Alex- 
ander and Elizabeth (Schuyler) Hamil- 
ton ; and great-grandson of General 
Philip Schuyler. 

He was graduated from the L^nited 
States Military Academy in 1841, and en- 
tered the army as second lieutenant in 
the First Infantry, serving on the plains. 
For a time he was at West Point as as- 
sistant instructor of tactics. He served 
in the Mexican war. where he was bre- 
vetted first lieutenant for gallantry at 
Monterey, September 21-23, ^^4^^, ^id 
where he received a ball in his abdomen, 
was left on the field for dead, but revived 
and fought through the battle. He was 
brevetted captain for gallantry, August 
13, 1847, at Nil Flores, where he was 
severely wounded by being run through 
with a lance, which passed entirely 
through his body and left lung, in a hand- 
to-hand combat with a Mexican lancer. 
He was promoted to first lieutenant in 
March, 1848 ; was acting aide to General 
Winfield Scott, 1847-54, and resigned 
from the army May 31, 1855, at San Fran- 
cisco, California. 

\^'hen the Civil War broke out. he 
marched as a private in the Seventh Regi- 
ment, New York State Militia, and went 
with that organization to the defence of 
Washington. He offered to pledge him- 
self for canteens and haversacks furnished 
the regiment, and paid for their transpor- 



87 



EN'CYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



tation. He afterward served on the staff 
of General Benjamin F. Butler; was later 
appointed military secretary with the 
rank of lieutenant-colonel, United States 
Army, on the staff of General Winfield 
Scott, serving from May 9, 1861, until he 
retired, November i, 1861, and in that 
capacity he was instrumental in prevent- 
ing the murder of certain Confederate 
prisoners of war captured on the battle- 
field of Bull Run, July 21. 1861. He was 
thanked for this service by the President, 
in the presence of General Scott and 
members of the cabinet, but no publicity 
could prudently be given to the service 
at the time. He was appointed additional 
aide-de-camp to General Scott, with the 
rank of colonel and served from August 7 
to November 12, 1861, when the aides 
were disbanded. He was then made as- 
sistant chief of staff to General H. W. 
Halleck with rank of colonel, accom- 
panied that officer from New York to St. 
Louis, and was promoted brigadier-gen- 
eral of volunteers. November 12, 1861. 
He was with Grant's army operating in 
western Kentucky and Tennessee, and 
suggested to General Pope the canal to 
cut off the enemy's position at Island 
No. 10, and in the assault on that island 
and New Madrid he commanded a di- 
vision. He was promoted to major-gen- 
eral of volunteers September 17, 1862, for 
meritorious services at New Madrid and 
Island No. 10, and had accepted his pro- 
motion in good faith, thus vacating his 
commission of brigadier-general of volun- 
teers, which had been confirmed by the 
Senate, when he was seized with swamp 
fever and incapacitated from active serv- 
ice. He soon after received a letter from 
General Halleck demanding his resigna- 
tion, under the rule that no officer unable 
to take the field should be named to the 
Senate for confirmation, and, after con- 
sulting with General Scott, he resigned in 
February, 1863. He is credited with mak- 



ing possible the capture of Island No. 10, 
called by the Confederates the "Thermo- 
pylae of America," and thus opening the 
Mississippi; with suggesting the name of 
William T. Sherman to General Scott for 
a place on the list of the regular army in 
1861 ; and with prevailing upon General 
Halleck to appoint General Grant to the 
command of the army to operate against 
Forts Donelson and Henry. He was an 
executor of the last will and testament of 
General Winfield Scott. In June, 1871, 
he memorialized the Secretary of War 
with a view to being restored on the army 
list as lieutenant-colonel and colonel 
United States Army, by virtue of his 
commission as military secretary and ad- 
ditional aide-de-camp with these ranks, 
and he continued his petition December 
II, 1886, to the Secretary of State and to 
the Congress of the United States to have 
his record as an army officer corrected, 
but without avail. He was hydrographic 
engineer for the Department of Docks 
New York City, 1871-75. He published 
"History of the American Flag" (1853) 
and "Our National Flag the Stars and 
Stripes, its History in a Century" ("1877). 
He died in 1903. 



DWIGHT, Theodore William, 

Educator, Author. 

Theodore William Dwight, was born in 
Catskill, New York. July 18, 1S22, son of 
Dr. Benjamin Woolsey and Sophia Wood- 
bridge (Strong) Dwight. and grandson of 
President Timothy and Mary (Woolsey) 
Dwight, and of the Rev. Joseph and 
Sophia (Woodbridge) Strong. 

He was graduated at Hamilton College 
in 1S40, studied law at Yale, 1841-42, 
and received his master's degree in 1843. 
He was a tutor at Hamilton College. 1842- 
46; Professor of Jurisprudence, Civil and 
Political Economy and History, 1846-58, 
and trustee of the college, 1875-92. He 



88 




G)hcodotc (ft. JJvuialit 




■%■- 




ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



removed to New York City in 1858, and 
was Professor of Law in Columbia Col- 
lege, 1858-78 ; Professor of the Law of 
Contracts, Maritime and Admiralty Law, 
1S78-92; dean of the law faculty, 1864-91, 
and member of the University council, 
1890-91. As he was not willing to con- 
form to the Harvard plan of study intro- 
duced by Professor William A. Keener 
and indorsed by President Low and the 
trustees, he resigned in February, 1891, 
as dean of the Law School, and was made 
Professor Emeritus, Professor Keener 
succeeding him as dean. He was a mem- 
ber of the New York Constitutional Con- 
vention of 1867; of the Commission of 
Appeals formed in 1874 to share the 
labors of the Court of Appeals of the 
State of New York, and served until the 
close of the commission in 1875. He was 
vice-president of the State Charities Aid 
Association, 1873 • president of the Prison 
Association, 1874 ; a member of the Ameri- 
can Geographical Society ; and first vice- 
president of the New York Bar Associa- 
tion. In 1869-71 he lectured at Cornell 
University, where he was elected non- 
resident Professor of Constitutional Law, 
and he lectured at Amherst College. 
1870-72. He was associate editor of the 
"American Law Register," and in 1886 
was counsel for five Andover theological 
seminary professors, charged with hetero- 
doxy. He received the honorary degree 
of LL.D. from Hamilton and Rutgers in 
1859, from Columbia in i860, and from 
Yale in 1892. He published : "Argument 
on the Ross Will and Charity Case" (2 
vols., 1863) ; "Trial by Impeachment" 
(1867) and "Influence of the Writings of 
James Harrington on American Political 
Institutions" (1887). He prepared in 
association with Dr. Enoch C. Wines 
"Prisons and Reformatories in the United 
States" and edited "Maine's Ancient Law" 
(1864). He died in Clinton, New York, 
June 28, 1892. 



SICKLES, Daniel Edgar, 

Distingnislied Civil War Soldier. 

General Daniel Edgar Sickles, soldier 
and lawyer, was born in New York City, 
October 20, 1825, son of George G. and 
Susan (Marsh) Sickles. He was gradu- 
ated at the University of the City of New 
York in 1846, studied law, and was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1846. Three years 
later he was elected a member of the New 
York State Legislature, arid in 1S53 was 
appointed corporation attorney for New 
York City. In the same year he resigned 
and went to London, England, as secre- 
tary of the American Legation, James 
Buchanan being minister at the time. 
Upon his return he was chosen a member 
of the New York Senate in 1856, and was 
elected to Congress in 1857, where he 
served on the committee on foreign 
afTairs, and at the expiration of his term 
was reelected. 

When the Civil War began, he raised 
the Excelsior Brigade in New York City, 
and was commissioned colonel of one of 
its five regiments, later he was commis- 
sioned brigadier-general of volunteers, 
and commanded a brigade under General 
Hooker. He fought at Williamsburg 
May 5, 1862; Fair Oakes, May 31-June I, 
1862 : and Malvern Hill, and saw severe 
service in the Seven Days battle before 
Richmond. He rose rapidly to division 
and corps commander, and was promoted 
to major-general of volunteers, Novem- 
ber 29, 1862. He took part in the battles 
of Antietam and Chancellorsville, and in 
the battle of Gettysburg the brunt of the 
Confederate attack on the second day was 
borne by his corps, which held the ridge 
between Round Top and the Peach Or- 
chard on the Emmitsburg road. After 
hours of terrific fighting and a most des- 
perate resistance, in which he lost a large 
portion of his command in killed and 
wounded, and was himself so terribly 



89 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



wounded in the leg that it had to be am- 
putated, he was compelled to fall back. 
General Longstreet, whom Grant has 
ranked with Lee in ability, led the charge 
against Sickles ; and Hood, more impetu- 
ous than Jackson, moved beside Long- 
street in the attack on Little Round Top. 
\\Viting of Gettysburg, under date of 
September 19. 1902, General Longstreet 
said ; 

My Dear General Sickles: * * * on that 
field you made your mark that will place you 
prominently before the world as one the lead- 
ing figures of the most important battle of the 
Civil War. As a northern veteran once re- 
marked to me: "General Sickles can well afiford 
to leave a leg on that field." I believe that it is 
now conceded that the advanced position at the 
Peach orchard taken by your corps and under 
your orders saved that battlefield to the Union 
cause. It was the sorest and saddest reflection 
of my life for many years, but to-day I can say 
with sincerest emotion that it was and is the 
best that could have come to us all. North and 
South, and I hope that the nation reunited may 
always enjoy the honor and glory brought to 
it by that grand work. 

Gettysburg won for him the Congres- 
sional Medal of Honor. Xotwithstanding 
the loss of a leg. General Sickles con- 
tinued in active service until 1865, when 
he was sent on a special mission to South 
America ; and he was not mustered out 
of the volunteer service until January i, 
1868, after having been colonel of the 
Forty-second Infantry Regiment in the 
regular army since July 28, 1866. In 1869 
he was placed on the retired list by Presi- 
dent Grant, with the full rank of a major- 
general in the regular army. For gal- 
lantry at Fredericksburg and Gettysburg 
he was made brevet brigadier-general, 
and brevet major-general on March 2, 
1867. General Sickles was entrusted with 
command of the Military District of the 
Carolinas from 1865 to 1867, and rendered 
valuable service in the cause of recon- 
struction. In i86g President Grant ap- 



pointed him United States Minister to 
Spain, and upon his return from that 
country in 1873 he devoted himself to re- 
organizing the New York, Lake Erie & 
Western Railroad Company, and took up 
the practice of the law in New York City. 
He was Emigration Commissioner in 
1887 ; sheriff of New York county in 1890 ; 
and was elected to the Fifty-third Con- 
gress in 1892. He was married twice, and 
had a son and a daughter. He died in 
New York City, May 2, 1914. 



^ 



BONNER, Robert, 

Founder of Nenr York Ledger. 

Robert Bonner, for many years a promi- 
nent story paper publisher, was born 
near Londonderry, Ireland, April 28, 1824, 
of Protestant ancestry. He began his 
business career as a printer's apprentice 
in the office of the "Hartford Courant," 
and in 1844 became assistant foreman and 
proofreader on the "New York Evening 
Mirror." With his earnings he purchased 
in 185 1 a small sheet called the "Mer- 
chants" Ledger," and, converting it into 
a family story paper, changed its name to 
the "New York Ledger." 

His methods of advertising were unique 
and ingenious, and these, together with 
the good taste displayed in the selection 
of the literature with which he filled his 
columns, soon won for the paper an un- 
precedented popularity. Edward Everett, 
Horace Greeley, Henry \\'ard Beecher, 
Longfellow, Bryant. Charles Dickens, 
James Parton. Fanny Fern, Alice and 
Phoebe Gary, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, 
were among his corps of contributors, and 
the sums paid for articles were liberal in 
the extreme. Dickens received S5.000 for 
his "Hunted Down", a storv' which ran 
through three numbers of the paper ; Ed- 
ward Everett received $24,000 for a series 
of articles ; and Henry Ward Beecher 
was paid $30,000 for his novel, "Nor- 



90 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



wood." Mr. Bonner gave large sums of 
money to the many charitable and edu- 
cational institutions in which he was in- 
terested, Princeton College being among 
the beneficiaries. He gave to Rev. Dr. 
John Hall's church $100,000, and to Henry 
Ward Beecher, to liquidate the mortgage 
on his home in 1859, $10,000. A connois- 
seur in the matter of horses he purchased 
many famous trotters, and withdrew them 
from the race course at an expense to 
himself of over $500,000, his purchases 
including Dexter, Pocahontas, Edwin 
Forrest. Rarus, Maud S. and others. He 
died in New York City, July 6, 1899. 



BARLOW, Francis C, 

Civil War Soldier. 

General Francis Channing Barlow, was 
born in Brooklyn, New York, October 19, 
1834, son of Rev. David Hatch and Almi- 
ra (Penniman) Barlow, and a descendant 
of James Penniman, a graduate of the 
University of Cambridge, England, who 
emigrated to Braintree, Massachusetts, 
in 1631. His father was a Unitarian 
minister. 

He received liberal education, and was 
graduated at Harvard College in 1855, the 
first in his class, having become a student 
there in 185 1. In the fall of 1855 he came 
to New York City, where he resided con- 
tinuously until his death, except during 
his military service in the Civil War. He 
studied law in New York City, meanwhile 
becoming an editorial writer for the New 
York "Tribune." When the war broke 
out he enlisted, April 19, 1861, as a pri- 
vate soldier in the Twelfth Regiment, 
New York State Militia, a three months' 
regiment, commanded by Colonel Daniel 
Butterfield. His regiment went at once 
to Washington for the defense of that 
city, and on May 3, 1861, Barlow became 
first lieutenant of its Company F. He 
came home with it, and was dulv muster- 



ed out in August, 1861. In the succeed- 
ing October he was commissioned lieu- 
tenant-colonel of the Sixty-first Regiment 
New York Volunteer Infantry, and left 
with it for the front in November. He 
was promoted to colonel of his regiment 
in April, 1862; on September 19th of the 
same year, two days after the battle of 
Antietam, in which battle he was wound- 
ed, he was promoted to brigadier-general 
of United States A'olunteers. At An- 
tietam, he was wounded after his com- 
mand had captured two sets of Confeder- 
ate colors and three hundred prisoners. 
He recovered from his wound in time to 
take part in the battle of Chancellorsville, 
May 2, 1803, where he commanded a bri- 
gade in the Eleventh Army Corps. He 
was wounded and taken prisoner on the 
field of Gettysburg, July i, 1863, his name 
being among the first in the lists of the 
leaders reported by the Confederates as 
killed. He was left in the town when 
the enemy retreated. Following Gettys- 
burg came an exchange, a long waiting 
for recovery, and participation in the 
campaign of the ^Vilderness and the 
movements "by the left flank" of the 
Army of the Potomac, through Spottsyl- 
vania. North Anna. Cold Harbor, and 
across the James to Petersburg. In the 
spring of 1864 General Barlow was made 
commander of the First Division of the 
Second Army Corps, and served through- 
out the campaign of that year, down to 
the latter part of August, when illness 
obliged him to take leave of absence. The 
brevet of major-general of volunteers was 
conferred upon him in August. 1864, and 
early in 1865 he was assigned to the com- 
mand of the Second Division of the Sec- 
ond Corps, and retained it until the end 
of the war. At Spottsylvania, General 
Barlow stormed the Confederate works, 
capturing three thousand prisoners, in- 
cluding Generals Ed. Johnson and G. H. 
Steuart. 



91 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



After the war he took up his residence 
in New York City. In 1865-67 he was 
Secretary of State of New York, and in 
May-October, 1869, he was United States 
Marshal for the Southern District of New 
York, having been appointed by General 
Grant. He was elected Attorney-General 
of New York in 1872, and afterwards re- 
sumed the practice of law in New York 
City. He was one of the founders of the 
Association of the Bar of the City of New 
York in 1871, the first organization of its 
kind. In the same year he began the 
attack upon Fisk, Gould and David Dud- 
ley Field, their counsel preferring formal 
charges against the latter, which serious- 
ly involved Judges Cardozo and Barnard, 
and resulted in their impeachment. Dur- 
ing his term as Attorney-General, 1872- 
73, he directed the prosecution of Tweed 
and his associates, and for the successful 
outcome of these proceedings the cause of 
good government will ever be indebted to 
General Barlow. He was, however, not 
renominated to office ; indeed, his lofty 
sense of duty and out-spoken denuncia- 
tion of frauds of all kinds were considered 
an indication of woeful lack of that "tact" 
which the successful politician should 
possess. He displayed the same spirit 
when, in 1876, he was one of a committee 
sent to investigate the question of alleged 
election frauds in Florida, his political 
popularity being then by no means in- 
creased by his faithful statements of the 
exact truth. But General Barlow held 
even party success secondary to truth. 
From that time he continued law prac- 
tice in New York City, where he was 
identified with all movements for political 
reform. 

General Barlow married (first) in 1861, 
.\rabella Griffith, of New York City ; mar- 
ried (second) in 1867, Ellen, daughter of 
Francis George Shaw, also of New York. 

Two sons, Robert Shaw and Charles 
Lowell, and one daughter, Mrs. Pierre 



Jay, survived him. His first wife was 
agent for the Sanitary Commission in the 
field during the Civil War, and died from 
disease contracted in the performance of 
her self-imposed duties, July 27, 1864. A 
window in Memorial Hall, Harvard Col- 
lege, is dedicated to Phillips Brooks and 
his class-mate, Francis Channing Barlow. 
General Barlow died in New York City, 
January 11, 1896. 



CORRIGAN, Rt. Rev. Michael A., 

Roman Catholic Prelate. 

Rt. Rev. Michael Augustine Corrigan, 
third Archbishop of the Archdiocese of 
New York, was born in Newark, New 
Jersey, August 17, 1839. His parents, 
Thomas and Mary (English) Corrigan, 
were natives of Leinster, Ireland. His 
father, being in possession of a compe- 
tence, determined to give his son a liberal 
education, a determination to which his 
mother, a woman of fine intelligence and 
rare energy and strength of character, 
was largely accessory. She chose for his 
preliminary instruction St. Mary's Col- 
lege, Wilmington, Delaware, at the time 
conducted by Vicar-General Reilly, and 
in that institution the young student re- 
mained for two years, when he was sent 
to Mt. St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg, 
Maryland. From the beginning of his 
collegiate instruction, young Corrigan 
took the lead in his classes. While in his 
junior year at St. Mary's he made a tour 
of Europe with his sister, a young lady of 
remarkable piety, who greatly influenced 
his after career. He completed his course 
of studies at Emmitsburg in 1859, and de- 
cided to enter the priesthood. Having 
come to this conclusion, he went to Rome 
and became one of the twelve students 
with whom the American College in that 
city was opened. He made such rapid 
progress in his studies that he won a 
number of medals in the competitions, 



92 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



which were not only for the American 
College, but free to the students of the 
Propaganda and the Irish and Greek 
colleges. He was especially noted for 
scrupulous obedience, for his industn,- and 
close application, and for his personal 
consideration for those about him. He 
finished his course in 1864, passing a rig- 
orous examination and obtaining the de- 
gree of D.D., but on the 19th of Septem- 
ber, 1863, a year before this, he was 
ordained in the church of St. John Later- 
an by Cardinal Patrici, thus becoming a 
priest a year before the close of his theo- 
logical studies, the privilege being grant- 
ed to him as a reward for the excellence 
of his conduct while in that institution. 

In July, 1864, Father Corrigan sailed 
for the United States, and on arriving in 
New York was appointed by Archbishop 
Bayley to the Professorship of Dogmatic 
Theology and Sacred Scripture and the 
directorship of the Ecclesiastical Semin- 
ary of Seton Hall College, of which at 
that time Bishop ]\IcOuaid was president. 
Soon after, Father CorrigaYi was made 
vice-president of the institution, and in 
1868, upon the appointment of Bishop 
McOuaid to the newly created see of 
Rochester, F"ather Corrigan, although 
then hardly twenty-eight years of age, 
was appointed by the archbishop to be 
president of the college, which was one 
of the foremost of the Catholic educa- 
tional institutions in the United States 
During the absence of Archbishop Bayley 
at the Vatican Council of 1870, Father 
Corrigan occupied the offices of adminis- 
trator and vicar-general of the diocese, 
and when, in 1873, the Archbishop was 
transferred to the see of Baltimore, thus 
becoming primate of America, upon his 
earnest recommendation Pius IX. ap- 
pointed Father Corrigan Bishop of New- 
ark, and he was consecrated on May 4 
of that year in the old St. Patrick's Ca- 
thedral by the late Cardinal (then Arch- 



bishop) McCloskey. In his new office, 
Bishop Corrigan exhibited powers which 
speedily gained for him the admiration 
and respect not only of the people of his 
diocese but his ecclesiastical superiors. 
Deeply interested in reformatory and in- 
stitutional work, establishments of the 
greatest importance to the welfare of the 
people about him soon began to rise, 
almost as if by magic. He dedicated 
more than half a hundred new churches 
and gave them pastors, and consecrated 
the cathedral. He kept a watchful eye 
over the welfare of Seton Hall College, 
of which he continued to be president 
until 1876; founded a number of religious 
communities ; established a reformatory 
for boys and refuge for misguided women, 
and a general asylum for the orphans of 
his diocese. Bishop Corrigan introduced 
into New Jersey the Jesuits and the Do- 
minicans, and founded the Convent of the 
Dominican Nuns of the Perpetual Adora- 
tion. On September 26, 1880, Bishop 
Corrigan was made coadjutor, with the 
right of succession, to Cardinal McClos- 
key, Archbishop of New York, under the 
title of Archbishop of Petra, and there- 
after nearly all the practical work of the 
archdiocese fell to his hands. By this 
time the Catholic schools of New Jersey 
had increased to one hundred and fifty, 
having nearly thirty thousand pupils, 
with one hundred and fifty churches and 
one hundred and seventy-two priests. 
Archbishop Corrigan was now the young- 
est archbishop, as he had been the young- 
est bishop, in the Catholic church in 
America. From the beginning of his ec- 
clesiastical career, honors had fallen to 
him in a way that was most unusual, except 
in the case of gray-haired and time-honor- 
ed priests. None of these, however, had 
changed his manner or course of conduct 
from the modest and unassuming habit 
he had adopted at the beginning. In 1884 
Archbishop Corrigan was summoned to 



9.3 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Rome, and represented New York in the 
plenary council called to advise the Holy 
Father. On October lo, 1885, the death 
of Cardinal McCloskey made Archbishop 
Corrigan metropolitan of the diocese of 
New York, and by a special act of 
courtesy he was permitted to perform the 
acts of his office immediately on his ac- 
cession thereto, instead of waiting, in ac- 
cordance with the usual custom, for the 
pallium, which he did not receive, in fact, 
until early in 1886. 

A profound scholar. Archbishop Corri- 
gan, although not a great orator was a 
most agreeable preacher, and never failed 
to impress his hearers, while never re- 
sorting to any of the customary rhetorical 
means for gaining and holding their atten- 
tion. Meanwhile his ofifice was conducted 
under conditions and circumstances the 
reverse of peaceful, being not infrequently 
disturbed by the most bitter and difficult 
internal dissensions. Through all of these, 
the archbishop, with remarkable tact and 
judgment, managed to steer his course in 
a way to gain the respect even of his 
opponents, and those who disliked his 
public attitude as a member of the Ca- 
tholic hierarchy in America. On Septem- 
ber 21, 1888, Archbishop Corrigan cele- 
brated the twenty-fifth anniversary of his 
ordination to the priesthood, in the cathe- 
dral on Fifth avenue. New York. He died 
in 1902. 



LOSSING, Benson John, 

Historian, Artist. 

Benson John Lossing was born in 
Beekman, New York, February 12, 1813, 
a descendant of early Dutch settlers who 
located in the Valley of the Lower Hud- 
son. His father, who was a farmer, died 
in 1814, when he was one year old, and his 
mother, who was a farmer's daughter, 
died when her son was in his twelfth 



year. They were members of the Society 
of Friends, and the boy was brought up 
in that faith. 

Young Lossing attended school for a 
short time, but being early thrown upon 
his own resources, owing to the death of 
his parents, he engaged in farm work, and 
so continued until he was about fourteen 
years of age, when he was apprenticed to 
a watchmaker and silversmith at Pough- 
keepsie. New York. During the period 
of his apprenticeship he omitted no oppor- 
tunity for study, and thus became well 
informed, and qualified to write articles 
for a local newspaper, which were gladly 
accepted. At the age of twenty he was 
taken into partnership with his master, 
being then an expert in his particular line, 
but in 1835, less than two years after- 
ward, he became the joint proprietor 
and editor of the Poughkeepsie "Tele- 
graph," the leading weekly newspaper in 
Dutchess county, New York. The year 
following he and his partner began the 
publication of the Poughkeepsie "Casket," 
a literary journal, and he maintained his 
interest in both publications until 1841. 
In order to illustrate the journal, Mr. 
Lossing studied wood engraving in New 
York City for a short time, and later be- 
came a skillful and leading practitioner of 
that art. In 1838 he became editor and 
illustrator of "The Family Magazine," 
the pioneer illustrated periodical in the 
L^nited States. In 1843 he entered into 
partnership with William Barritt, and 
until 1868 they conducted the largest 
wood-engraving business in New York 
City. From 1845 to 1850 he conceived 
and executed "The Pictorial Field Book 
of the Revolution," published by Harper & 
Brothers (30 parts, 1850-52). visiting the 
historic localities, writing the text for the 
work, making the drawings on the wood, 
and doing considerable of the engraving. 
In 1868 he retired to a farm in the vicinity 

94 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



of Dover Plains, New York, and devoted 
himself to historical research, and was a 
member of seventeen societies, historical, 
antiquarian and literary. He was made 
an honorary life member of the Metro- 
politan Museum of Art, New York City, 
in 1844. He received the honorary degree 
of Master of Arts from Hamilton College 
in 1856 and from Columbia in 1869, and 
that of Doctor of Laws from the Univer- 
sity of Michigan in 1872. 

Besides numerous illustrated contribu- 
tions to American and foreign periodicals, 
chiefly on the history and legends of the 
Hudson river, he edited and annotated 
"The Diaries of Washington" (1859) ; 
"Recollections and Private Memoirs of 
Washington" by G. W^ P. Custis (i860) ; 
and compiled, with Edwin W'illiams, "The 
Statesman's Manual" (4 vols., 1868). He 
was the author of a large number of 
books, mostly of a biographical and his- 
torical character, which acquired a wide- 
spread popularity, among the more im- 
portant of which are: "History of the 
Fine Arts" (1840); "Lives of the Presi- 
dents" (1847) ; "Seventeen Hundred and 
Seventy-six" (1847) '< "Lives of Zachary 
Taylor and Winfield Scott" (1847) ; "The 
New World" (1847) ! "Biographies of the 
Signers of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence" (1848) ; "History of the United 
States" (1854) ; "Our Countrymen" 
(1855); "Mount Vernon" (1859); "Life 
of Philip Schuyler" (2 vols., i860) ; "His- 
tory of the Civil War" (3 vols., 1866-69) ; 
"Home of Washington" (1867) ; "Vassar 
College and its Founder" (1867) ; "The 
Hudson River" (1867); "Pictorial Field- 
Bock of the War of 1812" (1868) ; "Mary 
and Martha Washington" (1868); "Two 
Spies : Nathan Hale and John Andre" 
(1886) ; "The Empire State" (1887). At 
the time of his death, which occurred at 
Dover Plains, New York, June 3, 1891, 
he was still vigorously engaged in his 
literary work. 



BOSS, Lewis, 

Astronemer. 

Lewis Boss was born in Providence, 
Rhode Island, October 26, 1846, son of 
Samuel P. and Lucinda (Joslin) Boss, and 
a descendant of Peter Boss, who settled 
at Newport, Rhode Island, previous to 
1650. He acquired his preliminary educa- 
tion in the Lapham Institute of North 
Scituate, Rhode Island, and at a school in 
New Hampton, New Hampshire, and this 
was supplemented by a course at Dart- 
mouth College, from which institution he 
was graduated in the year 1870. His first 
employment was in the Department of 
the Interior at Washington, D. C, where 
he served for two years, and was then 
appointed astronomer on the United 
States northern boundary commission, in 
which capacity he served four years. In 
1876 he was appointed director of the 
Dudley Observatory at Albany, New 
York, and in 1904 he was still holding the 
same position a period of twenty-eight 
years. He observed the total solar eclipse 
in 1878 from a station at West Las Ani- 
mas, Colorado, under the auspices of the 
United States government. In 1882 the 
government placed him in charge of a 
party sent to Santiago de Chile to observe 
the transit of Venus, and in the spring of 
that year, in competition with one hun- 
dred and twenty-five others, he won the 
Warner prize for the best essay on 
comets. This essay has been translated 
into the principal European languages and 
published in every popular journal of as- 
tronomy in the world. In 1883 Professor 
Boss was appointed superintendent of 
weights and measures for New York State. 

His most important undertaking at the 
Dudley Observatory was the zone work 
under the auspices of the International 
Astronomical Society, in which thirteen 
of the leading observatories of the world 
cooperated, the object being to measure 



95 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and accurately record the positions and 
motions of all stars down to the ninth 
magnitude, that is, a magnitude sixteen 
times fainter that the faintest star visible 
to the naked eye. He also completed 
observations for a catalogue of 10,000 
stars in a portion of the sky not accessible 
to European observers ; a catalogue of the 
principal standard stars, and also the 
speed and direction of 15,000 faint stars. 
He was financially assisted by the Bache 
fund of the National Academy of Sciences, 
a liberal grant from the Carnegie Institu- 
tion, and private contributions. He pub- 
lished a number of astronomical papers, 
in one of which (1899) he maintained that 
the sun is one of the stars in a gigantic 
cluster, one of the clusters composing the 
milky way, and upon this subject he was 
considered an authority. For many years 
he supplied the earliest information upon 
the orbits of comets after their discovery. 
In 1877 the degree of j\Iaster of Arts was 
conferred upon him by Dartmouth Col- 
lege, and Union University conferred 
upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws 
in 1902. Dr. Boss was a member of the 
Fort Orange Club, the National Academy 
of Sciences, the Astronomische Gesell- 
schaft, Leipsic. a foreign associate of the 
Royal Astronomical Society of London, 
and corresponding member of the British 
Association for the Advancement of 
Science. 

Dr. Boss was married in Washington, 
D. C, December 30, 1871, to Helen M., 
daughter of William Hutchinson, well- 
known in the early history of Kansas. 
They were the parents of four children : 
Bertha, Benjamin, Helen and Gertrude. 
Dr. Boss died in Albany, October 5, 1912. 



SAGE, HENRY W., 

Friend of Edncation, Philanthropist. 

Henry Williams Sage, a liberal bene- 
factor of Cornell University and other 
educational institutions, was born in 



96 



Middletown, Connecticut, January 31, 
1814, eldest child of Charles and Sally 
(Williams) Sage, the latter a sister of 
Hon. J. B. Williams, of Ithaca. His father 
was shipwrecked on the Florida coast in 
1838, and was murdered by Indians. He 
was a descendant of David Sage, a native 
of Wales, who settled in Connecticut as 
early as 1652. 

Henry W. Sage began his schooling in 
Bristol, Connecticut, and continued it in 
Ithaca, New York, to which place his par- 
ents removed when he was thirteen years 
old. He was disappointed in his expecta- 
tion of entering Yale College, but in 
Ithaca he began the study of medicine, 
which he was obliged to abandon on ac- 
count of ill health. He then entered the 
employ of his uncles, Williams & 
Brothers, prominent merchants and large 
shipping agents, owners of transportation 
lines on the Hudson river, Erie canal, 
and New York lakes. In 1837, in his 
twenty-third year, he became proprietor 
of the business. In 1854 he purchased a 
large tract of timber land in the neighbor- 
hood of Lake Simcoe, Canada, where he 
manufactured lumber on a large scale. 
Soon afterward he also engaged in busi- 
ness with John McGraw, and at Winona, 
Michigan, erected a lumber manufactory 
which was regarded as the largest in the 
world. In 1847 ^^ '^^s elected as a Whig 
to the New York Legislature. In 1857 he 
removed to Brooklyn, New York, where 
he resided until 1880. and during which 
time his marked force of character and 
great ability brought him into prominence 
among its leading citizens. He was a 
close friend of Henry Ward Beecher. and 
the great preacher, in all his difficulties, 
rested upon no heart with more intimate 
and tender affection and confidence than 
upon that of his parishioner, Henry W. 
Sage. In 1880 he returned to Ithaca, 
where he died, September 17, 1897. 

Mr. Sage's immediate interest in Cor- 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



nell University began in 1870, when he 
was elected to the board of trustees, and 
in which his membership continued until 
his death, he having been president of the 
board since 1875. Recognizing in the new 
institution an opportunity of realizing a 
deeply cherished purpose, that of promot- 
ing the higher education of woman, he 
had previously, and when residing at 
a distance, given the endowment which 
formed the Sage foundation for the educa- 
tion of women, and erected the Sage 
Chapel, which was subsequently endowed 
by his son, Dean Sage, constituting a per- 
manent fund for the promotion of the 
moral and religious life of the university. 
During a quarter of a century his noble 
personality made him the central figure 
in the labors of maintaining the univer- 
sity and extending the sphere of its useful- 
ness. Mr. Cornell's great plan, conceived 
in a spirit of unsparing self-sacrifice and 
maintained with great resolution, had 
not yet been realized, and the institution 
was nearly on the point of failure when 
the founder passed away. The necessities 
of the university had almost compelled 
the sacrificial relinquishment of large land 
holdings in Wisconsin, when Mr. Sage's 
masterly management averted the im- 
pending disaster, and in eight years the 
university's future was secure, and it was 
enabled to greatly extend its advantages. 
Mr. Sage's personal gifts evidenced a 
wise purpose to aid the university when 
aid was most needed, and would serve 
it best. These included $266,000 to the 
Sage College for Women ; $200,000 to the 
Sage School of Philosophy, and $50,000 
for the Susan Linn chair ; to the Univer- 
sity Library $260,000 and an endowment 
of $300,000; to the Museum of Classical 
Archaeology, $20,000; $11,000 for the 
erection of a residence for the Sage Pro- 
fessor of Philosophy ; and $30,000 toward 
paying off a floating indebtedness. On 
January 31, 1894, the university cele- 
N Y-Vol 11-7 



brated Mr. Sage's eightieth birthday, and 
his last gift, that of the Museum of Classi- 
cal Archaeology, was dedicated. The 
faculty, trustees and other friends as- 
sembled at the home of the munificent 
donor, but the occasion was recognized 
throughout the land, and among the 
appreciative messages received were tele- 
grams from President Cleveland, Govern- 
or Roswell P. Flower, and many other 
distinguished men. To Mr. Sage was pre- 
sented a magnificent vase of solid silver, 
the presentation address being made by 
General Stewart L. Woodford. 

Other benefactions of Air. Sage in- 
cluded the endowment of the Lyman 
Beecher lectureship on preaching, at Yale 
University ; the building and endowment 
of several churches and schools, and a 
public library at West Bay City, Michi- 
gan. After his death, his residence, valued 
at $80,000, together with an endowment 
of $100,000, were given to Cornell Uni- 
versity for a students' hospital, by his 
sons. Dean and William H. Sage. 



ANDERSON, Martin B., 

Scholar, Orator, Educational Esecntive, 

The University of Rochester, founded 
in 1850, now a leading institution of 
higher education in the State, was singu- 
larly blessed in securing, at its inception, 
and retaining for nearly forty years at its 
head, Martin Brewer Anderson, a great 
teacher and executive ; and Rochester was 
equally fortunate in the possession, for 
the same period, of a citizen who notably 
stimulated its activities, enlightened its 
thought and appreciated its morale. 
Viewed from whatever angle, Anderson 
was a great man — as versatile as pro- 
found, as wise as energetic. 

He was born of Scotch-Irish lineage, at 
Brunswick, Maine, February 12. 1815. De- 
termined upon obtaining a liberal educa- 
tion, his progress therein was somewhat 



97 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPPI\ 



interrupted by the demand of manual 
labor upon his time ; for he was early 
thrown upon his own resources for mak- 
ing his way in life. He was not among 
the precocities in letters. He did not. like 
John Stuart Mill, read Oeek and Latin 
at four years old ; but with an intense 
thirst for knowledge, he studied diligently 
and systematically, mastering thoroughly 
all preliminary courses, and, while a boy, 
thought as a man. Among the impulses 
of his intellectual pursuits, was his asso- 
ciation with men of mature age in a so- 
ciety for the discussion of questions re- 
lating to politics and current topics of 
interest, an influence not without effect 
upon his trend as a teacher and his per- 
suasion as a publicist. He had, even be- 
fore entering college, become an omnivo- 
rous reader and acquired a taste and talent 
for public speaking. At the age of twenty- 
one, he matriculated at Waterville Col- 
lege (now Colby University) a Baptist 
institution, of which church he was a 
communicant. In college, he gained a 
high reputation for sustained industry, 
thoroughness of research and breadth of 
knowledge, especially in philosophy and 
the sciences. He was graduated with 
honor in 1840. He spent the ensuing year 
in the Theological Seminary at Newton, 
Massachusetts, occasionally preaching. In 
the fall of 1841, he was appointed tutor in 
Latin, Greek and mathematics at his alDia 
iiiatcr, and, in 1843, assumed the chair 
of rhetoric, also instructing in Latin and 
history and delivering lectures on the 
origin and growth of the English lan- 
guage, said to be the first course on 
that subject in an American college. 
He married August 7, 1848, Elizabeth 
Martin Gilbert, of Brooklyn — a wedded 
union of forty years of mutual trust 
and helpfulness, she of refined mien and 
gentle courtesies. In 1850, he became 
editor-in-chief of the New York "Re- 
corder," a weekly Baptist organ. His 



98 



articles were distinguished for vast erudi- 
tion, signal vigor of thought and felicity 
of expression, and frequently by keen con- 
troversial skill. lie ever maintained a 
lively interest in the journalistic profes- 
sion, as writers on the Rochester press 
testify aiTectionately to the constant coun- 
sel and encouragement he bestowed upon 
them. 

In 1S53 he was called to the presidency 
of the University of Rochester, thus far 
without a head. Professor Asahel C. Ken- 
drick, the accomplished Grecian, having 
filled the position pro tempore. He came 
to the place with rich credentials as an 
educator and administrator, the unani- 
mous choice of the trustees and with 
much of popular acclaim. He was, how- 
c\-er, confronted with the difficulties 
always attendant upon the upbuilding of 
a new institution of learning, under the 
voluntary system, aggravated, in this in- 
stance, by the friction in the Baptist de- 
nomination as to whether Madison (now 
Colgate) University should be abandoned 
in favor of the new foundation — settled by 
additional beneficences from the Colgate 
family and the maintenance of the older, 
while the newer institution was compelled 
to "go it alone." Under these circum- 
stances. President Anderson, with con- 
secrated purpose, superb executive ca- 
pacity, vigorous health and kingly, well- 
nigh gigantic, presence, became the chief 
architect of the University of Rochester, 
building from the bottom. He demon- 
strated himself immediately as a financier 
of the first order, enlisting prominent 
capitalists in its behalf. Among those 
who tendered liberal subscriptions, the 
names of Hiram Sibley (library and cabi- 
nets), John B. Trevor (president's house 
and general endowment), John H. Deane, 
John F. Rathbone, John D. Rockefeller, 
William Kelly, Rezin A. Wight, Jeremiah 
Millbank, Charles Pratt and Mortimer F. 
Reynolds are recorded ; and throughout, 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



its monetary affairs have been sedulously 
and sagaciously promoted and supervised. 

While the university vi^as yet young, 
and still under Baptist control, it became 
distinctly non-sectarian in its administra- 
tion, Jews, Catholics and Free-Thinkers 
being as cordially welcomed to its privi- 
leges as they who were immersed, the 
general catologue bearing on its pages the 
names of many men of these various 
creeds who have become renowned in 
business, the professions and public life. 
Anderson stood, as Roger Williams so 
stood, two centuries before, for the abso- 
lute divorce of church and state — the 
spiritual church and the secular state. He 
even opposed the reading of the Bible in 
the public schools as in violation of this 
principle. He stood also for the integrity 
of the American college against multiple 
elective curriculums and the confusion of 
degrees. He approved two parallel courses 
— the humanities and the sciences — insist- 
ing that the diploma of Bachelor of Arts 
should crown the one and that of Bache- 
lor of Science the other — that each should 
mean what it said. He believed that the 
college should have its distinctive place 
in a rounded scheme of education. He 
never viewed the appellation of "Univer- 
sity" to his institution with complaisance, 
and would have preferred to have it called 
a college simply, as it really was and is, 
to-day ; but, during his tenure, cabinets 
of geology and mineralogy, chemical labo- 
ratories and an art gallery, were estab- 
lished, and post-graduate scholarships in 
the departments of political economy and 
of constitutional law and the history of 
politics awarded to successful compet- 
itors. 

As a teacher, he was an inspiration. 
His own chair was that of intellectual and 
moral philosophy, but he taught, as occa- 
sion offered, along many lines and treated 
many themes — history, constitutional law, 
political economy, social science, jurispru- 



dence and art. His talks to his students 
on current events and topics were a 
marked feature of his administration — 
familiar conferences, which left them in- 
formed on world affairs and tendencies of 
thought and activities, interspersed with 
ethical suggestions as to the direction 
and conduct of their lives. His chief pur- 
pose in this, as in all his teaching, was 
"character-building," which, with the 
"personal equation," immediate and con- 
stant, it must be admitted, can be more 
intelligently and successfully accomplish- 
ed by the smaller, rather than by the 
larger, institution, as it was so exempli- 
fied by Dr. Anderson and the singularly 
well-equipped and faithful faculty associ- 
ated with him. As himself said in an im- 
pressive farewell to one of the earlier 
classes : "I have sacrificed my literary am- 
bition ; I burnt my bridges behind me 
when I came to Rochester and put my life 
into the work of this college ; you are my 
epistles of peace, to be known and read 
of all men." And they, who sat at the 
feet of the master, responded nobly to his 
ministrations. It may well be doubted 
that there has been a president of any 
American college — "the small college" as 
he was pleased to call it — who has been 
more admired, revered and loved by his 
pupils than Martin B. Anderson, or a body 
of alumni who have shown more esprit de 
corps within college walls or proven 
themselves, in their subsequent careers, 
more "worthy of their day and gener- 
ation." The radiating influence of the 
university has been of lustrous nature, 
and peculiarly so upon the community 
from which the larger proportion of its 
students has been drawn, many of whom 
have returned thereto to exalt its intel- 
lectual and purify its moral tone. 

And upon that community, and the State 
as well, he has left an enduring impress. 
He was a superb orator ; of sinewy Eng- 
lish phrase, of robust argument, of schol- 



99 



ENCYCI.OPRDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



arly cx])iisiti(iii, fiauk, earnest and clear, 
not esijeeially ornate, but, wlien tlior- 
ouglily aroused, of intense emotion, even 
passionate appeal. During the Civil War, 
lie was anient and arduous for the 
Union cause, writing editorials, deliverini^ 
speeches persuading enlistni,enls, and ful- 
filling luiniane oflices. lie devoted him- 
self to llu' pliilanthropies of his period 
and to elToris in hilialf t)f good govern- 
ment and the welfare of the common- 
wealth, lie was an efficient member of 
the Stale r.nard oi Charities frcjm Decem- 
ber 6, 18(17, ii'il'l '"^I'ly 11, 1880, contribut- 
ing valu.able reports to the Legislature, 
among which were those upon "Out-Door 
Relief" and "Alien Paupers;" and one of 
the Commission of the State Reservation, 
at Niagara, from May 2, 1883, until May 
II, 1888. Of international repute as a 
political economist, he was an honorary 
mendicr of the Cobdcn Club of England, 
lie was also the first president of the 
board of trustees of the Reynolds Library, 
lie was laureated LL.D. and L.II.D. oy 
several .Xmcricm universities. Me was 
ever ready to lenil a helping hand to any 
cause tending to increase the sum of 
Iinnian li.ippincss and the well-being of 
society. In 18S7 he resigned the presi- 
dency of the University and soon went 
South for the benelit of lioth his own and 
his wife's health — in each case una\ail- 
ing. Mrs. .\ndcrson died at Lake Helen, 
Florida, I'eliruary 22, 1890, and he follow- 
ed her two days afterward. Their remains 
were hronghl to Rochester, and a d(nil)Ie 
funeral, witli much manifestation of the 
j)ublic sorrow, was held at the Second 
Raiitist Church, Augustus H. Strong, D. 
D.. president of the Theological Semi- 
nary, and David Jayne Hill, D. D., presi- 
dent of the I'niversity Seminary, ofliciat- 
ing. They arc buried side b)- side in 
Mount Hope Cemetery, on the lot owned 
by the University. 



BURDEN, Henry, 

luveiitivo Genius. 

The Burdens of 'lYoy descend from 
Scotch ancestors. While little more than 
a century has elapsed since the first of 
their line arrive<l in the United States, 
the history of Troy would lose some of 
its most interesting and valuable [jages 
should the achievements of the llurdens 
be omitted or stricken out. Henry liur- 
dcn was a wonderful genius, and prob- 
ably llu' industry he founded has added 
more material wealth to the city than any 
other that is conlined ti> one family. His 
sons, equally talented and enterprising, 
carried along the work begun by the 
father, to whose memory the huge mills 
by the side of the Hudson stand as endur- 
ing monuments. Among the hills stands 
a beautiful stone church, and on a tablet 
set in the interior is displayed the follow- 
ing inscription : "Woodside Memorial 
Church, dedicated to the service of the 
Triune God, has been erected to the mem- 
ory of Helen Burden by her husband, 
Henry Burden, in accordance with her 
long cherished and earnest desire, 1869." 
After the death of Henry Burden, the 
generous giver of the church, his surviv- 
ing ciiildrcn erected to his memory the 
attractive manse on the west side of the 
church. They also built the stone chapel 
on the east side, used by the Sunday 
school, which bears a tablet inscribed: 
"Woodside Chapel erected A. D. 1833 by 
Margaret E. Proudlit, James A. lUirden, 
I. Townsend Burden, in memory of their 
children." Thus the Burden memory is 
enshrined amid the beautiful hills and 
along the great river near Troy by blazing 
furnace and smoking shaft, and by temple 
of worship and hymn of praise. Silent 
today and motionless hangs the great 
"Burden wheel." but the wheels it caused 
to revolve set in motion still other wheels, 
00 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and gave impetus to Troy industries that 
will forever endure. 

Henry Burden, son of Peter (2) and 
Janet (^Abercrombiej Burden, was born 
near Dunblaine, Scotland, April 22, 1791. 
He was reared on his father's farm, and 
educated in a school of engineering. He 
was of an inventive and mechanical 
nature, and some of his earlier inven- 
tions were for improved agricultural im- 
plements, and were used on his father's 
farm, also a water wheel. 

He came to the United States in 1810, 
with letters of introduction to Stephen 
Van Rensselaer, John C. Calhoun, Wil- 
liam C. Preston and Thomas H. Benton. 
He settled in Albany, where he had a 
foundry and built a flouring mill. In 1822 
he became superintendent of the Troy 
Iron and Nail Factory Company, and 
henceforth Troy was his home and the 
seat of his wonderful activity. He patent- 
ed in 1825 a machine for making wrought 
iron nails and sjjikes, and in 1836 a ma- 
chine for making horse shoes. These in- 
ventions largely increased the production 
of his company. In 1834 he modified his 
first patent, and secured another to make 
countersunk spikes to fasten flat rails of 
iron to wooden ones, these forming the 
tracks for the first railroads of the United 
States. In 1835 his wonderful machine 
for making horseshoes was put in opera- 
tion. By changing some of the parts of 
the countersunk spike machine he secured 
a machine for making hook-headed spikes 
to fasten "T" and "H" rails together, then 
beinning to supersede flat rails for rail- 
road tracks. In 1839 he devised the 
celebrated "Burden's rotary concentric 
squeezer" for the compression of balls 
of puddled iron into blooms, which the 
United States Commissioner of Patents 
declared was the first truly original and 
most important invention affecting the 
manufacture of iron up to that time. This 
machine came into general use in Europe 



and America. In 1843 he constructed a 
machine that in two movements shaped 
into horseshoes bar iron delivered from 
the rolls without heating. In 1835 he be- 
came half owner of the company's stock, 
and in 1848 became sole owner and pro- 
prietor of the Troy Iron and Nail Factory 
Company. In 185 1 he constructed the im- 
mense overshot water wheel, figuratively 
called the "Niagara of water wheels," 
sixty feet in diameter and twenty-two feet 
wide, which furnished the power of 
twelve hundred horses to that part of his 
plant called the "upper works." This 
wheel is yet preserved at Troy, although 
not in use, and is one of the points of in- 
terest daily visited by tourists. In 1857 
he so improved the horseshoe machine 
that it cut, bent and forged each piece 
into a perfectly shaped shoe in one move- 
ment. During the Civil War the govern- 
ment took possession of the Burden 
Works, retaining Mr. Burden in the man- 
agement. Although it taxed his every 
resource he kept the horses of the United 
States army supplied with shoes, and it 
may be said that the Confederate cavalry 
made frequent raids on the Union army 
wagon trains, and secured vast quantities 
of the Burden horseshoes. The right to 
use these valuable machines was pur- 
chased by the governments of England. 
France, Germany and Russia, who thus 
supplied their cavalry horses with shoes. 
The firm of H. Burden & Sons was form- 
ed in 1864, after the death of Henry Bur- 
den, the two brothers, James Abercrom- 
bie and I. Townsend, conducting it under 
that name until June 30, 1881, when the 
Burden Iron Company was incorporated. 
These works are still in successful opera- 
tion, and constitute one of Troy's most 
important industries. 

Henry Burden was greatly interested 
in steam navigation, and at one time con- 
templated the formation of a company to 
navigate the Atlantic with vessels of a 



lOI 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



tonnage and speed then unheard of, but 
"Burden's Atlantic Steam Fury," as 
named in the prospectus, did not material- 
ize. He was interested in all worthy en- 
terprises, gave freely to charity, and was 
one of Troy's most valued citizens. 

He died in Troy, January 19, 1871. He 
married Helen McQuit, a most devoted 
Christian woman to whose memory he 
erected Woodside Memorial Presbyterian 
Church. 



JOHNSON, Benjamin P., 

Laxryer, Man of Enterprise. 

Benjamin Pierce Johnson, son of Dr. 
William (2) and Dolly (Ainsworth) John- 
son, was born at Canaan, Columbia 
county. New York, October 30, 1793, died 
at Albany, New York, April 12. 1869. 

He prepared for college in a school at 
Lenox, Massachusetts, and entered Union 
College, Schenectady, New York, in 1810, 
where he was graduated, class of 1813. 
He prepared for the practice of law at 
Hamilton and Hudson, New York, was 
admitted to the bar in 1817, and became a 
well-known and prominent lawryer and 
public official of Rome, New York. He 
received the degree of A. M. from Hamil- 
ton College in 1820. He was elected to 
the New York State Legislature from 
Rome in 1827, and was reelected in 1828- 
29. In Albany he found himself among 
old friends. DeWitt Clinton, his warm 
personal friend, was in the governor's 
chair, Elisha Williams (regarded as the- 
most prominent jury lawyer in the State), 
under whom he studied law a few years 
before, was in the Assembly, Erastus 
Root was speaker; Millard Filmore, Ben- 
jamin F. Butler, John Van Buren, and 
other gaints were also in the House ; 
while in the Senate were Silas Wright, 
Peter R. Livingston, Ambrose L. Jordan, 
John C. Spencer and others whose names 
are not forgotten in New York history — 



with such men, Colonel Johnson was per- 
sonally popular, his genial manners, free- 
dom from party rancor, accurate memory, 
abundant anecdote and ready humor mak- 
ing always a desirable associate whether 
on legislative committees, or in the social 
gatherings then so frequent in Albany 
during legislative sessions. After the 
close of his political career in 1829, he re- 
turned to Rome and resumed his profes- 
sional career. 

He began to be interested in agricul- 
ture, and purchased a farm, operating it 
more for experimental than money-mak- 
ing purposes. As he became more in- 
terested in farming and farmers, he saw 
that great good would come from an 
active, progressive agricultural associa- 
tion. In 1841 he was chosen vice-presi- 
dent of the reorganized and rejuvenated 
State Agricultural Society. He became 
deeply interested, and during 1842 wrote 
a great deal for the columns of the "Cen- 
tral New York Farmer," also the "Albany 
Cultivator." In 1844 he was correspond- 
ing secretary, and in 1845 president of the 
society. He was now a very busy man. 
His legal practice in the various courts 
was large, he did a large collecting busi- 
ness, was school commissioner, receiving 
and disbursing public money, was a 
fanner and breeder of fine "short-horns," 
editor and agricultural writer, and was 
much in demand as a public speaker on 
politics, temperance, and other topics of 
the day. In 1846 he became involved in 
financial difficulty. In 1847 he was ap- 
pointed secretary of the State Agricul- 
tural Society, and took up his residence in 
Albany. He gave up all other business 
and devoted himself solely to the develop- 
ment of the agricultural interests of his 
State, and became an oracle to the great 
mass of farmers of the State with whom 
he came in contact. The society's office 
became the depository of every fact, sug- 
gestion, product or invention, connected 



102 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



in any way with agriculture or the do- 
mestic arts. He traveled and spoke con- 
stantly. The management of State fairs 
was reduced to a perfect system, becom- 
ing a model for other States. He was an 
organizer of the United States Agricul- 
tural Society in 1852, and one of its vice- 
presidents for many years. In 1850 he 
was chosen secretary of the committee 
appointed to represent the United States 
at the Crystal Palace World's Exhibition 
held in London, England, 185 1. It was at 
this exhibition that American agricultural 
and harvesting machinery first came into 
world notice and carried away all honors 
in their class, and the Yankee yacht 
"America" captured the "Blue Ribbon of 
the Seas." Colonel Johnson, who had 
been appointed by Governor Hunt "to 
represent the interests and honor of the 
State of New York," was on the ground 
and rendered invaluable aid to American 
exhibitors, returning home in September, 
185 1, after a visit to France, where he was 
presented with the medal of membership 
in the French Agricultural Society. From 
1851 to 1861 he was indefatigable in the 
work of the society. In 1853 he took a 
large share in the national exhibition at 
the New York Crystal Palace. In the 
same year he became a trustee of the 
State Agricultural College. He was ap- 
pointed by President Lincoln, in 1862, 
commissioner from the United States to 
the international exhibition again held in 
London. The Civil War being in pro- 
gress there were but ninety-five Ameri- 
can exhibitors, eighty-three of them being 
awarded prizes. 

Colonel Johnson soon after his return 
from abroad lost his wife, which with 
other family bereavements and old age, 
which was creeping on, broke down his 
health, and he was gradually relieved 
from the more arduous duties of secre- 
tary. In 1868 he attended his last meet- 
ing with the society, and on April 12, 



1869, he passed quietly away. Says a 
contemporary: "He was the States best 
servant; never a man served the people 
to higher results of value and received so 
little for it." When in his thirty-second 
year. Colonel Johnson experienced a 
change of heart on religious matters 
under the preaching of the evangelist, 
Charles G. Finney, and soon afterward 
made a public profession of his faith and 
joined the Presbyterian church in Rome. 
He became a prominent speaker at re- 
ligious gatherings, took an active part in 
the establishment of Sunday schools and 
temperance societies, and was licensed to 
preach by the Presbytery of Oneida. For 
some time he supplied the pulpit of the 
Second Presbyterian Church of Rome 
until a regular minister could be installed. 
He never again regularly occupied a pul- 
pit, but was always a most efficient lay-- 
man. He was a strong anti-slavery man, 
and loyally supported the Union. He 
gained his military title of colonel during 
the W'ar of 1812, but never saw active 
service. He was fond of telling his mili- 
tary experiences, relating them with great 
gusto and humor. He was a member 
of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to 
Rome Lodge. He married (first) Decem- 
ber II, 1820, Ann McKinstry, of Rome, 
who died January 28, 1837. He married 
(second) at Sherburne, New York, March 
I, 1838, Mary, born February 15, 1808, 
died December i. 1862. daughter of 
Joseph and Mary (Foote) Adams. 



HARTLEY, Robert M., 

Fhilanthropist. 

Robert Milham Hartley, son of Isaac 
and Isabella (Johnson) Hartley, was born 
in Cockermouth. England, February 17, 
1796, and died in New York City, March 
3. 1881. 

He was but three years of age when he 
was brought by his mother and uncle. 



103 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Thomas Hartley, to join his father in New 
York. His childhood was spent in Sara- 
toga and Montgomery' counties, New 
York, where he received his early school- 
ing. He grew up under the guidance of 
a Godly mother whose gentle teachings 
had their result in his later life. He was 
taught the business of his father and was 
well equipped for the duties of a woolen 
manufacturer. He was not a natural busi- 
ness man ; his nature was spiritual, and his 
ambition was for the ministry. Guided by 
his father's wishes, however, he remained 
in business with and near him until he was 
twenty-three years of age. At that time 
he entered Fairfield Academy, intending 
to prepare for the ministry, but his health 
failing, was obliged to give up his dearest 
wish and returned to business life. He 
later located in New York City, in the dry 
goods business, and that was his home 
until death. His after life was devoted to 
his Master's service, and, although in a 
different way, it was work for humanity 
that he could not have done had his min- 
isterial ambition been gratified. He be- 
came widely known as a Christian philan- 
thropist and was untiring in his work for 
the poor and afflicted. He was the col- 
league and coadjutor of those wealthy 
men who were always ready to supply the 
funds needed to carry forward or consum- 
mate his benevolences. He was vitally 
associated with several institutions, but 
his best sei^-ice was given to the one that 
lay nearest his heart. "The Association 
for Improving the Condition of the Poor." 
He was one of the founders and w'as the 
most important officer of this association 
from 1843 until 1876. He was the founder 
of the New York City Temperance So- 
ciety and its secretary for nine years. He 
founded the Working Men's Home, the 
De Milt Dispensary, the Juvenile Asylum, 
the Society for the Ruptured and Crip- 
pled, and the Presbyterian Hospital. He 
published many articles and essays on re- 



ligious, sanitary and scientific subjects. 
He was ruling elder of the Broome Street 
(afterward Madison Square) Presbyteri- 
an Church. He was a man of the deepest 
piety, and most gentle, loving and sympa- 
thetic nature. He was most happy in his 
married and home life. He married, Sep- 
tember 12, 1824, in New York City, Cath- 
erine, daughter of Reuben and Abigail 
(W'ilsey) Munson. 



LOOMIS, Arphaxad, 

IiaTOyer, Legislator, Aathor. 

Arphaxad Loomis was bom in Win- 
chester. Connecticut, April 9, 1798, son of 
Thaddeus and Lois (Griswold) Loomis, 
grandson of Ichabod and Mindwell 
( Lewis) Loomis. and of Phineas and Lois 
(Hurlburt) Griswold, and a descendant of 
Joseph Loomis, the immigrant. 

\\'hen Arphaxad Loomis was four years 
of age his parents removed to Salisbury-, 
New York, where his father was for many 
years a justice of the peace, and assistant 
justice of the Herkimer County Court. 
During his early life Arphaxad Loomis 
attended the district school, acquiring 
thereby a practical knowledge of the rudi- 
ments of education, in the meantime as- 
sisting with the work of his father's farm, 
in this manner building up a strong con- 
stitution. In 1812, when only fourteen 
years of age, he began to be self-support- 
ing, accepting a position as teacher in the 
district school for the winter months, and 
so continued for a period of thirteen years 
until 1825. and in the meantime for six 
years from 1812 to 1818 attended Fair- 
field Academy during the summer months, 
thereby gaining a knowledge of the higher 
branches of study. Having decided upon 
the profession of law as his life work, he 
pursued a course of study along that line, 
and was admitted to the bar in 1825. He 
then located in Sacket Harbor and en- 
gaged in the active practice of his pro- 



104 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



fession. remaining for two years, and then 
removed to Little Falls where he was en- 
gaged in a successful practice until 1885, 
a period of almost sixty years. He was 
also active in the politics of his adopted 
State, being chosen for offices of trust and 
responsibility. He was surrogate of Her- 
kimer county, 1828-37; ^ member of a 
commission to investigate the policy, 
labor and discipline in State prisons, in 
1834; a Democratic Representative in the 
Twenty- fifth Congress, 1837-39; a mem- 
ber of the Assembly from ?Ierkimer 
county, 1841-43 ; a member of the State 
Constitutional Convention of 1846, and a 
commissioner to revise the code of prac- 
tice in 1847. His defective hearing alone 
prevented his appointment to high judi- 
cial stations. He was the author of: "His- 
torical Sketch of the New York System 
of Law Reform" (1879). 

Mr. Loomis married, in 1832, Ann. 
daughter of Dr. Stephen Todd, of Salis- 
bury, New York. The death of Mr. 
Loomis occurred in Little Falls, New- 
York, September 15, 1885, at the advanced 
age of eighty-seven years, after an active 
and useful career. 



SAMMONS, Simeon, 

Soldier, Government Official, 

Colonel Simeon Sammons, son of Lieu- 
tenant Thomas and Mary (Wood) Sam- 
mons, was born on the Sammons home- 
stead farm, near Johnstown. New York. 
May 23, iSii. 

He was educated in the district school, 
and for a year and a half attended Johns- 
town Academy. After leaving school he 
returned to the farm and was engaged the 
remainder of his life in its management, 
except when occupied in the public serv- 
ice and when away during the Civil War. 
He was not lacking in the military ardor 
of his ancestors. At the age of eighteen 
years he enlisted in the Thirtv-seventh 



Regiment, Eleventh Brigade, Fourteenth 
Division, New York Infantry, as ensign, 
appointed by Governor Throop, March 3, 
1829, was promoted lieutenant, then cap- 
tain, and Governor Marcy commissioned 
him major, August 23, 1837, and the same 
year lieutenant-colonel. Governor Sew- 
ard appointed him colonel of the same 
regiment. He was the means of effecting 
several important reforms in the service. 
In 1841 he resigned, but his wishes were 
refused. He continued his farming opera- 
tions uninterruptedly until July 9, 1862, 
when he received a colonel's commission 
from Governor Morgan, with orders to 
establish a camp at Fonda, New York. 
Before sunset thirty men were engaged in 
the erection of barracks, and the next day 
officers were enlisting and examining re- 
cruits. August 29, 1862, the One Hun- 
dred and Fifteenth Regiment, with full 
ranks, under command of Colonel Sam- 
mons, was marching toward the seat of 
war. They were at once brought face to 
face with war's stern realities. Dr. Sut- 
ton, the surgeon, wrote: "In thirty days 
the 115th Regiment have slept on their 
arms ten nights : under the open Heaven 
16; six nights in the cars and six in 
tents." For three days our command of 
one thousand and twenty-two men per- 
formed picket duty on twenty-one miles 
of railroad ; had four or five skirmishes 
with rebel cavalry ; fought one day be- 
hind breastworks ; endured a siege of four 
days, and finally surrendered to Stone- 
wall Jackson and were paroled. W^e 
marched one thousand five hundred miles 
in thirty days with the loss of but one 
man. The regiment saved its flag, and a 
year later vindicated their honor and 
proved their worth at the battle of Olus- 
tee, Florida. February 20, 1864. Colonel 
Sammons' regiment was posted on the 
right and bore the brunt of battle, suffer- 
ing terribly in killed and wounded. Cap- 
tain Vanderveer. whose body was retum- 



105 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ed to Fultonville, New York, was a vic- 
tim. Captains Ballou, French and Smith 
were wounded. First Lieutenant James 
H. Clark was wounded, and on his return 
from the war wrote the history of tlie 
"Iron Hearted Regiment." Colonel Sam- 
mons, mounted on a fine horse, recently 
presented to him by the non-commissioned 
officers and privates of the regiment, was 
wounded in the ankle. General Seymour, 
the Union commander, wrote: "Colonel 
Sammons behaved like one of the heroes 
of old and he has my respect forever." 
His wound, not properly treated until 
sixteen days later in New York, caused 
his return to his home, where it soon 
healed under proper care. He returned to 
his regiment, which was with the Army 
of the Potomac under General Grant, and 
engaged in the siege of Petersburg. After 
the explosion of Burnside's mine, the regi- 
ment bore a prominent part in the battle 
of Cemetery Hill, where he was shot 
through the body. The wound was not 
fatal, but ended his military career. He 
retired to the old farm, where he died 
March 19, 1881. 

Colonel Sammons was a Democrat, and 
frequently called to public office. He was 
supervisor of the town several years. He 
represented Montgomery county in the 
Legislature in 1865 • ^^^ chairman of the 
Montgomery Count}^ Democratic Commit- 
tee ; delegate to the National Union Con- 
vention in Philadelphia, and to Democratic 
National Convention in New York in 
1868. In 1870 he was appointed harbor 
master of the ]wrt of New York, serving 
two years. While in the Legislature he 
championed the bill making free the 
bridge across the Mohawk river at Fonda. 
He was frequently president of the Mont- 
gomery County Agricultural Society, and 
gave freely of his time and means to all 
public enterprises. He married Barbara, 
daughter of Henry and Magdalene 
(Cline) Gross. 



MUNSELL, Joel, 

Journalist, Publisher, Author. 

Joel Munsell, son of Joel and Cynthia 
(Paine) Munsell, was born at Northfield, 
Massachusetts, April 14, 1808. No one 
ever has or can gain a greater height of 
lespect in Albany than Joel Munsell 
achieved by his own efforts and in his 
own quiet, painstaking, laborious way. as 
historian, genealogist and publisher. He 
was unpretentious in his manner of living, 
and retiring of nature ; withal his fellow 
citizens considered him in their front 
rank. 

His parents had gone from Hartford, 
Connecticut, to Northfield before his birth, 
and it was at that place he spent the first 
seventeen years of his life, attending the 
local school of the town and also assist- 
ing his father in his trade of wheelwright. 
But it was in 1825 that his natural bent 
was given free rein, when he became an 
apprentice in the printing office of the 
"Franklin Post and Christian Freeman," 
published at Greenfield, nearby. In De- 
cember of 1826 he had changed to another 
office in the village ; but his next em- 
ployer, John Denio, took him to Albany 
in May, 1827, to be his clerk in a book 
store. He preferred, at that time, to be 
engaged in the making of books rather 
than the selling of them, and secured em- 
ployment on the "National Observer," 
I)ublished by Solomon Southwick. Janu- 
ary I, 1828, found him a journeyman 
printer two days of the week on the "Ma- 
sionic Record" and also helping Mr. 
Denio at spare moments. Meanwhile he 
was printing, editing and distributing 
from door to door his own news sheet, 
"The Albany Minerva," of which he is- 
sued eight numbers. He now devoted 
much time to collecting papers and bind- 
ing them, doing job work for various 
newspapers, and was away some time 
seeking journeymen in Northfield, Hart- 



106 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ford and New Haven. With a little spare 
time at the latter place, he attended lec- 
tures and read useful works in science 
and literature. 

In 1834 he was associated with Henry D. 
Stone in the publication of "The Micro- 
scope," and this lasted three years, when 
he had saved a sufficient sum to enable 
him in October, 1836, to open for himself 
a job printing office, at No. 58 State street. 
He had at last found his true bearings, 
where his skill and intelligence might ex- 
pand as he desired they should, and as a 
result "Joel Munsell, the printer," became 
known all over the United States. It is 
peculiar that in becoming, through his 
printery, the friend of the historian, stu- 
dent, genealogist and chronicler of events, 
he was to reap so great a success that 
everything put forth by his shop trebled 
in value as time went on, and by 1900, or 
hardly a score of years after his death, 
such volumes as he had issued at a dollar 
had increased in value to from three to 
eight dollars. In the year 1900 his "Mem- 
oirs of Madame Reidesel," printed in or 
dinary fashion and bound plainly in cloth, 
could not be secured to supply the de- 
mand of the trade at eight dollars, and 
one of the volumes of his "Collections" 
was quoted locally at twenty-five dollars. 
This shows with what perspicuity he 
selected works for publication, which many 
another would have deemed unimportant. 
A list of the books and pamphlets issued 
from his press would make a volume in 
it.'^elf, and had he lived to reap the bene- 
fits of his phenomenal advance in trade. 
he would have bequeathed riches to his 
family. 

The first work compiled and published 
by him was called "Outlines of the His- 
tory of Printing," issued in 1839. But it 
is as a historian of the city that Albanians 
look up to him. He is remembered by 
everyone as the greatest recorder of local 
events, and were it not for his patient 



efforts, but poorly remunerated, there 
would be a dearth of printed material 
about the past of Albany. At this day it 
is an ambition of every household to pos- 
sess a set of his ten little volumes inscrib- 
ed "Annals of Albany," which he began 
in 1849 and completed in 1859. The text 
runs as a diary and carries the readers 
back a hundred years by the compilations 
therein under the caption, "Notes from 
the Newspapers." His "Collections on the 
History of Albany," four volumes, were 
issued between 1865 and 1871, and every- 
body wonders how he found the time to 
prepare them in conjunction with the 
work of his printery. They are exceed- 
ingly valuable for reference and are fre- 
quently quoted. Another similar work 
and monument to his industry is "The 
Every Day Book of History and Chro- 
nology," compiled by him, and published 
in two i2mo. volumes in 1843. Beginning 
with that year he prepared and issued an- 
nually "Webster's Annual Almanac," 
started in 1784 by Charles R. Webster, 
continued to the present, since his father's 
death, by Charles Munsell. Many of his 
publications were put forth at a pecuni- 
ary loss to him; but he never refused to 
I)rint what appeared to him to be a valu- 
able manuscript because of a forecast "it 
wouldn't pay," and this unselfish zeal has 
led to the preservation of an abundance 
of historic material now of rare value. 

Mr. Munsell's endeavors in the field of 
local journalism include "Albany Min- 
erva," 1828 ; a daily campaign paper edited 
by the Hon. Daniel D. Barnard, 1840; 
"The Lady's Magazine" and "The North- 
ern Star and Freeman's Advocate," in 
1844: "The Spectator." edited by Rev. 
Dr. William Buel Sprague, in 1845 ; "The 
Guard." an Odd Fellows' paper, edited by 
C. C. Burr and John Fanner; and at vari- 
ous times, "The New York State Me- 
chanic," "The Unionist," "The State Reg- 
ister," "The Typographical Miscellany," 



107 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



■'The New York Teacher," "The Morning 
Express" and "The Daily Statesman." 
He also took great interest in and for 
three years published "The New England 
Historic-Genealogical Register," of Bos- 
ton. He published ten volumes of valu- 
able historical matter in limited editions 
upon excelllent paper, quarto size, en- 
titled "Munsell's Historical Series." 

Mr. Munsell was a founder of The Al- 
bany Institute, constant in attendance, 
reading before that body a number of 
papers of great concern, and was through 
forty years its treasurer. During forty- 
three years he was a faithful supporter of 
the Lutheran church and its trustee for 
over twenty years. He was affectionately 
liked by all associating with him. In 
stature he was slight, and in expression 
decidedly cheerful, although possibly he 
enjoyed no other pleasures than his ardu- 
ous work. In conversation he frequently 
was jocose and facetious. His manner 
was always quiet and unobtrusive. He 
was made an honorary member of many 
societies, each of which bodies sent dele- 
gates to attend his funeral, when worn 
out by excessive and constant work he 
ceased from his labors. He died January 
15, 1880, at his residence, No. 59 Lodge 
street, Albany, New York. 

Joel Munsell married (first) at Albany, 
New York, June i", 1834, Jane Caroline 
Bigelow. born in 181 2, died in Albany, 
June 17, 1854, by whom lour children. 
Married (second) at Albany, September 
II, 1856, Mary A. Reid, born in 1822. 
daughter of Alexander Reid, of Montreal. 
Canada, by whom six children. 



WAKEMAN, Abram, 

Lawyer, National licgislator. 

Abram Wakeman, son of Jonathan and 
Clara Wakeman, was born May 24, 1824, 
in Greenfield, Connecticut. He was one 
of the contemporaries of William H. Sew- 



ard, Thurlow Weed, Horace Greeley, 
Henry J. Raymond and Preston King, in 
the organization of the Republican party. 
Much of his early life was spent on a 
farm. He attended the school founded by 
Timothy Dwight at Fairfield, who later 
became president of Yale University. At 
fourteen he started out to make his own 
living, teaching school at Rochelle and 
Lockport, New York. He studied law 
with Capron & Lake, at Little Falls, go- 
ing to New York in 1846, where he was 
admitted to the bar and became a partner 
of Horace Holden, taking an active part 
in politics and supporting the Whig party. 
In 1850 he was elected from the fifth ward 
a member of the Legislature and reelected 
in 1851. He distinguished himself in his 
successful efforts to secure a revision of 
the public school laws. He also sup- 
ported Hon. Hamilton Fish in his election 
to the United States Senate. In 1854 he 
was elected as alderman from the twelfth 
ward on the Reform ticket. In 1856 he 
was a member of the Republican National 
Convention, and a member of the national 
committee from his State during twelve 
succeeding years. He was elected to Con- 
gress in 1856. He was a candidate of 
the Free Soil and American parties that 
later merged into the Republican party. 
He continued the practice of law, his firm 
being Wakeman, Latting & Phelps, with 
offices at 59 Fulton street. Mr. Phelps, 
the junior partner, was minister of the 
United States to the Court of St. James 
(luring President Cleveland's first admin- 
istration. Mr. Wakeman attracted the 
favorable attention of Mr. Lincoln during 
the campaign of i860. They became warm 
personal friends and remained so until 
the death of Mr. Lincoln. At the out- 
break of the Civil War Mr. Wakeman 
raised a regiment of volunteers, the 
Eighty-first Pennsylvania, and was ap- 
pointed its colonel, but at the request of 
President Lincoln he resigned in favor of 



108 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



his friend, Colonel Miller, who was killed 
in a small skirmish on going to the front. 
President Lincoln and Secretary Seward 
wished him to accept the ministership to 
the Court of St. James, but he found the 
expenses connected with the honorable 
oftice would not admit of it. 

He became postmaster of New York 
City. His outspoken Union ideas made 
him a mark for many dangers. It was 
through his efforts that a plot was dis- 
covered to destroy the city. Suspecting 
some correspondence that was passing 
through the mails, he seized the same and 
through the assistance of a cypher expert 
the plot was revealed. During the draft 
riots he remained at the post office, send- 
ing to the navy- yard and obtaining arms, 
and garrisoned the building. Arrange- 
ments were made with the "Evening 
Post," who had offices opposite, that in 
case of an attack, steam from the boilers 
was to be thrown on the mob. In the 
meantime his own residence in Eighty- 
seventh street, situated on his property 
which covered the entire block from Fifth 
to Madison avenues, was destroyed by 
the mob, including his private library, 
then one of the largest in the city. For 
several days he was unable to find trace 
of his family, who had escaped to Astoria, 
Long Island. As postmaster he reorgan- 
ized the service and established the dis- 
trict stations and letter collection boxes. 
During President Lincoln's second term 
he was made Surveyor of the Port. The 
pride of his later life was that he had re- 
tained the trusted friendship of Lincoln, 
Seward and Reed. After his retirement 
from politics he organized the Bay Ridge 
and Manhattan Beach road, and was in- 
terested in developing Coney Island. In 
1864 he purchased the General Orville 
Clark place at Sandy Hill, which has re- 
mained in the family ever since. 

He was married twice. His first wife 
and daughter, Rosamond, were burned in 



the Cambridge apartments. New York 
City, March 7, 1883. The courage dis- 
played by Rosamond Wakeman at this 
fire was most heroic. After assisting the 
old nurse (who had been in the family for 
over thirty years) to escape, and believ- 
ing her mother following, she discovered 
her mistake when they had reached the 
street, and she at once returned in the 
face of certain death, and both were lost. 
Abram \\'akeman died at his residence, 
46 East Twentieth street. New York, 
June 29, 18S9. 



PRUYN, John V. L., 

La\pyer, National Legislator. 

John Van Schaick Lansing, LL.D., 
(known as John V. L. Pruyn), youngest 
child of David and Huybertie (Lansing) 
Pruyn, was born in Albany, New York, 
June 22, 181 1, died at Clifton Springs, 
New York, November 21, 1877. He had 
a most brilliant and useful career in both 
public and professional life, being skilled 
in the law. He was State Senator, a 
member of Congress, and Chancellor of 
the University of the State of New York. 
He was of the best Dutch ancestry. His 
maternal grandfather, Christopher Lan- 
sing, was quartermaster of General 
Schuyler's regiment in the Revolutionary- 
War, and a man of high character. On 
the maternal side he descended from the 
Van Schaicks, Yates, Bogarts, Van Slich- 
tenhorsts, Verplancks and Schuylers. On 
the paternal side he also descended from 
the Bogarts, Verplancks and Schuylers, 
as well as from the Groesbecks and Van 
der Poels. His great-grandmother, Huy- 
bertie Yates, mother of Christopher Lan- 
sing, was a sister of Hon. Abraham Yates, 
mayor of Albany from 1790 to 1796, whose 
fidelity to the principles of Jefferson pro- 
cured for him the name of "the Demo- 
crat," and who wrote the famous political 
articles signed the "Rough Hewer." A 



109 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



direct though somewhat remote ancestor 
was Brant Arentse Van Slichtenhorst, of 
Nykerk, in Gelderland, who was appoint- 
ed in 1646 during the minority of the 
young patroon, director of the Colonic of 
Rensselaerwyck, president of the court of 
justice, and general superintendent, with 
full power to manage the Van Rensselaer 
estate. John V. L. Pruyn's character was 
moulded by his most excellent mother, 
and one of the beautiful features of his 
life was his devotion to her. 

John V. L. Pruyn received his early 
education in private schools, and entered 
the Albany Academy in 1824, where he 
completed a full. course of study. The 
noted Theodoric Romeyn Beck, M.D., 
LL.D., was principal of the academy dur- 
ing the years he spent there. Immedi- 
ately after leaving the academy he enter 
the law office of James King, at that time 
one of Albany's most prominent lawyers, 
later a regent of the University of New 
York, and who in 1839 became chancellor. 
Mr. Pruyn became his private and con- 
fidential clerk and remained as such 
several months after being admitted to 
the bar. He was admitted as attorney in 
the Supreme Court of New York and a 
solicitor in the Court of Chancery, Jan- 
uary 13, 1822. This latter court admitted 
him a counsellor, May 21, 1833, and the 
Supreme Court on January 17, 1835. 
While still a young lawyer he was counsel 
for some of the parties to the famous 
"James Will Case," which gave him both 
reputation and experience. In 1833 he 
formed a law partnership with Henry H. 
Martin, who had been a fellow student in 
the office of Mr. King. The firm name 
was Pruyn & Martin. On May 27, 1833, 
he was appointed by Governor Marcy an 
examiner in chancery, and February 10, 
1836, a master in chancery. Three days 
later Chancellor Walworth designated 
him as injunction master for the third 
circuit, all highly responsible positions. 



which showed how he had gained the con- 
fidence and respect of those in authority. 
February 21, 1848, he was admitted to 
practice in the United States Supreme 
Court at Washington, and April 9, 1856, 
to practice before the United States Court 
of Claims. In 1853 ^^ had practically 
withdrawn from the practice of his pro- 
fession, politics and corporation service 
taking his entire time. In 1851 he became 
a director of the Albany City Bank and 
subsequently vice-president. In 185 1 he 
formed a law partnership with John H. 
Reynolds (Mr. Martin, his former part- 
ner, having been appointed cashier of the 
Albany City Bank), one of the most bril- 
liant lawyers of the day. The partner- 
ship continued until 1853, when Mr. 
Pruyn's railroad relations became so im- 
portant that he could not longer give the 
law his personal attention. 

In 1835 he was chosen counsel and a 
director of the Mohawk & Hudson Rail- 
way, the first railway successfully operat- 
ed in America. In 1853 steps were taken 
to amalgamate the various railway corpo- 
rations (about ten in number) between 
Albany and Buffalo into one corporate 
body. Mr. Pruyn in person concluded 
the proceedings and drew up the "consoli- 
dation agreement," in some respects the 
most important business document ever 
drawn in the State. The new corporation 
was the New York Central Railroad, and 
he was chosen secretary, treasurer and 
general counsel. He continued in this 
capacity and also a director of the road 
until 1866, when the Coming manage- 
ment was voted out by the Vanderbilts. 
He had now acquired a comfortable com- 
petence and henceforth devoted himself 
to other and more congenial pursuits. He 
was deeply interested in political science, 
though not in the vulgar sense a poli- 
tician. 

He was a Democrat of the "old school." 
When the Civil War broke out, he at once 



IIO 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



took sides with the government, and did 
all a conscientious citizen should do to 
honor and defend the constitution. At 
the fall election of 1861 he was elected 
State Senator. He accepted the nomina- 
tion upon the express condition that 
neither he or any of his friends should be 
called upon to contribute a single dollar 
to control the vote of any elector. At the 
close of one of the sessions of the Legis- 
lature, he gave the salary of a year to the 
poor of Albany. At about this time a law 
was passed at the instance of James A. 
Bell, Mr. Pruyn and a few others, for the 
building of the new state capitol. By the 
laws of 1865 a commission was created 
for this purpose, Mr. Pruyn being one of 
the commissioners, and continuing as 
such until 1870, when the board was re- 
organized, largely, it is said, in the in- 
terests of the friends of the New York 
City political ring headed by "Boss 
Tweed." Mr. Pruyn, not being in har- 
mony with this element of his party, was 
dropped from the commission. A great 
deal that was meritorious in the original 
plans of the Capitol was due to the efforts 
of Mr. Pruyn and the Hon. Hamilton 
Harris, an associate member of the com- 
mission. These two worked side by side, 
and had their wishes been more closely 
followed the defects in the building would 
have been fewer and much money saved 
the State. Mr. Pruyn was particularly 
well informed on light and ventilation, and 
to his energy is due the central court of 
the building. This he had to fight for, 
with the assistance of Mr. Harris, as well 
as for other necessary features of the 
building. From 1865 to 1870 these two 
men worked to the best of their ability 
for the interests of the State. The first 
stone of the new building was laid on 
July 7, 1869, by Mr. Pruyn in the presence 
of Governor Hofifman, the State officials, 
and a few friends. A feature of the deco- 



ration of the "famous staircase" is a head 
of Mr. Pruyn carved in stone. 

He was a representative in Congress 
from the Albany district twice; first in 
the Thirty-eighth Congress (1863-65), 
elected as successor to Erastus Corning, 
resigned, and again in the Fortieth Con- 
gress (1867-69). He served upon the im- 
portant committees on ways and means, 
claims, Pacific railroads, joint library and 
foreign affairs. In the Thirty-eighth 
Congress his most noted speeches were 
made in opposition to the confiscation act, 
against the currency bill, and upon the 
abolition of slavery. In the Fortieth Con- 
gress his principal speeches were on the 
treaty-making power, under the Alaska 
treaty with Russia, on construction, on 
diplomatic appropriation, the resumption 
of specie payments and against the im- 
peachment of President Andrew Johnson. 
In this Congress he was chosen a regent 
of the Smithsonian Institution, in con- 
junction with the Hon. Luke P. Poland 
and James A. Garfield, then a member of 
Congress from Ohio, later to die by the 
assassin's bullet while President of the 
United States. Mr. Pruyn was in many 
respects the most efficient representative 
that Albany has ever sent to Washington. 
He was possessed of most remarkable ex- 
ecutive ability, while his extensive knowl- 
edge and elevated views of public affairs 
gave him weight and position. Although 
not rated an orator, he was an effective 
speaker. "His style of language and 
manner was simple, vigorous and correct, 
while his reasoning was sound and just." 
Although eminently fitted for public life, 
he will be best remembered for his work 
in the more congenial fields of philan- 
thropy and education. In 1831 he was 
elected a member of the Albany Institute, 
which he served in all capacities includ- 
ing the office of president, which he filled 
capably from 1857 until his death. The 
II 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Albany Institute, although not organized 
until May, 1824, is in reality one of the 
oldest literary and scientific societies in 
the State, being the combination of the 
"Albany Lyceum of Natural History" 
(founded in 1823) and the '"Society for 
the Promotion of Useful Arts," which 
was founded in 1804 as the legitimate 
successor of the "Society for the Promo- 
tion of Agriculture, Arts and Manufac- 
tures," organized in the city of New York 
(then the State Capitol) in 1791. 

In the cause of education, Mr. Pruyn 
did a noble work. On May 4, 1844, ^t the 
age of thirtj'-three, he was appointed by 
the Legislature a regent of the Univer- 
sity of the State of New York, and on 
January 9, 1862, was elected chancellor to 
succeed Hon. Gerrit Yates Lansing, 
LL.D., deceased. He was a regent for 
over thirty years, fifteen of which he was 
chancellor, the highest educational office 
in the State. The University of the State 
of New York was established by the Leg- 
islature first in 1784, but substantially as 
it now exists in 1787. Alexander Hamil- 
ton was one of the committee who drew 
up the Act of 1787. The University, like 
those of Oxford and Cambridge, is one of 
supervision and visitation rather than one 
of instruction. There are twenty-three 
regents, the presiding officer of the board 
being the chancellor, who is the head of 
the unversity, which includes under the 
visitation of the regents twenty-three lit- 
erary colleges, twenty medical colleges, 
schools of science, three law schools, and 
about two hundred and forty academies 
and academical departments of Union 
schools. The regents also have the care 
of the state library and the State Museum 
of Natural History. When he became 
chancellor Mr. Pruyn threw his whole 
soul into the work. The cause of higner 
education was not in its most flourishing 
condition, but he gave it a quickening 
impulse. The University convocation 



was organized, the system of preliminary 
and higher academic examination was in- 
stituted and a broad foundation laid for 
greater usefulness. At Hamilton College 
he founded the Pruyn medal for the best 
oration in the senior class, relating to the 
duties of the educated citizen to the State. 
He was president of the board of trustees 
of St. Stephen's College at Annandale, an 
institution founded by Mr. and Mrs. John 
Bard for training young men, chiefly for 
the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal 
church. As a member of the "Associa- 
tion for the Codification of the Law of 
Nations," he offered at the Hague meet- 
ing in 1875 resolutions of thanks for 
courtesies received, speaking in English, 
French and finally in Dutch, the language 
of his ancestors, for which he was loudly 
applauded. In 1876 the board of commis- 
sioners of state survey was organized and 
he was chosen president. This was really 
the last public position to which he was 
called. In 1871 he was appointed by 
President Grant a member of the centen- 
nial commission, but resigned before 
1876. 

He was corresponding member of the 
New York Historical Society, an honor- 
ary member of the Wisconsin Historical 
Society, a resident member of the Ameri- 
can Geographical and Statistical Society, 
a life member of the Young Men's Asso- 
ciation of Albany, a member of the Liter- 
ary Fund Society of London, of the 
Union and Century clubs of New York, 
and of other societies. He received the 
degree of Master of Arts in 1835 from 
Rutgers College and in 1845 from Union 
College, and that of LL.D. in 1852 from 
the University of Rochester. During the 
latter years of his life he gave nearly all 
his time to public service, and that too 
without compensation, although entitled 
by law to the reimbursement of his ex- 
penses he steadily declined to take it. His 
religious life was remarkably happy. 



112 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Originally an officer of the Second Re- 
formed Dutch Church, in which he had 
been reared, the latter half of his religious 
life was given almost wholly to the Prot- 
estant Episcopal church, of which he be- 
came a communicant. He was a vestry- 
man of St. Peter's Church, Albany, early 
known as "Queen Anne's Chapel in the 
Wilderness." His views were essentially 
broad. He was a warm admirer of Dean 
Stanley, and a personal friend of Bishop 
Doane, to whom he suggested the form 
of prayer now in use in the diocese of 
Albany for the government and State 
Legislature, and for a collect for the new 
year. Despite his love for the Episcopal 
church, he never lost sight of his early 
religious training, but made it his custom 
to annually take part in the New Year 
services of the Dutch church. He was a 
man of cultivated taste, had traveled ex- 
tensively, and had a large circle of friends 
abroad as well as at home. His preemi- 
nent characteristic was justice. He was 
always gentle and never spoke ill of any- 
one. "He had not an enemy in the world" 
was true of him. He led a life of personal 
purity and integrity, unsullied by even a 
rumor to the contrary. After his death 
on November 21, 1877, resolutions of 
sympathy were passed by the bodies with 
which he had been connected and by 
many others upon which he had no claim. 
His funeral took place on the afternoon 
of Friday, November 23, 1877, from St. 
Peter's Church, Albany, in the presence 
of the Governor, the State officials, re- 
gents of the University, and a large as- 
semblage of friends. The flags upon the 
public buildings were at half mast, and 
many of the public offices closed during 
the funeral services. He is buried in the 
Albany Cemetery, beneath the shadow of 
a simple granite cross, suitably inscribed. 
Mr. Pruyn married (first) October 22, 
1840, in Albany, Harriet Corning Turner, 
born June 18, 1822, second daughter of 
N Y— Vol 11—8 I 



Thomas and Mary Ruggles (Weld) 
Turner, of Troy, New York. She was a 
lineal descendant of the Rev. Thomas 
Weld, who emigrated from England in 
1632 and became pastor of the First Con- 
gregational Church in Roxbury, Massa- 
chusetts. Mrs. Pruyn died March 22, 
1859. In St. Peter's Church a beautiful 
memorial window is dedicated to her 
memory and that of an infant daughter. 
Erastus Corning, eldest son of John V. L. 
Pruyn, was born August 24, 1841 ; passed 
several years under the tuition of the Rev. 
Mr. Calthrop at Bridgeport, Connecticut, 
and subsequently a student at Princeton 
University and at Trinity College, Cam- 
bridge, England ; he was appointed con- 
sular agent of the United States at Cara- 
cas by Hon. William H. Seward, Secre- 
tary of State, and was the acting minister 
of our government there during the Vene- 
zuelan revolution of 1868. He received 
special commendation from the State De- 
partment for his services at that time. In 
1871 he went to Teneriffe, one of the 
Canary Islands, where he died at Orotava. 
February, 1881. John V. L. Pruyn was 
married (second) September 7, 1865, at St. 
Peter's Church, Albany, by the Rt. Rev. 
Horatio Potter, D.D., LL.D., D.C.I., 
O.xon. Bishop of New York, to Anna Fenn 
Parker, born at Delhi, New York, March 
26, 1840, eldest daughter of Hon. Amasa 
J. Parker and his wife, Harriet Langdon 
(Roberts) Parker, of Albany (see Parker 
VII). Two children were born of this 
marriage. Mrs. John V. L. (Anna F. 
Parker) Pruyn, spent the greater part of 
her life in Albany. She was a woman of 
vigorous mental powers, of broad culture 
and of extended travel. She was deeply 
interested in Albany affairs where her 
house was a center of wide hospitality. 
Generous by nature, she gave liberally of 
her means both to public and private 
charities. The Pruyn public library in 
Albany was a gift from Mrs. Pruyn and 
13 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



her family in memory of her husband. 
She died at her summer home in Matta- 
poisett, Massachusetts, October 7, 1909. 
Two daughters, Mrs. William Gorham 
Rice, of Albany, and Mrs. Charles S. 
Hamlin, of Boston, survive her. 



MORGAN, Lewis H., 

Ethnologist, Aroheologlst. 

Lewis Henry Morgan, esteemed by 
scientists as among the great — perhaps, 
the greatest — ethnologists of his time, was 
born at Aurora, Cayuga county, Novem- 
ber 21, 1818, the ninth child and seventh 
son of the Hon. Jedediah Morgan, by 
his second wife Harriet, daughter of 
Samuel Steele, of Hartford, Connecticut. 
He was of Puritan stock, pardonably 
proud of his lineage, descended paternally 
from James Morgan, who migrated from 
Wales to Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 
1636, and maternally from John Steele, 
who came from England, in 1641, to what 
is now Cambridge, the seat of Harvard 
University. In the maternal line, the 
blood of the "Mayflower" also coursed 
his veins, his great-great-grandfather, 
Samuel Steele, having married in 1680 
Mercy, the granddaughter of Governor 
William Bradford, of Plymouth. James 
Morgan married in Roxbury, August 6, 
1640, Margery Hill and, ten years later, 
removed to Pequot, now New London, 
Connecticut, and there the Morgan family 
abode for five generations. Thomas Mor- 
gan, the grandfather of Lewis, following 
in the wake of the New England exodus 
succeeding the close of the Revolution, 
settled in Scipio, Cayuga county, in 1792, 
at the age of fifty. Jedediah, his son, re- 
sided mainly in Aurora, was of competent 
estate, highly respected in the community 
and represented the seventh district in 
the State Senate, — 1824-26, — dying a year 
before the expiration of his term, when 
Lewis was in his eighth year. The house 



in which Lewis was born is still standing 
and is occupied by a professor at Wells 
College. 

Lewis, having received an excellent 
preliminary training, entered Union Col- 
lege, was a member of the Kappa Alpha 
fraternity and was graduated, with honor, 
in 1840. He studied law, was admitted 
to practice, settled in Rochester, was for 
a time a partner with George F. Dan- 
forth, a college classmate, afterward a 
judge of the Court of Appeals, and soon 
secured a lucrative and honorable prac- 
tice, continued for the ensuing decade. 
At the end thereof, however, business en- 
gagements and scientific studies caused 
him to withdraw from the profession. In 
1855 he became interested, first as legal 
adviser and then as stockholder, in the 
projected railway from Marquette, Michi- 
gan, to the south shore of Lake Superior 
and in the development of the iron mines 
in the region, from which he derived a 
considerable income. 

But it is to his labors in anthropology 
that Morgan owes his widespread fame. 
Living near to the Cayuga and not re- 
mote from the Onondaga and Seneca res- 
ervations of the Iroquois, his attention 
was turned early to the study of Indi- 
an life ; and it is of interest to note the 
probable cause of his interest therein. 
"On his return (to Aurora) from college 
he joined a secret society, known as the 
'Gordian Knot,' composed of the young 
men of the village. Chiefly by his in- 
fluence this society was enlarged and re- 
organized and became the "New Confed- 
eracy of the Iroquois." It held its coun- 
cils in the woods at night. It was found- 
ed upon the ancient confederacy of the 
Five Nations, and its symbolic council 
fires were kindled upon the ancient terri- 
tories of the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the 
Onondagas, the Cayugas and the Sene- 
cas. Its objects were to gather the frag- 
ments of the history, institutions and 



114 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



government of the Indians, and to en- 
courage a kinder feeling toward them. A 
friend writes that "many of its members 
have since become distinguished in vari- 
ous walks of life, but upon none of them 
was its influence so persuasive and so 
permanent as upon Mr. Morgan." It 
gave direction to his thought and stimu- 
lus to his energies. In order that it might 
be in conformity with its models, he visit- 
ed the tribes in New York and Canada, 
even then remnants, but retaining, so far 
as they were able, their ancient laws and 
customs. These he investigated and soon 
became deeply interested in them. On 
his removal to Rochester his studies of 
Indian institutions were continued and, 
in 1845, he attended day after day a grand 
council of the Indians at the Tonawanda 
reservation ; and in April of the same year 
went to Washington to plead in behalf 
of the Indians against the great injustice 
done them in taking away some of their 
lands. While on this journey he attend- 
ed a meeting of the New York Historical 
Society, of which he had been elected a 
member, and read his first public paper 
on the subject, referred to in the Proceed- 
ings of the Society as "An essay on the 
constitutional government of the Six Na- 
tions of Indians." 

Thereafter the pursuit of knowledge of 
the aboriginal habitat and history, tra- 
ditions and institutions, beginning with 
those of the Iroquois, the most intelligent 
and powerful federation of Indians on the 
continent, extending through the range 
of American tribes and culminating in 
the most important revelations and dis- 
coveries. In 1847 he published fourteen 
"Letters on the Iroquois," addressed to 
Albert Gallatin, LL.D., in the "American 
Review" under the nom de plume of "Shen- 
andoah." These were followed by several 
reports to the regents of the university 
upon Indian remains in this State, on the 
"Fabrics of the Iroquois;" and in 1851 



appeared his volume on the "League of 
the Iroquois," which at once attracted 
general attention and gave its author a 
high place in the world of letters and 
science. He had been, October i, 1847, 
adopted into the Hawk gens of the Sene- 
cas and given the name Ta-ya-da-wah- 
kugli (one lying across, or a friendly com- 
municant between the white and red 
races). Ten years later, at the Montreal 
meeting of the "American Association for 
the Advancement of Science" he read a 
paper on "The Laws of Descent of the 
Iroquois" which furnished the basis of 
one of the most important generaliza- 
tions in relation to American ethnology. 
By further visitations and researches 
among the Ojibways he found that their 
system of kinship was substantially the 
same as that of the Iroquois ; and his con- 
clusions were embodied in a paper read 
before the academy entitled "A Conjec- 
tural Solution of the Classificatory Sys- 
tem of Relationship," February 11, 1868. 
In this year he also produced "The Ameri- 
can Beaver and his Works," which was 
without the range of his special studies, 
but with a possible hint thereof in the 
communal life of the beaver and his in- 
genuity as an earth builder. It was re- 
ceived by foreign scholars with high ad- 
miration, was translated into various 
languages, and gained for him honorary 
membership in several scientific societies. 
In 1870, he published, under the aus- 
pices of the Smithsonian, his great vol- 
ume on "Systems of Consanguinity and 
Affinity of the Human Family" contain- 
ing, as himself says, "the systems of re- 
lationships of four-fifths numerically of 
the entire human family." From 1869 to 
1876, he contributed a number of papers 
to the "North American Review," — the 
"Seven Cities of Cibola," "Indian Migra- 
tions" and the "Houses of the Mound 
Builders" being among them. Probably 
the paper of 1876, entitled "Montezuma's 



"5 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Dinner," is the most characteristic of what 
has been called the "Morgan School'" of 
ethnology. In it he showed that the 
commonly received statements relating 
to the Aztec civilization were founded on 
misconceptions and exaggerations, and 
that the Mexican confederacy, reviewed 
in the light of knowledge derived from a 
study of the social and tribal institutions 
of the Indians of America, would be found 
to form no exception to the democratic, 
military and priestly government found- 
ed on the gentile system common to the 
American tribes (Putnam). In 1877, he 
issued his illustrious work, "Ancient So- 
ciety," with the subordinate caption of 
"or Researches in the Lines of Human 
Progress from Savagery, through Bar- 
barism to Civilization" — the leading 
monument of his genius — the grand sum- 
ming up of many years of industrious 
labor and deep thought. In this, he 
shows how all the blessings of morality, 
liberty, society, industry and civilization 
and even all free institutions, have been 
developed through regular stages from a 
few germs originally planted in the soil 
of the human mind, far back in the pre- 
historic ages ; proves that, with occa- 
sional retrogressions, there has been a 
constant growth in these respects, so that 
it is no longer an insoluble problem how 
a people can pass out of savagery and 
barbarism into civilization. 

Yet I doubt not thro' the ages one increasing 

purpose runs. 
And the thoughts of men are widen'd with the 

process of the suns. 

As this is written (March, 1916) when 
the world is lapped in the blood of the 
innocents, and furious savagery, fed by 
science, asserts its sway, one is tempted 
to wonder if this supreme scientist would 
consider the present time a retrogres- 
sion. "Ancient Society" is Morgan's work 
of superlative renown, investing its 



author with fellowship in numerous 
learned societies and the acclaim of the 
scientists of two continents, which still 
abides "opening up," as it does, in the 
words of William Henry Holmes, curator 
of the National Gallery of Art, "of a vast 
new field of research of which the world 
had no previous knowledge, and the appli- 
cation of the remarkable insight into 
human affairs thus gained in the classi- 
fication and logical arrangement of the 
whole subject-matter of anthropology." 
The last work of Morgan was his "Houses 
and House-life of the American Aborigi- 
nes," which illustrates and verifies his 
conception of the organization of primi- 
tive society of the early and middle stages 
of barbarism. 

In 1873, Morgan received the degree of 
Doctor of Laws from his alma mater. 
In 1880, he was president of the "Ameri- 
can Association for the Advancement of 
Science." Politically a Republican, he 
was an Assemblyman in 1861, and a Sen- 
ator in 1867 and '68. In both these ca- 
pacities, he was distinguished as the foe 
of all vicious measures, and his name was 
unsullied even by the insinuation of cor- 
rupt or undue partizan inclination. He 
was the founder of the exclusive, local, 
literary club, popularly known as the 
"Pundit," including the best scholarly 
and professional talent of the community, 
and before it he read many of his papers 
subsequently published. In 1851, he mar- 
ried Mary E., his cousin, and daughter of 
Lemuel Steele, of Albany. The loss of 
two fair daughters, in 1862, turned his 
thought to the cause of higher education 
for women, and his will provided for the 
erection of a Woman's College in Roches- 
ter upon the decease of his wife and son. 
His entire property, estimated at $70,000, 
is now resolved into an endowment of the 
co-educational department of the univer- 
sity. The university also has in its keej)- 
ing his oil protrait, magnificent library, 



116 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



curious relics, valuable papers and exten- 
sive correspondence. His home was one 
of genial but unaffected hospitality, 
whither many of those eminent in letters 
and science wended their way. Some- 
what reserved in his bearing, he was, 
from his stores of knowledge, an illumin- 
ating and fascinating conversationist. He 
was honorable in public, and virtuous and 
beloved in private life. He died at his 
home in Rochester, December 17, 1881, in 
the sixty-fourth year of his age. His wife 
survived him less than two years, also be- 
queathing her separate estate to the 
higher education of women. Both lie in 
Mount Hope Cemetery. There is as yet 
no full biography of Lewis H. Morgan. 
but notable tributes to his memory are 
the address at his funeral by the Rev. J. 
H. Mcllvaine, D. D., his intimate friend 
and pastor for many years ; the sketch by 
Putnam, "Proceedings of the American 
Association of Arts and Sciences," vol. 
xvii. May, 1882, heretofore referred to; 
and the memoir by Holmes before the 
National Academy of Science, November 
20, 1907. His bibliography will be found 
in the "League of the Iroquois" edition of 
1904. 



MYER, Albert James, 

Soldier, Author of Signal Service. 

General Albert James Myer, whose 
services in his particular field to the 
United States army were of inestimable 
value, was born in Newburgh, New York, 
September 20, 1827, son of Henry Beek- 
man and Elinor Pope (McClanahan) 
Myer; grandson of Simon Johnson and 
Cornelia (Thorn) Myer, and of Robert 
and Elinor (Baird) McClanahan, and a 
descendant of Jan Dircksen and Tryntje 
Andriesse (Grevenraet) Myer, who emi- 
grated from Amsterdam to New Amster- 
dam previous to 1652. 

He was graduated from Hobart Col- 



lege, Bachelor of Arts, 1847, Master of 
Arts, 1850, and from Buffalo Medical Col- 
lege in 1851. He entered the United 
States army as an assistant surgeon in 
1854, and served in Texas from that year 
to 1857. During 1850-60 he was on spe- 
cial signal service, and while so engaged 
he devised a system for signalling mes- 
sages with accuracy and rapidity for 
many miles, by means of flags by day 
and torches by night, this marking the 
beginning of a service that was carried 
to great efficiency during the Civil War. 
He was made major and signal officer in 
i860, and saw duty in New Mexico and 
against the Indians. At the outbreak of 
the rebellion, he was placed on duty at 
Fortress Monroe, where he organized and 
commanded the camp for signal service 
instruction, and served on the staff' of 
General Benjamin F. Butler, later being 
an aide to General McDowell, and taking 
part in the first battle of Bull Run. As 
chief signal officer on the staff of General 
George B. McClellan, he established 
camps of instruction for signalmen, or- 
ganized signal parties, and introduced the 
signal service at the Naval Academy at 
Annapolis. He commanded the signal 
service of the Army of the Potomac in 
the Peninsula campaign of 1862. and in 
that year was brevetted lieutenant-colo- 
nel and colonel for gallant and meritori- 
ous services at Hanover Court House and 
Malvern Hill. He was promoted to full 
colonel in March, 1863, and until Novem- 
ber of that year was in charge of the main 
signal system service office at Washing- 
ton City, and introduced the signal sys- 
tem in the Military Academy at West 
Point, and was head of the central board 
of examination for admission to the signal 
corps of the army. He was on reconnois- 
sance duty on the Mississippi river be- 
tween the mouth of the Ohio and Mem- 
phis, Tennessee, from December, 1863, to 
May, 1864, and from that time until the 



117 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



end of the war was chief signal officer of 
the Military Division of the Mississippi. 
As a member of General Canby's staff he 
participated in the capture of Fort Gaines, 
Alabama. On March 13, 1865, he wasbre- 
vetted brigadier-general in the regular 
army for distinguished services in organ- 
izing, instructing and commanding the 
signal service of the army, and for special 
service in October, 1865, when the post of 
Allatoona, Georgia, with General Sher- 
man's vast supplies, was saved from cap- 
ture through the aid of his flag signals — 
the incident memorialized in the popular 
evangelistic hymn, "Hold the Fort." Gen- 
eral Myer was made chief signal officer of 
the army on July 28, 1866. On Novem- 
ber I, 1870, in an experiment in tele- 
graphing and signalling the approach 
and force of storms, he made his first ob- 
servations and which were received at 
twenty-four widely separated stations at 
8.25 o'clock a. m., and a week later he 
telegraphed his first storm warning to the 
stations which he had established on the 
Great Lakes. He represented the United 
States at the International Congress of 
Meteorologists at Vienna in 1873, ^"^ ^^ 
the Meteorological Congress in Rome in 
1879. Between these years, in 1875 he 
had established a daily international bul- 
letin and in 1878 a daily international 
chart in connection with the Signal Serv- 
ice Bureau ; and also a system of day and 
night signals for navigation, and a sys- 
tem of reports for the benefit of farmers 
and of interior commerce. In recogni- 
tion of his services, he was made a briga- 
dier-general in the regular army in 1880. 
In 1872 Hobart College conferred upon 
him the degree of Doctor of Laws, and 
Union University that of Doctor of Phi- 
losophy in 1875. General Myer was the 
author of "Manual of Signals for the 
United States Army and Navy" (1868). 
He died in Buffalo, New York, August 
24, 1880. 



MARSHALL, Elisha G., 

Civil War Soldier. 

Colonel Elisha Gaylord Marshall, a sol- 
dier of the Civil War, and a principal 
figure in one of the bloodiest affairs of 
that period — that of "the crater," at 
Petersburg, Virginia — was born at Se- 
neca Falls, New York, January 26, 1829. 
After graduating from the United States 
Military Academy at West Point in 1850, 
he was commissioned second lieutenant 
and assigned to the Sixth Infantry, and 
for eight years saw service in Utah, Cali- 
fornia and New Mexico. On the out- 
break of the Civil War in 1861, he was 
promoted to captain, and placed on duty 
at Rochester, New York, as mustering 
and disbursing officer. In April, 1862, he 
accepted the colonelcy of the Thirteenth 
New York Regiment, was engaged in the 
Peninsular campaign under McClelland, 
and was brevetted major for conspicuous 
gallantry at the battle of Gaines's Mill. 
Later he was engaged in the battles of 
Manassas and Antietam, and Fredericks- 
burg, his conduct in the latter engage- 
ment winning for him the brevet of lieu- 
tenant-colonel. He left the volunteer 
service in May, 1863, and was returned 
to his former duties at Rochester. On 
January 4, 1864, he was again commis- 
sioned colonel of volunteers, assigned to 
the Fourteenth Regiment New York 
Heavy Artillery, and commanded a bri- 
gade in the Fourth Division, Ninth Corps, 
under General Grant, in the campaign 
against Richmond, participating in the 
battle of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, 
Tolopotomy, and at Cold Harbor. He 
commanded a brigade in the battle of the 
Petersburg Crater, June 17-18, 1864, 
where he greatly distinguished himself, 
and was severely wounded. In July fol- 
lowing, during the siege, he led the main 
assault on the 30th, and after holding the 
crater nearly all day was taken prisoner. 



118 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and held by the enemy until the close of 
the war in April, 1865, when he was 
placed on duty at Washington. For his 
services at Petersburg he was brevetted 
colonel, and brigadier-general for gallant 
and meritorious services during the war. 
On August 16, 1865, he was mustered out 
of the volunteer service, and until March, 
1866, was on recruiting duty. He was 
promoted to major in the regular army in 
1865, and in 1866-67 was commander at 
Fort Union, New Mexico. He was re- 
tired with the rank of colonel, September 
II, 1867. The story of his conduct at 
Petersburg is thrillingly told by Major 
W. N. Powell, U. S. A., in volume IV of 
"Battles and Leaders of the Civil War." 
Colonel Marshall died in Canandaigua, 
New York, August 3, 1883. 



FRANCIS, Joseph, 

Inventor of Life-Saving Apparatus. 

Joseph Francis, whose inventions have 
been of invaluable worth to life-savers on 
the shores of the world, was born in 
Boston, Massachusetts, March 12, 1801. 
He developed a peculiar skill as a boat 
builder, and when eleven years old ex- 
hibited his handiwork. In 1819 he was 
the prize winner for a fast row-boat ex- 
hibited at the Mechanics' Institute Fair, 
Boston. When he attained his majority 
he established a boat-yard in New York 
City. He built wooden life-boats for the 
United States ships "Santee" and "Ala- 
bama" at the Portsmouth navy yard, but 
won his greatest reputation as designer of 
life-boats, life-cars and surf life-boats 
adopted by the Life-Saving Service and 
constructed from iron. At that time, in 
1842, only wooden boats were suppsed to 
be practicable. His metallic life-car was 
built at his own expense, and furnished to 
the life-saving station at Squan Beach, 
New Jersey, the crew saving two hundred 
of the two hundred and one persons on 



the "Ayrshire," which was wrecked on the 
beach in January, 1850; and during the 
first four years, 1850-53, of the use of his 
life-boats, two thousand one hundred and 
fifty lives were saved. His inventions 
were adopted by the governments of every 
civilized nation in constructing life-saving 
apparatus, steamships, floating docks, har- 
bor-buoys, pontoon bridges and wagons 
and other marine devices, from corrugated 
sheet-metal. The sovereigns of Europe 
recognized his genius long before the 
United States Congress honored him, and 
in 1842 he was presented with medals 
and diplomas by the life-saving societies 
of France, of England, and of the Im- 
perial Royal European Society. He re- 
ceived a gold snuflf box set in diamonds 
valued at seventeen thousand five hun- 
dred francs from Napoleon HI. in 1856, 
and was made a Knight of St. Stanislaus 
in 1861. The Congress of the United 
States recognized his "life-long services 
to humanity and his country" in March, 
1887, and in August, 1888, ordered a 
special gold medal to be struck and pre- 
sented to him as "the inventor and framer 
of the means for life-saving service of the 
country." President Harrison presented 
the medal, which cost three thousand 
dollars, April 12, 1890, when Mr. Francis 
was in his ninetieth year. He published 
"Life-Saving Appliances" (1885). He 
died at Cooperstown, New York, May 10, 
1893- 



BEECHER, Edward, 

Educator, Clergyman. 

The Rev. Edward Beecher was born at 
East Hampton, Long Island, New York, 
August 27, 1803, the second son of Rev. 
Lyman and Roxana (Foote) Beecher. He 
prejiared for college under his father's 
care, and was graduated from Yale Col- 
lege in 1822, after which he pursued his 
theological studies at Andover, Massachu- 



119 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



setts, and at New Haven, Connecticut. In 
1825 he was tutor in the Hartford High 
School and at Yale College. All through 
his life he was a practical advocate of 
physical culture, and while at college he 
wrote an article on "The Duty of an Equit- 
able Culture of all the Powers." a strong 
plea for healthy college sports, published 
in the "Christian Spectator." 

He began his career as minister at the 
Park Street Congregational Church in 
Boston, in 1826, and continued in that 
pastorate until 1830, when he became first 
president of the Illinois College at Jack- 
sonville, Illinois. After fourteen years 
service in that capacity he returned to 
Boston in 1844 and entered upon the 
charge of the Salem Street Church, which 
he retained until 1855, when he accepted 
a call from the Congregational church at 
Galesburg, Illinois, where he remained 
until 1870. He was a Professor of Bibli- 
cal Exegesis for several years in the 
Chicago Theological Seminary. In 1872 
he went to Brooklyn, New York, to assist 
his brother. Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, 
in the management of the "Christian 
Union." and purposed to retire perma- 
nently from the ministry. He had been 
a contributor to periodicals for many 
years, and editor-in-charge of the "Con- 
gregationalist" for half a dozen j-ears. 
Throughout the Tilton scandal he stood 
by his brother, watching the case with 
the utmost vigilance, and by his very 
presence sustaining the courage of the 
defendant. In 1885 he assumed charge 
of the Congregational church at Park- 
ville, near Brooklyn, continuing his resi- 
dence in the city and making daily visits 
to his parish. He was run over by a rail- 
road train w^hile returning from a week- 
day service, and one leg was so crushed 
that it had to be amputated. He entirely 
recovered from the shock and the opera- 
tion, despite his advanced age, he being 
at the time eighty-five. 



The degree of D. D. was conferred upon 
Mr. Beecher by Marietta College (Ohio) 
in 1841. His best known works are: "The 
Conflict of Ages," and "The Concord of 
Ages," in which he announces the view 
that man is in a progressive state — the 
present life being an outcome of a former 
one, and the preparation of another life 
after death. Evil, however, will continue 
in the future life, and the struggle be- 
tween it and good will still go on until 
some far-oflf future, when evil will be 
finally subdued, and universal harmony 
be forever established. The utterance of 
such radical views in regard to the future 
life necessarily made a profound impres- 
sion upon the thought of the day, and 
aroused much comment. His publications 
include : "Address on the Kingdom of 
God" (1827); "Six Sermons on the 
Nature, Importance and Means of Emi- 
nent Holiness throughout the Church" 
(1835); "Statement of Anti-Slavery 
Principles" (1837) ; "History of the Alton 
Riots" (1838); "Baptism; Its Import 
and Modes" (1850) ; "The Conflict of 
Ages" (1853) ; "The Concord of Ages" 
(i860); "History of Opinions on the 
Scriptural Doctrines of Future Retribu- 
tion" (1878) ; and "The Papal Conspir- 
acy" (1885). He died at his home in 
Brooklyn, New York, July 28, 1895. 



ANDREWS, Stephen P., 

Philosopher, Author. 

Stephen Pearl Andrews was born at 
Templeton. Massachusetts, March 22, 
1812, son of Elisha Andrews, a clergy- 
man. He was educated at Amherst Col- 
lege, studied law with his brother at New 
Orleans, Louisiana, and engaged in prac- 
tice there, when he became first counsel 
for Mrs. Myra Clark Gaines in her famous 
suits. 

He was an ardent advocate of abolition, 
and in 1839 removed to Texas with the 



120 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



avowed purpose of laboring for the over- 
throw of slavery in that State. He con- 
ceived the idea of raising sufficient money 
to purchase all the slaves in Texas and 
thus free them, and in 1845 visited Eng- 
land in the hope of procuring financial 
assistance. He was gifted with oratorical 
powers of a superior order; and so ably 
did he present the cause in which his 
whole heart was enlisted that British 
capitalists and statesmen looked upon the 
project with favor, and would have sup- 
ported it financially had not the fear of 
difficulty with the United States deterred 
them. Upon his return to America, Mr. 
Andrews joined the Abolitionists at 
Boston. While in England he had be- 
come interested in phonography, and 
came to be active in introducing the 
system of phonographic reporting in 
America. Removing to New York in 
1847, he published, in cooperation with A. 
F. Boyle, a series of phonographic text- 
books, and edited two journals, the 
"Anglo-Saxon," and the "Propagandist," 
which were printed in phonetic type, and 
devoted to phonography and spelling re- 
form. He was the originator of a system 
of philosophy which he called "Integral- 
ism," and of a universal language which 
he called "Alwato." While still a young 
man he claimed to have discovered a 
unity of law in the universe, and on this 
his system of philosophy and language 
was based. The elements of his philoso- 
phy were published in a work entitled 
"Basic Outlines of Universology." Accord- 
ing to his system, a radical adjustment of 
all forms of belief, all ideas, all thought, 
was possible. He was a pioneer in the 
field of social science, and was regarded 
as a leader of radical thought on social 
questions. He instituted a series of con- 
ferences known as the "Colloquium," for 
the interchange of religious, philosophical 
and political ideas between men of widely 
diversified views, and he was for many 



years a member and vice-president of the 
Liberal Club, of New York, and a mem- 
ber of the American Academy of Arts and 
Sciences, and of the American Ethno- 
logical Society. He was a thorough Greek 
and Latin scholar, was master of Hebrew, 
Sanskrit and Chinese, and had more or 
less intimate knowledge of thirty-two 
additional languages. He published "Dis- 
coveries in Chinese ; or, the Symbolism of 
the Primitive Characters of the Chinese 
System of Writing as a Contribution to 
Philology and Ethnology, and a Practical 
Aid in the Acquisition of the Chinese 
Language" (1854) ; and a new French 
instructor, introducing a novel method of 
teaching the French language; "Com- 
parison of the Common Law with the 
Roman, French or Spanish Civil Law on 
Entails and other Limited Property in 
Real Estate" (1839) ; "Cost, the Limit of 
Price" (1851); "The Constitution of 
Government in the Sovereignty of the In- 
dividual" (1851); "Love, Marriage and 
Divorce, and the Sovereignty of the In- 
dividual", a discussion by Henry James, 
Horace Greeley and Stephen Pearl An- 
drews, edited by S. P. Andrews (1853) ; 
"Constitution, or Organic Basis of the 
New Catholic Church" (i860) ; "The Great 
American Crisis" ; "An Universal Lan^ 
guage" ; "The Primary System of Uni- 
versology and Alwato" (1871); "Primary 
Grammar of Alwato" (Boston, 1877) ; 
"The Labor Dollar" (1881) ; "Elements 
of Universology" (1881); "Ideological 
Etymology" (1881) ; and "The Church 
and Religion of the Future" (1885). He 
died in New York City, May 21, 1886. 



McALPINE, William Jarvis, 

Civil Engineer. 

William Jarvis McAlpine was born in 
New York City. April 30, 181 2, son of 
John and Elizabeth (Jarvis) McAlpine, 
grandson of Captain Donald and Eliza- 



121 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



beth (Storer) McAlpine, and a descend- 
ant of Bishop Jarvis, of Connecticut, and 
of the Scottish Kings of Clan Alpine. 

He attended school at Newburgh, New 
York, and at Rome, New York, and 
studied civil engineering with John B. 
Jarvis, on the Carbondale railway in 
Pennsylvania, 1827-30. He was assistant 
to Mr. Jarvis on the Mohawk & Hudson 
River railroad and on the Schenectady & 
Saratoga railroad, 1830-31 ; and resident 
engineer on the Chenango canal, 1832-34. 
He was in charge of surveys for the en- 
largement of the Erie canal from Little 
Falls to Albany, 1835-36; and chief engi- 
neer of the eastern division, 1836-44. In 
June, 1845, he left the employ of the State 
to accept the position of chief engineer in 
the construction of a dry dock at the 
United States Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New 
York, a work of great magnitude and ex- 
traordinary difficulty, which he success- 
fully accomplished. He designed and 
superintended the construction of the 
original water works at Albany, New 
York, and at Chicago, Illinois. 1850-54. 
He was State Engineer and Surveyor, 
1852-54 ; State Railroad Commissioner, 
1855-57; acting president and chief engi- 
neer of the Erie railway, 1856-57, and 
chief engineer and vice-president of the 
Galena & Chicago railroad, 1857. He 
was chief engineer of the Third Avenue 
bridge across the Harlem river, 1860-61 ; 
general superintendent of the eastern 
division Ohio & Mississippi railroad, 
1861-64; and chief engineer of the Pacific 
railway, 1864-65. He visited Europe in 
1866-67. He was consulting engineer for 
the Clifton suspension bridge, Niagara 
Falls, 1868, and of the water works of 
various cities, including New Bedford, 
Massachusetts, 1868-75. He superintended 
the construction of the capitol at Albany, 
New York, 1873, and constructed its foun- 
dation. The Danube Navigation Com- 



pany adopted his plans for the improve- 
ment of the rapids of the Danube river, 
Austria, at and about the "Iron Gate." 
He was engineer of the Department of 
Parks, New York City, 1879-80; chief and 
consulting engineer of the Washington 
Bridge, New York, 1885-88; and promi- 
nently connected with the water supply 
and rapid transit improvements in New 
York City, 1888-90. 

He was elected a member of the Ameri- 
can Society of Civil Engineers, February 
3, 1853, being the seventeenth on its list 
of membership ; was its president, 1868- 
69, and an honorary member, 1888-90. 
He was the first American citizen to re- 
ceive honorary membership in the Insti- 
tution of Civil Engineers (London), in 
1867, and he received from that institu- 
tion the Telford medal in 1868. He was 
a member of the Australian Society of 
Engineers and Architects, of the promi- 
nent scientific societies of the United 
States, and of the New York Chamber 
of Commerce. Among his forty-three 
printed papers are reports of his various 
works as mentioned above, and of: "Gal- 
veston Harbor," "The Foundations of 
Washington Monument," and "The Puri- 
fication of the Basin of the Harbor of 
Baltimore." His last work was "A Trea- 
tise on Modern Engineering." He died 
at New Brighton, Staten Island, New 
York, February 16, 1890. 



COCHRANE, John, 

Lawyer, Soldier, Political Iieader. 

General John Cochrane was born in 
Palatine, Montgomery county, New 
York, August 27, 1813, son of Walter D. 
and Cornelia W. (Smith) Cochrane, 
and grandson of John and Gertrude 
(Schuyler) Cochrane, and of Peter and 
Elizabeth (Livingston) Smith. His pa- 
ternal grandfather was surgeon-general 



122 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and militarj- director of hospitals during 
the Revolution ; his paternal grandmother 
was the sister of Major-General Philip 
Schuyler; his maternal grandfather was 
a well-known judge, and the father of 
Gerrit Smith, Abolitionist ; and his ma- 
ternal grandmother was a daughter of 
Colonel James Livingston, of Revolution- 
ary fame. 

John Cochrane was graduated from 
Hamilton College in 1831, studied law, 
was admitted to the bar, and practiced 
his profession at Oswego, Schenectady, 
and in New York City. In 1853 he was 
appointed Surveyor of the Port of New 
York by President Pierce. He was a 
Representative in the Thirty-fifth and 
Thirty-sixth Congresses, 1857-61, serving 
in the latter as chairman of the committee 
of commerce. In i860 he was appointed 
by President Buchanan a member of the 
board of visitors to West Point. On June 
II, 1861, soon after the outbreak of the 
rebellion he was commissioned by Secre- 
tary of War, Cameron, to recruit and 
command a regiment of volunteers to 
serve during the war, and left New York 
for Washington with the regiment 
August 2-j, 1861. On November 21 he 
was commissioned colonel of the First 
United States Chasseurs, with rank from 
June II, and on July 19, 1862, was 
made brigadier-general of volunteers. He 
served in General Couch's division of the 
Army of the Potomac in the battles of 
Fair Oaks, Malvern Hill, Antietam, Wil- 
liamsport and Fredericksburg, and on 
February 25, 1863, resigned on account of 
physical disability. In 1864 he was nomi- 
nated at Cleveland, Ohio, by the Inde- 
pendent Republican National Convention 
as Vice-President of the United States, 
with General John C. Fremont for Presi- 
dent. He was Attorney-General of New 
York, 1863-65; and president of the Com- 
mon Council of New York City, 1872. 



He was chairman of the New York 
delegation to the Liberal Republican Na- 
tional Convention, at Cincinnati, in May, 
1872, where he was chiefly instrumental 
in the nomination of Horace Greeley for 
the presidency. He was chairman of the 
New York City memorial committee of the 
Grand Army of the Republic for Decora- 
tion Day, 1875 ; ^^d was grand marshal 
of Decoration Day procession, 1879. He 
was a member of the Common Council of 
New York City in 1883, and chairman of 
a committee of that body and of the New 
York Chamber of Commerce and of the 
New York Historical Society, to arrange 
for the celebration of the centennial anni- 
versary of the evacution of New York by 
the British, November 25, 1783, and was 
grand marshal of the day. In 1889 he 
declined the United States mission to 
Uruguay and Paraguay, tendered by 
President Grant, and the same year was 
second in command in the centennial cele- 
bration of the inauguration of General 
Washington as President. As an orator, 
General Cochrane made many memorable 
speeches in 1858, on transferring to the 
custody of Virginia the remains of James 
Monroe, fifth President of the United 
States ; at the great mass meeting in 
Union Square in i86i,at the Astor House, 
New York, on the occasion of a serenade 
to Secretary of War Cameron, November 
4, 1861, in which he was the first to advo- 
cate arming the slaves as a military neces- 
sity ; and in camp near Washington, when 
visited by Secretary of War Cameron, 
November 13, 1861, in which he repeated 
his demand for arming the slaves, and 
which called forth orders from the Con- 
federate commanders not to take Colonel 
Cochrane prisoner, but to shoot him in 
battle. He was elected a member of the 
Society of the Cincinnati in 1857, and in 
1897 was made president of the New 
York State Society. He was a member 



123 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



of the New York Chamber of Commerce; 
of the St. Nicholas Society ; of the New 
York Historical Society; a sachem of the 
Tammany Society ; chairman of Tammany 
Hall general committee ; a member of the 
Military Order in the State of New York 
of the Loyal Legion of the United States, 
and president of the New York Com- 
mandery ; a member of the Society of the 
Army of the Potomac ; of the Sons of the 
Revolution ; and of the Grand Army of 
the Republic. He died in New York City, 
February 7, 1898. 



MATHER, Frederick, 

Piscicultnrist. 

Frederick Mather was born in Green- 
bush, New York, August 2, 1833, son of 
Joseph and Chianna (Brockway) Mather, 
of Lyme, Connecticut, grandson of Joseph 
and Zelinda (Goold) Mather and of Elijah 
and Abigail (Hall) Brockway, and a de- 
scendant of the Rev. Richard Mather, of 
Toxteth Park, England, who settled in 
Dorchester, Massachusetts, 1635, died 
there in 1669, and was the father of the 
Rev. Increase Mather and grandfather of 
Cotton Mather. 

He was educated at Albany, New York, 
and in 1854 he went to Potosi, Wisconsin, 
having become interested in the Potosi 
lead mines. He hunted and trapped in 
the Bad Axe country, in Wisconsin, for 
several years, and was interpreter of the 
Chippewa language to the government 
survey in northern Minnesota. He served 
under General James Henry Lane during 
the Kansas disturbances in 1853-55, ^nd 
was one of Jennison's famous "J^Y" 
hawkers." At the outbreak of the Civil 
War he enlisted in the Federal army as a 
private in the One Hundred and Thir- 
teenth New York Volunteer Regiment ; 
was promoted to first lieutenant in 1864, 
and was commissioned captain in the 



Seventh New York Artillery Regiment, 
serving until the close of the war. He 
was elected a member of the Military 
Order of the Loyal Legion. In 1868 was 
employed as a clerk in the livestock yards 
near Albany, New York. Later he pur- 
chased a farm at Honeoye Falls, New 
York, and devoted most of his time to the 
science of fish culture. Upon the found- 
ing the United States Fish Commission 
in 1872, he was engaged to hatch shad 
for the Potomac river ; was appointed 
assistant to the United States Fish Com- 
mission in 1873 ; matched the first sea- 
bass and graylings in 1874; established 
hatcheries at Lexington and Blackburg 
for the State of Virginia, in 1875, and 
during the same year he succeeded in 
transporting salmon eggs to Germany by 
means of a refrigerator-box of his own 
invention. He also invented a conical 
apparatus which greatly facilitated the 
hatching of shad and other spawn, and 
hatched the adhesive eggs of the smelt 
in 1884, although all previous attempts 
had failed. He was fish editor of "The 
Field," Chicago, Illinois, 1877-80, and of 
"Forest and Stream," New York City, 
1880-1900. In 1882 was sent to Roslyn, 
Long Island, to hatch salmon for the 
Hudson river. He was superintendent of 
New York State commission station at 
Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, 1883- 
95 ; and inaugurated the hatching of cod- 
fish, lobsters and other marine forms. He 
had charge of the American exhibit at 
the Fisheries Exhibition in Berlin, Ger- 
many, in 1880. He received medals and 
testimonials from many scientific so- 
cieties of Europe, and a personal gift 
from the Crown Prince of Germany 
("Unser Fritz''), of a gold medallion with 
the royal portrait. He was widely known 
by his lectures on "Fish and Fisheries," 
and "The Army of the Potomac," and 
was the author of "Ichthoyology of the 



124 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Adirondacks" (1886) ; "Modern Fish Cul- 
ture" (19CX)) ; "Men I have Fished With" 
(1897) ; "In the Louisiana Lowlands" 
(1900) ; "My Angling Friends" (1902). 

He was married (first) in 1854, to Eliza- 
beth MacDonald, who died December 20, 
1861. He was married (second) in 1877, 
to Adelaide Fairchild. His surviving 
child, Sophia, became the wife of Bleecker 
Sanders, of Albany, New York. He died 
at Lake Nebagomain, Wisconsin, Febru- 
ary 14, 1900. 



joined the Typographical Union. He 
next started the "Evening Journal" in 
partnership with five other printers, but 
was forced out by adversity, the war open- 
ing and the paper having no telegraphic 
service. He was later a compositor 
on the "Sacramento Union." In 1865, 
Henry George, while still setting type 
and at times suffering extreme proverty, 
began to write for the public press, at 
first under a pen name. When President 
Lincoln was assassinated he wrote an 
anonymous letter to the editor of the 
"Alta-Californian," on which he was en- 
gaged as a compositor, and was surprised 
to see its appearance in the editorial 
columns the following day. Soon after- 
ward he was engaged as special reporter 
on a newspaper, "The Times," and within 
a few months was chief of staff. 

He now began to study the tariff ques- 
tion, and was converted to the theory of 
absolute free trade. He went to New 
York by the overland route in 1868 to 
establish a press service for the San 
Francisco "Herald," but failed on ac- 
count of excessive telegraph charges. 



GEORGE, Henry, 

Folitioal Economist. 

Henry George was born in Philadel- 
phia, Pennsylvania, September 2, 1839, 
the eldest son of Richard Samuel Henry 
and Catharine Pratt (Vallance) George, 
and grandson of Captain Richard George, 
who had been brought from England 
when a child and was a sea captain from 
Philadelphia and suffered imprisonment 
by the British in the War of 1812. The 
father of Henry George was a book pub- 
lisher. 

Henry George attended the Protestant _ which led him to draw up and give to the 
Episcopal Academy and also the Phila- press a vigorous protest against the tele- 
delphia High School, which he left in 
T853 to go to work. In 1855 he shipped 
as a boy on the ship "Hindoo" to Mel- 
bourne and Calcutta and back to New 
York, consuming fourteen months in the 
voyage. He then learned the printer's 
trade, and in 1858 he worked his way 
around Cape Horn to California as ship's 
steward on the United States light-house 
tender "Shubrick," and there joined a 
party for the Frazier river, British 
Columbia, to dig gold. The excitement 
subsided soon after he reached Victoria 
and he did not attempt to go up the river 
to the mines, but returned to San Fran- 
cisco in the steerage. He worked as a 
printer, and in a rice mill, and soon after 



graph monopoly. In 1869 he wrote an 
article on the anti-Chinese question in 
California for the New York "Tribune," 
at the instance of John Russell Young, 
its managing editor. This was probably 
the first article upon that subject printed 
on the Atlantic coast. John Stuart Mill 
wrote him a congratulatory letter, and 
the article otherwise attracted wide at- 
tention, especially on the Pacific slope, 
where his advocacy of Chinese exclusion 
pointed out a way to escape the threatened 
competition. He returned to California 
in 1869 with a commission to act as cor- 
respondent of the "Tribune," which com- 
mission Mr. Young's successor promptly 
repealed. He then took charge of the 



125 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



"Sacramento Reporter," and, on its for- 
mation into a stock company, Mr. George 
was given, besides a salary, one-quarter 
of the shares. When the Central Pacific 
railroad purchased the paper Mr. George 
retired from its editorship, as he would 
not edit a paper for a monopoly. How- 
ever, though deprived of his paper, he 
was not to be silenced, and he issued a 
pamphlet supporting the candidature of 
Governor Haight for reelection, and op- 
posing the Central Pacific's efforts to get 
another subsidy ; and, though Haight was 
defeated, such was the influence of the 
pamphlet that no subsidies were after- 
ward granted to railroads in California. 

The growth of poverty side by side 
with the rapid strides in industrial prog- 
ress, as witnessed by him in the east dur- 
ing his visit there, attracted his attention, 
and in 1871 he wrote a pamphlet, "Our 
Land and Land Policy: National and 
State," in which he first advocated the 
raising of all revenue by placing the 
whole burden of taxation upon the value 
of land, including improvements ; argu- 
ing that this value, which the economists 
call "economic rent," springs entirely from 
the community at large, and should there- 
fore go to the community for common 
purposes. 

In 1872, with two partners, he estab- 
lished the San Francisco "Evening Post," 
the first penny paper on the Pacific coast. 
The venture proved a success, and 
through money voluntarily loaned by 
Senator John P. Jones, a perfecting press 
was purchased in Philadelphia, the first 
used in California. In August, 1875, the 
partners established a morning paper, the 
"Ledger," with an illustrated Sunday 
edition, also a pioneer movement. The 
failure of the Bank of California and a 
local panic affected the prosperity of the 
paper, and. Senator Jones' notes becom- 
ing due, he took the paper, and Mr. 



George and his partners retired. Mr. 
George stumped the State for Tilden and 
Hendricks in the campaign of 1876. 
Governor Irvin appointed him inspector 
of gas meters, which position he held 
from 1875 to 1879, and while he was thus 
employed he was enabled to write his 
celebrated book, "Progress and Poverty." 
In 1879 he sent the manuscript of this 
book to New York, but it was refused by 
every publishing house. He then accepted 
the ofTer of his former partner, William 
M. Hinton, to print an edition, Mr. 
George assisting in its composition. The 
author's edition, selling at three dollars 
per copy, paid for the plates, and the 
following year D. Appleton & Company, 
of New York, printed an edition from the 
plates, bringing it out in January, 1880. 
It at first had little sale, but the news- 
papers at length noticing it, the sales 
began to increase, and in 1882, being put 
in twenty-cent library form in New York 
and in six-penny form in London, it had 
a run in both countries that not only sur- 
passed all other economic works ever 
printed, but outstripped the popular 
novels. This brought the author little 
more than fame, however, as he had sacri- 
ficed his copyright to the end of ensur- 
ing for the book a wide reading. 

In the New York mayoralty campaign 
in 1886, Mr. George made a remarkable 
although unsuccessful canvass, receiving 
sixty-eight thousand votes, while Mr. 
Roosevelt received sixty thousand four 
hundred and thirty-six, and Mr. Hewitt 
ninety thousand five hundred and fifty- 
two. In 1881 Henry George went to 
Great Britain as a special newspaper cor- 
respondent, and took an active part in 
the Land League agitation, being arrested 
twice as a "suspect" while in Ireland. 
He subsequently made several lecturing 
tours through Great Britain. In 1887 he 
started a weekly newspaper, the "Stand- 



126 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ard," in New York, and in the fall of that 
year was a candidate for Secretary of 
State, but was defeated. He advocated 
the adoption of the Australian ballot sys- 
tem, and found a firm disciple of his 
single tax theories in Father McGlynn, 
of Sl Stephen's Roman Catholic Church, 
whose friendship for the political re- 
former cost Father McGlynn his parish 
and a temporary excommunication by 
Archbishop Corrigan, but he was restored 
by the Pope, through the influence of 
Monsignor .Satolli. Mr. George sup- 
ported Grover Cleveland each time he ran 
for the presidency, and William J. Bryan 
in 1896. In the political contest for 
mayor of Greater New York, Mr. George 
was again the candidate of the laboring 
classes under the party name of Jeffer- 
sonian Democrats. He carried on an 
aggressive canvass which overtaxed his 
strength, and a few days before the elec- 
tion he died suddenly of apoplexy at his 
hotel. His son, Henry George, Jr., was 
placed upon the ticket in his stead, but 
he could not command his father's prob- 
able vote. Mr. George's funeral was one 
of the largest ever accorded to a private 
citizen and the laboring classes were his 
conspicuous mourners. 

In 1861 he was married to Annie C. 
Fox, a native of Australia, who had come 
with her parents to California. She was 
a Roman Catholic, but as the season was 
Advent, and it was a runaway match, 
they were married by a Methodist min- 
ister; the marriage was, however, sanc- 
tioned at Sacramento soon after by the 
Rev. Father Nathaniel Gallagher. Henry, 
the eldest son of Mr. George, was born in 
Sacramento, November 3, 1863, and Rich- 
ard, the second son, who became a sculf>- 
tor, was born in San Francisco, January 
27, 1865. After the death of Mr. George, 
a public subscription for the widow, be- 
ing opposed by her, a few friends and ad- 



mirers of the dead man privately made up 
and presented a small fund ; and a monu- 
ment designed by his son, Richard, was 
erected by the voluntary contributions of 
other friends, through one of the New 
York newspapers, over his grave on 
Ocean Hill, in Greenwood Cemetery, 
Brooklyn, New York, and was unveiled 
on Decoration Day, May 30, 1898. 

The published works of Henry George 
include: "Progress and Proverty" (1879) ; 
"The Irish Land Question" (1881) ; "So- 
cial Problems" (1884); "Protection or 
Free Trade" (1886) ; "The Conditions of 
Labor: An Open Letter to Pope Leo 
Xin"(i89i) ; "A Perplexed Philosopher" 
(1892); and "The Science of Political 
Economy," which he had practically 
finished at the time of his death, and 
which was afterward published. Henry 
George died in New York City, October 
29, 1897. 



VANDERBILT, Cornelius, 

Man of Large Affairs. 

Cornelius Vanderbilt, who displayed 
masterly abilities in the establishment and 
conduct of transportation lines both on 
land and sea, was born in Port Richmond, 
Staten Island, New York, May 27, 1794, 
son of Cornelius and Phoebe (Hand) Van- 
derbilt. His first ancestor in America, 
Jan Aertsen Ven der Bilt, emigrated from 
Holland, and settled on a farm near Flat- 
bush, Long Island, New York, about 1650. 
His father removed to Stapleton, Staten 
Island, and Cornelius attended the com- 
mon schools and worked on the farm until 
181 1, when, with one hundred dollars bor- 
rowed from his mother, he purchased a 
boat and engaged in ferrying the laborers 
at work on the government fortifications 
between Staten Island and New York. In 
1815 in partnership with his brother-in- 
law. Captain John DeForest, he built the 



127 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGR^^PHY 



schooner "Charlotte," and in 1817 became 
captain of a steamboat plying between 
New York and Philadelphia on the canal. 
He removed to Elizabethport, and later to 
New Brunswick, where he conducted the 
hotel in connection with the steamboat, 
and in 1827 leased the Elizabethport and 
New York ferry, which he successfully 
managed. 

He gradually extended his operations, 
and came to be the foremost of his day in 
water transportation. He established 
steamboat lines on Long Island sound 
and on the Hudson river, and in July, 
1851, established a route to San Francisco 
z'ia Nicaragua. In 1853 he sold his 
steamers to the Nicaragua Transit Comr 
pany, and in 1855 established a line of 
steamers between New York and Havre. 
In May. 1862, when the government was 
in need of fast steamers for cruising the 
Atlantic in search of Confederate com- 
merce destroyers and blockade runners, 
he offered to sell to it the "Vanderbilt," 
the fastest steamer afloat, which had cost 
him $800,000 and when the Navy Depart- 
ment hesitated to make an offer for the 
vessel, owing to the fact that the ma- 
chinery was placed above deck, he sug- 
gested in a letter to W. O. Bartlett dated 
May 14, 1863, that Commodore Robert F. 
Stockton, retired, and two active com- 
manders in the United States navy, deter- 
mine a valuation, adding: "If this will not 
answer, will the government accept her as 
a present from their humble servant?" 
He received no reply to his comm.unica- 
tion, and subsequently, when long-range 
cannon came into use, the government ac- 
cepted "the gift." In 1864, when the State 
Department, through J. C. Derby, dis- 
patch agent to New York, delivered to 
Mr. Vanderbilt a resolution which had 
been passed "presenting the thanks of 
Congress to Cornelius Vanderbilt for a 
gift of the steamship 'Vanderbilt,' " ap- 



proved, January 28, 1864, by President 
Lincoln, Speaker Colfax and Vice-Presi- 
dent Hamlin, Mr. Vanderbilt, after care- 
fully reading the resolutions, is reported 

to have said, "Congress be ! I never 

gave that ship to Congress. When the 
government was in great straits for a suit- 
able vessel of war, I offered to give the 
ship if they did not care to buy it ; how- 
ever. Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Welles think it 
was a gift, and I suppose I shall have to 
let her go." The gold medal ordered to 
be struck to "fitly embody an attestation 
of the nation's gratitude for the gift" was 
delivered in 1865. 

Mr. Vanderbilt sold all his steamboat 
interests in 1859, when sixty-five years of 
age, and engaged in speculation in Wall 
street, purchasing shares in the New York 
& Harlem and New York & New Haven 
railroads at low prices. He successfully 
operated a corner in Norwich & Wor- 
cester railroad stock ; was elected presi- 
dent of the New York & Harlem railroad 
in 1863. and in 1864 managed a corner in 
the stock of the Hudson River railroad, 
uniting it with the Harlem railroad. In 
1867 he became president of the New 
York Central railroad, and in 1869 of the 
consolidated New York Central & Hudson 
River railroad. He placed one thousand 
miles of track ; established new fast 
trains ; built new stations ; adopted a four- 
track system ; and made the railroads 
under his control one of the great trunk 
line systems of the country. He en- 
deavored to corner the stock of the Erie 
railway, and thus gain complete control 
of the railroad system, in the State, but 
failed, and the road passed into the hands 
of Jay Gould and James Fisk, Jr. In 1868 
he organized and consolidated his rail- 
road interests between New York and 
Chicago. He was also interested in the 
Western Union Telegraph Company and 
other valuable stocks, and at the time of 
128 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



his death, his fortune was estimated vari- 
ously at from $60,000,000 to $100,000,000. 
He gave $50,000 for the property and 
buildings of the Mercer Street Church, 
which became the Church of the Strangers, 
New York City, and presented the same 
to the Rev. Dr. Charles F. Deems, in 
trust, and soon after, probably through 
the suggestion of Dr. Deems and Bishop 
McTyeire, he founded the Vanderbilt 
University at Nashville, Tennessee, at a 
cost of $1,000,000. which gift was liberally 
supplemented by gifts from his son and 
grandsons. 

Mr. Vanderbilt was married (first) in 
1813. to Sophia Johnson, who died in 
1868; he was married (second) in 1869, to 
Frances Crawford, of Mobile, Alabama. 
By his will he bequeathed to his eldest son, 
William Henry Vanderbilt. nine-tenths of 
his entire fortune, leaving $11,000,000 to 
the latter's four sons, and $4,000,000 to his 
own daughters. In selecting names for a 
place in the Hall of Fame for Great 
Americans, New York University, Octo- 
ber, 1900. the name of Cornelius Vander- 
bilt (1794-1877). was one of the six named 
in "Class B, Business men," and re- 
ceived twenty-nine votes, the largest num- 
ber in the class. He died in New York 
City, to which he removed in 1813, Janu- 
ary 4, 1877. 



CULLUM, George W., 

Military Eng:ineer, Author. 

General George Washington Cullum 
perhaps the most distinguished mili- 
tary engineer of the Civil War period 
was born in New York City, February 25, 
1809, son of Arthur and Harriet (Sturges) 
Cullum. and grandson of Arthur and Re- 
becca Cullum. 

He was graduated from the United 
States Military Academy at West Point 
in 1833. the third in his class, and was 
N Y— Vol II— 9 



assigned to the engineer corps by reason 
of his high standing. He was successively 
promoted, reaching the rank of captain 
July 7, 1838. His first engineering service 
was in the construction of government 
works at New London, Connecticut, and 
Boston, Massachusetts. He organized 
pontoon trains for use in the Mexican 
War, and was instructor of practical mili- 
tary engineering at West Point from 1848 
to 1855. He then superintended govern- 
ment works at New York City, Charles- 
ton, South Carolina ; New Bedford, Mass- 
achusetts; Newport, Rhode Island; and 
New London, Connecticut. 1855-61. He 
was ordered to Washington, April 9, 1861, 
as aide-de-camp to General Winfield Scott, 
then commander-in-chief of the army, and 
was promoted to major of engineers, 
August 6, 1861. L'pon the resignation of 
General Scott, October 31, 1861, Major 
Cullum was made brigadier-general of 
volunteers, and assigned to duty as chief 
engineer of the Department of the Mis- 
souri. On November 18, 1861, he was made 
chief of staff to General H. W. Halleck, 
commanding the Department of Missouri. 
Here his chief found him invaluable in 
directing engineering operations on the 
western rivers, preparatory to offensive 
operations into Kentucky and Tennessee, 
in order to throw the L^nion forces be- 
tween the eastern and western armies of 
the Confederacy. He commanded at 
Cairo, Illinois, at the junction of the Ohio 
river with the Mississippi, and directed 
the construction of the works in the siege 
of Corinth, and accompanied General Hal- 
leck to Washington, July 23, 1862, when 
that officer was made general-in-chief of 
the United States armies. Here he was 
employed in inspecting and studying for- 
tifications, and examining engineering de- 
vices, and served on various engineer 
boards. He also served on the United 
States Sanitary Commission, 1861-64. In 
129 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



1864 when Nashville became a base of 
operations for the western army in the 
campaign against Atlanta, he projected 
the necessary fortilications. On Septem- 
ber S,. 1864, he was ordered to West Point 
as superintendent of the Military Acade- 
my. He received brevets. March 13. 1865, 
as colonel, brigadier-general and major- 
general in the regular army, for meritori- 
ous services during the war, and was mus- 
tered out of the vohmteer service Septem- 
ber I, 1866. 

He left West Point, August 28. 1866, 
and served on various boards for national 
defence. 1867-74. On January 13. 1874, he 
was retired from active service on account 
of age, and thereafter devoted himself to 
literary, scientific and military study. He 
was vice-president of the American Geo- 
graphical Association, 1874; president of 
the Geographical Literary Society, 18S0- 
92, and a member of various other organi- 
zations including the Century Association 
and the Union Club of New York City. 
He prepared '"A Memoir of Military 
Bridge with Indian Rubber Pontoons" for 
the United States army in 1847-48. He 
published a translation of Duparcq's "Ele- 
ments of Military Art and History" 
(1863) ; "Systems of Military Bridges" 
(1863) : "Sketch of Major-General Rich- 
ard Montgomery of the Continental 
Army" (1876) ; "Campaigns and Engi- 
neers of the War of 1812-15" (1879) ; "His- 
torical Sketch of the Fortification De- 
fences of Narragansett Bay since the 
Founding in 1638 of the Colony of Rhode 
Island" (1884) ; and "Biographical Regis- 
ter of the Officers and Graduates of the 
United States Military Academy at West 
Point, New York, from its establishment, 
IMarch 16, 1802, to 1890, with an Early 
History of the United States Military 
Academy" (3rd edition. 3 vols., 1891). 

He was married, September 23, 1875, to 
Elizabeth, daughter of John C. Hamilton, 
and widow of General Henry Wager Hal- 



leck. In conjunction with his wife, Mr. 
Cullum gave to the New York Cancer 
Hospital, New York City, $200,000, and 
made liberal benefactions to other chari- 
ties. By his Avill he bequeathed over a 
quarter of a million dollars to the United 
States Military Academy, to build the fine 
memorial hall, now known by his name. 
He died in New York City, February 29, 
1892. 



DRAPER, John W., 

Scientist, Author. 

John William Draper, one of the fore- 
most scientists of the day, was born at St. 
Helen's, near Liverpool, England, May 5, 
181 1, son of the Rev. John Christopher 
and Sarah (Ripley) Draper. He attended 
a Wesleyan academy at W'oodhouse 
Grove, and in 1829 studied chemistry at 
the University of London. Before the 
Revolutionary W'ar, some of John W. 
Draper's ancestors on his mother's side 
had emigrated to America, and had 
founded a small Wesleyan community in 
\'irginia. Subsequently others of the 
family had joined them, and, after the 
death of his father in 1829. John W. 
Draper was urged by these relatives to 
go to America. Accordingly, in 1832, he 
settled in Christianville, Mecklenburg 
county, Virginia. His sister, Catherine, 
gave lessons in music and painting, and 
thus enabled him to take the course of 
lectures in the Medical school of the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania, from which he 
was graduated in 1836. Before the ter- 
mination of his medical course, his ex- 
periments resulted in the discovery that 
gases pass more or less rapidly, in some 
cases, instantaneously, through barriers 
such as bubbles or membranes '"having no 
proper pores." This showed that wh?t 
had been known as "endosmosis" was a 
process not confined to liquids, and eluci- 
dated the method of the oxygenation of 



130 




\^ 's^ ^- A-^:=: 




ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



the blood. He made this discovery the 
subject of his graduation thesis, which 
was pubhshed by the faculty, and at once 
attracted the attention of the scientific 
world. He continued his experiments, 
and contributed papers on their results 
to the principal scientific journals of 
America. He explained by practical dem- 
onstration the circulation of the sap in 
plants and of the blood in animals, as be- 
ing results of osmotic action. 

In the year of his graduation he became 
Professor of Chemistry and Physics at 
Hampden-Sidney College, Virginia. He 
resigned his chair in 1838 to accept that 
of Chemistry and Physiology in the Uni- 
versity of the City of New York, which 
position he held until his death. In 1841 
he was instrumental in founding the Uni- 
versity Medical College, in which he was 
Professor of Chemistry until 1881, and 
chief executive officer, 1850-73. From the 
time of his taking his chair he continued 
his scientific investigations, and in 1844 
published a volume entitled "ATreatise on 
the Forces that Produce the Organization 
of Plants," in which he combated the ex- 
istence of the so-called "vital force" of 
physiologists. 

In 1839 Professor Draper made the first 
daguerreotype of the moon, one inch in 
diameter, and which led to his later greatly 
enlarged lunar photographs, which at the 
Centennial Exposition, in Philadelphia, 
awoke the surprise and admiration of the 
world. He associated himself with Pro- 
fessor S. F. B. Morse, then a portrait 
painter in the University building, in 
carrying on the experiments which re- 
sulted in the invention of the electric tele- 
graph, aiding that inventor in the con- 
struction of the batteries and other appa- 
ratus. He daguerreotyped the prismatic 
spectrum, in 1842, and the diffraction spec- 
trum in 1843. In the latter year he also 
invented a chlor-hydrogen photometer 
and a ferric-oxalate photometer. Investi- 



gating the phenomena of the solar spec- 
trum, he doubled the number of dis- 
covered lines. In 1847 he studied the 
phenomena of incandescence, and ascer- 
tained that it is only the spectrum of a 
gaseous body that shows lines at all, thus 
anticipating Kirchoflf's conclusions by 
thirteen years. In 1848 he made a spec- 
trum analysis of various flames, proving 
that of whatever origin, they yield all the 
colors of the spectrum. The finest tele- 
scopes failed to resolve many of the nebu- 
lae into distinct points of light ; astrono- 
mers had been puzzled as to the explana- 
tion of this ; but Dr. Draper's discoveries 
in spectrum analysis showed that if the 
spectrum of an irresolvable nebula con- 
sists of bright lines, it is a gaseous body; 
if on the other hand the spectrum, is con- 
tinuous, that body is an incandescent 
solid ; thus affording means of inferring 
the constitution of the remote heavenly 
bodies. He was the first to make micro- 
scopic photographs, in 1853. I" 1872 he 
experimented on the distribution of heat 
and chemical force in the solar spectrum. 

In 1875 for his "Researches in Radiant 
Energy," Professor Draper was awarded 
the Rumford gold medal by the American 
Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was 
a member of very many scientific societies, 
including the National Academy of Sci- 
ences, the American Philosophical So- 
ciety, the American Academy of Arts and 
Sciences, the Academia dei Lincei of 
Rome, and the Physical Society of 
London. The College of New Jersey con- 
ferred upon him the degree of LL. D. in 
i860. His bibliography, comprising books, 
scientific memoirs, lectures and addresses, 
includes ninety-two titles, as listed in Pro- 
fessor Barker's memoir of Professor Dra- 
per, read before the National Academy of 
Sciences. Among them are : "Elements 
of Chemistry." by Robert Kane ; Ameri- 
can edition edited by J.W. Draper (1842) ; 
"A Treatise on the Forces which Produce 



131 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGR.\PHY 



the Organization of Plants"' (1844); 
"Text-Book on Chemistry" (1846) ; "Text- 
Book on Natural Philosophy" (1847); 
"Human Physiology — Statical and Dyna-. 
mical" (1856) ; "History of the Intel- 
lectual Development of Europe" (1862); 
"Thoughts on the Future Civil Policy of 
America" (1865) ; "A Text-Book on Physi- 
ology" (1866); "History of the American 
Civil War" (3 vols., 1867-70) ; "History of 
the Conflict Between Religion and Sci- 
ence" (1874) ; and "Scientific Memoirs, 
Being Experimental Contributions to a 
Knowledge of Radiant Energy" (1878). 

Dr. Draper married, in 1831, Antonia 
Coetana de Paiva Pereira, daughter of 
Dr. Gardner, of Rio Janeiro, attending 
physician of Dom Pedro I., Emperor of 
Brazil. Her mother was the daughter of 
Senor de Paiva Pereira, of Portugal, 
whose great-grandfather was captain of 
Vasco de Gama's ship when he circumnavi- 
gated Africa in 1497. Dr. Draper died in 
South Boston, Massachusetts, August 5, 
1886. 



BELMONT, August, 

Financier, Diplomat. 

August Belmont was born in Alzey, in 
the Palatinate Rhenish Prussia, Decem- 
ber 6, 1816. His father was a wealthy 
landed proprietor, and gave his son an ex- 
rellent education. The boy, when he was 
fourteen years old, went into the service 
of the Rothschilds at Frankfort-on-the- 
Main, beginning without a salary, and his 
first duties being to sweep out the offices. 
Under the tutelage of the princely bankers 
he developed a remarkable aptitude for 
financial affairs, and after three years he 
was transferred to the branch house at 
Naples, where he successfully carried on 
important negotiations with the papal 
government. He gave his leisure time to 
studying paintings in the galleries and 
palaces of Naples. After remaining in 



Naples three years, he went to Havana to 
look after the Rothschilds' interests in 
Cuba, and from Havana he went on to 
New York City to assume charge of the 
interests of the Rothschilds in America, 
and established himself in business as a 
banker. 

In 1837 Mr. Belmont rented a small 
office in Wall street, and laid the founda- 
tion of the banking house of August Bel- 
mont & Company. He was then twenty- 
one years old, with six years business ex- 
perience, and a boundless ambition. He 
met with rivalry and opposition, but as 
his bills of exchange were on the Roths- 
childs, he maintained his stand. He be- 
came a naturalized citizen of the United 
States, joined the Democratic party, and 
voted for Polk and Dallas in 1844. In the 
same year the Austrian government ap- 
pointed him consul-general of that empire 
for the United States, and he held this 
post until 1850, when he resigned, owing 
to his disapproval of the manner in which 
Austria treated Kossuth and the Hunga- 
rians. He was sent to Holland in 1853 
as Charge d'AfTairs, and the next year was 
appointed resident minister by President 
Pierce, and made for himself a reputation 
as a diplomat by securing to the United 
States the privilege of sending consuls to 
the colonies of the Dutch East Indies. At 
the close of President Pierce's administra- 
tion Mr. Belmont returned to New York 
City. 

During the controversy that preceded 
the Civil War, Mr. Belmont counselled 
peace and compromise. He was a dele- 
gate to the National Democratic Conven- 
tion, at Charleston, in i860, and there sup- 
ported Senator Stephen A. Douglas, for 
the presidential nomination, later he was 
elected chairman of the National Demo- 
cratic Committee by the convention that 
met at Baltimore and nominated Douglas 
and Johnson. He declared that the elec- 
tion of Lincoln was no excuse for dissolv- 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



iiig the Union, and he used all his in- 
fluence with the moderate statesmen of 
the Southern States, begging them not to 
follow the example of South Carolina ; he 
also proposed compromise measures to 
the Republican leaders. When Fort Sum- 
ter was fired upon,' Mr. Belmont became 
as strongly interested in prosecuting the 
war as he had previously been in en- 
deavoring to prevent it. He aided in re- 
cruiting the first German regiment in 
New York, and on ]\Iay 15, 1861, pre- 
sented it with a flag. In opening the 
Democratic National Convention of 1864, 
he spoke strongly in favor of a change 
in the administration, but even more 
strongly in favor of prosecuting the war 
for the maintenance of the Union. Mr. 
Belmont continued as chairman of the 
Democratic National Committee after the 
campaign of 1864. and opened the conven- 
tion of 1868 which nominated Seymour 
and Blair. In 1872, when Horace Greeley, 
the nominee of the Liberal Republicans, 
was accepted by the Democrats as their 
candidate, Mr. Belmont resigned from the 
committee and retired from active political 
life, and thereafter gave his principal at- 
tention to literature and art. In 1850 he 
expended $200,000 for a collection of 
paintings by old Dutch and Spanish 
masters. 

Early in his residence in New York, Mr. 
Belmont was the challenged party in a 
duel brought about by his championing a 
lady, an entire stranger, in whose behalf 
he resented a real or fancied insult. Duel- 
ling was then in fashion, and Belmont ac- 
cepted the challenge. He was wounded 
in the left leg below the knee, and his op- 
ponent was shot through the heart. The 
young banker, in 1849, was married to the 
innocent cause of the duel, Caroline Sli- 
dell Perry, a daughter of Commodore 
Matthew C. Perry, and niece of Commo- 
dore Oliver H. Perry, the hero of Lake 
Erie. They had four sons : Perry, August, 



Oliver Hazard Perry, and Raymond ; and 
one daughter, who married S. S. How- 
land. He died in New York City, Novem- 
ber 24, 1890. 



DALY, Charles P., 

Xiavpyer, Jnrist. 

Charles Patrick Daly was born in New 
York City, October 31, 1816, the son of a 
master carpenter who emigrated from 
Omagh, in the county of Tyrone, Ireland, 
in 1814, and settled in New York City. 

He was educated in a parish school, and 
upon the death of his father came to 
the United States, settling in Savannah, 
Georgia, where he served as a clerk. Be- 
coming discontented by reason of ill treat- 
ment, he shipped before the mast and fol- 
lowed the sea for three years. Upon re- 
turning to New York he became ap- 
prenticed to a quill manufacturer, and 
while serving his time devoted his even- 
ings to study. His connection with a de- 
bating society led him to form the ac- 
quaintance of William Soule, a well- 
known lawyer, who induced him to take 
up the study of law, oflfering him a clerk- 
ship in his office and a salary of $150 the 
first year. Within three years he passed 
a successful examination and, the seven- 
year rule being suspended by the court, 
he was admitted to practice in 1839 and 
formed a partnership with Thomas L. Mc- 
Elrath, afterward a partner with Horace 
Greeley in the founding of the New York 
"Tribune." 

In 1843 ^^r- Daly was elected to the 
State Assembly, and he declined a nomi- 
nation as representative in the Twenty- 
ninth Congress, in the following year. 
The same year he was appointed judge of 
the Court of Common Pleas, and was suc- 
cessively reappointed as his own successor 
until 1846, when the position was made 
elective and the voters continued him on 
the bench. In 1857 he was elected first 



133 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



judge, and in 1871, when the term was 
lengthened to fourteen years, all parties 
placed his name on their respective tickets 
and he was unanimously elected, and 
served until 1885, when he was obliged to 
retire under the law of age limit. He 
served as Chief Justice of the court dur- 
ing the last twenty-eight years of his serv- 
ice. The bench and bar of New York 
made the occasion of his retirement a 
public ovation, and presented him with 
appropriate resolutions and the gavel he 
had so long wielded, encased in gold and 
duly inscribed. Upon retiring from the 
bench he established himself in chambers 
and had a large and lucrative practice. 

He was a firm friend and judicious ad- 
visor of the Lincoln administration during 
the Civil War, and was consulted on im- 
portant legal state matters, including the 
rendition of Mason and Slidell, the Con- 
federate Commissioners, who had been 
taken from a British vessel by Commo- 
dore Wilkes. He was lecturer on law in 
Columbia College, 1860-75 '< president of 
the American Geographical Society from 
1866: an honorary member of the Royal 
Geographical Society of London, England, 
of the Berlin Geographical Society, and of 
the Imperial Geographical Society of 
Russia, and aided efficiently in promoting 
exploration and polar research. He was 
also a member of the New York State 
Constitutional Convention of 1867; of the 
New York Historical Society; of the 
Philosophical Society of Pennsylvania ; of 
the Century Association, and of St. 
Patrick's Society, of which he was presi- 
dent for many years. In 1895 he was 
chosen to respond on behalf of the dele- 
gates to the address of welcome to them 
by the president, the Duke of York, at the 
opening of the World's Geographical Con- 
gress at London, England. In i860 
Columbia College conferred upon him the 
honorary degree of LL. D. 

He published "Historical Sketch of the 



Judicial Tribunals of New York from 
1623 to 1846" (1855); "History of Natu- 
ralization and of Its Laws in Different 
Countries" (i860) ; "Are Southern Priva- 
teersmen Pirates?" (1862) ; "Original His- 
tory of Institutions for the Promotion of 
Useful Arts by Industrial Exhibitions" 
(1864) ; "When was the Drama Intro- 
duced in America" (1864) ; "Reports of 
Cases in the Court of Common Pleas, City 
and County of New York" (13 vols., 1868- 
87) ; "First Settlement of the Jews in 
North America" (1875, revised 1893); 
"What We Know of Maps and Map Mak- 
ing before the time of Mercator" (1879) ; 
'"The History of Physical Geography ; and 
The Common Law ; its Origin, Sources, 
Nature and Development, and What the 
State has done to Improve Upon It" 
(1S94). He died at Sag Harbor, New 
York. August 19, 1899. 



BERGH, Henry, 

Philanthropist. 

Henry Bergh, who built an enduring 
monument to his name as founder of the 
American Society for the Prevention of 
Cruelty to Animals, was born in New 
York City, in 1823. His father. Christian 
Bergh, a native of Germany, was a ship- 
builder, and for many years in the service 
of the government. He died in 1843, leav- 
ing three children, amply provided for. 

Henry Bergh entered Columbia College, 
but before his course was finished, deter- 
mined on an extended foreign tour, and 
spent five years in travel in Europe. In 
1862 he became Secretary of Legation to 
Russia, and afterward Acting Vice-Con- 
sul. The severity of the climate obliged 
him to resign his position, and he again 
devoted his means and leisure to travel, 
seeking more temperate regions both in 
Europe and the East. Cruelties to ani- 
mals, witnessed by him in his travels, and 
especially during his residence at St. 



■134 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGR.\PHY 



Petersburg, first suggested his philan- 
thropic mission on behalf of the dumb 
brute. During a visit to England, he 
sought the acquaintance and assistance of 
Lord Harrowby, who was then president 
of the Royal Society for the Prevention of 
Cruelty to Animals. On his return to the 
United States he determined on devoting 
the remainder of his life to the interests 
of the dumb creation, and upon his labors 
in behalf of that part of created life 
obliged to yield to man's superior rule, 
rests his honored reputation. He was 
alone, but in the face of indifference, and 
combated by opposition and ridicule, he 
began the organization of the society 
which came to be recognized as one of the 
most beneficent movements of the age. 
He not only devoted to the cause he had 
espoused his talents as a speaker and a 
lecturer but as a worker, whether in the 
street, defending horses from inhuman 
treatment ; in the court room, invoking 
the aid of the law ; or before the legisla- 
ture, seeking legal enactments ; he stood 
without an equal. An act of incorpora- 
tion for his society was secured April lo, 
1866, in the Legislature of New York, and 
Mr. Bergh became its first president. The 
association began its work of develop- 
ment, and in a few months was in a 
flourishing condition financially, its first 
valuable property being the gift of Mr. 
and Mrs. Bergh. Branches of the society 
were established and now exist in every 
part of the United States and Canada. In 
many cities its of^cers are constituted 
special policemen, with authority to arrest 
any person found practicing cruelty of 
any kind toward any member of the brute 
creation. Every moral agency — social, 
legislative and personal — is employed; 
points of vital concern to health as well as 
to humanity are touched ; the transporta- 
tion of cattle, the purity of milk, the times 
and manner of slaughtering for the mar- 



ket, the care of horses and other beasts of 
burden, the abolition of live birds from 
shooting matches, the breaking up of cock- 
fights and dog-fights. By an ingenious 
invention, Mr. Bergh substituted an arti- 
ficial for a live pigeon as a mark for the 
sportsman's gun, and it is in almost uni- 
versal use by gunners — a thin, hollow disc 
of clay, which is sprung from a trap and 
in its passage through the air imitates the 
flight of a bird. In 1871, a Parisian and 
a typical miser, Louis Bonard, who occu- 
pied, in squalor and wretchedness, an 
obscure room, sent for Mr. Bergh. The 
old man made his will, when it was re- 
vealed that he had property to the value 
of $150,000, all of which was devised to 
Mr. Bergh's society. A shabby and dusty 
trunk was filled with gold and silver 
watches in alternate layers, together with 
a large quantity of jewelry and diamonds. 
This singular bequest enabled the society 
to greatly enlarge its work. During 1873, 
Mr. Bergh made a lecturing tour through 
the west, spoke before the Evangelical 
Alliance and Episcopal Convention, and 
was the means of having a new canon 
confirmed, giving authority to clergymen 
of the Episcopal church to preach a ser- 
mon at least once a year on cruelty and 
mercy to animals. Mr. Bergh neither 
sought nor received salary ; his private 
income being ample for his needs ; he de- 
voted his entire time and energies to the 
work of "speaking for those who could 
not speak for themselves." In 1886, 
thirty-nine States of the American Union, 
with Brazil and the Argentine Republic, 
had enacted laws similar to those which 
Mr. Bergh procured from the Legislature 
of New York. His work did not stop in 
caring for dumb beasts : in 1874 he rescued 
a little girl from inhuman treatment, and 
the act led to the founding of a society for 
the prevention of cruelty to children. 
As an author, Mr. Bergh wrote several 



135 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



plays, and published "The Streets of New 
York," a volume of tales and sketches ; 
"The Portentous Telegram," "The Ocean 
Paragon," and "Married Ofif." He died in 
New York City, March 12, 1888. 



EMERY, Charles E., 

Civil Engineer, 

Charles Edward Emery was born at 
Aurora, New York, March 29, 1838, son of 
Moses Little and Minerva (Prentiss) 
Emery, and a direct descendant of one of 
the original proprietors of the plantation 
of Contoocook, Massachusetts. His im- 
mediate ancestor settled in Newbury, 
Massachusetts, in 1775. 

He was educated at the Canandaigua 
Academy, New York, worked at mechani- 
cal engineering in the local railroad shops, 
and also studied law with a view to be- 
coming a patent lawyer. In June. 1861, 
he entered the United States navy as third 
assistant engineer of the "Richmond," 
and took part in blockading duty with the 
Gulf Squadron, and in various engage- 
ments at Pensacola with Forts St. Philip 
and Jackson, and in the capture of New 
Orleans, Vicksburg, and Port Hudson. He 
was promoted in June, 1863, and took part 
in the blockade off Charleston, South Caro- 
lina, on the "Nipsic," and in June, 1864, 
was ordered on duty to the Novelty Iron 
Works, New York, on United States navy 
steam expansion experiments. In 1869 he 
retired from the navy and conducted a 
series of experiments for the Novelty Iron 
Works on stationary steam engines, the 
results of which were subsequently pub- 
lished in book form by Professor W. P. 
Trowbridge, under the title "Condensing 
and Non-Condensing Engines." He was 
superintendent of the American Institute 
Fair in New York in 1869. and was con- 
sulting engineer and chairman of the ex- 
amining board of the United States Coast 
Survev and United States Revenue Ma- 



rine, 1869-91. In 1874, as a member of a 
joint board of engineers, — ^Charles H. Lor- 
ing representing the navy, and Mr. Emery 
the treasury, — he conducted a series of ex- 
periments to determine the relative value 
of compound and non-compound engines, 
the results of which were at the time the 
only reliable data extant and were pub- 
lished in technical literature and text- 
books throughout the scientific world. He 
was one of the judges of the Centennial 
Exposition at Philadelphia, in 1876, on 
engines, pumps and mechanical appli- 
ances, and associate to the committee on 
musical instruments, electrical and other 
scientific apparatus. The Centennial Com- 
mission awarded him a medal, and in 1879 
the University of the City of New York 
conferred upon him the honorary degree 
of Ph. D. In 1879 he became chief engineer 
and manager of the New York Steam 
Heating and Power Company. He was re- 
tained by the Edison Electric Light Com- 
pany, the Pneumatic Dynamite Gun Com- 
pany, and the city of Fall River as consult- 
ing engineer, and on his report the mill 
owners of Fall River and the city entered 
into a novel compromise whereby the city 
received water from the Watuppa ponds 
in consideration of the abatement of taxes 
on water power. In 1886 he was ap- 
pointed non-resident professor of engi- 
neering at Sibley College, Cornell Uni- 
versity. In 1887 he opened an office in 
New York as a consulting engineer and 
engineering expert, and became connected 
with a large number of important patent 
litigations as expert. In 1888 he became 
consulting engineer for the New York 
and Brooklyn Bridge. In 1889 the Insti- 
tution of Civil Engineers of Great Britain 
awarded him the Watt medal and Tilford 
premium for an approved paper. In 1892 
he was appointed one of the commis- 
sioners in the matter of the purchase of 
the Long Island Water Supply Company 
by the city of Brooklyn, and of the Skane- 
[36 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ateles, New York, and of the Newark 
(New Jersey) water condemnation cases. 

He then took up the subject of elec- 
tricity, and in 1893 was appointed one of 
the judges of dynamos and motors at the 
World's Fair at Chicago, Illinois. In 1895 
he was elected chairman of the committee 
to revise the code for steam boiler trials, 
adopted in 1884 by a committee of which 
he was also a member. At the time of his 
death he was engaged upon the final re- 
vision of the code, upon the Bound Brook 
(New Jersey) flood cases, the Holyoke 
(Massachusetts) water-power assessment 
cases, and the city of Worcester (Massa- 
chusetts) water condemnation cases. He 
was a member of all the American engi- 
neering societies, the British Institution, 
fellow of the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science, and of the 
Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. 
He was also a member of the Society of 
the Sons of the Revolution and the Mili- 
tary Order of the Loyal Legion of the 
United States. 

He was married, August 6, 1863, to 
Susan S., daughter of the Hon. Essex Rid- 
ley Livingston. He died in Brooklyn, 
New York, June i, 1898. 



CHAPIN, Edwin H., 

I<eader for Social Betterment. 

The Rev. Edwin Hubbell Chapin, whose 
name is commemorated in that beautiful 
charity, the Chapin Home for Aged and 
Indigent Men and Women, was born in 
Washington county, New York, Decem- 
ber 29, 1814. During his boyhood his 
parents removed to Burlington, Vermont, 
and he obtained an excellent education in 
the schools of that city. Later he re- 
moved to Troy, New York, where he pur- 
sued a course of study in law, after which 
he took up his residence in Utica, New 
York. 

At Troy, having decided upon a minis- 



terial instead of a legal career, he accepted 
a position as editor of a periodical publi- 
cation established in the interests of the 
Univers'ilists, in whose faith he had 
become interested. During his leisure 
periods he devoted his attention to the 
study of theology and ecclesiastical his- 
tory, and was ordained a Universalist 
clergj-man in the year 1837. His first 
pastorate was in Richmond, Virginia, and 
at the expiration of three years he was 
called to a pastorate in Charlestown, 
Massachusetts, which he served faithfully 
for six years. In 1847 he was associated 
with Hosea Ballou in ministering to the 
congregation of a Universalist church in 
Boston, but the following year was ofifered 
the pastorate of the Fourth Universalist 
Church of New York City, which he ac- 
cepted, and which pulpit he filled until 
the close of his life. The church at that 
time was in the neighborhood of the City 
Hall, but this site not being perfectly sat- 
isfactory to the parishoners, and not prov- 
ing adequate to accommodate the increas- 
ing number of people who came to hear 
Mr. Chapin preach, they secured the 
building known as the Dusseldorf Gallery, 
on Broadway, near Bleecker street, where 
Mr. Chapin preached to large audiences, 
and proved a wonderful power for good. 
A number of years later another removal 
was necessary, owing to the fact that at 
every service people were standing, un- 
able to secure seats, and in 1S66 the con- 
gregation removed to the Church of the 
Divine Paternit)% at Forty-fifth street and 
Fifth avenue, where Dr. Chapin continued 
to preach until his death. 

As an author, he possessed powers that 
distinguished him from other preachers, 
and his sermons evidenced intellectual 
study and culture. He was eloquent, bril- 
liant and forceful, possessed the magnet- 
ism that drew men to him, and was an ac- 
tive factor in the saving of many souls. As 
a citizen, he was public-spirited and pro- 



137 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



gressive, and was a keen and interested 
worker in various undertakings of a be- 
nevolent, patriotic or religious character. 
He was a member of many important so- 
cieties and public organizations, a trustee 
of Bellevue Medical College and Hospital, 
and for a long time editor of the "Christian 
Leader." He published a number of works, 
including the following: "Hours of Com- 
munion" (New York, 1844) ; "Discourses 
on the Lord's Prayer" (1850); "Char- 
acters in the Gospels" (1852) ; "Moral 
Aspects of City Life" (1853) ; "Discourses 
on the Beatitudes" (1853) ; "True Manli- 
ness" (New York, 1854) ; "Duties of 
Young Men" (1855) ; "The Crown of 
Thorns — A Token for the SulTering" 
(i860) ; "Living Words" (Boston, 1861) ; 
"The Gathering, "which was the memorial 
of a meeting of the Chapin family (Spring- 
field, Massachusetts, 1862). A most beauti- 
ful charity, the Chapin Home for Aged 
and Indigent Men and Women, reared in 
his memory, became a monument to the 
esteem and honor in which he was held. 
His death occurred in New York City, 
Decemfcer 27, 1880, his health having been 
feeble during the latter years of his life. 



DURYEE, Abram, 

Civil War Soldier, Municipal 0£SciaI. 

General Abram Duryee born in New York 
City, April 29, 181 5, came of soldierly stock. 
His father and two uncles were officers in 
the United States army in the war of 
1812, and his grandfather was a soldier in 
the war of the American Revolution, and 
one of the prisoners confined for a time in 
the old sugar house on Liberty street, 
when New York was in possession of the 
British. 

Abram Duryee received a high school 
education, engaged in business, and be- 
came wealthy through dealing in ma- 
hogany. When eighteen years old he 
ioined the One Hundred and Fortv-sec- 



ond Regiment New York State Militia, 
and in 1838 transferred his membership to 
the Twenty-seventh (afterward Seventh) 
Regiment. In 1849 he had risen from pri- 
vate to the rank of colonel of the Seventh 
Regiment, which position he held foir 
fourteen years, commanding the regiment 
in five desperate riots. He was wounded 
in the Astor Place riot, and his prompt 
action suppressed a serious outbreak, but 
not without the loss of some lives. 

In 1861 he was among the first to re- 
cruit volunteers for the suppression of the 
rebellion and as early as April had 
raised the Fifth Regiment New York 
Volunteers ("Duryee's Zouaves" ) within a 
week. He at once led his command to the 
front, participating in the first important 
battle of the war at Big Bethel, Virginia, 
June 10, 1861. After the disastrous defeat, 
he superseded General Pierce as com- 
mander of the brigade. He was commis- 
sioned brigadier-general of volunteers in 
August, 1 861, and was in command of his 
brigade at Cedar Mountain, Thoroughfare 
Gap, the second Bull Run, and Chantilly. 
At South Mountain and .Antietam he 
commanded Ricketts's division, when 
General Ricketts succeeded Hooker in 
command of the corps. After this he was 
absent for a time on furlough, and on re- 
turning to the army he resigned in Janu- 
ary, 1863, upon finding an officer of in- 
ferior rank assigned to his command, and 
his request for reinstatement not re- 
garded. At the close of the war he was 
brevetted major-general of volunteers for 
distinguished services. He was after- 
ward elected colonel of the Seventy-first 
Regiment, National Guard State of New 
York, and brigadier-general in command 
of the Fourth Brigade, New York State 
Militia, but declined both commissions. 

He was appointed Police Commissioner 
of New York in 1873, and commanded the 
police force in its action against the as- 
sembled communists in Tompkins Square 



138 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGR.\PHY 



in 1874, when they were driven from the 
public streets and subsequently thor- 
oughly quelled. 

He was dock-master, 1S84-87. His pen- 
sion of thirty dollars per month granted 
by the Federal government was increased 
by act of Congress to one hundred dollars 
per month in February, 1890. He was a 
member of the New York Historical So- 
ciety, and of the St. Nicholas Society. He 
died in New York City. September 27, 
1890. 



WORDEN, John L., 

Hero of tlie Monitor-Merrimac Battle. 

Admiral John LorimerWorden, of naval 
fame during the Civil War, was born in 
Mount Pleasant, Westchester county. 
New York, March 12, 1817. At the age of 
seventeen he was appointed midshipman 
in the United States navy, and ordered to 
the sloop-of-war "Erie," on the Brazilian 
station ; in September, 1837, was trans- 
ferred to the Mediterranean squadron ; 
and in December, 1839, was sent to the 
naval school at Philadelphia. July 16, 
1840, he was promoted to passed midship- 
man and sent to duty in the Pacific squad- 
ron, and after two years passed a like 
period on duty at the New York and 
Washington navy yards. In August, 
1846, he was promoted to master, and in 
November following to lieutenant, and 
served again on the Pacific coast until 
1850. From that time until the breaking 
out of the Civil War, he was on sea serv- 
ice and on duty at the New York navy 
yard. 

On April 6, 1861, he reported to the 
Navy Department and asked for active 
sea service. He was at once sent over- 
land with dispatches for Captain Adams, 
in command of the fleet off Pensacola, 
and on his return was captured by a party 
of Confederates near Montgomery, Ala- 
bama, and held prisoner until November 



14, 1861, when he was paroled. He was 
later exchanged at Norfolk, Virginia, and 
as soon as his health would permit, his 
confinement having left him very poorly, 
he reported for duty. On January 13, 
1862, he was assigned to Ericsson's 
"Monitor" (sarcastically called a cheese- 
box on a raft), just then completed. He 
was allowed to select his crew from the 
"North Carolina" and "Sabine;" and, 
without taking time to drill the crew at 
the guns or to become familiar with the 
working of the turret, he put to sea, 
March 6, 1862, and sailed to Hampton 
Roads, in tow of a large tug. Arriving 
at Hampton Roads as the "Congress" was 
burning, he reported to Captain Marsten, 
and, in spite of orders to sail to Washing- 
ton went to the aid of the "Minnesota," 
which was hard aground ofif Newport News. 
At seven-thirty in the morning the Con- 
federate iron-clad "Merrimac" and her 
consorts started for Sewall's Point for 
the "Minnesota." The "Monitor" got 
under way, steered direct for the enemy 
in order to hold him away from the 
"Minnesota," and, making no attempt at 
the wooden vessels, ran alongside of the 
"Merrimac." The pilot-house from which 
Worden commanded his vessel was a 
square iron structure, so small as to ac- 
commodate only three men ; the com- 
mander, pilot and quartermaster. It was 
on the deck, directly in front of the turret, 
thus preventing firing ahead ; and was 
connected with the turret by a speaking 
tube, which was destroyed early in the 
action, thus making communication be- 
tween the commander and the executive 
officer difficult. Worden fought at close 
quarters, maneuvered his boat skillfully, 
availed himself of all the advantages he 
possessed, and at one time hauled ofT to 
allow the turret to replenish its supply 
of shot. 

Worden then renewed the engagement, 
and fought his vessel until a large shell, 
139 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



striking the pilot-house and exploding, 
blinded him. He was cared for by the 
physician on the "Monitor," and was sent 
to Washington, D. C. Although the 
"Merrimac" was not destroyed, she was 
roughly used, and the ability of the 
"Monitor" to cope with her prevented 
her prosecuting the campaign that had 
been planned. Worden was received as 
the popular hero; he was given a vote of 
thanks by Congress on July ii, 1S62, and 
the following day was promoted to com- 
mander. 

Captain ^Vorden gradually recovered his 
sight, and in January, 1863, was assigned 
to the command of the "Montauk," a boat 
of the "Monitor" type, but of improved 
pattern, with which he joined the South 
Atlantic squadron under DuPont, who 
was planning an attack on Charleston. In 
order to ascertain the ability of monitors 
to withstand the fire of land batteries, 
DuPont ordered Worden to attack Fort 
McAllister, on the Great Ogeechee river, 
below Savannah. On January 27, 1863, 
Worden steamed up the river, anchored 
and fired upon the fort four hours, until 
his ammunition was exhausted. The trial 
was successful as far as showing the in- 
vulnerability of the boat, but the slight 
amount of damage done to the fort was 
disappointing. The Confederate steamer 
"Nashville," designed as a commerce des- 
troyer, was at this time hiding in the 
Ogeechee river, awaiting an opportunity 
to run the blockade. When the "Mon- 
tauk" sailed up the river, she withdrew 
out of range, but on February 27, Worden 
discovered her to be aground, and the fol- 
lowing morning, steaming up under the 
guns of the fort, fired across a neck of 
land, and although continually under fire 
from the fort, he caused the explosion of 
the magazine of the "Nashville" by his 
shells, and withdrew uninjured, until 
running into a torpedo, he blew a hole in 
the bottom of the "Montauk." The boat 
was later repaired, and took part in Du- 



Pont's attack on Charleston, April 7, 1863. 
On February 3, 1863, he received another 
vote of thanks from Congress, and was 
promoted to captain. Worden was on 
duty at New York, 1863-66; served on 
the Pacific squadron, 1866-67 > was pro- 
moted commodore, May 27, 1868; was 
superintendent of the Naval Academy, 
1870-74; was promoted rear-admiral, No- 
vember 20, 1872; commanded the Euro- 
pean squadron, 1875-77; ^''^'^ '^^^s retired, 
with the highest sea pay of his grade, at 
his own request, December 23, 1886. He 
died in Washington, D. C, October 18, 
1897. 



BRACE, Charles L., 

Fliilantliropist, Nenrsboys' Friend. 

Charles Loring Brace, who was deeply 
interested in all philanthropic movements, 
but who believed that the most fruitful 
field in which the reformer and philan- 
thropist could labor was among the chil- 
dren of the poor, and whose interest in 
the problem to which he devoted the best 
efiforts of his life was awakened some- 
what by chance, was born at Litchfield, 
Connecticut, June 19, 1826, son of John 
Pierce Brace, principal of the Hartford 
Female Seminary, and afterward editor of 
the Hartford "Courant," one of the oldest 
and best of New England journals, which 
reached its highest reputation under his 
management. It was said of John P. 
Brace that few men of the time exerted a 
wider influence than he in all that was 
best in the lives of American women. 

Charles Loring Brace was graduated at 
Yale College in 1846, at the age of twenty, 
studied theology at the Yale Divinity 
School and at the Union Theological 
Seminary, and entered the ministry. Four 
years after his graduation, when twenty- 
four years old, he made a pedestrian tour 
in the company of Frederick Law Olm- 
sted, afterward the eminent landscape 
architect, through Great Britain and Ire- 



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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



land, and visited Paris, Belgium, and the 
Rhine, and under the title of "Walks and 
Talks of an American Farmer in Eng- 
land," an account of this journey was 
published by Mr. Olmsted. Mr. Brace 
spent a winter in study in Berlin, and 
afterward visited Hungary. He was the 
first American to pass through the in- 
terior of that country, and he had an ex- 
perience in the course of his visit which 
proved embarrassing. Arrested on sus- 
picion of being a secret agent of the 
Hungarian revolutionists in America, he 
was imprisoned, and it was only by acci- 
dent that he was able to communicate 
with the American charge d'affaires at 
Vienna and procure his release. On a 
journey which he afterward took through 
Switzerland, Italy, England and Ireland, 
he began a special study of the conditions 
of the masses in European countries and 
of the schools, prisons and reformatory 
institutions. 

Returning to the United States when 
he was twenty-six years old, his attention 
was called to the miserable condition of 
the poorest classes in the city of New 
York, especially the immigrants, and, in 
cooperation with Mr. Pease, Mrs. Olin 
and others, set out to aid them. Five 
Points was then the most degraded dis- 
trict of the city ,and good work was done 
there by Mr. Brace and his associates. 
He also labored among the prisons, hos- 
pitals and almshouses, on Blackwell's 
Island, where the criminal and unfortu- 
nate were sent. It was not long, how- 
ever, before he discovered that much of 
the work among the adults was hopeless, 
and that little could be accomplished of 
permanent benefit to New York in any 
labor which did not especially include the 
children of the poor. Among the children 
he believed the most efifective work could 
be done, and he joined with others in 
forming the Children's Aid Society. Thia 
was in 1853, when he was twenty-seven 



years old, and he was made the secretary 
and principal executive officer. A year 
later he founded, outside of this society, 
the first newsboys' lodging house in 
America, which, in fitting memory of its 
founder, is known as the "Brace Memorial 
Lodging-House." Through the means of 
the Children's Aid Society up to the time 
of his death, seventy-five thousand home- 
less, friendless children had been trans- 
planted from the streets of New York to 
homes in the far west ; three hundred 
thousand children had been trained in its 
industrial schools ; and in its lodging 
house for boys, and girls' temporary 
homes, two hundred thousand boys and 
girls found a refuge, and were helped to 
employment and homes. In 1856 Mr. 
Brace attended the International Conven- 
tion of Children's Charities in London, 
and made a third visit to Europe in 1865, 
to investigate the sanitary methods of the 
great cities. His fourth visit was as a del- 
egate to the International Prison Con- 
gress, which met in London in 1872. 

During all the subsequent years of his 
life he maintained his interest in philan- 
thropic endeavor, while traveling much. 
and writing many books, namely : "Hun- 
gary in 1851" (1852) ; "Home Life in 
Germany" (1853); "The Norse Folk" 
(1857) ; "Short Sermons tO' Newsboys" 
(1861) ; "Races of the Old World" (1863); 
"The New West" (1868) ; "The Danger- 
ous Classes of New York, and Twenty 
Years' Work Among Them" (3d. ed., 
1880) ; "Free Trade as Promoting Peace 
and Good-will Among Men" (1879); 
"Guesta Christa, or, a History of Humane 
Progress under Christianity" (3d. ed., 
1885), and "The Unknown God" (1889). 

He died at Campfer, Switzerland, 
August II, 1890. Shortly after his death 
an endowment fund, in connection with 
the Children's Aid Society, was estab- 
lished to his memory, known as the 
"Brace Memorial Fund." 



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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



BLISS, George, Jr., 

liawyer, Liitteratenr. 

George Bliss, Jr., was born in Spring- 
field, Massachusetts, May 3, 1830, son of 
George and Mary S. Bliss. His father 
and grandfather were prominent lawyers 
of western ^Massachusetts. 

George Bliss, Jr., received his early edu- 
cation at home and at Harvard College, 
from which he was graduated in 1851. 
During his college course he was associ- 
ated with David A. Wells in the publica- 
tion of the "Annual of Scientific Dis- 
covery" and of "Things not Generally 
Known." After his graduation he spent 
two years in Europe, studying at the 
University of Berlin and in Paris, and 
traveling through Sweden, southern Ger- 
many, Switzerland, northern Italy, Spain 
and Portugal. Returning home, he studied 
law in Springfield, ^Massachusetts, and at 
the Harvard Law School, then entering 
the office of William Curtis Noyes, in 
New York, and in the following year was 
admitted to the bar. During 1859 and 
i860 he was private secretary to Governor 
Morgan, of New York, and in April, 1861, 
was made a member of his staff. In 1862 
he was appointed Paymaster-General of 
the State, with the rank of colonel. In 
the same year, as captain in the Fourth 
New York Heavy Artillery, he was de- 
tailed to duty on the staff of Major-Gen- 
eral Morgan, commanding the Depart- 
ment of New York. In 1862 and 1863 he 
organized, under authority of the Secre- 
tary of War, the Twentieth, Twenty-sixth 
and Thirty-first regiments of United 
States Colored Troops, representing in 
this ser\nce the Union League Club of New 
York, which was primarily the instrumen- 
tality through which they were recruited. 
In 1866 he became the attorney of the 
Metropolitan Board of Health and Metro- 
politan Board of Excise, of New York, 
and, with Dorman B. Eaton, as counsel. 



carried to a successful issue the litigation 
as to the constitutionality^ of the boards, 
and to enforce the acts creating them, the 
final decisions in both being reached only 
in the Court of Appeals. Pending the 
litigation in the excise cases, hundreds of 
injunctions were granted in the Common 
Pleas Court alone. On January i, 1S73, 
he was appointed United States Attorney 
for the Southern District of New York, 
which position he held for more than four 
years. Notable among the important 
cases during this period were the Robert 
Des Anges and Lawrence conspiracy 
cases. In 1881 and 1882, under appoint- 
ment of President Garfield, he was the 
active counsel of the government in the 
trial at Washington of the celebrated 
"Star Route Cases," involving many 
fraudulent mail transportation cases. His 
associate counsel were Richard T. Mer- 
rick, Benjamin Harris Brewster and Wil- 
liam \\\ Ker. The cases were twice tried 
in Washingfton before a jury, each trial 
occupying from four to five months. In 
the first, though some of the minor ac- 
cused were convicted, the verdict was un- 
satisfactory and was set aside by consent ; 
the second trial resulted in an acquittal, 
procured, in the opinion of the prosecu- 
tion, by unprofessional means, and the 
law upon which the prosecution was 
based was subsequently affirmed by the 
Supreme Court of the United States. The 
trials put a final end to a system of frauds 
by which the government was robbed of 
many millions of dollars. 

Mr. Bliss published three editions of 
the "Law of Life Insurance," and four 
editions of the "Annotated New York 
Code of Civil Procedure," which has be- 
come the standard authority on that sub- 
ject. At one time he contributed to the 
"North American Review," and was for 
many years a newspaper writer, chiefly 
on political subjects. He was brought up 
a Presbyterian, but became a Unitarian, 
42 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and subsequently a Roman Catholic. In 
1895 he was decorated by Pope Leo XIII. 
with the order of St. Gregory the Great 
in recognition of his services in defending 
the Roman Catholic charitable institu- 
tions before the New York Constitutional 
Convention of 1894. He died at Wake- 
field, Rhode Island, September 21, 1897. 



HACKETT, James Henry, 

Actor. 

James Henry Hackett was born in New 
York City, March 15, 1800. His father 
was a native of Holland, who had been a 
lieutenant in the life-guard of the Prince 
of Orange, and his mother was a daughter 
of the Rev. Abraham Keteltas, a New 
York clergyman. 

He fitted for college at a Long Island 
academy, and in 1815 entered Columbia 
College, where he remained but a year, 
leaving to study with a New York lawyer. 
In 1819 he was married to Katherine Duf- 
field Lee-Sugg, an actress, and a daughter 
of an English ventriloquist. Miss Lee- 
Sugg at the time was playing at the Park 
Theatre in New York City. After her 
marriage she retired from the stage and 
lemoved with her husband to Utica, New 
York, where for several years he engaged 
in business on a large scale, having a 
branch in New York City, and finally 
failed. This failure caused Mrs. Hackett 
to return to her profession, and she re- 
appeared at the New York Park Theatre 
on February 27, 1826, as the countess in 
"Love in a Village." Mr. Hackett, having 
a fondness for the drama, applied to the 
management for a trial as an actor, and 
on March i, 1826, he made his debut as 
Justice Woodcock in "Love in a Village," 
a benefit to Mrs. Hackett. His second 
appearance, in which he made his first 
great hit, was as one of the Dromios in 
Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors" in 



October, 1826, John Barnes playing the 
twin brother, his imitation of Barnes' 
voice and mannerisms being so nearly 
perfect, that the audience were un- 
able to tell them apart. He next appeared 
in the title role "Sylvester Daggerwood," 
and introduced in the part successful im- 
personations of Charles Mathews, Ed- 
mund Kean and other actors. In Novem- 
ber, 1826, his success became assured by 
his impersonation of a Yankee and a 
Frenchman. In December he sailed for 
England, and on April 6, 1827, appeared 
at the Covent Garden Theatre, London, 
as Sylvester Daggerwood, playing the 
part as he had played it in New York. 
His success was indifferent, though his 
imitations were commented upon as good. 
Before returning home he made his suc- 
cess substantial by playing the whole 
character of Richard III. in imitation of 
Edmund Kean. In 1830 Hackett joined 
for a short time with Thomas S. Hamblin 
in the management of the Bowery Thea- 
tre, and subsequently managed the Chat- 
ham Street Theatre. In 1837 he managed 
the National Theatre in New York, and 
was lessee and manager of the Astor 
Place Theatre at the time of the Mac- 
ready riot. He introduced to the United 
States the Italian singers Grisi and Mario 
at Castle Garden in 1854. As a star actor 
he toured season after season, and made 
a number of visits to England. He was 
married a second time, March zj, 1864, to 
Clara C. Morgan. His last public engage- 
ment was previous to 1871. His best 
known characters were Falstaff, which he 
first played May 13, 1828; Rip Van 
Winkle, first played in April, 1830; Mor- 
bleau in "Monsieur Tonson" ; Solomon 
Swop in "Jonathan in England" ; Colonel 
Nimrod Wildfire in "Colonel Wildfire" ; 
Monsieur Mallett and Dromio. He died 
at Jamaica, Long Island, New York, De- 
cember 28, 187 1. 



143 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGR.\PHY 



DUYCKINCK, Evert A., 

Editor, Aathor. 

Evert Augustus Duyckinck was born in 
New York City, November 23, 1816, son 
of Evert Duyckinck, bookseller. He was 
graduated at Columbia Colleg-e in 1835, 
studied law, and was admitted to the bar 
in 1837. After a year spent in Europe, he 
returned to New York determined to 
adopt a literary profession, having- already 
been an acceptable contributor to the 
"New York Review." In 1840, in com- 
pany with Cornelius Mathews, he estab- 
lished "Arcturus," a monthly periodical 
which they continued for two years and 
in which he published a series of articles 
entitled "Authors at Home and Abroad." 
From 1847 to 1853, in conjunction with 
his brother, George Long Duyckinck, he 
edited and conducted "The Literary 
World," which they founded and devoted 
to reviews of books, art and literature. 
In 1854. with his brother, he began the 
publication of "The Cyclopaedia of Ameri- 
can Literature," completed in two vol- 
umes, giving a comprehensive list of 
American authors, with selections from 
their writings, portraits, and fac simile 
autographs. This was revised in 1865. 
He was a trustee of Columbia College, 
1874-78. As a member of the New York 
Historical Society he read before that 
body "Memorials of Francis L. Hawks, 
D.D., LL.D." (1867-71); "Memorials of 
Francis T. Tuckerman" (1872) ; and "Me- 
morials of James W. Beekman" (1877). 
He read before the American Ethnolog- 
ical Society: "Memorial of Samuel G. 
Drake" (1876) ; and prepared a "Memorial 
of John Wolfe" (1872). He published: 
"Wit and Wisdom of Sydney Smith, with 
a Memoir" (1856) ; "Willmot's Poets of 
the Nineteenth Century" (American edi- 
tion, 1858) ; "Irvingiana" (1859) ; "His- 
tory of the War for the Union" (1861- 
65) ; "Memorial of John Allen" (1864) ; 



"Poems Relating to the American Revolu- 
tion, With Memoirs of the Authors" 
(1865) ; "Poems of Philip Freneau" 
(1865); "National Gallery of Eminent 
Americans" (1866); "History of the 
World," etc. (1870); "Biographies of 
Eminent Men and Women of Europe and 
America" (1873-74). 

He died in New York City, August 13, 
1878. William Allen Butler read a bio- 
graphical sketch of Mr. Duyckinck before 
the New York Historical Society (1879), 
and the Rev. Dr. Samuel Osgood pub- 
lished a memoir of him (1879). 



SELDEN, Samuel L., 

Jurist, 



Samuel Lee Slden was born at Lyme. 
Connecticut, October 12, 1800, son of 
Joseph Selden. He studied law with his 
brother-in-law, Joseph Spencer, at Roch- 
esterville. New York, and was admitted 
to the bar in 1825, entered into partner- 
ship with Addison Gardiner, and soon 
acquired a large practice. In 1830 he 
served as justice of the peace, and in 
1831 was elected first judge of the Court 
of Common Pleas for Monroe county, 
and, after leaving the bench, he held the 
office of clerk of the Eighth Chancery 
Circuit of the State for many years. 

In 1847 he was elected to the bench of 
the Supreme Court, being the first elec- 
tion under the constitution of 1846. 
Under his jurisdiction the construction 
of the code was fixed, and a system of 
judicial law molded which has penetrated 
every part of the country' where the New 
York practice has been adopted. In other 
States the opinions of Judge Selden are 
quoted by counsel and judges with re- 
spect. He and his brother were the 
earliest to aid in the establishment of the 
electric telegraph lines. Subsequently, 
he acquired a large interest in the House 
144 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



patent, and joined with others in estab- 
lishing the New York and Mississippi 
Valley Printing Telegraph Company in 
1851, which was afterwards consolidated 
with the Erie and Michigan Telegraph 
Company, under the title of the Western 
Telegraph Company. In 1856 he was 
elected a judge of the Court of Appeals, 
in which he was at once received as an 
acknowledged leader, and he served as 
Chief Justice of the State in 1862. The 
rapid and enormous growth of the State 
during his life had brought about such 
changed and changing conditions of the 
complex civilization which was being 
constructed, that the law questions in- 
volved in litigation were frequently novel 
and intricate. No man on the bench or 
at the bar understood this better than 
Judge Selden, if any did as well, and he 
took a very prominent part in the deci- 
sions of the Court of Appeals on the law 
of corporations and other commercial 
law, forming a body of jurisprudence 
which is everj'where respected. 

He was married, in July, 1831, to Susan 
M. Ward, of Genesee county, and had two 
sons, who died in infancy. The degree of 
LL. D. was conferred upon Judge Selden 
by the University of Rochester in 1856. 
He died in Rochester, New York, Sep- 
tember 20, 1876. 



PRATT, Charles, 

Philantliropist. 

Charles Pratt was born at Watertown, 
Massachusetts, October 2, 1830, son of 
Asa and Eliza (Stone) Pratt, grandson 
of Jacob Pratt, of Maiden, Massachusetts, 
and a descendant of Richard Pratt, who 
emigrated from Essex, England, to Amer- 
ica and settled at Maiden, Massachusetts. 
He attended the academy at Wilbraham, 
Massachusetts, for one year; and in 1849, 
at the age of nineteen, engaged as a clerk 

N Y-Vol n-10 



in a paint and oil store in Boston. He 
afterward became a member of the firm 
of Raynolds, Devoe & Pratt, in New York 
City. He purchased the oil department 
of the business, and subsequently built a 
petroleum refinery at Greenpoint, New 
York, where he manufactured Pratt's 
Astral Oil, under the firm name of Charles 
Pratt & Company, which later became 
the Pratt Manufacturing Company, and 
was finally absorbed by the Standard Oil 
Company, in which he was a director and 
officer. He was an earnest advocate of 
advanced and technical education. He 
was a trustee of Adelphi Academy, in 
Brooklyn, New York, from 1867 to 1891, 
and president of its board of trustees for 
twelve years; and in 1886 contributed to 
the institution $160,000 for a new build- 
ing. He founded the Pratt Institute at 
Brooklyn in 1887, established as an indus- 
trial, manual and training school ; built 
the tenement known as the "Astral," its 
income to be used for the benefit of the 
institute ; and left an endowment of $2,- 
000,000 at his death. The administration 
of the Institute was continued by his 
sons, Charles Millard Pratt, George D. 
Pratt, Herbert L. Pratt, John T. Pratt 
and Frederic B. Pratt, who constituted a 
board of trustees. In an address made 
on Founder's Day, in 1891, he said: "The 
giving that counts is the giving of one's 
self." His many charities included the 
establishment of the Asa Pratt fund for a 
free reading room in Watertown, Massa- 
chusetts, in memory of his father; and 
his large contribution to the erection of 
the Emmanuel Baptist Church of Brook- 
lyn, New York, of which he was a mem- 
ber. 

Mr. Pratt was twice married ; first, in 
1854, to Lydia Ann, daughter of Thomas 
Richardson, of Belmont, Massachusetts, 
by whom he had one son, Charles Mil- 
lard, and one daughter, Lydia Richard- 

145 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



son. Mrs. Pratt died in 1861, and Mr. 
Pratt married (second) in 1863, her sis- 
ter, Mary Helen Richardson, by whom he 
had five sons and one daughter. Mr. 
Pratt died in New York City, May 4, 
1891. 



CURTIS, George William, 
Author, Iiectnrer, Politician, Reformer. 

Eminent as a man of letters and emi- 
nent as a politician, George William Cur- 
tis is preeminent as the "scholar in poli- 
tics" — each informing and exalting the 
other. 

He was born in Providence, Rhode 
Island, February 24, 1824, the second son 
of George and Mary Elizabeth (Burrill) 
Curtis, his lineage not being of the usual 
Puritan type, "but of the smaller gentry 
of New England 'whose conformities to 
the orders and discipline of the Church of 
England' was duly acknowledged. The 
men of this class had independence and 
self-reliance in plenty ; were full of re- 
source, quick of wit, eager to seize every 
opportunity; resolute, even daring; faith- 
ful to duty — good as friends, formidable 
as foes. It was a good stock. In his life 
some of these qualities reappear" ("Gary's 
Life," page 4). Henry Curtis, his Amer- 
ican paternal ancestor, came over in 1635, 
and George Burrill, the maternal, a few 
years later. His grandfather, James Bur- 
rill, was Chief Justice of Rhode Island and 
United States Senator, an opponent of 
the Missouri Compromise, and a man of 
marked ability and high character. His 
father, removing to New York (1839) 
and later becoming president of the Bank 
of Commerce, was of excellent business 
talents, of sound political and refined lit- 
erary taste, kind to his children, but solic- 
itous as to their manners and morals. He 
made his residence in Washington Place, 
then the most desirable residence quarter 



in the city, still the abode of some of the 
best "old families." His first wife died 
when George was but two years old and, 
in 1835, Mr. Curtis married a daughter of 
Samuel W. Bridgman, of Providence, of 
whom James Burrill Curtis, the elder 
brother of George (our "Cousin the Cur- 
ate," of "Prue and I"), thus writes: "She 
was a woman of much good sense and 
practical energy, of strong and generous 
sympathies and of high public spirit and 
piety ; and she added to these things lit- 
erary cultivation decidedly above the 
average. She wrote with ease, whether 
in letters or other compositions, a full, 
graceful, flowing, delightful English 
style. She once wrote to us in high girl- 
ish spirits that she believed she loved 
her ready-made children the best." 

Within such benign domestic environ- 
ment Curtis was reared, and he inhaled 
the air of freedom upon the ground where 
Roger Williams, fleeing from the perse- 
cution of the Puritan theocracy, founded 
a commonwealth whose cornerstone was 
the principle of the utter divorce of 
Church and State. Curtis was not a col- 
lege-bred man, but his education was cer- 
tainly more than equivalent to that 
which he could have obtained from the 
curriculum of any American college of 
the day. His early schooling, glimpses 
of which are disclosed in "Trumps," was 
at Jamaica Plain, near Boston ; and then, 
after a year under a private tutor and 
another in a mercantile house in New 
York, he became, at the age of sixteen, 
with his elder brother James, a pupil at 
Brook Farm, where a bright body of 
thinkers, in communal life, made a brave, 
but vain, attempt to better the social and 
elevate the intellectual order, by combin- 
ing philosophy and the plow, poetry and 
the wash tub. It had withal an admira- 
ble teaching force, with George Ripley, 
afterward the accomplished literary edi- 



146 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



tor of the New York "Tribune," at its 
head, and liberal courses of study. Cur- 
tis studied diligently, applying himself 
especially to German, agricultural chem- 
istry and music. There also he heard 
the brilliant talk of Margaret Fuller, 
and marveled at the weird conceits 
of Hawthorne ; and thither came as vis- 
itors and, in part, as instructors, "the sage 
of Concord," with his pearls of wisdom, 
and the gentle hermit of Walden Pond 
unfolding the secrets of the woods and 
fields ; and there, doubtless, Curtis first 
aspired to authorship, but as yet without 
definite plans leading thereto. 

Succeeding the Brook Farm experi- 
ence, came an interval of pleasure and of 
much reading at home. He was in the 
heyday of youth and, with his brother, 
both with superb gifts of face and form 
and conversational grace, became a social 
lion, feted and feasted in the most select 
social and musical circles. "My days," 
he writes, "I pass in my room, reading 
Goethe's 'Wilhelm Meister' and Novalis. 
With Burrill, I read 'Agricultural Chem- 
istry' and 'Practical Agriculture.' Next 
week, with mother, we shall begin the 
Epistles and Gospels. Apart from these 
more strictly studies, I am reading 
Shakespeare, Beaumont and Fletcher, 
Massinger, Ford, and smaller poets." In 
August, 1845, he started on a memorable 
pilgrimage, entering the old world by the 
Gibraltar gateway, landing at Marseilles, 
and thence ranging historic ground, in 
leisurely fashion, for four years, every- 
where catching the local coloring; the 
first winter being spent in Rome, where 
he perfected himself in the Latin tongues ; 
the second in Berlin, where he enrolled 
in its university ; the third in Paris ; and 
the fourth on the Nile and in Palestine, 
meanwhile writing regularly to the 
"Courier and Enquirer" and the "Tri- 
bune" — observant reporting, without rhe- 



torical embellishment. He made ac- 
quaintance with the Brownings, Thack- 
eray, and other literary lights, who con- 
fessed their liking for the gifted and 
genial young American ; and from things 
new and old, grave and gay, his plastic 
mind received impressions, revealed in 
the reveries of the "Howadji" and the 
reminiscences of the "Easy Chair." In 
1850 he left Europe, which he never re- 
visited, although two Presidents tendered 
him high diplomatic missions. 

He returned to New York to make 
literature his profession, his first regular 
employment being as the musical and 
dramatic critic of the "Tribune;" for his 
pen, as yet, ran mainly along esthetic 
lines ; and he drew the pleasing sketches 
of watering places that were subsequently 
collected in book form as "Lotus Eating." 
He also supplied airy fancies for the 
"Knickerbocker." In 185 1, "Nile Notes" 
appeared, and was soon followed by the 
"Howadji in Syria." The one has cer- 
tain verbal redundancies and affectations, 
from which the other is measurably free, 
but each is fine in temper, delicate in sen- 
timent, rich in scholarship, and limns 
with photographic fidelity the languor of 
the orient. He was, at the first, enticed 
by the opulence of his vocabulary, but he 
speedily gained poise, eliminated excesses 
from his style, and resolved it into a dic- 
tion as chaste as it is fascinating. In 
1853, "Putnam's," the second of magazines 
of the newer era, "Harper's" having pre- 
ceded it by three years, was started, and 
Curtis was enlisted in its service. Intel- 
lectually, it was a credit to periodical 
literature. Financially, it was unfortun- 
ate. When a crisis in its affairs was 
reached in 1857, Curtis was a special busi- 
ness partner. His personal fortune was 
swept away, and, in addition, there were 
obligations, which, although not legally 
bound, he assumed, to whose discharge 

147 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



he devoted years of unremitting toil, 
applying thereto nearly all the receipts 
from his lyceum lectures. When he step- 
ped from the platform, in 1873, the bur- 
den had been lifted. He rarely ascended 
it again for pay. This is an interesting 
episode in his career, the vindication of a 
nice sense of honor, finding its counter- 
part only in the settlement of Sir Walter 
Scott with the creditors of Ballantyne 
and Company. To "Putnam's," Curtis 
gave some of his choicest work, including 
"Homes of American Authors," the "Poti- 
phar Papers," and "Prue and I." The 
homes are those of Emerson, Longfellow, 
Bancroft and Hawthorne, in all of which 
he was a welcome guest. The "Potiphar 
Papers" is a keen inspection of the frivol- 
ities and pretensions of "our best society." 
Too truthful for irony, it is too kindly 
for contumely. It is the philosopher in 
dress coat, who has the entree of the 
circle, quizzing its foibles, and not the 
cynic in hair cloth, railing at its exclusive- 
ness. It is cleverly written and furnishes 
in "the Rev. Cream Cheese," at least one 
of the noted characters in fiction. "Prue 
and I" is as lovely a bit of sentiment and 
lambent humor as there is in the lan- 
guage, justifying the encomium of Law- 
rence Hutton, who says: "It is Addison 
with a warmth and humanness that Addi- 
son never knew. It is Lamb, with a grace 
and delicacy that Lamb's time did not 
bequeath to him. It is Sidney, with the 
lightest modern touch and a new learned 
simplicity. It is the sweetest, gentlest, 
serenist, loftiest, most cultured of 
scholars, who, in the homely guise of this 
modest clerk, enchants the reader with 
his airy fancy and rich imagination." 

Mr. Curtis married, Thanksgiving Day, 
1856, Anna, daughter of Francis G. Shaw, 
of Staten Island — a happy union and a 
delightful home on the island to the end. 
Some years later, he made a summer 



home in Ashfield, among the hills of 
Western Massachusetts, drawn thither in 
part by the prior going thereto of Charles 
Eliot Norton, his dearest friend, for many 
years. In October, 1853, Curtis began 
to write for the "Easy Chair" in "Harper's 
Monthly," and from April, 1854, until the 
summer of 1892, it bore his individual 
stamp. In 1863, he was installed as editor 
of "Harper's Weekly" and continued 
such for thirty-eight years. Curtis's 
weekly articles, models of a perspicuous 
style, were able, candid and dispassion- 
ate in their treatment of public questions, 
were widely quoted, and were cogent in 
their influence upon public opinion, more 
cogent than the utterances of any Amer- 
ican journalist, with the exception of 
Greeley. The "Easy Chair" is one of the 
fairest products of modern literature. 
How pure, how fresh, how exhilarating it 
is ! To how many hearts has it appealed 
as "guide, philosopher and friend!" How 
varied its themes, how catholic its vision, 
how radiant its spirit. It is the consum- 
mate flower of expression. It is already 
a classic. 

Curtis had a voice as well as a pen. It 
was a voice of surpassing richness and 
exquisite melody. In tone and compass 
it was music's self, varying, to suit the 
thought, from the strain of the flute 
to the ring of the trumpet and the peal 
of the organ. His very presence was in 
itself a charm — of manly, yet graceful 
form, with head of noble cast, features 
finely chiseled, and eyes of bluish-gray at 
once placid and piercing. His initial 
theme was on "Contemporary Art in 
Europe." Another was on "Gold and 
Glitter in America," a sequel to the "Poti- 
phar Papers ;" and still another, which 
seems as introspective as descriptive, 
obeying in its composition the injunc- 
tion of Sidney's muse, "Look in thy heart 
48 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and write ;" for who can doubt the soul of 
Curtis was as knightly as that of Sidney. 

But soon his discourse ran in deeper 
and broader channels. The gravest issues 
of national honor and human freedom 
were at stake. The Puritan spark in 
Curtis was fanned into flame and glowed 
and blazed and burned. In 1856, his plea 
was on "The Duty of American Scholars 
to Politics and the Times." In 1857, it was 
on "Patriotism." In that year also it was 
on "Fair Play for Women ;" in 1838 on 
"Democracy and Education ;" in 1859, it 
was on the "Present Aspect of the Slav- 
ery Question," and this was delivered in 
"the City of Brotherly Love," amid the 
tumult of the mob and at imminent peril 
of personal violence ; but it zvas delivered. 
When the war was on — when the tre- 
mendous issues of national integrity and 
national dissolution, of human rights and 
human bondage, were transferred from 
the forum to the arbitrament of the sword, 
the speech of Curtis had clearer vision 
and more earnest purpose. It even thrill- 
ed with the pathos of his own trials, 
for his step-brother fell at Fredericks- 
burg, and two of his kinsmen by marriage, 
"curled darlings of Harv'ard," but pala- 
dins of patriotism, had glorious death at 
the front, one of whom still has honor 
for the supreme beauty of his sacrifice. 
Curtis talked of "National Honor," of the 
"Good Fight," and, as the climax of his 
deliverances, of the "Way of Peace" — of 
"Peace with Honor," and as embracing 
fullest guarantees of freedom. He was 
also heard at patriotic anniversaries, at 
the college commencements, and in polit- 
ical assemblies. 

He even indulged in practical politics. 
He did not shrink from the caucus, and 
the caucus honored "Honestus." For 
twenty-five years he was chairman of the 
Republican committee of his county, fre- 
quently a delegate to State conventions. 



several times the chairman thereof, and, 
from i860 until 1884, was a delegate to 
nearly every national convention of his 
party. He made the "hit" of the conven- 
tion at Chicago when, in a stupor of timid- 
ity, it had defeated the proposal of Joshua 
R. Giddings to incorporate in the plat- 
form the preamble to the Declaration. He 
rose, blazing with indignation, and with 
clarion call renewed the motion, chal- 
lenging the representatives of the party 
of freedom, meeting on the borders of the 
free prairies, in a hall dedicated to the ad- 
vancement of liberty, to reject the doc- 
trine of the Declaration of Independence 
affirming the equality and defining the 
rights of man. He swept the convention 
upon a wave of enthusiasm, and his reso- 
lution was adopted unanimously amid 
deafening cheers. He favored the nomi- 
nation of Seward as the "logical" stand- 
ard bearer, but cordially supported Lin- 
coln in the canvass, who trusted Curtis 
implicitly throughout his tenure. Curtis 
stoutly sustained the President's policies, 
notably the prudent delay in the issue 
of the Emancipation Proclamation, 
against the pressure of the extreme radi- 
cals ; and as delegate to the convention of 
1864 he was a prominent advocate of Lin- 
coln's renomination, doing splendid serv- 
ice for his reelection, both on the stump 
and in "Harper's," meanwhile running for 
Congress in a district hopelessly Demo- 
cratic. In 1865 his name was proposed 
for United States Senator by many 
friends, but upon a suggestion to him that 
he should engage in a combination to de- 
feat Conkling, the terms being that, upon 
which, either himself or Judge Noah 
Davis should prove the stronger candi- 
date, their forces should unite, he declined 
absolutely to enter the lists. In 1866 he 
was chosen a delegate-at-large to the Con- 
stitutional Convention and served faith- 
fully in that body, his principal work 

49 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



being as chairman of the education com- 
mittee and his star speech on "Woman 
Suffrage," already alluded to. In 1868 he 
was nominated as a Presidential elector, 
but as Seymour carried New York, he did 
not have the privilege of casting a vote in 
the college for Grant. Upon the death of 
Henry J. Raymond, June 18, 1869, Curtis 
was tendered the editorship of the New 
York "Times," a flattering offer, which he 
felt constrained to decline. The story of 
this declination, as related by Curtis to 
the writer, is exceedingly interesting, as 
revealing the honorable relations existing 
between the Harpers and himself. Upon 
its receipt, he informed Mr. Fletcher Har- 
per thereof. Mr. Harper, in brief, told 
Curtis that the offer was a flattering one, 
involving as it did a more instant, if not 
more commanding, influence upon public 
opinion, but also a very considerable in- 
crease of salary above that he was receiv- 
ing from the Harpers, but without the 
slightest suggestion of an increase upon 
their part, advised Curtis to take suffi- 
cient time to think the matter over care- 
fully before making his decision. This 
Curtis did and, after mature considera- 
tion, determined to decline, informing Mr. 
Harper to that effect ; whereupon the lat- 
ter expressed his gratification and said 
that hereafter his salary would be the 
same with the Harpers as that which the 
"Times" had proffered. In September of 
the same year, he was nominated by accla- 
mation for Secretary of State, an honor 
which he also appreciated, but declined 
largely upon prudential considerations. 

In 1870, he was chairman of the Re- 
publican State Convention, and his speech 
was received with exceeding favor, with 
wild enthusiasm. Whereupon he was 
approached by one of the party managers 
who asked him if he would accept the 
nomination for Governor, and pledging 
him the support of the faction that he 



represented. To this Curtis acceded, in 
good faith, although he did not desire the 
distinction, premising that his name 
should be presented fairly and honorably, 
if at all. It was, however, presented per- 
functorily, and that by a Manhattan dele- 
gate, not of the best character, either 
mentally or morally. The promised vote 
was not accorded Curtis ; apparently the 
proffer was made solely to shelve Greeley, 
a formidable candidate ; and General 
Woodford, who had been Lieutenant- 
Governor, and not without claims, by 
reason of distinguished partisan and 
patriotic service, was preferred. The 
trick was a dirty one, and hurt Curtis 
bitterly, possibly accentuating his inde- 
pendence of party shackles, which later 
became pronounced. In 1872, with some 
misgivings, he refused to identify him- 
self with the Liberal Republican move- 
ment, and supported the reelection of 
President Grant. In 1876, as a delegate 
to the Cincinnati Convention, he favored 
the selection of Bristow, but on the de- 
cisive ballot voted for Hayes, and was a 
firm upholder of his administration. In 
May, 1877, the President, through Secre- 
tary Evarts, offered him the choice of the 
chief European missions, expecting that 
he would take the English, but he felt 
that his civic duty forbade his acceptance. 
In 1879, he "bolted" the candidacy of 
Cornell for Governor, identifying himself 
with an organization of "Independent Re- 
publicans," that polled some 20,000 votes. 
In 1880, he was against a third term for 
Grant, and cordially supported Garfield. 
In 1882, he again asserted his independ- 
ence by refusing to support Charles J. 
Folger for Governor, whom he personally 
esteemed highly, in that the Federal 
administration had unduly interfered in 
the canvass by the abuse of patronage, 
and for certain other unseemly, if not 
corrupt, methods employed in Folger's 



150 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



behalf. In 1884, Curtis was a delegate to 
the Republican National Convention, at 
Chicago, his choice for President being 
Senator Edmunds. He opposed the adop- 
tion of a resolution to the effect that 
every delegate was "bound in honor to 
support the nominee," whoever it might 
be, his voice ringing as it had twenty-four 
years before, in the same place, for the 
sanctity of the Declaration, as he affirmed, 
"A Republican and a free man, I came to 
this convention, and by the grace of God 
a Republican and a free man will I go out 
of it." The resolution was withdrawn. 
He refused urgent appeals to second the 
motion to make Blaine's nomination 
unanimous and did not vote upon it. 
"Harper's Weekly" promptly condemned 
the action of the convention, and Curtis 
was at once recognized as the leader of 
the insurgents, popularly known as 
"Mugwumps." They were sufficient in 
number to turn the scale, especially in the 
pivotal State of New York, and, succeed- 
ing one of the bitterest campaigns in 
our political annals, Cleveland, the Demo- 
cratic candidate, was elected. The cam- 
paign involved much impugnment of the 
motives of Curtis, and of detraction and 
scurrility by a partisan press, which either 
misapprehended or malignantly abused 
him ; and, though the issue was a pain- 
ful one to him, he rose superior to ignor- 
ance and insult, maintaining his high 
ideals and intrinsic purity. He had re- 
ferred the case for decision to the court of 
conscience, and from that august tribunal 
there was no appeal, and, it may be added, 
he retained the respect and trust of en- 
lightened Republicans who knew and 
loved him.; even of those who differed 
from him and grieved sincerely at his 
alienation from the party he had nobly 
served, who would not believe that it had 
been prompted by mean or mercenary 
considerations. Thenceforth he was an 
Independent in name, as well as in fact. 



He supported Cleveland for reelection in 
1888, mainly upon the economic issue, 
and partly for what the President had 
done for civil service reform. 

Of reform in civil service, Curtis was 
the most conspicuous and serviceable 
champion. Early enlisting in the move- 
ment for the abolition of the spoils sys- 
tem, he was chairman of the commission, 
appointed in 1871, to rectify the rules for 
admission to the public service, and did 
searching and heroic work as such, the 
regulations, fundamentally that of com- 
petitive examinations, it adopted, being 
formally promulgated a year later. His 
labors to advance the reform, both by 
pen and voice, were prodigious and inces- 
sant, and to him must be largely credited 
all that has been accomplished in its be- 
half. In August, 1881, the National Civil 
Service Reform League was formed at 
Newport, of which he was made president 
and so continued until his death, his last 
public utterance being his annual address 
before that body. 

In the ripeness of his years and the 
fullness of his fame he was — January 30, 
1890 — elected chancellor of the Univer- 
sity of the State of New York. It was 
the fitting crown of his lettered life. He 
was at the time the senior regent and 
had acted four years as vice-chancel- 
lor. In the line of chancellors, which 
George Clinton heads and which includes 
the names of Jay and Tompkins, Stephen 
Van Rensselaer and Pruyn, Upson and 
Reid, none were worthier of the place 
than he, as none had more discriminating 
perception of its importance, nor did it 
finer service than he during the brief 
period he was permitted to grace it. The 
stately oration, at the centennial of the 
university, in 1884, and his address at the 
convention in 1890, are luminous reviews 
of the history and presentation of the 
objects and jurisdiction of the institution. 
He was one of the earliest members of 



151 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



the Century Association, and used to say 
playfully that the only office he really 
aspired to was as president of that club. 
Early in May, 1892, he was taken serious- 
ly ill and, after long and acute suffering, 
he died at his home on Staten Island, Au- 
gust 31, 1892. 

When one, who has been esteemed 
great, in art, or letters, or statesmanship, 
dies, speculation busies itself as to the 
durability of his fame. Will he be for- 
gotten, or will his be 

One of the few, the immortal ones 
That were not born to die. 

Nothing can be more misleading than 
contemporary verdicts upon literary pro- 
ductions. One age rejects what a preced- 
ing age cherishes, and one rescues from 
neglect that which the other condemns. 
Shakespeare and Milton had new birth, 
and the dust of the dark ages was thick 
upon Horace and Virgil. The lesser 
dramatists of the Elizabethan era ex- 
pected to live, and the wits of Grub street 
thought to destroy Pope. We still expect 
that George William Curtis will live in 
the lines he has written, that the "Easy 
Chair" will be a delight to the coming 
generations, that "Prue and I" will be 
perused at the firesides of the newer time, 
and that his addresses — his splendid 
tributes to the memory of Burns and 
Bryant and Sumner and Phillips and 
Lowell — will be read hereafter with the 
appreciation with which we scan those of 
Sheridan and Burke, of Henry and Web- 
ster ; but we know he will be immortal 
in the principles he advocated, in the 
reforms he vindicated, in the work he 
did for good government and education, 
in his gentle life, an ensample to follow, 
virtues to emulate. C. E. F. 



It Is proper to say that much of the foregoing 
sketch consists of excerpts from the commemo- 
rative address delivered by the writer before the 
Regents of the University, December 14, 1892. 



HUNTINGTON, Frederic Dan, 
Scholar, Author, Prelate. 

In sketching a life, brilliant in intellec- 
tual gifts and beautified by spiritual 
graces, we linger, at the outset, in con- 
templation of the virtues and the estate 
that were its inheritance. 

The story is one of Puritan stock, un- 
mixed with alien blood ; of forbears of 
the "Mayflower", in 1620, and of the 
"Mary and John", which landed at Dor- 
chester, ten years later; of liberty loving 
folk with Hooker, at Hartford ; of the 
founders of Norwich and Hadley towns ; 
of stout arms which felled the woods and 
pious souls who kept the faith ; of patriot 
guns in King Philip's War, in French in- 
vasion of the Champlain, in Revolution 
against the British crown ; of soldiers of 
the Cross as well ; of intermarriages with 
the landed gentry of New England — Wol- 
cotts, Trumbulls, Throops, Metcalfs, 
Whitings, Pitkinses, Porters, Phelpses ; 
of hearthstones and homesteads ; of 
goodly acres and seemly hospitalities ; of 
manly work and womanly worth ; of all 
that was best of Puritan muscle, mind and 
breeding. 

In 1752, Moses Porter, having married 
Elizabeth, daughter of Nathaniel and 
granddaughter of William Pitkin, of 
Hartford, the progenitor of the family in 
this country, fashioned a landed estate 
which President Dwight. in his "Travels," 
describes as the most desirable posses- 
sion of the same kind and extent within 
his knowledge. It is situated two miles 
north of "Old Hadley" in that fair and 
fruitful valley, through which the Con- 
necticut curves in broad and placid 
stream before it narrows between the 
hills at the south. Through a century's 
growth. Hadley had become a model New 
England village, with its one wide street, 
elm embowered, its central slip of green 



152 





''/^^i^^^y''^^- 




ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



where cattle grazed, its spacious door- 
yards, its comely dwellings, its "meeting 
house", of strict "Covenant" keeping, its 
town hall for freemen. There were abid- 
ing memories of hardships and heroisms 
— of pioneer toil and adventure, of con- 
flicts with beasts of the forest, of Indian 
atrocities and brave defense against them, 
and most vivid of all, of the savage as- 
sault upon a worshipping congregation 
and the sudden coming to their relief and 
rallying of the regicide, Goffe, who, for 
years, with his companion general, Whal- 
ley, of Cromwell's army, had been secret- 
ly harbored in Parson Russell's house, 
and who, when the murderous band was 
routed, vanished as mysteriously as he 
had appeared. 

For a full century, the Porters had been 
earnest Christians and public spirited 
citizens of Hadley. John Porter was an 
early colonist. His son, Samuel, the first 
male child born in Hadley, was a justice 
of the peace — then an honorable distinc- 
tion — and his son, a second Samuel, accu- 
mulated a fortune of £10,000 as a trader. 
Their residence had all been on the village 
street; but, in 1752, when the security of 
the region had seemingly been assured, 
Moses, fourth in the line of descent, 
built a mansion and laid out his land in 
a sheltered intervale, two miles north of 
Hadley, and there, with the enlargements 
of the house and increase of acres, the 
generations that succeeded him passed 
their days righteously and prosperously. 
Thence, in 1755, Moses Porter, yet in the 
flush of young manhood, marched as cap- 
tain of a company of militia and, in Sep- 
tember, fell at its head gallantly at Crown 
Point, leaving his wife to manage the 
estate for forty-three years, and a daugh- 
ter, Elizabeth, who was married, June 14, 
1770, to Charles Phelps. He was a de- 
scendant, in the sixth generation, of Wil- 
liam Phelps, immigrant in the "Mary and 



John," a representative from Dorchester 
in the General Court of Massachusetts 
Bay, a resident of Windsor and one of 
eight who had charge of Hartford colony, 
before legislative government was estab- 
lished, and later assistant to the governor 
in the general assembly ; and in the fourth 
generation of Nathaniel, a founder of 
Northampton. Charles studied law and 
began its practice in Northampton, but, 
upon his marriage, settled in "Elm Val- 
ley," as the Porter estate was known. Dur- 
ing his administration its boundaries were 
enlarged, its buildings improved, its re- 
sources wisely developed and its commer- 
cial value materially appreciated; and 
there, January i, 1801, his daughter, Eliz- 
abeth Whiting, was married to the Rev. 
Dan Huntington, of pure Puritan lineage, 
a graduate, with first honors, from Yale, 
in 1794; tutor both at Williams and Yale, 
pastor of the Congregational church in 
Litchfield ; a teacher in Middletown, and 
latterly, having identified himself with 
the Unitarian departure, was without 
pastoral charge, contenting himself, as 
occasion oiTered, with preaching to scat- 
tered congregations of the "Liberal Chris- 
tian" order. Upon the death of Mr. 
Phelps, in 1816, he settled in "Elm Val- 
ley" of which his wife was possessed ; 
and there, May 28, 1819, Frederic Dan 
Huntington, their seventh son and the 
youngest of their eleven children, was 
born. 

Reared in a region where the aspect of 
nature is peculiarly inspiring, and which 
became his life-long delight ; in a home 
of close family affection, with choicest 
literature spread, and of high intellectual 
ideals, where Puritan principle, purged 
of Puritan bigotry, prevailed, and love of 
God. unvexed by fear, abode ; with the 
gracious presence of the mother, of v^^hose 
piety, despite her proscription by Ortho- 
dox edict, he says, in later years, that 

53 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



"in depth, consistency, vigor, fervor and 
practical force, it surpassed any piety I 
have ever known ; it was too pure, heaven- 
ly, to be associated with any sectarian 
name or persuasion." 

Apt in study and early appreciating its 
responsibility, his education in the ele- 
mentary branches was at home, under the 
competent instruction of his parents ; his 
secondary courses were had in the Hop- 
kins Academy, at Hadlev ■ ^nd at the 
age of sixteen, he matriculated at Am- 
herst, chosen, although three of his elder 
brothers were Harvard men, because of 
the reluctance of both his mother and 
himself to be apart further than the dis- 
tance between Elm Valley and the col- 
lege town, permitting him frequent visits 
to the homestead. Amherst, at the time, 
although founded but fifteen years pre- 
viously was notably prosperous, excelling 
all New England colleges except Harvard 
and Yale, in number of students and 
strength of faculty and famous for the 
large proportion of her sons given to the 
gospel ministry. Huntington's thought 
already inclined to that profession. He 
had, before entering college, united with 
the Church of Christ, Northampton, in 
charge of Dr. E. B. Hall, an honored 
clergyman of Unitarian leading, and, 
for many years, the family pastor. 
Throughout his college course, Hunting- 
ton easily held rank as the first scholar 
in a remarkably bright class, with several 
members of which he contracted lasting 
friendships, Richard Salter Storrs, the 
eminent Congregational divine, and Na- 
thaniel Augustus Hewitt, of the Paulist 
Fathers, being among them. Huntington 
was graduated in 1839, with the valedic- 
tory oration, the highest commencement 
honor, his theme being "The Brotherhood 
of Scholars ;" and with distinct repute as 
writer and debater. 

After an interval of serious illness and 



some weeks of teaching in Warwick, 
Massachusetts, he enrolled in the Har- 
vard Divinity School, Unitarian doctrine, 
at the time, seeming to him full of beauty 
and simplicity; but it is significant that, 
in his request for admission, he stated 
frankly that "his mind would be kept open 
toward all new light and all new truth 
that might enter it." Theologically, he 
was already a truth-seeker, an attitude 
that he ever maintained. The period, in 
which his lot was cast, was one of earnest 
truth-seeking, as most of the periods of 
the Christian era have been ; but in Amer- 
ica the first half of the nineteenth cen- 
tury was certainly such, one in which 
many ingenuous souls sought the light, 
with varying revelation, as diligently as, 
in Miltonic phrase, Isis made search for 
the mangled body of Osiris. Thus, Orestes 
Brownson, testing Presbyterian, Univer- 
salist, Owenian, Unitarian and Rationalis- 
tic teachings, discovered, as he thought, 
the truth in Papal rites and encyclicals; 
thus Orville Dewey, trained at Williams 
and Andover — evangelical strongholds — 
became a champion of Unitarianism ; and 
thus Frederic Dan Huntington, at the 
first, a disciple of Liberal Christianity, 
ended as a prelate of the Protestant Epis- 
copal church. 

The years in the Divinity School were 
passed happily, if laboriously, amid the 
enchantments of nature and the society of 
his fellows. An ardent student and a 
constant attendant upon the seminary 
lectures he sustained the same high 
scholastic standard as in college. He 
read widely in the classics and the litera- 
ture of the Victorian age, especially 
attracted to Coleridge. DeQuincey and 
Carlyle. He was fond of the American 
poets, Longfellow and Bryant, then at the 
meridian of their fame, preferring them to 
their English contemporaries. He investi- 
gated Transcendentalism, without being 

154 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



affected by it and was curious concerning, 
but in no wise sympathetic with, the 
Brook Farm experiment. He heard fre- 
quently the foremost preachers of Boston 
and its vicinage — Channing, Emerson, 
Ware, Gannett, Pierpont, Theodore 
Parker and other knights of free thought ; 
and Kirk, the mighty protagonist of Cal- 
vinism. He perfected a diction, its crys- 
talline purity unexcelled by any Ameri- 
can author of the day ; and compassed 
a delivery rivalling in its rhythmical 
cadence the melody of Curtis. He also 
did much missionary service as superin- 
tendent of the Church Green Sunday 
School, occasional chaplain in Boston and 
Cambridge prisons ; preacher to a small 
congregation in Leverett ; sometime 
reader of the service in King's Chapel, his 
earliest acquaintance with liturgical wor- 
ship; and, for a single term, he resumed 
charge of the Warwick school. At the 
annual visitation of the Divinity School, 
he received his certificate and read a dis- 
sertation on "The Comparative Prospects 
of Romanism and Protestanism," sub- 
sequently printed by request in the 
"Monthly Miscellany of Religion and 
Letters." The young licentiate was at 
once tendered several flattering calls, but 
accepted that of the South Congregational 
(Unitarian) Society in Washington street, 
Boston, then reduced in numbers, but 
with opportunity for growth, and was 
installed as its pastor October 19, 1842. 

He married, September 4, 1843, Han- 
nah Dane, daughter of Epes Sargent, a 
leading Boston merchant in the foreign 
trade, sister of John O. and Epes Sar- 
gent, well known journalists and littera- 
teurs, and a great-granddaughter of Gen- 
eral Benjamin Lincoln of Revolutionary 
renown — herself a woman of fine culture. 
The newly wedded pair, making their 
first home in Harrison avenue, and later 
in Roxbury, were to enjoy a long and 



blessed union, permitted to commemorate 
both the fiftieth and sixtieth anniversaries 
of their nuptials under the Elm Valley 
roof-tree, which became the husband's 
property, in 1864, partly by purchase from 
the other heirs and partly by gift from 
the parishioners of Emmanuel Church 
when he was its priest and which was 
ever his summer home. His orig'inal 
ministry of thirteen years was eminently 
successful in both the material and spir- 
itual view — the crowded pews ; the ardent 
affection of his people; his increasing 
unction in the pulpit ; many invitations 
to wider fields and more lucrative posi- 
tions declined ; the institutions, finances 
and charities of the church graciously and 
effectively administered. He also did 
much outside work in advancing reforms, 
notably the anti-slavery cause, contrib- 
uting to magazines, editing the "Ameri- 
can Christian Register" and the "Monthly 
Religious Magazine" and starring, mainly 
in the New England firmament, in the 
"Golden Age of the Lyceum." Some of 
the subjects he treated were "Alfred the 
Great," "St. Chrysostom," "Intellectual 
Sincerity," "Complete Manhood," and 
"Independence of Character." 

In April, 1855, he was appointed 
Preacher and Plummer Professor of 
Christian Morals in Harvard University, 
upon the distinct understanding of his 
independency of denominational lines 
and, September 5, was inducted in office, 
saying in reply to President Walker's 
inaugural sermon, "I wish to remember 
and" I beg you, sir, never to suffer me to 
forget, that my special and elect business 
here is to be a minister of Christ ; not of 
nature-worship, which is idolatry, not of 
pantheism, which is self-contradiction, 
not of an ethical philosophy, which has 
no Jesus for the embodiment and no cross 
for its symbol." In August, Amherst 
College, his alma mater, conferred upon 



15s 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



him the degree of Doctor of Sacred The- 
ology. He received the same degree from 
Columbia in 1887 and that of Doctor of 
Letters from Syracuse University in 
1889. Professor Huntington's incumbency 
lasted for five years, with a charming 
home and in intimate communion with his 
colleagues whose names are illustrious in 
science and letters — Agassiz, Peirce, Fel- 
ton, Wyman, Child, Eliot (then a tutor) 
and others, and with Longfellow, who had 
resigned his chair, but was still living in 
Cambridge. The period was one for him 
of intense scholarly research and fruitful 
yielding, his works having wide circula- 
tion and warm appreciation, both at home 
and abroad. Among his publications 
mention may be made of "Unconscious 
Tuition" — a text book for teachers ; "Di- 
vine Aspects of Human Society" — the 
Graham lectures in Brooklyn ; "Sermons 
for the People" — mainly delivered before 
his South Congregational charge ; and 
"Christian Believing and Living" — the 
revelation of his then (1859) evangelical 
views. It was a period also of earnest 
devotion to the ethical and spiritual weal 
of the students — their character building 
— and, in return of their love for him ; of 
many addresses on ceremonial occasions, 
before literary associations, at college 
commencements and in lyceum courses, 
his circuit now extending to the Middle 
and Western States ; and of prominent 
advocacy of Anti-Slavery principle with 
special admiration for Charles Sumner and 
pious indignation at the deadly assault 
made upon him in the Senate chamber. 
Throughout, he was a consistent seeker 
of the truth, as already indicated, finding 
it at last, to use his own words: 

In the service of the Catholic Apostolic Church 
— with her strength and stability, her beautiful 
"Christian Year," her wonderful variety and 
impressive adaptations, her fixed order, true 
liberty and free conditions of Communion, her 



gracious ordinances, constant appeal to Scrip- 
ture and tasteful worship, her superior culture 
of the spirit of reverence — the inmost spirit of 
religion — the constant celebration of Christ, the 
living Head of the Body, and His cross, her true 
theory of the training up of the young in rela- 
tions with the Church and looking to confirma- 
tion as their own act, and her large, active, 
zealous spirit of Missions reaching out among 
the ignorant and poor. 

Professor Huntington presented his 
resignation to the Harvard Corporation, 
January 19, i860, upon the ground of the 
growth and extent of his differences in 
religious opinion and faith from a major- 
ity of those addressed by his preaching. 
It was reluctantly accepted. Succeeding 
his resignation, several tentative calls 
from Episcopal parishes were tendered 
him, but he heeded that of Emmanuel, 
newly organized in the "Back Bay" region 
of Boston, in view of his compliance ; and 
took charge thereof, while yet in the 
diaconate to which he was ordered Sep- 
tember 12, being advanced to the priest- 
hood, March 12, 1861. Follow, eight years 
of a church prosperous materially and 
spiritually, liberal in tone, seemly in wor- 
ship, crowded in attendance, active in its 
guilds, abundant in good works, authori- 
tative in denominational affairs ; and of 
a rector magnetic in his pulpit utterances, 
revered by his flock, entrusted with im- 
portant offices in the diocese, publishing 
much in both the religious and secular 
press — tracts and sermons and reflections 
on current topics — editing hymnals and 
the "Church Monthly," and modestly, yet 
persuasively, inspiring and guiding pub- 
lic sentiment in the supreme crisis of the 
life of the nation. 

His summons to the episcopate was 
assured and not long delayed. Upon 
the death of Bishop Burgess, of Maine, 
Dr. Huntingfton was elected his successor 
but declined, in that he held his field of 
labor at the time of wider significance and 



156 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



larger usefulness than that proffered him ; 
but upon the erection of the Diocese of 
Central New York, he was preferred 
therefor, and was consecrated its bishop 
in Emmanuel Church, April 8, 1869, se- 
lecting Syracuse as his See City, thus be- 
coming a citizen of the Empire State. 

The field was inviting, with its diversi- 
fied scenery, its lakes, uplands and valleys, 
suggesting Berkshire in the comparison, 
its thriving cities and smiling villages, 
its rich agricultural resources and busy 
manufactories, its intelligence and enter- 
prise, its splendid educational institutions 
and charitable foundations, with the 
church, of which he was to be a prelate 
for thirty-five years already firmly estab- 
lished under the superintendence of De- 
Lancey and Coxe. Bishop Huntington 
came to his diocese, at the age of fifty, 
at the prime of his intellectual greatness 
and spiritual power to freely give of them 
as freely as they had been given him, for 
the progress of the church and the weal of 
the community. His dedication was as 
complete as his labors were manifold and 
exacting. They cannot here be fully de- 
tailed. Generalization must sufifice. In 
business matters he was clear and me- 
thodical ; in disposition, gentle and toler- 
ant, but bold and unflinching when duty 
constrained ; scrupulously attentive to 
the needs of his charge, yet more solicit- 
ous for its weaker than its stronger mem- 
bers — the tenderer help responsive to the 
harder straits. Not unmindful of the dig- 
nity of his office, he was democratic in 
bearing, restive of personal adulation ; 
e. g., to a young clergyman who sought to 
force him into an eminence that he re- 
fused he said, "Your bishop, sir, is neither 
a sage, nor a hero, but only an old servant 
of the Master who, amid many humbling 
limitations and many humiliating failures, 
is doing what he can." His sermons in- 
formed with characteristic grace and 



finish also sustained a tone of fervor and 
authority befitting his sacred office. His 
pen throughout was engaged industri- 
ously. He edited the "Gospel Messen- 
ger," prepared a new hymnal, issued 
many devotional tracts and even vol- 
umes, was prolific in behalf of "Christian 
Socialism," in contributions to news- 
papers and magazines, editorials, and in 
platform addresses that assumed book 
form. He founded, under church au- 
spices, the "House of the Good Shepherd," 
which has become one of the best op- 
pointed hospitals in Central New York; 
and furthered the "Shelter" for neglected 
girls, initiated by his son, the Rev. James. 
He was largely instrumental in abolish- 
ing the foul conditions at the Oneida 
community and resolving it into an 
honest and orderly industrial settlement. 
Always anxious to rectify the wrongs 
done to the Indians and to better their 
social state, and prominent in the Mo- 
hawk conferences, he bestowed great at- 
tention upon the mission at the Onon- 
daga Reservation, as, indeed, to all mis- 
sions in his diocese. He cared affection- 
ately for select schools within his juris- 
diction — notably St. John's for Boys, in 
Manlius, and Keble for Girls, in Syracuse, 
both institutions of a high order; and 
established and instructed in St. An- 
drew's Divinity School. 

And so, with labors unbroken, benefi- 
cences unstinted and faculties unimpaired, 
the years passed to the peaceful end. The 
twenty-fifth anniversary of the consecra- 
tion of Bishop Huntington was com- 
memorated, April 8, 1894, by sermons ap- 
propriate to the occasion in nearly all the 
churches, and by most impressive exer- 
cises in connection with the diocesan 
convention in June, at Syracuse, in St. 
Paul's, Bishop Coxe and Porter and Presi- 
dent Potter, of Hobart, participating there- 
in, and by an elaborate reception. In May, 



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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



1902, physical infirmities constrained him 
to consent to the induction of an assis- 
tant, and the Rev. Charles Tyler Olm- 
sted, now the bishop, was consecrated as 
coadjutor in October. In June, 1904, he 
went as usual to Hadley, for the sum- 
mer, in distinctly failing health and was 
soon confined to his bed, following a sud- 
den chill. He died as he would have 
wished to die in the fragrant summer 
days, in the homestead which his great- 
grandfather had fashioned over one hun- 
dred and fifty years previously. As related 
in the affectionate and appreciative tribute 
of his daughter ("Memoir and Letters of 
Frederic Dan Huntington" by Arria S. 
Huntington) on the morning of July 11, 
"when the commendatory prayers were 
read in the quiet sick-room by the rector 
of St. John's Church, the soul was very 
near its release. All that day the sweet 
breath from the new-mown hay was 
wafted in at the open windows and the 
sounds of homely toil in the fields could 
be heard, but he, who had loved it all so 
well, lay unconscious, as the tide of life 
ebbed peacefully away. Before the sun 
sank low in the west, that hour so often 
dwelt upon by him with pathetic longing, 
the light eternal shone upon his vision. 
He was laid to rest beside his father and 
mother, brothers and sisters, in the old 
cemetery where ancestors for generations 
had slept. There was no opportunity for 
pomp and ceremonial in the simple coun- 
try funeral, and it was what he would 
have liked best." 

His wife, born November 21, 1822, died 
February 22, 1910. The children of their 
union were : i. George Putnam, born July 
3, 1844, died July 11, 1904 — the same day 
as his father ; rector in Maiden and Ash- 
field, Massachusetts, and Hanover, New 
Hampshire; also professor in Dartmouth. 
2. Arria Sargent, born June 22, 1848; com- 
missioner of education, Syracuse, 1898- 



1904; author of "Under a Colonial Roof- 
Tree," "Memoir and Letters of Frederic 
Dan Huntington." 3. James Otis Sar- 
gent, born July 23, 1854; Superior Order 
of Holy Cross. 4. Ruth Greyson, born 
November 5, 1859; rnarried Archibald L. 
Sessions. 5. Mary Lincoln, born Novem- 
ber 21, 1861. 



SEYMOUR, Horatio, 

Statesman, Governor. 

Horatio Seymour was born May 31, 
1810, in Pompey Hill, Onondaga county, 
and died in Utica, February 12, 1886, at 
the residence of Senator Conkling, Mrs. 
Conkling being the Governor's youngest 
sister. His father was Henry Seymour, 
canal commissioner, who removed from 
Onondaga county to Utica in 1819. The 
son received his primary education at 
Oxford Academy, which by its merits 
attracted pupils from the families of 
prominence and wealth from many of the 
central counties. He was prepared at Ox- 
ford Academy for entrance into Hobart 
College. There he studied two years. 
He was next a student at the Military 
Academy at Middletown, Connecticut, 
where he had as fellow pupils relatives 
and future associates of his public life. 
In Utica he was a law student with 
Greene C. Bronson and Samuel Beards- 
ley, both prominent as publicists as well 
as lawyers. Young Seymour became 
military secretary to Governor Marcy, 
thus taking his first step in Democratic 
politics. He was elected to the Assembly 
in 1841, and mayor of Utica in 1842, and 
again to the Assembly in 1843 -^^^ 1844, 
being made speaker in the latter year. 
His notable career was as Governor of 
the State, first chosen to that office in 
1852, when he designated for private sec- 
retary his brother, John F. Seymour, four 
years younger than he, a graduate of 



158 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Yale. The title of Governor clung to Mr. 
Seymour from his first term even after 
another was chosen over him for that 
position. After he became a candidate 
for President, he was still Governor in 
common speech. 

The Anti-Renters, it was charged, gave 
the election to Washington Hunt in 1850 
by three hundred and sixty plurality. The 
tenants claimed to hold deeds from the 
Van Rensselaer estate, and organized the 
Heidelberg war to obtain their freedom 
from charges for rent. In 1852 the courts 
gave final judgment in favor of the 
tenants. He was again elected Governor 
in 1862, but the war for the Union came 
on and his party went into minority. He 
did not become a "War Democrat," 
although he was loyal, while not approv- 
ing of all the acts of the Lincoln adminis- 
tration. In 1863 riots occurred, and in 
New York City one thousand persons 
were killed and the Colored Orphan 
Asylum was destroyed. Governor Sey- 
mour held that the number of soldiers 
called for from this State was in excess of 
its fair quota. He went to New York 
City with intent to secure order and 
peace, and addressed the mob for that 
purpose. As his custom was, he began 
his speech by the words, "My Friends," 
and was bitterly assailed for doing so. 
His supporters, familiar with his courtesy 
of manner, repelled the criticism, but he 
felt that a taint of odium was cast upon 
him from a technical lapse. To meet the 
call for troops and to avoid or mitigate 
the draft locally, in Oneida county as 
elsewhere, county bonds were issued to 
raise funds. Governor Seymour was 
made chairman of the citizens' commit- 
tee in charge, and these bonds were made 
payable to his order, and thus they had 
to be endorsed by him ; but nobody 
thought it conceivable that demand would 
be made on him for payment. Yet as a 



matter of law he was liable. With justi- 
fiable precaution he afiixed to his endorse- 
ment the limitation "without recourse," 
thus guarding against any crank prosecu- 
tion. The result has proved that the pre- 
caution was insurance superabundant. 

Moses Seymour, grandfather of Horatio, 
was a soldier in the Revolution, and was 
active at Saratoga, where Burgoyne sur- 
rendered ; he also served two terms in 
the United States Senate, representing 
Vermont. Cousins served in Congress 
and as Justices of the Supreme Court. 
One cousin was Governor of Connecticut 
and United States Minister to Russia in 
1854, when Andrew D. White, then re- 
cently graduated from Yale, began on the 
staff of the Embassy his long and honor- 
able diplomatic career. 

When Henry Seymour removed to 
Utica, he made his home on the north- 
west corner of Whitesboro and Seneca 
streets, then the center of a residential 
district of old-time inhabitants. The 
house was of brick, two stories, well built 
of approved architecture. A broad hall 
ran from south to north, leading to a well 
cultivated garden which extended to the 
line of Water street. Hither came Horatio, 
a lad in his tenth year, and here he and 
his family lived during his active career 
as Governor. Hither he brought as his 
bride, Mary Bleecker, daughter of John 
H. Bleecker, of Albany, and here they 
entertained liberally and most gracefully 
friends and strangers, all sorts and condi- 
tions of people, while life left them op- 
portunity. The house remains as a land- 
mark in the twentieth century. 

Hither Henry Seymour brought his 
wife, who was Mary Ledyard Forman, 
the mother of six children — two sons: 
Horatio and John F. ; and four daugh- 
ters: Mrs. Rutgers B. Miller; Mrs. Shon- 
nard, of Yonkers ; Mrs. Ledyard Linck- 
laen, of Cazenovia, and Mrs. Roscoe 

159 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Conkling. The mother's influence was, 
if not an object for sight or measure, 
vitalizing, pervading, controlling, outlast- 
ing time and the vicissitudes of fortune. 

Governor Seymour, like Washington, 
had no children, but here he lived with 
his rural domicile in Marcy from his 
tenth year until his final summons. 
Horatio was not a robust lad. Pulmonary 
weakness was detected when he was 
about twenty years old ; he met it bravely 
with a treatment a generation or more in 
advance of medical theories and practice. 
His keen observation of nature and the 
effects of winter led him, with a single 
guide, to camp in the extreme north of 
Oneida county, on the edge of the Adi- 
rondacks. The balsamic perfume of the 
woods, under the pressure of frost below 
zero, proved better than all the drugs of 
the pharmacopcfiia. He gained vigorous 
health, and his body was for half a cen- 
tury a model of symmetry and masculine 
strength. In his maturity his stature 
was an inch or two over six feet, his 
weight one hundred and eighty-five 
pounds, his brow broad as well as high, 
his hair glossy black and abundant, his 
nose well formed, his chin formed square 
with corners rounded to express a mel- 
lowness of generous culture and sincere 
compassion. His lips appeared ready to 
speak to any person he met, with eyes 
rather gripping than piercing. In every 
circle of men or women, by any artistic 
test, he was classed as a handsome man. 

By inheritance, Horatio Seymour was 
the devoted champion of the canals. The 
waterways of his own State stood first 
in his mind. With his brother, John F., 
he gave earnest attention to the canal 
Sault Ste. Marie, which, with far fore- 
thought, he counted on as a rich tributary 
to the New York system. His grand- 
father was a member of the board of 
canal commissioners in the formative 



period, and he never forgot that his father 
had been an active and efficient member 
of this board under Governor DeWitt 
Clinton, while his mother held all the 
Forman traditions about New York's 
waterways. 

In his first term. Governor Seymour 
favored military training in drill and tac- 
tics in the high schools and the agricul- 
tural schools, with other methods now 
called in Washington diction by the awk- 
ward word "preparedness." His aim was 
to bring out select young men to help the 
State to get ready for national defense 
and thus for enduring peace. 

While Governor Seymour was kept in 
Albany by official business, he was con- 
spicuous in the social life of the capital, 
and was welcomed as an esteemed guest 
in the homes of the leading families, in- 
cluding the Dutch descendants and the 
landholders. 

In 1820 the State had a population of 
only 1,372,812, while the United States 
numbered 9,632,722 ; yet New York then 
and ever since has been styled the Em- 
pire State. Now New York approaches 
10,000,000, while the Union exceeds 100,- 
000,000. From his porch on the Marcy 
hills, Seymour with modest self-gratula- 
tion might well look down on the abun- 
dant activities of the Mohawk Valley 
with its share of the world's transporta- 
tions, the proof of expanded agriculture, 
industry, education, wealth and all human 
development, and turning back to the 
Indian trails, which, as a boy he studied 
wonderingly, now reflect, "My study, 
thought, labor have served New York 
and the Republic, all my fellow citizens 
with blessings which the future will re- 
count and enjoy." 

The impetus of the Erie canal struck 
more than the territory through which 
waters were to flow from the lakes to the 
Hudson. Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wis- 

160 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



consin moved forward anew. The canal 
Sault Ste. Marie, the "Soo Canal" to 
which Governor Seymoui and his brother 
gave attention and energy, became a rich 
tributary to the New York system, and 
astonished shippers by floating more ves- 
sels and carrying more tons of freight 
than the famous Suez canal, linking 
Europe with the Orient. 

Rural life was a joy and delight to him. 
The open air, the sky with the changing 
cloud, were constant subjects of study 
and reflection. He took pleasure as a 
hunter, and was familiar with the Adiron- 
dacks and the wilderness of the far north- 
west, where he was not a stranger. 

His study of the geography and topog- 
raphy of the State opened his eyes to the 
rare natural attractions of this section. 
On the heights south of Utica, where as 
a boy and young man he had tramped, so 
well known to him as Steele's Hill, now 
the crown of the much valued park, his 
classical studies and skill as a surveyor 
taught him that the lay of the land copied 
the Grecian scene where the Parthenon 
and the charming Temple of Winged Vic- 
tory look down in the Athens of Peri- 
cles and Socrates and their associates. 
Why could not a modern Athens grow 
up here for a renewal of poetry and 
philosophy? But he was not a dreamer! 
He was a practical American patriot of 
his own time. Governor Seymour had 
love and pride for Utica as the Gem City 
of central counties. 

He acted for many years as warden of 
Old Trinity Church, the original church 
of that denomination, and often was 
chosen delegate to the diocesan and gen- 
eral conventions, and was regarded by 
clergy and laity as a pillar and ornament 
of the Episcopal church for the long 
decades he remained on the earth. As 
trustee of Hamilton College for several 
decades, he promoted the solidity and ad- 

N Y-Vol 11-11 I 



vance of higher education in all this 
region. 

The election of Myron H. Clark over 
Seymour in 1854 by a plurality of four 
hundred and nine, was the direct result 
of the veto by Seymour of a drastic pro- 
hibition statute. His objections were that 
its provisions impaired personal liberty 
and confiscated property without due 
process of law. The Court of Appeals in 
1872 sustained those contentions so that 
the advocates of prohibition devised new 
lines of action. The Governor was grieved 
because the churches, as well as the 
"Drys," were arrayed against him,, while 
the breweries, the saloons and the "Wets" 
were loud in his favor. 

Governor Seymour was intensely inter- 
ested in the dairy production. To pro- 
mote the welfare of the millions of people 
maintaining it, he advised the govern- 
ment at Washington to include cheese in 
the army rations. He urged the measure 
on the ground that the food for the sol- 
diers would cost less while their health 
would be improved. 

Official records in Washington prove 
that in 1862 Simon Cameron, high in the 
councils of the Lincoln administration, 
was impressed by a plot, conceived in 
rebel brains, to bring about the seizure 
and removal of President Lincoln from 
the White House. For security the Gov- 
ernors of the loyal States, including Gov- 
ernor Seymour of New York, were called 
to confer in Washington. Governor Sey- 
mour believed such a conspiracy existed, 
but it proved to be without explosive 
power. 

Much bitter feeling had been aroused 
by charges that the street railways in 
New York City had been and still were 
manipulated in the interest of the Seward 
faction, and scandal grew out of the con- 
ditions. The commission proposed, it 
was alleged, was to run on the same 



61 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



tracks, and on that basis the hostility to 
the project was active and intense, and 
struck at Judge Denio as a candidate for 
renomination. 

Governor Seymour did not accept such 
belief, and had full faith in the worth and 
judgment of Judge Denio and urged his 
renomination as an independent, trust- 
worthy magistrate. The Governor's brief 
speech mastered the convention and beat 
down the opposition. 

The census of 1870 records, 4,381,759 
people in New York and 38,856,511 in the 
Union. That was the nation for which 
Seymour, against his will, was made by 
the Democratic Convention for the presi- 
dency candidate, while he was advocating 
the nomination of Salmon P. Chase to win 
over radical support. Democrats there 
are still who charge that Seymour was 
acting the part of Caesar who, on the 
Lupercal, pushed away the Roman Em- 
pire for which he was plotting. The bet- 
ter opinion is that Tilden intrigued to 
prevent the nomination of anyone else in 
the hope that he himself might grasp it. 
Seymour deemed that his acceptance of 
the nomination was the grievous mistake 
of his life. 

His eulogist recites many offers to high 
positions which Governor Seymour de- 
clined, but they do not affect his char- 
acter or his reputation, and the record 
may pass them by as the shadows of 
what might have been. Governor Sey- 
mour was no Caesar ; he was a plain citi- 
zen. The campaign of McClellan in 1864, 
the Greeley fiasco in 1872, do not prove 
the lack of wisdom of the unwilling Dem- 
ocratic candidate in 1868. 

Governor Seymour was blessed in his 
marriage, in the social connections which 
were part of the joys of his life, in the 
handsome share of the world's goods, 
added to his fortune, and more than all. in 
the precious companionship, which for a 



round half-century, illuminated his home, 
and his career of service and good will to 
the community. His wife was a brilliant 
hostess, greeting and entertaining all 
classes with native grace and hospitality, 
and rendering the Seymour homestead 
complete and admirable for the New 
Yorker of first rank and merit. 

Death gave Governor Seymour long 
warning of his approach. An effusion of 
blood on the brain, due to sunstroke, had 
an effect which the sharp eyes of affec- 
tion detected. He went to the home of 
his youngest sister, Mrs. Conkling, and 
was ready for the final summons in Feb- 
ruary, 1886, and his wife followed four- 
teen days later. They were buried from 
the same church in the same grave, and 
gave their bodies to the soil of the Em- 
pire State, and their souls to its chronicles 
and its glory. Ellis Henry Roberts. 



MORGAN, Edwin D., 

Capitalist, Philanthropist, Statesman. 

Edwin Dennison Morgan, the twenty- 
first chief executive of the State of New 
York, and supremely distinguished for his 
patriotic service as "war governor," was 
born at Washington, in the mountain 
region of western Massachusetts, Febru- 
ary 8, 181 1. He was the son of Jasper 
and Catherine (Copp-Avery) Morgan, 
grandson of William Avery and Lydia 
(Smith) Morgan, and a descendant of 
James and Marjory (Hill) Morgan — New 
London, 1650. He removed with his par- 
ents, in childhood, to Windsor, Connecti- 
cut, where he worked on the farm and 
attended the Free Academy; and, in 1826, 
pursued his studies in Bacon Academy, 
Colchester. He became a clerk in the 
wholesale grocery store of his uncle, Na- 
than Morgan, in Hartford, in 1828, and 
was admitted into partnership, in 1831. 
Early interested in local affairs, he was a 



162 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



member of the Hartford common council 
in 1832. He married, August 19, 1833, 
Eliza Matilda, daughter of Captain Henry 
and Lydia (Morgan) Waterman, of Hart- 
ford ; and, three years later, established 
himself in New York City on a larger 
scale, in the same line of business that he 
had conducted in Connecticut. Sagacious 
and enterprising in his undertakings and 
honorable in his dealings, he was notably 
successful, from the start, accumulated a 
fortune and, in a few years, was 
accounted "a merchant prince" in the 
land. 

He was of princely port as well — stately 
in stature, stalwart of frame, with a coun- 
tenance every lineament of which was 
stamped with power. He was an impres- 
sive figure in whatever movement he was 
associated — commercial, social or politi- 
cal — to whom his fellow-citizens looked 
for leadership and upon whom they natu- 
rally bestowed preferment. To the vindi- 
cation of the political principles he pro- 
fessed, he gave freely of his time, energies 
and means. He was at the first a Whig 
and, as such served as an alderman in 
1849, ^'^d as a state senator, 1850-54. He 
was in no sense an orator — even in con- 
versation a man of few words, sententious 
and weighty. He was, however, of such 
clear judgment, business ability and 
strong character as to make him especi- 
ally efficient and influential as a legisla- 
tor. Incidentally, he was Commissioner 
of Emigration, 1855-59. As slavery or 
freedom in the territories became the 
burning issue between the North and 
South, involving the dissolution of the 
Whig, the rupture of the Democratic and 
the constitution of the Republican par- 
ties, ]\Iorgan promptly identified himself 
with the last-named, was distinctly one of 
its founders and an earnest promoter of its 
vital principle. He was vice-president of 
the Republican National Convention of 



1856 and chairman of the Republican Na- 
tional Committee from 1856 until 1864, 
prominent and persuasive, therefore, in 
the management of three memorable na- 
tional political campaigns. 

In 1858, Morgan was the Republican 
nominee for governor, receiving at the 
polls 247,953 votes, Amasa J. Parker 
(Democrat) 230,513, and Lorenzo Bur- 
rows (American) 60,880. He was re- 
elected by an overwhelming majority, in 
i860, with 358,272 in his favor to 294,812 
for William Kelly (Douglas Democrat) 
and 19,841 for James T. Brady (Breckin- 
ridge). 

Governor Morgan made an admirable 
record as a financial administrator, guard- 
ing the departments from extravagance, 
reducing the public debt, increasing the 
canal revenues and conserving the credit 
of the State, despite the extraordinary 
war expenditures during his second term. 
History writes with glowing pen of the 
heroic services to the Union cause of four 
northern executives — Andrew, Curtin, 
Morton and Morgan — and certainly not 
the least of these were those of Morgan 
as chief magistrate of the richest and 
most populous State. In inspiring Union 
sentiment; in the enlistment, quartering 
and provisioning of troops, in furthering 
liberal appropriations for their benefit by 
the legislature, in placing the metropolis 
in a state of defence, and in meeting all 
requisitions of the President for the na- 
tional defence, he bore a conspicuously 
helpful part ; and to the equipment of 
New York soldiers of whom 223,000 went 
to the front during his incumbency, and 
the relief of their families, he personally 
contributed large sums. He was appointed 
a major-general of volunteers, assigned to 
the command of the Federal Military De- 
partment of the State, refusing pay for his 
services in this regard. He was elected 
to the United States Senate, February 5, 



163 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



1863, for the term ending March 4, 1869, 
and served the country honorably and 
efficiently throughout. He was temporary 
chairman of the Republican National Con- 
vention at Baltimore, in 1864, which re- 
nominated Lincoln. In 1865, he declined 
the portfolio of the treasury tendered him 
by the President. He was a delegate to 
the Loyalists Convention in 1866 at Phil- 
adelphia. He was a candidate for reelec- 
tion to the Senate in 1869; but, after a 
spirited canvass, ominous of the factional 
strife in the Republican party, soon to 
become virulent, he was defeated by Gov- 
ernor Fenton who secured the Republican 
caucus nomination, by a slight majority, 
and consequently the election. An earn- 
est supporter of President Grant, he was 
chairman of the Republican National Con- 
vention in 1872, and was active in the 
campaign that resulted in Grant's reelec- 
tion. In 1876, he was once more the Re- 
publican candidate for Governor ; but Til- 
den's reform administration and his nomi- 
nation carried the day for the Democracy 
in New York and Morgan with the entire 
Republican ticket was beaten. He de- 
clined the secretaryship of the treasury 
in President Arthur's cabinet in 1881, the 
second offer of that portfolio being re- 
newed evidence of the high esteem in 
which his financial ability was held. 

The last two years of his life were 
passed quietly, in declining health, and he 
died in his home in New York City, Feb- 
ruary 14, 1883, having just completed his 
seventy-second year. He gave more than 
$200,000 to the Union Theological Semin- 
ary and to Williams College library build- 
ings and to the latter institution $100,000 
for a dormitory. His philanthropic be- 
quests totalled $795,000; and his estate 
was estimated at millions. He received 
the degree of Doctor of Laws from Wit- 
liams in 1887, and was a trustee of Cornell 
University from 1865 until 1869. 



JE'WETT, Freeborn G., 

Jurist. 

Freeborn G. Jewett, eminent as a jur- 
ist and honorable in all the relations of 
life, was born in Sharon, Connecticut, in 
1791, and received such advantages of 
education as the common schools of New 
England, already of a high order of effi- 
ciency, aiTorded. He began the study of 
lawwith Henry Swift, of Dutchess county, 
and completed it with Colonel Samuel 
Young, of Ballston, than whom there was 
no abler preceptor. He was admitted as 
an attorney in 1814 and as a counselor-at- 
law in 1817. The former year saw him 
settled in the fair village of Skaneateles. 
There in due time he married, reared 
children, and erected on its principal 
street a stately mansion, still one of the 
"show places" of the town, the home since 
the death of Judge Marvin (q. v. Alarvin 
sketch) of Major-General Marshall I. 
Ludington, quartermaster-general of the 
United States Army, now retired, who 
married a daughter of Judge Marvin. 
Judge Jewett practiced at first in partner- 
ship with the Hon. James Porter, repre- 
sentative in the Fifteenth Congress, and 
subsequently alone. His recognition was 
immediate, and success in his profession 
assured. Politically he was a Republican 
and in succession a Democrat, to which 
party he steadfastly adhered. 

In 1815, he was appointed Master in 
Chancery by Governor Tompkins ; and, 
in 1817, was elected a justice of the peace 
for the then town of Marcellus, which 
office he held for about six years. It was 
then a position of considerable political 
influence and not without import as a 
stepping stone to judicial promotion, 
which young lawyers, who afterward at- 
tained distinction, did not disdain to util- 
ize. Judge Jewett was appointed an Ex- 
aminer in Chancery in 1822 by Governor 
164 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



DeWitt Clinton and was retained as such 
by Governors Yates and Throop. In 1824, 
he was appointed Surrogate of Onondaga 
county by Governor Clinton and again in 
1827 to the same office by Governor 
Yates. In 1825 he was elected to the 
Assembly, leading his ticket in the 
county; and in 1828 was chosen a presi- 
dential elector, casting his vote in the 
college for Andrew Jackson. He was 
elected in 1830 a representative in the 
Twenty-second Congress, serving but a 
single term, the brief tenure not sufficing 
for a prominent legislative reputation ; 
and he declined a renomination, in 1832, 
preferring to devote himself exclusively 
to the pursuit of his profession. In 1832, 
he was admitted as an attorney and coun- 
selor in the Supreme Court of the United 
States. In 1836 he was appointed by 
Governor Marcy a Supreme Court Com- 
missioner for the County of Onondaga 
and again in 1838; and also one of the 
Inspectors of the State Prison at Auburn. 
He was appointed March 5, 1845, by 
Governor Wright, an Associate Justice of 
the Supreme Court and so held until the 
creation of an elective State judiciary by 
the Constitution of 1846, when he was 
elected June 2, 1847, ^n Associate Judge 
for a term of two years and reelected for 
a full term, November 6, 1849, serving as 
Chief Judge from July, 1847, until Janu- 
ary, 1850. In consequence of the inroads 
of the disease, which terminated his life, 
some five years later, he resigned his seat 
upon the bench, June 23, 1853. 

The few years remaining to him were 
spent as an invalid in his beautiful home, 
attended by the respect and affection of 
his neighbors, who were justly proud of 
their fellow citizen, who had withal been 
proud of the village and had devoted 
much of his thought and time to its 
progress and embellishment. By his own 
energies and merit he had risen, if not to 



the highest political station, to the most 
dignified and commanding preferment in 
the Empire State. In every place he had 
been equal to its most exacting require- 
ments and as a jurist had held an exalted 
rank. In his opinions, he had exhibited 
signal capacity in learning, soundness and 
discretion, and was the master of a pure 
and vigorous diction ; as a man he had 
been honorable ; as a citizen sagacious 
and enterprising; as a politician patriotic 
and honest ; as a friend helpful and trust- 
worthy ; and had accumulated a more 
than competent estate. He died January 
27, 1858, aged sixty-seven years. 



JENKINS, John S., 

Jonrnalist, Historian. 

John Stillwell Jenkins, although no 
longer of extended popular repute as an 
author, was in his day a valuable and 
trustworthy chronicler of State and na- 
tional history. Dying in early manhood, 
before he had secured enduring recogni- 
tion, he yet gave promise of rich fruition, 
is still authoritative as a historian and 
biographer and deserves an honorable, if 
not an exalted, place among the literati 
of the State. He was born in Albany, 
February 15, 1818, and entered Hamilton 
College, from Clyde, in the class of 1838. 
In college, which he left about the middle 
of the course, he attracted attention as 
a writer and speaker, winning the prize 
for declamation in his sophomore year, 
and was highly regarded by both the fac- 
ulty and his fellow-students. He studied 
law, was admitted to the bar in 1842 and 
began practice in Weedsport, where, and 
in Auburn, he made his home until his 
death. He was soon, however, diverted 
from the profession by the call of jour- 
nalism, for which he was abundantly 
equipped — far better than the majority 
of the rural editors of his day ; and he 



165 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



conducted the Cayuga "Times," for 
several years, making it an influential 
organ of public opinion. 

But his studies led him into the field 
of historical composition at a time 
when few competent laborers engaged in, 
and fewer still adorned, it. Assiduous 
and discriminating in the gathering of 
data, facile with his pen, and generally 
judicious in his estimates, volume after 
volume appeared in rapid succession. 
His bibliography is as follows: "Generals 
of the Last War with Great Britain" 
(1841) ; Abridgment of Hammond's "Po- 
litical History of New York" (1846); 
"History of Political Parties of New 
York" (1846); "Life of Silas Wright" 
(1846); "History of the Mexican War" 
(1848) ; "Narrative of the Exploring Ex- 
pedition commanded by Captain Charles 
Wilkes" (1850) ; "Lives of the Governors 
of the State of New York" — from George 
Chnton to Hamilton Fish (1851) ; "Life 
and Public Services of Andrew Jackson" 
(1851) ; "James K. Polk and History of 
his Administration" (1851) ; "Heroines 
of History" (1853): "Life of Calhoun" 
(1855) ; "Daring Deeds of American 
Generals" (1858) ; the last three named 
published posthumously. 

All of Jenkins's works, although their 
style is somewhat florid, with a redun- 
dancy of classical quotations and compari- 
sons, which doubtless had he been spared 
for further intellectual labors, the after 
years would have chastened, still stand 
as diligent and informing studies, correct 
in facts and judicious in estimates of 
characters and careers, with an inclina- 
tion to exalt the Democatic leaders of 
his day — perhaps, not unduly — without, 
however, unfair reflections upon their 
Federalist and Whig opponents, whose 
merits and services he also brought into 
bold relief. They are still, although not 
of popular vogue, valuable reference vol- 



umes, are on the shelves of the best libra- 
ries, and are regarded as authoritative by 
historical students. The one most widely 
known, to-day, is the "Lives of the Gov- 
ernors." An appreciative sketch of the 
author is included in Appleton's "Cyclo- 
pedia of American Biography." His life 
was ended when his faculties were at 
their brightest. What he might further 
have achieved, had opportunity permitted, 
is, of course, conjectural. He died at 
Weedsport, September 20, 1852, at the 
age of thirty-four. 



MARVIN, William, 

Jnrist, Senator. 

William Marvin was born at Fairfield, 
Herkimer county, April 14, 1808. His 
father was Selden Marvin and his mother 
Charlotte Pratt, of Saybrook, Connecti- 
cut. He was a lineal descendant of Rein- 
old Marvin, who came from England to 
Lyme, Connecticut, in 1633. When he 
was an infant, his parents moved to Dry- 
den, Tompkins county, and there he grew 
to manhood. His preliminary education 
was obtained in the district school of the 
place, and at the age of fifteen years he 
became the teacher of the same. After 
some three years in this capacity he went 
hunting for a school, with a few dollars 
in his purse and a new suit of clothes on 
his person, bringing up, after some stage 
conveyance and much tramping, at Blan- 
denburgh, near Washington, D. C, where 
he procured a school and succeeded fairly 
well, obtaining some thirty pupils, seeing 
meanwhile something of the national 
capital, and shaking hands with Presi- 
dent John Quincy Adams, General Scott 
and other notables. 

Returning to the North, after some 
three years experience in and liking for 
southern life, he studied law and was ad- 
mitted to the bar of this State in 1833. 



166 






% 



'^ ;*». 



OG-ttil iJ^niilb 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Two years subsequently, he settled in the 
far south, for the practice of his profes- 
sion, at Key West, Florida, which was 
his home for twenty-six years thereafter ; 
and was soon appointed, by President 
Jackson, United States district-attorney 
for the South District of Florida. A few 
years later, President Van Buren com- 
missioned him as United States District 
Judge (territorial) ; and when Florida 
was admitted into the Union (1845) 
President Polk made him United States 
Judge of the State, which position he held 
until 1863, when ill health caused him to 
resign. His judicial record was an ex- 
cellent one and through all the trials of 
the first part of the Civil War, Judge 
Marvin maintained a Union Court in the 
midst of a rebellious people. The State 
had seceded, but the flag of the republic 
floated over his temple of justice. In 
1863, he came north, but in 1865 was sent 
back to Florida by President Johnson as 
provisional governor, and, during the six 
months of his incumbency he materially 
aided in the reconstruction of the State 
government. Then followed the carpet- 
bag regime, during which he resolutely 
opposed the ballot for the colored race. 
He was elected United States Senator by 
the whites, but, because the blacks had 
not been permitted to vote, another elec- 
tion was ordered, the Judge declining to 
be a candidate. 

In 1846, he had married Harriet N. 
Foote, of Cooperstown, who died within 
a few years. In 1867, he married Mrs. 
Eliza Riddle Jewett, the widow of a son 
of Judge Freeborn G. Jewett (q. v. Jewett 
sketch ) and shortly after moved to Skane- 
ateles, occupying the Jewett homestead 
until his death. For thirty-five years he 
was honored and revered by the citizens 
of the village, the "best loved man in 
Skaneateles" says his biographer (Les- 
lie's "Skaneateles") "a jurist of distinc- 



tion, a churchman of devout faith, a stu- 
dent of history and theology, interested 
in public affairs, a good citizen, a party 
man, yet one who put his sense of duty 
so far above party that after voting for 
every Dem.ocratic candidate for president 
from Jackson to Cleveland, he disavowed 
Bryan,'' voting twice for McKinley. Even 
as a nonogenarian, his mind was uncloud- 
ed to the last, and his reminiscences of the 
great men with whom he had associated 
were singularly vivid and entertaining. 
His wife died in 1901 ; but he remained a 
year longer physically, as well as intellec- 
tually, vigorous, until an attack of pneu- 
monia, ended his valuable life July 9, 1902, 
some three months succeeding his ninety- 
fourth birthday. 



SMITH, Gerrit, 

Orator, Reformer, Philanthropist. 

The ancestors of Gerrit Smith, great 
reformer and philanthropist, were Hol- 
landers, the American branch of the fam- 
ily settling in Greenbush, Rockland coun- 
ty, where his father, Peter Smith, was 
born, November 15, 1768. After a mer- 
cantile clerkship, a partnership with John 
Jacob Astor, in New York City, and the 
acquirement of a considerable fortune in 
the fur trade, he made immense invest- 
ments in real estate, mainly in Central 
New York, becoming the largest land- 
owner in the State, his holdings being 
estimated at over a half million acres. 
Succeeding residences at Utica and else- 
where, he laid out and named the village 
of Peterboro and the town of Smithfield, 
where he erected his mansion, became 
the magnate of the section, and served 
as county judge from 1807 until 1823. 
He married, February 5, 1792, Elizabeth, 
daughter of Colonel James Livingston, of 
Montgomery county, and a second cousin 
of the chancellor. Their second son, Ger- 
rit, was born in Utica, March 6, 1797. 



167 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Gerrit's education was pursued in the 
academy and at Hamilton College in Clin- 
ton. He was graduated from the college 
with the valedictory oration in 1818. "As 
a youth,'' says Frothingham, "he was re- 
markably handsome in person. His man- 
ners were open, his bearing was cordial, 
his action graceful and winning. His 
popularity was universal and the social 
turn of his disposition carried him into 
the games, entertainments, collegiate and 
extra-collegiate amusements of his com- 
panions. He was gay and sportive, but 
never vicious, or in the vulgar sense 
'wild.' He was an innocent, joyous youth, 
not averse to noisy but harmless pranks, 
having no prejudices against a game of 
cards, but rather a passion for them. He 
himself records, 'it was my unhappiness 
and wickedness to belong to a club of 
card players ;' his nickname was 'Old 
Mariner, and that he played cards for 
stakes on Sunday.' * * * The son of a 
rich man, he dressed carefully, lived well, 
and was becomingly free in expense ; but 
it is not in the memory of his mates that 
he spent money in harmful dissipation of 
any kind." While in college he wore the 
"broad Byron collar," turned over the col- 
lar of his coat, and he did so to the end of 
his life — a peculiarity that few men could 
have carried through all the changes of 
fashions in men's dress, without exciting 
derision or caricature, but which seemed 
fitting to the grandeur of his form and 
bearing and the nobility of his face and 
head. He was twice married, first, in Jan- 
uary, 1819, to Wealthy Ann, only daugh- 
ter of Dr. Azel Backus, first president 
of Hamilton College, who died seven 
months thereafter; and, second, in Janu- 
ary, 1829, to Ann Carroll, daughter of 
Colonel William Fitzhugh, then of Liv- 
ingston county, with whom he lived con- 
genially and happily to the end. 

He designed to enter the legal profes- 



sion, but domestic events changed his 
career. His mother died the day after 
his graduation, and that loss and sorrow 
broke the spirit and heart of his father. 
The following year, when Gerrit was 
twenty-two years of age, his father turned 
over to him, the favorite, trusted son, his 
whole estate, real and personal, amount- 
ing to about $400,000 — a princely fortune 
for the day — a portion of it in trust to be 
applied by him as directed. That de- 
termined the career of this brave, ac- 
complished, genial, handsome, ambitious 
young man. He was thenceforth to be 
a man of business, bound to the cares of 
a great estate and the management of 
vast and important affairs. And right 
royally did he justify his father's faith in 
his integrity — for every trust was faith- 
fully, even generously, executed — and the 
faith, as well, in his business ability, for 
he became one of the most sagacious and 
ablest business men in the country ; and 
he never was guilty of making and en- 
forcing a hard bargain upon the plea, 
"this is business." He made large sums 
of money and, as the world knows, gave 
magnificently, not in ways to gain per- 
sonal honor, but to help the needy and 
suiTering, white and black, the hungry of 
all lands, to charities of all sorts, to edu- 
cational institutions, to temperance re- 
form, to the ballot for women, but, above 
all, to the cause of freedom for the slave. 
Such an example of business ability and 
benevolence combined was in his day un- 
paralleled. Possibly that example has 
been one of the most productive results 
of his life, wrought out in lives influ- 
enced by him. 

Gerrit Smith, at an early period, was 
not without political ambition. The high- 
est honors were within his reasonable 
hope. His great wealth, his splendid 
talents, his grand presence, made him 
prominent at the outset. He was viewed 



168 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



as a "bright, particular star" in the politi- 
cal firmament. In 1824 he first partici- 
pated in general politics, attending the 
State convention which nominated De- 
Witt Clinton for his third term as Gov- 
ernor. In 1828 he was a member of the 
convention to nominate presidential elec- 
tors favorable to the reelection of Adams 
and wrote its address. In 1831 he was an 
unsuccessful candidate for the State Sen- 
ate. Had he remained in politics, affili- 
ated with the Whigs, there was no prefer- 
ment that would not been bestowed upon 
him gladly, but he relinquished political 
ambition to devote himself to the emanci- 
pation of the slave — a cause then in its 
incipiency, only a small band of earnest 
agitators — "fanatics," as they were called 
— being enlisted in its behalf. He had, 
for a time, been associated with the 
American Colonization Society and con- 
tributed largely to its support, but with- 
drew from it, November 24, 1835, declar- 
ing that he was brought to this determi- 
nation, earlier than he expected, by the 
recent increase of his interest in the 
American Anti-Slavery Society, this step 
being materially induced by certain dra- 
matic incidents preceding it. 

In the fall of 1831 a meeting of the 
friends of the slave in the Baptist church 
in Syracuse, at which Gerrit Smith was 
present, was violently assailed by a mob 
and obliged to repair to Fayetteville to 
finish its business. An anti-slavery con- 
vention to form a State society was held 
at Utica, October 31, 1835. A mob in- 
vaded the assembly and demanded that 
it should disperse. Mr. Smith, a specta- 
tor, but not a member, made an impas- 
sioned plea for the freedom of discussion, 
but declared that he was "no Abolition- 
ist." The convention was broken up vio- 
lently and its members assaulted shame- 
fully. These acts and the malignant 
spirit of slavery, even in the North, then 



made manifest, fired the soul of Gerrit 
Smith with irrepressible indignation and 
filled him with horror. He invited the 
convention to adjourn to Peterboro, his 
own village home, where it assembled the 
next day, and where he spoke words 
which thundered and echoed throughout 
the land, portending the doom of slavery 
— words, too, of consecration to the cause 
of the black man which were never to be 
retracted, receded from or forgotten to 
the day of his death. From that day for- 
ward he was an "Abolitionist," with all 
his might and mind and with all the effi- 
ciency which his great wealth and abil- 
ities gave him. He believed in moral 
power, in the ultimate victory of true 
principles, if only they can be brought 
home to the minds and conscience of 
men. His attack upon slavery, there- 
fore, was through intelligence and con- 
science. He cared little or nothing for 
political action or agencies at this period. 
Agitation, discussion, presentation of the 
vile sin of slavery — the moving of the 
conscience — this was what he trusted 
would bring about a public sentiment that 
in the end, somehow — he did not try to 
say how — would overthrow slavery ; but 
when the end came it was, as he for many 
years had predicted, "through blood." 

As to methods, he was at one with the 
Abolitionists of the Garrison and Phillips 
school. They, however, believed and 
taught that the federal constitution was a 
pro-slavery instrument, "a covenant with 
death and an agreement with hell" — re- 
fusing to vote or take office under it, or 
resort in any manner to political action ; 
and they denounced bitterly all Abolition- 
ists who disagreed with them on these 
points. They were also pronounced dis- 
unionists. Gerrit Smith, on the other 
hand, contended vigorously that "the 
constitution is an anti-slavery instru- 
ment and needs but to be administered 



169 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



in consistency with its principles to 
effectuate the speedy overthrow of the 
whole system of American slavery ;" and 
he opposed dismemberment of the Union, 
clinging to the South to save it from self- 
destruction. He was the founder of the 
"Liberty" party, at a convention of anti- 
slavery men in Arcade, Wyoming county, 
in January, 1840, its motto, formed by 
him, being "vote for no slaveholder for 
civil office — nor for any one who thinks 
a slaveholder fit for it ;" and he was its 
candidate for Governor that year. In 
1844 the party polled a sufficient vote in 
the State to tip the scales in favor of 
Polk, a result seemingly as illogical on 
its part as it was fateful in the history of 
the Republic. In 1847 there was a split 
in the political abolition forces, and the 
"Liberty League," with Gerrit Smith as 
its leader, came into being, and, eking out 
an existence, from time to time nomi- 
nated Smith for President. In 1858 a 
"State Mass Convention" gave him his 
second nomination for Governor, and, 
notwithstanding that he led "a forlorn 
hope," he made a spirited canvass, travel- 
ling some four thousand miles and con- 
tributing liberally to a campaign fund, 
but received but about four thousand 
votes. His only public preferment oc- 
curred in 1852, when as an "Independent" 
he was elected to the Thirty-third Con- 
gress by an overwhelming plurality — a 
striking testimony of the esteem in which 
he was held by his immediate constitu- 
ency, accompanied with something of 
curiosity as to what he would accomplish. 
In Congress, while entertaining and con- 
tracting personal friendships even with 
slaveholders, he enunciated fearlessly and 
freely the views he had uniformly pro- 
claimed, but the routine and the late 
hours, to which he was subjected, bore 
severely upon him, and he resigned his 
seat, August 7, 1854. It is not probable 



that his course and influence had any 
marked effect upon the progress of the 
anti-slavery movement. 

He had already done splendid service 
in quickening the conscience of the Na- 
tion upon the platform, where he had 
been a new and grander Apollo, earnest 
to his very lips and finger tips, profoundly 
wrapped up in his argument and his de- 
sire to convince and to win men to the 
standard of righteousness — conscious, no 
doubt, of his superb strength. As an 
orator he had the signal advantage of a 
magnificent personal presence, a large 
form, a notable head, a face to win favor, 
a dark eye with an eagle's piercing glance, 
but lighted up with the mellow, loving 
look of a great soul, a majesty impres- 
sive without words, as of a born king of 
men. His voice was deep, full and strong, 
with an indescribable melody and rich- 
ness and under perfect control. He never 
attempted flights of rhetoric as such. He 
talked ; but his talk was oratory, some- 
times persuasive and argumentative, and 
sometimes like the mighty rush of a tor- 
rent in its denunciation. His manner was 
always dignified. His gestures were 
graceful, large, and free like himself. 
Rarely was there ornament in his ad- 
dress ; never wit nor humor, but always 
the clear, close statement, the thought 
carrying everything before it. He hewed 
to the line and his hearers always knew 
where the line was. 

His home in Peterboro was a large 
square, frame house, with columns in front, 
a broad central hall from front to rear, the 
library in front on the left and the draw- 
ing-room to the right. The grounds 
(some thirty acres) surrounding it were 
well kept, with gardens and lawns and 
many trees, and in the rear ran a pebbled 
stream. The spacious mansion was in 
fact as well as in name, "Liberty Hall," 
wherein an abounding hospitality was 



I/O 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



dispensed. Thither came the representa- 
tives of, or at least sympathizers with, the 
reforms he advocated, some notable in 
talent and conspicuous in position, many 
truly great men and noble women ; also 
came the hair-brained cranks who clutch 
the margin of a movement for reform and 
tend to make it ridiculous — came with 
their carpet bags and camped in this com- 
fortable home, never turned away, never 
treated with discourtesy, however erratic 
or beggarly in sense or brazen in impor- 
tunity. This invasion was a weighty 
burden upon Mr. Smith's hospitality and 
a serious disturbance of his family life ; 
but this grand gentleman, this courtly 
knight, bore it all serenely. Righteous 
indignation, pardonable rudeness, another 
as good a man as he might have shown — 
not he. Once, indeed, patience ceased to 
be a virtue, even with him. A particu- 
larly persistent, long-haired, wild-eyed 
visitor had stayed on from week to week, 
with no signs of going away before the 
proper time for his burial. One morning 
at family prayers, this long-time and un- 
invited guest being present, Mr. Smith 
gently invoked in his prayer the petition : 
"Lord, bless our friend, who is to leave 
us this day." He departed, carpet bag 
and all, before evening. Gerrit Smith's 
home was also a station of the under- 
ground railroad. 

When the South seceded and the Civil 
War was on, Gerrit Smith — uncompro- 
mising Abolitionist as he was — saw 
where the duty of the hour lay, and sup- 
ported the government by every means 
in his power, spending money, making 
speeches and appeals to suppress the in- 
surrection. He thought Lincoln "too 
slow," but a great, good man, and was 
patient with him in solving the vital 
problems imposed upon him. At a war 
meeting in Peterboro, April 27, 1861, he 
said: "The end of American slavery is 



at hand. That it is to end in blood does 
not surprise me. For fifteen years I have 
been constantly predicting that it would 
be. The first gun fired at Fort Sumter 
announced the fact that the last fugitive 
slave had been returned." He uttered 
also these words, significant of his spirit : 
"A word in respect to the armed men 
who go South. Slavery, which has in- 
fatuated her, is the crime of the North, 
as well as the South." To Chief Justice 
Chase he wrote in 1864: "We must deal 
with the South in the spirit of impartial 
justice. We must also deal with her in 
a spirit of great generosity and love." 
And it is to be remembered to his lasting 
honor, that when Jefferson Davis, the 
arch rebel whom the North hated most, 
had been lying in prison for fifteen 
months, without trial or attempt at trial, 
this great-souled philanthropist went 
upon the bond to release him, insisting 
that he should have a speedy trial or be 
admitted to bail. Gerrit Smith spoke and 
voted for Lincoln at his second election 
and for Grant at each of his— the second 
time to the intense displeasure of his old 
friend and co-laborer, Charles Sumner, 
with whom he had an unhappy corres- 
pondence on the subject. 

Gerrit Smith was an earnest Christian. 
A Presbyterian by training and public 
profession, he broke from his own church 
and all denominational churches, because, 
as he believed, they were untrue to the 
cause of the slave ; but still he held to 
the Sermon on the Mount and whatever 
changes of theological belief he experi- 
enced — and it is difficult to determine 
what his theology really was — he was 
always a devout Christian in heart and 
life. He held that sectarianism was un- 
christian, that the Christians of a locality 
constitute the church of that community, 
and he built a church edifice in his vil- 
lage, gathered about him those who be- 



171 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



lieved with him, and called the little com- 
pany "the Church of Peterboro," wherein 
he often officiated. He believed that 
"politics," meaning thereby the promo- 
tion of anti-slavery, temperance, and 
other reforms fundamentally affecting 
human welfare, and dealing with sin, pub- 
lic and private, was a part of the religious 
life and he "preached politics" on Sunday. 
He cut loose from so many traditional 
ideas and beliefs that it is no wonder that 
in the judgment of thoughtful men he 
sometimes wandered into the visionary 
and impractical. In the last analysis, he 
was a Jeft'ersonian Republican, holding 
that the State should not do for the in- 
dividual that which he could or should 
do for himself. Thus he was against 
governmental ownership of public util- 
ities, even of the post office. His philos- 
ophy, if it should be called such, was 
simple enough, after all, and many men 
acknowledged its justice and soundness 
in the abstract, who refused to agree with 
him in its application. To those who 
knew liim or shall truly know what man- 
ner of man he was, it is his childlike sim- 
plicity of faith and trust in the divine 
goodness and righteousness and his en- 
tire consecration to its commands ; his 
life of devotion to his fellow men ; his 
character in all its completeness and 
sweetness ; his unminded goodness in 
every phase of his life; the inherent 
grandeur of his manhood — the man him- 
self — these it is, which will keep his 
memory green ; and the greatness of his 
goodness, if not his teachings, will be an 
inspiratior to a more conscientious citi- 
zenship and more worthy living while 
that memory survives. 

Gerrit Smith died December 26, 1874, 
leaving his wife, who died in 1875. They 
had five children, of whom only two sur- 
vived them — Elizabeth, widely known as 
a philanthropist and reformer, the wife of 



Colonel Charles D. Miller, of Geneva; 
and Greene, exceptionally bright, but 
whose career was not commensurate 
with his talents. Both have now passed 
away. 



NOTE. — Abridged from address delivered by 
Hon. A. Judd Northrup before Onondaga His- 
torical Society, Way i>. 1902. 



KING, John A., 

Agriculturist, Legislator, Executive. 

John Alsop King, twentieth Governor 
of New York, was born in the city of 
New York, January 3, 1788, the eldest son 
of Rufus King, the great statesman and 
diplomat (q. v. sketch of Rufus King). 
To his children, of whom there were 
many, Rufus King bequeathed fair 
estates, but, what is better, high talents — 
rivalling in this regard the Adams line — 
of which John A. inherited a goodly share. 

John A. received his elementary edu- 
cation at select schools in the city, but 
accompanied his father to England, when 
the latter was first commissioned as 
Minister to the Court of St. James, and 
was, with his brother Charles, afterward 
president of Columbia College, enrolled 
as a student in the famous training 
school at Harrow. There he maintained 
an excellent standing in the classics, but 
also became a leader in all the physical 
exercises of the institution and was, 
therefore, very popular with his compan- 
ions, forming friendships with Lord 
Byron, Sir Robert Peel, the Duke of 
Devonshire and others of like standing. 
The effects of his physical culture lasted 
through his life. John Stanton Gould 
in his eulogium before the New York 
State Agricultural Society relates that 
"after he had passed his seventieth birth- 
day, in presence of many of his brethren 
of the executive committee, he put his 
hand on the top of a fence and vaulted 
over it with the agility of a boy, playfully 

72 




^/^^ ^.-^A 




ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



reproaching his companions for their 
laziness in climbing over it." After he 
had passed the grades at Harrow, he 
transferred himself to a finishing school 
in Paris, where he perfected himself in 
French and the physical sciences, then 
much neglected in the great schools of 
England, and, with the prestige of his 
parent and his own attractiveness, had 
ready access to the polished society of the 
Napoleonic empire, then at the summit 
of its power and glory ; and he also gave 
much attention to governmental history 
and political questions, confirming prin- 
ciples to which he had already inclined, 
at home. 

Returning to his native country, he 
studied law assiduously, was admitted to 
the bar in 1809 and, for a time, engaged 
in successful practice. In 1810, he mar- 
ried a daughter of Cornelius Ray, a 
wealthy gentleman of the city, and the 
union thus formed blessed his life. — 
Opposed, like the majority of Federalists, 
to declaring war against Great Britain in 
1812, when it was actually on, he sought 
and obtained a commission as lieutenant 
in a company of Hussars, which served 
as the body-guard of Governor Tomp- 
kins, and faithfully served in the field until 
the end, when he returned to civil life. 
His professional career had been serious- 
ly disturbed by his military duties and, 
with a decided liking for rural pursuits, 
he purchased a farm in the vicinity of that 
of his father at Jamaica and cultivated 
it for a livelihood. He was a real laborer 
in his fields, not a "gentleman farmer" 
merely. There was no agricultural work 
that he was not skilled in. He plowed 
and sowed and reaped, rose early and 
labored late, led the mowers in the har- 
vest field, mended his fences, put up his 
outbuildings; and, at the time, being of 
moderate means, made his farm pay. He 
was also a noted fox-hunter, an intelligent 



breeder of horses and, for many years, 
president of the local jockey club. And 
thus passed — 181 5-1825 — what he was 
wont to call the happiest years of his life. 

Predicated on his heredity, he became 
interested early in politics and was in the 
habit of addressing his fellow citizens, at 
their primaries and conventions, upon 
topics of public interest and political duty, 
and developed a style of speaking earnest, 
eloquent and impressive ; but he spoke in 
the decadent era of his party and within 
an environment adverse to the principles 
he enunciated. Nevertheless, he was sent 
to the Assembly in 1818 and reelected in 
1819 and 1820; and, in 1823, was elected 
to the Senate, from the first district, serv- 
ing a single year. This period of his legis- 
lative service was distinguished by a 
sturdy advocacy of the system of internal 
improvements, making some of his finest 
forensic efforts in its behalf, and in the 
main promoting the political preferment 
of DeWitt Clinton as the foremost cham- 
pion of the policy indicated. In 1825, 
upon the designation of his father as 
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni- 
potentiary to Great Britain, John A. King 
accepted the office of secretary of legation 
under him, principally out of filial devo- 
tion for the aged diplomat, whose health 
was then declining. After a year spent in 
this capacity, he was appointed Charge 
d'Affaires pending the arrival of Envoy 
Barbour. 

Rufus King died in the spring of 1827. 
His eldest son, desiring to perpetuate the 
homestead, purchased it from the other 
heirs and settled thereon, where he con- 
tinued to reside until his death. For 
forty years, he cultivated the land, but 
having more ample means at his com- 
mand, did not engage so exclusively 
in manual work, as he had done earlier, 
although he carefully superintended and 
made the fine estate a paying proposition 



173 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



as well as the hospitable home of a cul- 
tured gentleman. He bred fine herds of 
cattle and catered to the daily needs of 
the metropolis by vending fruits and 
vegetables. He connected himself with 
agricultural societies and was active in 
promoting their interests. He was presi- 
dent of the Queens county and State 
societies, and vice-president of the United 
States Agricultural Society, at different 
periods, especially prominent and useful 
in the State body. 

Meanwhile, he did not lose his interest 
in politics. He was returned to the As- 
sembly in 1 83 1, 1837 and 1839. He iden- 
tified himself with the Whig party in its 
incipiency. He was a member of the 
National Convention that nominated 
General Harrison and, although originally 
preferring Clay, to whom he was warmly 
attached, voted for Harrison, apprehen- 
sive that Clay could not be elected. In 
1848, he was elected to the Thirty-first 
Congress, and, therein gave evidence of 
his sincere anti-slavery convictions. His 
speeches were frequent and impact with 
force and eloquence. During his term 
the compromise measures of 1850 were 
passed, King being conspicuous in his 
opposition thereto, especially to the Fugi- 
tive Slave bill, which he deprecated and 
fought with all his might. He was a 
member of the National Convention that 
assembled in Baltimore in 1852 and 
nominated General Scott for the presi- 
dency. As a "conscience Whig," in the 
consultation relative to the platform, he 
advocated taking the highest ground on 
the slavery issue, and resolutely contend- 
ed against the incorporation therein of an 
approval of the fugitive slave law — the 
declaration which sounded the death knell 
of the Whig party. On the roll call, there 
were sixty-six votes in the negative, all 
from the north, one-third of them being 
from New York, King, of course, includ- 



ed. In the fusion of the Republican and 
Whig parties at Syracuse, in 1855, King 
was president of the Whig Convention 
and labored effectively to promote the 
union. He was a delegate to the Repub- 
lican National Convention, at Philadel- 
phia, a vice-president and, with Chief- 
Justice Hornblower, of New Jersey, the 
committee to escort General Lane, of 
Indiana, to the chair. He was the favor- 
ite candidate of the New York delegation 
for the vice-presidency, but promptly 
insisted that his name should be dropped 
in favor of Dayton, who was nominated. 
His bearing on the occasion smoothed the 
way for his own nomination for Governor 
in the fall of the same year. 

He took his seat as chief magistrate of 
the Empire State, January i, 1857. the 
duties of which he discharged with firm- 
ness, wisdom, sagacity and utter integ- 
rity, no grave questions of State policy 
being raised during his administration. 
To the causes of popular education and 
internal improvements he was supremely 
devoted. The trend of his thought upon 
national issues is well set forth in these 
characteristic words toward the close of 
his annual message : 

The great principle at issue in the last elec- 
tion, and which it so triumphantly vindicates, lies 
at the root of our free institutions and is alike 
the concern, and should be equally the share, of 
all citizens who rightly estimate these institu- 
tions. No mere party questions could call forth 
so deep an interest and so significant and deci- 
sive a vote throughout the length and breadth 
of the State; and I venture to believe that I do 
not mistake its importance, nor your convictions 
respecting it, when I assume as its deliberate 
and irreversible decree that so far as the State 
of New York is concerned, that there shall be 
henceforth no extension of slavery in the terri- 
tories of the United States. This conclusion I 
most unreservedly adopt, and am prepared to 
abide by it, at all times, under all circumstances 
and in every emergency. 



174 





DANIEL BUTTERFIELD MAJOR GENERAL, US 



S V 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



He retired from the chief magistracy 
bearing with him the cordial esteem of 
the people for the urbanity of his manner 
— courteous alike to the lofty and the 
lowly — his fidelity to principle, and his 
enlightened and upright administration. 
He was privileged as president of the 
New York Electoral College, in i860, to 
cast his ballot for Abraham Lincoln. He 
was a delegate to the Peace Convention 
of 1861, wherein he did all that he could do 
honorably to avert the appeal to arms ; 
and throughout the war his loyalty to the 
Union, as evidenced by word and work 
and purse, was of the marked character 
consistent with his lifelong record as a 
patriot. He was an early member of the 
New York Union League Club, and its 
tribute to his worth, at his death, is singu- 
larly affectionate and appreciative, as is 
also the address of the Hon. John Stan- 
ton Gould before the State Agricultural 
Society, already alluded to. His death 
was sudden. On the Fourth of July, 
1867, he attended the celebration of the 
Jamaica Literary Union, apparently in his 
usual good health, was much interested 
in the exercises, and toward the close was 
invited to speak. While addressing the 
audience, he was observed to give evi- 
dence of illness, and was unable to con- 
tinue his remarks. He was stricken with 
apoplexy. He was borne from the stand 
insensible, and though he recovered his 
consciousness, he gradually sank until the 
afternoon of the seventh, and then passed 
peacefully away. It was the first attack 
of sickness he ever experienced. 



BUTTERFIELD, Daniel, 

Soldier, Scholar, Orator. 

Daniel Butterfield was a born soldier, 
and at this time, when "preparedness" is 
the slogan of the Republic, it is to be 
emphasized that he was semper paratus 
whenever duty bade him. Militant blood 



ran in the Butterfield lineage for many 
generations. The family line is traced to 
its arrival in England from Normandy in 
the twelfth century. In 1316 John de 
Buteville was the possessor of the lord- 
ship of Cheddington in Bucks. The name 
Botevyle occurs in the Battle Abbey roll ; 
and its succeeding gentry, with various 
spelling, has honorable record in civil and 
military life for centuries. Benjamin 
Butterfield, the ancestor of the American 
branch, settled at Charlestown in Massa- 
chusetts Bay, in 1638, removed to Wo- 
burn, and in 1643 was made a freeman. 
Two years later he was listed as a tax- 
payer. In 1654 he purchased a large tract 
of land in the town, subsequently incor- 
porated as Chelmsford, and remained 
there, a leading citizen of the colony. 
General Butterfield's great-grandfather, 
Timothy, saw service in the Revolu- 
tion ; his kinsmen James, Jonas and 
Thomas were lieutenants in New Hamp- 
shire and Vermont regiments, and his ma- 
ternal grandfather, Gamaliel Olmstead, 
enlisted in the Connecticut Continental 
Infantry for three years, with honorable 
discharge at the end of the period. John 
Butterfield, the father of the general, was 
a great "captain of industry." Born in 
Berne, Albany county, on the Van Rens- 
selaer Manor, November 18, 1801, he 
early established himself in Utica, where 
he acquired a large fortune, and was 
identified conspicuously, both as founder 
and executive, with the Overland Stage 
and the American Express companies and 
the various magnetic telegraph lines ulti- 
mately consolidated in the Western 
Union. He was active in furthering the 
progress of the city, and, although uni- 
formly declining political preferment, ac- 
cepted, as a Republican, a term as mayor 
in 1865. He possessed indomitable will 
and foresight in encouraging enter- 
prises of ever increasing scope and mag- 
nitude. He married, in February, 1822, 



175 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Malinda Harriet Baker, by whom he had 
nine children. He died November 14, 
1869. 

Daniel (Adams) Butterfield, the third 
son, was born in Utica, October 31, 1831. 
His father, recognizing his promise, 
cheerfully furnished him the means for 
acquiring a liberal education. He was 
prepared for college at private schools 
and the Utica Academy, and was gradu- 
ated from Union College in 1849, ^t the 
age of eighteen, having maintained an ex- 
cellent standing, especially devoting him- 
self to studies and outside reading pro- 
ductive of a generous culture. His genial 
bearing and gracious offices endeared him 
to his mates, and he had a certain dash and 
audacity in sports, presaging his future 
career. He ever held his college associa- 
tions in tender memory and did much to 
enhance the interests of his alma mater. 
In 1892 he was honorary chancellor of the 
university and delivered a memorable ad- 
dress at the commencement, when he re- 
ceived the degree of Doctor of Laws. In 
1892 he established a three years' course 
of thirty lectures, ministered to by men 
eminent in letters, science, the arts, pro- 
fessions and politics, each with his special 
theme, but all with the fundamental 
thought of the value of a close relation 
between the scholastic and the practical 
world by which both profit. In 1895 thir- 
teen of these addresses were published in 
a handsome octavo volume, with the title 
of "The Union College Lectures — Butter- 
field Course." In 1895 he was elected 
president of the General Alumni Associa- 
tion and in 1899 became an alumni trus- 
tee. After his graduation he pursued, for 
a time, the study of the law, but being too 
young to be admitted to practice, made 
an extensive tour of the West and South, 
its first portion being through the great 
lakes and the then almost unbroken forest 
of Minnesota territory, trying to the cour- 
age and strength of a youth of nineteen 



years ; and the latter, down the Mississippi 
to New Orleans, fortifying his anti-slavery 
convictions, analyzing social and political 
conditions, there obtaining and clearly 
foresaw the irresistible conflict between 
the sections, returning to his home, as he 
afterward declared, to perfect himself in 
military art so that when the emergency 
arose he would be ready to meet it— at 
once the prophet and the patriot. 

Not long after the completion of his 
journeyings, he removed to New York 
and, relinquishing the law, upon the con- 
straint of business, he became the general 
superintendent of the eastern division of 
the American Express Company and was 
thus principally engaged until the out- 
break of the war ; but, true to his purpose, 
he entered, after having been a private 
in the Utica Citizens' Corps, the Seventy- 
first Regiment, in the metropolis, as a 
captain on stafif duty ; was soon elected 
major, and subsequently promoted to 
lieutenant-colonel. From that regiment, 
he was chosen, without the least solicita- 
tion on his part, colonel of the Twelfth 
militia. A close student of tactics, an 
accomplished drill master, a courteous 
commander, although a strict disciplin- 
arian, he signally commended himself to 
the officers and men under him, and to 
the State military authorities. When 
Sumter was fired upon, he was ready, al- 
though the regiment had been reduced in 
numbers. In a single day, he enlisted 800 
men, filling the complement, and on April 
21, 1861, was in Washington with his 
command. Within two months, it was 
fully uniformed and equipped and thor- 
oughly drilled. General Scott then at the 
head of the army, much impressed by its 
splendid appearance, speaking of it 
as "closely resembling a regiment of 
regulars." Thenceforth, Butterfield ap- 
pears as one of the bravest, most useful 
and brilliant officers of the Union forces. 
His promotion was as rapid as his service 
176 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



was great. He was commissioned briga- 
dier-general of volunteers September 7, 
1S61 ; major-general, November 29, 1862; 
colonel Fifth Infantry, U. S. A., July i, 
1863 ; brevet brigadier-general, March 13, 
1865, "for gallant and meritorious service 
in the field during the war" ; and brevet 
major-general the same day "for gallant 
and meritorious service in the field, dur- 
ing the war." The Congressional "Medal 
of Honor" was awarded General Butter- 
field, September 26, 1892, on account of 
special gallantry in action at the battle of 
Gaines Mills, "where he seized the colors 
of the Eighty-third Pennsylvania Infan- 
try Volunteers, at a critical moment and, 
under a galling fire of the enemy, led the 
command," and where he was wounded. 
General Butterfield participated in all 
the campaigns and nearly all the engage- 
ments of the Army of the Potomac. He 
commanded the first division of the Fifth 
Army Corps in November, 1862, and, on 
the sixteenth of the same month, assumed 
command of the corps, until December 24 
when he was assigned as chief-of-staflf 
to General Hooker, in which capacity he 
remained until General Hooker, after 
Chancellorsville, was relieved by General 
Meade June 28, 1863, who requested Gen- 
eral Butterfield to remain with him, which 
he did until he was severely wounded at 
Gettysburg. Receiving a furlough, July 
6, he recovered from his wound suffi- 
ciently to report for duty August 22, and 
was temporarily assigned to help General 
Hooker in making up the reports of the 
Rappahannock operations, and later was 
again designated as chief-of-stafif to 
Hooker, commanding the Eleventh and 
Twelfth Corps, and was with him during 
the movements at Wauhatchie, Lookout 
Mountain, Mission Ridge and Ringgold. 
Early in April, 1864, General Butterfield 
became commander of the Third Division 
of the Twentieth Corps, Army of the 
Cumberland. During Sherman's Atlanta 
N Y— Vol 11-12 I 



campaign. Hooker received orders to at- 
tack Johnston's right flank at Resaca, and 
he detailed Butterfield to make the 
charge, a brilliant exploit, the Confeder- 
ates being routed and the division cap- 
turing the first colors and guns lost by 
Johnston in that memorable campaign. 
Butterfield continued to engage in skir- 
mishes and battles from Dallas to Kene- 
saw, but was obliged, June 29, 1864, some 
weeks before Atlanta was taken, to obtain 
a leave of absence upon the surgeon's cer- 
tificate of disability. Upon recovery, he 
was assigned to court-martial and special 
duties, aided General Butler in taking all 
necessary precautions to prevent riots in 
New York, pending the presidential cam- 
paign, and was not again in active war 
command. He was mustered out of the 
service as major-general of volunteers, 
August 24, 1865, returning to his rank as 
colonel in the regular army. 

He remained in the army, with routine 
peace duty, until the death of his father 
devolved upon him the care of a large 
estate, and he resigned his commission 
April 26, 1869. He, however, accepted at 
the hands of President Grant the head- 
ship of the United States Sub-Treasury, 
June 23, and occupied it until November 
— the only civil office he ever held. 

The remainder of General Butterfield's 
life was passed in association with exten- 
sive business enterprises, in the enjoy- 
ment of a fine fortune, liberally dispensed 
for philanthropic and patriotic objects, in 
elegant homes in New York City and at 
"Cragside," his country estate at Cold 
Spring, on the Hudson, where treasures 
of art and letters were accumulated, and 
refined hospitalities were extended, in 
travels abroad both for research and 
pleasure in timely essays in the press, and 
frequent addresses, political, military and 
historical, and with much of public recog- 
nition due to his merits both as a soldier 
and scholar. In the summer of 1870 he 

77 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



visited Europe, and while there he made 
an exhaustive investigation of the Lon- 
don and Paris postal systems, resulting in 
an elaborate report to Postmaster-General 
Creswell and in the adoption of certain 
reforms therein suggested. General But- 
terfield lost his wife June 4, 1877, whom 
he had married twenty years previously, 
his only son, a charming boy of four years, 
having died in 1861. In 1886 the general 
made a second voyage to the Old World, 
and while there married, in St. Margaret's 
Church, London, September 21, Mrs. 
Julia Lorillard Jones, of New York and 
Cold Spring who, for the ensuing fifteen 
years, was his loving and helpful consort, 
a charming hostess, sympathetic with his 
cultured tastes and pursuits. They were 
the recipients of many attentions in the 
higher social circles of the countries trav- 
ersed, the General having a flattering 
audience with Napoleon III. at a review 
of imperial troops, and renewing his 
acquaintance with the Orleans princes, 
formed while they were ofificers in the 
Army of the Potomac ; the Compte de 
Paris, in turn, being treated with marked 
civilities by General Butterfield on his 
visit to the United States in 1890, being 
entertained in the New York and "Crag- 
side" residences, and being honored at a 
magnificent banquet at the Plaza, Octo- 
ber 20, tendered by his comrades in the 
Union army, including Gnerals Sher- 
man, Schofield, Sickles, Slocum, Keys, 
Howard and Franklin, all of whom made 
speeches, the Prince, with an especially 
feeling address, in response to his intro- 
duction by General Butterfield, who pre- 
sided. Among other notable entertain- 
ments at "Cragside" were those to Prince 
Tharak Sahib of India, and to the Grand 
Duke Michailovitch, a cousin of the Czar 
of Russia, Admiral Kusnakoff and other 
Russia naval officers. 

General Butterfield was grand marshal 
of the Centennial Celebration in New 



York in May, 1889, and at the dedication 
of the New York State Monument at 
Gettysburg, July 2, 1893. He was instru- 
mental in raising several regiments for 
the Spanish-American war, and in distrib- 
uting flags and patriotic literature to the 
schools of Porto Rico, and personally pre- 
pared a brochure, compiled in English 
and Spanish, entitled "Constitution of the 
United States (abbreviated) with some 
information as to the National and State 
Governments, Schools," etc. At his resi- 
dence, 616 Fifth Avenue, a handsome 
sword, the gift of many admirers, was 
presented by Governor Roosevelt to the 
late Commodore Philip. General Butter- 
field presided at the convention of the 
National Guard, held at Tampa, Florida, 
in February, 1899, and, at his instance, a 
plan was formulated and presented for 
the enrollment of the National Guard of 
the various States as a national reserve — 
his thought of "preparedness" again. He 
presented and had placed in the cemetery 
of the battlefield at Fredericksburg a 
stately monument, in memorial of the 
Fifth Army Corps, appropriate ceremo- 
nies being had at its corner-stone laying 
and dedication. These incidents, out of 
many, are instanced as indicative of the 
patriotic sentiments and associations of 
the General in peace, as they had so strik- 
ingly been illustrated in his military 
career. 

As previously mentioned. General But- 
terfield was an orator of high attainments 
and was frequently in request during his 
later years. His speech was scholarly, of 
fine rhetorical quality, eloquent without 
undue ornateness, and singularly perti- 
nent to the occasions at which it was 
employed. The following may be cited 
as particularly noteworthy : Oration at 
Cold Spring, July 4, 1885 ; lecture on St. 
Brendin's Voyage, before the New York 
Gaelic Society, April, 1892; oration on 
"Character and Duty" (the honorary 



178 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



chancellor's oration already instanced) 
at Union College, June 22, 1892; address 
to the Third Brigade Association, Wash- 
ington, September 21, 1892; "Russia As 
It Is," before the Sigma Phi Society, New 
York, April 9, 1894; oration at Ogdens- 
burg, July 4, 1894; address at the dedica- 
tion of the Herkimer Monument, Novem- 
ber 12, 1896; address at the reunion at 
Chattanooga, September 18, 1895 ; address 
at the Fishkill Monument Dedication, 
October 14, 1897; address at Cornell Uni- 
versity, Founder's Day, January 11, 1898; 
address at Presentation of Flag to Colum- 
bia University, May 7, 1898 ; "What Shall 
Our Colonial Policy Be?"^ — address to the 
Society of Colonial Wars, New York, 
November 30, 1898; remarks on his pre- 
sentation to the Cullum Memorial Hall at 
West Point of the portrait of General 
George Washington, May 30, 1900. 

Early in April, 1901, General Butter- 
field sustained a stroke of paralysis on his 
right side, in New York. Two months 
later he was taken from his city home to 
"Cragside" and there, after a gradual de- 
cline, he died July 17. The funeral serv- 
ices were held at West Point, the proces- 
sion being formed in front of the chapel, 
the General's old regiment, the New York 
Twelfth, having the right of line. Other 
organizations parading were Lafayette 
Post, Grand Army of the Republic, (of 
which he had been commander) ; mem- 
bers of the military order of the Loyal 
Legion and of the Army of the Potomac, 
Academy Cadets, etc. He is buried at 
West Point, an especially chaste and 
stately monument of marble marking his 
resting place. 



FISKE, Willard, 

Librarian, Linguist, Benefactor. 

There is a current postulate, practically 
tantamount to a proven proposition, that 
to be a finished scholar is to be confined 



to a specialty— that, with many lines of 
research attempted, superficiality in each 
must ensue. Be this as it may, every rule 
has its exceptions ; and the career of Wil- 
lard Fiske is cited as a notable one in this 
regard ; for, accomplished as librarian, lin- 
guist and bibliophile, he was also compe- 
tent to meet specialists in many depart- 
ments of knowledge on their own ground. 
Willard Fiske, christened Daniel Wil- 
lard (Daniel being dropped in later years) 
the son of Daniel H., was born in Ellis- 
burgh, Jefferson county, November 11, 
183 1. With early signs of precocity, his 
preliminary schooling was pursued in the 
schools of his native town, and at the age 
of fifteen he entered Hamilton College 
and for the ensuing two years was recog- 
nized as an especially bright scholar, with 
a decided inclination toward modern lan- 
guages. He was a member of the Psi 
Upsilon fraternity, and was ever devoted 
to its interests, writing a number of its 
songs — its poet laureate, so to speak. He 
left college largely because of straitened 
means, at the close of the sophomore year, 
and went to Syracuse, whither his par- 
ents had removed. For a time he was 
employed in clerical capacities. The way 
being provided, he entered the Univer- 
sity of Upsala, near Stockholm, Sweden, 
where he became imbued with a lifelong 
devotion to Norse literature and began 
the collection of Icelandic books. Re- 
turning to America, in November, 1852, 
he was employed from 1853 until 1859, as 
assistant librarian of the Astor Library 
under the great librarian, Joseph G. 
Cogswell, its first superintendent. It was 
a fine training for the young bibliophile 
and he as finely utilized it. Taking up 
chess as a recreation, he became in due 
time an expert, historian and authority of 
the game, founding the "Chess Monthly," 
which he edited from 1857 until i86o, lat- 
terly in conjunction with Paul Murphy. 
In 1S59, succeeding two years after the 



179 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



establishment of the American Chess 
Congress, he published the first volume of 
its transactions, including an American 
chess bibliography. In i860, he was sec- 
retary of the American Geographical So- 
ciety and the next year secretary to Min- 
ister Motley at the Austrian court. Re- 
turning again to America, he spent a few 
years in journalistic work upon the Hart- 
ford "Courant," of which Joseph R. Haw- 
ley was editor, and the Syracuse "Jour- 
nal," then under the control of Carroll E. 
Smith. In 1868, he made a tour of 
Europe, as companion and tutor of Bar- 
rett R. White, a young gentleman of 
Syracuse, and cousin of Dr. Andrew D. 
White, a lifelong friend of Professor 
Fiske. 

While thus engaged he was called, at 
the instance of President White, who was 
thoroughly acquainted with his qualifica- 
tions, to the chair of North European lan- 
guages, and librarian of the newly found- 
ed Cornell University. 

As a teacher, he was eminently success- 
ful, imbuing the students with enthu- 
siasm in his courses — German, Swedish 
and Icelandic — and conspicuously win- 
ning their affection as a man. As a libra- 
rian he ranked with the foremost in the 
land, and may fairly be regarded as the 
creator of the Cornell library, now among 
the largest and richest of its kind, but five 
institutions of its order excelling it in 
number of volumes, and none in their 
choice character. His ideal of a univer- 
sity, was that of a reference library. That 
policy was steadily pursued by him, some- 
times under trying conditions, resulting 
in the acquisition of many libraries from 
the shelves of distinguished scholars or 
bestowed by princely donors — his own 
gifts being among the most unique and 
costliest. In 1874, incited by his interest 
in Iceland's millenial celebration, he 
organized a movement, which resulted in 
a large gift of books to the Icelandic 



libraries, but it was not until 1879 that he 
made his first visit to that far northern 
island. His personal attention was given, 
not alone to the selection of books, but 
also to the care of the library through 
competent assistants, and to the needs of 
readers, indicating sources of culture and 
methods of research to its patrons. He 
popularized as well as created the library 
by his initiative, his incentive and his 
courtesies. He was throughout respected 
by his associates in the faculty and loved 
by the students, living contentedly on a 
somewhat slender salary, although Cor- 
nell was more liberal in this regard than 
many of her sister universities. His pri- 
vate rooms were much visited, and his 
personality was charming in its inform- 
atory quality, yet modest bearing. In the 
government of the university he did not 
favor severe discipline, believed in placing 
students wholly upon their own honor, 
leaving serious infractions of the law to 
be dealt with by the civil rather than the 
scholastic authorities. 

Until 1880, he had lived in bachelor 
state ; but, July i of that year he married 
at the American legation in Berlin, Presi- 
dent White, at the time, being Minister 
Plenipotentiary, Jennie, daughter of John 
McGraw, a wealthy capitalist of Ithaca 
and an almoner of the University, then 
recently deceased. They made an ex- 
tended tour of Europe, but Mrs. Fiske's 
health was in decline and, after a winter 
in Egypt, they returned to Ithaca, where 
she died September 30, 1881. By her 
will, after providing generously for her 
husl)and and relatives, she bequeathed 
the residue of her estate to the University 
library. Unfortunate misunderstandings 
in regard to this disposition arose be- 
tween the executors and Professor Fiske, 
coupled with criticism on their part of his 
conduct of the library. He resigned as 
librarian, in 1883, and acting upon the 
advice of legal friends, who pointed out 
:8o 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



that the charter of the University forbade 
its receipt of the bequest, a suit was 
begun in his name for annulment thereof. 
It inspired a great deal of excitement in 
University circles and in articles pro and 
con in the press. The decision was in his 
favor and the residuary estate was divided 
among the heirs, Professor Fiske receiv- 
ing a large portion. En passim, the legis- 
lature repealed the restrictive clause in 
the charter. If his was a moral mistake, 
he made ample amends in his own will, 
the bulk of his estate being bequeathed to 
the library, his inclination and his wife's 
wishes being fulfilled. 

Meanwhile, he had taken up his resi- 
dence in Florence, and eventually pur- 
chased the Villa Lander, teeming with 
memories of the English essayist. And 
there he passed most of the remainder 
of his days, beneath the sunny skies, 
within the exuberant foliage, near the re- 
nowned galleries and the splendid libra- 
ries stored with classic and medieval lore, 
amid congenial circles of artists and lit- 
terateurs and gentle folk — the ideal life of 
the scholar with abundant means to grat- 
ify his tastes. There he studied and wrote 
in many tongues (he is said to have read 
at least a score of languages and to have 
spoken fluently at least half that number, 
recalling the legendary equipment of 
Mezzofanti) ; there he entertained Amer- 
ican friends and continental savants ; 
thence he made numerous trips in search 
of rare editions and curios ; and there he 
stored, for the time being, his rare edi- 
tions and precious relics. In 1891, a visit 
to the Engadine region yielded a boun- 
teous gathering of quaint Rhaeto-Ro- 
manic literature — over a thousand vol- 
umes — which he presented to Cornell 
University. Two years later, he gave it 
some of his wonderful gleanings in the 
Dante field, and by his will the whole, 
totalling 7,000 volumes. He accompanied 
this with a scholarly treatise on the 



"Dante Catalogue," (compiled by Theo- 
dore Woolsey Koch) from which we can- 
not avoid quoting a passage illustrative of 
the facility of Fiske's English style and, 
mildly humorous, testifying to the pas- 
sion of the collector : 

In April, 1892, while searching for Petrarch 
books in the shop of an Italian dealer, I came 
across a time-worn copy of the third and last 
edition of the Divina Commedia, which bears the 
date of 1536, and which is by no means of over- 
frequent occurrence. It turned out to have an 
interest all its own, for on its arrival at Ithaca 
it was found to contain several living and labor- 
ing specimens of that destructive little animal, 
the book-worm, traces of whose active hostility 
to letters are so often visible in old books, but 
which is seldom caught at its toil. * * * Sev- 
eral months, however, elapsed before I decided 
to add, in a systematic way, some works on 
Dante to the library of which I had been the 
earliest keeper. Perhaps this determination was 
the outcome of a sudden remembrance of the 
limited literature relating to the great poet (of 
whose greatness by reason of my residence in 
Italy, I was daily reminded) heretofore accessi- 
ble to the professors and students of Cornell. So 
in February, 1893, being at Naples, I began by 
sending home a few volumes — less than a dozen, 
I think, my intention limiting itself, at that time, 
to the acquisition of some three or four hundred 
of the most useful texts, volumes of comment 
and biographical works. The accomplishment of 
even this restricted scheme was delayed by an 
attack of pneumonia, a little while after, at 
Palermo, and it was not until May that I began 
to give much attention to my new task. I then 
wrote from Florence to my friend and successor 
as librarian, Mr. Harris: I am sending the 
Library some packages of Dante books — partly 
the spoils of my own shelves, partly taken from 
the antiquarians here and elsewhere. I don't 
stop to bind them — which can be done hereafter 
— ^because of the lack of time and strength. 
There will, of course, be some duplicates, partic- 
ularly as I don't know exactly what you at 
present possess. My idea is, if it seems good to 
you, that the Dante books you already have, and 
those now sent you, should be entered in one 
of your early bulletins so as to form a basis on 
which to build. At any rate, this will give you a 
start in the way of a Dante collection. But my 
ambition shortly took a broader range; the 
charm of the chase took possession of me and it 



181 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



was impossible to escape from its grasp. For 
the book collector, like the gambler and the 
miser, is the slave of his passion. With the 
former he feels that, at any moment, luck may 
place in his hands a great prize; why should his 
search slacken until that happy moment arrives? 
When it does come he is quite as eager for 
another stroke of good fortune, and quite as 
willing to wait and work for it. And again, as 
with the miser, it gratifies him to see his treas- 
ures accumulating — to know that to-day he is 
richer by a score of volumes than yesterday; 
and in my case the books I was looking for 
turned up with a readiness which surprised me, 
and, in general, at prices which made hesitation 
unnecessary. Why should I withdraw too hastily 
from a sport so full of zest? My gift of such a 
considerable collection to Cornell University 
was thus really the result of my unwillingness to 
refrain from a delectable self-indulgence, or, in 
other words, of my inability to avoid temptation 
and free myself from the enthralling spell of 
bibliomania. This robs the giver of any special 
credit and renders gratitude unmeet. One might 
as w^ll laud — or thank — the prodigal spendthrift 
for the sums he expends on his rounds of dissi- 
pation. 

For many years, even before he went to 
Italy permanently, he was engaged in 
collecting Petrarchcana, the mass of which 
— 4,000 volumes — he also gave to the Cor- 
nell library. It is said to be the finest of 
its kind. His Icelandic collection, num- 
bering 10,000 volumes, also went to the 
same beneficiary. His repeated visits to 
Egypt revealed to him another field of 
activity, and for a number of years he 
devoted much time and money to the task 
of perfecting and popularizing what he 
termed "An Egyptian alphabet for the 
Egyptian people" based upon Spitta's sys- 
tem of transcription, in the course of 
which he made a very complete collection 
of the literature of transcription. His old 
interest in chess also revived, and he 
busied himself in preparing a work enti- 
tled "Chess in Iceland and Icelandic Lit- 
erature," with historical notes on other 
table games. In July, 1904, he attended 
the celebration at Arezzo of the sixth cen- 



tenary of the birth of Petrarch. Thence 
he proceeded leisurely westward into 
Germany, meeting there a friend who was 
returning with him to Florence, when 
death overtook him at Frankfort, Septem- 
ber 17. His body was brought to Ithaca, 
where the funeral rites were had, the 
authorities and students of the University 
uniting in the sad services, and many 
tributes were paid to his memory. He 
rests in Sage Chapel. The bulk of his 
fortune — some $500,000 — was bequeathed 
to the library in which he lived so long 
and which he loved so dearly. 



BLATCHFORD, Samuel, 

Jurist. 

Samuel Blatchford, eminent for nearly 
thirty years as a judge in the Federal 
Courts, was born in the City of New 
York, March 8, 1820, the son of Richard 
M. Blatchford, a distinguished lawyer of 
the metropolis and minister to Italy, and 
of Julia Ann (Mumford), an exceptionally 
gifted and charming woman, a famous 
belle of New York. Marked talents and 
social graces were his by inheritance ; and 
his father, a man of large wealth, as well 
as of political influence, afforded him all 
the advantages requisite for the acqtiire- 
ment of a high education and social 
attraction. Intellectually he was a hard 
worker from the start. After the requisite 
preliminary training, he entered Columbia 
College and was graduated therefrom in 
1837, with honor. He immediately began 
the study of the law, of which he was in 
after years to become an authoritative 
interpreter; but, in 1839, he was for a 
time diverted from it by being made the 
private secretary of Governor Seward, to 
whom he had commended himself. In this 
office he served ably and discreetly during 
the administration of his chief. 

Such time as he could command, con- 
sistently with his official duties, was 



182 




WILLIAM A. WHEELER, MALONE 
Vice-President U. S.. i8rr-iSSi. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



given to his chosen profession, and he was 
admitted to the bar in New York City 
in 1842, and in 1845 became a counselor 
of the Supreme Court and was invited by 
Governor Seward, then in extensive prac- 
tice, to partnership with him. Accord- 
ingly, he removed to Auburn and the part- 
nership was consummated, Christopher 
Morgan being also a member of the firm, 
Blatchford soon taking high rank as a 
lawyer in Central New York. So highly 
was he esteemed that he was nominated 
for justice of the Supreme Court in 1851, 
by the Whigs, but the factional disturb- 
ances in that party, consequent upon 
President Fillmore's attitude on the com- 
promise measures, caused its rout in the 
State, and Blatchford, with the -est of his 
ticket, suffered defeat ; but the compli- 
ment of the nomination of a young law- 
yer, but thirty-one years of age, is signifi- 
cant of his standing at the bar and his 
qualification for the bench. Doubtless, 
had he remained in Auburn, judicial or 
political preferment would soon have been 
bestowed upon him, under more favor- 
able auspices. 

Desirous, however, of extending his 
professional activities, Blatchford re- 
turned to New York City in 1854, and 
established the firm of Blatchford, Seward 
(Clarence A. Seward, a nephew of the 
Governor) and Griswold, with which the 
elder Blatchford was also associated as 
counsel. The firm soon became promi- 
nent in commercial and legal circles, 
securing a large and lucrative clientage, 
and particularly distinguishing itself in 
practice before the United States District 
and Circuit courts. Blatchford's success 
in this respect led to his investment with 
judicial functions which, for many years, 
he admirably discharged. He was com- 
missioned, May 3, 1867, by President 
Johnson, judge of the United States Court 
for the Southern District of New York, 
from the District Court he was promoted. 



March 4, 1878, to the Circuit Court. In 
both these judicatures, involving, as they 
do, intricate issues of marine law, marine 
insurance, patent law, admiralty and in- 
terstate law, he evinced profound knowl- 
edge and discrimination of these ; and his 
decisions are regarded as authoritative, 
rarely reversed by the ultimate tribunal. 
He was exalted to a seat in the Supreme 
Court of the United States by President 
Arthur, March 22, 1882. 

Judge Blatchford's career on the local Federal 
Bench won for him an enduring reputation as 
one of the greatest, if not the greatest, of Amer- 
ican admiralty judges. Among the celebrated 
arguments heard by him were those on the let- 
ters patent for insulating telegraph and cable 
wires with gutta-percha, and as to whether a 
common carrier knowingly carrying an infring- 
ing patent article for purposes of ultimate sale 
could be made liable as a wrong-doer. He set- 
tled the legal status of the proposed Brooklyn 
bridge as a structure to be built over navigable 
waters. On the Supreme Court bench, perhaps, 
the most elaborate opinion rendered by him was 
that in the case of the Pennsylvania Railroad 
Company vs. Miller, holding that the company 
was bound by a new provision of a new State 
constitution that imposed fresh burdens, not 
contemplated by its charter, and that a com- 
pany's right of exemption from future legisla- 
tion, in order to hold good, must be expressed in 
the original charter. 

Judge Blatchford, during his long service on 
the bench in New York, enjoyed the highest 
respect and, indeed, the aflfection of the entire 
profession. He was sometimes called Chester- 
field of the bench, because of the exceeding 
grace and courtesy of his judicial bearing and 
his scrupulous observance of all the amenities. 
— (McAdam "History of the Bench and Bar of 
New York," Vol. I, page 264). 

He died at Newport, Rhode Island, July 
7. 1893- 



WHEELER, William A., 

Parliamentarian, Statesman. 

William Almon Wheeler was born in 
Malone, New York, June 30, 1819, the son 
of Almon Wheeler, a pioneer of Northern 



183 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



New York and a lawyer of distinction, 
who, however, left no estate except a 
mortgaged homestead. The story of Mr. 
Wheeler's youth would be but a repeti- 
tion of that of so many other eminent 
Americans — arduous labor at a tender 
age to discharge his heritage of debt, to 
contribute to the support of the widowed 
mother and orphaned sisters, and to earn 
an education. Having worked his way 
through Franklin Academy, Mr. Wheeler 
entered the University of Vermont, but 
eye trouble compelled him to withdraw 
without having been graduated. Return- 
ing from Burlington to Malone, he en- 
tered upon study of the law, was duly ad- 
mitted an attorney and counselor, and 
practiced successfully for a dozen years 
or more. Even after business affairs and 
politics commanded his attention almost 
exclusively, he was often consulted on 
intricate questions by other attorneys and 
close friends, and was deemed one of the 
soundest and safest counselors in North- 
ern New York. 

Mr. Wheeler became town clerk almost 
at once upon attaining his majority, then 
town superintendent of schools, and in 
1846, by appointment, district attorney. 
In 1847 he was elected to the latter office 
on a union ticket headed by a Democrat 
for county judge. When he became the 
Whig nominee for the Assembly in 1849 
that association led to the unfounded 
charge that he had changed his politics. 
He was, however, elected, and reelected 
the year following. In his first term he 
evinced so great legislative aptitude, and 
came to be so respected for wise and 
prudent judgment and for alert grasp of 
public questions, that admirers proposed 
him for the speakership the next year, 
but he had early pledged his support to 
Henry J. Raymond, and refused to be 
himself a candidate. Though the prefer- 
ment was not sought by him, he was 



nevertheless singled out for the floor 
leadership, and for a merely second-term 
member received the very unusual honor 
of assignment to the chairmanship of the 
committee on ways and means, the duties 
of which he met with signal ability, and 
to the pronounced satisfaction of his 
party colleagues. More than any other 
member, he brought about the election in 
1851 of Hamilton Fish as United States 
Senator. 

Refusing a third term, Mr. Wheeler 
entered the business of banking as cashier 
of the old State Bank of Malone, a con- 
nection which was continued for twelve 
years. In 1853 he became trustee for the 
mortgage bondholders of the Northern 
railroad, which made him virtual man- 
ager of the road for thirteen years, when, 
upon the order of the Supreme Court in a 
proceeding which he did not contest, he 
retired, and by judicial approval and 
direction turned over the property to in- 
terests which had acquired a majority of 
the stock, and which had sought vainly 
for j^ears to force him out. When he did 
retire, it was upon his own terms, ap- 
proved by the court, one of which was 
that he receive his salary to the end of 
the term for which he had been appointed 
trustee, and another that a passenger sta- 
tion to cost forty thousand dollars be 
erected at Malone. 

In 1857 Mr. Wheeler was elected to the 
State Senate as a Republican. He had 
been active in organizing the Republican 
party in Franklin county in 1855, and was 
the first candidate of that organization to 
receive a majority in the county. The 
majority was only twelve, but all of the 
rest of the ticket was beaten. His memo- 
rable service in the Assembly six years 
earlier, and the reputation which he had 
won in the meantime as a lawyer, a keen 
business manager and a sagacious and 
trustworthy politician, caused him to be 



184 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



chosen president pro tempore of the Sen- 
ate, a distinction almost or quite un- 
paralleled considering that he had never 
had previous service in the body. A re- 
nomination for the Senate was declined, 
and in i860 he was elected to Congress 
from the Essex-Clinton-Franklin district, 
serving with usefulness though not con- 
spicuously, and giving an unswerving 
support to all war measures and to the 
general policies of President Lincoln. 
From the capital, when Congress was in 
session, he was watchful of all of the vol- 
unteer organizations in the field from 
Northern New York, relieving the priva- 
tions of the men, and obtaining promo- 
tions where they were deserved, and 
when at home between sessions, and after 
his term had expired, for the remaining 
years of the war, was unceasingly active 
in forwarding the business of recruiting 
and stimulating popular support of the 
Union cause. 

In 1867 Mr. Wheeler was elected a dele- 
gate-at-large to the constitutional conven- 
tion of that year, and became its presi- 
dent, materially adding to his reputation 
as a parliamentarian. The next year and 
then successively until 1876, he was re- 
turned to Congress by the St. Lawrence- 
Franklin district, serving with statesmen 
and intellectual giants who included 
James G. Blaine, George F. Hoar, Henry 
G. Dawes, Benjamin F. Butler, Clarkson 
N. Potter, James B. Beck, Samuel J. Ran- 
dall, and Alexander H. Stephens — a nota- 
ble body. While Mr. Wheeler's part was 
less manifest to the general public than 
that of some others, it was not less formu- 
lative and controlling. His work was 
largely in the quiet of committees and 
conferences, respect for his judgment and 
disinterested sincerity, together with the 
personal liking entertained for him by his 
colleagues, both Democrats and Repub- 
licans, giving him an influence second to 



none. Nearly everybody called him 
"Father" Wheeler, and sought his advice 
upon most important measures. Often 
when a vote was about to be taken there 
would be a group of members gathered 
at his desk, and it is not to be doubted 
that the quiet talks there had determined 
more votes than all preceding debate 
combined. He seldom spoke except upon 
bills under his immediate charge that had 
been reported from his committees, and 
then his statement and argument were 
always lucid and cogent, and commanded 
close attention. As a parliamentarian he 
ranked with the best that Congress has 
ever known. As chairman of Pacific rail- 
roads in 1869-72, Mr. Wheeler accom- 
plished a great work along lines where 
suspicion was apt to be provoked and 
where opportunities were present for en- 
richment, and did it without a breath of 
scandal attaching to him. 

In 1874, when dual legislatures in 
Louisiana disputed regularity and legit- 
imacy, Mr. Wheeler initiated as a mem- 
ber of a Congressional investigating com- 
mittee the so-called Wheeler compromise, 
by which order was restored in the State. 
Before unfolding his plan to Louisiana 
parties, he outlined it to President Grant, 
who listened, but vouchsafed neither in- 
terest nor approval. After waiting 
patiently for some expression of opinion 
by the President, and none being offered, 
Mr. W^heeler withdrew in anger, and with 
the determination that his shadow should 
never again darken the doors of the 
White House while General Grant occu- 
pied it. But the next morning the Presi- 
dent sent for him, and stated that after 
having taken time to think the matter 
over he was convinced of the feasibility 
and justness of the plan, and that the 
whole power of the government should 
be employed to carry it through. It suc- 
ceeded. Mr. Wheeler did not know until 



185 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



months afterward that when he started 
for New Orleans to unfold his proposition 
there and urge its adoption, President 
Grant had given General Sheridan direc- 
tions that no effort was to be omitted to 
protect him against every possible dan- 
ger, and that federal soldiers were to be 
continually near to interpose between 
him and rough characters who the Presi- 
dent thought would not hesitate to take 
his life if they could do it secretly. 

In 1876 Mr. Wheeler was regarded by 
many as a possible nominee for the presi- 
dency, and his selection was urged in 
some quarters. But he himself never took 
the matter seriously, and, though not 
actually in favor of Senator Conkling, ad- 
vised that he be given the New York 
delegation without opposition. When 
Mr. Hayes was named for first place, 
New York was looked to as the natural 
and advisable State to furnish the candi- 
date for the vice-presidency, and Mr. 
Wheeler was the State's choice. There is 
no occasion here to argue the merits of 
the disputed result of the election, but it 
would be improper not to say that Mr. 
Wheeler fully believed that his title to 
the office \vas unquestionable, and that 
the decision which gave it to him was "as 
righteous as an edict of God." Besides 
the public offices held by Mr. Wheeler, 
the governorship of New York was in 
efifect declined by him in 1872 because he 
thought his means insufficient to meet the 
expense attendant upon incumbency of 
the office, and in 1879, when Senator 
Conkling urged him to give countenance 
prior to the State convention to the move- 
ment for the nomination of Alonzo B. 
Cornell, with significant suggestion that 
if he would take such course it must 
surely make him United States Senator 
in 1881 — the suggestion amounting in the 
circumstances to a promise of suppor*- — 
he rejected the overture because he re- 



garded Mr. Cornell's nomination as un- 
wise, and also because the proposition 
carried the appearance of bartering a pub- 
lic trust. The same proposition came to 
him again in 1880 as an inducement to 
him to favor the nomination of General 
Grant for President for a third term, and 
was declined by telegraph, with his de- 
cision based not upon hostility to the 
nomination, but upon aversion to bar- 
gaining in such a matter. 

In 1881, when Senators Conkling and 
Piatt resigned in anger as a protest 
against the appointment of William H. 
Robertson over their remonstrance to be 
collector of the port of New York, and 
then sought reelection, in the weeks of 
deadlock that followed, Mr. Wheeler was 
the leading candidate against Senator 
Conkling, but refused to go to Albany 
in his own interest or to do anything for 
himself, until towards the end he ac- 
cepted an invitation to visit the capital 
for a conference with Governor Cornell, 
the conclusion of which was that at the 
opening of the then ensuing week the 
Governor should announce himself a can- 
didate against Senator Piatt, with in- 
dorsement of Mr. Wheeler for the other 
place. It was believed that this combina- 
tion would assure success, but before it 
could be announced. President Garfield 
was shot, and Governor Cornell withdrew 
from the arrangement. Even then many 
of those who were on the inside in the 
contest had no doubt that Mr. Wheeler 
might still have been elected if he had 
consented to certain conditions. Refus- 
ing to tie himself in any way, he was 
beaten. Thereafter he had no active par- 
ticipation in politics except quietly in 
liome matters. Mrs. Wheeler, who was 
the daughter of William King, and whom 
he had married in 1845, had died in 1876. 
Their union was childless, and Mr. 
Wheeler had no close relative in the 



186 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



world. He died June 4, 1887, after years 
of suffering from neuralgia and other 
painful ailments, the immediate cause of 
death having been softening of the brain. 

Generosity was as natural to Mr. 
Wheeler as breathing, and was regularly 
and frequently exercised. No subscrip- 
tion paper was ever presented to him for 
a cause that he thought worthy, that he 
did not sign in so large an amount as 
almost shamed the solicitor to accept. 
Nearly every church in Malone was the 
recipient of gifts from him, ranging from 
five hundred dollars each to ten thousand 
dollars. For a long time he gave also a 
thousand dollars annually to missions. 
Auburn Theological Seminary received 
three thousand dollars from him, and a 
gentleman whom he employed shortly be- 
fore his death to arrange and classify his 
cancelled checks informed me that for 
many years it had been his practice to 
send twenty-five dollars to every church 
from which any sort of appeal for aid 
reached him, regardless of denominat-'on 
or location. There were scores of such 
checks, and as many to societies in the 
middle or far West as in New York. His 
benefactions to individuals, and particu- 
larly to 30ung men seeking education, 
were innumerable, and must have aggre- 
gated a great sum. His estate amounted 
to only about eighty thousand dollars, 
and with the exception of a few personal 
bequests, totaling less than ten thousand 
dollars, all went to home and foreign mis- 
sions. 

Mr. Wheeler had great magnetism ; the 
clasp of his hand was warm and winning, 
and even his casual greeting a pleasure to 
be sought and remembered. As a public 
speaker he lacked the rhythm and finish 
of expression, as well as the spontaneous 
outpouring of thought, that we associate 
with real oratory, and yet he was one of 
the most popular, persuasive and force- 



ful men on the stump that it was ever my 
fortune to hear, while in conference he 
was emphatic and dominating to a degree. 
Concerning any serious question, he was 
always tremendously in earnest, which 
was one of his elements of strength. 
Nevertheless, when a plan of action was 
under consideration, though he was a 
radical in principle, he was usually con- 
servative (or ought we to say timid?) in 
counsel. He himself would have said that 
he was merely cautious. In all affairs of 
State and national politics, at least, he ex- 
emplified an unbending conscientiousness 
and fidelity to the very highest stand- 
ards and ideals, and so squared his con- 
duct. 

If I were to pronounce an opinion con- 
cerning him as a politician in the broader 
field, it would be that he lacked aggres- 
siveness and courage — which, perhaps, is 
explicable in part by his morbid and per- 
sistent belief during the last twenty years 
of his life that his health v^'as precarious, 
and would break utterly if he were to 
engage strenuously in any undertaking. 
To such a degree did this feeling abide 
that more than once he would have re- 
signed his seat in Congress, and, as he 
believed, returned to Malone to die, had 
it not been for the influence of his wife 
and the pressure of friends. Possibly it 
was this element of apprehension that 
caused him to be passive in the fight 
against the nomination of Mr. Cornell for 
Governor in 1879, which he might easily 
have prevented. But he would not even 
request the St. Lawrence delegates to 
vote against j\Ir. Cornell, though they 
oflfered to do so if he should ask it. Bit- 
terly inimical to Senator Conkling's polit- 
ical leadership, he nevertheless chose to 
content himself with sneering at it, and 
refrained from openly challenging it. As 
a legislator, there must be great respect 
for his aptitude, abilities and high pur- 



187 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



poses. To command the leadership of his 
party in the Assembly while yet a young 
man, and serving only his second term ; 
to be chosen president pro tempore of the 
Senate in his first term ; and to win in 
Congress a leading place among such 
men as composed that body in his time, 
admits of no conclusion but that he had 
more than ordinary talent and force of 
character. Greatness in the degree or of 
the kind that distinguished Seward, Sum- 
ner, Thaddeus Stevens and others of the 
giants who were in public life during and 
immediately after our Civil War, he may 
have lacked, but his usefulness and influ- 
ence within his sphere was hardly less 
than their, while, as regards the cleanli- 
ness and incorruptibility of his service, no 
one surpassed him. 

Frederick J. Seaver. 



WHITE, Horace, 

Journalist, Author. 

Horace White, formerly editor-in-chief 
of "The Evening Post," and vice-presi- 
dent and president of the New York Even- 
ing Post Company, was for many years 
one of the leading journalist of this coun- 
try, and an authority on financial subjects. 
Other editors of less genuine worth have 
attained greater fame than Mr. White, 
and, by reason of more striking personal- 
ity or larger fields of activity, have left a 
deeper immediate impress on their gener- 
ation. But among those who knew him, 
probably no other editor was so steady 
and powerful an influence for sound, 
honorable journalism. Mr. White was 
one of the last of the famous group of 
New York journalists which included 
Charles A. Dana, Whitelaw Reid, and 
several others, and was a personal friend 
of Abraham Lincoln. 

Mr. White was reared under the teach- 
ings and example of sturdy ancestors of 
New England blood, and he exemplified in 



marked degree those qualities which led 
people to cross a wide ocean and locate 
in a wilderness because of their princi- 
ples. The earliest ancestor of the branch 
of the family here under consideration of 
whom there is definite information was 
Thomas White, who came to this country 
from England in 1642. Benjamin White, 
youngest son of Joseph and Lucy White, 
great-great-great-grandson of Thomas, 
was born in Templeton, Massachusetts, 
July 3, 1783, baptized July 27, 1783, in 
Templeton, and shortly after attaining 
manhood settled in Bethlehem, New 
Hampshire, where his death occurred 
August 31, 1820. He married Betsey 
Wilder, born in 1791, in Massachusetts, 
daughter of Willis and Relief (Wheelock) 
Wilder. Willis Wilder was baptized De- 
cember 5, 1756, in Leominster, son of Jo- 
seph and Elizabeth (Hayward) Wilder, 
of Lunenburg, a descendant of Thomas 
(2) Wilder, the American immigrant. He 
married, December 20, 1778, in Lancaster, 
Relief Wheelock, and four of their chil- 
dren were baptized in that town, Septem- 
ber 25, 1785. Subsequently he resided in 
Templeton, whence he removed in 1796 
to Bethlehem, New Hampshire, and there 
passed the remainder of his days. 

Dr. Horace White, son of Benjamin 
and Betsey (Wilder) White, was born in 
Bethlehem, New Hampshire, in 1810. 
After attendance at the schools of his 
native town, he pursued a course of study 
in medicine, received his degree of Doctor 
of Medicine from Dartmouth College, and 
practiced his profession successfully, first 
in Colebrook, New Hampshire, where he 
resided until 1837, then in Beloit, Wiscon- 
sin, whither he removed, and where his 
death occurred in the year 1843, ^t the 
early age of thirty-three years, in the 
very prime of manhood. He was well 
and favorably known among his profes- 
sional brethren, and was an active, public- 
spirited citizen. In 1833 he married Eliz- 



188 




h/^^n-t^'^-f^ ^"pP.^tXj^ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



abeth McClary Moore, born in Bedford, 
New Hampshire, in 1808, daughter of 
William Moore, a soldier in the War of 
the Revolution. 

Horace (2) White, son of Dr. Horace 
and Elizabeth McClary (Moore) White, 
was born in Colebrook, New Hampshire, 
August 10, 1834. He was reared in Be- 
loit, Wisconsin, whither his parents re- 
moved when he was three years of age. 
He prepared for college in S. T. Merrill's 
school at Beloit, and graduated from Be- 
loit College in 1853, receiving the degree 
of Bachelor of Arts, and in 1906 Brown 
University conferred upon him the honor- 
ary degree of Doctor of Laws. His first 
newspaper experience was with "The Chi- 
cago Evening Journal," of which he soon 
became city editor. In 1857 he joined the 
staff of "The Chicago Tribune," of which 
he was editor, 1864-1874, and one of the 
principal owners when he severed his con- 
nection with the paper in the latter year. 
He early made his influence felt in the 
city of Chicago, and he brought to New 
York City the continental view of affairs, 
not always found on the Atlantic sea- 
board. The interest of the entire coun- 
try, rather than that of any particular 
community or section, was ever upper- 
most in his mind. In 1883 Mr. White 
came to New York City and joined the 
staff of "The Evening Post" as an edi- 
torial writer. Later he became editor-in- 
chief and head of the company, retiring 
on January i, 1903, and from that time 
until his death he resided quietly at his 
home. No. 18 West Sixty-ninth street. 
During these years his writings on finan- 
cial subjects had brought him prominence 
and he was regarded as a leading author- 
ity on such matters. And while what he 
wrote about finance was best known as 
his own, the sturdy common sense and 
fairness which he brought to bear on most 
problems of his day were the outstanding 
characteristics of the man that made him 



a vital factor in newspaper making. Car- 
ing little or not at all for the great-editor 
journalism of his active days, he strove 
with unflagging earnestness and courage 
to get at the truth, regardless of tempo- 
rary consequences. A free trader by in- 
stinct and training, he was not afraid to 
face and acknowledge the facts, notably 
those brought out in the infancy of the 
American tin-plate industrj', that served 
the cause of protection. A man of power- 
ful convictions, he was able to see and 
appreciate merits in the personal objects 
of his criticism. Mr. W^hite's specialty 
was political economy, and he was an 
expert writer on the money question and 
on banking. He used his forceful pen to 
combat all financial delusions, notably the 
greenback movement and the free-silver 
movement. The effectiveness of his writ- 
ings was due largely to the clearness and 
simplicity of his style, and to a remark- 
able facility in homely illustration which 
made his point clear even to the most un- 
informed reader. 

Joseph C. Hendrix, a representative 
banker, bore testimony to Mr. White's 
accomplishments in these words: 

There has never been such turbulent economic 
thinking in the course of the world's history 
as that which we have known in the past two 
generations. * * * First, the question of the 
greenbacks; then, in all its collateral issues, the 
depreciated silver dollar, then international 
bimetallism, and various suggestions of ratios, 
until finally the victory was won in behalf of the 
gold standard, bringing us into relation with all 
of the civilization of the earth; and throughout 
all these days we had the patient schoolmaster, 
who, without harangue, without any attempted 
eloquence, sat upon his editorial tripod, and 
attacked one fallacy after another as it made its 
appearance in public debate and public discus- 
sion and saw the full effulgence of the victory, 
and did not once say "Throw a rose at me." 

It has been my fortune to know of the value 
of this gentleman's work, and to be able to 
measure it. It is my privilege and my honor to 
be able here, in behalf not only of the bankers 
of New York, but in behalf of the bankers of 



189 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



the United States, to testify (turning to Mr. 
White) to your splendid services in the final 
establishment of the gold standard in this coun- 
try. 

Mr. White was the author of various 
standard works, including "Money and 
Banking, Illustrated by American His- 
tory," first published by Ginn & Company, 
Boston, Massachusetts, 1895, and which 
reached its fifth edition in 1912; a transla- 
tion from the Greek in two volumes of 
"The Roman History of Appian of Alex- 
andria," published by the Macmillan Com- 
pany, 1899, and republished in the Loeb 
Classical Library, and "The Life of Lyman 
Trumbull," published by Houghton-Mif- 
flin Company, 1913. In addition. Mr. 
White was the editor of Bastiat's "Sophis- 
mes Economiques," published in 1S76, and 
- Luigi Cossa's "Scienza delle Finanze," 
published in 1889. In 1909 Governor 
Hughes appointed Mr. White chairman 
of the New York State Commission on 
Speculation and Commodities, and he 
served with distinction during the life of 
the commission. Mr. White was a mem- 
ber of the Century, Republican, Univer- 
sity and City clubs, and of the Sons of the 
American Revolution. 

Mr. White married (first) April 19, 
1859, at New Haven, Connecticut, Mar- 
tha Hale Root, daughter of David and 
Mary (Gordon) Root. He married (sec- 
ond) February 4, 1875, at Chicago, Illi- 
nois, Amelia J. MacDougall, daughter of 
James T. and Abby (McGinnis) Mac- 
Dougall. Children, born of second mar- 
riage: Amelia Elizabeth, August 28, 1878; 
Abby MacDougall, March 10, 1880; Mar- 
tha Root, March 10, 1S81. 

Mr. White died September 16, 1916, at 
his home in New York City, mourned not 
only by his immediate family, but b}" all 
with whom he was brought in contact, 
whether in public or private life. The 
funeral services were conducted in the 



Cathedral of St. John the Divine by the 
Rev. Robert Ellis Jones, canon of the 
Cathedral, and the interment took place 
in Graceland Cemetery, Chicago. 



LOW, Seth, 
Leader in Civic and Educational Affairs. 

Seth Low, formerly mayor of New 
York City, died at his country home. 
Broad Brook Farm, near Bedford Hills, 
New York, September 17, 1916. Twice 
mayor of the city of Brooklyn, to which 
office he was elected on the Independent 
and Republican tickets, mayor of New 
York. 1901-03, being elected on the Fu- 
sion ticket, and for eleven years presi- 
dent of Columbia University, Mr. Low 
was prominently identified with New 
York affairs for more than thirty years. 
In addition, he was nationally prominent 
as an educator and in offices to which he 
was appointed by various presidents. 

Mr. Low was born January 18. 1850, 
in Brooklyn, New York, son of .-Vbiel 
Abbot and Ellen Almira (Dow) Low. 
His ancestors were among the earliest 
settlers of Massachusetts, his grandfather, 
a Harvard student, coming to New York 
City in 1S28. His father, who was presi- 
dent of the Chamber of Commerce, 1863- 
66, founded a great business here in tea 
and silk, and at one time had more than 
a dozen clipper ships engaged in the 
China trade. 

Seth Low attended the Brooklyn Poly- 
technic Institute, and in his sixteenth 
year entered Cokmibia College, from 
which he was graduated four years later, 
at the head of his class, with the degree 
of Bachelor of Arts. During his last year 
in college he attended lectures in the Co- 
lumbia Law School, but did not complete 
the course. Immediately after gradua- 
tion, Mr. Low made an extended trip 
abroad, from which he returned to be- 

190 




/"•iff -^<-w/-«-a^ A&rfBri^^/S^,.. 



V ■^■^'^>*i=^-« i£^'-^AO' 



->. 






ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



come a clerk for his father's firm, A. A. 
Low & Brothers. He was admitted to 
partnership in the firm in 1875, and upon 
the retirement of his father in 1S79, he 
was among the partners who succeeded 
to the business, which was finally liqui- 
dated in 1887. Meanwhile he had become 
a member of the Chamber of Commerce, 
in which he soon became useful, fre- 
quently serving upon important commit- 
tees, and at times delivering addresses 
which commanded attention. At the age 
of thirty he began to take an active inter- 
est in Brooklyn politics, organizing in 
1880 the Young Republican Club, which 
supported the candidacy of Garfield and 
Arthur, and materially reduced the usual 
Democratic majorities of Brooklyn. Mr. 
Low won more than a local celebrity as a 
public speaker during this campaign, and 
from the first identified himself with re- 
form movements, becoming a stalwart 
opponent of machine methods and politi- 
cal corruption. Despite his youth, there- 
fore, it was a natural selection when one 
year later he was taken up as the reform 
candidate for mayor of Brooklyn. He 
was triumphantly elected, and, as the re- 
sult of a highly successful administra- 
tion, marked by various salutary reform 
measures, among which was that of com- 
petitive examination for appointment to 
municipal positions, he was reelected in 
1883, leaving the office in 1886 with a 
national reputation as a practical reformer 
and exponent of honest municipal admin- 
istration. 

After his retirement from his second 
term as mayor, in 1887, Mr. Low again 
visited Europe, where he spent several 
years in travel. In 1890 he was called to 
the presidency of Columbia College (of 
which he had been a trustee), in succes- 
sion to Dr. F. A. P. Barnard, and which 
position he occupied with distinguished 



become mayor of the City of Greater New 
York. Immediately upon taking up his 
duties as president of Columbia College, 
he began to infuse new life into that ven- 
erable institution, and his entire manage- 
ment was marked by most wise judg- 
ment. The several instructional depart- 
ments which had been maintained inde- 
pendently of each other were organically 
united and brought under the control of 
a university council created for that spe- 
cific purpose. In the following year the 
old historic College of Physicians and 
Surgeons was brought within the univer- 
sity corporation, and the School of Mines 
was broadened into the Schools of Ap- 
plied Science. The university had been 
so expanded by the year 1S92 that the 
old buildings had become inadequate, and 
a change of location was determined 
upon. A committee recommended the 
site of the old Bloomingdale Asylum for 
the Insane, on the Morningside Park 
Heights, valued at more than two million 
dollars, which amount was paid by the 
year 1894 — a result in large measure due 
to the persistent interest of President 
Low — and seven and a half million dol- 
lars were expended in the erection of the 
new buildings. The efficiency of the uni- 
versity was further enhanced by the 
establishment of the Columbia Union 
Press, for the publication of historic and 
scientific documents, after the manner of 
the Oxford Clarendon Press of England. 
President Low's benefactions during this 
period were most princely. He gave to 
the university, in 1894, the sum of ten 
thousand dollars for the endowment of a 
classical chair in honor of his former 
teacher. Professor Henry Drisler; in 1895 
he gave a million dollars for the erection 
of the new university library ; and in 
recognition of his munificence the trus- 
tees established twelve university scholar- 



usefulness until 1901, when he left it to ships for Brooklyn boys, and twelve in 

191 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Barnard College for Brooklyn girls, be- 
sides establishing eight annual university 
scholarships. In 1896 President Low 
gave ten thousand dollars to Barnard Col- 
lege, and five thousand dollars to the New 
York Kindergarten Association. 

In the meantime he was busy with 
varied benevolent and charitable labors. 
In 1893, during the cholera epidemic, he 
rendered useful service as chairman of a 
committee appointed by the New York 
Chamber of Commerce to aid the authori- 
ties in precautionary measures, and the 
quarantine camp established at Sandy 
Hook by the national government was 
named Camp Low in his honor. In 1894, 
in association with his brother, Abbot 
Augustus Low, he built and presented to 
the mission station of the Protestant 
Episcopal church in Wu Chang, China, a 
completely equipped hospital for the use 
of the mission, and named in memory of 
their father. 

In 1901 Air. Low resigned from the 
presidency of Columbia University, but 
continued as a trustee until July, 1914, 
when he ended his connection with the 
board, after serving for thirty-two years. 

In 1897 Mr. Low entered politics in 
New York City, at which time he was 
selected by the leaders of the reform 
movement to head the municipal ticket 
for mayor. The Republicans, however, 
placed a ticket in the field, and the reform 
party was defeated by Tammany. In 
spite of his defeat, he continued his work 
for reform,, and then, in 1899, President 
McKinley appointed him one of the dele- 
gates from this country to the Peace Con- 
ference at The Hague. He took a promi- 
nent part in the deliberations of this body, 
and his services were highly commended 
by its president. In 1901 Mr. Low again 
ran for mayor in the reform movement, 
and was elected by a large majority, 
which position he held for two years, 



fully sustaining his reputation as an 
executive, governed by the highest possi- 
ble standards. After his retirement from 
that high office, he busied himself with 
personal affairs, giving a large share of 
his attention to benevolent and charitable 
causes, which always commanded his 
interest. Mr. Low was prominent as an 
arbitrator in labor questions, and held a 
number of quasi-public offices. In No- 
vember, 1914, President Wilson appointed 
him one of the commission of three to 
investigate the coal strike in Colorado. 
In the same year he was elected president 
of the Chamber of Commerce, in which he 
was especially active after the outbreak 
of the European war. He was chairman 
of the board of trustees of Tuskegee In- 
stitute, and identified with several other 
institutions. 

Mr. Low was interested in several cor- 
porations. He was president and a direc- 
tor of the Bedford Farmers' Cooperative 
Association, and a trustee of the Carne- 
gie Institution of Washington. In addi- 
tion he was president of the Archsologi- 
cal Institute of America ; the Geographi- 
cal Society of New York, having suc- 
ceeded Charles P. Daly in 1900; a mem- 
ber of the New York Academy of Politi- 
cal Science ; president of the American 
Asiatic Society, and of the National Civic 
Federation. He was a member of the 
New England Society and the Society of 
Mayflower Descendants, and belonged to 
the Century, City, Republican, Down 
Town, Authors', Barnard and Columbia 
University clubs of New York, and the 
Hamilton Club of Brooklyn. He received 
the degree of Doctor of Laws from Am- 
herst College in 1889; from the Univer- 
sity of the State of New York, from Har- 
vard University, from the University of 
Pennsylvania, and from Trinity College, 
in 1S90; from Princeton University in 
1896; from Yale University in 1901 ; and 
192 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



from the University of Edinburgh, Scot- 
land, in 1910. 

Mr. Low married, December 9, 1880, 
Annie Wroe Scollay Curtis, of Boston, 
daughter of Justice Benjamin Robbins 
Curtis, of the United States Supreme 
Court. 

At the time of his death, pubhc ex- 
pressions of sorrow were many and fer- 
vent, and the press of the city gave an 
unusual amount of space to editorial 
notices of this sad event. At a joint meet- 
ing of the Board of Aldermen and of the 
Board of Estimate and Apportionment 
the following preamble and resolution, 
presented by the president of the Board 
of Aldermen, was adopted: 

Seth Low, ex-Mayor of the City of New York, 
is no more. Divine Providence has called him 
from his earthly career, leaving behind a record 
of integrity, devotion to duty and faithfulness to 
all the claims which public life made upon him. 

A foremost citizen, great public character and 
in the public life of the city of New York a lead- 
ing force, he will be missed. During his ex- 
tended period of service he took a most useful 
and active part in the aflfairs of the city, State 
and nation, to each of which he gave uninter- 
ruptedly and unstintingly of the talent and 
genius with which nature had freely endowed 
him. 

Resolved, That in the death of the Honorable 
Seth Low, the city of New York, the State and 
the nation have suffered an especial and very 
great loss. In him was recognized one of the 
country's greatest and most conscientious public 
servants. 

In commenting on the death of Mr. 
Low, Mayor Mitchel said: 

Seth Low was an exceptionally useful citizen. 
He was always ready to give his effective help 
to any movement which affected the welfare 
of this city. During his term as Mayor he 
accomplished things upon which his successors 
in the city government have been building ever 
since. This administration especially is grateful 
to him for his cooperation with it. To me per- 
sonally his death is a very great loss, for I 
always found him a strong and courageous 
friend and a valued counsellor. 



Through his death the cause of non-partisan- 
ship in city government loses its most distin- 
guished advocate. Not alone is this city indebted 
to him for his work as a pioneer non-partisan 
Mayor, but the movement for non-partisan 
municipal administration throughout the country 
has been profoundly influenced by his efforts. 

At this time of labor unrest it is especially fit- 
ting that attention be called to Mr. Low's con- 
tribution to the cause of industrial peace through 
the method of arbitration. Labor and capital 
found in him a just judge and the public interest 
a devoted champion. 

Theodore Roosevelt expressed sorrow 
concerning the death of Mr. Low as fol- 
lows : 

Seth Low was a man of high attainments, a 
man who rendered distinguished service to his 
fellow men. He was a most potent factor in the 
fight for good government. I deeply mourn his 
death. 



WERNER, William E., 
Jurist. 

Throughout the wide range of Judge 
Werner's professional fame, his memory 
will be revered because of his learning in 
the law, his wise discretion as a magis- 
trate and his courage and independence 
in the performance of the highest judicial 
duties — the interpretation of the State's 
fundamental law. These aspects of his 
remarkable career are a cherished testi- 
monial to the opportunities of American 
democracy, and to the realization of a 
series of such opportunities by a youth 
who was poor in all else but heart and 
mind. In them Rochester has its share 
of pleasure and pride, for it was there that 
the foundations of the career of Judge 
Werner were laid, and from there that 
he was preferred to his last and highest 
judicial distinction. 

But when all is said of the eminence 
and fame of William E. Werner as a 
lawyer and judge, when full account is 
taken of his unique and inspiring advance. 



N Y— Vol 11—13 



193 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



through patience, industry and self-denial, 
from humble to lofty estate in his pro- 
fession, there still remains something un- 
said, for Judge Werner enjoyed in rare 
measure the respect, the esteem and the 
admiration of the citizens of Rochester. 
The fact is even more patent and im- 
pressive that he was held there in a deep 
and enduring affection that owed nothing 
to his professional talents or achieve- 
ments. He was loved for himself, as a 
friend, a companion, a welcome partner 
in happiness and a comforting sharer in 
sorrow. Men of great gifts and accom- 
plishments found pleasure in his society, 
and among his friends there were many 
of these. But it was his fortunate en- 
dowment to be happy and to be able to 
share happiness alike with those who had 
much in intellectual treasure to give, and 
with those who had little or none. Mod- 
est, simple, genuine, always and alto- 
gether true, he "sat an equal guest at 
every board," and in the rich glow of his 
companionship every other guest became 
a friend. 

William E. Werner was born in Buf- 
falo, New York, April 19, 1855, died in 
Rochester, New York, March i, 1916, son 
of William and Magdalina Werner. He 
was early left an orphan and although he 
attended public schools in Buffalo until 
fourteen years of age, he at the same time 
was obliged to earn and provide his own 
means of living. He was not a strong 
boy, and after an attempt at learning the 
molder's trade, sought employment on a 
farm near Buffalo, hoping to build up 
a stronger physique in the purer and 
healthier surroundings of a farm. He 
worked for board, clothing and the privi- 
lege of attending district school during 
the winter term for one year, and did 
improve greatly in health and strength, 
also developing during the school term 
an intense purpose to in some way secure 
a good education. He returned to Buffalo 



and began contriving ways and means by 
which he might support himself and ad- 
vance in mental acquirement at the same 
time. For several years he worked in the 
tin-stamping mill of the Sidney Shepard 
Company, taking evening courses at the 
Bryant & Stratton Business College in 
bookkeeping and commercial law, admis- 
sion to the Mechanics' Institute giving 
him access to the library of that institu- 
tion, a privilege freely used. He next 
secured a position as clerk and book- 
keeper with L. Holzburn & C. Laney, 
wholesale grocers, continuing self-educa- 
tion during the years till 1877, when he 
located in Rochester for the purpose of 
reading law. In June, of that year, he 
became a student in the law office of Wil- 
liam H. Bowman, studied under him one 
year, then transferred to the office of D. 
C. Feely. 

In the summer of 1879 he was appointed 
clerk of the Municipal Court, there win- 
ning a host of friends among the lawyers 
and business men who appreciated his 
efficiency. In 1880 he reached the goal of 
his boyish ambition and was admitted to 
the bar, being then twenty-five years of 
age. He had financed his own education, 
earned his own living, and if ever a man 
had risen from lowly position through his 
own unaided efforts, it was he. He had 
won all the preliminary skirmishes in the 
battle of life, and immediately upon his 
admission to the Monroe county bar in 
1880 he resigned his clerkship in the Mu- 
nicipal Court and threw himself into the 
competitive struggle for position at that 
bar. He joined forces with Henry J. Het- 
zel, and as Hetzel & Werner the firm 
quickly sprang into prominence, a fact 
largely due to Mr. Werner's eloquent and 
forcible presentation of their cases to 
juries. He had taken an active part in 
local politics as a Republican and already 
established a reputation county-wide as 
an eloquent speaker. 



194 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



The next four years, 1880-84, were spent 
in successful practice and a brilliant career 
dt the bar was foreshadowed, when he 
was named for the office of special county 
judge by the Republican county conven- 
tion. At the November election, 1884, he 
was chosen county judge by a majority 
of seven thousand over an opponent who 
the previous year had been defeated for 
district attorney of Monroe county by but 
one hundred votes. He took his seat, one 
of the youngest judges in New York 
State, but soon established a reputation 
for sound judgment, legal learning, fair- 
ness and strict devotion to duty which 
won, not only professional, but public 
confidence. In 1887 he was reelected 
without opposition, his opponent with- 
drawing from the contest a few days 
prior to the election. In 1889, having 
served five years as special county judge, 
he was elected county judge, nominated 
by the Republican and endorsed by the 
Democratic conventions, a tribute to his 
worth and popularity seldom bestowed. 
His administration of the office was popu- 
lar and satisfactory. He possessed in a 
high degree the quality that is known 
among lawyers as "the judicial mind." 
While upon the county court bench. Judge 
Werner was dignified, without affecta- 
tion ; accommodating, yet impartial ; pa- 
tient, yet firm. Out of the court room he 
was one of the most approachable of men. 
Always courteous as presiding judge in 
the court of sessions. Judge Werner was 
brought into close contact with many 
whose lives had been embittered and sad- 
dened by the criminal tendencies of rela- 
tives and friends. These poor unfortu- 
nates always found a friend in Judge 
Werner, who was always ready to assist 
and advise them as far as he could con- 
sistently with the performance of his ju- 
dicial duties. 

To those who followed Judge Werner 



and his record during the preceding ten 
years, it was not strange therefore that 
when by the death of Justice Macomber 
a vacancy was created upon the Supreme 
Court bench Judge Werner became the 
recognized candidate of many lawyers 
and a large majority of the people for 
judicial prominence. Almost immediately 
following the appointment of Judge Yeo- 
man to fill the vacancy for the year, the 
canvass of the county was commenced by 
the friends of the two judges. The con- 
test promised to be spirited, but after a 
few of the primaries were held in June, it 
was predicted that Judge Werner would 
easily carry the county. This prophecy 
was more than fulfilled, for after the votes 
were counted, it was found that he had 
succeeded in carrying every one of the 
thirty-nine towns and wards in Monroe 
county. As a natural consequence the 
other counties, which conceded the right 
of Monroe county to name the candidate, 
followed her example, and the result was 
shown in the unanimous nomination of 
Judge Werner in the convention of 1894. 

Judge Werner took his seat on the 
bench of the Supreme Court, January i, 
1895, holding court in the eight counties 
of the judicial district. In the higher 
courts he showed the same characteris- 
tics, combining judicial knowledge with 
courtesy, until he became as popular in 
the seven rural counties as he was in the 
towns of Monroe county. He made hun- 
dreds of warm friends in the districts who 
then felt a personal interest in his still 
higher promotion to the Court of Appeals. 
Judge Werner was assigned frequently 
to work in New York City, which enabled 
him to widen his acquaintance and made 
him as well known to the bar of the 
metropolis as to the local bar. 

In 1900 Governor Roosevelt designated 
Judge Werner as an Associate Judge of 
the Court of Appeals, stating that it was 



195 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



a well-earned recognition of the services 
he rendered as presiding justice at the 
sessions of the special grand jury which 
indicted violators of the election law of 
New York City in the election of 1899. 
In November, 1904, Judge Werner was 
nominated for the office of Associate 
Judge of the Court of Appeals on the Re- 
publican ticket, and endorsed by the 
Democrats. He was elected for the full 
term of fourteen years. He was the Re- 
publican candidate for Chief Judge of 
the Court of Appeals in the election of 
November, 1913. He was defeated by a 
plurality of little over one thousand votes 
by Judge Willard Bartlett, of Brooklyn, 
who was the Democratic and Independ- 
ence League candidate. 

During the last year of his life Judge 
Werner spent but little time on the bench, 
owing to a weakened physical condition. 
The winter of 1914 he partly spent in 
Florida, returning to again sit upon the 
bench of the Court of Appeals on his 
birthday, April 19. During the summer 
of 191 5 he spent a month in Canada, but 
in October he had become so weakened 
that his physicians resorted to blood 
transfusion, his brother and daughters 
volunteering for that service and later 
students from Rochester Theological Sem- 
inary. But the fiat had gone forth and a 
few months later the just and upright 
Judge, the loving husband, father and 
friend, closed his earthly career. 

Judge Werner held life memberships in 
Rochester Lodge, No. 660, Free and Ac- 
cepted Masons; Hamilton Chapter, No. 
62, Royal Arch Masons; Monroe Com- 
mandery. No. 12, Knights Templar; was 
a member of Aurora Lodge, Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, the National Geo- 
graphic Society, the Fort Orange Club of 
Albany, the Society of the Genesee, the 
Genesee Valley and Rochester Country 
clubs, and was an elder of the Third Pres- 



byterian Church. He was also secretary 
and a director of the Stecher Lithographic 
Company, director of the German-Ameri- 
can Insurance Company and the Reynolds 
Library, and a trustee of the Security 
Trust Company. 

Judge Werner married in Buffalo, 
March 7, 1889, Lillie Boiler, who survives 
him with three daughters — Clara Louise, 
Marie and Caroline — residing at 399 Ox- 
ford street, Rochester. 

Judge Werner's career at the bar and 
on the bench of the various county and 
State courts was long and highly honor- 
able. He came to his judicial work when 
comparatively a young man, but was 
versed in the intricacies of the law, as he 
had been taught at the feet of the most 
eminent disciples of Blackstone and Coke 
that the State has ever produced. In addi- 
tion to profound knowledge of the law, 
he brought to his judicial work an endow- 
ment of sterling integrity the lack of 
which in the judicial office cannot be 
compensated by even the highest tech- 
nical knowledge. 

As a man and a citizen Judge Werner 
was singularly approachable, and he had 
hosts of warm personal friends. He had 
an old-fashioned but courtly manner, 
which made him a delightful companion, 
and endeared him to all with whom he 
came in contact, and there are no men in 
any community who have stronger or 
more constant personal friends. As a 
law-giver he ever maintained the dignity 
of the judicial office; and throughout his 
career upheld unfailingly its best tradi- 
tions. More than that, by his example 
and his precepts he did much to inspire 
in the minds of the people that respect for 
courts of justice, and that popular confi- 
dence in the righteous administration of 
the laws, which form, the cornerstone of 
the institutions of a free people. His 
opinions are distinguished not alone for 



196 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



their learning, but also for the lucidity of 
their expression. He was the master of 
an English style, pure, graceful and tell- 
ing. He had the literary touch, and was 
the orator par excellence on many lettered 
and patriotic occasions ; and the honored 
guest at many banquets at which he 
shone "a bright, particular star." 

As a man. Judge Werner's personality 
was portrayed by the Monroe county 
delegate who put him in nomination for 
Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals : 

The candidate for chief judge I have the honor 
to name represents my ideal of a judge. He is 
not an intellectual prodigy, but just a harmo- 
nious blending of the human and the intellectual, 
a union of discretion and firmness, a combina- 
tion of strength, moderation, learning and indus- 
try. That is a fair picture of William E. 
Werner. 

Tempered by the fires of early adversity, de- 
prived in childhood of his parents, and tried in 
the school of experience, he has stood that test 
in one judicial office after another. He comes 
from the heart of the people. His early strug- 
gles against poverty have been to him a finer 
inheritance than wealth. He knows the value 
of character and friendship and has proved his 
right to both. 

Among the public tributes paid the de- 
parted jurist, the following display the 
general feeling toward him at the time of 
his death. At the opening of the Court 
of Appeals, Chief Judge Willard Bart- 
lett, speaking of the death of Associate 
Judge William E. Werner, said : 

We meet to-day in deep sorrow. Our beloved 
and admired senior associate. Judge William E. 
Werner, of Rochester, died in that city this 
morning. He had endured a long illness bravely 
and patiently. 

The loss which his death inflicts upon the pub- 
lic service of the State at this time is great, 
indeed. It will always be a source of satisfac- 
tion to me, that, nothwithstanding our rivalry 
for promotion in 1913, no shade or shadow ever 
came between us; and that no one has assisted 
me more warmly or heartily or unselfishly than 



William E. Werner in bearing the burdens and 
discharging the responsibilities of my present 
office. 

In accordance with precedent, the court will 
adjourn over the day of the funeral to enable his 
associates to attend the services. 

His associates in the Court of Appeals 
were too overcome with emotion to dis- 
cuss the death of their colleague, but 
resolutions of respect were adopted. In 
the Assembly, Majority Leader Adler and 
Minority Leader Callahan spoke feelingly 
of the merits of Judge Werner. The As- 
sembly then adjourned in his honor. Sen- 
ator Argetsinger and Majority Leader 
Brown, of the Senate, also expressed re- 
grets in feeling terms and the Senate also 
adjourned. In Supreme Court, Justice 
Benton responded to a suggestion of At- 
torney Eugene J. Dwyer, and ordered 
that a memorial to Judge Werner be 
spread on the court records. He said in 
part : "He achieved much for the cause 
of justice. His life was filled with honors 
justly earned." 

In county court. Judge Stephens paid 
tribute : "His career furnishes an illus- 
tration of what may be accomplished by 
industry and fidelity to a purpose ; these 
brought to him the high place of honor 
that he held, and his kindly personality 
Won for him a warm place in the hearts 
of all with whom he came in contact." 
Former Court of Appeals Judge Vann 
said: "In the death of Judge Werner the 
bench has lost an able and accomplished 
jurist, the State a public-spirited and use- 
ful citizen. Judge Werner was a clear 
and original thinker, an indefatigable 
worker and a careful student. He had 
an unusual facility of expression and his 
opinions rank among the best, both for 
their soundness of reasoning and their 
literary style. Ease in writing sometimes 
leads to careless thinking, but he always 
considered what he wrote so carefully 



197 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



that neither he nor the court had to re- 
tract obiter statements made by him. At 
such a time one thinks more of the quali- 
ties of the heart than of the head. He 
was a delightful companion, an agreeable 
associate, a lovable friend, a manly man." 
Nathan L. Miller, also a former judge of 
the Court of Appeals said : "His opinions 
will be read and studied by the bar for 
generations. His warm heart and noble 
nature endeared him to all who had the 
privilege of association with him." Jus- 
tice William S. Andrews, of Onondaga 
county, said: "He was an able and effi- 
cient judge and one of the strongest mem- 
bers of the Court of Appeals. His death 
is a great loss to it and to the bar of the 
State." Justice Leonard C. Crouch, of 
Syracuse, said : "Judge Werner's death 
deprives the State of one of its ablest 
jurists. His opinions, particularly in 
more recent years, have been models of 
legal reasoning and pure, concise Eng- 
lish." Rev. Charles C. Albertson said: 
"We grieve with you the loss of a noble, 
Christian gentleman." 

From hundreds of men, eminent in the 
professions, in business and in public life 
came similar expressions, a general and 
genuine wave of appreciation and regret. 



PECKHAM, Rufus W., 

Congressman, Lawyer, Jurist. 

Rufus Wheeler Peckham was born at 
Rensselaerville, Albany county, New 
York, December 20, 1809, fifth son of 
Peleg and Desire (Watson) Peckham. 
The first American ancestor, John Peck- 
ham (died 1681), was married to Mary 
Clarke ; their son John (born 1645, died 
1712), was married to Sarah Newport; 
their son Benjamin (born 1684, died 
1761), was married to Mary Carr, Sep- 
tember 23, 1708, and their son Benjamin 
(born 1715, died 1792), was married to 



Mary Hazard, March 2, 1737, who be- 
came the grandmother of the subject of 
this sketch. Peleg Peckham, a farmer and 
a man of great integrity, removed to 
Otsego county, near Cooperstown, New 
York, early in the nineteenth century. 
Rufus W. Peckham attended Hartwick 
Seminary and Union College, where he 
was graduated in 1827. He then removed 
to Utica and read law in the office of G. 
C. Bronson and Samuel Beardsley, sub- 
sequently Chief Justices of the Supreme 
Court of New York. Mr. Peckham was 
admitted to the bar in 1830, and entered 
into partnership with his brother George, 
in Albany, New York. In 1839 he was 
appointed by Governor Marcy district 
attorney of the county of Albany, in 
which capacity he served until 1841. He 
was elected to the Thirty-third Congress 
in 1852. On the expiration of his term he 
resumed practice in Albany, taking into 
partnership Lyman Tremain, his brother 
George having removed to Milwaukee in 
the interim. In 1859 he spent a few 
months in European travel, and upon his 
return was elected a Justice of the Su- 
preme Court. At the close of his judicial 
term of eight years. Judge Peckham was 
reelected, no opposing candidate being 
named. In 1870, before the expiration of 
his second term, he was elected to the 
bench of the Court of Appeals. On No- 
vember 15, 1873, accompanied by his 
wife, he sailed for Europe on the steamer 
"Ville du Havre," for the benefit of his 
health, intending to spend the winter in 
Southern France. He was destined, how- 
ever, never to reach that destination, as 
the English iron ship "Loch Earn" col- 
lided with the "Ville du Havre" on No- 
vember 22, which sank within twelve 
minutes after she was struck, Judge and 
Mrs. Peckham being carried down in the 
vortex. Just before the ship disappeared 
he said to his wife, "If we must go down, 
98 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



let us die bravely" — probably his last 
words. 

His first wife, Isabella Adaline, daugh- 
ter of the Rev. Dr. William B. Lacey, 
rector of St. Peter's Church, Albany, New 
York, to whom he was married in 1832, 
died in 1848. In February, 1862, he mar- 
ried (second) Mary Elizabeth, daughter 
of Israel Foote. He had three sons. 



PATTON, Rev. William, D. D., 

Aiithoi*. Prominent in Religious Organiza- 
tions. 

The name of Patton is written in old 
deeds Patten, and the family, originally 
from the south of England, is of con- 
siderable antiquity. An old parchment 
deed in the possession of an English fam- 
ily of the town states that "in the six-and- 
twentieth year of Henr}' VI., William 
Patten (alias Waynflete, from a town in 
Lancashire where he was born), was son 
and heir of Richard Patten and eldest 
brother of John, Dean of Chichester." 
He was consecrated Bishop of Winches- 
ter, made Lord Chancellor of England, 
and was the sole founder of Magdalen 
College, Oxford. 

Colonel Robert Patton, who was born 
in Westport. Ireland, in 1755, and died in 
New York City, January 3, 1814, was 
brought to America at the age of seven 
years, and resided in Philadelphia. In 
October, 1776, he enlisted as a private in 
the Revolutionary army, was taken pris- 
oner by the British, and confined for 
some time in New York City. After his 
liberation he rose to the rank of major, 
and served under Washington and Lafay- 
ette ; he was later promoted to a colo- 
nelcy. He was an original member of 
the Society of the Cincinnati. In 1789 he 
was appointed by Washington, postmas- 
ter of Philadelphia, that office then being 
the most important in the country, and 
served continuously for nearly twenty 



years, when he resigned and went to New 
York City. He was intimate with Presi- 
dent IVIadison, who offered him the post- 
master-generalship, which Patton de- 
clined, being unwilling to remove his 
family from a Free State to a slave-hold- 
ing community. One of his chief char- 
acteristics was his strict integrity. When 
postmaster he would not appoint any of 
his sons to a clerkship, and on his resig- 
nation he strictly enjoined them not to 
apply to be his successor, saying that the 
office had been long enough in his family, 
and should now go to another. When war 
was declared in 1812, and a government 
loan, which everyone prophesied would 
prove a failure, was placed on the market, 
he went at an early hour on the first day 
and subscribed $60,000, asserting that if 
his country should be ruined his property 
would then be valueless. Colonel Patton 
married Cornelia, daughter of Robert and 
Jemima (Shepard) Bridges. The latter 
was a son of Edward Bridges and Corne- 
lia Culpeper, and through this line Mrs. 
Patton was connected with Lord Thomas 
Culpeper, second colonial governor of 
Virginia. Through the same line the de- 
scent is also traced from Oliver Crom- 
well. 

Rev. William Patton, D. D., son of 
Colonel Robert Patton, was born in Phil- 
adelphia, August 23, 1798. He was gradu- 
ated at the Middlebury (Vermont) Col- 
lege, in 1818, and at Princeton (New Jer- 
sey) Theological Seminary two years 
later. He began his labors as citv mis- 
sionary in New York, and organized the 
Broome Street (known as the Central) 
Presbyterian Church, with four members 
and which under his pastorate grew to be 
one of the largest and most influential 
churches in New York. He was ordained 
as pastor by the New York Presbytery in 
1822. He solicited and personally con- 
tributed the money for building the 
church edifice. The Madison Avenue 



199 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Presbyterian (Dr. Parkhurst's) Church, 
and the Fifty-seventh Street Presbyterian 
Church are the outgrowth of the Broome 
Street Church. He was one of the organ- 
izers of the American Home Missionary 
Society, in 1826, and assisted in organiz- 
ing the Third Presbytery of New York in 
183 1. He resigned his charge of the 
Broome Street Church in 1834 to accept 
the secretaryship of the American Educa- 
tion Society. In 1836 he received the 
honorary degree of D. D. from the Uni- 
versity of the City of New York, in the 
founding of which he took an active part. 
He severed his connection with the Amer- 
ican Education Society in 1837 and in 
October of that year was installed as 
pastor of the Spring Street Presbyterian 
Church. He was the founder of the 
World's Evangelical Alliance, and at- 
tended the organizing convention. He 
was the founder of the New York Union 
Theological Seminary, having first pro- 
posed its establishment, and raised three- 
fourths of the $75,000 first contributed for 
its support. He acted for many years as 
one of its directors, contributing liberally 
to its funds, and serving without pay as 
Professor Extraordinary of Homiletics, 
Pastoral Theology and kindred studies. 
He made fourteen visits to Europe be- 
tween 1S25 and 1879. He was an earnest 
opponent of slaverv', and was for forty 
years a member of the executive com- 
mittee of the American Home Missionary 
Society. His views on the subject of 
temperance were equally radical. In the 
pulpit he was characterized by his strong 
grasp upon his subject, his simplicity, di- 
rectness and freshness. 

Dr. Patton was a man of great individu- 
ality and power. Anecdotes are abun- 
dant to-day of his strength as a preacher 
and his rare gift of humor and geniality 
in conversation. He had a commanding 
presence, and an original way of enforc- 
ing the truth which gave his sermons a 



staying quality. He remained with the 
Spring Street Church until October 29, 
1847, and then accepted the pastorate of 
the Hammond Street Congregational 
Church, which had been gathered and 
organized by his personal friends. He 
remained until 1S52, then retiring from 
pastoral work, and removed soon after- 
ward to New Haven, Connecticut, where 
he devoted his time to literary and occa- 
sional ministerial work. Besides editing 
President Jonathan Edwards' work on re- 
vivals, and Charles G. Fenney's "Lec- 
tures on Revivals" (London, 1839), and 
"The Village Testament" (New York, 
1835), ^"d assisting in editing "The 
Christian Psalmist" (1836), he published 
"The Laws of Fermentation and the 
Wines of the Ancients" (1871), "The 
Judgment of Jerusalem Predicted in 
Scriptures, Fulfilled in History" (Lon- 
don, 1879), "Jesus of Nazareth" (1878), 
and "Bible Principles and Bible Char- 
acters" (Hartford, 1879), besides writing 
many pamphlets on various subjects. In 
1833 he took an English commentary 
called "The Cottage Bible." and so recast, 
changed, enlarged and improved it as to 
make it substantially a new work, and 
issued it in two royal octavo volumes. 
Over 170,000 copies of this most useful 
family commentary have been sold in this 
country. 

Rev. Dr. Patton died in New Haven, 
September 9, 1879. His wife, Mary 
Weston, born in Waltham, Massachu- 
setts, March 6, 1793. was the daughter of 
Zachariah Weston, born in Lincoln, Mas- 
sachusetts, March 8, 1751, a descendant 
of John Weston, of Salem, Massachu- 
setts, born 1631, died 1723. Dr. Patton 
was largely indebted for his success in 
his great life work to the prudent coun- 
sels and hearty sympathy of his wife, 
whom he married soon after reaching his 
majority, and to whom his accomplished 
son. Rev. William Patton, D. D.. Presi- 



200 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



dent of Howard University, Washington 
City, owes no little of his eminence as a 
man and a minister. A brother of Dr. 
Patton was the late Robert B. Patton, 
Professor of Greek in the New York Uni- 
versity. 



CHURCH, Sanford E., 

Lavyer, Jurist. 

Sanford Elias Church was born at Mil- 
ford, Otsego county, New York, April i8, 
1815, son of Ozias and Permelia (San- 
ford) Church. His father removed to 
Munroe county in 1817, where the son 
grew to manhood. 

His early education was received at the 
Henrietta Academy, and during the winter 
months he taught school, pursuing the 
study of law in the office of Josiah A. 
Eastman, at Scottsville, New York. In 
1834, removing to South Barre, he en- 
tered the employ of the county clerk, a 
physician, under whom he studied medi- 
cine for a time, but turned again to the 
profession of law. About a year later he 
was admitted to practice in the Court of 
Common Pleas, and, entering the office of 
Judge Bessac, he still further prosecuted 
his legal studies, and was admitted to the 
bar of the Supreme Court in 1841, and 
became the partner of his former instruc- 
tor. In 1844 he allied himself with Noah 
Davis, and when Mr. Davis was ap- 
pointed judge of the Supreme Court in 
1858, a partnership was formed with John 
G. Sawyer. In 1865 he formed the firm 
of Church, Munger & Cook, of Rochester, 
New York. He was active in politics 
during the early part of his career, being 
elected to the Assembly in 1841, and re- 
ceiving the appointment of district attor- 
ney in 1846, to which ofifice he was elected 
under the new constitution for a term of 
three years, in the fall of the same year. 
He was elected Lieutenant-Governor in 
T850, and served until 1855. Two years 



later he was elected comptroller of the 
State, and in 1867 was sent as a member 
at large to the Constitutional Convention 
of that year. Upon the organization of 
the new Court of Appeals, in 1870, he be- 
came the Democratic candidate for Chief 
Justice, and in the following election re- 
ceived a majority of 87,000 votes over 
his opponent. Judge Selden, thus eclips- 
ing all previous records in New York 
State. Politically he was of the same 
school as William L. Marcy and Silas 
Wright, and judicially his opinions, 
though not brilliant, were distinguished 
for their solidity. His manner towards 
attorneys was alike courteous to humble 
and eminent. 

He was married, at Barre Center, New 
York, 1840. to Ann, daughter of David 
and Abigail Wild, and had two children. 
He died at Albion, New York, May 14, 
1880. four years from the end of his term 
as Chief Justice. 



WOOD, Fernando, 

Political Iieader, 

Fernando AA^ood, born in Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania, June 14, 1812, came of 
Quaker origin. Having received a good 
practical education he settled in New 
York City while yet a boy, and began to 
study business in a shipping merchant's 
office. Before he was twenty-one years 
of age he had already gained quite a repu- 
tation as a writer and speaker. In 1839 
he was made chairman of a young men's 
political club, and in 1840 was elected a 
member of Congress on the Democratic 
ticket, and served two years. During the 
next seven years, until 1850, he was en- 
gaged in business and with such success 
that he was able to retire with a compe- 
tence. 

In 1850 he was nominated for the may- 
oralty of New York, but was defeated by 
a combination of Whigs and Know-Noth- 



201 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ings, but was elected in 1854, and re- 
elected in 1856. It was in the latter year 
that an attempt was made in the Legisla- 
ture to place the New York City police 
under State control. This effort was an- 
tagonized by Mayor Wood, with the re- 
sult of a serious riot. At the next elec- 
tion Mr. Wood was defeated, but he was 
reelected in 1859. After this Mr. Wood 
served twelve years in Congress. His 
relation to Tammany was most peculiar. 
He received his first election as mayor of 
New York as its nominee, but after his 
reelection he was thrown over by Tam- 
many, chiefly through the machinations 
of the "Plardshells," who had been 
brought into it by the consolidation of 
1856. Wood now organized Mozart Hall 
as an opposition society, and with its as- 
sistance succeeded in inflicting upon 
Tammany in 1859 a disastrous defeat, 
and once more putting himself at the 
head of the city government. So fierce 
had been the Wood and anti-W'ood fight 
in Tammany, that the Democratic voters 
had elected two general committees, each 
claiming to be the regular Tammany Hall 
committee. Mozart Hall passed away in 
a few years, after Wood had lost his in- 
terest in it, but was followed by the Mc- 
Keon Democracy, Irving Hall, Apollo 
Hall, the Citizens' Association, and other 
societies, all of which fought Tammany. 
At this time Tammany contained such 
men as Lorenzo B. Shepard (grand sa- 
chem in 1855), Robert J. Dillon, Augustus 
Schell, Charles P. Daly (afterward Chief 
Justice of the Court of Common Pleas), 
Smith Ely, Jr. (afterward mayor of New 
York"), C. Godfrey Gunther (afterward 
mayor of New York), John J. Cisco, and 
many others of the most respected and 
wealthiest citizens. In the mayoralty 
contest of 1839, Fernando Wood, as the 
candidate of Mozart Hall, polled 29,950 
votes; Havemeyer, the Tammany candi- 
date, polled 26,918; and Opdyke, the Re- 



publican candidate, 21,417, this showing 
that the Democrats held five-sevenths of 
the vote in New York. In 1861 the vote 
between Tammany and Mozart Hall, the 
former nominating Gunther and the latter 
Wood, was so close as to give the mayor- 
alty to Opdyke, Republican, by a small 
plurality. It was not until 1865, when 
John T. Hoffman was nominated by Tam- 
many and elected, that the organization 
once more united all the offices under its 
control, including the mayoralty, the 
common council, the board of supervi- 
sors, the street, health, market, police, and 
educational departments. The vote by 
which Hoffman was first elected was, 
Tammany (Hoffman) 32,820; Republi- 
can (Marshall O. Roberts) 31,657; Mo- 
zart Hall (Hecker) 10,390; McKeon De- 
mocracy (Gunther) 6,758. 

After Fernando Wood left Tammany 
and set up for himself, the old organiza- 
tion was broken up into rings, which 
worked through the factions above 
named, to the injury of the political 
system of the Democratic party in New 
York. Among their leaders was Isaac V. 
Fowler, who exercised great power about 
1857, and who was grand sachem of Tam- 
many in 1859-60. He was appointed post- 
master of New York, and while holding 
that official position was discovered to 
have committed a defalcation, and fled 
the country, this being almost the first 
instance of this character in the official 
history of New York. It is said of Fer- 
nando Wood that, while holding the posi- 
tion of mayor, he inspired the Democracy 
of the city with a spirit of activity it had 
never before known. His power and in- 
fluence over men was extraordinary, and 
few dared openly to oppose him, yet 
eventually the opposition which gathered 
around his political pathway was of a 
character to daunt the most courageous. 
He died in W^ashington City, February 
20, 1881. 



202 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



WARREN, Gen. Gouverneur K., 

Distinguished Soldier. 

General Gouverneur Kemble Warren 
was born at Cold Spring, Putnam coun- 
ty. New York, January 8, 1830. Enter- 
ing the United States Military Academy 
in 1846, he was graduated in 1850, was 
assigned to the topographical engineers, 
and was employed in surveys on the 
lower Mississippi in 1850-54; and in 1855- 
59 in the west, as chief topographical en- 
gineer on General William S. Harney's 
staff, and in the preparation of railroad 
maps in Dakota and Nebraska. He was 
the first explorer of the Black Hills. His 
account of previous "Explorations in the 
Dakota Country" appeared in two vol- 
umes, 1855-56, and that of his own work 
in reports published in 1858 and later. In 
1859* he became Assistant Professor of 
Mathematics at West Point and was serv- 
ing in that capacity at the outbreak of 
the Civil War. 

In May, 1861, he accepted the lieuten- 
ant-coloncy of the Fifth New York Vol- 
unteers (Zouaves), and in August was 
commissioned colonel. At the battle of 
Big Bethel, June loth. he remained on the 
field to bring off the body of Lieutenant 
Greble. After serving before Yorktown, 
he was given command of a brigade in 
Sykes's division of Porter's corps, on the 
right of the Army of the Potomac. In 
that campaign he took part in various 
battles, was slightly wounded at Gaines's 
Mills, lost half his regiment at Antietam. 
and was made brigadier-general of volun- 
teers on September 26, 1862. He was en- 
gaged under General Pope at Manassas, 
and under General Burnside at Fred- 
ericksburg. On February 2, 1863, he was 
placed on Hooker's staff as chief of topo- 
graphical engineers, and June 8th was 
appointed chief engineer of the Army of 
the Potomac. At Gettysburg, on July 2, 
1863, he occupied and defended Little 



Round Top, the key to the Union posi- 
tion. In August he was commissioned 
major-general, dating from Chancellors- 
ville, May 3d. On October 14th he re- 
pulsed General A. P. Hill at Bristoe's 
Station, and was highly praised by Gen- 
eral Meade for "skill and promptitude." 
At Mine Run, November 30th, he used 
his discretion in not carrying out a move- 
ment ordered by Meade, and was ap- 
proved for so doing. From the reorgan- 
ization of the army in March, 1864, he 
had command of the Fifth Corps, and led 
it in the bloody actions of the Wilder- 
ness, Cold Harbor, etc. He had the con- 
fidence and affection of his men, and his 
courage and ability were beyond cavil ; 
but Sheridan, who disliked his habit of 
thinking for himself, obtained from Grant 
authority to remove him on occasion, and 
exercised it (alleging delay or failure to 
cooperate) at Five Forks, April i, 1865. 
He was sent to Grant, who placed him in 
command at Petersburg. He gave up his 
volunteer commission May 27th, having 
been made captain in the regular army in 
September, 1861, and major in June, 1864, 
and having received in succession all the 
brevets up to major-general, but he never 
forgot the disgrace of his displacement. 
A painful controversy ensued ; he de- 
fended his conduct in a pamphlet printed 
in 1866, and asked for a court of inquiry, 
which in 1879 acquitted him of most of 
Sheridan's charges. He never left the 
army, conducted various surveys, and 
reached the grade of lieutenant-colonel in 
1879. He was a member of the A. A. A. 
S. from 1858, of the National Academy of 
Sciences from 1876, and of other learned 
bodies. He died at Newport, Rhode 
Island, August 8, 1882. Six years later his 
statue was unveiled on the scene of his 
exploit near Gettysburg, and a replica 
was placed near the entrance to Prospect 
Park, Brooklyn, New York. 



203 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



FENTON, Reuben E., 

Governor, Statesman. 

Reuben Laton Fenton was born at Car- 
roll, Chautauqua county, New York, July 
I, 1819, sun of George W. Fenton. 

He was educated in the district school 
and Fredonia Academy and studied law 
in Jamestown, New York. In 1839 he 
established himself as a country mer- 
chant, and proved very successful, after- 
wards adding to his business that of a 
dealer in lumber. His lumber operations 
proved very profitable, he personally con- 
ducted his first raft of timber, which cost 
him his first thousand dollars, down the 
Ohio to Maysville, Kentucky, where he 
sold it at a large profit. He soon had the 
reputation of being one of the most 
successful operators in lumber in his 
region, and attained the rank of a finan- 
cial leader among the business men of his 
community. He was popular as a citi- 
zen, and held among other offices that of 
supervisor of the town of Carroll, 1846- 
52, and was colonel of the One Hundred 
and Sixty-Second Regiment, New York 
State Militia. In 1859 he was elected to 
the State Assembly as a Democrat. He 
w^as a representative in the Thirty-third 
Congress, 1853-55. and being bitterly 
opposed to slavery, he voted against his 
party on the Kansas-Nebraska bill. This 
action cost his reelection in 1854, but in 
1856 he was elected to the Thirty-fifth 
Congress by the new Republican party, 
and he was reelected to successive Con- 
gresses, including the Thirty-eighth, serv- 
ing until 1865. While in Congress he 
espoused the cause of the veterans of the 
War of 1812, and carried through the 
house a bill for their relief. He advocated 
the cheap postage system, the regulation 
of emigration, the extension of invalid 
pensions, and the repeal of the fugitive 
slave law; and he opposed the invasion 
of Kansas, the bounty bills, and the pay- 



ment of Confederate losses during the 
Civil War. On committee work he was 
noted for his exceptional industry and 
judgment. During the rebellion he sup- 
ported the government with voice and 
vote. In 1862 he was proposed for the 
Republican nomination for Governor, but 
declined; however, he accepted the honor 
two years later, and was elected, defeat- 
mg Governor Seymour and running far 
ahead of his ticket. At the end of his 
term he was reelected by an increased 
majority. He was recognized as a politi- 
cal power throughout the country as well 
as in his own State; and his name was 
mentioned in connection with the presi- 
dency, and the Republican State Con- 
vention which met at Syracuse in that 
year unanimously declared him to be the 
choice of the Union party in New York 
for Vice-President. In 1869 Governor 
Fenton was chosen by the Legislature to 
be Senator of the United States for the 
term of six years ending March 3, 1875, 
succeeding Edwin D. Morgan, and on en- 
tering the Senate he was almost instantly 
recognized as one of its most prominent 
members. Giving his principal attention 
to matters of finance, his speeches on tax- 
ation, the currency, the public revenue, 
the public debt and co,gnate subjects, 
gave evidence of his superior statesman- 
ship, and attracted national attention. He 
was active in his censure of the "moiety 
system" which prevailed in the customs 
department, making comparison between 
that and the corrupt and oppressive 
periods which existed under the French 
monarchy. 

.^fter his retirement from the Senate in 
1875, Mr. Fenton held no public office, 
except in 187S when he was appointed 
chairman of the commission to take part 
in the International Monetary Conference 
at Paris, on returning from which, in 
1879, he resumed his residence at James- 
town. New York. He was president of 



204 



-«?* ^^■ 




^/if'ff/rji ('). ry''pji/r 



)i 



GOVERNOR. 1 865-69 



EKCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



the First National Bank of that city, and 
was chiefly instrumental in the establish- 
ment of the Swedish Orphanage there. 
His last public appearance was on the 
occasion of a memorial service held at the 
time of General Grant's death. He mar- 
ried (first) in 1838, Jane, daughter of 
John Frew. She died in 1840, and in 1844 
he was married (second) to Elizabeth, 
daughter of Joel Scudder, of Victor, New 
York. He was the father of three chil- 
dren, two daughters, and a son, Reuben 
E. Fenton, Jr., who succeeded to the busi- 
ness of his father. Governor Fenton died 
suddenly, in the directors' room of the 
First National Bank, Jamestown, on Au- 
gust 25, 1885. 



ERICSSON, John, 

Distinguished Engineer 

John Ericsson, whose "Monitor" of the 
Civil War revolutionized naval warfare 
the world over, was born in Sweden, July 
31, 1803, son of Olaf Ericsson, a mine 
owner, and a direct descendant of Lief 
Ericsson, son of Eric the Red, the Norse 
discoverer of America. 

He was educated at home, first by a 
governess, and afterward by a German 
engineer. From his infancy he was an 
interested observer of the machinery in 
his father's coal mines. Before 1814 he 
had invented and built a miniature saw 
mill, and soon after a novel pumping en- 
gine which when shown to Platen, the 
noted mechanical engineer, secured for 
young Ericsson an appointment as cadet 
of mechanical engineers. After six 
months' study he was employed in the 
construction of the Gotha ship canal, in 
which he laid out the work of a section, 
employing six hundred soldiers and spent 
his leisure in making drawings of the 
various tools and engines used in the 
work. He entered the Swedish army in 
1820 as an ensign, and his skill in map 



drawing won for him a lieutenant's com-, 
mission. He entered a competitive ex- 
amination for appointment on a govern- 
ment survey, gained the appointment, and 
served in Northern Sweden for some 
years. His time when off duty was em- 
ployed in preparing the manuscript and 
maps for a work on canals. He invented 
a machine to engrave the plates, with 
which he completed eighteen large copper 
plates in one year, and the work was pro- 
nounced by experts superior to hand en- 
graving. In 1825 he constructed a coal- 
burning, condensing-flame engine, and the 
next year sought unsuccessfully to intro- 
duce it into England. He resigned from 
the army in 1827, having meanwhile 
reached the rank of captain. He com- 
peted with George Stephenson for the 
prize offered in 1829 by the Liverpool & 
Manchester railway for a steam locomo- 
tive engine, and his steam carriage "'Nov- 
elty" was planned and completed in seven 
weeks, and in the field trial was pro- 
nounced to excel in several important 
points, the speed reaching thirty miles 
per hour, but the English Stephenson's 
"Rocket' won the prize, being built of 
heavy material which afforded it superior 
traction. The "Novelty," however, in- 
troduced new principles, which came to 
be used in all successful locomotives in 
Europe and America. In 1829 he also 
built a practical steam fire engine which 
he exhibited in London that year and in 
New York City in 1840. In 1833 he per- 
fected the caloric engine with which in 
1853 the caloric ship "Ericsson," of two 
thousand tons, was propelled. More than 
seven thousand of these engines were in 
use at the time of his death. For this in- 
vention he received the gold and silver 
Rumford medals from the American 
Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1862, 
the second person in the United States 
to be so honored. He invented and 
patented the screw propeller in 1836, and 



205 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



in 1837 successfully used twin screw pro- 
pellers in a boat operated on the River 
Thames. In 1S38 he constructed the iron 
screw steamer "Robert E. Stockton,'" 
which, after crossing the Atlantic under 
sail, was used on the Delaware river for 
twenty-five years as a tow boat. In 1840 
he was induced by Robert F. Stockton, 
U. S. N., to continue his experiments in 
the United States, and in November of 
that }ear he reached America. In 1841 
he designed and superintended in Phila- 
delphia the construction for the United 
States navy of the screw steamer "Prince- 
ton" with its machinery below the water 
line, with direct acting semi-cylindrical 
engine, telescope smoke stack, independ- 
ent centrifugal blowers, wrought iron 
gun carriages with mechanism for dis- 
pensing with breeching and taking up the 
recoil, a selfacting gunlock by which the 
guns of the decks could be discharged at 
any elevation, even in a rolling sea, a 
telescope to determine the distance of the 
enemy's ships, and numerous other novel 
applications to facilitate the handling of 
ordnance and the ship. His inventions 
and improvements as introduced on the 
"Princeton" made that ship the model 
for the world, and the beginning of a new 
era in the steam marine. During his first 
three years' residence in the United 
States he had placed engines and screw 
propellers in numerous vessels used for 
river and inland water navigation, and 
in 1 85 1 he exhibited at the World's Fair 
in London his numerous appliances for 
use in steam navigation and was awarded 
the prize medal. In 1854 he presented to 
Napoleon III. plans for a partially sub- 
merged armored warship with a revolv- 
ing shotproof cupola, which the emperor 
put to practical use. 

In 1861, through private enterprise and 
within the space of one hundred days, he 
planned, built, launched and equipped the 
"Monitor" at a cost of $275,000, which 



was to be paid by the government only 
after the boat had proved effective in 
actual battle with the "Merrimac," then 
undergoing reconstruction at Norfolk, 
Virginia, and which the United States 
navy had no vessel afloat able to with- 
stand. This little nondescript, however, 
was ready on time, and turned the for- 
tunes of war at Hampton Roads, V^ir- 
ginia, March 9, 1862. The result of the 
fight between the "Monitor" and the 
"Merrimac" led to the construction of 
similar vessels on a scale that surprised 
the naval engineers of the world, and de- 
termined the universal use of the type by 
the European maritime powers. In 1869 
he constructed for the Spanish govern- 
ment thirty steam iron-clad gunboats, 
and in 1881 devised and constructed the 
"Destroyer," carrying a submarine gun of 
sixteen-inch calibre capable of discharg- 
ing three hundred pounds of gun cotton, 
encased in a one thousand five hundred- 
pound projectile, below the water line. 
This gun was designed to destroy an 
iron-clad. He experimented in 1883 with 
an appliance by which he obtained a 
supply of mechanical energy from the 
sun, and called his invention the "Sun 
Motor" which he had described in "Con- 
tributions to the Centennial Exhibition" 
(1876). He received royal favors from 
Sweden ; was made knight commander, 
first-class, Danish Order of Dannebrog; 
received the Grand Cross of Naval Merit 
from King Alphonso of Spain ; was ap- 
pointed knight commander of the Royal 
Order of Isabella the Catholic; and re- 
ceived a special gold medal from the 
Emperor of Austria, and the thanks of 
the United States Congress, and of the 
Legislature of the State of New York. 
He was made a fellow and member of 
the Royal Academy of Serena, Stock- 
holm ; of the American Philosophical So- 
ciety, and of various other scientific so- 
cieties of both continents. He received 



206 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



from Wesleyan University the honorary 
degree of LL. D. in 1862, and from the 
University of Sweden that of Ph. D. in 
1869. After his death the United States 
Government, on August 23, 1890, con- 
veyed his body to his birthplace for final 
sepulture, on board the cruiser "Balti- 
more," which vessel was escorted out of 
New York by the entire "White Squad- 
ron" then in the harbor, and under the 
especial convoy of the "Nantucket," the 
second monitor built by Ericsson. Both 
in New York and at Stockholm where 
the "Baltimore" arrived September 12, 
1890, there were public manifestations of 
profound grief. See "Life of John Erics- 
son," by William Conant Church (2 vols., 
1891). In April, 1893. a bronze statue of 
the inventor was unveiled on the New 
York Battery, overlooking the harbor. 
Captain Ericsson died in New York City, 
March 8, 1889. 



PLATT, Thomas Collier, 

statesman. 

Thomas Collier Piatt, former United 
States Senator, was born at Owego, 
Tioga county. New York, July 15, 1833, 
son of William and Lesbia (Hinchman) 
Piatt. His earliest American ancestor, 
Richard Piatt, came from England to 
America in 1638, landing at New Haven, 
Connecticut, was one of the first settlers 
of Milford in 1639, and became a con- 
siderable landowner. Another ancestor, 
Jonathan Piatt, was a member of the 
Provincial Congress of 1775, and with his 
son, Jonathan, served in General Sulli- 
van's army, which expelled the Indians 
from the Wyoming Valley in 1779. Wil- 
liam Piatt, father of Thomas Collier 
Piatt, was for many years a prosperous 
law3'er and real estate agent in Owego. 

Thomas Collier Piatt received his early 
education at a local academy, and at the 
age of sixteen entered Yale College, but 



on account of ill health was obliged to 
abandon his studies and return home in his 
sophomore year. Finding it desirable to 
lead an active life, he engaged in business 
in his native town as senior partner in the 
firm of Piatt & Hall, druggists, in 1856. 
He also acquired extensive lumber in- 
terests in Alichigan. While still a com- 
paratively young man was made presi- 
dent of the Tioga National Bank in 
Owego at its organization in January, 
1865. 

His public career began in 1858, when 
he was elected clerk of Tioga county, and 
during the two years he held this office he 
was instrumental, with his friend, Alonzo 
B. Cornell (afterward Governor of New 
York), in advancing the political interests 
of Roscoe Conkling through the influence 
of the congressional district comprising 
the counties of Tioga and Tompkins. 
Mr. Piatt's position in the councils of 
the Republican party rapidly increased 
in power, and in 1870 a deadlock occur- 
ring between two candidates, to one of 
whom he was pledged, he was nominated 
as congressman, but declined. In 1872 
he was elected to Congress, and was re- 
elected in 1874. In the latter year he 
represented his State in the Republican 
National Convention, and he was a dele- 
gate to every national convention of his 
party from that time until the end of 
his life. Upon the election of President 
Hayes he was an unsuccessful candidate 
for the position of Postmaster-General. 
In 1879 he became secretary and general 
manager of the LTnited States Express 
Company, and the following year was ad- 
vanced to the presidency, which position 
he held for some time. In 1880 he was 
appointed Commissioner of Quarantine 
for New York City, and in 1884 was made 
president of the board, remaining in that 
position until 1 888, when he was removed 
on account of not being a resident of that 
city. 
207 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



On January i, 1881, Mr. Piatt was 
elected United States Senator, to succeed 
Francis Kernan. With his fellow Sena- 
tor, Roscoe Conkling, he resigned on May 
i6th, in consequence of a disagreement 
with the executive regarding New York 
appointments — an event of far-reaching 
political importance throughout the whole 
nation. The President had on March 23d, 
sent to the Senate the name of William 
H. Robertson for Collector of the Port of 
New York. Judge Robertson had been a 
delegate to the Republican National Con- 
vention of 1880, where he led the revolt 
against the unit rule in the New York 
delegation, which had been instructed for 
General Grant, and this effected the de- 
feat of Grant, and contributed materially 
to General Garfield's nomination. Conk- 
ling and Piatt strenuously opposed Robert- 
son's confirmation, and finally the Presi- 
dent was driven by their determined op- 
position to withdraw from the Senate the 
other New York nominations which had 
been made with a view to conciliating the 
Republican managers of that State. Find- 
ing themselves engaged in what had de- 
veloped into a hopeless struggle with the 
administration. Senators Conkling and 
Piatt sent in their resignations through 
Governor Cornell, together with a letter 
in vindication of their course. Going to 
Albany, they made a struggle for reelec- 
tion, and an exciting contest followed, 
but before it was decided Mr. Piatt with- 
drew from the candidacy. 

Thereafter Mr. Piatt took no active 
part in politics until 1884, when as an 
opponent of the "machine" element of his 
party he went to the Chicago National 
Convention as a Blaine delegate. In 1888 
he was influential in swinging the New 
York delegation over to the support of 
Benjamin Harrison for President. In 
1896 Mr. Piatt and the majority of the 
New York delegation at first supported 
Levi P. Morton as the Republican nomi- 



nee for President, in opposition to Wil- 
liam McKinley, but afterward voted to 
make McKinley's nomination unanimous. 
In 1896 Mr. Piatt was chosen United 
States Senator for the term ending in 
1903 ; the other Republican candidate was 
Joseph H. Choate, and the voting was 142 
to 7 in favor of Mr. Piatt. As the ac- 
knowledged leader of his party in New 
York State, he was one of the most influ- 
ential though least obtrusive political 
managers in the country. Mr. Blaine said 
of him in "Twenty Years in Congress": 
"He is a business man of great personal 
popularity. He has an aptitude for public 
affairs, and is a man of influence in his 
state. He is no debater, but has strong 
common sense and a quick judgment of 
men." 

In 1871 Mr. Piatt became president of 
the Southern Central Railroad Company, 
and in 1885 president of the Addison & 
Northern Pennsylvania Railroad Com- 
pany; neither of these are now in ex- 
istence. He was also a director of the 
Chesapeake, Ohio & Southwestern and 
the Florida Central & Western railroad 
companies. In 1876 Yale College con- 
ferred upon him the honorary degree of 
A. M. 

He was married, in 1852, to Ellen Lucy, 
daughter of Hon. Charles Barstow, of 
Owego, New York, and had three sons : 
Edward Truax, of Washington, D. C. ; 
Frank H., who engaged in business with 
his father, and followed in his footsteps 
politically; and Henry B. Piatt. Mrs. 
Piatt died February 13, 1901. Mr. Piatt 
died March 6, 1910. 



COMSTOCK, George F., 

Financier, Jurist. 

George Franklin Comstock was born 
at Williamstown, Oswego county. New 
York, August 24, 181 1. He graduated 
from Union College in 1834, and while 



208 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



teaching in a classical school in Utica, 
New York, studied law. He then entered 
the office of Noxon & Leavenworth, at 
Syracuse, and was admitted to the bar in 
1837. In 1847 he had reached so high a 
position and reputation for legal knowl- 
edge and research that he was appointed 
reporter of the Court of Appeals. In 1849 
Mr. Comstock was one of the organizers 
of the Syracuse Savings Bank. 

In 1852 President Fillmore appointed 
him Solicitor of the Treasury of the 
United States, and he served during the 
remainder of that presidential term. In 
1855 he was elected, by a combination of 
the "Silver Grays" with the native Ameri- 
can party, one of the judges of the Court 
of Appeals, and sat upon that bench for 
six years, during two of which (1860-61) 
he was Chief Justice. At the solicitation 
of the heirs of Chancellor Kent, Judge 
Comstock edited a new edition of the 
latter's celebrated commentaries. He 
was employed in several important cases 
which enjoyed peculiar publicity, as, for 
instance, when William M. Tweed was 
sentenced to the penitentiary for a year 
on each of twelve counts of an indictment 
against him, he secured a reduction in the 
length of his imprisonment. He was also 
retained by William H. Vanderbilt, in 
pursuance of his father's wishes in the 
contest of the latter's will. In 1869 he 
aided in establishing Syracuse Univer- 
sity, donating $50,000 to the cause, and 
he may be considered as founder of the 
St. John's School for Boys at Manlius, 
to which he gave $60,000. He was the 
originator and president of the American 
Dairy Salt Company, and treasurer of 
the Union and Western coarse salt com- 
panies ; a director also of the Syracuse 
Gas Company, and of the Water Com- 
pany, and numerous other manufacturing 
and commercial corporations. A man of 
dignified presence, possessing the charm 
of simple and engaging manners, a pro- 



fessionally learned and able jurist and a 
true gentleman, he enjoyed a wide and 
notable popularity. 

He was married, in 1839, to Cornelia, 
daughter of B. Davis Noxon, his former 
preceptor at Syracuse. He died in Syra- 
cuse, New York, September 27, 1892. 



SHEPARD, Elliott F., 

Joarnalist, Publicist. 

Elliott Fitch Shepard was born at 
Jamestown, New York, July 25, 1833, son 
of Fitch Shepard, who was president of 
the National Bank Note Company, City 
of New York. Elliott Fitch Shepard was 
graduated from the University of the City 
of New York in 1855, studied law, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1858, and prac- 
ticed his profession in the metropolis for 
more than a quarter of a century. Dur- 
ing the Civil War, 1861-65, he served as 
aide-de-camp on the staff of Governor E. 
D. Morgan, of the State of New York. 
In September, 1861, he presented its 
colors to the Fifty-first Regiment New 
York Volunteer Infantry, which he had 
been instrumental in recruiting, and 
which was named the Shepard Rifles in 
compliment to him. He commanded the 
depot of State volunteers at Elmira, New 
York, and was instrumental in organiz- 
ing, equipping and forwarding to the 
field nearly fifty thousand men. In his 
profession, he was counsel for the New 
York Central and other railroads and 
financial corporations. He was instru- 
mental in securing the enactment of the 
law creating the court of arbitration for 
the Chamber of Commerce of the State 
of New York. He established the Bank 
of the Metropolis, the Columbia Bank, 
and the American Savings Bank. In 1876 
he founded the New York State Bar As- 
sociation, of which he was subsequently 
made president, and which became the 
model for the organization of similarassoci- 



N Y-2-14 



209 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ations in other States. In 1884 Mr. Shep- 
ard relinquished his law business and 
traveled abroad, visiting Europe, Asia 
and Africa, three years later going to 
Alaska; and his observations during 
these travels he made the theme of pub- 
lic lectures which commanded attention 
as both instructive and entertaining. In 
1888 he published as a pamphlet, "Labor 
and Capital Are One," which had an enor- 
mous circulation, in which he declared 
the modern corporation to be one of the 
greatest benefits of the nineteenth cen- 
tury and a distinguishing mark of its 
civilization. He upheld railroads, in par- 
ticular ; deprecated strikes ; and advo- 
cated arbitration in all disputes between 
employees and employers. He was an 
ardent and active promoter of the scrip- 
tural observance of the Christian Sabbath, 
as president of the American Sabbath 
Union, and spared no pains, outlay of 
personal effort, or liberal use of money to 
aid in this and other religious and social 
reforms in which he was interested. One 
aspect which his regard for Sabbath ob- 
servance assumed was the purchase of 
the control of the Fifth avenue (New 
York City) stage line and equipments, in 
order to put an end to its Sunday traffic. 

In March. 1888, Colonel Shepard en- 
tered the field of journalism by purchase 
of the New York "Mail and Express," 
the prosperity and influence of which 
were greatly advantaged by his admin- 
istration of its business affairs and his 
control over its columns. His new de- 
parture was a genuine surprise to his per- 
sonal friends as well as to the public, his 
ample wealth precluding the assumption 
that he had engaged in journalism merely 
out of business considerations. On sev- 
eral occasions his name was mentioned 
in connection with important diplomatic 
positions, but he preferred a journalistic 
to an official career, as affording him a 
more effective and congenial field for 



public service. The "Mail and Express" 
was a Republican paper when he took it 
in charge, and in some quarters it was 
believed that he intended to use it as a 
factor for the enhancement of the popu- 
larity and presidential prospects of an 
already popular citizen of New York. 
The policy of the paper was but little 
changed, however, and it proved a stead- 
fast supporter of Republican principles 
and administration policies. Upon as- 
suming its control Colonel Shepard ex- 
pressed his intention of making it a 
strictly clean, respectable journal, in the 
conviction that an editor should carefully 
exclude from its columns anything that 
a gentleman might hesitate to read aloud 
before his family. He had an unaffected 
dislike for the morbid stuff that too often 
mars the press product under the guise 
of "news," and which he held to be a 
pabulum serving the gratification of an 
unhealthy appetite, and ever sowing the 
seeds of vice and criminality among its 
readers. In adhering to this conviction, 
and steadfastly eschewing sensational- 
ism, Colonel Shepard achieved a decided 
success. A peculiarity of his journal, 
since Colonel Shepard's purchase, was its 
fresh daily reprint of a verse from the 
Holy Scriptures, at the head of its 
columns. 

In 1868, Colonel Shepard married Mar- 
garet Louisa, eldest daughter of William 
H. Vanderbilt, He died in New York 
City. March 25, 1893. 



FLOWER, Roswell P., 

Governor. 

Roswell Pettibone Flower was born in 
Theresa, New York, August 7, 1835, 
fourth son of Nathan M. and Mary Ann 
( Boyle) Flower. His father was a native 
of Greene county. New York, and his 
mother of Cherry Valley, Otsego county. 
His paternal ancestors were from Eng- 



210 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY' 



land, and settled in Hartford, Connecti- 
cut, in 1696, while on his mother's side 
he was descended from Scotch-Irish an- 
cestors. His father was a wool-carder 
and cloth-dresser, and when he died in 
1843 his wife and sons continued the busi- 
ness. 

Roswell P. Flower paid his own way at 
school by working on a farm, in a brick- 
yard, and at odd jobs about the village 
store. He was graduated at the Theresa 
High School in 185 1, and then taught a 
country school. In 1853 he became a 
clerk in a store at Theresa, and then went 
to Philadelphia, New York, where he was 
a clerk for a short time. The firm failed, 
and he returned to Theresa. He was ap- 
pointed assistant postmaster of Water- 
town, New York, in 1854, remaining in 
the office for six years, and out of a salary 
of six hundred dollars per year saving the 
capital with which he purchased a half in- 
terest in a jewelry store. In two years 
he bought out his partner. In 1859 his 
brother-in-law, Henry Keep, president of 
the Chicago & Northwestern railroad, 
then in failing health, entrusted to young 
Flower the care of his vast property, and 
he removed to New York City. His man- 
agement of this trust kept the property 
together and increased its value. Mr. 
Flower soon after formed the banking 
firm of Benedict, Flower & Company, and 
afterward admitted two of his brothers as 
partners. In 1881 he was nominated by 
the Democratic party, with which he had 
always acted, representative in Congress 
from the Eleventh District of New York, 
his opponent on the Republican ticket be- 
ing William Waldorf Astor. The elec- 
tion was a special one to fill a vacancy in 
the Forty-seventh Congress, caused by 
the resignation of Levi P. Morton, ap- 
pointed United States Minister to France 
by President Garfield. He was elected by 
a majority of 3,100 votes, a change of 
7,100 votes, and he served throughout the 



Forty-seventh Congress. He declined re- 
nomination in 1882, and was a candidate 
before the Democratic State Convention 
for Governor of the State, receiving on 
the first ballot 134 votes to 134 for Gen- 
eral H. W. Slocum, and 61 for Grover 
Cleveland, who was finally nominated. 
In 1S85 he was nominated as Lieutenant- 
Governor, with David B. Hill for Govern- 
or, but declined to run. He was president 
of the New York electric subway com- 
mission, 1886. In the Democratic Na- 
tional Convention of 1888 his name was 
mentioned as an available presidential 
nominee, and he had a large following, 
including one-half the delegation from 
New York State, but the inevitable 
happened in the renomination of Grover 
Cleveland. He was a representative from 
the Twelfth District in the Fifty-first 
Congress, 1889-91, where he served on 
the committee on ways and means and on 
the committee on the Columbian Expo- 
sition of 1893. He was reelected to the 
Fifty-second Congress in 1890, and Gov- 
ernor of New York in 1891 by a plurality 
of 47,937 votes, resigning his seat in Con- 
gress on the dav he was nominated at 
Saratoga. He served as Governor until 
January i, 1895. His action in suppress- 
ing a panic resulting from the appearance 
of a few cases of cholera in New York 
harbor, and in suppressing the railroad 
riots at Buffalo, New York, were note- 
worthy incidents in his gubernatorial ad- 
ministration. He was elected president of 
the Columbia Trust Company, 1895-97, 
and was honorary vice-president, 1897-99. 
He was married, in 1859, to Sarah M., 
daughter of Norris M. Woodruff, of 
Watertown. He gave $50,000 in 1881 for 
the construction of St. Thomas' Home in 
connection with St. Thomas' Church, of 
which he was a vestryman, a memorial 
to his son. He also built a hospital for 
the use of the students of the Homoeo- 
pathic College, Trinity Church, Water- 



211 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



town, New York, and St. James Church, 
Theresa, New York, in memory of his 
mother. He died at Eastport, Long 
Island, New York, May 12, 1899. 



SAMPSON, William T., 

Distinguished Naval Officer. 

Admiral William Thomas Sampson 
was born in Palmyra, New York, Febru- 
ary 9, 1840, son of James and Hannah 
(Walker) Sampson, who emigrated from 
the North of Ireland and settled in Pal- 
myra, where his father was a laborer. 

William T. Sampson attended the pub- 
lic schools and studied at home, and in 
1857 was appointed to the United States 
Naval Academy, where he was graduated 
in 1861. He served on the frigate "Poto- 
mac ;" and was promoted to master in 

1861, and to second lieutenant, July 16, 

1862. He served on the United States 
practice ship "John Adams," 1862-63; 
was an instructor at the United States 
Naval Academy in 1864; served on the 
"Patapsco," of the South Atlantic block- 
ading squadron off Charleston, as execu- 
tive officer, and on January 16, 1865, he 
was ordered to enter Charleston harbor, 
and remove and destroy all submarine 
mines and torpedoes protecting the city. 
Under a heavy fire, the "Patapsco" suc- 
ceeded in entering the harbor, but was 
blown up by a sunken mine. Sampson 
was rescued about one hundred feet from 
the wreck, but seventy of his crew were 
drowned. He was promoted to lieuten- 
ant-commander, July 25, 1866; served on 
the steam frigate "Colorado," flagship of 
the European squadron, 1865-67 ; was 
stationed at the United States Naval 
Academy as instructor, 1868-71 ; com- 
manded the "Congress" on the European 
station, 1872-73 ; was promoted to com- 
mander. August g, 1874: assigned to the 
"Alert," and was again instructor at the 
naval academy, 1876-78. He commanded 



the "Swatara" in Chinese waters, 1879-82. 
He was proficient in science, being espe- 
cially interested in physics, chemistry, 
metallurgy and astronomy. He was sent 
in 1878 to Creston, Iowa, to report a total 
eclipse of the sun ; was assigned to duty 
as assistant superintendent of the United 
States Naval Observatory, 1882-85; was 
on duty at the torpedo station, Newport, 
Rhode Island ; a member of the inter- 
national prime meridian council in 1884; 
a member of the board of fortifications 
and other defences, 1885-86, and a dele- 
gate to the international maritime con- 
ference in 1889. He was promoted to 
captain in March, 1S89, and commanded 
the cruiser "San Francisco" during a tour 
of duty on the Pacific coast, 1890-93. He 
was chief of the Bureau of Ordnance, 
1893-97, ^iid on June 16, 1897, was given 
command of the battleship "Iowa," at 
that time the most formidable vessel in 
the United States navy. 

He was presiding officer of the board 
of inquiry to ascertain the cause of the 
destruction of the battleship "Maine" in 
Havana harbor, in February, 1898, and 
on the outbreak of the war with Spain 
he commanded the North Atlantic squad- 
ron, with the rank of acting rear admiral. 
He was commander-in-chief of the United 
States naval forces operating in the North 
Atlantic of? the coast of Cuba, and 
planned the blockade of the harbor of 
Santiago that effectually prevented the 
escape of the Spanish fleet under Cer- 
vera. The blockading fleet was arranged 
in a semi-circle six miles from the en- 
trance of the harbor by day, and four by 
night. The fleet cooperated with the land 
forces under General Shafter, who had 
his headquarters at Sebony, and on the 
morning of July 3, Sampson, in his flag- 
ship "New York," left the squadron in 
order to confer with Shafter at that place. 
During his absence the Spanish fleet was 
discovered coming out of the harbor, and 



212 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



by a concerted action of the captains in 
command of the respective blockading 
vessels they immediately closed in and 
engaged the enemy. A running fight was 
kept up for about four hours, when the 
Spanish fleet was entirely destroyed. The 
"New York" returned in time to witness 
the close of the great naval battle, but 
was unable to get within range. The 
fleet then cooperated with Shafter in the 
bombardment of Santiago, July lo-ii, 
1898; and after the surrender of the 
Spanish land forces Sampson was ap- 
pointed a member of the commission to 
arrange for the evacuation of Cuba. He 
was promoted commodore July 6, 1898 ; 
made an extended cruise in West Indian 
waters in 1899, ^"^ returned to the 
United States in the spring of 1899. A 
difference of opinion between the respec- 
tive admirers of Sampson and Schley, as 
to the relative part taken by each in the 
destruction of the Spanish fleet, carried 
on by the press, prevented the prompt 
advance in rank of any of the participants 
in the Santiago campaign, and in answer 
to a letter from Sampson addressed to the 
President, March 9, 1899, in which he 
offered to waive all personal interests, if 
the other officers could receive advance- 
ment as recommended by him. President 
McKinley, on March 13, 1899, commended 
his disinterested action, assured him of 
the highest appreciation of his services as 
commander-in-chief of the Atlantic naval 
forces in blockading Cuba, cooperating 
witli the army and directing the move- 
ments that after the most eflfective pre- 
paration consummated in the destruction 
of rhe Spanish fleet, and reminded him 
that it was in recognition of such serv- 
ices that he had recommended him to the 
Senate for the advancement he had 
earned. In 1899 a jewelled sword was 
presented to him by the State of New 
Jersey. He was promoted rear-admiral, 
March 3, 1899; commanded the Charles- 



town navy yard, Massachusetts, 1899- 
1902, and was retired January i, 1902. 
The honorary degree of LL. D. was con- 
ferred upon him by Yale in 1901. He 
was twice married, (first) in 1863, to 
Margaret Seton Aldrich, of Palmyra, 
New York, and (second) in 1882, to 
Elizabeth Susan Burling, of Rochester, 
New York. He died in Washington, D. 
C, May 6, 1902. 



TOWNSEND, Martin I., 

Lavyer, Congressman. 

Martin Ingham Townsend born at 
Hancock, Massachusetts, February 6, 
1810, was descended from Henry Adams, 
of Braintree, and Miles Standish, of 
Plymouth, Massachusetts, on hismother's 
side ; and from John Train, of Massachu- 
setts, and Samuel Ingham, of Connecti- 
cut, on the paternal side. His parents, 
Nathaniel and Cynthia (Marsh) Town- 
send, removed in 1816 to Williamstown, 
Massachusetts. 

Martin Ingham Townsend graduated 
second in his class from Williams College 
in 1833, studied law and was admitted to 
practice by the Supreme Court of the 
State of New York, May 13, 1836. He 
resided and practiced his profession at 
Troy, New York. He was district attor- 
ney of Rensselaer county from 1842 to 
1845, ^"d during that time procured the 
conviction of the perpetrators of two dif- 
ferent murders. He was an ardent Demo- 
crat until 1848, when he became disgusted 
with the action of the National Democratic 
Convention in its resolutions upon the sub- 
ject of slavery at Baltimore that year; at 
Troy he took an active part in the first 
meeting held in the United States to pro- 
test against the doings of that conven- 
tion. Mr. Townsend, although not a pro- 
fessional agitator, was one of the most 
earnest and aggressive opponents of 
slavery extension and of the encroach- 



213 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ments of its advocates. He was ardent in 
the advocacy of his political opinions. In 
1866 Williams College conferred upon 
him the degree of LL. D. In 1867 he was 
a member of the Constitutional Conven- 
tion of the State of New York for the 
State-at-large, by State election. In 1873 
he was elected by the Legislature a re- 
gent of the University of the State of 
New York, and was a very active member 
of that board. He was a member of Con- 
gress for two terms, ending March 4, 
1879, taking part in all the discussions of 
that period. He was United States dis- 
trict attorney for the Northern district of 
New York from March 4, 1879, to Octo- 
ber 27, 1887, when he was removed by 
President Cleveland for his pronounced 
republicanism. In 1890 he was a member 
of the constitutional commission created 
by act of the Legislature by appointment 
of Governor Hill, with the advice and 
consent of the Senate. In that conven- 
tion he was a strong opponent of the 
attempt to circumscribe the right of ap- 
peal to the Court of Appeals. On July 
15, 1863, an anti-draft mob raided his 
mansion on Second street, Troy, destroy- 
ing everything within reach, but when he 
was nominated for Congress in 1874, he 
ran about eight hundred ahead of his 
ticket in that city. Mr. Townsend was 
counsel for the United States in the cele- 
brated Whitaker case at West Point, and 
had conducted a very large and success- 
ful law business. He died in 1903. 



BISSELL, Wilson S., 

liawyer. 

Wilson Shannon Bissell was born in 
New London, Oneida county, New York, 
December 31, 1847, son of John and 
Isabella Bissell. In 185 1 his parents 
removed to Buffalo, and there he at- 
tended the public schools until 1863, when 
he was sent to the Hopkins Grammar 



School, New Haven, Connecticut. He 
was graduated at Yale College in 1869, 
and immediately began the study of law 
in the office of Messrs. Laning, Cleveland 
& Folsom, being admitted to the bar in 
1871. In 1872 he entered into partnership 
with Hon. Lyman K. Bass, and three 
years later was joined by Grover Cleve- 
land, the firm name becoming Cleveland 
& Bissell, after Mr. Bass's retirement. In 
1881, upon Grover Cleveland's election to 
the mayoralty, George J. Sicard entered 
the firm, and the name was Cleveland, 
Bissell & Sicard, which continued until 
Grover Cleveland retired on his election 
to the governorship ; and with Charles W. 
Goodyear the name was changed to Bis- 
sell, Sicard & Goodyear. Mr. Goodyear 
retired in 1887, and a new firm was 
formed by the admission of ex-Judge 
Frank Brundage and Herbert P. Bissell, 
with the title of Bissell, Sicard, Brundage 
& Bissell. Judge Brundage retiring in 
1894, the firm of Bissell, Sicard, Bissell & 
Carey was organized, which was changed 
in 1896 to the present firm of Bissell, 
Carey & Cooke. In the nomination of 
Grover Cleveland for Governor in 1882 
and for President in 1884 and 1892, Mr. 
Bissell took a prominent part, and on 
March 6, 1893, he was appointed post- 
master-general in Cleveland's second cabi- 
net. During his incumbency of this office, 
a number of important improvements 
were consummated, notably : The shorten- 
ing of time on transcontinental mail trans- 
mission by fourteen hours ; the elimina- 
tion of steamship subsidies on slow ships, 
amounting to $10,000,000; the transfer of 
contracts for printing postage stamps 
from private parties to the bureau of 
engraving and printing at Washington. 
Having resigned from the cabinet, April 
4, 1895, ^^ resumed his legal practice in 
Buffalo. He was counsel for large and 
important corporations, particularly rail- 
roads, but he was more especially a con- 



214 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



suiting lawyer. In the affairs of the Buf- 
falo library he had been most active, 
having served it diligently in the capac- 
ities of president, trustee, and real estate 
commissioner. In 1888 he was president 
of the Buffalo Club, and was chancellor 
of the Buffalo University. In May, 1888, 
he was elected a delegate to the national 
convention, at the State convention held 
in New York City, but resigned to accept 
the nomination for presidential elector- 
at-large. In 1893 the degree of LL. D. 
was conferred upon him by Yale Univer- 
sity. Mr. Bissell was an acknowledged 
leader of the Buffalo bar, and ranked 
among the foremost lawyers of the State. 
He died in 1903. 



HEWITT, Abram S., 

statesman. 

Abram Stevens Hewitt was born at 
Haverstraw, New York, July 31, 1822. 
His mother's family, the Garniers, of old 
Huguenot stock, originally settled in 
Rockland county. New York, and the 
land has been held by the family for five 
generations ; the log-house on this Gar- 
nier tract (a portion of which was owned 
by Mr. Hewitt), in which he was born, 
stood for some time near Pomona sta- 
tion, not far from Haverstraw. The elder 
Hewitt was a machinist, who came to 
America in the latter part of the eight- 
eenth century and assisted in putting 
up the first steam engine works here, and 
also in the construction of the first steam 
engine wholly built in this country, and 
was a leading member of the old Me- 
chanics' and Tradesmen's Society. He 
was successful in business, but was 
burned out, and retired to his farm in 
Rockland county, which accounted for 
Abram's being born in the old log-house 
before mentioned. Here the boy grew 
up, passing part of his time on the farm, 
and part in the City of New York, where 



his father was reinstating himself in busi- 
ness. 

Abram S. Hewitt obtamed a prize 
scholarship in Columbia College, after 
a special examination of public school 
scholars, and was thus able to obtain an 
education. In the meantime he earned 
his own living by private teaching. He 
graduated at the head of his class, but his 
health was seriously impaired, and also 
his eyesight, which was never afterward 
perfect. After a period of rest, he began 
the study of law, at the same time being 
a tutor in the college. In 1843 '^^ was 
Acting Professor of Mathematics, and 
while holding the position saved up about 
one thousand dollars. In 1844, taking this 
money, and accompanied by Edward 
Cooper, son of Peter Cooper, and a mem- 
ber of his class at college, he visited 
Europe. Returning on board a Mobile 
packet, it was wrecked, and he and his 
companion drifted about in an open boat 
for twelve hours before they were picked 
up by a passing vessel which brought 
them to New York. In 1844 Mr. Hewitt 
was admitted to the bar, but he soon 
found that his eyesight was so defective 
it would be impossible for him to practice 
that profession with success; in the mean- 
time his intimate friendship with the 
Coopers had continued, and it was deter- 
mined that the two young men should 
form a business partnership, whereupon 
Peter Cooper gave over to them the iron 
branch of his own business. The success 
of this undertaking in the hands of 
Messrs. Cooper & Hewitt was marked. 
The firm was a pioneer in successfully 
manufacturing iron in the United States, 
theirs being the first to make iron girders 
and supports to be used in fireproof build- 
ings and bridges, and at their works were 
also made the iron girders used in the 
construction of the Cooper Union Build- 
ing. At one time there were upwards of 
three thousand men on their pay-rolls. 



215 



E,\CYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



In 1878 Mr. Hewitt stated at one of the 
meetings of the congressional committee 
on the grievances of labor, of which he 
was chairman, that from 1873 to 1^79 the 
business of his firm was conducted at a 
loss of $100,000 a year ; the deficit caused 
partly in keeping up the plant, but in 
large measure to avoid the distress con- 
sequent upon throwing out of employ- 
ment a large number of laborers. It is 
a remarkable incident in the economic 
history of the country that the profits of 
this great industry during forty years 
were only sufificient to pay the men and 
the regular operating expenses ; and the 
enterprise was sustained simply by the 
judicious use of their capital outside of 
their immediate business, and by antici- 
pating the future by prudent advance 
purchases of materials. The works were 
never shut down, but sometimes worked 
on half-time when business was slack. 
The policy of the firm toward their work- 
men was always to take them into their 
confidence, and always to be on the best 
of terms with trades unions and special 
labor organizations. The firm of Cooper 
& Hewitt finally owned and controlled 
the Trenton, Ringwood, Request and 
Durham iron works in New Jersey, the 
development and management of which 
was largely the result of Mr. Hewitt's per- 
sonal efiforts. In 1862 he visited England 
in order to learn the process of making 
gun barrel iron, and was enabled to sup- 
ply the gun barrel material needed by the 
United States government during the 
continuance of the Civil War. To Mr. 
Hewitt also was due the introduction of 
the INIartins-Siemens, or open-hearth pro- 
cess for the manufacture of steel in this 
country. 

The plan of the Cooper Union, founded 
by Peter Cooper as a benefaction to the 
City of New York, was devised by the 
trustees of that institution, with Mr. 
Hewitt as chairman. Afterward, as sec- 



retary of the board of trustees, he man- 
aged its financial, and, to a very large ex- 
tent its educational affairs. 

The public career of Mr. Hewitt, as a 
man of affairs and statesman, began in 
1867, when he was appointed by Presi- 
dent Johnson one of ten United States 
commissioners to visit the Paris Expo- 
sition held that year, and to report on the 
subjects of iron and steel ; the volume 
which resulted from his labors was trans- 
lated into nearly all European languages. 
In 1874 Mr. Hewitt was elected to Con- 
gress, and, one term excepted, served un- 
til 1886. In Congress he speedily became 
noted for his practical ideas and common- 
sense views. Having a strong tendency 
toward the study of political economy, he 
was frequently a speaker on subjects con- 
nected with finance, labor, and the de- 
velopment of the national resources. He 
was an advocate of honest legislation 
without regard to party service. He was 
independent, but never radical. His 
honesty of political purpose was always 
conceded. In regard to the great tariff 
question, he believed in and sustained 
measures for a limited reform, being 
neither a free-trader nor a protectionist. 
In 1878 Mr. Hewitt was the leader of 
the twenty-seven Democrats in Congress 
who voted against the attempt to repeal 
the specie resumption act. He was op- 
posed to the system of coinage of the sil- 
ver dollar, and predicted the results which 
afterwards followed. He was chairman 
of the Democratic National Committee in 
1876. The claim of the Democrats after 
the election, to the effect that they had 
carried the country and elected Mr. Til- 
den to the presidency was written by 
Abram S. Hewitt, and the manuscript of 
it is still in existence, with marginal notes 
in the handwriting of Mr. Tilden. Dur- 
ing that crisis, Mr. Hewitt encouraged 
the boldest action in regard to the situ- 
ation. Mr. Tilden, however, was timid. 



216 



ENCYCLOrEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and of three methods of settlement which 
were placed before him, — a contest, a sur- 
render, or arbitration — he chose the latter, 
and this controlled Mr. Hewitt as his in- 
strument in Congress and in the party, 
the result being the establishment of the 
electoral commission, and the seating of 
Rutherford B. Hayes in the presidential 
chair. In October, 1886, a strong move- 
ment was made on the part of the labor 
organizations of New York to gain pos- 
session of the city government, resulting 
in the nomination of Henry George for 
mayor. A union was efifected and a party 
formed of Democrats and Independents, 
by which Abram S. Hewitt was nomi- 
nated for mayor, while the Republicans 
set up the name of Theodore Roosevelt 
as their candidate. Theodore Roosevelt 
received 60,435 votes ; Henry George, 68,- 
iio, and Abram S. Hewitt, 90,552. Mr. 
Hewitt performed his new duties with 
his customary vigor and energy. He was 
a thorough-going reformer, and kept close 
watch of the acts of his subordinates. He 
aroused the ire of the Irish by refusing 
to raise the Irish flag over the city hall on 
St. Patrick's day, his conviction being that 
the flag of no other people should be 
raised, except as a matter of especial com- 
pliment, upon any municipal or national 
building in the country, while as to the 
flag of a nation which had no political 
existence, he thought there ought to be 
no difference of opinion or even discus- 
sion. From the close of his term as 
mayor of New York, Mr. Hewitt re- 
mained practically out of politics. 

Mr. Hewitt married, in 1855, the daugh- 
ter of Peter Cooper, and sister of his busi- 
ness partner, Edward Cooper. He died 
January 18, 1903. 



CORNELL. Alonzo B., 

Governor. 

Alonzo B. Cornell was born at Ithaca. 
New York, January 22, 1832. He received 



an academic education, and at an early 
age engaged in the telegraph business. 
His first employment was at Troy, New 
York ; and from his first connection with 
that office, Mr. Cornell was continuously 
occupied either as operator, manager, 
superintendent, director, vice-president, 
or acting president, of the Western Union 
Telegraph Company or its predecessor 
companies. His father, the late Ezra Cor- 
nell, founder of Cornell University, was 
associated with Professor Morse in the 
early developments of the electric tele- 
graph, and in 1843 was appointed by the 
Secretary of the Treasury as the superin- 
tendent of construction of the first line of 
telegraph in America, between Baltimore 
and Washington. The Western Union 
Telegraph Company was organized in 
1854 by the union of several of the origi- 
nal telegraph companies, located chiefly 
in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. Ezra 
Cornell, Hiram Sibley, of Rochester, and 
Jephtha H. Wade, of Cleveland, Ohio, 
were the practical founders of the com- 
pany. 

On his accession to the presidency, in 
1869, General Grant appointed Mr, Cor- 
nell as Surveyor of Customs for the Port 
of New York. He performed the duties 
of that office with such satisfaction that 
in 1870 President Grant nominated him 
Assistant Treasurer of the United States 
at New York, to succeed Charles J. Fol- 
ger, who had been elected to the Court of 
Appeals. Mr. Cornell preferred the cus- 
toms service and declined to accept the 
treasurership, whereupon Thomas Hill- 
house was appointed to that office. In 
performance of duty as Surveyor of Cus- 
toms. Mr. Cornell was associated with 
Moses H. Grinnell, Thomas Murphy and 
Chester A. Arthur, collectors, successive- 
ly, of the port of New York. Mr. Cornell 
resigned in 1872 to accept an election to 
the Legislative Assembly of the State of 
New York ; and although it was his first 
parliamentary service, he was chosen 



21; 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



speaker of that body by the unanimous 
action of the Republican caucus. The As- 
sembly contained a large number of 
prominent men of great legislative experi- 
ence, and the choice of Mr. Cornell as 
speaker, without even the pretense of a 
canvass for the position, was an unusual 
compliment. As a presiding officer he 
was remarkably successful, but declined 
a proffered renomination to the Assem- 
bly, although his district was overwhelm- 
ingly Republican. He preferred to re- 
sume his position as vice-president of the 
Western Union Telegraph Company, in 
which he continued until the close of 
1876, when he accepted from President 
Grant the appointment as Naval Officer 
for the Port of New York. In 1875 Mr. 
Cornell was acting president of the West- 
ern Union Telegraph Company during 
the prolonged absence in Europe of the 
late William Orton, then president of the 
company. Factional strife induced Presi- 
dent Hayes to suspend Collector Arthur 
and Naval Officer Cornell from their posi- 
tions in July, 1878, an action founded 
wholly on political motives. At the suc- 
ceeding election, Mr. Cornell was elected 
Governor of New York, and General 
Arthur Vice-President of the United 
States, which was generally recognized 
as a vindication of their side of the con- 
troversy. Governor Cornell was inaugu- 
rated January i, 1880, and served three 
years. His administration was marked 
by its economical results, freedom from 
official scandal, and the general excellence 
of his official appointments. He exercised 
the veto power with firmness and to the 
great satisfaction of the people. Among 
the prominent measures vetoed by Gov- 
ernor Cornell were the code of criminal 
procedure of 1880, the Croton aqueduct 
bill, and the new capitol appropriation 
bill of 1881, the general street railway bill 
of 1882, the bill providing a public restau- 
rant in Central Park, and many others. 



His vetoes of the supply bills were un- 
precedented in their magnitude, and were 
cordially approved by the masses. No 
Governor since then has deemed it neces- 
sary to apply such radical remedies to 
the correction of scandalous legislation. 
Many meritorious measures tending to 
genuine reformation in the public service 
were enacted during Governor Cornell's 
term. The act making women eligible as 
-■school electors and school officers was 
recommended in his first annual message 
and approved by him. The amendment 
of the usury laws enacted in 1882, as 
recommended in his annual message of 
that year, has proved to be the most im- 
portant financial measure adopted by the 
State since the close of the war for the 
restoration of the Union. It has accom- 
plished more to equalize New York and 
London as the chief financial centers of 
the world than any other act of State 
legislation. Governor Cornell strongly 
urged the creation of the State railway 
commission which was provided for dur- 
ing his term, but a Democratic Legisla- 
ture factiously denied him the satisfac- 
tion of appointing the commissioners. 
The Women's Reformatory of Hudson 
was the only new State institution he 
permitted to be projected by legislative 
enactment. Under commissioners ap- 
pointed by him, that admirable institu- 
tion was completed and put into successful 
operation at a cost of less than $125,000 
It has capacity for two hundred and fifty 
inmates, and is by far the best and 
cheapest public institution erected by the 
State since the completion of the Erie 
canal enlargement. The corporation State 
tax law was enacted under Governor Cor- 
nell's administration, and was designed 
to relieve overburdened landowners from 
onerous taxation ; but although it has 
already produced more than ten millions 
of revenue for the State treasury, it has 
failed to accomplish its intended purpose, 



218 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



owing to the continuous enactment of ex- 
travagant tax levies. Governor Cornell's 
last annual message was an admirable 
statement of the conditions and neces- 
sities of the State. He confined his mes- 
sages to subjects of State jurisdiction and 
interest. He was a candidate for re- 
nomination in 1882, but he was set aside 
and Grover Cleveland, the Democratic 
nominee, was elected by nearly two hun- 
dred thousand majority. Mr. Cornell then 
retired from political life and took up his 
residence in New York City. He died in 
1904. 



ROSS, Peter, 

Historian, liitteratenr. 

Of the late Peter Ross, LL. D., the dis- 
tinguished Scotch scholar, John Muir, 
F. S. A., author of "Carlyle on Burns," 
said in the Dundee (Scotland) "People's 
Friend," in 1898: 

"Few Scotsmen on the other side of 
the Atlantic are better known or more 
highly esteemed than Dr. Peter Ross, of 
New York, who during the last two 
decades has done so much in the United 
States and Canada in the interests of 
Scotland — her history, her literature, and 
her sons. As a journalist of long stand- 
ing his pen has ever been ready to defend 
or further his native land and her hardy 
sons and comely daughters. As a Cale- 
donian, his organizing and managerial 
powers have been of the utmost service 
to the causes which had the good fortune 
to secure his cooperation, and his secre- 
tarial and committee work has been enor- 
mous. As a Scot he has ever held out the 
hand of good fellowship and benevolence 
to those in need of his advice or aid, and 
many a struggling countryman and 
woman owe to his kindness a bright spot 
in their lives. Such men are the salt of 
the earth." 



Mr. Ross was born at Inverness, Scot- 
land, in 1847. He was educated in Edin- 
burgh, and afterward attended the classes 
of Professors Allman and Balfour Stew- 
art, and closed with a course at the 
School of Arts. The teachers of that 
famous Edinburgh institution he remem- 
bered with much veneration, notably Pro- 
fessors Macadam, Lees, and Dr. David 
Pryde. The latter was a most brilliant 
lecturer, and not a few of his students 
were imbued with the literary spirit 
under the spell of his genius. After com- 
pleting his education, so far at least as 
the schools are concerned, Mr. Ross early 
took to journalism, his first newspaper 
work being done for the old "Caledonian 
Mercury." 

In 1874 he crossed the Atlantic and 
settled in New York, where he engaged 
in newspaper and literary work, his con- 
tributions both to American and British 
journals and magazines being many, and 
all of value. His first work was the 
"Poetical Works of Sir William Alexan- 
der, Earl of Stirling," in three large vol- 
umes, a work showing unusual research 
and keen critical judgment. In the fol- 
lowing year he edited a still more re- 
markable and vastly more important col- 
lection of the poetry of his native land, 
"The Songs of Scotland. Chronologically 
Arranged," which had a very extensive 
circulation, reaching its fourth edition. It 
is a standard work, and is to be found in 
most public and private libraries. Be- 
sides brief memoirs of the authors, it con- 
tains a considerable amount of historical 
and antiquarian information of great 
interest to students of this class of litera- 
ture ; but its most valuable feature, after 
the songs thmeselves, which are of the 
very best, is the introduction, which 
gives a summary of the history of Scot- 
tish minstrelsy from the earliest times 
down to date. 



219 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



In 1886 he published his first book in 
America, "The Life of Saint Andrew," 
the patron saint of Scotland and Russia, 
treating of St. Andrew from his earliest 
years, describing his missionary work in 
detail, and telling of his closing years, 
and how he became the Scottish national 
patron saint, altogether a most interest- 
ing and instructive book; but the chapter 
on "Saint Andrew Among the Poets," 
is one which is specially interesting for 
the number of really excellent poems it 
contains. Dr. Ross's next contribution to 
Scottish-American literature was "Scot- 
land and the Scots," giving an account of 
what contributions Scotch blood and 
Scotch genius have made to the world's 
fund of enterprise and intelligence ; where 
the minor Scotlands, so to speak, of to- 
day are to be found ; what communities 
apart from the parent land are still mark- 
edly Scotch ; and what form Scottish in- 
stitutions have taken in other lands to 
which they have been carried. The book 
abounds in curious and interesting infor- 
mation on all those and many more 
topics, including Scottish characteristics, 
anniversaries, holidays, sports and super- 
stitions. Another book. "The Scot in 
America," issued in 1896, is undoubtedly 
the standard work on the subject, and 
worthy of a place alongside of Burton's 
"Scot Abroad." It is full of curious infor- 
mation, most of it collected from original 
sources, and even the compilation of the 
material must have occupied many years. 
Of particular interest are the narratives 
concerning Scots who distinguished them- 
selves by voluntary service in the Revo- 
lutionary and Civil wars. The next book 
by Dr. Ross, like its predecessors, deals 
with Scottish historical and literary sub- 
jects, and was published during i8g8, in 
Paisley, Scotland, "Kingcraft in Scot- 
land." This work has been favorably 
noticed by the critics on both sides of the 



Atlantic, although the writer's democratic 
notions proved unacceptable to not a few. 

Dr. Ross next engaged himself in a 
great literary task, which he completed in 
1901 — "A History of Freemasonry in 
New York," in two large quarto volumes. 
During the same period he engaged in 
revising for the press a series of articles 
on "The Contemporaries of Burns," for a 
weekly newspaper. This work is actually 
a history of Scottish literature during the 
eighteenth century. Dr. Ross soon after- 
ward wrote an excellent narrative "His- 
tory of Long Island," published by the 
Lewis Publishing Company of New York. 

Dr. Ross came of a literary family. His 
brother, John D. Ross, LL. D., was well 
known on both sides of the Atlantic as 
an author and editor of works relating to 
Robert Burns. Mr. Peter Ross was made 
an LL. D. about 1900, and the distinction 
was no less merited than appreciated. He 
was a most enthusiastic Mason. He was 
initiated in Thistle and Rose Lodge, No. 
73, Glasgow, Scotland, and after settling 
in New York affiliated with Scotia Lodge, 
No. 634, of which he was twice master, 
and served it as treasurer for ten years. 
He was also a member of Zetland Chap- 
ter, No. 141, Royal Arch Masons, a chap- 
ter named after a well-known Scottish 
nobleman whose services to the craft are 
thus aflfectionately remembered and com- 
memorated. In the Ancient and Accepted 
Scottish Rite he was a member of the 
New York Lodge of Perfection, Council 
of Princes of Jerusalem, Chapter of Rose 
Croix, and the Consistory of New York, 
holding the rank which accompanies the 
possession of the thirty-second degree. 
In the New York Grand Lodge he held 
the appropriate office of historian, and 
was representative of the Grand Lodge 
of Maryland near the Grand Lodge of 
New York. In the formation of the Ma- 
sonic Historical Society of New York he 



220 





'v£d£t^ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



took an active part, and held the office 
of secretary, and was a member of the 
correspondence circle of Lodge Quatuor 
Coronati, No. 2076, London. Possibly 
among his many Masonic honors he held 
none in higher esteem than that of hon- 
orary membership in Canongate Kilwin- 
ning Lodge, No. 2, Edinburgh, of which 
lodge Robert Burns was a member. 

Dr. Ross died June 2, 1902. Funeral 
services were held in the Grand Lodge 
room of Masonic Hall, New York City, 
and the remains were interred in Good 
Hope Cemetery, where a monument, sub- 
scribed for by his Masonic brethren and 
friends, among them many literary work- 
ers, marks his last resting place. 



LINDSLEY. Smith M., 

Laxryer, Jurist. 

Those who approach the dignified sub- 
ject of the law or its practice from the in- 
side, as it were, not as the litigant but as 
the attorney, or even more as the student, 
are well acquainted with the extremely 
characteristic and vivid atmosphere that 
adheres to it, made up of the multitude of 
associations from its great past, which 
gives it a tone peculiar to itself, intangible 
but none the less definite, and exercising 
a most potent charm upon all who come 
within its influence. They recognize this, 
they feel the influence of its great tra- 
dition as descending upon it from the wit 
and wisdom of the great men of preced- 
ing ages, but they are also aware, if they 
stop to consider the matter, that very little 
is being added to that tradition to-day, 
that there are very few men who are 
making associations for a future age in 
the present. Occasionally, however, we 
have our attention attracted to a man, 
often a man in none of the situations of 
the bench or bar, who we feel instinctive- 
ly is adding to that already mighty current 



of tradition. Their names are somewhat 
more frequent of occurrence in the gener- 
ation that is just past, men whose devo- 
tion to the law was greater than their de- 
votion to themselves, men who practiced 
their profession as one should practice his 
religion with an eye to impersonal con- 
siderations, the priests of the law who 
dedicated themselves to the law's ends, 
not the law unto their own. Such a de- 
scription would very appositely apply to 
Smith M. Lindsley, late of Utica, New 
York, the distinguished gentleman whose 
name heads this brief appreciation, and 
whose death removes from the commu- 
nity a gentleman and a lawyer of the old 
school when ideals were placed before 
expediency. 

Smith M. Lindsley was a native of 
Monticello, Sullivan county. New York, 
born April 11, 1847, ^ son of Rufus and 
Jane (Weed) Lindsley, and a grandson of 

Eliud Lindsley and Smith, of the 

family of Garrett Smith, the former one of 
the pioneers of that region, and a man of 
unusually strong character and will. On 
the maternal side, too, he came of fine old 
pioneer stock, his mother being a relative 
of Smith M. Weed, celebrated in the an- 
nals of Clinton county. Another branch 
of the Lindsley family made their way to 
the South and settled in Tennessee where 
they gave several noted educators to the 
region, including college presidents and 
professors, authorities on their various 
subjects. Mr. Lindsley, Sr., was a farmer 
and the son enjoyed the advantages of 
that splendid training on the farm which 
seems to have been the cradle of so many 
of our strongest and finest men. His edu- 
cation was begun at the Monticello 
Academy, where he gave, even at an early 
age. indications of that strong taste for 
the life of study that so strongly marked 
him in after years. He graduated from 
this institution as the valedictorian of his 



221 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



class. He then attended the Wyoming 
Seminary and College at Wyoming, Penn- 
sylvania, where he continued his brilliant 
career as a student and was actually a 
member of the faculty for a year. It was 
while here that Mr. Lindsley's attention 
began to be powerfully attracted to the 
law, and before he had completed his 
course there he had begun the study of 
this subject with the determination of 
devoting his life to it. Upon leaving 
Wyoming he went to Wilkes-Barre, 
Pennsylvania, and there continued his 
study of the law and finally in 1869 came 
to Utica where he gave a last year to his 
legal studies in the law office of the Hon. 
Francis Kernan, being admitted to the 
bar in 1870. 

He began at once to practice his pro- 
fession and almost from the outset was 
successful. It was but two years after 
this beginning had been made when he 
was offered the Democratic nomination 
for the office of city attorney, which was 
at that time an elective office. It is a 
most striking tribute to the young man 
that, in the short time he had been in 
their midst, Mr. Lindsley had made such 
a reputation for integrity and ability with 
his fellow citizens that they elected him 
against a normal Republican majority, 
only one other candidate on the Demo- 
cratic ticket being successful. He was re- 
elected the following year by a greatly 
increased majority and during both terms 
rendered the most effective service to his 
fellow citizens. A third nomination in 
1874 was declined by Mr. Lindsley and he 
at once returned to private practice and 
did not leave it again until his death. 
Several notable honors were done him by 
his fellow citizens, who offered him the 
highest offices in their gift, but nothing 
could tempt him. In the year 1884 a 
citizen's convention composed of both 
parties unanimously nominated him for 
mayor of Utica, but he graciously but 



firmly declined it, and it was the same in 
1895 when the Democrats of the Fifth 
Judicial District nominated him as a jus- 
tice of the Supreme Court of New York. 
He did accept the appointment to the joint 
offices of fire and police commissioner, 
which would not interfere entirely with 
his private practice, and served for one 
year from 1900, proving a most effective 
and capable officer. For a great part of 
his career Mr. Lindsley practiced by him- 
self, but twice he admitted partners into 
the business, in 1875, the Hon. Watson T. 
Dunmore, the resulting firm being known 
as Lindsley & Dunmore, which was dis- 
solved again in 1883, and later in 1901, 
Mr. William S. Mackie, who had been in 
his employ for a number of years. Mr. 
Lindsley's experience with the charter of 
Utica and the laws applicable to the re- 
sponsibilities of cities, gained during his 
two years as city attorney, was very use- 
ful to him after his return to private prac- 
tice. He made a point of taking cases 
brought against the city by individuals 
for negligence and won so many that the 
corporation of the city went to the lengths 
of having its charter amended in such a 
manner as to shift responsibility from it- 
self to the negligent property owner. As 
time went on Mr. Lindsley became a rec- 
ognized leader of the bar in Oneida coun- 
ty with one of the largest practices in 
that part of the State. As time went on 
so much litigation was brought to him 
that he was obliged to discriminate and 
eventually he rarely accepted anything 
but the larger and more important cases. 
One of the more important matters in 
which he took part, and in which the pub- 
lic interests were involved rather more 
directly than usual, was connected with 
the erection of the new Utica Court 
House. For the proper carrying out of 
this project the Oneida county building 
commission was instituted, but when it 
attempted to perform its functions and go 



222 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



on with the work, it found itself opposed 
by the supervisors, who took the matter 
to the courts. Mr. Lindsley had been one 
of the Democratic lawyers appointed to 
serve on the commission, and he at once 
took up the cudgels for his colleagues with 
great energy and effect. More than any- 
one else he shaped the course of the sub- 
sequent litigation, and it was doubtless 
due in a large measure to his work that 
it was finally brought to a successful con- 
clusion and the buildings proceeded with. 
In this matter as in many others he gave 
his best efforts to his fellow citizens with- 
out stint, though he received no remuner- 
ation whatever for them, and indeed, the 
only thing for which he was ever paid by 
the community was his work as city at- 
torney at the beginning of his career. 
Never afterwards did he accept anything 
and his whole work as police and fire 
commissioner was given to it. Another 
matter in which he made himself useful 
to his fellow citizens was the investiga- 
tion in 1891 into the causes of high tax- 
ation in Oneida county, he being ap- 
pointed by the board of supervisors to 
conduct the same, which he did with 
great success, making many revelations 
of corruption and extortion which were 
afterwards removed. Mr. Lindsley was 
a very prominent member of the Bar As- 
sociation of Oneida County and for a 
time served as its president. Mr. Linds- 
ley allowed himself to become associated 
with very few business interests outside 
his own immediate legal practice, but a 
few such associations he found it impos- 
sible to avoid and among these the most 
important was that with the First Na- 
tional Bank of Chittenango, of which he 
was elected the president in 1885, holding 
that office for upwards of twenty years. 

Mr. Lindsley was, however, prominent 
in fraternal circles and was a member of 
a number of important orders. He was 
particularly identified with the Royal Ar- 



canum, which was founded in 1878, one 
of the earliest of its lodges being the 
Imperial Lodge, No. 70, of Utica, of 
which Mr. Lindsley was a charter mem- 
ber. Rapidly Mr. Lindsley rose in rank 
holding practically every important office 
in the State and finally was elected su- 
preme regent, the highest office in the 
order. He was also a member of the local 
lodges of the Free and Accepted Masons 
and of the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows. 

On April 23, 1873, Mr. Lindsley was 
united in marriage with Dorlissa Johns- 
ton, daughter of John W. Johnston, a 
prominent lawyer of Sullivan county, New 
York. To Mr. and Mrs. Lindsley were 
born two children, a son who died when 
but five years of age and a daughter who 
died while attending college. Mrs. Linds- 
ley survives her husband and makes her 
home in Utica. Both she and Mr. Linds- 
ley were great travelers and have been 
in many parts of the world, Mrs. Linds- 
ley having been in Munich at the time of 
the declaration of war in 1914. 

The devotion of Mr. Lindsley to the 
law was of a different type from that of 
most of the men who follow it. The ma- 
jority of lawyers are doubtless interested 
in the law, but very few are they who will 
not put it aside for the sake of large op- 
portunities in the business world, and still 
fewer who will not do so if it lead to 
great political preferment. To many it is 
but as a stepping stone to politics, which 
they take merely because it leads most 
directly there. It was far otherwise 
with Mr. Lindsley, who put behind him 
both these temptations, if indeed they 
were temptations for him at all. His 
heart was single in its devotion and 
he would seem to have cared more to 
succeed in his chosen calling than for any 
fortune or lienor that the world might 
offer. In another sense, too, this devotion 
was of an unusual kind. Mr. Lindsley 

^3 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



was as jealous of the fair renown of his 
mistress as of his own. He would never 
consent to bend her powers to any pur- 
pose but the noblest, and even went to 
the lengths of examining every case that 
was brought to him and accepting it only 
if he was convinced of its essential worth. 
He was possessed unquestionably of re- 
markable qualifications for success in the 
work he had designed for himself, and 
added to a naturally clear and compre- 
hensive mind the habit of taking pains, 
which we have heard on good authority 
to be a synonym for genius. His ptwers 
of analysis were notable and he carried 
them to their limit in working out a case 
in detp.il. It was the opinion, even, of 
some of his colleagues that he was too 
insistent upon the details of his case, but 
his success seemed to discount the criti- 
cism and justify his method. As a matter 
of fact he possessed another ability which 
robbed his insistence upon detail of any 
weakness it might otherwise have had, 
and that was the power of arranging his 
matter with such skill that it presented to 
the minds of jurors a consecutive account 
of the most convincing kind. He was 
deeply learned in his subject and few 
indeed were the legal points or distinc- 
tions that could escape his keen faculty. 
So well known were his methods and his 
conscientious scruples that his very ap- 
pearance in a case gave to his client a 
position of dignity not lost upon the 
court. His forensic powers were also 
great, though not showy, his eloquence 
being of that most efifective kind which 
springs from positive and strong convic- 
tions rather than art. Personally he was 
a man of very powerful character, a man 
of whom it was said that he knew no fear. 
A little brusque, perhaps, in manner, but 
with the warmest of hearts within, a 
heart that would refuse a fellow creature 
nothing consistent with his principles. 
His home life was a very ideal one and. 



it may be said that in all the relations of 
his life he was beyond reproach, and 
might well serve as an example to the 
youth of his community, and to those 
young men who would follow the law in 
particular. 



BROWNING, John Hull, 

Financier, Manufacturer. 

John Hull Browning was descended 
from Anglo-Saxon ancestors through a 
long line resident in New England, and 
typified those qualities of industrious ap- 
plication, sound judgment and energy 
which conquered a wilderness upon our 
New England coast, at the same time 
conquering savage foes, and established 
firmly a modern civilization. The oldest 
form of the name bears the German spell- 
ing Bruning, and it later came to be 
rendered in various ways. According to 
the poet, Robert Browning, the earliest 
form of the name was de Bruni, which 
was the Norman-French name of one of the 
ancient German tribes which inhabited the 
shores of the Baltic Sea, in Northern Ger- 
many. In high German the form of the 
name is Brauning. The Brunings are sup- 
posed to have migrated from Germany 
to England, where the Anglo-Saxons 
changed the spelling to Browning, to suit 
their own tongue. The termination "ing" 
in the German language means a meadow 
or low pastureland, and hence the origin 
of the name as applied to inhabitants of 
the low meadows. 

Nathaniel Browning, son of Mrs. Eliza- 
beth Browning, was born in London about 
1618, and died at Portsmouth, Rhode 
Island, when about fifty-two years old. 
Mrs. Browning and her husband appear 
to have been Non-conformists, and the 
persecution that followed them was prob- 
ably the cause which led Nathaniel 
Browning to embark for America soon 
after he came of age, in the year 1640. 



224 






r" 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Landing at Boston, he proceeded to Ports- 
mouth, where he was made a freeman in 
1654. This means that he was of good 
standing in the church, and that he was 
eligible to participate in the councils and 
government of the colony. He married, 
about 1650, Sarah, second daughter of 
William and Mary Freeborn, who sailed 
from Ipswich, England, in 1634. Their 
son, 

William Browning, born about 165 1, at 
Portsmouth, lived to be nearly eighty 
years of age, a farmer at North Kingston, 
Rhode Island. He was made freeman in 
1684, and was twice married, (first) in 
1687 to Rebecca, daughter of Samuel and 
Hannah (Porter) Wilbur, granddaughter 
of Samuel Wilbur and John Porter, both 
of whom were original settlers at Ports- 
mouth. His second wife's name was 
Sarah. 

John Browning, youngest son of Wil- 
liam and Rebecca (Wilbur) Browning, 
was born March 4, 1696, at South Kings- 
ton, Rhode Island, and died in 1777, at 
Exeter, same State, in his eighty-first 
year. He was made a freeman in 1744, 
and was a farmer, residing near the coast 
in South Kingston, where he had large 
landed possessions. He married, April 21, 
1721, Ann. daughter of Jeremiah and 
Sarah (Smith) Hazard, granddaughter of 
Thomas Hazard, the immigrant progeni- 
tor of a notable American family. 

Thomas Browning, the eldest son of 
the above marriage, born in 1722, in 
Kingston, died there, in 1770. During his 
active life he was a farmer in Hopkinton, 
Rhode Island, and was made a freeman 
in 1742. Like his parents, he was a 
Quaker, served as justice of the peace at 
Little Compton, and was captain of the 
local militia company. His first wife. 
Mar}', was a daughter of William and 
Mary (Wilkinson) Browning, and they 
were the parents of William Thomas 

N Y-2-15 225 



Browning, born May 11, 1765, in South 
Kingston. He was a farmer in Preston, 
Connecticut, where he built a farm house, 
standing half in Preston and half in 
North Stonington, which is still standing 
in good preservation. He married Cath- 
erine, daughter of Robert and Catherine 
(Guinedeau) Morey, of Newport, Rhode 
Island. Their fifth son, John Hazard 
Browning, was born July 28, 1801, at the 
Browning homestead in Preston, where 
he was reared. He became a merchant in 
Milltown, Connecticut, and later in New 
London. In 1833 he moved to New York 
City, and engaged in the dry goods busi- 
ness, at the corner of Fulton and Water 
streets, as senior member of the firm of 
Browning & Hull. This business was 
greatly extended, and in 1849 was closed 
out, and in association with two others, 
Mr. Browning engaged in the general 
merchandise trade in California, his part- 
ners removing thither. Mr. Browning re- 
mained in New York, where he manu- 
factured and purchased goods which were 
shipped to California for sale. Three 
times the store was burned, without in- 
surance, resulting in a total loss. In 1857, 
Mr. Browning withdrew from all activity, 
except as a special partner with his son, 
who conducted a clothing store under the 
firm name of Hanford & Browning. This 
subsequently became Browning, King & 
Company, which now has stores in the 
principal cities of the United States. Mr. 
Browning married, September 21, 1829, 
Eliza Smith Hull, of Stonington, daugh- 
ter of Colonel John W. and Elizabeth 
(Smith) Hull, and they were the parents 
of four sons and a daughter. 

The Hull family is also of ancient ori- 
gin, and springs from Rev. Joseph Hull, 
who was born in Somersetshire, England, 
about 1594, and was rector of Northleigh, 
Devonshire, England, about fourteen 
years. With his wife, Agnes, he em- 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



barked for America in 1635, and shortly 
became pastor of the church at Wey- 
mouth, Massachusetts. He was promi- 
nent in local affairs, and presided over 
several churches in Massachusetts, and 
subsequently, for nine years, at York, 
Maine. After ten years in Europe he be- 
came pastor at Dover, New Hampshire, 
where he died. He was the father of 
Captain Tristram Hull, born in England, 
in 1626, who joined the Society of Friends, 
and resided at Yarmouth and Barnstable, 
Massachusetts. His son, Joseph Hull, 
born at Barnstable, 1652, was governor's 
assistant in Rhode Island four years, and 
suffered much persecution because of his 
affiliation with the Friends, in which so- 
ciety he became a minister. His son, 
Tristram Hull, lived in Westerly, Rhode 
Island, and was the father of Stephen 
Hull, whose son, Latham Hull, died in 
North Stonington, Connecticut. His son, 
John W. Hull, resided in that town, and 
was a colonel of the local militia. He 
married Elizabeth Smith, of Waterford, 
Connecticut, and they were the parents 
of Eliza Smith Hull, born May 26, 1812, 
died April 21, 1875. She was married, 
September 21, 1829, to John Hazard 
Browning, and became the mother of 
John Hull Browning, of further mention 
below. 

John Hull Browning, youngest child of 
John Hazard and Eliza Smith (Hull) 
Browning, was born December 25, 1841, 
in Orange, New Jersey, where the family 
has been for some time established. 
After pursuing a course in the New York 
Academy, he embarked upon a business 
career in his twentieth year, entering the 
wholesale clothing firm of William C. 
Browning & Company, which business 
was very successful, and John Hull 
Browning ultimately became interested 
in various financial and business enter- 
prises. Soon after 1883 he succeeded the 
late Charles G. Sisson as president of the 



Northern Railroad of New Jersey, which 
position he occupied twenty-two years. 
He was secretary and treasurer of the 
East & West Railroad of Alabama, and 
for twenty years was president of the 
Richmond County Gas Company, in what 
is now Greater New York. For some time 
he was treasurer of the Cherokee Iron 
Company, of Cedartown, Georgia, and he 
was a director in the Citizens' National 
Bank of Englewood, New Jersey. Mr. 
Browning made his home in New York 
City, but maintained an attractive sum- 
mer home at Tenafly, New Jersey. He 
was deeply interested in organized chari- 
table work, both in New York and New 
Jersey, and in association with his wife 
erected a fresh air children's home at 
Tenafly. While he was essentially a busi- 
ness man, a director in many profitable 
enterprises, Air. Browning always had 
time for a reasonable amount of recre- 
ation, and devoted much thought and care 
to benevolent work in the interest of 
mankind m general. He died suddenly in 
the Erie ferryhouse at the foot of Cham- 
bers street, New York, October 26. 1914. 
He married, October 19, 1871, Eva B. Sis- 
son, daughter of Charles Grandison and 
Mary Elizabeth (Garrabrant) Sisson. Mr. 
Sisson was a projector, contractor and 
railroad president, one of the most useful 
citizens of New Jersey during more than 
a quarter of a century's residence in that 
State. He was a grandson of William 
Sisson, one of five brothers, from 
Soissons, in Normandy, France, all of 
whom settled in Rhode Island, a majority 
of them participating in the American 
Revolution. One, Nathan Sisson, endured 
terrible hardships on board British prison 
ships in New York harbor. Major Gilbert 
Sisson, son of William, was a native of 
North Stonington, Connecticut, where he 
was a merchant, and married Desire 
Maine, a woman of unusual talent, the 
seventh daughter of a large family, of 



226 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



French descent. They were the parents 
of Charles G. Sisson. 

Mr. and Mrs. John Hull Browning were 
the parents of a son, John Hull Brown- 
ing, born October 6, 1874. 



LASSCELL, WUliam Brown, 

Mechanical Genins, Writer. 

In many ways the late William Brown 
Lasscell was typical of much that is best 
in America, of what we like to think of 
as "the American," combining in his 
single person an extraordinary number of 
traits and qualities, a certain talent or, 
in the homely phrase, knack of adapting 
himself to all conditions, a versatility 
scarcely to be found elsewhere in the 
world, the children of this land having 
been trained in this faculty by that most 
exacting of teachers, Necessity. To an 
unusual degree of mechanical genius, he 
added a very compelling personality, a 
persuasive tongue and a mind quick to 
take advantage of every slightest oppor- 
tunity as it arose — all of these, separately 
and in union, American characteristics. 
There was yet another characteristic pos- 
sessed by Mr. Lasscell which we love to 
think of as American but which is, per- 
haps, somewhat dying out in this over 
hurried age of ours, something that re- 
quires repose and ease of mind for its full 
expression, what we might call gentility, 
the grace, the courtesy, the tact, the 
courtliness of the old-school gentleman. 
The many different strains of blood that 
entered into the ancestry of the Lasscell 
family is another thing distinctively 
American, for Mr. Lasscell could trace 
besides the original French, an English, 
Irish and in all probability a Welsh line 
of descent. 

Of the Lasscell family there is only 
meagre records and these extend but a 
few generations back. Even traditions 
are scarce, but one at least exists that 



claims that they were originally of the 
great French house of DeLasalle and re- 
lated to Robert of that name. According 
to this account some of them migrated 
to England and it was while there that 
the name became corrupted in its spell- 
ing. This it seems was about the time of 
Cromwell. The first tradition in which 
any element of the personal appears 
known to the American branch of the 
family is that which has to do with the 
great-grandparents of William Brown 
Lasscell, and this, handed down by word 
of mouth, has not even preserved their 
names. He it seems was of foreign birth 
and she a "Dutch Lady," of whose ac- 
complishments it is stated that she was 
a "Bible student" and "politician." Of 
Mr. Lasscell's grandparents the accounts 
are a little more certain and much more 
full. His grandfather was Ralph Lass- 
cell and he seems to have been born in 
Rhode Island, in 1745. He married Cath- 
erine Diedrick, a native of the Northern 
part of the Netherlands where she was 
born in 1749. They lived respectively to 
the ages of ninety-six and ninety-three 
years. The Lasscells at this early period 
in American history seem to have had 
their share of the spirit of enterprise 
which possessed men in that wonderful 
period and urged them forth over the 
whole face of the earth to seek new land 
and new experiences. We hear of them 
in a number of different places widely 
separated from one another in the course 
of a few generations. 

Accordingly, we learn that the father 
of William Brown Lasscell, a second 
Ralph Lasscell, was born at Whitesbor- 
ough, in the Mohawk Valley in Eastern 
New York State, July 5, 1791. He seems 
to have traveled to many parts of the 
country, his death finally taking, place in 
Van Buren county, Michigan. His occu- 
pations were as various as his residences. 
He learned the trade of hatter and studied 



227 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



medicine, though he never practiced the 
latter, he was a school teacher, a hotel 
keeper and finally a farmer, a man of in- 
telligence and talent, who could turn his 
hand capably to whatever it was neces- 
sary to do, and who uniformly succeeded 
in his projects and ventures. He saw 
much of the world in that age when the 
"New World" at least was but half re- 
claimed from the wilderness, and experi- 
enced many stirring adventures. One 
tale is told of him while he was a hotel 
keeper in the little village of French 
Creek (now Clayton), in Canada on the 
St. Lawrence river. It was in 1837, the 
year in which the disturbances known as 
the "Patriot War" broke out. It seems 
that one night a number of unexpected 
strangers began to arrive. They came 
singly and held no communication with 
one another, and yet Mr. Lasscell by a 
sort of instinct knew that they were col- 
leagues in some enterprise. He gave no 
sign of curiosity and for three days the 
strain of their disturbing and mysterious 
presence continued. Then, just before 
the coming of the third night, they began 
to disperse as quietly as they had ap- 
peared until not one was left. That same 
night the "Sir Robert Peel." a Canadian 
steamer, was burned a short distance 
down the river by the insurgents and it 
later developed that Mr. Lasscell's vis- 
itors were the perpetrators of the deed. 
The peaceful people of the neighborhood, 
among whom was Mr. Lasscell, fearing 
that battle might be fought there, placed 
their wives and children in two large 
stone houses over night for safe keeping 
and the next day took them inland a num- 
ber of miles. However, the crisis blew 
over and they were able to return in 
safety a little later. Such were those 
times, especially to those who ventured 
into new and half-tamed regions. Ralph 
Lasscell was twice married, the first time 
to Dolly Brown, a daughter of William 



Brown, of Cheshire, Massachusetts. She 
died October 6, 1824, leaving four chil- 
dren, the youngest of whom, then less 
than four months old, was William Brown 
Lasscell, the subject of this brief sketch. 
After some two years, Ralph Lasscell 
married, February 27, 1826, Wealthy K. 
Hine, who bore him three children. Two 
very curious coincidences occurred in 
connection with Mr. Lasscell's two mar- 
riages, they were both celebrated on the 
twenty-seventh of February, nine years 
apart, and the birthdays of his two wives 
were both the thirteenth of November, 
with a difference of thirteen years be- 
tween them. 

Born September 11, 1824, in the little 
village of Oxbow, Jefferson county, New 
York, William Brown Lasscell passed the 
early years of his life in that and other 
little towns in the Northern part of New 
York. The schools of that region during 
the early part of the nineteenth century 
were not much to boast of and the lad's 
educational advantages were meagre in 
the extreme. However, he was one of 
those natures blessed with acute powers 
of observation while all through life his 
memory was famous, and this combina- 
tion can, as a rule, compensate for any 
lack of formal schooling. As soon as he 
came of an age to observe thing accurate- 
ly he began to pick up knowledge on the 
greatest imaginable number of things, 
especially in the direction of mechanics, 
and made himself far better, rather than 
worse, educated than the average young 
man. About 1840, or when he was six- 
teen years of age, he began to learn the 
trade of printing in the city of Water- 
town, New York, whither he had gone 
seeking employment. For a time he 
worked as a type setter in the office of 
a journal published at Utica, New York, 
and then went to Albany where he 
secured a similar position. He thus 
learned a great deal about newspaper 



228 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



work generally, and although he aban- 
doned the business for the time being it 
served him well when he returned to it 
later. 

It was about 1848 that he took up the 
study of telegraphy, then an entirely new 
subject, and thus became identified with 
the beginnings in this country of one of 
the greatest of the mechanical factors in 
the shaping of modern society; and he 
was prominently identified and left the 
impress of his personality upon its early 
development. It was under excellent 
auspices that he became acquainted with 
telegraphy, for his studies were carried 
on under the direction of no less a man 
than its inventor, Professor Morse him- 
self. He was one of the first, if not quite 
the first, of the sound operators and in 
1850 was placed in charge of the newly 
opened office in Ogdensburg, New York. 
It was while situated here that he was 
instrumental in causing to be adopted the 
word telegram as a name for the tele- 
graphic message. This event it seems 
occurred quite casually in the following 
manner. Mr. Lasscell, it appears, was 
about to send ofif a message to Mr. 
Owens, the telegrapher at Oswego, in 
which it was necessary for him to refer 
to a telegraphic message. At once the 
question arose as to what single word 
would convey the proper meaning and 
the message was temporarily held up. 
At length a lawyer, who was one of a 
group of men in the office, remarked that 
telegram would be correct, whereupon 
Mr. Lasscell with quick intuition that 
the perfect term had been found, dis- 
patched the first telegram in which the 
word occurred. It obtained instant rec- 
ognition on all sides and rapidly came 
into universal use. He remained in the 
telegraph office until 1853, in which year 
he received the appointment to the post 
of revenue collector of the port of Ogdens- 
burg. He remained in the city and held 



this office until 1855 and then went to 
Chicago, a city then but twenty-one years 
old, but which had already entered upon 
the period of its phenomenal growth and 
was boasting noisily of a population of 
eighty-three thousand. From there he 
continued his travels into Central and 
Southern Illinois, and it is interesting to 
note that in his letters of that period he 
prophesied the wonderful possibilities of 
the then far Western State. This portion 
of Mr. Lasscell's life was marked with an 
immense amount of traveling about dur- 
ing which he saw almost every part of 
the country as it was then known and 
gained much useful knowledge and ex- 
perience in life. We next hear of him, 
after his Illinois trip, as holding a posi- 
tion as telegrapher at Greensboro, Mary- 
land, where he remained about a year, 
and then went to Cleveland, Ohio, and 
there received his first introduction to the 
business that he afterwards became per- 
manently connected with. It was an ag? 
of great inventions and the taste for sci- 
entific and mechanical matters which had 
already brought Mr. Lasscell into con- 
tact with the telegraph now did him the 
same service in the case of the sewing 
machine. He was greatly interested in 
this new device which was destined to 
have so great an effect on the develop- 
ment of many industries, and secured a 
position with the Elias Howe Sewing Ma- 
chine Company. He did not remain a 
great while in this position, however, nor 
in his next, which was with the Davis 
Sewing Machine Company in Watertown, 
New York, but came to New York City 
and in 1875 began his association with 
the Wilcox and Gibbs Sewing Machine 
Company here ; and from that time as 
long as he was able to reach the office 
on Broadway, he was actively connected 
with this great concern and became one 
of its most important and valued officers. 
It was due to his inventive genius in no 



229 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



small measure that the various devices 
which made that a single thread ma- 
chine, so widely celebrated, were brought 
into existence and placed on the market, 
and his services as agent in introducing 
the machine itself to the market all over 
the United States were invaluable. Nor 
did he stop with the boundaries of this 
country, but traveled all over the South 
American countries and in Europe intro- 
ducing the machines there and with such 
good success that for a long period it 
quite eclipsed all its rivals in the world 
trade. He also exercised a sort of super- 
vision over the machines he sold to make 
sure that all was well and that they were 
properly used, so that he came to be a 
familiar figure in many countries. Some 
idea may be had of the traveling that this 
involved from the fact that during this 
period his itinerary aggregated about two 
hundred and forty thousand miles, or 
about ten times around the world. His 
work was highly appreciated by the com- 
pany which, after his withdrawal from 
business on account of his advancing age, 
paid him a liberal pension to the time of 
his death. It is said of him that so great 
was the love felt for him by his associates 
in the business and, indeed, the whole 
office force, that on the rare occasions 
that he visited the office after his retire- 
ment his welcome amounted to an ova- 
tion. In the years 1910 and 191 1, Mr. 
Lasscell traveled in the Bermudas and 
the enjoyment that he took in this trip 
illustrates well how wonderfully his facul- 
ties were preserved in spite of his ad- 
vanced age. His death, which occurred 
November 6, 1914, in his ninety-first year, 
ended a life still vivid and alert, one which 
could still take pleasure and could cer- 
tainly give it to those about him, and 
that despite the affliction of blindness and 
partial deafness. 

Mr. Lasscell was twice married ; the 
first time in 1852 to Elizabeth Thatcher, 



a daughter of George Thatcher, of Troy, 
New York. Mrs. Lasscell died in 1880, 
leaving him three children as follows: 
William Thatcher, a real estate owner 
and man of business who resides at Spar- 
kill, New York; Lilly, who became the 
wife of Dr. Jacques W. Redway, of Mount 
Vernon, New York, lecturer, author and 
fellow of the Royal Geographical Society 
of London ; Adele, who became the wife 
of Professor C. Herschel Koyle, a con- 
sulting engineer and the originator of 
several valuable inventions. Mr. Lass- 
cell's second marriage was in 1882 to 
Marcia Alexander, a daughter of Lucius 
Alexander, of Cohoes, New York, where 
he carried on a successful business as con- 
tractor and also engaged in farming for 
many years. Mrs. Lasscell survives her 
husband and is a resident of Mount Ver- 
non, New York. She is a lineal descend- 
ant of John Rogers, the Smithfield martyr, 
and is eligible to membership in the 
Daughters of the American Revolution 
through the services of another ancestor. 
The following extracts from the pen 
picture of Mr. Lasscell by a member of 
his family give a most vivid and delight- 
ful impression of his personality and will 
serve most appropriately to close this 
sketch : 

A very large share of his success in his (Mr. 
Lasscell's) chosen work was due to a most re- 
markable command of language and a charm of 
manner which attracted all with whom he came 
in contact, assisted by a voice of peculiar sweet- 
ness, melody and scope. He had a fine and dis- 
tinguished bearing, his looks and appearance 
plainly indicating his French descent. He was 
always thoroughly self possessed and could 
address the servant at the door or Royalty in 
the audience chamber with equal propriety, leav- 
ing on both the impression of a master mind. 
The gift of language was by no means confined 
to the use of conversation, but he was a writer 
of much fluency, and with early advantages for 
an education which in these days is at the com- 
mand of almost all he would, no doubt, have 
made a high mark in literature. Even with the 



230 




Mrrfi/i'iy 



T 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



slender opportunities that were his, he did write 
much for publication, while to be his corre- 
spondent was an assurance of delightful enter- 
tainment as often as his letters arrived. Many 
of his articles were printed in the "Telegraph 
Age," one being a vivid description of an ascent 
he had recently made of Mount Vesuvius, in 
which it seems that he carries the reader with 
him. There was also an account of Jennie 
Lind's first concert at Castle Garden, written 
from memory after fifty or perhaps sixty years, 
including the story of P. T. Barnum's connection 
and the incident of John X. Genin paying two 
hundred and fifty dollars for a ticket. 

Like Silas Wegg, Mr. Lasscell readily "drop- 
ped into poetry;" and was possessed of a never 
failing fund of humor, always seeing and seizing 
upon the whimsical side of any episode, though 
by no means lacking in sympathy and pathos 
when any incident touched his sensibilities. 

.\necdotes of his quaint sayings at a very early 
age have come down through the years, and 
the ability to write entertainingly or wisely, con- 
tinued beyond his ninetieth birthday * * * 
Even in extreme age his memory continued to 
be phenomenal, so that within two weeks of his 
death he would recite lengthy poems, recalling 
every word, giving every inflection correctly; 
though in those last days, more frequently than 
any other, he repeated Tennyson's "Twilight and 
Evening Star." 



CURREY, John, 

La-nryer, Jurist. 

Prominence in the profession of the law 
has never been attained through mediocre 
ability. The law and its just administra- 
tion are the most serious of the issues 
which face any nation. On these two 
depend the entire national life. They de- 
termine its place among other nations, its 
greatness, or its unimportance in the 
scheme of international relations. No 
nation can thrive whose laws are unjust, 
and where class legislation, and corrup- 
tion of courts and lawyers is practiced. 
And it follows naturally that where an 
institution assumes a place of importance, 
all connected with it is valued proportion- 
ally as it is great. The United States 
owes its greatness to the just and impar- 



tial administration of the laws which up- 
hold in their very essence the principles 
upon which our Republic is founded, 
namely, liberty and equality. Our coun- 
try has had, within the comparatively 
short history of official life, a number of 
jurists whose fame has reached far be- 
yond its own borders, and it has had a 
larger number of men whose prominence 
within the States in which they served 
in official capacity was verj- great. Of 
this last number, John Curre}, Chief Jus- 
tice of the Supreme Court of the State of 
California, was a figure well-known and 
influential. 

Judge John Currey was born in York- 
town, New York, October 4, 1814, the 
son of Thomas Currey, a native of that 
place. He was prepared for the profession 
of the law at private academies, and after 
preliminary studies at these he entered 
Wesleyan University where he studied 
law. After graduation from there he en- 
tered the office of William Nelson, a noted 
judge and lawyer of Peekskill, New York. 
Completing his training under him, Judge 
Currey started the practice of law inde- 
pendently in Peekskill and later at Kings- 
ton. New York. However, when the gold 
rush struck the country in 1849, carry- 
ing the most conservative and staid of 
judgment before it in its westward cur- 
rent, he yielded to the universal fever, 
and was one of that number of noted men, 
"the forty-niners," who went to the West 
in search of gold. Shortly afterward, 
when the glamour and illusion was torn 
from the face of the whole situation and 
conditions were exposed in all the grim 
reality, he abandoned the idea which had 
sent him West and settled in San Fran- 
cisco, where he again took up the profes- 
sion of law. As is the case in every great 
agitation or boom, those who are in the 
van of the advance reap the profits. But 
there were thousands who went to Cali- 
fornia in 1849 who reaped nothing but 



231 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



the most terrible of hardships, the bitter- 
est of disiUusionment — thousands who 
were never again heard of. 

In San Francisco, where he continued 
to practice, Judge Currey became associ- 
ated with some of the most famous legal 
lights of California, at one time being con- 
nected with Judge Evans. In 1851, when 
fire destroyed San Francisco, Judge Cur- 
rey removed to Benecia and Sacramento, 
where he practiced for a period of five 
years. About the year i860, his practice 
by that time having brought him con- 
siderably and favorably into the public 
eye, he was elected to the Supreme Court 
of California, and shortly after his ap- 
pointment became chief justice. His as- 
sumption of office came during the most 
trying period of the nation's history, the 
Civil War. Isolation from the actual 
scene of the great controversy, and the 
impracticality of slavery within its borders 
did not prevent California from taking an 
active and heated interest in the issues 
which were agitating the Nation. Fac- 
tional enmity was rife, and secession, 
already threatened, was avoided only 
through the concerted efforts of such men 
of strength as Judge Currey. After re- 
tiring from the Supreme Court, he entered 
again into private practice with Judge 
Evans and later with Judge Hastings 
Up to this time leisure had been unknown 
in the active life of Judge Currey. It is 
a penalty all men who enter public affairs 
pay for the honor which comes to them 
in their official capacities. Private prac- 
tice, however, gave him a greater chance 
to follow out plans which he had matured 
years before. He received as a fee a ranch 
of three thousand acres in the Sacra- 
mento Valley about sixty miles out from 
San Francisco, and in 1880 retired from 
active practice, thereafter spending much 
of his time on the ranch. It is well-nigh 
impossible for a man who has been for 
years identified with the large enterprises 



and issues of the region in which he re- 
sides to suddenly and totally sever all 
connection with them. Judge Currey 
was actively interested in the business 
and professional world of San Francisco, 
and despite the fact that he spent a large 
portion of his time on his ranch, his 
official residence continued to be in that 
city. His entire life was wrapped up in 
and so inseparable from the upbuilding 
and development of the city that it was 
impossible for him to leave it for more 
than a very short period of time. 

Judge Currey was a keen student, a 
learned judge, and an able and clever 
lawyer. As a tribute to his administra- 
tion of the office of chief justice of the 
Supreme Court of California, it may be 
said that none of the decisions which he 
rendered were ever reversed by the higher 
courts. Judge Currey was essentially a 
man among men, and enjoyed the friend- 
ship of hosts of friends. He was a mem- 
ber of the following institutions : The 
Academy of Sciences, the Geographical 
Society, the Society of Pioneers, the 
American Bar Association, and the Cali- 
fornia Bar Association. He was always 
a large land owner. Judge Currey was 
active in the affairs of the Republican 
party from its very inception. 

Judge Currey married (first) Cornelia 
Scott, of Chazy, New York. Their chil- 
dren are : Montgomery Scott, deceased ; 
Robert John, now residing on the ranch 
in Dixon, California ; Julia, deceased. He 
married (second) Cornelia Nelson Ferris, 
of Peekskill, New York, the daughter of 
Jonathan Henry and Sarah A. (Nelson) 
Ferris. Mrs. Currey is the granddaughter 
of Judge William Nelson, for many years 
a noted judge and member of Congress, 
and under whose instruction Judge Cur- 
rey first prepared for the legal profession. 

The death of Judge Currey occurred in 
December, igia.on his ranch at Dixon, Cal- 
ifornia. Mrs. Currev survives her husband. 



232 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



NEWMAN, John Ludlow, 
Civil War Veteran, Manafactnrer, Finan- 
cier. 

The death of Major John Ludlow New- 
man, of Albany, New York, on Septem- 
ber 7, 1913, removed from that commu- 
nity one of its most influential members 
as well as a most picturesque figure whose 
place it is impossible to fill. It was Major 
Newman's distinction to have served his 
fellows with equal merit and success in 
peace and war, having in the one case 
built up through skill and intelligence a 
large business that has occupied an im- 
portant place in the industrial life of the 
region, and in the other rendered dis- 
tinguished service to his country at the 
time of its greatest need, for among all 
the veterans of the Civil War whose 
names will go down in history, none in 
that locality stands higher than his. 

John Ludlow Newman was born Feb- 
ruary 21, 1836, in the city of Albany, New 
York, which, equally with the city of 
Cohoes in the same State, shares the hon- 
or of having been the scene of his com- 
mercial and business activities. He was 
the son of Henry and Mary A. (Lyman) 
Newman, of Albany, and all his childhood 
and early youth were spent in the place 
of his birth. He received his education 
in the excellent schools of the city and 
was finally graduated from the Albany 
Boys' Academy at the age of eighteen. 
He at once entered upon the business 
career in which he was destined to be so 
successful and was associated with his 
father in the latter's wool and leather 
establishment. This business was one of 
the oldest in Albany even in that day, it 
having been founded about seventy-five 
years previously by his grandfather, 
Charles Newman. 1770 was the date of 
its founding, and it was one of the few 
concerns that had maintained a successful 
existence from pre-Revolutionary times 



and survived that crisis and the difficult 
times that immediately followed. From 
the outset Mr. Newman displayed marked 
talents in business and was enjoying a 
rapid promotion when his peaceful career 
was cut short, as was that of so many in 
that day, by the outbreak of the Civil 
War. His first activity in that struggle 
was the recruiting of a company of volun- 
teers which upon its successful organiza- 
tion, was attached to the Forty-third 
Regiment, New York Volunteers, with 
himself as captain. The regiment was in 
turn attached to the Third Brigade, Sec- 
ond Division of the Sixth Army Corps 
under the command of General Sedgwick. 
Captain Newman served under General 
McClellan in the Army of the Potomac. 
He saw much active service and took part 
in many of the greatest engagements of 
the war and some of the most difficult 
and sanguinary campaigns. Among these 
should be mentioned Fredericksburg, De- 
cember 13 to 15, 1862, where he fought 
under General Burnside, and the battle of 
Chancellorsville, May 2 to 4, 1863, under 
General Hooker. In this engagement he 
behaved himself with distinguished cour- 
age and was wounded in the great charge 
made by his regiment at Marye's Heights, 
where it was the first to set the Union 
colors on the enemy's works. Here his 
action met with its merited reward and 
he was recommended in general orders 
for honorable mention for bravery and 
gallantrv. He also participated in the 
fight at Salem Church, and in the battles 
of Banks' Ford and the second Fred- 
ericksburg on June 9, 1863. At Gettys- 
burg the Forty-third Regiment held an 
important position on the right of the 
great Union line, and later Major New- 
man recei\ed a Gettysburg medal from 
the State of New York. He also took 
part in the engagements at Rappahannock 
Station and Locust Grove and in the 
Mine Run campaign. In June, 1864. he 



233 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



was promoted major of the Forty-third, 
and later in the year honorably dis- 
charged from the service. 

Returning to Albany, he once more en- 
tered the family business, this time as a 
partner, the firm bearing from 1866 to 
1880 the name of Charles and John L. 
Newman. In the latter year Major New- 
man withdrew from this business, and as- 
sociated himself in business with William 
P. Adams, in Cohoes, New York, under 
the style of Newman & Adams. The new 
firm was engaged in the manufacture of 
woolen goods, and continued with great 
success until the year 1891, Major New- 
man proving himself a capable business 
man. and acquiring an enviable reputa- 
tion in commercial and industrial circles. 
As time went on his interests broadened 
until he became one of the most influ- 
ential figures in Cohoes. In 1878 he be- 
came a direector of the National Bank of 
Cohoes, and in 1893 was elected its vice- 
president, continuing in this office for 
about two years when, in January, 1895, 
he was advanced to the presidency. He 
continued to serve in this capacity until 
the time of his death, establishing an 
enviable reputation as an able financier 
whose shrewd and far-seeing conserva- 
tism was so nicely tempered with the 
spirit of enterprise as to make him at once 
a banker of the safest and yet most pro- 
gressive type. 

After the close of the Civil War, Major 
Newman was elected, first, vice-president, 
and then president of the Old Guard of 
Company A, an organization formed of 
men and ofificers of the Albany Zouave 
Cadets. He belonged to most of the im- 
portant military organizations, and was 
a member of the Military Order of the 
Loyal Legion of the United States ; the 
Society of the Army of the Potomac ; the 
Society of the Sixth Army Corps, of 
which he was vice-president ; and a char- 
ter member of the George C. Dawson 



Post, No. 63, Grand Army of the Repub- 
lic. He was also a member of the Society 
of the Sons of the American Revolution, 
holding the right to that membership 
through his maternal great-grandfather, 
Colonel James Lyman, of the Continental 
army. Besides these great organizations. 
Major Newman was a member of many 
prominent clubs, among which should be 
mentioned the Army and Navy Club of 
New York City ; the Fort Orange Club 
of Albany, and was at one time treasurer 
of the old Albany Club. He was also a 
member of the National Geographic So- 
ciety, and of the Albany Chamber of 
Commerce, and was trustee and vice- 
president of the Young Men's Associ- 
ation of Albany, and trustee of the Albany 
Institute and Historical and Art Society. 
A year previous to his death he took a 
prominent part in the dedication of the 
Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Al- 
bany, having been a member of the me- 
morial commission, and chairman of the 
plan and scope committee which obtained 
the necessary appropriation. Major New- 
man was a man of deep religious convic- 
tions. For a number of years he was a 
trustee of the First Dutch Reformed 
Church of Albany, but later became a 
member of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 
and was made a vestryman. In church 
work he was active and helpful, giving 
liberally of his time and means in support 
of all good works. 

On October 8, 1872, Major Newman 
was united in marriage with Evelina 
Egberts Steele, a daughter of Oliver and 
Anna (Egberts) Steele, of Albany, her 
family having been pioneers in the knit- 
ting industry in the United States. To 
Major and Mrs. Newman three children 
were born : Clarence Egberts, Evelyn, 
and Anna Lyman, who died in infancy. 

The mere enumeration of the various 
organizations with which Major Newman 
was associated is enough to show that he 



234 





£^T^ 



EXCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



was extremely active in the general life 
of the community, yet no such list, how- 
ever long and impressive, can give an 
adequate idea of the intimate way in 
which his own career was bound up in 
the affairs of the two cities. In all things 
which made for the welfare of either place 
he was most earnestly interested, and was 
always more than ready to assist to the ex- 
tent of his power in carrj-ing out all 
projects for the public good. 



COOPER, Daniel McCallum, 

Engineer, Inventor, Mannfactnrer, 

A pioneer in his special line of en- 
deavor, Daniel M. Cooper accomplished 
much in raising the standards of business 
and in bringing about improved con- 
ditions by the use of special machinery. 
He was born November 19, 1856, in 
Owego, Xew York, and died in Roches- 
ter. New York, March 4, 1914. He was 
the son of Charles and Mary (Harrison) 
Cooper and was descended from John 
Cooper who emigrated from Olney, Buck- 
inghamshire county. England, in the 
year 1635. and settled in Southampton, 
Long Island. 

His father was master mechanic in rail- 
road shops in different cities of New York 
and Pennsylvania, and when Daniel Mc- 
Callum Cooper, who was named for Gen- 
eral D. C. McCallum, a friend of his 
father's was a lad of about eleven years, 
the family moved to Rochester, New 
York. It was there he gained his school 
education, and after serving his appren- 
ticeship as a carpenter he started his life 
work. His naturally mechanical mind, 
inherited from a long line of mechanics 
and fostered by his father's teaching and 
his experience as a carpenter, which trade 
he followed until 1878. led him to secure 
a position as railroad fireman on the New 
York Central railroad. In 1880 he removed 
to Chicago and established a hand laundry, 



in whose operation he continued three 
years, after which he returned to Roches- 
ter and again entered the railroad service, 
with what is now known as the Buffalo, 
Rochester & Pittsburgh railroad. Here 
he soon earned promotion to the position 
of engineer, in which he continued five 
years, the greater part of which was spent 
in construction work, at which time a 
great deal of new mileage was being 
added to the road. In 1888 he left the 
throttle of the engine for good, and en- 
tered what was really his life work. He 
became associated with Arthur T. Hagen, 
his brother-in-law, in the Star Steam 
Laundry of Rochester, which later ab- 
.'^orbed the Palace Laundry and under 
the name of the Star Palace Laundrj', 
and with the active management of Mr. 
Cooper, became one of the largest plants 
of its kind in the L^nited States. 

It was there that his inventive genius 
found its field for development, and dur- 
ing the quarter of a century which he 
spent in that connection he planned 
systems and invented machines which 
revolutionized a trade. Foreseeing the 
importance of the sale of laundry ma- 
chinery to the trade, he threw heart and 
soul into the development of the A. T. 
Hagen Laundry Machinery Company, a 
separate firm from the laundry company, 
which had been organized for that pur- 
pose, and many are the patents recorded 
in his name which are now standard the 
world over for laundry machines and 
methods. Not only in laundry machinery 
but in at least two other lines did he 
turn his inventive mind with success. 
Realizing in his own business the need of 
an employees' automatic time recorder, he 
devised and patented the Rochester Time 
Recorder, the first card lift time record 
machine on the market. It has been sub- 
sequently manufactured by the Willard 
& Frick Company, and is now the basic 
patent used in all card lift machines 



235 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



manufactured by the International Time 
Recorder of Endicott, New York, which 
is a company made up of the consolida- 
tion of several of the most important time 
recorder companies. And again in an- 
other line of special machinery he in- 
vented and perfected an automatic paraf- 
fine extractor which is used in the bottling 
business in removing surplus paraffme 
from corks. It is loaded by the use of 
compressed air, and by the use of this 
machine the output in this field has been 
enormously increased. He continued as 
vice-president and manager of the Star 
Palace Laundry until October, 1906, at 
the same time devoting more and more of 
his attention to the machinery business, 
and on his retirement from active laundry 
business he remained active in the A. T. 
Hagen Company until June, 1907, when 
that company was consolidated, largely 
through his efforts, with five other com- 
peting concerns under the name of the 
American Laundry Machinery Company, 
of which Mr. Cooper became the vice- 
president. In October, 1910, he was 
elected president, and continued in that 
office until March, 1913, when he retired 
from active business, though he still re- 
mained a director of the company. For 
a quarter of a century he had been one of 
the most active and strong factors in the 
industry, persistently working to elevate 
the business to higher standards in every 
part. Blessed with a well-ordered mind 
and great pertinacity he was a thorough 
systematizer, and worked out methods of 
increasing ef^ciency, before the impor- 
tance of efficient methods in the modern 
definition of that term was generally 
understood. His fine business acumen 
marked his incumbency in office, with an 
extreme degree of revolution and prog- 
ress. He traveled extensively in connec- 
tion with his private interests and official 
duty, and covered the United States a 
number of times. On many of these trips 



he was accompanied by Mrs. Cooper, who 
was his companion and helpmeet through 
all his early struggles. With keen obser- 
vation, Mr. Cooper made practical appli- 
cation of what he saw, and was mucn 
broadened by travel and business experi- 
ence. While his opportunities in early 
life were quite limited, he became a self- 
educated man, and he made himself a 
great influence in the world and the com- 
plete master of his trade. In 1893 he 
made his first trip to Europe, and the last 
trip was made a year before his death. 
He covered Great Britain and the Conti- 
nent, and also visited the West Indies. 
With an excellent memory, he was a very 
interesting conversationalist, and related 
many amusing and interesting anecdotes 
of things he had seen and heard and read 
about. In recognition of his efiforts and 
success in improving the conditions of 
operating laundries throughout the coun- 
try, he was elected president of the Laun- 
drymen's National Association of Amer- 
ica. It is in no way derogatory to those 
who preceded him in the presidency of 
the association to say that under his 
leadership it took its greatest step for- 
ward toward a constructive policy. 

In 1912, Mr. Cooper occupied his beau- 
tiful residence at No. 1150 East avenue, 
corner of Oliver street, Rochester, which 
had been planned by himself and wife. 
The land was part of the old Culver 
homestead, and the location permitted of 
generous grounds, which were tastefully 
arranged and beautified. The building is 
fireproof, finished in solid oak and ma- 
hogany. It is to be regretted that he was 
not permitted longer to enjoy the beauties 
of this splendid residence. In 18S1 he 
married Miss Delia Chapman, daughter of 
Robert M. Chapman, of Rochester. She 
was always his companion, working with 
him and encouraging him during his early 
struggles, and sympathizing in all efforts 
for the promotion of the general welfare. 



236 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



In speaking of Mr. Cooper, one of his 
friends said : "There are few men who 
lived in the records of the pioneer days 
of power laundering who can equal the 
achievements of D. M. Cooper, or tO' 
whom can be credited so many great en- 
deavors for educative influence and better- 
ment. A comparatively new industry and 
business suggestive of tremendous de- 
velopments, but with no tools and with 
crude methods, confronted the men of 
those early days. Daniel M. Cooper, by 
a marvelous adaptability, will take front 
rank as one of the greater of our pioneers, 
and his genius will always be remembered 
for the solution of the earlier problems 
and for blazing the trail for scientific 
management. His early experience in 
carpentry, his rigid and exacting railroad 
training, the natural bent of his mind for 
mechanical science, coupled with an in- 
domitable patience and intense persever- 
ance, constituted a splendid equipment 
for the development of laundry machinery 
and processes. He loved the work, and 
was content when intricate problems de- 
manded analysis and solution. No ques- 
tion of the beginner, no matter how futile 
or unnecessary, w( 'St unanswered. He 
revelled and delighted in the position of 
tutor, and in those early days, when in- 
vention was just beginning, he instructed 
and explained and demonstrated to scores 
of men who have since met success and 
have themselves become masters in the 
science of laundering. The Star Palace 
Laundry was the school of laundry train- 
ing, and the pupils knew that the master 
had grasped the fundamentals and that 
the concrete explanations were reliable. 
Mr. Cooper was of the stufif of which 
good men are made, and his earlier sharp 
struggles molded a character of strength, 
virility and efficiency. When he mastered 
a problem ; when, after every logical de- 
duction, he conclusively decided his was 



the true solution, he was as adamant to 
pleas or sentiment or persuasion ; again, 
he stood in the locomotive cab, his hand 
grasped the throttle, and the mental en- 
gine, the self-constructed duplicate, must 
irresistibly and undeviatingly press to 
achievement, just as when his trained eye 
followed the glint of parallel lines of steel 
and the steam engine thundered to its 
destination. It was not egotism, nor yet 
the dominating assurance of power, it 
was rather the masterfulness and forceful 
spirit of leadership and unshakable con- 
viction that his plan was the one to pro- 
duce the desired result. He never re- 
pelled criticism. He courteously listened 
to adverse opinion, but with fixed single- 
ness he maintained his purpose, serene 
in belief that in his plans he had antici- 
pated every possible barrier. In the de- 
velopment of laundry processes he deter- 
mined on radical innovations, and in the 
light of subsequent events it is evident 
that a vacillating policy would have 
halted progress. This fixity of purpose, 
this adherence to a well defined plan, was 
apparent in his management of the laun- 
dry ; in his participation in the machinery 
business, and in lesser degree in his ad- 
ministration of the Laundrymen's Na- 
tional Association of America. What a 
memory of delightful excitement is re- 
called by the first session of the silver 
anniversary convention in Cincinnati in 
1908. When the session was about to 
close, the band played 'America.' As the 
standing audience joined in the glorious 
anthem. President Cooper stood on his 
chair and enthused every one by vehem- 
ently waving a flag in each hand, while 
an electric devise of his own construction 
blazoned the association initials. In 
every phase of eflfort or endeavor, he 
showed great strength of character, and 
3'et was moved by sentiment. He num- 
bered loyal and steadfast and affectionate 



237 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



friends by the score. In his pathway 
came great success, a splendid result of 
incessant effort in a great cause." 

A close friend said : "He commanded 
the respect and confidence of strangers 
and his thoughtfulness for elderly people 
put a new light in their eyes when they 
saw him. He loved antiques, and the old 
homes and ancient sites on Eastern Long 
Island were of great interest to him. He 



z.'^'z:: ^- :° "i!- F -^-^ -^Cr^j 



alogy, ,n which he was to some extent 
successful. He had no peer for ability or 
ongmahty. and many will acknowledge 
that a measure of their success has di- 
rectly or indirectly been brought about 
by his tireless efforts to help and his big 
hearted desire to see all successful. His 
dominant characteristic was his desire to 
serve and he went about doing good. He 
was a man with an ideal— or more strictly 
speaking, of many ideals. None could 
hold a conversation with him, whether 
along business lines or association lines 
without instinctively feeling that they 
were talking to one whose aims were high 
above those of the average man in the 
business. A man of exceptional intellec- 
tual vigor, of sturdy strength, of com- 
pelling purpose, of fine moral courage 
and stern honesty, he stood head and 
shoulders above the rest of us as a great 
example of civic and commercial virtue. 
He lent dignity to the industry, and in his 
intense convictions and readiness to en- 
gage in fight, no matter whom, over what 
he believed to be right, I have found both 
solace and inspiration during the many 
conflicts in which I have been involved 
Daniel Cooper's influence upon 
our industry will be felt for manv vears 
to come. The absence of his familiar 
figure at our national conventions will be 
a matter of deepest regret." 

Another associate said : "The complete 
biography of Daniel M. Cooper would be 
the history of the laundry business for the 



past twenty-five years. His participation in 
tlie enterprise spelled inspiration for exact- 
ness. His will, intelligence and foresight 
vitalized and brought more than ordinary 
success to the national association while 
he served it as president. His election was 
a tribute no less to his own personality 
than to what he represented. Being 
sturdy, broad-minded, liberal and pro- 
gressive, it is scarcely too much to say 
that It was due to his signal genius that 
the plan of the reorganization of the 
Laundrymen's National Association of 
America was consummated. When you 
had gained his confidence and friendship 
he was loyal and true to the last, and his 
friendship was to be highly valued." 
After Mr. Cooper retired from active 
business in 1903, he spent the following 
year in travel and study. He died March 
4. 1914. at his residence in Rochester, 
New York, leaving the record of having 
taken his place in the front rank in a 
trade which had passed through its tran- 
sition period during his time. 



238 



BALLOU, Theodore Perry, 

Man of Enterprise. 

Ever since the year 1793, when Joseph 
Ballou came to New York State, the name 
Ballou has been intimately associated 
with the development and upbuilding of 
the village, borough and city of Utica, 
New York. The tract upon which Joseph 
Ballou settled is now a thickly. populated 
part of the city, and the house in which 
he lived is now the site of the Ballou 
block. Another house in which he lived 
stood on the corner of First and Main 
streets, the site now being occupied by 
the large brick building of Hurd & Fitz- 
gerald, shoe merchants. The sons of 
Joseph Ballou became merchants, their 
original store adjoining the farm house 
on the west. There in 1802, Jerathmel 
Ballou advertised to "sell dry goods and 




^r^^^^^^-^^ i^:^^^^^.^^v^-- 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



groceries" and that he would "pay the 
highest prices for shipping furs." 

Joseph Ballou and his three sons were 
important factors in the business life of 
that early day and took an active part in 
civic affairs. Theodore Perry Ballou, of 
the third generation, son of Jerathmel 
Ballou, son of Joseph Ballou, abandoned 
trade and became one of the foremost 
lumber manufacturers and dealers of 
Central New York, as well as an exten- 
sive owner of Utica real estate. He was 
preeminently a business man and enter- 
prising, adding largely to the wealth of 
the city, and a willing, ready assistant in 
any legitimate undertaking that promised 
to advance the material or moral stand- 
ing of the community. He lived in Utica 
nearly eighty years, his entire span of 
life, and he saw the many vital changes 
which swept away the forests and re- 
placed them with cultivated fields and 
thriving communities ; saw the Indians, 
with whom as a boy he was on friendly 
terms, and with whom he traded at his 
father's store, give way to white settlers ; 
saw the stage coach and the canal boats 
yield to the iron horse and the gleaming 
rails over which they ran intrench almost 
upon the door yard of his boyhood home. 
And he himself had a large share in this 
work of transformation and on the site 
of his early home raised the handsome 
Ballou Block. Many years have passed 
since Theodore P. Ballou lived and 
wrought, but his work endures and his 
memory is green and descendants carry 
forward the work of their sires. 

Joseph Ballou was of the prominent 
Ballou family of Rhode Island, and in 
1792 left his native Exeter, Rhode Island, 
with his wife and two sons, going by 
sailing vessel to Providence, thence 
through Long Island Sound to New York, 
and up the Hudson river to Albany, New 
York. From Albany they went overland 
to Schenectady, then by the Mohawk 



river, finally reaching Ltica, landing a 
short distance below the ford. In July, 
1793, he made the first payment on a 
lease for two hundred and seventy-three 
acres, made to George Damuth by Rut- 
ger Bleecker. He had probably obtained 
an interest in this lease from the widow 
of George Damuth in partnership with 
Mr. Post, as the payments until 1797 were 
made jointly. He then probably bought 
Mr. Post's interest as from 1802 until 1807 
he made all payments. He at once began 
the cultivation of his farm and seems to 
have prospered, as in August, 1800, he 
and his sons were deeded land on Main 
street, Utica, by the executors of Rutger 
Bleecker. Upon these lots they erected 
a house and store, the house standing 
where John street opens out of the square. 
Later this house became a tavern known 
as Union Hall and was run under various 
names until 1870 when the Ballou Block 
was erected upon the site by Theodore P. 
Ballou, a grandson of Joseph Ballou. The 
second house in which Joseph Ballou and 
his family lived was situated on the corner 
of First and Main streets and there he 
continued his farming operations until 
his death in 1810 at the age of sixty- 
seven. 

Jerathmel Ballou, son of Joseph Ballou, 
was a merchant of L'tica, coming with his 
father in 1792. He began mercantile busi- 
ness at the corner of John and Main 
streets in 1800, and dealt in all that per- 
tained to general merchandising at that 
early period. Besides the trade of the 
village he dealt largely with the hunters 
and with the Indians, they exchanging 
skins and furs for dry goods, groceries 
and ammunition. At the first town meet- 
ing held under the charter of 1805 he was 
elected one of the board of village trus- 
tees and was annually reelected for four 
successive terms. He continued a suc- 
cessful merchant and prominent in village 
affairs until his death, June 29, 1817. He 



239 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



married Anna Ferry, who bore him three 
sons and a daughter. 

Theodore Ferry Ballou, son of Jerath- 
mel and Anna (Perry) Ballou, was born 
in Utica, New York, March i8, 1808, died 
in his native city at his home, No. 42 
Broad street, February 28, 18S7. He at- 
tended city schools and after completing 
his studies entered business life After 
the death of Jerathmel Ballou he was suc- 
ceeded in business by his brother-in-law, 
Ebenezer B. Shearman, who continued 
the dry goods and grocery business at 
No. 33 Genesee street. Theodore P. Bal- 
lou became associated with his uncle and 
continued his partner until about 1840, 
when he withdrew to give his whole at- 
tention to the lumber business, becoming 
one of the leading men in that line of 
activity. He was junior member of the 
firm of Hinckley & Ballou, operating 
Gang's Mills at Prospect, but later be- 
came the sole owner. He was the owner 
of large tracts of timber lands in Lewis, 
Herkimer and Hamilton counties, and at 
one time was interested with Lyman R. 
Lyons in a tract of 200,000 acres, known 
as the John Brown tract. He converted 
timber from his own lands into lumber 
at his own mills, and dealt largely both 
at wholesale and retail. He prospered 
abundantly, and having a deep and abid- 
ing faith in the future greatness of his 
native city invested largely in L^tica real 
estate. In 1870 he built the Ballou Block, 
and owned other valuable business prop- 
erty. He was the owner of nearly all the 
land on both sides of Meadow street, and 
had choice realty in all parts of the city- 
After the organization of the Republi- 
can party, Mr. Ballou affiliated with that 
political body but never allowed his name 
to be used as a candidate for any office. 
He was essentially a business man and 
as such was widely known throughout 
the State. He was a member of the old 
volunteer fire department and of the 



Dutch Reformed church, his interest in 
both being deep and abiding. He was 
not only a business man of ability and 
integrity, but a force for good in his com- 
munity, aiding all good causes by his 
means and influence and by a liie of jus- 
tice and uprightness. He was a quiet, un- 
assuming man, but of most friendly, kind- 
ly nature, rather stern and dignified in 
appearance, but warm-hearted and quick 
to respond to any call of friendship or 
benevolence. 

Mr. Ballou married, in Utica, Charlotte 
Wells, daughter of Palmer Wells, of 
Westerly, Rhode Island. They were the 
parents of seven children, only one of 
whom is living, Henry C. Ballou. Char- 
lotte L. Ballou, another child, died Sep- 
tember 23, 1913. 



GERLING, Jacob, 

Man of Enterprise. 

To oflfer in a work of this character an 
adequate resume of the strenuous and use- 
ful life of the late Jacob Gerling, of 
Rochester, New York, would be impos- 
sible, but, with others of those who have 
conserved the civic and commercial prog- 
ress of Rochester, he may well find con- 
sideration in the noting of the more sali- 
ent points that marked his life and labors. 
He was long an important factor in the 
varied business interests of this city, 
achieving a position as one of the sub- 
stantial capitalists of his section of the 
State, gaining his success through normal 
and worthy means, and he stood as a 
singularly admirable type of the progres- 
sive, honorable and broad-minded man of 
affairs. His record is too familiar to his 
fellow citizens to require any fulsome 
encomium here, his life speaking for itself 
in stronger terms than the biographer 
could employ in polished periods. It left 
its impress on those who came in contact 
with him, and the youth, hesitating at the 



240 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



parting of the ways, could do no better 
than to follow the example he set. He 
was even-tempered, patient, scrupulously 
honest in all the relations of life, hospit- 
able and charitable, and his many kindly- 
deeds were actuated solely by his large- 
ness of heart rather than by any desire 
to gain the approval or plaudits of his 
fellow men. The cause of humanity 
never had a truer friend than this valued 
gentleman who passed to the higher life. 
Jacob Gerling was born in Alsace, Ger- 
many, April 15, 1840, and died at his 
home, at No. 276 Brown street, Rochester, 
New York, January 27, 1913. The foun- 
dation of his education was laid in vari- 
ous schools of his native land, and when 
he came to this country at the age of 
fifteen years it was completed here. 
Shortly after the completion of his edu- 
cation, Mr. Gerling became interested in 
agricultural pursuits, with which calling 
he was identified until he had attained his 
majority, in this manner acquiring a prac- 
tical knowledge which proved invaluable 
to him in his later business career. At 
the age of twenty-one years he associated 
himself in business with his brother at 
Nos. 5 and 7 North Water street, becom- 
ing one of the most important and pros- 
perous in the flour, feed and milling in- 
dustry in Rochester, when that city was 
one of the milling centers of the entire 
country. In connection with this busi- 
ness, Mr. Gerling became widely known 
among the farmers of Western New 
York, and his reputation was established 
as a man whose dealings were always 
"on the square," and who was impartial 
in his treatment of his customers, whether 
their purchases ran into the hundreds or 
the thousands. The old mill which he 
established was in full operation until 
recent years. The site was transferred to 
the Knickerbocker Theatre Company in 
1906. Long before this time, however, 
Mr. Gerling had extended his activities to 
N Y_2_i6 24 



various other fields. Mr. Gerling was 
still in the early stages of his business 
career when he associated himself with 
the late Frederick Cook, and other men of 
German birth or descent, and they be- 
came leaders in financial enterprises in 
that section. He was one of the leaders 
in the organization of the German Insur- 
ance Company, which later estaljlished 
the German-American Bank, the nucleus 
of the Lincoln National Bank of Roches- 
ter, one of the most important financial 
institutions in the Western part of New 
York State. For many years Mr. Gerling 
was a member of the board of directors 
of the German Insurance Company and 
of the Lincoln National Bank, greatly to 
the benefit of both establishments. In 
fact, there is scarcely a line of industry 
with which Mr. Gerling was not con- 
nected at one time or another in official 
capacity. He held much stock in the 
Rochester Railway Company, and it is 
largely due to his instrumentality that 
the suburban line to Sea Breeze was con- 
structed. When the so-called Clark Syn- 
dicate of Philadelphia took over the 
greater part of the other local interests, 
Mr. Gerling sold most of his railroad in- 
terests, although he continued as a small 
stockholder for some years after this. 
Real estate operations also engaged a 
goodly share of the time and attention 
of Mr. Gerling. He was one of the chief 
owners of the Cook Opera House on 
South avenue for some years, and a large 
number of buildings were erected at his 
direction, and he assumed the manage- 
ment of these personally. His energy and 
progressiveness in business affairs was 
tempered with a certain amount of con- 
servatism, so that he was reasonably pro- 
tected from large losses. He was the 
most active spirit in the establishment 
of the Rochester Telephone Company, for 
many years one of the most flourishing of 
the local industries, and he opposed with 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



all the resources at his command the 
merger with the larger corporations under 
the title of the United States Independent 
Telephone Company, yielding only to 
majority control. The ill success of this 
combination proved the wisdom of Mr. 
Gerling's opinion. 

In the public life of the community 
Mr. Gerling attained an eminence only 
equalled by the success attendant upon 
his business enterprises. From the time 
of attaining his majority he had been an 
active and consistent supporter of Demo- 
cratic principles, and furthered the in- 
terests of that party in every manner that 
lay in his power. His political activity 
extended over a period of forty years, dur- 
ing which his counsels were of inestima- 
ble benefit to the party with which he 
was connected. He represented the 
eleventh ward of the city in the Common 
Council from 1869 to 1873, and was a 
member of the board of supervisors of 
the same ward from 1875 to 1876. Gov- 
ernor Samuel J. Tilden appointed him 
weight master on the canals in 1874. 
From 1880 to 1883 he was a member of 
the old executive board, and was honored 
by being chosen chairman of this body ; 
before the adoption of the White charter 
this board was the controlling force in 
the municipal government, the depart- 
ment of public works and the fire depart- 
ment coming under its control, and each 
member of the board had more authority 
and real power than the mayor of the 
city could boast of. In 1887 Mr. Gerling 
was elected a member of the board of city 
assessors, this board consisting of three 
members at that time, and served until 
1894. In 1900 he was chosen a member 
of the Democratic State committee and 
continued to serve in this body until 1910. 
In 1907 and 1908 he was a member of the 
State board of appraisers, but retired in 
1909, when the Republican party gained 
control. Innumerable were the city. 



county and State conventions to which 
he was sent as a delegate, and his name 
was a prominent one among the political 
leaders of the State. 

Mr. Gerling was a member of Ger- 
mania Lodge, Free and Accepted Ma- 
sons ; Cyrene Commandery, Knights 
Templar; Humboldt Lodge, Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows; Americus Lodge, 
Ancient Order of United Workmen; 
Rochester Liederkranz ; and various 
other organizations. During the entire 
period of his residence in Rochester he 
was a member of the German Trinity 
Church. He was one of the founders of 
the Rochester German Home for the 
Aged and took a deep interest in its work 
until the time of his death. 

Mr. Gerling married, in 1863, Louisa 
Kline, of Rochester, who survives him, 
as do their four sons and five daughters : 
Jacob, Jr., George, William V., Frederick, 
Louisa, Margaret, Rosa, Mrs. Robert 
Chapin, and Mrs. Robert C. Clifford. Mr. 
Gerling was essentially a home man, and 
though his time was always busily oc- 
cupied, he never permitted other things 
to detract his attention from his home, 
where he found his greatest enjoyment. 
At the time of his death it was repeatedly 
said: "Rochester has lost a man whom 
she could ill afford to lose," and among 
those with whom he had been associated 
there came a deep sense of personal be- 
reavement, for he was a man who tied 
other men to him by the strongest cords 
of respect, confidence and friendship. It 
was a great privilege to have enjoyed his 
friendship, and even his companionship, 
for he was an inspiration to others, and 
his influence on those with whom became 
in contact was always uplifting. He held 
to a high standard of business ethics and 
had no use for trickery or anything savor- 
ing of dishonesty. Painstaking and thor- 
ough in everything he did, he demanded 
of others that their work should be well 



242 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



done, and from this high standard for 
himself and others he never deviated. 
This fundamental element of his char- 
acter probably had as much to do writh 
his success as anything else, for it com- 
manded the respect and confidence of all. 
Personally he was genial and unassum- 
ing, and he enjoyed a wide circle of 
friends throughout the city of his resi- 
dence. 



BRIDGE, Charles, 

Man of Business. 

The setting down of the personal rec- 
ords of the men who, by dint of worthy 
effort, have raised themselves to high 
positions upon the ladder of success and 
secured for themselves the regard and 
admiration of their fellows must always 
be a work of value. Self-made men, who 
have accomplished much by reason of 
their personal qualities and left the im- 
press of their individualities upon the 
business and general life of the commu- 
nities where they lived and worked, men 
who have influenced for good such cus- 
toms and institutions as have come with- 
in the sphere of their activities, have, un- 
wittingly perhaps, but none the less truly, 
reared for themselves monuments more 
enduring than those of stone or brass. 
Such distinction may well be claimed for 
Charles Bridge, whose career forms the 
subject matter of this brief sketch, and 
whose death June 27, 1902, at Albany, 
New York, deprived that city of one of 
its most substantial men of business and 
a citizen of the highest type. 

Charles Bridge was a member of a very 
old and prominent Vermont family which 
had maintained its position for many gen- 
erations in the regard of the community, 
his grandfather being that Colonel Bridge 
who won such fame as a commander of 
Massachusetts troops in the Revolution. 
His birth took place at Elmore, Vermont, 



January 14, 1824, and it was in that little 
town that he was reared by his parents 
and there that he received his education 
at the district schools. The rural environ- 
ment, the healthy, wholesome life of out- 
doors which the lad enjoyed in common 
with all country boys, gave to him a 
foundation of good health which never 
deserted him throughout his life and was 
of the utmost advantage to him as well 
as the greatest blessing in itself. Upon 
completing his education he went as a 
young man to Boston and there engaged 
in business, continuing for a short time. 
He did not remain there, however, having 
made up his mind to take the advice of 
Horace Greeley to young men of that 
time and "go West." Accordingly he 
started for Chicago, about 1854, and there 
once more engaged in business. Mr. 
Bridge was one of the self-confident type 
of men whose method of altering what is 
unsatisfactory is the most direct one pos- 
sible carried out with the least delay and 
without any nervous dwelling upon pos- 
sible risks. When, therefore, he found 
that something ofifered in Albany, New 
York, that he believed promising he left 
Chicago and his business there and came 
to the more eastern city and there estab- 
lished himself in the enterprise in which 
he continued until final retirement there- 
from. His coming to Albany occurred in 
i860 and the latter event in 1884 so that it 
was for nearly a quarter of a century that 
he continued in business in that city. 
From the outset he was highly successful 
and he eventually won a reputation for 
capability and straightforward dealing 
and integrity second to none. 

The business world and practically 
every aspect of the community's life 
which was of any importance, Mr. Bridge 
took a leading part in and was especially 
active in all movements undertaken for 
the city's welfare. Air. Bridge was a man 
of strong religious beliefs and deep re- 



243 



ICNCV' I ' iI'MilA ' tl I'.l' 1',1'M'IIV 



li(jiiiiii-. |i I liiiiji, iiii") 111 wnR c'lillBliiiillv <" 

|/(IJ/i(| ill wnll< wllil ll Wiilllfl tlllv.ilK' \\\i 

I .III I I.I i'li(/liin (/(•iirrnlly imkI "I il" 

I liiiM h III |i.irlii iihir. I Ic wiin n i !>' i 

>>l iIm ' '' I I'lcBliylM i-iii • liiiM ll iii'l 

W;i''. Mill' III I III- JIM 1.1 lilllii' III III nil mill i 
(linriil, ni'ivlii^; I'll iii.iii\ 1.1 I 111 1 lull . ll 

|rll;ll i|n .111.1 lll.i I .ill ', ll|i|..<ll IM|; llli j.llll 
Mllllll ll|>ll mill I ll-ll ll ll'll .11 I I Vll K ' 11 HI 

llf'i ll'll will) till' will l( 

I hi liiMiwiiv ■>■>, l''fM, Ml riiiilyr wii'; 
iiiilli'il III mill I iiiK'' Willi I ,iii y M Tiiil.ii. 

II llilllvr III Mm li'ivillf, Vfnilniil. .ni'l I 
l|iHI|;llli I III I >l A lllirl III :illil < ,il i .Inn 
(VilllB) lilll^^l, iilil mill li'i;|Mi Icil Hl.l 

iji'iilu III Mull ii'.viil)', V'i'iiiiiinl 'liny iiinl 
mil' I lull I, < Inn li'i I'l.iii. m I'.i iili^r, ii wi'li- 
L 111 iw'ii I.I s\' \ 1 I 1 ll .Mliiiiiy . 

I In 1 Inii ,11 ll I 111 Ml , lliitlt;t' wii". 11 iiiii'il 

ml .il.li .iinl wilM liilNC'il ii{iiiii llii. .1' 

liin.l.iiii. Ill .ll \ II I I In .11. .1 .111.1 1 . .Ill .ii'.i 

Wlliimil ulii. ll 111 . 1 li.il .11 III III ir.il wmlli 

t'liii t'Hifil, ii.'i .iii\ 111 1 isB lir bImIiIi' ,\ii 

III ll .1. I n . |.i I 'iiiinilil \ , iilhiiilr tiiiil her 
liiiinli ll. Ill < iiF^iiy wmi ilic liKiii)^ nl lii-i l<'l 
Invv'i. lull il WUH llirnt' Imr Utiil'. nl llii' 
t'dilt (ll Ilin I Inn .11 ll I 1 1 ml Krpt mil ll ll n ml 
dlllp inl;lil .111.1 |...iiiiil III-. .'li'i|ll. Hilt .Mil 1-1 
III liiiii Willi I In ll. mil . 1 1| 1 1 .ll .ill 1 1 1 1. Ill 
llr Wlln ili'Viilril III Inn limilr iiinl l.'vi.l 
tlillllill^ .mi (^1 cull \ ;i . llii' iiiliiii.ili ml. I 

, iilll ■.!• Ill III' ll .1111.1 III. 1 1 . Ii\ lin. 1 '^^ " 
ll, .11 ill I. .in I I v\ ..iilil 111 ililln nil In liinl 
.HM {'.Hill III .ill III > III.IIIIIkIiI li'l.llimui 

x\ illi III , ll II. .\\ ■■ w liii ll iiii|;hl lu'iii I I III 

cIpiii .iinl ll I' < ll I 11" I I'-'l I'l'l '' " 1''^ '■ 
|ii'< II liliiu rillli ll ll \ iiii.iiiin.l ,11111111); .1 
laij^ii 111 llinii' lilllliliil iiuli I.I linihl. 

KVANS. DrtvIM KUU-ol. 

Hillip iKiil Niillooitl l.<<|tlalii<it<'. 

Ill cM'iN H'"^viin; inmiiumitv il In 
< mill"' till' piivilrj^c of MHiii' mmi' I'illril 
iniinl 111 rIiiih' jIm li'iulrr, iiml in ii|ilii'l.l ilif 
lil|;li l.iiiihn il'i nl 1 ill.-<ii'ilii|> :iiiil piiMn 



I !■ ,|iiili .lliilll V III mil .1 Wiiy ilM 111 llillv 
{.I . mn .1 1 I 111 1 1 .nlil n m . . .1 I In' |;i ci I K'l' 
|.iiMii vvliii ll Inir. Iiirii III. nil' jin. iMi liy 
ilii |i;ili'|iilintil <if ilH niiiiH, Ainiiiii: lln' 

I . I . I . I . . I . . 1 . 1 1 I III 1 1 1 1 . 1 .. 1 1 1 1 1 V 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -, 

I III III I III II . .1 I In null ll I III ll I I III III y I lie 
II. I iin III I I.I \ nl I' I' v.iir, r, i i m'.|.ii iimiN, 
.111.1 I In '.1 I \ I. I . will, ll In 1 1 lull 1 1 i| ll I I In- 
\ill.i|'i ..I r..il, I VI, I, will 1 1' III 111. nil III. II", I 
ill III I III jiiin, iHiij, mill wlnii In liviil 

|. .1 1 1 ,iiiii|i I 111 III . ll III): '>i"l II 1 llll 

lili . i\ ill 111 \ ll 111' I'l ,r,ri| ll nni ll. I I 1 111 ll 

I llll 1 .1 I 111 1 ili|r';l am! al Wit v. i hh' i .1 I In' 

llll . I {.I.I I 1.1 ll , mli.iliil .ml ., Ill' wllH 

IiimI a;. mil Mini in liiiinm". m iln villain' 
willi IiIm liiifli', Mr. Inriijili I' Mil 111, wlm 
WUH IufHl HKCIll. Ill I Hi I, (, 111 llii'f;ii,il Mill 
lainl I ..iml i'iiiii{iauy wlm li ai i iiiii|ili:ilii'il 
.11 mill ll III llir ili'vi'lii|iim'iil ami iiii|iiiivi' 
nil III III I III I 'I'l I h III III I III' 1 I mill I \ Ml 
I'.yniiH 1 1 111 1 1 llll' ll III'- .r.'ii 'I I.I I II HI Willi III . 
mil ll' a'l 1 ll I I. .1 ml I .1. llll I III III . 1 illn I im 
I ll llll III 111 imiil nl III! I.il In III iHj«r ; 
,iml 1 1 iii.innil li h .i iiin' li ni'.lli i il I imr m 

I In ,, 1 .i{i,ii ll \ Willi Ml. j.u 1 ill ,' . I Mill, 

wini li.iil llll 11 ,i|i{ii iiiilril '.m 1 ("r.m in liir 
HU'rin \ III I In. w .1 \ Ml I' V .111. ,11 i{iiirc(l 
a va- I l.imili.ii ll \ w il li .ill nl I In' ili I nl'i I'f 

lln I. Mill I nlll{..lll \ . .111.1 W.l'. I llnl nllcJll V 
{.1. I. .1 111 I 1 r..ll .1 In .ill nl IlH CmUTniM ; HO 
lli.il 111 lln iinmlli nl M.iv, \Hr/, llO Wll« 

liiiii. II .1. v,iiiil I.I lln I ('Mpmmililc pnxl 

nl .Ij'.i III 111 1 .ml mm .1 l.i illl ri I llir \)\\ni- 
nr'iri Im liii nvnr.il.lr .iml pu i(;i I'Msivf 
vr.'ii •., .iml liii.ill \ , 111 i.'.i, , 111' I ("1 1 ^; I It'll llif 
iliiln . .Iinl 1 i".{inm,ilnlil 11". nl llir nllni in 

mil. I In ,li vnli' llUll . II lllnir I I ln| nUf; ll I y 
In 111. 111. III. iri nil 111 nl III', nwll |U'f.mlal 
(lllllil'!< ami lln inmriir. Willi vximli In' 
liiiil lirvmiii' imliv'iilnally innmiUii llo 
IkhI Iiinl, iinwrvri, i Insnl lip llic allaiis of 

llll' llnll.linl ( nlll{i.lll\ 111 llll'. lt'^',tnn ,niil 
I miijili'lril ,ill nl ll', lin,ll ai railj-M'tiirill ;i, 

,\', ,\ (111 111 Ml I'vaii'- liail all,iim'il 
m'nil |'.i{iiil,n ll \ , ,iinl in lln- \i\\\ iS'olio 
wa-i I'li'i ll'll ll' < OMUI'CHS limn lir. ili.li ii I. 

'11 



llr rcm.iuui! m (im\|;u'.,. Iii 'wcvci , let u liu li lu- >lin|t(<ltMrtt It llO<«|>ll(tlil v \vlll«'t\ 

the yr;(i '>ul\ icsi)>iiiii); tii-i iiirtuliri'slii|i in lia.n nuuir liij> umiu, i> iu<-t\iliotr«l ;in<l ir 

orilcr t>i iiMilmc linu'.cll ti> llic ilnlirt 111 vcird willl ;v |ir> iili;(i li'i\iln lirni liy tlio 

ihr tinfiUN <'l ilic K"-'' '•'""' >"ii>|''"> iu.m\ It i(Mttl<>, vo(i\i^ iiiiit iiM, will) hitil llir 

vvlioMc iiilrrcstft \\c wo pioHuilol ll< \\.xA i.ni iMuilcyr of Ills (UtnisuutrtiU'C, 
Ix'cii rlnlcil to tlir Slate Sriiiilc in iSiS. I Iiimi(.;1i |i(i!<Kln){' llic I.iUm' iMkI iworc 

wliiii' lir •.(•i\iil Im llii- liun' Mni't ceiling; liiullnl vrain of l\l'i til> m ilii-) cilv, Mi 

ycui's, .nul well rr|)l'o(«ri\tril llir ii|iiini>n>t I'vmiim war* nut a n.iiivc nl \llian\, Inil 

of 111-, connininil V ; anil in iS.'j lir was wa«* lioiii in Ilalavia. uIumc ho irti'ivnl 

ap|uMnlc>l one ol ihc lown ollnri'M, ,>.ri'v Ills rtlnialion anil wliru' liiicaih lili- wa^i 

IiIK; lis tl'UXtrC, ttiul tl(*,ti,'ltill|f ill |1\C !*rlrC' pnSfx il llr wa. llir ■■>'!{ ol Paviil I 111. o| 

tioii of alilo mm lo ailniiui.lii lIu' altaiiM l'!van'i, ol Halavia. a ^Urh li ol wliom |<ii' 

111' llir villaK'". «<Mlr<i lliii tit'ori^c I'vans, one ol a laijjo 

Ml. I'van-i iliiil m I '..il.i \ i.i. i\lav M, l.innh ol liiolliri . .mil •lisli-l'l*, I'oinailinl 

iSso, Iravinji a u ulow ami livi- rion-i lo <ii ln'i nalivc villaf;i' nnlil alioiil tlir \i-ai 

momn liis Iomm, a-i well as an aK<'tl molhii iH'i-'. wtirn. Iwc-I\c \taii allci liis latin i 'n 

anil main neat iflalivi". Ainoiif. IIh-m- iliini .i-. In i .mi. l.. \ll..m\ vvlnif lui 

.'■on\ was ( ii'or(.;c 1' \ ans. a .Ki ii li ol whom l.illn i li.ul !•. . n .o well ami w nlrlv Known, 

lollow:. m llii'. volnnic llrn In li.nl many lamily ronncvlions, 

Nol only w.is h.iynl I' I'y.ms a mo. I amonc whom wri'f llU «Hll(», Ml'K. Hat 

I mill II s|in ili-.l .mil i; in. ion-; Ikmi inl . iii '"on rnm|ii 11\ .mil Mis I imll.y. ami M i -i 

/en, Iml In- w.r. .1 m.m ..I i.ii.- 1 nllmr .iinl "' inMioll. lus k' i*"*l"«'l '><' 

li'lmrimiil Mr li.nl ioll.il..| nnc nl ||i, Inluiilmj; I In- wlorllllK ijnalil ii'; anil Mil- 

most yaliialilc priyali' lilnaiirs m 1 he .Slate • i'd tjiai en ul I lis ialliec, tlmn^li Im many 

ami was inlim.ilely l.umliar \yilli llir i on yetus il h""-"' •mlleiii limn f.oni winili 

lenl. ol llir yolnim-. \ylm li In lnviil .mil I'OllilriVil Imii .1 .ii|i|ili ilnim^; llir lallrl 

cheri'.liril wiih ihe I'litlinsiaMii ol lln- I'"! ol III. Iili', III' lii'i aine one ol (lie lies) 

Miliol.ii 111 w.r. iMoli.iJily ill.- I,, .1 II, lin.wii .mil ies|iei|ei| lili.-ens ol .Mliauy, 

loimril III. Ill m llii. |..ol ol lln .onnliy on ''' "•>■' eleileil alilrl llltlli ol lln illy, iiikI 

illldirs III j{riiei.il mil 11 1. .iinl liis irmlinjj with lln- |iatiiiitism ami iiileijiily loi' 

was extensive m .ilinosi ryny liileellim, wlin li In' was '.o well Known lie e.M'lled 

I ilieial imiiiliil. .iinl pimneMsiliy Innail ''"'' nillm m 1 l.i lln imliin'.l i.| jlln »•«- 

vicWN upon .ill llie NiilijreCw vvliii li .11 pniiv m lln mill. 'Is ol (join! ynverii- 

(j;n(-;eil lie. .illmlion. Iijs Miuiety wiis nnnl llii lioiiseliolil in IiIr lie(illlil'lll 

Miiii);lil liy .ill Im lln Innrlit wliii II Ilis eH Iniim in K iij.;tewooil I'l.n. wan M eenlie 

peiiiini- lic'.loweil, .mil In. n.mn imi limn wlinli i.nliiileil Wlili iiillii '1 Im 

limns III lir levernl liy lln- . . .iniimml y in K""'l. anil Ins In mill syliip.il Im i ami t:;eii 

wliii li llr H(i liMlu re.siileil eriiitn illiiltlies emleaieil lilin lo the 1 nlll 

___^_________ niiiiiil\. rnpri'Idlly to lln siiimj/ people 

i,'t/Akio /> wlioiii lie liail eiiimii.ic.il .mil iilvnr.l in 
r.VANS, deiii ee, 

the luillle III III. . .mil wlm In I.I Imn li n 

I*iil>ll«-Nlilrl|vi1 (lltUoii. 1 I ,1 1 11 il .„ 

ileily III llieir illleeliiillH. 

Il 111', liiin (ovn 111 Irw In estalilisli 'ai Mr I' y.m-. w.r; m.iliieil |i. llir i|.m|.;liler 

' I'l' ninic a limi iliolil .mil nil vviile II eilrle ..I lln lion II j jv'i illn M. 1 .1 Haliiviil. 

Ill liieinlHiiHCinir^je I'.viiiis (jatlirieil alioiii w Im .111 viyi .1 Imn 1 1 in ileiilli oeeili rril nt 

l""li ill liis lieaiilllnl Mil. my li .-. m AIImus, lln ■ il y ol In. .nli ipl imi, on Miiii li 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



3, 1886, at the age of fifty-four years; his 
old enemy, gout, overcoming him in the 
end after a brief final illness. Mr. Evans 
was buried at Batavia, the place of his 
birth. Bishop Doane, who officiated at 
the impressive funeral ceremony at All 
Saints' Cathedral, in Albany, where the 
pall bearers and mourners were among 
the leading people of the community, 
wrote the following touching tribute to 
the memory of one to whom he applied 
the high scriptural commendation, "Thou 
hast kept the Word of My Patience" : 

There must have been great power in a life 
which, from the absolute retirement of the pri- 
vacy of a Christian gentleman, and from the nar- 
rowed sphere which lameness and crippling set 
to such a life, extended itself to such wide 
reaches of influence, as did the life of Mr. George 
Evans. And it is a tribute to the value and mean- 
ing of God's distribution of influence between do- 
ing and suffering that this life-long sufferer has 
accomplished more in his gentle ways of influ- 
ence than many another busier than he and fuller 
of action and evident result. And his chief charm 
was not to people who reasoned out the wonder 
of his character, but to young people, who yielded 
instinctively to its charm. I have always felt that 
this came largely from the way in which, first 
to his venerable mother, and then to the surviving 
sister who took her place, he kept the relation of 
his boyhood fresh in all its tenderness and 
thoughtfulness of true chivalry. Careful in all 
details of duty; faithful to his various trusts; 
given to the most generous and genial hospitality; 
and thinking last of himself, he, perhaps, attracted 
to himself and to his beautiful home in Albany a 
larger and more loving circle of young men, 
especially, than any man in Albany. Indeed, no 
house here was such a centre of attraction to 
young and old as his. 

His patience was a marvel. It was patience 
in an active sense that never seemed the mere 
endurance of pain ; but the brave, sweet. Chris- 
tian, hopeful acceptance of discipline; the patience 
that had its perfect work in bringing out all the 
manly and tender graces of a nature lovely and 
pure and true, by the characteristics of his birth, 
and strong and noble and unselfish by the gifts 
of grace. He taught his teachers, and blessed 
those who brought a blessing to him. And, in his 
helplessness, he has helped many a one to spiritual 
courage and strength. 



Tied by old ties of early friendship, and drawn 
more closely in later years in the loving relation- 
ship of the pastoral office, and in the common in- 
terests of Christian work in the Cathedral and 
its kindred institutions, the writer of this notice 
owns with gratitude, through all the grief of his 
loss, how much he owes to the gallant and cheer- 
ful spirit of his dear friend. He died as he had 
lived, in peace and love with God and man, calmly 
accepting the announcement of his approaching 
death, receiving the Holy Communion, and turn- 
ing with loving thoughts to the two who were 
nearest and dearest to him. And he has left a 
memory and an influence fragrant and full of 
beauty to the one true heart which mourns him 
most sorely, steeped in the calmness of a courage 
like his own ; and to the "young men and 
maidens", who, with all their brightness, got more 
cheer even than they gave, when they were in 
his beloved presence. The one emphasized fact 
is the religious strength of such a life. Physical 
courage can bear a sudden pain, or dare a single 
deed of heroism; but only the spiritual strength 
of a soul made one with Christ, and strong in 
more than human grace, can nerve to the com- 
posure of constant steadiness to do and bear. 

Mr. Evans' last communion in the Cathedral 
was on the Feast of St. Stephen, the martyr of 
many stones, and his own prototype in that they 
suffered in innumerable points of pain, and with 
the gentle sweetness of the patience which thinks 
of others and trusts in the Lord. Many a time 
we have looked upon his face, serene and smiling 
through the sublimity of controlled and con- 
quered agony, and it has been "as the face of an 
angel." 

There used to hang upon the mantel shelf of 
Mr. Evans' library — "The Squire", the young 
men called him for his whole hearted hospitality 
— a fire screen with the figure of a tobacco plant, 
and the legend, "My clouds all other clouds dis- 
pel." The hand that wrote, and the fingers that 
wrought these words, dreamed little of the lesson 
they speak to us as we recall that bright room, 
basking in sunlight from outside and in a sunnier 
light within. He had so thoroughly absorbed into 
his nature the "sweet uses of adversity," and so 
accepted and used for his training into manliness, 
the discipline of his pain, that his very sufferings 
were the chief instruments with which he min- 
istered to the happiness of others. "His clouds 
dispelled all other clouds." And the achieved 
and heroic mastery of his suffering self — rather 
his utter forgetfulness of his sufferings and of 
himself — won him, first sympathy; and then such 
admiration and affection as made his life a bright- 
246 




^^^t^^^t^^^^..^^^ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ness and a blessing to all who came within his 
reach. He has filled the measure of that service 
to his Master which men do in this life, and in 
this life only, by suffering; and the service into 
which he has passed now is the doing rather than 
the bearing of His will. 



TAYLOR, Charles Walter, 

Manager, Superintendent. 

Possessing more than ordinary man- 
agerial ability, with tact and a pleasing 
personality, Mr. Taylor, from the time he 
was twenty-two years of age, was in 
charge of large manufacturing plants, em- 
ploying many men. He was never at vari- 
ance with his men but met them in a 
friendly spirit of fairness and all who 
came in contact with him held him. in 
respect. 

Charles Walter Taylor was born in 
Rochester, June 21, 1870, died in his na- 
tive city at his home, No. 195 Kenwood 
avenue, March 4, 1912. He was a son of 
George Taylor, founder of the Taylor 
Thermometer Company, the forerunner 
of the Taylor Instrument Companies, one 
of Rochester's large enterprises. Charles 
W. Taylor attended the public schools 
and after finishing the course at No. 3 
Grammar School, attended the old Free 
Academy. He continued study at Genesee 
Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, and after 
graduation there he entered business life 
with his brothers and henceforth until his 
death was associated with the Taylor In- 
strument Companies, serving as superin- 
tendent and on the board of directors. 
After becoming familiar with the business 
he was placed in charge of a branch plant 
in London, England, remaining for two 
years, then went to Watertown, New 
York, there remaining until 1910. In that 
year the branch was brought to Rochester 
and incorporated into the main plant, Mr. 
Taylor also returning to the city. Here 
he was superintendent of manufacture of 



the Taylor products until his death which 
occurred at the early age of forty-two 
years. In younger years he was an active 
member of the Rochester Athletic Club, 
and had a host of friends among the 
younger business men of the city. He 
was a member of Overlook Lodge (New 
Jerse}'), Free and Accepted Masons; Mrs. 
Taylor is a member of Eastern Star, Paul 
Chapter, of Rochester, and is matron of 
this chapter. He was a member of West- 
minster Presbyterian Church, in which 
his wife also holds membership. 

He married Nellie Smith, daughter of 
John C. and Mary (Parsonson) Smith, 
who survives him, with three sons : George 
Smith, now with Taylor Instrument Com- 
panies ; Walter and Merton, students in 
the high school. 



WOLCOTT, James E., 

Bnsiness Man, Financier. 

Among the representative citizens of 
Rochester who attained prominence in 
business, financial and fraternal circles, 
must be mentioned the late James E. Wol- 
cott, a native of Rochester, born in the 
year 1850, a son of George P. and Caroline 
(Moore) Wolcott. 

James E. Wolcott supplemented the 
knowledge obtained in the public schools 
of Rochester by a course in Professor Sat- 
terlee's School, and thus became well 
qualified for an active and useful career. 
At the age of twenty-one years he en- 
gaged in the distilling business and was 
active in the management of the James E. 
Wolcott & Company Distillery at the cor- 
ner of Clarissa and Wolcott streets. He 
continued in that until 1901, when he dis- 
posed of his interests to the New York & 
Kentucky Company. For a number of 
years he was connected with the financial 
interests of the city and was a director of 
the Genesee Valley Trust Company and 



247 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



of the Traders' National Bank. He was 
a man of keen perception and executive 
ability, enterprising and alert, and his 
opinion and judgment were considered 
and followed in many cases, each time 
proving to be for the best. He was equally 
prominent in Masonic circles, affiliating 
with Rochester Lodge, No. 660, Free and 
Accepted Masons ; Monroe Commandery, 
Knights Templar, and the Consistory, in 
which he attained the thirty-second de- 
gree of the Scottish Rite. He followed the 
teachings of that great order, lived in ac- 
cord with its beliefs, and won and retained 
the friendship and esteem of a wide circle 
of friends. He was a great lover of horse- 
flesh, was the owner of one or two thor- 
oughbred horses, and was connected with 
the Gentlemen Drivers Association. One 
of his chief pleasures was in a brush on 
the Rochester Speedway, in which he was 
interested ; he was a well-known figure 
there and the statement that any horse 
belonged to James E. Wolcott was suf- 
ficient guarantee of its worth and high- 
bred qualities. 

Mr. Wolcott married, in Rochester, in 
1874, ^^^ J- Chase, and they were the par- 
ents of three children : C. J. and George 
P., both of Rochester, and Mrs. F. E. 
Clawson, of Ridgway, Pennsylvania. Mr. 
Wolcott died suddenly at Norfolk, Vir- 
ginia, November 24, 1906, aged fifty-six 
years. His death deprived his native city, 
Rochester, of one of its successful men of 
afTairs, who bore a reputation for public 
and private integrity second to none. 



COOLEY, George Frederick, 

Enterprising Citizen. 

To leap into popular notice by some 
spectacular deed which appeals to the 
public fancy is a feat easy of accomplish- 
ment and of an order not unusual. It is 
in fact, an everyday occurrence. But to 



build up and into the favorable light of 
public criticism a life which is devoid of 
extraordinary achievement is a colossal 
task. When a man becomes, as it were, a 
popular figure or idol over night, it is be- 
cause of an action on his part which 
strikes the interest of the crowd — and his 
position is necessarily ephemeral and in- 
secure. Whether or not he keeps his post 
of honor is the true test of the mettle of 
the man. But the daily, constant con- 
structing of a reputation worthy of the 
highest praise and commendation, with 
the tools of honesty, labor, integrity, high 
character, dignity, human sympathy, force 
of personality and magnanimity, is a far 
more difficult task, though on the surface 
it would appear to be a negative accom- 
plishment. The late George Frederick 
Cooley, of Peekskill, New York, one of 
the substantially successful business men 
of Peekskill, and a man of prominence 
there, held a position in the community 
which was equally the result of his talents 
in the lines of endeavor in which he en- 
gaged, and of the influence of his char- 
acter and daily life. He was a leader 
among men, whose influence was for the 
general good and of a most potent order 
in the interests of the city. 

George Frederick Cooley, son of Charles 
E. and Margaret Ann (Esterly) Cooley, 
farmers of Ulster county. New York, was 
born in Medina, Ulster county. New York, 
August 26, 1841. He attended school at 
Medina and later at the Claverick Acade- 
my, where he received an excellent edu- 
cation and rigid military training. After 
being graduated from the academy he 
spent a few years on his father's farm. He 
then went to Vails Gate, Orange county. 
New York, and engaged independently in 
the coal, lumber and feed business, con- 
tinuing this for a year, and in connection 
with this he conducted a grist mill at Sal- 
isbury at the same time. He next went 



248 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



to New Paltz and engaged in a similar 
enterprise in partnership with A. V. N. 
Kiting. He then went to Ossining and 
entered into partnership with his brother, 
carrying on a dry goods business for the 
next two years. In 1879 Mr. Cooley went 
to Peekskill, where he resided for the re- 
mainder of his life. Here he went into 
business again, this time alone, and open- 
ed a flour and feed establishment, doing 
business on a wholesale and retail scale. 
In this venture he was highly successful 
and continued until 1906, when he sold 
out and retired from active participation 
in the affairs of the business world. His 
interests in affairs, current topics, and 
civic questions still continued to be as 
keen as when he had been an active 
worker. 

Mr. Cooley had for a number of years 
been a director in the Grand Forks Na- 
tional Bank. He was a member of the 
First Presbyterian Church of Peekskill, 
and for several years served as superin- 
tendent of the mission and the Sunday 
school. Air. Cooley was throughout his 
life a deep student, not only of books, but 
of life itself. He was a keen judge of men, 
and had scores of friends in all walks of 
life. 

In 1873 Mr. Cooley married, at Corn- 
wall, New York, Kate Theresa Sutherland, 
daughter of Judge Ebenezer and Cather- 
ine L. (Moores) Sutherland, an old and 
prominent family of Cornwall. The chil- 
dren of Mr. and Mrs. Cooley are: i. Her- 
bert Sutherland, who resides in Keyport, 
New Jersey ; he married Elizabeth Avery, 
of Peekskill, and by this union there are 
two children : Kathrine and Carold ; Mrs. 
(Avery) Cooley died in 1912, in Keyport. 
2. Florence Josephine, deceased. 3. Clif- 
ford Eugene, deceased. 4. Jennie, de- 
ceased. 5. George Frederick, Jr., now liv- 
ing in Schenectady. 

Mr. Cooley died in Peekskill, New York, 



May 5, 1914, and his death came as a loss 
to the community in which he had been so 
prominent, and with whose upbuilding 
and advance he had for so many years 
been identified. 



BROWER, William Henry, 
Mannfacturer. 

The West shore of the Hudson river is 
the seat of many of the large industries of 
the United States. The city of Glovers- 
ville in Fulton county, in the State of 
New York, is the centre of the industry 
of glove making in the country. This 
city which owes its growth to the up- 
building of the manufacture of gloves 
within its boundaries, produces two-thirds 
of the kid and buckskin gloves that are 
made in America. Heading this industry 
and responsible for its growth and great- 
ness to-day, are men of power, and execu- 
tive and creative ability, who foresaw its 
possibilities while it was yet in its in- 
fancy. 

It amounts to almost a law of life and 
nature that the man whose vision is re- 
stricted to only that which others can see 
never achieves a signal success in life. Nor 
does the man who can see the great things, 
but who lacks the power to grasp them 
and make them real, succeed in life. But 
the man with the imagination and power 
of vision to discern possibilities combined 
with the executive ability to put them into 
working order, is the type found leading 
and managing the world's great enter- 
prises and business ventures. Such was 
the late William Henry Brower, con- 
nected with the glove industry in execu- 
tive capacity since the time of the Civil 
War, and one of its leaders in Glovers- 
ville, and in the whole country. 

William Henry Brower, son of David 
and Elizabeth (Perkins) Brower, was born 
in Broadalbin, Fulton county, New York 



249 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



State, in 1838. He remained on his 
father's farm here until he reached the 
age of eighteen. During this time he had 
acquired all the advantages of education 
which the local schools afforded, and in 
1856 removed to Gloversville. Here he 
attended the Gloversville Academy under 
Professor Wells. He realized the inesti- 
mable value of a good education in any 
line of endeavor which he might choose 
in later life and made every effort to fur- 
ther his. Six years later, desiring to en- 
ter business for himself, he entered upon 
the manufacture of gloves in 1862 in Glo- 
versville. The first factory which he 
erected stood in the rear of what is now 
the \V. H. & F. G. Brower Company, the 
name by which the present firm is known. 
The organization was first known under 
the firm name of Syke & Brower. The 
business, which is one of importance in 
Gloversville is still conducted by Mr. 
Brower's sons. 

Though he never held office, Mr. Brow- 
er was always intensely interested and 
active in public afifairs. His forces were 
always allied on the side of the good of 
the community, and he made every effort 
within his power for the advancement of 
Gloversville for he believed in its future. 
He was active throughout his life in 
movements instituted for the benefit of 
his fellow men, and gave his time and 
services unrestrainedly to such purposes. 
Mr. Brower was deeply interested and 
took an active part in the campaign waged 
for Lincoln by William Seward. He was 
a supporter of the "Higher Law" theories 
of Seward in regard to slavery, and an 
ardent admirer of Lincoln, in whom he 
recognized the qualities needed in the 
dangers and terrors of a civil war. 

Mr. Brower was preeminently and in 
every sense of the word a Christian gen- 
tleman. He was particularly active in 
the work of the First Baptist Church, 
with which church he became affiliated 



immediately upon his arrival in Glovers- 
ville in 1856, retaining active membership 
in it until the time of his death. Air. 
Brower believed in putting the principles 
of his religion into practice, and was a 
constant worker in the church in one ca- 
pacity or another. For eighteen years he 
was organist, and he was continuously 
connected with the choir from the year 
1856 until 1890. He was superintendent 
of the Sunday school for a number of 
years, and also served on church boards. 
He was an efficient worker and did an 
inestimable amount of good in the serv- 
ice of his fellow men. 

Mr. Brower was a member of Glovers- 
ville Lodge, No. 429, Free and Accepted 
Masons, and took an active part in Ma- 
sonic affairs. He was very well-known in 
Masonic circles, and his death was no 
more deeply mourned here than in the 
other circles of his friends. 

An adequate understanding of the 
esteem in which Mr. Brower was held in 
the minds and hearts of his fellows, can 
be gathered from the following tribute 
paid him by one of his fellow church 
members. This opinion was universal : 
"He has sung the blessed Gospel into the 
hearts and lives of hundreds of people. 
At the organ in the old Church he was an 
inspiration. He was a good musician and 
a noble Christian gentleman." 



HOOKER, Horace and Horace B., 
Father and Son. 

Horace Hooker was descended from 
that redoubtable Puritan, the Rev. Thom- 
as Hooker, who led sixty families from 
Boston through the wilderness and found- 
ed the city of Hartford. Through his 
constructive influence on the Connecticut 
constitution, Thomas Hooker became in- 
directly an important factor in outlining 
our Federal Constitution. Horace Hook- 
er's wife traced her ancestry from Henry 



250 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Wolcott whose descendants, as New Eng- 
land Governors and public men, have 
borne such a prominent part in our na- 
tional life. Both grandfathers of Horace 
Hooker were officers in the Revolution- 
ary army. 

With the pioneer spirit of his progeni- 
tor, hearing glowing accounts of the 
Genesee country, Horace Hooker, the 
father, came to Western New York, 
where the Wadsworths and many other 
Hartford and Windsor families had set- 
tled. With his brother-in-law, Judge 
Strong, he developed the thousand-acre 
tract in Carthage, now Rochester. Mr. 
Hooker, with great enterprise, built mills 
and warehouses, and later initiated and 
leased the horse railroad to Carthage 
Landing, a growing port with extensive 
trade in Canada. The building of the 
New York Central Railroad and the Erie 
canal marked the downfall of Carthage as 
a commercial center, and the panic of '57 
brought Mr. Hooker's extensive projects 
to an end. Like Cincinnatus, he turned 
to the plough, growing nursery stock on 
the town lots of Carthage. It was here 
that he brought his bride, Helen Wolcott. 
of Windsor, in 1821 and here his eight 
children were born. 

Among the great army of men who in 
a quiet way have been the backbone and 
support of the State, Horace B. Hooker, 
his youngest son, moved and bore his 
part. A native son of Rochester, he there 
lived the full number of years allotted to 
man, was numbered among her sons who 
oiTered their lives in defence of the Union, 
and from the close of the war was en- 
gaged in various business enterprises in 
the city. 

He was born at the family home in 
Carthage, December 7, 1837, attended 
various private schools, and afterwards 
studying engineering under Colonel Jo- 
siah W. Bissell, with whom he worked on 
the then famous Carthage bridge. Later 



he entered the nursery business with 
Hooker, Farley & Co., who had moved to 
Brighton, where they planted a large fruit 
farm. 

The firing of the first gun on Fort 
Sumter so stirred his patriotic zeal that, 
sacrificing a promising business, he re- 
sponded at once to his country's call. 
His father, seventy years old, said "That's 
right, Horace ; if I were a little younger, 
I would go myself." With his brother 
James he raised a company for the Eighth 
New York Cavalry Regiment. Before 
they were ordered to the front, he re- 
ceived an urgent call from Colonel Bis- 
sell, in St. Louis, to join his engineering 
regiment, as he needed officers upon 
whom he could depend. He reluctantly 
resigned his commission with his Roches- 
ter comrades to enter the strenuous and 
arduous campaign of the "Engineer Regi- 
ment of the West," famous for their ac- 
tivities at Island No. 10. Corinth and New 
Madrid ; and so closely associated with 
General Grant in the tedious siege of 
Vicksburg, both in the overland approach 
through Mississippi and on the river work 
at Young's Point. Upon the surrender of 
Vicksburg, July 4, 1863, they were en- 
gaged in repairing the forts, until ordered 
to Nashville to take part in the Atlanta 
campaign and Sherman's march to the 
sea. Never selfseeking, he was through 
his entire service either in command of a 
company or acting adjutant in charge of 
a detachment, doing special duty in 
bridge building, canal or railroad work. 

After the war, declining important posi- 
tions oiYered him in the West, he returned 
East. The oil fever being at its height, 
he opened an engineer's office in Marietta, 
Ohio, where he was actively engaged un- 
til a lapse in the yield in that locality 
brought him back to Rochester. Here he 
gathered together the tangled skeins of an 
interrupted business career and began life 
afresh. He turned for a number of years 



251 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



to the nursery business, with his father- 
in-law, Elon Huntington. 

With a marked faculty for invention, 
he devised valuable improvements in 
guns, pistols, cartridges and skates, which 
are in use at the present time. For a short 
time he was in the shoe business, and 
then became a general contractor, for 
which he was well adapted. His son 
Harry was afterwards associated with 
him, and under the firm name of H. B. 
Hooker & Son they did a large business. 
At the age of seventy he was stricken 
with paralysis, and became a semi-invalid 
until his death, August 25, 1914. 

Horace B. Hooker was a man who 
through many vicissitudes of business 
showed the sterling uprightness of his 
character in his fair dealing with his as- 
sociates and his consideration for the men 
who worked under him. He was a man 
of strict integrity and faithfully executed 
every trust confided to him. His private 
life was marked by devotion to his family 
and a scrupulous regard for the rights of 
others. He met all life's responsibilities 
bravely and played well his part in the 
great drama of life. An ardent sports- 
man, he bore ofif many trophies for marks- 
manship for Rochester in the National 
and State associations. He was a valued 
member of the Columbia Rifle Club, a 
member of the Loyal Legion and the 
Grand Army of the Republic. He mar- 
ried, during the Civil War, Susan Hunt- 
ington, who survives him, the mother of 
five sons and two daughters. 



MILLER, James, 

Pioneer Builder of Peekskill. 

There is, of course, no royal road to 
success. The progress which those who 
travel this way make is dependent on 
themselves, not on the path they tread. 
If we look over the records of the suc- 



cessful men of New York whose names 
indeed are legion, we shall find that 
whether they traveled rough paths or 
smooth, it was rather the qualities in- 
herent in themselves which enabled them 
to overcome all difficulties and arrive so 
successfully at their goal. For the smooth 
way has its own difticulties quite as much 
as the rough. Indeed, for some natures 
they are even greater with the tempta- 
tions that they hold for relaxation of the 
necessary effort towards success. It is 
not even the opportunities which a man 
finds ready to hand which help him on his 
way so much as it is that prompt character 
which impels him to grasp such fleeting 
occasions as they arise, for he is a rare 
man who has no opportunities and almost 
as rare as he is the man who seizes those 
he has. James Miller is an excellent ex- 
ample of this kind of man, who takes ad- 
vantage of the opportunities which des- 
tiny places in his way. In his long life 
at Peekskill, New York, his record was 
one of success and progress, and still 
better of success earned without the sac- 
rifice of the rights and interests of any of 
his fellow men. His death, which oc- 
curred there on May 25, 1909, deprived 
the community of one of its most public- 
spirited and prominent citizens. 

He was the son of Cornite and Harriett 
(Lancaster) Miller, both natives of Cort- 
land, Westchester county. New York, and 
typical of the best type of the life of that 
legion. Cornite Miller was a wealthy 
farmer in Westchester county, a man 
thrifty and religious, whose home under 
the superintendence of his good wife was 
a center for hospitality and good cheer. 
It was at the home established in Peeks- 
kill, New York, by Cornite Miller and 
his wife that their son, James Miller, was 
born January 23, 1834. 

He passed his entire life in his native 
town and became most closelv identified 



252 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



with all its affairs. For his education he 
attended, at first, the local public school 
and later the Peekskill Military Academy, 
from which institution he was a graduate. 
Even in childhood Mr. Miller's mind had 
a very emphatically mechanical bent, and 
he decided, as he grew into manhood, 
upon following some line of work which 
would bring his undoubted talents into 
play. His taste led him to the practical 
and mechanical side of contruction and 
he entered into a construction and con- 
tracting business in which he was emi- 
nently successful, his unusual talent be- 
ing of value to him in the solution of the 
many difficult problems brought up by 
his occupation. Mr. Miller was regarded 
as one of the pioneers in the development 
of a number of Peekskill's most attractive 
residential quarters and was the builder of 
a great number of the handsome residences 
of that city, among them one for Henry 
Ward Beecher. He also built many of 
the important buildings, including the 
Peekskill Savings Bank Building and that 
for St. Joseph's Franciscan School for 
Girls. 

Upon the opening of the Civil War, 
Mr. Miller volunteered his services in the 
cause of the Union and enlisted in the 
local body known as the Jefferson Guard 
of Peekskill. His regiment was sent al- 
most immediately to the front, and from 
that time onward to the end of hostilities 
he saw active service and took part in 
many of the important engagements of 
the war. He served until the year 1866. 
at the end of which time he was mustered 
out of the service and returned to civil 
life. 

James Miller was not a man to follow 
the not very wholesome methods of 
modern business men of confining them- 
selves wholly to their business interests. 
His mind was of a character which neces- 
sitated his taking part in many sides of 



life, in order that it should be fully satis- 
fied, and however great his success in 
business he would have deemed himself a 
self-willed prisoner had he not taken part 
in the more public affairs of the commu- 
nity. This does not mean that he sought 
public office, or anything of that nature. 
His business made great demands upon his 
time and it was impossible for him to 
serve in any such capacity, but his in- 
terests were given to these affairs and he 
exerted no little influence upon the com- 
munity, purely as a personal force. His 
views on political subjects generally were 
extremely independent, and while he was 
a member of the Democratic party and 
supported its principles and policies in a 
general way, he was entirely independent 
as a voter, casting his ballot for the man 
he thought best deserv'ed the office. He 
was a prominent member of the Masonic 
order. He was not, however, active in 
club life, his instincts being rather domes- 
tic, so that he found his greatest happi- 
ness by his own hearthstone, in the inti- 
mate association of the household. His 
tastes still further emphasized his fond- 
ness for this aspect of life, for he was a 
great lover of music and of books and 
spent much of his leisure time in listen- 
ing to the one and reading the other. He 
erected a fine house for himself at No. 218 
North James street, Peekskill, and it was 
here that his family life was held. Here 
his children was born and here eventually 
his death occurred. One other taste pos- 
sessed by Mr. Miller, which should not be 
overlooked, was that for hunting, which 
he indulged to as great an extent as his 
time and opportunity permitted. Besides 
the property upon which his house stood, 
he also owned a large amount of valuable 
real estate in Peekskill, which he had ac- 
quired from time to time as the opportu- 
nity offered during his long and success- 
ful career in that city. 



253 



Ei\CYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



James Miller was married on May 25, 
1870, to Camilla Lane, a daughter of Wil- 
liam Shelton and Adaline (Hyett) Lane, 
of Peekskill. To Mr. and Mrs. Miller 
seven children were born as follows: i. 
Charles Avery, born April 7, 1871 ; was 
educated in the grammar and high schools 
of Peekskill and the Peekskill Military 
Academy ; has succeeded his father in the 
construction business ; takes a very con- 
spicuous part in the public life of the 
municipality ; married Jane Jordan Yo- 
com, of Peekskill, by whom he has had 
two children : Camilla and Jane. 2. 
Henry, born March 23, 1873, died in early 
youth. 3. Ella, born January 15, 1875, 
died in early youth. 4. Charlotte, born 
February 29, 1876, died in early youth. 5. 
Jane, born March 28, 1878, died in early 
youth. 6. Camilla, born September 15, 
1886; was educated in the public and high 
schools of Peekskill ; was married to 
James Wyly Silleck, of Peekskill, to 
whom she has borne one daughter, Elea- 
nor. 7. Ritchie C, born March 6, 1889; 
educated in the grammar and high schools 
of Peekskill and later at Columbia Uni- 
versity from which he graduated with the 
degrees of M. E. and E. E. ; he is now 
connected with the New York Central 
Line, in connection with the technical de- 
partment, his work being of such a nature 
that he travels most of his time upon the 
road ; he is unmarried and makes his 
home with his mother in the old Miller 
mansion at Peekskill. 



O'CONNOR, Francis. 

Contracting Bnilder. 

In Mr. O'Connor's personality extremes 
met to a degree worthy of special study. 
He was a scholar and a hard working 
mechanic; a builder of college buildings 
and a student therein after their comple- 
tion ; a lover of the classics and of classi- 



cal study yet a practical clear brained 
contractor. He erected great buildings, 
yet, gathered about him half a dozen 
choice spirits called the "Hexagonal 
Club" who, together, studied the classics. 
He was a good business man, his cultured 
tastes not interfering in any way with his 
daily pursuits. He did not parade his 
attainments but loved scholarship for 
scholarship's sake alone. His life was a 
busy, useful, simple one and he was loved 
and honored by all who came within the 
sphere of his influence. During the last 
quarter of a century of his life he was 
chief clerk at the canal weigh lock, and 
although administrations came and faded 
into the past, in regular succession, he 
was not disturbed in his position, only 
surrendering it with his life. 

He was especially fond of his younger 
brother, Joseph O'Connor (who is of ex- 
tended mention in this work), over whose 
education he watched, whose studies he 
directed and in whose attainments he 
gloried. Joseph O'Connor died a few 
months before his brother, and although 
prior to that much lamented event Fran- 
cis O'Connor appeared as a man in his 
prime, yet he seemed afterward to be 
stricken with sudden old age, all his 
health, vigor, activity, and interest in life 
departing with the loved brother. In 
those few months he became as old in 
looks and in action as he really was in 
years and never rallied. 

He had another extremely gifted 
brother, Michael O'Connor, a poet who 
gave up his life at Potomac Station dur- 
ing the Civil War, sergeant of the One 
Hundred and Fortieth Regiment. New 
York Volunteers. He was the author of 
"The Reveille," a poem, concededly one 
of the finest literary productions inspired 
by the Civil War. Joseph and Michael 
O'Connor were both members of the 
"Hexagonal Club," and in an edition of 



254 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



"Little Classics" edited by Rossiter John- 
son, another of the coterie, are to be 
found poems and short stories by Michael 
O'Connor. Other members were Jacob 
Hockstra and Thomas J. Neville, they 
with the three O'Connor brothers and 
Rossiter Johnson constituting the six 
members. 

Francis O'Connor was born in County 
Queens, Ireland, May 13, 1833, died at 
his home. No. 32 Jefferson avenue, 
Rochester, New York, May 9, 1909, lack- 
ing but four days of completing his 
seventy-sixth year. He was brought to 
this country when a child, obtained a 
good common school education and learn- 
ed the stone cutters' trade. In youthful 
manhood he lived in Ithaca, New York, 
and there made a close friend of Ezra 
Cornell, founder of Cornell University, 
who greatly admired the intelligent, 
warm-hearted young man. Mr. O'Con- 
nor was then engaged in quarry contract- 
ing work, and also being a skilled me- 
chanic he was of great assistance to Mr. 
Cornell when he began the erection of the 
university buildings. Mr. O'Connor also 
did a great deal of the stone work on the 
original buildings and some of them yet 
stand as monuments to his skill and thor- 
oughness as a builder. After the first 
buildings were completed and ready for 
use, Mr. O'Connor enrolled as a student 
and completed a two years' course. After 
leaving college he returned to his quarry 
and contract work as though he had never 
left it. During his residence in Ithaca he 
was school commissioner and council- 
man. In 1878 Mr. O'Connor responded 
to a call from Waterloo, New York, to 
associate with Rev. Louis A. Lambert in 
editing the "Catholic Union and Times." 
A few years later the office of publication 
was moved to Rochester and Mr. O'Con- 
nor came with the paper as managing 
editor. 

He practically built St. Patrick's Cathe- 



dral in Rochester. The original contrac- 
tor, after finishing the foundations, left 
the city and Mr. O'Connor completed the 
building. It was during this period and 
later that the "Hexagonal Club" flour- 
ished. About 1884 he was appointed chief 
clerk at the weigh lock and in that quiet 
position lived a contented, happy life with 
his work, his beloved books and congenial 
companions. At one time he was Demo- 
cratic candidate for State Senator, his 
opponent being Senator Cornelius R. Par- 
sons. He was a communicant of the 
Roman Catholic church and a member of 
the Cathedral parish from the time the 
Cathedral was erected. When he was 
borne to his last resting place, it was 
from the Cathedral doors, the building 
whose erection he supervised. 

Mr. O'Connor married, September 4, 
1875, Adelia Lewis, of Syracuse, who sur- 
vives him, with four children : Mrs. Cath- 
erine Church, Elizabeth, Agnes, and 
Joseph Lewis O'Connor, who has been 
engaged for some years in the promotion 
and management of theatrical (road) 
companies; he was a graduate of the 
LTniversity of Rochester, class of 1908; 
member of Theta Delta Kappa, member 
of White Rats of America, a theatrical 
social order ; has written numerous plays 
and poems and inherits his father's gift 
of letters : married, in 1913, Gertrude 
Kirksmith, of Kansas City, Missouri. 



RITTER, Frank J., 

Bnsinesa Man. 

Germany has furnished to this country 
many men who rank among our best citi- 
zens, men who would be willing to sacri- 
fice their lives, if necessary, in the preser- 
vation of American principles, who have 
proven themselves worthy of citizenship, 
and among this class was the late Frank 
J. Ritter, president of the Ritter Dental 
Manufacturing Company, one of the lead- 



25: 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ing industries of Rochester. He was born 
in Astheim, Germany, December 19, 1844, 
died at the General Hospital, Rochester, 
New York, April 21, 1915, following an 
operation for appendicitis, and his remains 
were interred in Mount Hope Cemetery, 
Rochester, New York. He was a son of 
Joseph Ritter, who was a very prominent 
man in Germany, who served as burgomas- 
ter for many years in the city of Astheim. 
Frank J. Ritter was reared and edu- 
cated in his native land, remaining there 
until he attained early manhood, when he 
came to the United States, arriving in 
New York City, where he secured em- 
ployment, remaining there a few years. 
From New York he removed to Amster- 
dam, New York, and finally settled in 
Rochester, where he spent the remainder 
of his days, becoming widely known in 
business circles. He there began the 
manufacture of parlor furniture in a 
factory on North Water street, this prov- 
ing a successful undertaking, he being a 
man of business acumen, keen discern- 
ment and practical ideas. In 1887 he 
devoted his attention to another line of 
business, establishing the Ritter Dental 
Manufacturing Company, making dental 
chairs and other appliances used by den- 
tists, and was equally successful in this 
enterprise, in due course of time Ritter 
dental products being shipped to every 
part of the world, they having a reputa- 
tion for a high standard of excellence and 
durability. The first factory was situated 
on the river flats below the Smith Street 
Bridge, and in 1908 the modern factory 
on West avenue was erected to meet the 
requirements of the rapidly increasing 
business. The companj' gave employment 
to a number of skilled operatives, and 
thus was the means of adding to the 
population of the city, and under the wise 
guidance of Mr. Ritter, who was an ideal 
employer in every respect, the business 
expanded from year to year. His promi- 



nence as a business man was proven by 
the fact that he was chosen on the direc- 
torate of the Lincoln National Bank, in 
which capacity he served for many years. 
The only public ofiice he ever held was 
that of park commissioner, to which he 
was appointed in 1905 and which he held 
until the board recently was legislated 
out of existence. He possessed many ex- 
cellent characteristics, among which were 
a ready sympathy with those in distress, 
a whole-hearted interest in mankind in 
general and a mind filled with practical 
thoughts, and by the exercise of these 
was helpful to many, and he was also 
esteemed and honored by all with whom 
he was brought in contact, whether in 
business or social life. 

Mr. Ritter married (first) in 1874, Eliza- 
beth Fertig, of Rochester, New York. 
She died in 1897. They were the parents 
of two daughters : Adelina, (Mrs. Shum- 
way), of Rochester, who is the mother of 
two children, Helen Elizabeth and Frank 
Ritter Shumway; Laura A. Ritter. Mr. 
Ritter married (second) in 1907, Sophia 
E. Schuknecht. Mrs. Ritter, in memory 
of her husband, has founded and endowed 
a home for the aged and an orphan 
asylum. 

At a special meeting of the Board of 
Directors of the Lincoln National Bank, 
held in April, 1915, the following tribute 
to the memory of the late Mr. Frank J. 
Ritter was adopted : 

The Board of Directors of the Lincoln National 
Bank has heard the sorrowful news of the death 
of Frank J. Ritter. Associated with us as friend 
and fellow member for many years, we have 
highly appreciated his loyalty, broad vision and 
sound judgment which had ripened in the course 
of a long, eventful and successful business career. 
Modest and quiet in his demeanor he was a 
strong character, precise in his obligations and 
faithful in his friendships. It is with deep sorrow 
that we must record his death and we will sadly 
miss him from among our midst. Let this minute 
be entered on our records and a copy sent to the 
stricken family. 



256 





<^ 



/p t 



Cit.. /^-t'^ I'^e^'tn-^'co 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



VAN VOORHIS, John, 

Lawyer, Congressman. 

If those who knew the Hon. John Van 
Voorhis were called upon to name the 
strongest characteristic of his useful and 
honorable career, by the consensus of 
public opinion, fidelity would be the re- 
sponse. His loyalty to his home, his 
friends, his city and his country, to his 
beliefs and his convictions made him 
trusted wherever known and gained for 
him the unqualified confidence of the 
lowly and those high in the councils of 
the nation, of the distinguished members 
of the profession in which he figured so 
prominently and of those with whom he 
came in contact through the ties of friend- 
ship. His strong intellectual endow- 
ments, well directed, made him a leader 
at the bar and in Republican ranks in the 
State of New York and never was he 
known to waver in his allegiance to a 
cause he espoused, for his championship 
was ever based upon a belief in its right- 
eousness. 

John Van Voorhis, a native son of New 
York, born in Decatur, Otsego county, 
October 22, 1826, was of Holland lineage, 
descended from Stevens Coerte Van Voor- 
hees, who was a son of Coert Alberts of 
Voor Hees (so called because he lived 
before the village of Hees, in Holland, 
hence the origin of the surname). In 
April, 1660, Stevens Coerte Van Voorhees 
was a passenger on the ship "Boutekoe" 
(sp»otted cow) which sailed for the new 
world. He was accompanied by his wife 
and seven children and settled at Flat- 
lands, Long Island, where he purchased 
from Cornelius Dirksen Hoogland nine 
morgens of corn land, seven of woodland, 
ten of plain land and five morgens of salt 
meadow for three thousand gilders ; also 
the house and house-plot in the village of 
"Amesfoort en Bergen" (Flatlands) with 

N Y— Vol 11—17 2 



the brewery and all the brewing appara- 
tus. He died at Flatlands in 1702. 

One of his grandsons, Johannes Coerte 
Van Voorhis, removed to Fishkill, Dutch- 
ess county, in 1730, and purchased a 
farm of twenty-seven hundred acres, for 
six hundred and seventy pounds sterling. 
Before his death in 1757 he changed the 
spelling of the name to its present form, 
which has since been retained by his de- 
scendants. 

John Van Voorhis, of this review, was 
the great-grandson of Johannes Coerte 
Van Voorhis and the son of John Van 
Voorhis, who was a farmer and a local 
preacher of the Methodist church. He 
was reared upon the old homestead farm 
and acquired such education as he could 
obtain in the common schools, through 
the school library and a few terms spent 
at Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima. 
He was seven years of age at the time of 
the father's removal from Otsego county 
and after residing for a few years in the 
town of Scott, Cortland county, and in 
the town of Spaflford, Onondaga county, 
he became a resident of Mendon, Monroe 
county, New York, in March, 1843. He 
took up his abode upon a farm at Mendon 
Center and in the summer months aided 
in the work of the fields, while in the 
winter seasons he taught in the district 
schools of Victor until 1850. In the 
summer of that year he became a law 
student in the office of John W. Stebbins, 
of Rochester, and in the succeeding 
winter taught Latin and mathematics in 
the East Bloomfield Academy. He was 
connected with that institution until the 
spring of 1852, and in the meantime con- 
tinued his law reading as opportunity 
offered until December. 185 1, he success- 
fully passed the examination that secured 
him admission to the bar. Mr. Van Voor- 
his began in law practice in Elmira in 
1853 as a partner of Hon. Gilbert O. 

57 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Hulse, but in 1854 became identified with 
the Rochester bar. Here he soon won 
recognition as a lawyer of wide learning, 
of thorough familiarity with the princi- 
ples of jurisprudence and of notable force 
in argument and in the presentation of 
his cause. For a long period the law firm 
consisted of his brother, Quincy Van 
Voorhis, and himself, while later he ad- 
mitted his two sons, Eugene and Charles, 
under the firm name of John Van Voor- 
his & Sons. 

In 1858, Mr. Van Voorhis was married 
to Frances Aristine Galusha, a daughter 
of Martin Galusha, and a granddaughter 
of Jonas Galusha, who was for nine suc- 
cessive terms governor of Vermont. Soon 
after his marriage he purchased a house 
on East avenue, where he lived for many 
years. 

From the beginning of his connection 
with the bar, Mr. Van Voorhis maintained 
a prominent place in the ranks of the 
legal fraternity and as an attorney for the 
plaintiflf or defense he was connected with 
almost every important litigated interest 
tried in the courts. His ability, too, well 
qualified him for official service, he was 
from the beginning of his residence here 
a prominent factor in public life, being 
first elected a member of the Board of 
Education from the old Fifth Ward in 
1857. In 1859 he was appointed city at- 
torney, and in 1863 received appointment 
as collector of internal revenue from 
President Lincoln. He was a delegate to 
the Republican National Convention 
which renominated Lincoln in 1864, and 
was ever a staunch supporter of the mar- 
tyred president. In 1878 and again in 
1880 he was elected to Congress but was 
defeated in 1882, when there was a Demo- 
cratic landslide. In 1892 he was once 
more chosen to represent his district in 
the national law making body and upon 
the close of that term he retired from ac- 



tive political life. He was one of the most 
earnest workers on the floor of the house, 
connected with much of the constructive 
legislation which finds its inception in 
the committee rooms. An indefatigable 
worker for his constituents, Rochester 
owes to him its public building at the 
corner of Church and Fitzhugh streets. 
He made a desperate fight for this, one of 
his first public acts, in the Forty-Sixth 
Congress being the presentation of a bill 
for a public building at Rochester. The 
bill was reported favorably by the com- 
mittee on public buildings, but the house 
was Democratic and he was unable to 
pass it. Elbridge G. Lapham, of Canan- 
daigua, who was one of the house leaders, 
opposed the bill vigorously on the ground 
that Canandaigua was less than thirty 
miles from Rochester and had a United 
States court house. When the Forty- 
seventh Congress met in December, 1881, 
Mr. Van Voorhis again presented his bill 
and secured its passage in the house after 
a long and strenuous contest. In the inter- 
im Mr. Lapham had been elected United 
States senator and in the Upper House 
he again opposed the measure even more 
vigorously than he had before. He was 
supported in his opposition by the late 
Charles J. Folger, secretary of the treas- 
ury, who lived at Geneva and was in- 
terested in Canandaigua's efforts to pre- 
vent Rochester from obtaining sessions of 
the United States court. Congressman 
Van Voorhis enlisted the support of Sena- 
tor Warner Miller and the late Senator 
John J. Ingalls, of Kansas, until finally, 
after the bill had brought about a frac- 
tional line-up in the Senate, it was passed 
over the heads of Senator Lapham and 
Secretary Folger. Every member of 
Congress for twenty-five years before that 
time had fought in vain for a public build- 
ing for Rochester and the success of Mr. 
Van Voorhis was notable. 



258 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



During his congressional career and as 
an attorney he was a champion of the 
rights of the Seneca Indians and it was 
largely due to his opposition that the 
claim of three hundred thousand dollars 
of the Ogden Land Company against the 
lands of the Indians was defeated. In 
189s a council of the Seneca nation was 
held on the Allegany reservation and 
resolutions of thanks to Mr. Van Voorhis 
were adopted. The resolution was en- 
grossed and framed. The parchment on 
which it is written is decorated with a 
tomahawk and a pipe of peace and bears 
the nation's seal. It was always regarded 
by Mr. Van Voorhis as one of his most 
valuable possessions. 

For half a century Mr. Van Voorhis 
remained an active practitioner at the 
Rochester bar and attained marked dis- 
tinction. He was thoroughly informed 
concerning all branches of the law and 
his practice extended beyond the borders 
of New York. He was particularly strong 
in argument and in the presentation of 
his cause, which he ever contested with 
the qualities of a warrior. His ready 
sympathy was easily enlisted in the 
cause of the weak and oppressed and 
when he once espoused a cause it re- 
ceived his untiring efforts to the end, re- 
gardless of the fees accorded him. He 
was deeply interested in young men who 
were starting out in the profession, was 
always ready to assist and encourage 
them and they entertained for him the 
greatest admiration and sincerest afifec- 
tion, feeling that they had lost a stalwart 
champion and friend when he passed from 
this life. 

Too broad-minded to confine his atten- 
tion and interest to his home locality or 
even to his State, he was concerned in all 
matters of national importance and in 
those events which were framing the his- 
tory of other nations. He firmly believed 



in the cause of the Boers in South Africa, 
gave to them his ready sympathy and 
addressed many public meetings in their 
behalf, being one of the speakers at the 
great Boer meeting held in the city of 
New York. He was equally ardent in 
his championship of Cuban independence 
and thrilled an audience with his presen- 
tation of the question at a large mass 
meeting in Rochester. He continued one 
of the world's workers until called to his 
final rest, October 22, 1905. Perhaps no 
better proof of the initial statement of this 
review that one of his strong character- 
istics was his unfaltering fidelity, may be 
best shown in quoting freely from the 
statement of many of the public expres- 
sions that were made at the time of his 
demise. 

The Monroe County Bar Association 
adopted a memorial, extracts from which 
are as follows : 

Hon. John Van Voorhis died at his home on 
East avenue, in the city of Rochester, on the 
20th day of October, 1905. His life had been 
active, strenuous and full. He had no advan- 
tageous aids in making his career. What he 
has achieved he has achieved by his own labor 
and efiforts. As a lawyer his practice was 
largely in the courts and he has been engaged 
in many important and hard fought cases which 
reached their final decision in the court of last 
resort. His practice was large, at times reach- 
ing into other states. His clients were for the 
most part individuals; corporate interest he 
seldom represented and he may with justice be 
described as the people's lawyer. He possessed 
ample knowledge of the law and had large ex- 
perience and great ability in the trial of causes. 
His fearlessness in asserting his client's cause 
and his persistence in pressing it to a final con- 
clusion were marked characteristics of the man. 
To his clients he gave his best efforts, the 
benefit of his large knowledge and large experi- 
ence, with untiring diligence worked for their 
interest. 

Mr. Van Voorhis possessed a strong person- 
ality in keeping with his massive form and 
powerful and striking features that made him 
the most picturesque member of our bar. He 



259 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



thought vigorously and expressed himself with 
vigor. In the heat of conflict, somewhat brusque 
in manner, he was at heart kindly. He will be 
remembered by the members of the bar as a 
strong man and an able lawyer, and in social 
intercourse as a genial and pleasant companion. 
Full of years the last of his own generation of 
lawyers, he rests from his labors. 

The "Rochester Democrat and Chron- 
icle" said editorially: 

Mr. Van Voorhis was a born fighter, a fighter 
who never took an unfair advantage of an ad- 
versary, but who never gave up a battle until 
the issue was finally adjudicated. When he was 
assured that his cause was just, he would never 
admit the possibility of ultimate and final de- 
feat. It has been often said of him that he was 
a loyal friend; he was at the same time a stal- 
wart and vigorous adversary. In common with 
all truly strong men, he was positive in his 
likes and in his dislikes; but at the same time 
he was generous towards all with whom he came 
into professional confiict. But he always stood 
for that which he regarded as right, and stood 
steadfast to the end, and his friendship was 
abiding. He was trained in the school of integ- 
rity, and he had no patience with departures 
from the path of uprightness in which his 
course unswervingly lay, through the world that 
now is to that world which is to come. 

It was perhaps in his home life and in his 
library where Mr. Van Voorhis shone the 
brightest. He never gave up his early friend- 
ship for that which was noblest and best in 
literature. Fortunate in his early studies of the 
classics, he could always retire from the strife 
of the bar and the political arena to communion 
with his favorite authors; a communion which he 
loved to share with his friends. Although, as 
has been said, he never relinquished the active 
duties of his profession, with the later years of 
a more than usually successful life came leisure 
and opportunities for travel and purely literary 
enjoyment, which were more infrequent in the 
earlier portions of a long and strenuous career. 
As a friend and counsellor of the younger 
members ci his profession, and indeed of other 
professions, Mr. Van Voorhis will be long and 
gratefully remembered. When sought, his ad- 
vice and assistance were always lavishly be- 
stowed, and many men largely owe their success 
in life to his wise and timely advice. 

It was vouchsafed to John Van Voorhis to 
come down to the close of a long and well 



spent life in the full possession of all his mental 
faculties. With him there was no fireside period, 
in the common acceptation of the term. His 
sun set suddenly. To him came not the partial 
mental eclipse which sometimes clouds the clos- 
ing days of men who were physical and mental 
giants among their fellows. The end found him 
in the buckler and armor which his friends and 
his antagonists knew so well. 

The "Rochester Evening Times" said 
editorially: 

At the ripe age of seventy-nine, in full pos- 
session of his remarkable mental faculties, Hon. 
John Van Voorhis, one of Rochester's foremost 
lawyers, characterized by his virility of thought 
his forcefulness and his sturdy independence, 
passed suddenly away yesterday, leaving a 
vacancy in the city's public life that cannot be 
easily repaired. 

Mr. Van Voorhis was a giant mentally and 
physically. When he was once convinced, the 
cause which attracted his support was fought 
for earnestly but fairly until the conclusion of 
the issue was reached. His wonderful mental 
courage, his disregard of influence, his unwaver- 
ing devotion to the interests of the people 
rather than special interests or classes were 
logical products of his Dutch ancestry. 

In public life Mr. Van Voorhis was the stal- 
wart champion of his adopted city. He left his 
imprint in the halls of congress, where he is 
remembered as the best legislator Monroe ever 
sent to the national capital. In the practice of 
his profession he achieved a country-wide dis- 
tinction. As a scholar and student, in his own 
library, he showed a side of his character that 
was particularly attractive to his intimates. As 
an advisor of young men, and as their steadfast 
friend, if they deserved his friendship, Mr, Van 
Voorhis will be sincerely mourned and his loss 
as a counsellor will be keenly felt. 

Strong in his loves, undying in his hatreds, 
but fair in both, Mr. Van Voorhis made count- 
less friends and some enemies. All, at his 
death, will pay the tribute that all truly great 
citizens strive for— HE WAS SINCERE. 

The "Post Express," of Rochester, said 
editorially : 

Mr. Van Voorhis was a man of great intensity 
and made both friends and enemies with remark- 



able ease. He was bold and vigorous in speech, 



260 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



defied parliamentary usages and restraints, drove 
straight at his mark, affected to care nothing for 
the feelings of antagonists, made no objections 
whatever to savage thrusts in return, and de- 
lighted in intellectual conflict. It was inevitable 
that he should fall into difficulties occasionally 
in the heat of public debate, and that enemies 
should rise up against him, in congress and out 
of it. It is very doubtful, however, if these 
enemies long cherished their resentment, and 
probably all enmities created amid political strife 
were forgotten long ago. It is certain that Mr. 
Van Voorhis was always ready to forget and 
forgive, and his last years were those of peace 
and content. While he was active in public 
affairs he made many friends, and these he 
clung to with hooks of steel, was fond of their 
companionship, and loved to serve them. 

He was a successful lawyer, who permitted 
nothing to sway him from the interests of his 
clients. He believed in knock-down blows and 
delighted to give and take. If he lacked diplo- 
macy and suavity, he excelled in directness and 
loyalty. During the later years of his life he 
participated but rarely in legal battles, being con- 
tent to watch them from afar; but to his last days 
he was conspicuous as a friend of the Indians of 
Western New York, appeared frequently in court 
in their defense, joined heartily in the efforts to 
protect them from the avaricious whites, visited 
Washington in their interest, made arguments be- 
fore the senate and house committees, kept his 
old friends informed as to what was going on — 
men like Allison, Teller, Hale, Hoar and Piatt of 
Connecticut in the senate — and strove earnestly, 
without thought of compensation or reward, to 
protect the innocent from outrage and wrong. 
His ceaseless effort in their behalf was character- 
istic, for he loved justice, hated wrong, and 
never dodged a fight. One of the fine features 
of his character was that he never dealt a blow 
in malice or harbored the slightest animosity 
toward his opponents, either at the bar or in 
politics. He was rugged and leonine in appear- 
ance, but within beat a warm and loving heart. 

Of him Charles E. Fitch, State Regent, 
and for a long time editor of the "Demo- 
crat and Chronicle," of Rochester, wrote 
as follows : 

A stalwart form is smitten. A strong heart 
has ceased to beat. For fifty years he was a 
leader at the bar; from the birth of the Repub- 
lican party he was prominent in its councils, 



honored by and honoring it; throughout he was 
associated with the activities of this community. 
If he may not be called great, he had the quali- 
ties that inhere in greatness; he was direct in 
purpose, candid in speech, resourceful and reso- 
lute in act, unflinching in courage and generous 
in success. If, in the heat of conflict in his 
profession or in politics, he, who hated mean- 
ness and abhorred hypocrisy was severe in ad- 
dress, there lurked no malice in his thought, and 
he cherished few resentments. He caused no 
wound that he would not gladly heal. If he 
made foes, he would resolve them into friends, 
where no issue of principle was involved; and 
he attached friends to him as by hooks of steel. 
As he was self-reliant, he was also helpful. He 
was one upon whom others leaned. Many are 
they who will to-day note the kindly offices he 
rendered them. 

As a lawyer he was learned, skillful, assidu- 
ous and absolutely devoted to the interest of 
his clients. Confident in his case and assured 
of its justice, apt in the trial and specially gifted 
in the cross-examination of perverse or reluct- 
ant witnesses, he gained many triumphs at nisi 
prius. but it was in the appellate courts that 
he chiefly excelled, for he knew the law and its 
application, and seldom failed to turn victory 
into defeat in the last review. 

As a politician he believed in his party, be- 
cause he believed in its principles. From devo- 
tion to its creed he never swerved, as loyal to 
it in its reverses as in its prosperities. For 
years he labored for it zealously and indefatiga- 
bly and without reward. In the maturity of his 
years and the fullness of his power, he was 
commissioned to represent his district in the 
national congress, and no man ever represented 
it more ably or faithfully than did he. In 
speech never elaborate, in debate he was potent 
and often crushing to his adversary. He exalted 
his political faith and knew no compromise with 
wrong. He made a national reputation for terse- 
ness and vigor of utterance, and for integrity 
in civil administration in accordance with the 
leading of the party which redeemed the repub- 
lic and accomplished its weal. And not less did 
he serve his immediate constituency than the 
country. Pensions for the veterans of the war, 
needed appropriations for public improvements, 
and the varied interests of his district testify to 
his diligence. 

In his retirement from public life, and in a 
measure from the arduous duties of his profes- 
sion, as the advancing years admonished him to 
rest, he ripened into charming companionship 



261 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



with all who came within the circle of his 
acquaintance. In conversation he was fascinat- 
ing, drawing not only upon reminiscence, but 
upon stores of literature with a knowledge of 
which he was not generally credited. All asperi- 
ties had ceased and all contests had ended. His 
closing years were serene. He dies full of years 
and of honors and it will be long before he will 
be forgotten by the profession he adorned, the 
country he served and the city in which he lived 
so long. 

Rev. S. Banks Nelson, D. D., paid a 
beautiful tribute at the funeral exercises. 
It was in part reported by the press as 
follows : 

John Van Voorhis is dead, but we need not 
place a broken column on his grave. He was a 
man who put the cap on his own column, and 
then stepped of? the superstructure into the 
glorious hereafter. His life is some senses was 
not even a broken arc. To him we may not 
apply that old simile of a ship wrecked on the 
shoals of time, a decrepit body and a mind ap- 
proaching senility. For he raised anchor, hoist- 
ed his pennant, and waving us adieu, sailed away 
with his hand in that of his pilot. 

Speaking of Mr. Van Voorhis's men- 
tality, Mr. Nelson said : 

He was keen and he was witty, but his wit 
was so keen and polished that his blade never 
bore away a heart sting and his bonmots sent 
a ripple over the faces of his hearers. His very 
dumbness as he lies here is eloquent and be- 
speaks strength. No one ever thought of John 
Van Voorhis without associating him with 
strength. 

When Mahomet died one of his followers 
rushed out of the tent and drawing his sword 
threatened to run it through any one who should 
declare that Mahomet was dead. The Jews 
could not believe that Elijah was dead; they 
thought it impossible that any one so brave and 
great could die. When Moses died they re- 
fused to believe that he had passed away, not 
deeming it possible that he could be dead for 
more than a day. This is a thought that runs 
throughout sacred history and a thought that 
runs through profane history from the begin- 
ning to the present day, and it is natural thought 
that it is impossible for the great and good to 



die. This universal instinct itself declares man's 
immortality. 

Leave John Van Voorhis out of the affairs of 
the city of Rochester and what a dififerent com- 
ple.\ion they would have. We are thankful 
that he was sent as a representative of this dis- 
trict to the federal government at Washington, 
for we know that our afTairs were looked after 
by a man of character and principle. In the 
church, too, his influence was felt. He believed 
in the necessity of the Christian pulpit and was 
an ardent friend of every faithful preacher of the 
Gospel. 

Dr. David J. Hill, United States Min- 
ister to the Netherlands, on learning of 
his death, paid a beautiful tribute to his 
memory which reads in part as follows: 

Once a friend always a friend, was his motto 
so long as a man deserved his friendship. No 
lawyer ever more unreservedly committed his 
whole soul to the cause of his client, and it was 
one of the secrets of his success. In the unre- 
munerated good oiifices of private friendship it 
was the same way. He believed in his cause, 
he believed in his friends, he believed in the 
triumph of right, and did all in his power to 
promote it. In return, his friends believed in 
him, and they never misplaced their faith. Sin- 
cerity, loyalty, straightforwardness, unselfish- 
ness, — these are the qualities that shone in the 
character of John Van Voorhis and made him 
seem noble as well as true to those who really 
knew him. This is the tribute I would lay upon 
his grave, — Here sleeps the soul of loyalty. 



SHAW, James Boylan, 

Clergyman of Commanding Influence. 

James Boylan Shaw was born August 
25, 1808, in New York City. The Gaelic 
significance of the name Shaw is sprightly, 
proud or spirited. His father, James Scott 
Shaw, was of Scotch-Irish birth, and was 
a merchant in New York City, and for 
some time high sheriff. The mother, 
Margaret (Boylan) Shaw, was a woman 
of great intelligence and deep piety, and 
under her teachings the son was reared 
to noble aspirations. He was of very 
lively nature, the life of the circles of 



262 




S^ea,. 9y. fumei 3S. ^/i 



nm 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



young people with whom he moved in 
the city of his time, which then embraced 
less than one hundred thousand popula- 
iton. Through his father's position in the 
community he enjoyed great social ad- 
vantages, and his education was well 
grounded. He was fitted for the sopho- 
more class at Yale, but instead of enter- 
ing college he began the study of medi- 
cine, in which he spent one and one-half 
years. This became distasteful to him, 
and he took up the study of law, which 
he pursued for more than two years, in 
the office of the distinguished Irish pa- 
triot, Thomas Addis Emmet, a brother of 
the eloquent martyr to Irish liberty, 
Robert Emmet. With brilliant prospects 
as a lawyer, he abandoned all this when 
he felt called to the Christian ministry. 
At this time he was twenty years of age, 
and at once began study to fit himself, 
and was graduated from Auburn Theo- 
logical Seminary in 1832. In February of 
that year he was licensed to preach, and 
for some time supplied the church at 
Pompey Hill, Onondaga county. New 
York. He was ordained by the Presby- 
tery of Genesee in 1834, and for the suc- 
ceeding five years was pastor of the Pres- 
byterian church in Attica, New York. 
For a short time he preached at Dunkirk, 
and while attending a religious conven- 
tion in Rochester, gave a sermon in the 
Second Presbyterian Church of that city, 
which afterwards came to be known as 
the Brick Church. Within a few days he 
received a call to be pastor of this church, 
and began his work there December i, 
1840. On the i6th of February following, 
he was formally installed as pastor, and 
thus continued for nearly fifty years. In 
early life he was not strong, and was 
twice compelled to abandon his labors by 
physical weakness. On the second of 
these occasions he spent two years on the 
shore of Lake Erie in recruiting. When 



he went to Rochester the city had some 
twenty thousand inhabitiants, and the 
Second Church four hundred and forty- 
five members. After an active pastorate 
of forty-eight years he resigned his 
charge, during which period the church 
had grown to a membership of 1,510, and 
the city attained a population of 135,000 
people. During his pastorate the church 
received 1,320 members on certificate, and 
more than two thousand on confession. 
On two or three occasions he was assisted 
by noted revival preachers, and it was 
remarkable that he was able to hold so 
many of those who united with the 
church under this influence. The con- 
gregation soon became so large that it 
was necessary to built a new home for it, 
and the cornerstone of the new church 
was laid July 3, i860. This was com- 
pleted in June of the following year, at a 
cost of $61,881.73. Of this sum, owing to 
the financial conditions caused by the 
Civil War, twenty-four thousand were 
secured by loan. Through the efTorts of 
Dr. Shaw but little more than three years 
were required to pay oflf this debt, and in 
1887, through his personal efforts, $10,000 
were collected to pay for an organ. Dur- 
ing his pastorate the church contributed 
for benevolent and charitable purposes 
nearly $300,000. His influence and power 
over not only his congregation, but the 
people of the community, were of steady 
growth. His kindly nature seemed to 
draw all to him. and one biographer said 
of him: "The 'sermon that he was' had 
such a Gospel sweetness and inspiration 
in it, that it drew out from those whom 
he met, however rough and worldly, some 
response of goodness. His heart was 
stored, like a bee-hive, with this sweet- 
ness of the good and kind deeds, which 
had disclosed themselves to his eyes in 
men accounted hardened and irreligious." 
Early in life he received from the col- 



263 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



lege of the Western Reserve the honorary 
degree of A. M., and in 1852 the Univer- 
sity of Rochester gave him the degree of 
D. D. He became a great influence in the 
councils of the Presbyterian church, both 
at home and abroad, and in 1873 ^^^'^ ^ 
delegate to the General Assembly of the 
Established Church of Scotland, where he 
made an address, which was published in 
Europe and America. This drew from 
an Episcopalian clergyman of the same 
name in Scotland, the following note : "I 
liked your speech not only as the utterance 
of a Presbyterian Doctor of Divinity, but 
as that of a true man, and, if I mistake 
not, a thorough Celt. The ring of the 
sentences is much more Celtic than 
Saxon. After this preface, may I beg 
your acceptance of the accompanying 
Memorials of the Clan to which I have 
every reason to believe you belong." Dr. 
Shaw was a member of the General As- 
sembly which met in Philadelphia in 1837, 
and which resulted in a division of the 
Presbyterian church. This caused him 
great sorrow, and he was indefatigable in 
his labors to bring about a reunion of the 
two factions. He was a member of the 
joint committee of fifteen on reunion, 
which, in 1869, after thirty years of sepa- 
ration, brought the two assemblies to- 
gether again. Before the reunion Dr. 
Shaw had been elected by acclamation 
moderator of the New-School Assembly 
which met in Brooklyn in 1865. In 1880 
he was made a representative of the 
Presbyterian church in Pan-Presbyterian 
Council held in Philadelphia, and was 
elected a commissioner to the centennial 
session of the General Assembly at Phila- 
delphia in 1888, but was obliged to decline 
on account of ill health. By advice of his 
physician. Dr. Shaw resigned his pastor- 
ate, April 17, 1887, and preached his clos- 
ing sermon as active pastor December 4th 
of that year. He was elected pastor emeri- 



tus, and delivered the charge to the 
people on the installation of his successor. 
Rev. William R. Taylor, April 10, 1888. 
He passed away at his home in Rochester, 
May 8, 1890. 

During the years between his resigna- 
tion and his death, he continued, insofar 
as his strength would permit, his works 
of visitation among the sick and sorrow- 
ing, took part in the services of his own 
church, and was often called upon for 
service in other churches of the city. To 
the last he kept up his habit of early 
rising, and when he was over eighty years 
old he was still found at his study, nearly 
a mile from his house, before eight o'clock 
in the morning. At the close of the last 
week when he was able to be out, nearly 
two months preceding his death, he said 
to his family, "Well, if I am sick, I have 
just finished a new sermon, but it is the 
last sermon I shall ever write." In his 
"Reminiscences" before the Presbytery, 
at St. Peter's Church, he said, in answer 
to questions about his sermonizing habits, 
"My family tell me that I am a 'regular 
Irish stew.' As soon as I finish preach- 
ing Sunday I commence casting about for 
a subject for the next week, and I keep 
on till I get hold of a subject or a subject 
gets hold of me. By Tuesday or Wed- 
nesday I generally get to writing, and I 
generally work with the impression that 
somebody or something is likely to inter- 
rupt me at any moment. I feel like a 
man trying to do something with the 
sheriff looking over his shoulder. Still, 
during all these years, I have never al- 
lowed anything to interfere with my 
preparation for the pulpit. I would not 
neglect this if it became necessary to lock 
myself in my room. I have expended 
more labour on my sermons than on any- 
things else, writing them all twice, first 
with a pencil. An old sermon I have very 
little use for. Men who preach old ser- 



264 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



mons are generally shelved. I never took 
as much pains with my sermons as now. 
If the dictionary contains a shorter word 
than the one I have written I want to 
substitute it. My aim is to make the ser- 
mons idiomatic. This is the reason the 
children are able to go away and say, 
'Why, I can understand Dr. Shaw's ser- 
mons.' This I regard as the greatest com- 
pliment a minister can receive." He said 
once on coming home from his summer 
vacation, that his two warmest welcomes 
had been from the Jewish Rabbi and from 
the Roman Catholic Bishop. 

At the reception which was given him, 
after his resignation, in Powers Hall, and 
which was attended by representatives of 
nearly every religious denomination in 
the city, Bishop McQuaid said: "I think 
of no other city in the United States 
where we Catholics are so well treated 
by the pulpit and the press. The fair 
treatment which we have received in the 
pulpits of the city is due largely to the 
counsel and the word of Dr. Shaw. He 
never felt that in proclaiming his own 
views and religious doctrines, he was 
obliged to send out bitter words against 
any class in the community. He never 
felt that he must use contemptuous epi- 
thets in speaking of anyone. He always 
felt that any man working for God and 
Christ was a blessing to the community. 
Sometimes the Celtic blood has stirred 
within him, for like myself, the doctor is 
an Irishman, but he has held these pas- 
sions down and restrained himself from 
flinging out harsh words at anyone." Dr. 
Landsberg, too, of the St. Paul Street 
Synagogue, said : "One of the first men 
to welcome me in this city was the Rev. 
Dr. Shaw. He has gained the admiration 
and esteem of all with whom I am con- 
nected. He has exercised a beautiful 
liberalizing influence. It makes us all 
happy when we meet him on the street." 



On another occasion the Rev. Dr. Saxe, 
the Universalist minister, himself one of 
the oldest pastors in the city, spoke of 
Dr. Shaw as "a man who mellows with 
age and who is as preeminent for a sweet 
and Christian-like spirit, as for the ex- 
ceptional length and success of his pas- 
torate, and whose sunset promises to be 
more resplendent than his noon, truly 
'the old man eloquent'." In his fortieth 
anniversary sermon, preached in 1880 Dr. 
Shaw said : "I am a younger man to-day 
than I was forty years ago. True, I may 
not be able to walk as far, or lift as much 
as I once could, but if I can not walk as 
far, with the wing which faith has lent 
me I can soar higher ; and if I cannot lift 
as much, I can trust more and my heart 
can hold out longer. My heart does not 
tire half as easily as it did forty years 
ago." In his forty-sixth anniversary ser- 
mon, he said, "I live in a wider world than 
I did. I belong to a broader church than 
I did. Now I can fellowship those who, 
in my darker days, I wanted to keep on 
their own side of the wall. I have the 
free use of all the powers of my soul, and, 
instead of living inside of a shell, the 
Lord hath brought me into a 'large and 
wealthy place'." 

Dr. Shaw married (first) Miss Emily 
Chase, of Auburn, and five of their chil- 
dren survived him at his death, namely : 
James Shaw, of Rochester ; William G. 
Shaw, of New York ; Augustus C. Shaw, 
pastor of the Presbyterian church of 
Wellsboro, Pennsylvania ; Mrs. Orlando 
Merrill, of Louisiana ; and Caroline, 
widow of John West. He married 
(second) Laura Rumsey, of Silver Creek, 
New York, who preceded him in death, in 
1885, leaving a daughter, Mary R. 

A few of Dr. Shaw's expressions, found 
in sermons, or remembered from associa- 
ation with him, may be repeated here : 



265 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



There is no dog so surly as a church dog. 
The crookedness of the crooked stick is what 
commends it to me. It is so crooked that it 
cannot He still. So after a while it takes itself 
up and goes to some other place. We Presby- 
terians have made ourselves think that the 
Christian world, by and by, will open its mouth 
wide and swallow the shorter and longer cate- 
chisms and the confession of faith, swallow them 
and keep them down. 

The following' is extracted from the 
sermon delivered at Dr. Shaw's funeral 
by the Rev. Herman C. Riggs, D. D. 

The white-haired noble figure in which dwelt 
the stately soul of this man of God has been 
familiar in this church, and upon the streets and 
in the homes of this city, for many years. Even 
outwardly he was a marked man, to look into 
whose face was a benediction, to feel the grasp 
of whose hand was an inspiration. All his phy- 
sical form and fashion bespoke the man of clean 
and dignified thought, in whose character manly 
beauty and strength had sweetest combination. 

He was so human; whether strong or weak. 
Far from his kind he neither sank nor soared. 
But sate an equal guest at every board. 
No beggar ever felt him condescend, 
No prince presume; for still himself he bare 
At manhood's simple level, and where'er 
He met a stranger there he left a friend. 

His mental qualities and gifts, too, were of 
rare excellence. His intellectual power was not 
of that brilliant sort which is so likely also to 
be fictitious, but of that quiet and genuine sort 
which most safely impresses men. He was char- 
acterized by great variety and range of abilities, 
reinforced by wide reading and careful cultiva- 
tion. A lively imagination, a fine poetic sense, 
a bubbling humour, a gentle good will, held 
continual interplay with his logic in all the fer- 
tile speech of his conversation and his preach- 
ing. He was a writer of simple, vigorous, lumin- 
ous English, with enough of the power of 
thought in it to stimulate and feed the most 
active mind, with so much of the power of sym- 
pathy and truth in it that the dullest heart could 
not but feel. He was a preacher, earnest, im- 
pressive, eloquent; a safe teacher and guide of 
men; an ardent lover of truth, and as ardent a 
despiser of sham; many sided, quick of thought, 
ready in resources, alive to all the interests and 



questions of the day, broad and liberal, while 
staunchly loyal to the true and the right, one 
who both hated all sin and loved every sinner 
with all the power of his great nature. 

And the underlying secret of this power in 
preaching and in prayer, so permanently char- 
acteristic of his ministry, was his own rich faith 
as a Christian. He was the man of sincere piety 
in all that this word can be made to mean. No 
member of this congregation ever doubted this. 
The most cynical critic in this community has 
never been ably to doubt it. He who was most 
ready to doubt others has been compelled to 
confess that here, at least, was a genuine Chris- 
tian man. Religion was the one great concern 
with him. Heart and lips and life were full of it. 
As perfectly as any man I ever knew he entered 
into sympathy with Paul in his wonderful words, 
"For me to live is Christ." It was thoroughly 
and consciously a truth in his experience that 
Christ was living in him, the animating prin- 
ciple of a hidden, spiritual life made possible 
and real to him through his own close personal 
union with Christ. Of necessity, therefore, by 
the constraints of the sweetest compulsion, he 
was an active Christian. He loved to serve his 
Master, and his fellow-men for the Master's 
sake. 

The esteem in which Dr. Shaw was 
held by his contemporaries is shown by 
the following extracts : 

"Dr. Shaw belonged to all of us," said a prom- 
inent Roman Catholic of the city. "God grant 
you health and strength," said a priest who 
wrote to him not long before his death, "to be 
in the future as in the past a ray of sunlight and 
happiness to us all." 

From the "Rochester Union and Advertiser;" 
For nearly half a century he was pastor of the 
Brick Church in Rochester, and during that 
long period he so bore himself within his own 
communion, and toward those of whom he was 
not, as to command the universal and most pro- 
found respect and veneration of all. Entirely 
free from guile, child-like in his simplicity, 
charitable in the broadest sense of the term, 
profound in thought, forcible though mild in 
expression, always preaching and doing well — 
Rev. Dr. Shaw was a lovable character who 
challenged the admiration of every creed and 
class, and whose departure from life is a loss not 
merely to his own church, but to every other 



266 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



church, and to the community without any refer- 
ence to any church. With sincere sorrow the 
"Union" mourns his death and marks it as an 
event in the history of Rochester worthy of 
commemoration. 

From the "Rochester Democrat and Chron- 
icle:" Full of years and crowned with the 
honors that are accorded to deeds of beneficence, 
the good pastor has gone to his reward. For 
nearly fifty years he has been a part of the life 
of this city, intimately associated with its ma- 
terial progress, as well as its spiritual vitality. 
His voice has been heard in favor of all goodly 
enterprises. To one religious communion he has 
been guide, friend and father. To its membership 
he has broken the bread of life. He has baptized 
their children, he has married their young men 
and maidens, he has buried their dead. By them 
he was loved, as it has been the privilege of few 
men to be loved. Coming to them, in the flower 
of his youth, they have seen his form begni to 
totter and his locks to whiten, but each added 
year increased the reverence with which he was 
regarded and the sanctity in which he was held. 
No closer earthly tie can be established than 
those which unite a pastor to the people with 
whom he has long been associated. Advancing 
times does not corrode the links of such intimate 
communion. It but brightens and strengthens 
them. Under his leadership the Brick Presby- 
terian Church became one of the largest and best 
known of the churches in the denomination, dis- 
tinguished for its harmony, the beauty and the 
vigor of its life, and its constant and generous 
charities. When, some two years ago, he resigned 
his pastorate, one universal expression of regret 
and sympathy accompanied him to his retirement, 
and the prayer was most earnestly uttered that he 
might be spared yet many years to commune with 
his people if he could no longer serve as their 
pastor. 

But not alone was he cherished by those whom 
he especially served. He was known and honored 
and loved by this entire community. He was a 
good citizen and an earnest patriot. Naturally 
conservative, his mind still yielded to the persua- 
sion of new truth, in the realms of philosophy, of 
science and of theology. A firm champion of his 
own faith, he could see the truth that was in 
other creeds, and, above all divisions of sects, he 
trusted in the wisdom and mercy of the AH 
Father. In our streets and in our houses his 
presence was as sunshine, and his greeting was 
benediction. He identified himself with our in- 
terests, and no good cause suffered from his 



apostasy. He believed that religion was made for 
everyday use, and not for conventional occasions 
— that it was serviceable for time, as well as for 
eternity. He labored for his country and for his 
God. There have been greater men than he — 
and, in his modesty, he never assumed superiority 
—but there have been few purer, or better, or 
nobler men. His memory will long abide here, 
as that of one who, through goodness, became 
great, and left behind him an abiding influence. 
Rochester will long mourn as she has long es- 
teemed, James Boylan Shaw. 

From the "Rochester Post-Express" : There 
was no man in this community more loved, and 
the grief will be general; but it will be tempered 
by the thought that he who has gone wrought 
faithfully and fruitfully during the span of his 
lengthened years and left behind him not only the 
far-reaching results of his labors as a clergyman, 
but the example of a noble life and the memory 
of a beautiful character. Dr. Shaw was success- 
ful as a pastor in a material way. He so com- 
manded the love and confidence of his people as 
to build up one of the strongest churches in his 
denomination. It was under his guidance ever 
active, liberal, and harmonious. He had the tact 
requisite for the control of so great a congrega- 
tion ; but he never had to compromise his dignity, 
his purity, or his integrity to preserve his popu- 
larity. He was clearly a strong, determined man, 
as nature made him; but either a softer touch of 
nature or a Divine grace put into him a strange 
power of love and sympathy ; and it was probably 
that that gave him his wonderful influence. He 
was a man loyal to his own creed, but tolerant of 
the creeds of others ; and his weight was cast for 
cooperation in Christian endeavor, not for con- 
troversy. He was not perhaps a great preacher, 
but he was a sincere and interesting one, with a 
fine manner, a winning voice, and a quaint tone. 
He seldom missed making a point with an audi- 
ence and making it simply and easily. Above all 
he was one of that small class of speakers — the 
men who know when to stop. He had the dis- 
cretion not to spoil an effect when he had attained 
it, and surprised his hearers by ceasing, not by 
proceeding with a discourse. The power to make 
himself regretted in this way is the last given to 
an orator ; and many even among great orators 
never receive it 

The Methodist Ministers of the Rochester Dis- 
trict: Whereas, the Rev. James B. Shaw, D. D., 
for forty-seven years active pastor and for the 
last two years emeritus pastor of the Brick Pres- 
byterian Church of this city, has been removed 



267 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



from our midst by death, we deem it our duty 
and privilege to give formal expression to our 
sentiments and feelings on the occasion ; there- 
fore, 

Resolved, That in the decease of Dr. Shaw we 
realize that a prince and a great man has fallen 
in Israel. We submit to the inevitable, and offer 
sincere thanks to God for the gift of such a man 
and Christian minister to our city and to the 
Christian world — a man so distinguished for 
board catholicity of spirit, for sweet gentleness 
and beneficence of temper, for genial social ameni- 
ties, for wonderful genius and success as a pas- 
tor, for distinguished talents as a preacher of 
the gospel, for lofty patriotism as an American 
citizen; and we are thankful that he was spared 
to fill to completeness the orb of a life so perfect 
as an e.xample to others, so replete with devoted 
Christian service to the world. 

Resolved, That while we approvingly and ad- 
miringly have found in Dr. Shaw a loyal son of 
the Presbyterian church, heartily and zealously 
devoted to the building up of his own denomina- 
tion as the most effective means of advancing the 
kingdom of Christ amongst man, yet we claim 
him as a brother beloved, whose generous catho- 
licity of faith transcended all denominational 
boundaries and distinctions, and made him a 
glorious witness for the Christ "who is head over 
all things to the church, which is his body, the 
fulness of him that filleth all things." 

The Genesee Baptist Ministerial Association : 
Resolved, That we express our deep appreciation 
of his long and loving labors in the church of his 
faith and fathers, that we testify to his Christ- 
like life, that we acknowledge his personal worth 
and work and that we extend to his church and 
family our sincere sympathy in this hour of their 
sorrow. 



MILES, William Emmert, 
Leading Contractor and Mannfactnrer. 

Everywhere in our land men have been 
found who have worked their way from 
humble beginnings to places of high 
esteem in the material, civic and social 
world, and it has ever been one of the 
proudest boasts of our fair country that 
such men are accounted of thousandfold 
more worth and value to the common- 
wealth than the aristocrat with his in- 



herited wealth, position and distinguished 
name. Thus it was with the late William 
Emmert Miles, of Rochester, New York, 
for years one of the best known and most 
progressive business men of Monroe 
county. New York. He is remembered as 
a man of great energy and rare judgment, 
qualities he carried into all affairs in 
which he was interested. He possessed 
a high degree of intelligence, few of his 
compeers excelling him in the possession 
of a fund of general information, which, 
coupled with his amiable disposition and 
companionable manner, made him one of 
the most successful and popular men in 
the city. He was indeed a manly man, 
and the honor and esteem in which he was 
held by all who came in contact with him, 
whether in a business, public or social 
way, was but the just tribute to his worth. 
His parents were William and Catherine 
(Emmert) Miles, who settled at Victor, 
Ontario county. New York, being among 
the pioneer settlers in that region. Sub- 
sequently they removed to Maryland, 
making that their home. 

William Emmert Miles was born in 
Rochester, Monroe county, New York, 
April 6, 1830, and died at his home in 
Rochester, New York, August 2, 1899. 
Until the age of sixteen years he attended 
schools in the vicinity of his home, then, 
feeling himself well equipped for the 
battle of life, entered upon his business 
career in the employ of his brother, who 
was a contractor. He continued with him 
for some time but, while he was still a 
minor, the "gold fever" of 1849 broke out, 
and young Miles, who was ambitious and 
energetic far beyond his years, embraced 
this opportunity of seeing something of 
the world, and sailing around Cape Horn, 
made his way to California in that year. 
He lost no time in accepting various 
positions which gave the opportunity to 
work at the trade in which he was pro- 



268 




^2^ 




ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ficient, and after he had followed this for 
a short time, he established himself in 
business independently, and so successful 
were his methods, and so favorably was 
his reliable work commented upon, that 
he became one of the leading contractors 
in that section of the country, and ex- 
ecuted some of the most important con- 
tracts of the period, among them being 
the State House in Olympia, Washing- 
ton, which is still standing. Gold mining 
also occupied a considerable portion of 
his time, and between this and contract 
work, the sixteen years he passed in the 
Far West were not alone busy ones, but 
they were also attended by a marked de- 
gree of pecuniary success. 

At last a desire to return to the home 
of his earlier days seized Mr. Miles, and 
disposing of his business interests in the 
west, he set his face eastward and re- 
turned to Rochester, the scene of his for- 
mer activities. Naturally he found con- 
ditions had changed in the east as well as 
in the west, but it did not take him long 
to become accustomed to changed con- 
ditions, and he established a large factory 
for the manufacture of sash, doors and 
blinds, the capital he had accumulated in 
the west enabling him to carry on his 
operations in the east on an extensive 
scale. His plant was located on Aque- 
duct street for a number of years, and 
when it was destroyed by fire, Mr. Miles, 
in association with his brother, purchased 
land on Water street, and there built a 
large factory. This was equipped in the 
most modern manner for that period, and 
their output was of the highest standard 
of its class. In consequence, their busi- 
ness reached extensive proportions, and 
Mr. Miles was actively identified with it 
until a few months prior to his death in 
1899. Business advertising was an almost 
unknown factor in those days, but in any 
case it would have been unnecessary for 



these wares to be advertised, as their ex- 
cellent quality was their best and suffi- 
cient advertisement. In political matters 
Mr. Miles gave his ardent support to the 
Democratic party, but was never desirous 
of holding public office. 

Mr. Miles married, May 29, 1873, Cora 
Booth, born November 16, 1847, a daugh- 
ter of Ezra B. and Hannah L. (Alworth) 
Booth, the former born in Vermont, the 
latter's parents coming to Rochester at 
an early day from their home in Dutchess 
county. New York. Of the six children 
of Mr. and Mrs. Miles three died in in- 
fancy, the others being: Edward B., who 
was graduated from the Dental College in 
Baltimore, is now practicing his profes- 
sion in Rochester ; Catherine L., now Mrs. 
Chauncy C. Clark, of Rochester and Mrs. 
Ruth H. Witherspoon, also of Rochester. 
The life of Mr. Miles was filled with 
good deeds and kindly thoughts, and all 
who knew him entertained for him the 
highest regard by reason of his upright, 
honorable career. Those who were per- 
mitted to be closely associated with him 
felt it was a privilege, for they felt the 
power of his strong personality, the un- 
failing strength of his well balanced 
nature and the stimulus of his example in 
many ways. He was a great man in the 
well rounded and sterling qualities of 
his character, as well as in the more 
concrete sphere of business activities, and 
in his death the community suffered an 
irreparable loss. 



CRAIG. Oscar, 

Laxiryer, Public Official. 

Among the men who achieved promi- 
nence in the legal profession, residents of 
New York State, must be mentioned the 
late Oscar Craig, who was born in Me- 
dina, Orleans county. New York, Novem- 
ber 14, 1836, son of Joseph and Elizabeth 



269 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



(Herring) Craig, both deceased. Joseph 
Craig was one of the general merchants 
of Medina for a number of years, later 
removing to Monroe county, New York, 
settling on a farm in the vicinity of 
Brockport, which he cultivated and im- 
proved. His closing years were spent in 
Brockpoii, where he died, honored and 
respected by all with whom he was 
brought in contact. 

Oscar Craig attended the public schools 
of his native town, completing his studies 
at the age of seventeen years, and then, 
having decided upon the profession of 
law for his lifework, went to Schenectady, 
New York, and matriculated in Union 
College, graduating therefrom in 1856, 
after two years of study, whereupon he 
returned to Medina and placed himself 
under the preceptorship of a Mr. Ser- 
vous, of Medina, with whom he remained 
for a short time, and then entered the 
office of a Mr. Parker in Buffalo as a law 
student, remaining there for three years, 
and in 1859 changed his place of resi- 
dence to Rochester, and there concluded 
his course with Judge Strong. For a 
short period of time he practiced -with 
Judge Strong, and later opened an office 
in the Powers Building, where he was 
engaged in a general practice for several 
years. Accepting the position of attorney 
for the Monroe County Savings Bank, he 
moved his office to that building and was 
the local representative of that institu- 
tion for several years. His private prac- 
tice steadily increased year by year, he 
being entrusted with cases of the great- 
est importance, which he handled in a 
masterly manner, thus displaying the 
thorough mastery he had of legal knowl- 
edge and his familiarity with the prin- 
ciples of jurisprudence in various depart- 
ments. He was ever the student, keeping 
abreast with the modern thought along 
the line of his work, and his client's in- 



terests were ever uppermost in his 
thoughts and actions, he never neglecting 
any duty in the preparation of a case or 
in its presentation in the court room. He 
was highly regarded by his professional 
brethren, and ranked as one of the lead- 
ing lawyers of Rochester. He was the 
attorney who drew up the bill for the 
transfer of the inmates of the Poor House 
to the State Hospital. 

Mr. Craig was a man of charitable and 
philanthropic ideas, always interested in 
every project that had for its object the 
betterment of mankind, and was actively 
connected with the State Board of Chari- 
ties, serving as president of the same for 
fourteen years, up to the time of his death, 
the appointment being made by Gov- 
ernor Cornell. In politics he acted inde- 
pendently, casting his ballot for the can- 
didate whom he considered best qualified 
for office, irrespective of party affiliation. 
He was an active and consistent member 
of the First Presbyterian Church, of 
Rochester, in which he served as elder, 
also assisting in the work of the various 
societies connected therewith, and of 
which his wife was also a faithful member. 

Mr. Craig married, in 1861, Helen M. 
Chatfield, of New York City, a daughter 
of Levi S. Chatfield, who was also a 
prominent attorney and resided for sev- 
eral years in Otsego county. New York, 
after which he removed to New York 
City. Prior to that time he was made 
Attorne)--General for the State and acted 
in that capacity for four years. He resided 
in New York City several years, after 
which he retired from active practice, 
making his home in Elizabeth, New Jer- 
sey, where his death occurred in 1884. 
Mr. and Mrs. Craig resided at No. 33 
South Washington street, Rochester, the 
house, erected in 1816, being one of the 
oldest residences of the city, a landmark 
which for almost a century has been a 



270 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



silent witness of the growth of Rochester 
and the changes which have brought 
about its present conditions. There Mr. 
Craig died, January 2, 1894, and there his 
widow still resides. This brief resume 
of Mr. Craig's career proves conclusively 
that his name is entitled to mention in 
the list of the prominent men, now de- 
ceased, of Rochester. 

Memorial adopted by the Rochester 
bar, Jam.iary 6, A. D. 1894: 

The members of the Rochester Bar who are 
now assembled, desire to make public expression 
of their common feeling of sorrow that the 
useful, stainless and honored life of Oscar Craig 
has been closed by a too early death. 

Absolutely without selfishness, he devoted the 
last and best years of that life to the painful and 
unrewarded service of the State and its unfortu- 
nate and degraded classes, and sacrificing it thus 
upon the altar of humanity he hastened by many 
years the event which now has removed from us 
the noble and gentle character that none could 
know without admiration and aflfection. 



WILDER, George, 

Financier, Ideal Citizen. 

Versatile in his talents, a man of cul- 
ture and refinement, strong business 
ability, and of sympathetic and chari- 
table nature, George Wilder lived a life 
that was a blessing to all with whom he 
came in contact and an honor to the city 
in which his entire life was spent. For 
twenty-three years he was connected 
with the banking interests of Rochester, 
twenty-one of these years being spent 
with the Central Bank as cashier and 
vice-president. He was a financier of rare 
ability and was recognized as one in 
whose integrity it was safe to confide, 
whose advice was grounded on knowl- 
edge and experience. It is unusual to 
find qualities that make the able financier 
combined with an artistic temperament, 
but Mr. Wilder was an enthusiastic 



patron of musical art and a cultured 
musician as well, freely joining with his 
dramatic ability in the presentation of 
light operas and musical entertainments 
given by the Festival Chorus. He was 
generous in his giving, no worthy cause 
failing to secure his support. He was 
identified closely with the church and 
socially was very popular. Few men 
whose tastes and activities were so diver- 
sified ever attained more favored stand- 
ing in their community, and none left a 
record of a more useful, successful life. 

George Wilder was born in Rochester, 
January 24, 1863, died at his home in 
Brighton, a suburb four miles distant, 
October 13, 1909, son of Samuel Wilder, 
a pioneer dry goods merchant of Roches- 
ter and owner of the Wilder Building. 
George Wilder after thorough courses 
in preparatory schools, entered the Uni- 
versity of Rochester, whence he was 
graduated A. B., class of 1885. 

In 1886 he entered the employ of 
the Traders' Bank and from that date 
until his death was identified with finan- 
cial institutions in Rochester. He spent 
two years as clerk in the Traders' Bank, 
leaving that institution to become 
cashier of the newly organized Central 
Bank. From 1888 until 1899 he continued 
as cashier, then was elected vice-presi- 
dent, remaining in that office until re- 
moved by death. He was also a director 
of the Rochester Trust & Safe Deposit 
Company, director of the Aristo Com- 
pany, of New York, and of the Pfaudler 
Company. Able and conservative, yet 
progressive in spirit, he was the ideal 
banker, avoiding all pitfalls that often 
entrap the unwary financier, yet strong 
and ready to lend his support to those 
legitimate enterprises that look to banks 
and bankers for financial aid. He was a 
recognized force in financial circles and 
was held in high esteem among the men 



271 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



who have made Rochester famous for its life, after securing a full technical educa- 



sound financial and manufacturing 
houses. 

Far removed from the world of finance 
is musical art, yet Mr. Wilder was closely 
connected with Rochester's musical life. 
He was generous in his contributions and 
with the best artists of the city took 
personal part in the programs rendered 
by the Festival Chorus and aided largely 
in the success of that organization. Him- 
self a vocal musician of ability, he sang 
with the chorus in a series of light operas 
given in aid of city charities. He was a 
lifelong member of Christ Protestant 
Episcopal Church and took a deep inter- 
est in the many activities sustained by 
that church. He was fond of open air 
recreation and was an active member of 
the Genesee Valley and Country clubs. 
He aided in the work performed by the 
Rochester Chamber of Commerce and in 
every way that seemed to him good 
worked for the upbuilding of the com- 
mercial interests of his native city. His 
generous nature responded to every call 
of charity and in a private way he aided 
many men to better things. Death came 
to him suddenly, and on October 15, 1909, 
he was laid at rest in Mount Hope 
Cemetery. 

Mr. Wilder married, February 14, 
1900, Lillian, daughter of Alexander 
Lafayette and Sarah Augusta (Prouty) 
Chew, the former named born in New 
Orleans, but an early resident of Geneva, 
New York. Their children are : George, 
Helen Beverly, and Alexander Lafayette 
Chew. 



BREWSTER, Harry Langdon, 

Enterprising Business Man. 

A descendant of "Elder" Brewster, the 
Puritan, of New England parentage, but 
born in New York, Mr. Brewster in early 



tion, located in the city of Rochester, 
there achieving remarkable success and 
contributing largely to the commercial 
importance of his adopted city. In this 
day of blazing thoroughfares and bril- 
liantly lighted buildings it is difficult to 
conceive that the tallow dip and kerosene 
burning lamp have only been displaced 
during the lifetime of even the present 
middle-aged, but such is the fact, and to 
Mr. Brewster Rochester owes the intro- 
duction of the first incandescent globes 
made by Thomas A. Edison for electric 
lighting purposes. Furthermore, he 
organized and successfully managed the 
first electric light company in the city. 
With the merging of the city's lighting 
interests he passed out of prominence in 
that department of the city's utilities, to 
achieve equal success in other fields of 
activity along electric lines. 

A man of remarkably excellent judg- 
ment in business matters his advice was 
sought and followed by his many friends. 
He was prompt and energetic in business 
and conscientiously performed not only 
the letter but the spirit of his obligations. 
Kindly and generous in nature he was the 
center of a very large circle of friends 
but it was in the family circle that he 
found his greatest pleasure. During his 
later years he traveled extensively in this 
country and abroad, accompanied by his 
wife and daughter. 

Harry Langdon Brewster was born in 
New York City and died at his home. No. 
408 East avenue, Rochester, New York, 
November i, 1910. He was the second 
son of William W. and Julia (Noyes) 
Brewster, and grandson of Elisha and 
Eunice (Hull) Brewster, a descendant in 
direct male line from Elder William 
Brewster, the Pilgrim and Puritan. He 
attended city schools, completing his 
studies at the Polytechnic School of New 



272 




^^t-rs A^f^^^ca^ ^M^ 






ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



York City, whence he was graduated at 
the age of twenty years. He at once 
located in Rochester and until his death 
was prominent in the business life of that 
city. Early in his business career he made 
the acquaintance of Thomas A. Edison 
and through him became interested in 
Mr. Edison's new discovery of incandes- 
cent globes for lighting by electricity. 
He became deeply interested and with 
clear foresight at once realized the vast 
field the invention opened to capital. He 
organized the Edison Electric Light 
Company, the first company of its kind 
in Rochester, secured franchises, and as 
director, secretary and manager success- 
fully controlled the company until its 
merger with the present lighting and 
railway interests. These incandescent 
globes introduced by Mr. Brewster were 
the first used in the city. He was active 
in the afifairs of the Niagara Gas & Elec- 
tric Company, and for eight years was 
the efficient president of the company, 
but in 1903 disposed of his interests. 
For several years he was director of the 
Federal Telegraph & Telephone Company 
of Buffalo, and was closely identified 
with other important Rochester enter- 
prises including the Vogt Manufactur- 
ing Company, the Judson Pin Company, 
and the Judson Power Company. In all 
these his strong administrative power and 
business strength were amply demon- 
strated and no enterprise with which he 
was connected but profited through his 
ability. 

He was a long time member of the 
First Baptist Church, and was a member 
of its board of trustees for many years. 
While in no sense a "club man" Mr. 
Brewster was a member of the Genesee 
Valley and Rochester Country clubs and 
of the Republican Club of New York 
City. Social and genial in nature he made 
many friends and thoroughly enjoyed 



the society of his fellow-men, but his 
country home in North Carolina and his 
city home in Rochester were chosen 
resorts in which he spent his hours "off 
duty." Death came to him after a brief 
illness and now after life's "fitful fever," 
he sleeps in Mount Hope Cemetery. 

Mr. Brewster married Harriet J., 
youngest daughter of Junius and Lavenda 
(Bushnell) Judson, whose splendid lives 
are recorded elsewhere in this work. 
Mrs. Brewster inherits the womanly 
charms and graces of her sainted mother, 
with the strong characteristics of her 
honored father. She is a social leader 
and in church and charity bears the part 
the Judsons have ever borne. At her 
beautiful home in Rochester with her 
only daughter, Gwendolen J. Brewster, 
she dispenses a charming hospitality. 
The culture that comes from education 
and travel in many lands is hers and in 
the daughter's personality the sterling 
Judson traits are perpetuated. 



HARRIS, Edward, 

Iia^ryer, Man of Affairs. 

The profession of the law, when clothed 
with its true dignity and purity and 
strength, must rank first among the call- 
ings of men, for law rules the universe. 
The work of the legal profession is to 
formulate, to harmonize, to regulate, to 
adjust, to administer those rules and prin- 
ciples that underlie and permeate all 
government and society and control the 
varied relations of men. As thus viewed 
there attaches to the legal profession a 
nobleness that cannot but be reflected in 
the life of the true lawyer who, conscious 
of the greatness of his profession and 
honest in the pursuit of his purpose, 
embraces the richness of learning, the 
profoundness of wisdom, the firmness of 
integrity and the purity of morals, to- 



N Y-Vol 11-18 



273 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



gether with the graces of modesty, cour- 
tesy and the general amenities of life. 
The late Edward Harris, a veteran lawyer 
of Rochester, New York, was certainly a 
type of this class of lawyers, and as such 
he stood among the most eminent mem- 
bers of the bar in the State. His was a 
noble character, one that subordinated 
personal ambition to public good, and 
sought rather the benefit of others than 
the aggrandizement of self. Endowed by 
nature with high intellectual qualities, his 
was a most attractive personality. With- 
out the advantages which arise from high 
educational training in early youth, and 
the still further benefits of a college 
course, Mr. Harris rose through his per- 
sonal ability which lifted him above all 
disadvantages. 

Edward Harris was born in Morton 
Corbit, Shawbury, Shropshire, England, 
March 24, 1835, and died after an illness 
of a few hours' duration at the home of 
his daughter, Mrs. William E. Sloan, No. 
125 East avenue, Rochester, New York, 
September 16, 191 1. His parents, Henry 
and Ann (Webb) Harris, were English 
tenant farmers, descended from that 
sturdy English yeomanry which has been 
noted in the history of that country. His 
early life did not differ from that of other 
boys in his class, but he early showed his 
determination to make his way in the 
world by his earnest desire to acquire an 
education, which he accomplished by 
walking each day to Grinshill, a small 
village three miles away from his home, 
and there attended the public school, a 
course he pursued diligently until he was 
fifteen years of age, when the oppressive 
Corn Laws of England, combined with 
other circumstances, made it necessary 
for the family to retrench in various ways. 
In family council it was decided that it 
would be worth while to investigate 
conditions in the New World, and accord- 



ingly, in 1849, Joseph Harris, an elder 
brother of Edward Harris, and James 
Harris, a cousin, were sent to America 
to make personal investigation. Upon 
their arrival in New York they heard 
much in favor of the agricultural advan- 
tages offered by the western section of 
the State, and at once took the packet up 
to Albany, and thence traveled by rail- 
road to Rochester, where they found 
conditions even better than had been 
represented to them. The eloquent 
reports they despatched to their home 
decided Henry Harris to come to America 
with his family, which he did in 1850, 
bringing eight of his ten children, his son 
Joseph having preceded him as above 
stated, and one son remaining in England. 
They sailed from Liverpool in the 
schooner "London," making the voyage 
to New York in exactly one month, which 
was an excellent record for that period. 
In a letter written by Edward Harris, 
and which is still one of the prized pos- 
sessions of the family, he recounts some 
of the incidents of this voyage, among 
these being the fact that they were 
obliged to act as their own commissary 
department, the ships of that day sup- 
plying bare transportation and nothing 
else. They spent no time in the city of 
New York, where they were landed at 
the old Castle Garden, later the scene 
of the triumphs of the celebrated Jenny 
Lind, and now converted into use as the 
New York Aquarium, but made the jour- 
ney to Rochester as quickly as the travel- 
ing facilities of those days would permit. 
Upon their arrival at Rochester they were 
met by the son and nephew, and they and 
their baggage were loaded on hay racks 
and driven to a point near the location of 
the present Snow estate, near G