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LIFE SKETCHES 
 
 STATE OFFICERS, SENATORS, 
 
 MEMBERS or THE ASSEMBLY, 
 
 STATE OF NEW YORK, 
 
 IN 1868. 
 
 By S. R. HARLOW and S. C. IIUTCHINS. 
 
 o ALB~^rNi: (^ 
 
 WEED, PAKSOJfS & COMPANY, PRIXTERS. 
 
 1868. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year eighteen hundred an( sixty- 
 seven, 
 
 Bt S. R. HAELOW and S. C, HUTCHINS, 
 
 in the Clerli's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Northern 
 
 District of New York. 
 
PEEFAOE. 
 
 Life Sketches originated in 18GG, and tlie first volume was 
 published in 18G7, containing concise records of the lives of the 
 State Officers and Members of the Legislature of that year. Its 
 success justified its continuation the present year. The aim of its 
 Editors has been to make it authentic in its facts and dates, and uo 
 pains have been spared to render it so, though occasional errors may 
 possibly be found. It has also been the desire of the Editors, to 
 indulge in no undeserved praise, or fulsome laudation, but to give 
 every man credit honestly for all he is in himself personally, and 
 all he has been able to accomplish, and thus bring out tlie distin- 
 guishing traits of each man. It is possible that some may have 
 been over-estimated, and others not sufficiently credited. But in 
 tlae main we believe it can be said tliat the work is reliable in its 
 estimates of character. 
 
 A change appears in the editorial management, Mr. Boone, Avhose 
 accomplishments contributed so largely to the value of the first 
 issue, being unable to continue particularly identified with it the 
 present season, owing to the nature of his business engagements. 
 
 The Editors renew their thanks to many gentlemen Avho have 
 rendered invaluable assistance in furnishing incidents and dates for 
 the compilation of these Sketches. 
 
 They would also acknowledge the kind favors of the Press in 
 18G7, all, without exception, having borne flattering testimonials to 
 the merits of the work. Their publication is unnecessary. 
 
 It will be seen that the Sketches of the Members of the Legisla- 
 ture are alphabetically arranged, thus removing the necessity for 
 an index. 
 
LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 REUBEN E. FENTON, 
 
 GOVERXOE. 
 
 Reuben E. Fenton, who was chosen Governor of New 
 York for a second term, in November, 1866, was born 
 in Carroll, Chautauqua county, on the 4th of July, 1819. 
 His father is a native of New Hampshire; but the Fenton 
 family is of Connecticut origin. His grandfather resided 
 there until about the year 1777. The Governor is a 
 descendant of Robert Fenton, wlio was a man of note 
 among the early settlers of that State, and one of the 
 patentees of Mansfield, when that town was set off from 
 Windham, in 1703. The flimily was a patriotic one during 
 the Revolutionarj- war, and furnished its share of soldiei'S 
 in " the times which tried men's souls," who did good 
 service in the struggle which resulted in the establishment 
 of our Republican government. 
 
 Governor Fenton is the son of a hard-working farmer, 
 and spent his early years on the old homestead. He was 
 an amiable, friendly boy, and a universal favorite among 
 his associates. Whatever was cjoinc: on in the neighbor- 
 hood where he lived, he was expected to participate in and 
 lead. When the boys organized for " a training," they 
 invariably placed young Fenton in command ; and it is 
 probably owing to this fact, and the military knowledge 
 
LIFE SKETCHES, 
 
 thus acquired, that before he was twenty-one years of age 
 he was elected to the Colonelcy of the 162d regiment, 
 New York State Militia. 
 
 His opportunities for acquiring au education Avere very 
 limited, but they were well improved. He was a good 
 scholar when he was in the common school, and when, 
 subsequently, he passed a few terms in difterent academies, 
 he made rapid progress as a student, and won the appro- 
 bation of his preceptors for his manly qualities and exem- 
 plary deportment. He read law one year, not with the 
 view of going into the profession, but to make himself 
 familiar with the principles and forms of that science, 
 under the impression that this knowledge would be useful 
 to him in whate^'er business he might engage. 
 
 At the age of twenty he commenced business, with very 
 limited means, and under adverse circumstances. But the 
 fact did not discourage him, nor turn liim from his pur- 
 poses. The world was before him, and what others had 
 accomplished, young Fkxton resolved should be done by 
 him. He went at his work Avith all the earnestness and 
 energy of his character, and a few years saw him a success- 
 ful and prosperous merchant. While in this pursuit, he 
 turned his attention to the lumber trade, as an auxiliary to 
 his mercantile business. He was still a young man when he 
 purchased his first " boards and shingles," and as he floated 
 off upon his fragile raft, valued at less than one thousand 
 dollars, there were not wanting those who wondered at 
 his temerity, and the failure of his enterprise was confi- 
 dently predicted. But nothing could dampen his ardor. 
 He tied his little raft safely on the shore of the Ohio, near 
 Cincinnati, went into the city, found a customer, sold his 
 lumber, and returned to his home with a pride and satis- 
 faction never excelled in after years, though he went the 
 round with profits ten-fold greater. Lumbering became 
 in a few years his principal business ; and to sucli a man, 
 
REUBEN E. FEXTON. 7 
 
 success and competence Avere but a matter of time. He 
 soon enjoyed the reputation of being the most suc- 
 cessful lumberman on the Alleghany and Ohio rivers; 
 but this came only because he wrought it by untiring 
 perseverance and indefatigable energy. 
 
 In the business capacity of Governor Fenton, will be 
 found the basis of his success in life ; and to the same fact 
 he is doubtless in a great measure, indebted for his politi- 
 cal advancement. Uniting superior business qualities with 
 an invincible determination to succeed in whatever he 
 undertakes, he has seldom failed to attain the object of 
 his ambition. He was successful as a merchant ; suc- 
 cessful as a lumberman ; and he has been successful as a 
 politician. His idea is that a man to succeed, should be 
 " always on hand." He was accustomed to fill liis store 
 with goods before his neighbors filled theirs ; and in the 
 early spring, before " the thaw " was expected, his lumber 
 was snugly rafted on the banks of creeks, ready to take 
 the current and be the first to reach Pittsburgh and Cin- 
 cinnati. It was not only a pride he felt in being at the 
 head of the river fleets, but exj^erience on different occa- 
 sions when his readiness and preparation found him the 
 only man in mai'ket, had taught him that it was equally 
 profitable. 
 
 In 1843, Mr. Fexton was chosen Supervisor of his native 
 town, and held the position for eight successive years. 
 Three of these eight he was Chairman of the Board, 
 though the Board was two to one Whig, while he was a 
 well-known Democrat. But he was courteous and affixble, 
 manly and upright, genial and sensible, and his opponents 
 by common consent selected him to preside over their 
 deliberations. "What higher compliment could be paid 
 him as a fair-minded and honorable man ! 
 
 In 1849, his friends tried him for the Assembly, and he 
 came within twenty-one votes of being elected, though 
 
8 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 tliG successful candidate was one of the oldest and most 
 popular men in the Assembly district, which was strongly 
 Whig. 
 
 In 1852, he was nominated by his Democratic friends 
 for Congress, and elected by fifty-two majority, though 
 the district, from the manner in which it was accustomed 
 to vote, should have given at least 3,000 majority against 
 him. He took his seat on the first Monday in Decembei", 
 1853, in a House Avhich was Democratic by about two to 
 one. Mr. Douglas, Chairman of the Senate Committee on 
 Territories, in the course of the session was beguiled into 
 embodying in a bill which provided for the organization 
 as territories of Kansas and Nebraska, a repeal of that 
 portion of the Missouri compromise of 1820, which forbade 
 the legalization of slavery in any territory of the United 
 States, lying north of N. lat. 36° 30'. Mr. Fentox, with N". 
 P. Banks, and quite a number of the younger Democrats, 
 with Col. Thomas H. Bextox and other seniors, stead- 
 fiistly opposed this proposition, and opposed the bill 
 because of it. The bill Avas nevertheless forced through 
 the House by a vote of 113 to 100, and became a law. 
 In the division that thereupon ensued, Mr. Fexton took 
 Republican ground with Preston Kixg, Ward Hunt, 
 George Opdyke, and other conspicuous Democrats, and 
 he has never since been other than a Republican. 
 
 In 1854, the Know Xothings carried his district by a 
 considerable majority (Mr. Fentox consenting to be a can- 
 didate on the Saturday previous to election), as they did 
 a good many others in the State; but, in 1856, he ran on 
 the Fremont ticket, and was elected, and thence reelected 
 by large and generally increasing majorities down to 1864, 
 when he withdrew, having been nominated for Governor, 
 He thus served five terms in Congress, each as the repre- 
 sentative of the strongly Whig district composed of 
 Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties, which contains 
 
EEUBEN E. FEXTOX. 9 
 
 many able and worthy men who wei-e in full accord with 
 its by-gone politics, and to the almost unanimous accept- 
 ance of his constituents. 
 
 Immediately on entering Congress, Mr. Fenton espoused 
 the cause of the soldiers of 1S12, and shortly after intro- 
 duced a bill providing for the payment of the property 
 accounts between the United States and the State of New 
 York, for military stores furnished in the war of 1812. 
 This measure he continued to urge upon the attention of 
 Congress,' and finally, on the .30th May, 1860, had the 
 satisfaction to witness its passage in the House by a vote 
 of 98 to 80. He had a leading place on important com- 
 mittees, and performed the duties appertaining to these 
 positions in a manner satisfactory to all. It is but simple 
 truth to say that he was one of the quietly industrious 
 and faithful members of the House. Nor was he a silent 
 representative. He could talk when there seemed a neces- 
 sity for speaking. During his Congressional career, he 
 delivered able and effective speeches against the repeal of 
 the Missouri Compromise Act ; in advocacy of a cheap 
 postal system ; the bill to extend invalid pensions ; for 
 the improvement of rivers and harbors ; to regulate 
 emigration to this country ; against the policy of the 
 Democratic ]iarty with regard to Kansas ; for the final 
 settlement of the claims of the soldiers of the Revolu- 
 tion; in vindication of the principles and policy of the 
 Republican party ; on the Deficiency bill ; the bill to 
 facilitate the payment of bounties; on the repeal of the 
 Fugitive Slave Law; on providing for payment of losses 
 by the rebellion, etc. 
 
 Mr. Fenton served in Congress nearly to the end of the 
 war for the Union, of which lie was one of the firmest 
 and most efficient supporters. Believing the Union to be 
 right and the rebellion wrong throughout, he gave his 
 best energies to the national cause, voting steadily for 
 2 
 
lO LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 taxes, loans, levies, drafts, and for the emancipation policy 
 whereby they were rendered effectual. Men of greater 
 pretensions were abundant in Congress, but there was 
 none more devoted, or more ready to invoke and to make 
 sacrifices for the triumph of the Union. 
 
 In the fall of 1862, Mr. Fenton's name was favorably 
 mentioned in connection with the office of Governor, but 
 finding Gen. Wadsworth was to be pressed for a nomina- 
 tion, Mr. Fentox promptly withdrew from the canvass, and 
 yielded to the patriot soldier his warmest support. In 
 1864, Mr. Fexton was designated as the standard-bearer 
 of the Republican party, and chpsen Governor by a 
 majority considerably larger than Mr. Lincoln's ; and two 
 years later, he was unanimously re-nominated, and chosen 
 by an increased majority. 
 
 The administration of Governor Fexton commenced 
 at the culminating period of the war, and required the 
 exercise of industry, method, decision, and the poAver of 
 discriminating, originating and executing. He brought to 
 the discharge of his new position all these forces of body 
 and mind, and proved patient amid perplexities, quick in 
 his perceptions, safe in his judgments, mastering toilsome 
 details, and successfully meeting difficult emergencies. 
 His practical training, his wide experience, his luminous 
 intellect and well-disciplined judgment, saved him from 
 the failure that a man of less power might have encoun- 
 tered. His official relations with our soldiers did not 
 weaken the attachments that had given him the honored 
 title of the "soldier's friend." He Avas i^rompt to rcAvard 
 merit, and skillful to harmonize differences that often 
 threatened demoralization and serious injury to many of 
 the military organizations then in the field. Ui^on the 
 return of our brave boys, Governor Fenton addressed the 
 following letter to the War Committees of the various 
 districts in the State : 
 
REUBEN E. FENTON'. 11 
 
 Gentlemen : The Icate orders of the Secretary of War for muster- 
 ing out a large portion of the grand army are being rapidly carried 
 into effect, and it is to be hoped that by the Fourth of July most 
 of the regiments to be discharged under the orders will have reached 
 their homes. In view of this fact, allow me to call your attention 
 to the propriety of celebrating that day in a manner not only befitting 
 the anniversary of the nation's birth, but also commemorating its 
 recent rescue from imminent peril. I need not &a.y that welcome 
 and all honor to the men whose patriotism has consecrated the 
 nation to a new career of greater freedom, whose bravery has given 
 security from strife and perpetuity to our institutions, should be one 
 of the most prominent features of such an occasion. Let us at once 
 demonstrate, by a grand ovation, our devotion to the institutions 
 preserved to u?, and our gratitude to those who with heroic con- 
 stancy, defended them through years of terrible war. I have 
 thought best not to issue an executive proclamation to this end, as 
 I prefer this demonstration should be the spontaneous uprising of 
 the people, eagerly welcoming back the citizen soldiers — our friends 
 and neighbors — from the dangers of the battle-field and the severe 
 duties of military discipline, to peace and the exercise of civil rights 
 under the quiet which their valor has secured. I sincerely hope 
 these suggestions may meet with favor from your people, and that 
 each locality will arrange such a programme as shall, according to 
 its circumstances, best devote the day to commemoration, gratitude 
 and general rejoicing. 
 
 Very truly yours, R. E. FEl^TON. 
 
 His judicious course fully commanded public confidence 
 and approval, and at the close of the first year of his term, 
 Moses H. Gkixxell, War. M, Vermilye, Joseph B. 
 Collins, Richard L. TxIylor, Peter Cooper, John 
 Hecker, Minthorxe Tompkixs, Isaac Sherman, J. S. 
 ScHULTZ and manj'- other prominent and wealthy citizens 
 of New York city, addressed to him a letter of thanks, 
 pi-omising him their hearty cooperation and support in his 
 effortiS to meliorate the condition of the metropolis. A 
 
12 LIFE SKETCnES. 
 
 few months later, -when in New York city, thousands of 
 sucli men Availed upon him in person, giving higli assur- 
 ance of respect and approbation. The " New York 
 Tribune " referred to this remarkable demonstration as a 
 proper recognition of official worth and integrity, saying, 
 "This hearty welcome sprang from generous and enduring 
 remembrance of the protection afforded to our municipal 
 rights and franchises, in his judicious exercise of the veto 
 power." 
 
 His vetoes of various bills which would have deprived 
 the City of New York of valuable franchises, without 
 compensating advantages, proved so acceptable to the 
 Board of Supervisors of New York county, that the fol- 
 lowing resolution was unanimously adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That the thanks of the Board are hereby tendered to 
 His Excellency, Grovei'noi- Fumtox, for his recent vetoes of various 
 bills passed by the Legislature of this State iiifrinp'ing upon the 
 riglits and franchises of this city and county, and we sincerely con- 
 gratulate the people of the State of New York in having an Execu- 
 tive wlio possesses the vigilance and teai'lessness necessary to correct 
 the errors of hasty and imperfect legislation. 
 
 Gov. Fexton's State papers are always compact, cogent 
 and convincing. His vigor of style and strength of diction 
 are admirably illustrated in a letter to the committee that 
 invited him to a meeting held at Cooper Institute, in New 
 York city, in the fall of 1860, for the purpose of ratifying 
 the action of the State Union Convention : 
 
 State of New York, Exkcutive Department, ) 
 Albany, October 13, 1866. \ 
 
 Gentlemen: I cannot attend the meeting at Cooper Institute on 
 the 15tli inst., to wliich you invite me; my public duties at the 
 capital will prevent. 
 
 The questions now agitating the public mind are of the greatest 
 moment and interest; and they are sucli as could not be pi-esented 
 to any other people. It will not be forgotten that the gigantic war 
 
BEUBEX E. FENTON. 13 
 
 througli which we liave just passed was prosecuted on behalf of the 
 government in defense of the supremacy of the ballot. Tlie clearly 
 expressed will of the nation is the supreme law of the land. 
 Against an expression of this will, men honored by large communi- 
 ties with public trusts which they were ready to betray for purposes 
 of guilty ambition, stimulated their States to revolt, and by crafty 
 and dangerous devices, inflamed the passions of their people, until 
 in a spirit of franlic and blind delusion they fired upon their own 
 flag, and enveloped the whole land ii. the flame of war. The com- 
 mon traditions; the national pride; the sacred oath of fealty; these 
 were all forgotten, scouted, or ignored, and under the ill-starred 
 banner of i-ebellion, organized armies marched to crush out the 
 grand heritage of American freedom, and to reverse by force of 
 arms the constitutional expression of the popular will. Patriotic 
 men sprang from the various walks of labor and industry, from the 
 schools and colleges, the fields and the workshops; fortunes were 
 thrown into the scale; fireside circles were broken, and every house- 
 hold was made familiar with the perils of mutilation, captivity and 
 death, in that common spirit of loyalty and devotion which prompted 
 the fixed resolve, from the hour that Sumter fell, that the Union 
 our fathers had established should stand, and that the rights and 
 liberties of a fiee people, secured by covenant, should be maintained 
 in blood. These patriot forces trampled out the fires of rebellion ; 
 the principle of popular government was vindicated; and the 
 leaders and armies of the conspirators surrendered, as prisoners of 
 Avar, the weapons with which they sought the destruction of their 
 country. 
 
 To the representatives of these communities who thus organized 
 to destroy our liberties, we are urged to commit, at once and without 
 guaranties, the authority to legislate for us; to award justice to the 
 soldiers and sailors by whom they were subdued; to determine 
 whether the public debt shall be paid; and to claim undue prepon- 
 derance of representation in the national councils, and a dispropor- 
 tionate vote in the electoral college, as a reward for a defeated and 
 treasonable attempt to subvert the government. 
 
 Places are now claimed in the Senate and House of Representa- 
 tives for men who foreswore their allegiance to the Constitution, 
 and held office under the usurpation of Davis, and his associate cou- 
 
14 WFE SKETCHES. 
 
 spirators. Such an assumption is against the common sense of tlie 
 country. It is pU\in that on the dissolution of the rebel armies 
 there was no lawful local government in any of the insurgent States ; 
 nor was there any power in the people of those States to regain the 
 status they lost by organized rebellion. The State action which 
 they now invoke to excuse individuals from the penalties of personal 
 crime, disabled them as communities from resuming, without the 
 consent of the people on whom they made war, a participation in 
 governing them, by claiming the place abdicated for the purposes 
 of treason. Their right of representation as States being thus prac- 
 tically suspended by their own act, what power is competent to 
 reinstate them in their former relations to the government? 
 Evidently it is not in the States themselves, independent of Con- 
 gressional sanction or recognition. There is no lawful local execu- 
 tive to call an election, and no lawful local government under which 
 such an election can be made. The Federal government is to 
 determine what shall be the terms of restoration. It is a question 
 for the sovereign power, and with us the sovereign is not the 
 President, but the people. Under the Constitution, the will of the 
 people is to be expressed through its representatives in Congress 
 assembled. Tlie simple duty of the Pi-esident is to execute their 
 will, thus expressed. By interposing his veto, he may compel them 
 to express it by a two-thirds vote ; but it is the will of the people, 
 and not his will which is expressed; and it is not by his vote, but 
 by the vote of Congress, that it has the force of a popular law. 
 
 With unerring judgment and forecast, the martyred Lincoln 
 appreciated the question in its true aspect ; and in commissioning 
 loyal men, with the simple powers of military governors, he provided 
 for the present peace; while he recognized in the people in Congress 
 assembled the only competent authority to restore permanent civil 
 government in the insurgent States, under the Constitution they 
 had foresworn, and to determine the conditions under which they 
 should be restored to their practical relations in the Union. Such 
 is the common judgment of the loyal States. Such is the clear con- 
 viction and the firm demand of the mass of loyal men North and 
 South. It is a question which belongs to the people, and not to the 
 President — to the law-making power, and not to the agent, whose 
 duty it, is to enforce the laws and to obey them. 
 
BEtfBEX E. FENTON. 15 
 
 But it is claimed that the adoiition of tlie amendineats proposed 
 by Congress ought not to be made a condition of representation ; 
 that however just in themselves, no constitutional safeguard should 
 be provided which has not been passed upon in Congress by the 
 insurgent States. The weakness of this position is too obvious to 
 deceive any but those who advance it. The President is, doubtless, 
 competent to proclaim the cessation of hostilities and the return of 
 peace; but Congress alone can guarantee a Republican form of gov- 
 ernment to States which have subverted their own governments 
 established under the Constitution. 
 
 In the discharge of a high public trust, the present Congress has 
 patiently and laboriously investigated the condition of that portion 
 of the country convulsed by the recent rebellion; and, in a com- 
 mendable spirit of moderation, it has proposed for adoption, an 
 amendment to the Constitution, so reasonable and appropriate to 
 the existing state of affairs, that its propriety and justice are admit- 
 ted even by those who oppose its adoption. The plan of adjustment 
 thus presented, is the only one before the people. It has the sanc- 
 tion of an overwhelming majority in the Senate and House of 
 Representatives ; it has been heartily and earnestly indorsed by the 
 people of every State in which a general election has since been 
 held ; it will receive the unanimous approval of all the States, 
 whose unwavering loyalty bore us triumphantly through the war; 
 it is a noble and magnanimous peace-offering tendered by Congress, 
 in behalf of the people, to the misguided States which permitted 
 themselves to be precipitated into rebellion by bold and reckless 
 leaders, some of whom are now demanding instant and uncondi- 
 tional admission to seats in the governing council of the nation. 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 R. E. FENTON, 
 
 To Messrs. F. A. Conkling, Francis A. Thomas, Owen W. Brenna>?, 
 John Fitch, Charles A. Dana, Committee. 
 
 His views upon the pending issues, were afterward ably 
 maintained in a speech delivered at a large political 
 gathering in Jamestown, just prior to the election of 186C. 
 An unerring test of the correctness of his opinions, and 
 the wisdom of his administration, is furnished in the fact 
 
16 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 that, daring the late canvass, his opponents were utterly 
 unable to assail his official record, Avhile his friends effect- 
 ively employed the same in his behalf. 
 
 The Republican party in 1866 saw the necessity of 
 selecting Avise men for its nominees. The more discerning 
 politicians felt that there was reason to fear an unfavorable 
 result of the canvass. Herculean efforts were being made 
 to defeat the party at the polls, A division had been 
 created among those who had theretofore professed its 
 principles. A number of influential gentlemen openly 
 repudiated its ideas in regard to reconstruction. The 
 Philadelphia Convention had produced a schism, which it 
 was feared might j^rove formidable, if not disastrous. 
 Those who were the most pronounced in favor of the policy 
 of President JoHXSox, were the most earnest in their 
 opposition to Governor Fexton. The questions naturally 
 arose whether this marked hostility might not prove fatal 
 to success, by stimulating the Conservatives to greater 
 effort, and enabling them to exert more powerful influence 
 over the moderate and doubtful portion of the party ; and 
 whether a man less likely to be thus assailed miglit not be 
 stronger. On the other hand, there was to be considered 
 the effect which the leading measures of his administration 
 had produced on the popular mind. His National policy 
 had contributed in a marked degree to the success of the 
 ■war. He had entered upon his term of office as successor 
 to one who disapproved of many of the principal features 
 of the war policy of the Government, and Avho had been 
 elected because of his decided views in relation thereto. 
 He had stimulated volunteering, and secured for the State 
 a more just recognition of its rights ; had worked clear 
 from the complications in which ^^ublic interest had been 
 involved by the blundering and incompetency of the Pro- 
 vost Marshal General ; and had relieved New York from 
 a large portion of the dreaded burden of the draft. He 
 
KEUBEN E. FENTOlSr. 17 
 
 had done much, witli the co-operation of the head of the 
 State finance department, to originate a financial system 
 which rendered the credit of the State stable and secure, 
 and furnished the means to suj)ply the demands of war, 
 without being felt as oppressive. By his keen ajjpreciation 
 of the wants of the soldiers, his tender solicitude for tlieir 
 welfare, and his earnest efforts in their behalf, he had firmly 
 attached them to himself In his State policy, he liad sought 
 to foster all the material interests of the commonwealth ; 
 and had reluctantly interposed to the defeat of needed 
 enterprises when their aid would render the burden of 
 taxation onerous, and awaited a more favorable opjiortu- 
 nity to join in giving them that aid. lie was vigilant in 
 his attention to the commercial wants of the State, both in 
 the great metropolis and through its internal lines of transit. 
 This unwavering devotion to the essential prosperity of the 
 State, elicited confidence and commendation. All the dis- 
 criminating judgment and forecast of the Statesman had 
 been displayed in a marked degree. These views were 
 impressed on the minds of the representative men of- his 
 party, and when the Convention assembled, so strongly did 
 they prevail, and so heavily did they outweigh adverse 
 considerations, that no other name was suggested, and he 
 was unanimously nominated by acclamation. The Demo- 
 crats entered upon the canvass full of liope. Prominent 
 places were given by them on their State ticket, to Repub- 
 licans who dissented from the principles enunciated by the 
 Republican party, and nominations of a like character ^vere 
 made for many local ofiices in various portions of the State. 
 The result showed that Governor Fenton's strength liad 
 not been miscalculated. He was re-elected by a majority 
 five thousand larger than that given him in his first canvass. 
 The year 1867 furnished the occasion for a continuation 
 of a policy which had proved so acceptable, and it is not 
 necessary that we should dwell upon its features. 
 3 
 
18 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 The absence of nil malevolence in the heart of Governor 
 Fenton, and the broad charity of his nature, were dis- 
 played during the past year. The remains of the Rebel 
 dead had been left unburied at Antietam. A letter from 
 Governor FENTOisr, breathing the spirit of loyalty and 
 humanity, decided the committee at once to an act both 
 eliristian and proper, and in accordance with the spirit of 
 the law of jNIaryland, which authorized the purchase of a 
 cemetery, and created a corporation to carry out the 
 declared object of burying in it, all who fell on either side 
 during the invasion of Lee at the battle of Antietam. In 
 that letter he took the high ground that it " Avas a war 
 less of sections than of systems," and that the N"ation 
 could confer decent burial on the Southern dead while 
 condemning and sternly opposing the heresies for which 
 they had sacrificed themselves; and that attachment to the 
 Union and devotion to the most thorough measures for its 
 preservation and restoration were not inconsistent with 
 the broadest charity, and the observance of sacred obliga- 
 tions to the dead. Tliis letter accomplished the intended 
 purpose ; and the bones of the Rebel soldiers who fell on 
 that memorable field, will be interred as befitting not only 
 a legal obligation, but the highest demands of civilization 
 and our common humanity. 
 
 In his message to the Legislature of 1868, Governor 
 Fenton forcibly expressed himself in favor of materially 
 reducing the number of items in the tax lists, and of a 
 re-adjustment of the assessment laws — now so glaringly 
 unequal — in order that every source of wealth might bear 
 its just proportion of burden. He also took strong ground 
 in defense of the inviolate maintenance of the National 
 faith. In his usual terse and vigorous style, he argued 
 against the leg.ality of the Governments instituted by 
 President Joiinsox, after the cessation of active hostilities, 
 and held that the reconstruction acts of Congress were 
 
REUBEX E. FEXTOX. 10 
 
 necessary because the Southern States had rejected, Avith 
 scorn, tlie peace oftering of the Constitutional Amend- 
 ment. He eloquently expressed himself in behalf of the 
 rights of the Freedmen, in consideration of his manhood 
 and loyalty, to protection through law, and to the elective 
 franchise. 
 
 Governor Fextox realizes that the peoi^le have made 
 him their Chief Magistrate, and that they look to him, and 
 to no other person, for tlie faithful discharge of the duties 
 of the responsible position. lie is controlled by no clique 
 — he is the agent of no cabal. He patiently listens to all 
 who desire to consult him, and then follows the dictates of 
 his own good judgment. He has no prejudice so strong, 
 nor partiality so great, as to lead him to do an unjust act. 
 He is a careful thinker and a hard worker. No man 
 ever labored more hours in tlie Executive Chamber than 
 he does. Whatever work engages his attention, he attends 
 to it personally, even to the minutest details. 
 
 Governor Fentox is a decided radical, and yet he can- 
 not be called an extreme man. There is just enough 
 conservatism in his composition to save him from doing 
 an unwise or rash act. His mind is thorougldy practical. 
 He is a man of decided convictions and fearless in their 
 expression, and yet his manner of address and style ol 
 composition are so gentle and courteous as to almost dis- 
 arm opposition. There are few men whose minds are so 
 well balanced as his. 
 
 A more upright man does not exist. Make it clear to 
 him that a thing ought to be done, and he will do it, 
 no matter who may advise difterently. He has trod on 
 great schemes and powerful lobbies in this State. He has 
 defended public interest against the rapacity of organized 
 theft. He has escaped tlie cliarge of connivance with any 
 of these organized rings. He has won the grateful regard 
 of the Republicans of the State. He has not always 
 
20 Lli'E SKETCHES. 
 
 satisfied place-seekers, but, in the administration of public 
 affairs, the man is yet to be found who charges him with 
 dishonesty or unfaithfulness. 
 
 That the feelings of youth survive in his manhood, and 
 that he cherishes a warm sympathy for childliood, is very 
 pleasantly shown in a letter acknowledging a testimonial 
 of membership to the American Sunday School Union, 
 presented by the scholars of a Sabbath School. In his 
 reply to the Superintendent he says : 
 
 " Thank the boys for me and tell them I shall place the gift in my 
 study, that I may never forget in the performance of the grave duties 
 to which I am called, that little children are taking note of what I do, 
 sure that if my conduct can be held up in comnieudation to those 
 of whom Christ says : ' Of such is the kingdom of Heaven,' it wil] 
 reach the highest standard of earthly merit." 
 
 New York, with entire unanimity, presents the name of 
 Reuben E. Fenton to the Republican National Conven- 
 tion at Chicago, for nomination to the office of Vice-Presi- 
 dent. She urges him as combining in unequaled measure 
 the qualifications of the candidate and the qualifications 
 of the officer — the popularity which assures success in the 
 canvass, the ability which makes him equal to the office, 
 and the fidelity which guarantees the maintenance of prin- 
 ciple. For years tlie people have watched his public 
 career with constantly increasing confidence and satisfac- 
 tion. At the National Capitol he was firm, vigilant and 
 prudent. At the State Capitol he has been a trusty and 
 sagacious leader, always the watchful guardian of the 
 people's interest, and always the defender of poptilar 
 lights. He is strong with the masses of his party. He is 
 like Lincoln- in this regard; and like him, is a man groAvn 
 from the people. He has risen to office by no tricks. He 
 commands the esteem of his fellow-citizens, of whatever 
 party. He is worthy to preside over the highest branch of 
 Congress, and in that capacity he would prove a sagacious 
 
KEUBEN E. FENTOX. 21 
 
 counselor. And, it" that fell calamity should happen, Avhich 
 the sad experience of the country lias taught us to contem- 
 plate as not impossible, his record and his character give 
 the perfect assurance tliat, witli Governor Fenton in the 
 Presidential chair, the interests of the Nation would suffer 
 no detriment, and the will of the people would not be 
 paralyzed. 
 
 The Tlepublican State Convention held at Syracuse, 
 February 5, 1868, composed of three hundred and eighty- 
 four delegates, unanimously adopted the following resolu- 
 tion : 
 
 Resolved, That Reuben E. Fentox is the first choice of the Union 
 Republican party in this State for the office of Vice-President. His 
 early and consistent identification with the cause of hmnan freedom, 
 his patriotic services in Congress, the fidelity and sagacity he has 
 displayed in the office of Chief Magistrate of the State, his earnest 
 and uniform devotion to the wants and interests of soldiers, his 
 popularity as attested by being twice elected Governor over strong 
 antagonists, as well as his great prudence and firmness, give assiu*- 
 ance that his nomination would inspire universal confidence and 
 enthusiasm, and be followed by the triumphant success of the whole 
 ticket. 
 
 More brilliant men may have occupied the executive 
 chair in our State than Governor Fenton-, but it has been 
 filled by no more sagacious statesman, and by no more 
 conscientious man, and such will be the verdict of those 
 who shall impartially write a history of the times wherein 
 we live. 
 
STEWART L. WOODFORD, 
 
 LIEUTEXANT-GOYEEXOK. 
 
 LiEUTEXAXT-GovERxoR WooDFORD is a iiative of the 
 metropolis of New York, where he was born September 
 3d, 1835. 
 
 His father, Josiaii C. Woodford, was from Hartford 
 county, Connecticut ; liis mother, Susan Terry, from Suf- 
 folk county. Long Island, in this State. 
 
 He was a boy of good promise, whose success in life was 
 foreshadowed by his industry and tenacity of purpose as 
 a lad. Before he was fifteen years of age, he entered 
 the Freshman Class of Columbia College, from Avhich he 
 graduated with high honors in 1854, being assigned the 
 English salutatory address. He then turned his attention 
 to the study of law, in the office of Brown, Hall & Van- 
 DERPOEL, at NcAV York, and was admitted to tlie bar in 
 February, 1857. 
 
 As a lawyer, Mr. Woodford was popular and successful, 
 and almost immediately took a prominent place among 
 the younger members of his profession. 
 
 In the year 1860, he was a delegate to the convention 
 at Chicago, which nominated Abraha:\[ Lincoln for the 
 presidency. On his return, he entered into the canvass 
 with great sjjirit, and worked unceasingly for the Repub- 
 lican cause. Plis eloquence was heard from the rostrum, 
 and his energies were felt in private councils in behalf of 
 the great interests which he was willing subsequently to 
 defend in the field. It was his privilege, after that memo- 
 rable canvass, to convey the vote of the Electoral College 
 of New York, to Washington. Closely following the 
 
STEWART L. "WOODFORD. 23 
 
 honor thus conferred upon him, was his election as Chair- 
 man of the Young Men's Republican Committee, of the 
 City of New York. 
 
 In April, 18G1, Mr. Woodford was appointed Assistant 
 United States Attorney, for the Southern District of New 
 York. This was an office of importance, requiring a high 
 order of abilities for the proper discharge of its weighty 
 duties ; and Mr. Woodford filled it in an unexception- 
 able manner. After the breaking out of the rebellion, 
 the blockade of the Southern ports rendered necessary the 
 creation of a bureau in tliat office, for the legal prosecu- 
 tion of the vast number of naval captures made by the 
 government. This bureau was placed in charge of Mr. 
 Woodford, whose industry, aided by natural talent and 
 keen discrimination, enabled him to successfully present to 
 the court the intricate questions arising for adjudication. 
 He made the opening argument for the Government, in 
 the case of the bar(pie Hiawatha, which Avas the first of 
 the seizures under the blockade. The line of Mr. Wood- 
 ford's argument was identical with that followed by the 
 Supreme Court of the United States in its final decision 
 upon the question. 
 
 In 1862, after the gloomy retreat of McClellan across 
 the Peninsula, a general feeling of the necessity of renewed 
 action and sacrifice, pervaded the hearts of the people. 
 Mr. Woodford hastened to obey the common impulse, 
 resigned his lucrative office, and enlisted for the war as a 
 private. He was immediately elected captain of his com- 
 pany, whicli was assigned to the 127th regiment New 
 York Volunteers, under Col. William Gurnet, Before 
 leaving for the front, lie was again promoted to a Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonelcy. About this time, he removed his resi- 
 dence to Brooklyn. The winter of 1862-3 was spent by 
 his regiment in and around Washington, whicli was then 
 
24 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 threatened by the rebel forces ; but tlie life of comparative 
 inaction was interrupted by the siege of Suffolk, Va., by 
 General Longstreet. Colonel Woodfokd's command 
 was sent to Suffolk, and subsequently to the Peninsula, 
 under General Dix. He afterward served in the 11th 
 Corps, in the Army of the Potomac, and was then trans- 
 ferred to the Department of the South, wliere he won for 
 himself distinguished military honors. 
 
 When General Gilmoee began his extensive operations 
 against Charleston, Colonel Woodford, w^ith his regiment, 
 took a prominent part in them. In the spring of 1864, he 
 commanded the several forts on Morris Island, which 
 shelled the city of Charleston so destructively. During 
 the Summer of that year, he acted as Judge-Advocate 
 General of the Department of the South, and, in the early 
 autumn was intrusted with the supervision of the exchange 
 of prisoners at Charleston harbor. But staff duty was not 
 congenial to his taste, and as Sherman neared the coast, 
 he applied for leave to rejoin his regiment, and participate 
 in the operations undertaken by General Foster, against 
 the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. These operations 
 were for the purpose of creating a diversion in Sherman's 
 favor, and preventing Savannah being reinforced from 
 Charleston and Richmond. His request was granted, and 
 he was actively engaged in the movements which followed. 
 
 At the battles of Honey Hill, Coosawhatchie and Tula- 
 finny, his bravery was conspicuous, and received marked 
 commendation from his superiors. At Honey Hill his 
 shoulder strap was shot off, and he was slightly wounded 
 in the face. At Coosawhatchie he personally led the 
 charge which made our forces masters of the field. At 
 Tulafinny he commanded an advance Brigade, and for his 
 services here was subsequently promoted to a full 
 Colonelcy, and breveted Brigadier-General. 
 
STEWART L. WOODFORD. 25 
 
 Just before the surrender of Lee, and after active move- 
 ments had ceased on the coast, Colonel Woodford was 
 temporarily appointed Provost Marshal-General of the 
 Southern Department ; and, a short time after, was made 
 the first military Governor of Charleston. It was in this 
 city that the rebellion was conceived and born. The 
 populace, at the time of the breaking up of the gigantic 
 cabal, were filled with hatred and disloyalty. The aristo- 
 cratic Southrons illy submitted to the dictation of a North- 
 ern man. Disloyal citizens on the one hand, and rebel 
 deserters and desperadoes on the other, smouldering build- 
 ings, half famished and homeless families, the absence of civil 
 law and a chaotic state of society, all conspired to bring 
 into play the highest order of administrative capabilities. 
 
 Under the authority of Colonel Woodford, these vol- 
 canic elements were harmonized, much to the delight of 
 those who had sufiered by the reign of terror. By his 
 courteous but iron firmness, he soon convinced even the 
 disloyal that the best course for them was to submit 
 quietly to the authority of the Military Governor, who 
 had been placed over them by an outraged but vindicated 
 govei'nment. Order was restored so perfectly at last, that 
 ten thousand colored people, in the celebration of the 
 Emancipation Proclamation, and weeks before the surren- 
 der of Lee, marched triumphantly through the principal 
 streets of the city, with the flag of the Republic floating 
 over them, with banners inscribed with mottoes com- 
 memorative of the termination of their bondage, and 
 bearing a coffin emblematic of the death and burial of 
 slavery. It is not to be supposed that the citizens relished 
 this demonstration, but the cool decision of Governor 
 Woodford awed them into a state of outward submission ; 
 and they well knew, that any molestation would have 
 drawn upon themselves summary punishment. 
 4 
 
26 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 For the remarkable administrative abilities displayed at 
 this important juncture, he was made Chief of Staff, by 
 Major-General Gilmore, "While the city of Charleston 
 was under Colonel Woodford's command, order prevailed 
 on all sides ; the loyalist felt safe in the enjoyment of his 
 privileges, and the secessionist was forced to admit that 
 the colonel manifested tenacity of purpose to administer 
 justice to all. It was while acting in this capacity that 
 he was commissioned Brigadier-General by brevet, for 
 previous meritorious services. 
 
 Subsequently, he succeeded the gallant General Grover 
 in command of the city and district of Savannah, having 
 been assigned to duty by the President, in accordance 
 with his brevet rank. His administration in that city was 
 also a complete success. 
 
 Among the distinguishing acts of his course, Avas the 
 px-actical assistance which he gave to the negroes in found- 
 ing their schools and churches. On every hand he saw 
 hundreds of colored people eager to be taught. They 
 were a distinct and peculiar race that had been shut out 
 from educational advantages for many generations; and 
 he determined that every possible avenue should now be 
 opened to them. How successfully he accomplished his 
 purpose, the gratitude of the negroes testified. He pro- 
 vided an equal number of schools for the black and white 
 children of the city ; re-established the police force ; lighted 
 the streets with gas for the first time in three years, and 
 demonstrated that he was not only bravely just to the 
 blacks, but wise and energetic in his management of all 
 the civil affairs of the important city that had been con- 
 fided to his control. He created a revenue which not only 
 defrayed all the expenses of the local government, but 
 also left a good balance to his successor, in the military 
 treasury of the city. 
 
STEWART L. WOODFORD. 27 
 
 General Woodford subsequently reassumecl the position 
 of Chief of Staff to the Department Commander ; and in 
 August, 1865, resigned his commission, and returning to 
 his home in Brooklyn, resumed the practice of the law. 
 
 In October of the same year, he was unanimously nomi- 
 nated by the Republican party in New York city as their 
 candidate for Judge of the Court of Common Pleas ; but 
 he decided not to change his residence from Brooklyn (to 
 which city he had moved his family soon after he entered 
 the army), and declined the nomination. 
 
 In the Autumn of 1866, and after a canvass in which he 
 visited nearly every county in the State, General Wood- 
 ford was elected Lieutenant-Governor of New York by the 
 Union Republican Party, receiving a majority of 15,024 
 votes. The Democratic Party were confident of the success 
 of their candidate, Mr. Pruyn, but the ballot of the people 
 gave a sweeping verdict in favor of General Woodford. 
 
 The Lieutenant-Governor combines with an agreeable 
 appearance and pleasing address, the graces and polish of 
 a gentleman. He is a cultivated scholar, and a close and 
 logical lawyer. His eloquence is of the highest order, and 
 his presence before an audience is strangely magnetic, as 
 thousands can testify who have ever heard him from the 
 political rostrum and in the court room. 
 
 As a presiding officer he has been remarkably success- 
 ful. Courteous but decided in his ruling, his clear, ringing 
 voice is as effective to preserve order in the Senate Cham- 
 ber as it was to lead his men in the charge. In the selec- 
 tion of his committees for the new Senate of 1868 he 
 displayed a far-sighted wisdom that was applauded by the 
 press and the people of the entire State, and his address of 
 welcome to the Senators was a masterpiece of quiet, but 
 effective oratory. We introduce it here as a fair specimen 
 of General Woodford's manner and style : 
 
28 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Senators : It becomes my pleasant duty at the opening of our 
 session to bid you welcome. We stand on the threshold of events 
 upon which the welfare alike of our State and Nation largely 
 depends. Although the harvests of last autumn were abundant ; 
 although no pestilence has visited our land, and no organized armed 
 resistance to law exists within our borders, still we must all realize 
 that general anxiety and distrust pervades commercial circles, 
 paralyzing business activity and industrial enterprises ; and that all 
 our people await the future with solicitude. It is your privilege as 
 well as your duty to do much towards allaying this alarm. You 
 can labor for the restoration of an absolute and actual economy in 
 public expenditures ; an economy which shall be seen in the next 
 tax levy, and thus be appreciated by the people. You can largely 
 insist on a rigid accountability of all public servants. You can 
 arrest hasty legislation, prevent the enactment of needless and 
 cumbersome laws, initiate wise and considerate reforms, and reso- 
 lutely maintain the existing safeguard of public order and personal 
 security. I know that these are threadbare axioms, and seem but 
 idle platitudes ; and, yet, unless we make them actual verities in 
 our ofi&cial action, we shall not only fail in our duty, but the State 
 will suffer harm. Not only are our people apprehensive in regard 
 to our State interest and legislation ; but there is much in our 
 national affairs to awaken patriotic solicitude. Partial disorder and 
 an unnatural, deplorable, but still necessary subordination of the 
 civil to the military law, prevail in States lately in rebellion. The 
 restoration of those States to their just and constitutional relations 
 with the Federal Government, and to their normal condition of 
 self-rule, is delayed by an unfortunate collision between the Presi- 
 dent and Congress. As Senators of New York, you may not be 
 called upon to act directly upon these questions, and yet, should 
 circumstances arise requiring action, we may remember that the 
 voice and influence of this State is always powerful in the councils 
 of our nation. 
 
 . Lieutenant-Governor Woodford is the youngest man 
 that has ever been President of the Senate of New York, 
 being now but thirty-three years of age. 
 
HOMER A. NELSON, 
 
 SECRETARY OF STATE. 
 
 Homer A. Nelson was born in Poughkeepsie on the 
 31st day of August, 1829. He acquired his education at 
 the District Schools and at the Dutchess County Academy. 
 When not quite sixteen years of age he entered the law 
 office of Messrs. Tallmak and Dean, in his native village, 
 as clerk and student ; and in that capacity he afterwards 
 pursued his legal studies in the office of the Hon. Charles 
 H. RuGGLES, Vice-Chancellor and Circuit Judge of the 
 Second District of New York, and subsequently in the 
 office of Messrs. Varick and Eldridge. 
 
 He was duly admitted to practice as an attorney and 
 Counsellor-at-law in all the courts of the State of New 
 York, after due examination before the General Term of 
 the Supreme Court of the Second Judicial District, on the 
 Vth day of October, 1850; and in December following, 
 opened an office at Poughkeepsie and commenced the prac- 
 tice of his profession. 
 
 His fine legal mind and attainments, and his indefatigable 
 industry and perseverance, soon gained for him prominence 
 at the bar of his native county, a county which has ever 
 been noted for the high character, learning and ability of 
 its lawyers. In 1854, enjoying a practice and a degree 
 of success in his profession rarely so early attained, he 
 entered into a co-partnership with his former preceptor, 
 the Hon. Gilbert Dean, which continued until the 
 appointment of Mr. Dean as Justice of the Supreme 
 Court. 
 
30 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Politically, he has always been an active member of the 
 Democratic party. In 1855, he was, by a large majority, 
 elected County Judge of Dutchess county, and discharged 
 the duties of that position with such marked ability, and 
 so acceptably to the bar and the public, that, on the expi- 
 ration of his first term in 1859, he received a unanimous 
 re-nomination by the Democratic party, and was re-elected 
 by a large majority, notwithstanding all the other candi- 
 dates upon the Democratic ticket were defeated by major- 
 ities ranging above nine hundred. While performing the 
 duties of County Judge, he was also engaged in a large 
 and successful practice in the higher courts of the State. 
 In 1857, Rutger's College, of New Jersey, conferred upon 
 him the honorary degree of Master of Arts. In February, 
 1859, on motion of Hon, Thomas Ewing, of Ohio, he 
 was admitted as Attorney and Counsellor of the United 
 States Suj^reme Coui-t. 
 
 At the breaking out of the rebellion in 1861, he at once 
 took a decided stand in favor of its suppression by the 
 Government, and was active and strenuous in his advocacy 
 of a vigorous prosecution of the war, addressing numerous 
 public meetings held in Poughkeepsie and throughout 
 Dutchess county, on that subject, maintaining that it was 
 the duty of the peoj)le, and especially of the Democratic 
 party, to insist on the perpetuity of the Union, and to 
 resist separation to the xitmost power of the Government. 
 In 1862 Judge Nelson was recommended by the War 
 Committee of Dutchess and Columbia counties, to Gov- 
 ernor MoRGAK, for appointment as Colonel of the 167th 
 Regiment N". Y. Volunteers, then about to be raised. In 
 accordance with this recommendation he was duly com- 
 missioned to raise such regiment, and with characteristic 
 energy at once pi'oceeded to the performance of that duty, 
 establishing his head-quarters at Hudson. Besides con- 
 
HOMER A. NELSON. 31 
 
 tributing liberally of his means, he devoted his entire 
 time to the patriotic work, and with untiring zeal can- 
 vassed the whole district %r the accomplishment of it. 
 When about six hundred volunteers had been raised, his 
 regiment was consolidated with the 159th, by which num- 
 ber it Avas mustered into the United States service, and 
 Judge Nelsox was commissioned as its Colonel. 
 
 In November, 1862, he was elected by the Democratic 
 party, representative in Congress from the 12th Congres- 
 sional District of New York, running handsomely ahead 
 of the State ticket in his district. At the earnest solicita- 
 tion of his friends, who believed that his services would 
 be of more value at that crisis in the halls of legislation 
 than in the field, he was induced to resign his commission 
 as Colonel, in order that he might take his seat in the 
 House of Representatives, which he did in December, 
 1863. He also resigned the position of County Judge, 
 which he then held. In Congress, he served on the Com- 
 mittee on Indian AiFairs and the Committee on Unfinished 
 Business. 
 
 During his entire Congressional term he warmly advo- 
 cated and supported all measures for the vigorous prosecu- 
 tion of the war for the suppression of the rebellion. 
 Shortly after the opening of the Second Session of the 
 38th Congress, he ojDcnly announced his intention to vote 
 in favor of the adoption of the Constitutional Amendment 
 for the abolition of Slavery. The adoption of this great 
 measure, which gave liberty to millions, without undue 
 assumption, may be considered entirely due to the vote 
 and personal efibrts of Mr. Nelson. The Republican 
 party was united and earnest in its support, and the Dem- 
 ocratic party presented an almost unbroken front in 
 opposition ; but Mr. Nelson, with a wise foresight, just 
 appreciation, and commendable independence, resolutely 
 
32 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 refused to act with his party, and by his personal influence 
 induced others to unite with him in giving the measure 
 thei;- support; and had it not'.fceen for the vital aid thus 
 rendei-rd, the requisite vote would not have been obtained. 
 
 In the Fall of 1865 Judge Nelson was unanimously 
 re-nominated for Congress, but the District having become 
 overwhelmingly Republican, he failed of re-election. 
 
 At the close of his term in Congress, Judge Nelson 
 returned to the practice of his profession in his native 
 place, (declining an important appointment tendered him 
 by the administration of President Lincoln) and by unre- 
 mitting attention and devotion to it, attained the acknowl- 
 edged leadership of the Bar of Dutchess County, as a glance 
 at the court calendar of that county at once shows. 
 
 Prior to the election of Delegates to the State Constitu- 
 tional Convention in the Spring of 1867, Judge Nelson's 
 name was prominently canvassed before the people, and 
 he was nominated as one of the Delegates at Large by the 
 Democratic State Convention. 
 
 In that body he served upon one of its most impor- 
 tant committees — Finance — and in the discussion of the 
 gi-eat questions coming before it he took a conspicu- 
 ous part, bringing to the consideration of the important 
 subjects submitted to it, an ability and attainments which 
 placed him in the front rank of its distinguished members. 
 
 Without any previous canvass on his jjart, but solely on 
 his merits and owing to his popularity as a representative 
 man of the young Democracy, he was, at the Democratic 
 State Convention in September, 1867, nominated on the 
 first ballot for Secretary of State. 
 
 The verdict of the State Convention was ratified by the 
 people on the 5th day of November, 1867 — Judge Nelson 
 handsomely leading the State ticket and receiving 373,029 
 
HOMER A. NELSON. 33 
 
 votes, the highest number ever cast for any individual in 
 the Empire State. 
 
 Affable and pleasing in his address, unpretentious and 
 unostentatious in his demeanor, yet with a quiet dignity 
 and force of character that never fail to win him the place 
 his merits claim. Judge Nelson is generally and deserv- 
 edly popular. The important trusts which have been 
 committed to his charge, and the eminent position which 
 he now occupies so eai-ly in life, furnish another instance 
 of the successful self-made man which is the glory of our 
 republican institutions. 
 
WILLIAM F. ALLEN, 
 
 COJIPTROLLER. 
 
 The present Comptroller, Judge "William F. Allen-, 
 was born in Windham county, Connecticut. In 1816, he 
 came with his father and family to reside in Duanesburgh, 
 Schenectady county, in this State, where he passed his 
 younger years. His preparatory studies for college were 
 mostly pursued under private tutors, and he entered 
 Union College two years in advance, in 1825, and gradu- 
 ated two years later, standing high in the honors of his class. 
 
 After graduating, he entered the office, as a student of 
 law, of the late Comptroller, the Hon. John C. Wright, 
 of Schenectady, where he spent some time, but finally 
 finished his clerkship in the office of the late Charles M. 
 Lee, of Rochester, one of the most prominent and able 
 lawyers of Western New York, and was admitted to 
 practice in 1829. 
 
 Mr. Allen went to Oswego to practice his profession in 
 1830, at first entering into partnership with the late Geo. 
 Fisher, who was then contesting a seat in the House 
 of Representatives. Soon after Mr. Allen entered into a 
 law partnership with Hon. A. P. Grant, then and still 
 of Oswego ; and up to the time when he was elected a 
 Justice of the Supreme Court, and of course had to sui- 
 render his legal practice, the firm of Grant & Allen was 
 known as one of the most enterprising, able and successful 
 law firms in northern New York. 
 
 Mr. Allen's success in his profession, together with his 
 sociable and amiable qualities, made him very popular with 
 his party and the public, and he was early looked upon as 
 a very promising young man. Any office within the gift 
 
AYILLIAM F. ALLEX, 35 
 
 of those by whom he was surrounded, might have been his 
 on his acceptance, but he steadily refused all places, how- 
 ever honorable, calculated to lure him from the pursuit of 
 his profession, or which might be an obstacle to his eleva- 
 tion therein. Under the Constitution of 1 82 1 , he was, early 
 in his professional career, appointed to the offices of Master 
 and Examiner in Chancery. In 1842, he accepted the 
 Democratic nomination for Member of Assembly, and was 
 elected. He was awarded the important position of Chair- 
 man of Committee of Ways and Means in 1843, a rare 
 compliment to a new member in a body composed of very 
 able men. In 1844, he was re-elected .and made Chairman 
 of the Judiciary Committee, a position which his legal 
 acquirements enabled him to fill with great credit. 
 
 Something of the rank Mr. Allen held during his brief 
 career as a legislator may be estimated from the position he 
 was awarded in an Assembly in which seats were held by 
 such men as Michael HoFFMAisr, Samuel YoujS^g, Claek 
 B. Cochrane, Horatio Seymour, Thos. G. Alvord and 
 Calvin T. Hulburd, names then and since prominent 
 among the most distinguished men of New York. 
 
 In 1845 Mr. Allen w\as appointed by President Polk 
 United States District Attorney for the Northern District 
 of the State of New York, the duties of which position he 
 continued to discharge until after the adoption of the State 
 Constitution of 1846, when he was elected, for a term of 
 eight years, one of the first Justices of the Supreme Court 
 for the Fifth Judicial District of the State, his associates 
 upon the bench being Hon. Charles Gray, of Herkimer ; 
 Hon. Daniel Pratt, of Syracuse, and Hon. Philo Grid- 
 ley, of Utica. 
 
 It is as a Judge that Mr. Allen is best known, and upon 
 the Bench that he has won the most honorable distinction. 
 It was with much hesitation that the members of the Con- 
 
36 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 vention of 1846 created an elective judiciary, but the 
 wisdom of that i:)rovision was fully vindicated in the eleva- 
 tion of such men as Judge Allen to the Bench. His 
 impartial administration, searching investigations, and 
 convincing decisions, established him to such a remarkable 
 degree in public estimation, that, at the expiration of his 
 first term of eight years, he was, regardless of political 
 considerations, unanimously recommended by the Bar of 
 his District for re-election, and his political opponents, 
 in a district where they had the majority, paid him the 
 extraordinary compliment of a unanimous election. As 
 the first had been, so was the second term of Judge Allen, 
 eight years of successful labor. During the last year of 
 each term he, by provision of the Constitution, occupied 
 a seat in the Court of Appeals. There, as elsewhere, he 
 was distinguished for his legal acumen, his discrimination, 
 learning and ability. For sixteen years he was generally 
 acknowledged to be among the ablest, most successful and 
 popular jurists of the State. 
 
 On retiring from the Bench, Judge Allen went to New 
 York city, where he resumed the labors of his profession. 
 His reputation immediately gave him all the practice that 
 it was possible for him to attend to, and he was entrusted 
 with the management of the most important causes. 
 
 Judge Allen's popularity in his own district, and his 
 standing in his party in the State, have made him a marked 
 man. Often has his party made attempts to lure him 
 from his profession. At one time his party in his own 
 Congressional district nominated him for Congress, but he 
 promptly and peremptorily declined. Quite frequently 
 has his name been prominently suggested for the exalted 
 position of Governor of the State. 
 
 In 1864, he was appointed by the Secretary of War one 
 of a commission to adjust the matter of credits for recruits 
 
WILLIAM F. ALLEN. 37 
 
 due to this State, a matter which had become involved in 
 seemingly inextricable confusion. His associates in this 
 commission were Hon. Chauxcey Smith of Massachusetts, 
 and Hon. Johx Love of Indiana. The duty was discharged 
 in a manner which called expressions of thanks and grati- 
 tude from all classes of people in the State. 
 
 During the summmer of 1867, Judge Allen again 
 removed his residence to Oswego, where he was residing 
 when his party nominated him for the important and res- 
 ponsible office to which he was elected in November last. 
 That a large pecuniary sacrifice was involved in his accept- 
 ance of the position no one can doubt. But he surren- 
 dered his individual wishes and interests to the judgment 
 of his political friends. His department is one of the most 
 important in the political economy of the State. That the 
 same success and fidelity to the public interests will dis- 
 tinguish him in that position which has through life 
 characterized his public career, no one who knows him can 
 doubt. 
 
 In private life Judge Allen is genial, friendly and popu- 
 lar. He has been an unwavering, life-long Democrat. He 
 has been for many years a prominent and consistent member 
 of the Presbyterian Church of his own city, and in all the 
 relations of society he sustains the reputation and the char- 
 acter of a consistent Christian and a good citizen. 
 
MARSHALL B. CHAMPLAIN, 
 
 ATTOEXEY-GENERAL. 
 
 Marshall Bolds Champlain, Attorney-General of the 
 State, is a direct descendant from the discoverer of Lake 
 Champlain, and is therefore, on his father's side, of French 
 extraction. His mother's family were originally from Ire- 
 land. He unites in himself the ease and affability of the 
 former nation with the fervency and ardor of the latter 
 race. His father, Gilbert B. Champlain, was a success- 
 ful physician, who served as a hospital surgeon during the 
 war of 1812, and subsequently, for thirty years, enjoyed 
 an extensive practice in the western part of the State. He 
 was a man of great energy of character, and brilliant and 
 cultivated mind. He died in 1852. 
 
 Mr. Champlain was born in Stafford, Genesee county, 
 December 22, 1824. In his early years the family removed 
 to Cuba, Allegany county, where he has since continued 
 to reside. His education was confined, so flxr as scholastic 
 instruction was concerned, to the common schools, except 
 when, for a shoi't period, he attended the Middlebury 
 Academy, in Wyoming county. But what young Cham- 
 plain lacked in the advantages afforded by academies and 
 colleges, he made up by that without which even those 
 aids are useless — a determination to acquire knowledge, 
 and untiring assiduity in its pursuit. His father could 
 not aid him pecuniarily, and he received no help from 
 friends. But the obstacles of poverty Avere nothing to his 
 will, and the fountain of knowledge could not remain 
 unreached by him. 
 
 The young student read law with James A. Guernsey, 
 of Pittsford, Monroe County, and Hon. A. S. Diven, 
 
MARSHALL B. CHAMPLAHS". 39 
 
 of Ano-elica, and at the early age of eighteen was gratified 
 by being admitted to the Bar, and was soon rewarded by 
 a good practice, which rapidly extended throughout Alle- 
 gany and the adjoining counties. The youthful practi- 
 tioner was not long in attracting the attention of the 
 leading men in his section, and in January, 1845, he was 
 appointed by the Allegany Court of Common Pleas to the 
 position of District Attorney of the county. He was 
 admitted a Counsellor of the Supreme Court, " ex gratia,^'' to 
 enable him to accept the office, which he filled four years. 
 While he held that position, he was of course brought 
 more prominently to the attention of the public. His 
 personal appearance and manner were calculated to im- 
 press a jury as but few criminal pleaders are able to do. 
 Of medium height and erect cai-riage, piercing eye, dark 
 hair, and dark olive complexion, with a countenance 
 expressing intelligence and confidence, when he arose for a 
 forensic effort, not even his youth could prevent a stranger 
 from expecting a superior disj^lay of oratorical ability and 
 legal acumen. And no disappointment followed. His 
 voice swelled full and clear, his statements of fact were 
 concentrated, earnest and plain, and as he warmed with his 
 subject, he would become impressive and fervent, play- 
 ing upon the sympathies and passions of listeners with a 
 master's hand. At the end of four years he retired from 
 the office of District Attorney to the prosecution of an 
 extensive and remunerative practice. 
 
 Such marked talents necessarily commended their pos- 
 sessor for political preferment. In 1851, he was prevailed 
 upon to accept a nomination for State Senator. The 
 district was strongly Whig, by a usual majority of 1,500. 
 The previous candidate was James R. Doolittle, now 
 United States Senator from Wisconsin. His opponent was 
 General John A. McElwain, of Wyoming county, who 
 
40 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 •was elected by a majority of only 232 votes. Mr. Cham- 
 plain's popularity having been thus attested, he was 
 nominated the following year for Member of Assembly for 
 Allegany county, and was elected by a large majority. 
 He was the last Democratic member chosen from that 
 county. 
 
 The Assembly of 1853 was one of the most important, 
 in the business that came before it, of any that has ever 
 convened. In it, Mr. Champlain attained a brilliant repu- 
 tation. His perceptions were quick and strong ; his mind 
 clear and discriminating; his judgment sagacious and 
 prudent ; his reasoning logical and convincing. Besides, 
 he soon acquired an intimate knowledge of parliamentary 
 law, and was from the first a ready as well as an able 
 debater. A newspaper of that day of opposing politics, 
 said of him : " He is a young man of much promise and, 
 *' unless we much mistake, will yet distinguish himself 
 " among the public men of the State." He was a member 
 of the Canal Committee, and made a vigorous speech in 
 defence of the canal policy of Horatio Setmoue, then 
 Governor of the State. The occasion of his first partici- 
 pation, in any marked manner, in the proceedings of the 
 House, was an interesting one. On the discussion of some 
 financial resolutions the excitement ran high, and one 
 member refused to vote when his name was called. The 
 Speaker, Hon. William H. Ludlow, at once ordered him 
 under arrest. General Bueroughs, of Orleans, who led 
 the opposition, thought to avail himself of the occurrence 
 to intensify the feeling, widen a breach in the majority, 
 and compel the Speaker to resign. At the opening of the 
 session the next morning, he ofiered as a privileged ques- 
 tion, a resolution of censure, declaring the act of the 
 Speaker an exercise of arbitrary power, unwarranted by 
 the laws and Constitution of the State, and supported the 
 
MARSHALL B. CHAMPLAIN. 41 
 
 resolution in a speech of great force. Mr. Champlaix 
 responded in defence of tlie Speaker. It was off-hand, but 
 clear and irresistible in its exposition of parliamentary 
 law. Before his speech, it seemed that the combination of 
 factions, supported by the able effort of Mr. Burroughs, 
 would be successful, but Mr. Champlaix turned the tide, 
 and the Sjjeaker was sustained by an almost unanimous 
 vote. 
 
 Xo more significant evidence of the estimation in which 
 Mr. Champlaix was held can be given than the jjosition 
 assigned him in the corruption and imj^eachment proceed- 
 ings of the session. He was Chairman of the Select 
 Committee ordered to inquire into the conduct of the State 
 officers, and submitted a report which resulted in a resolu- 
 tion impeaching Canal Commissioner Joiix C. Mathir. 
 His sjDcech in support of his resolution exhibited great 
 research, eloquence and powei\ We make short extracts, 
 showing at once what he regarded as the hope and danger 
 of our institutions. Would that its admonitions might be 
 more generally heeded ! He said : 
 
 '•'New York has a mission to perform. It is to advance this 
 Republic to the highest position of national glory, or to sink it to 
 the lowest depths of national degradation. New York shall mould 
 the destiny of this empire. Her morals, her policy, her public 
 order, and her justice and liberty shall impress and give direction 
 to the American Republic. 
 
 " Sir, I have nearly done. I do not demand the condemnation 
 of John C. Mather — I have no right to demand it — you have no 
 power to grant it. Were I his enemy, which I am not, were all 
 the hate, personal or political, rankling in any human bosom against 
 him, concentrated in my own ; and did I stand upon this floor to 
 gratify that hate, and blast his earthly hopes, I would not dare to 
 demand more than his trial — a fair, impartial trial. I do not know 
 that he has an enemy in the world — whatever of party hate and 
 party asperity may exist elsewhere, I implore you to let it not 
 
42 LIFE SKETCHES. * 
 
 enter these halls. We have a consolation in the reflection that if 
 we adopt this resolution, we shall commit his case to a tribunal 
 high above such unhallowed influences. While on the one hand 
 we throw around the case of the accused a generous and noble 
 sympathy — while we guard with vigilance private right and per- 
 sonal liberty, we must remember that we have no tears to weep 
 over buried hopes ; that we cannot twine myrtle to decorate the 
 funeral car of a declining political reputation — that we cannot lay 
 in a common grave the sacred trust committed to our hands by the 
 laws and Constitution of our country. But seventy-seven years 
 have gone down the rapid tide of time since 
 
 ' The bounding isles of the dim woods rang with anthems of the free.' 
 
 " Have we proved the duration of our system of free govern- 
 ment. Need I refer you to the republics of the Old World. We 
 are familiar with their fabled history, we have read of their splen- 
 dors, their glories, their trophies, their temples, their triumphal 
 arches, the free spirit of liberty that pervaded them, their decline 
 and their ruin. How they crumbled and passed away in the 
 melancholy drama of destruction. One starthng truth has been 
 recorded o'er the ruin upon the sacred cenotaph of time. History 
 tells us that ' all the illusions of ambition realized, all the Avealth 
 of a universal commerce, all the achievements of successful heroism, 
 or all the establishments of this world's' wisdom, cannot secure to 
 empire the permanency of its possession.' **=!=* 
 
 "If property is invaded, if laws are violated, if personal liberty is 
 compromised — the people appeal Avith a firm confidence to the 
 Courts — the judicial tribunals of the land. If the judgment seat 
 becomes corrupted, its ermine sullied, they aj^peal to the Assembly. 
 If public officers are guilty of a dereliction of official duty, if public 
 laws are disobeyed and the public Aveal neglected, they come with 
 strong reliance upon the purity, the firmness of the People's Assem- 
 bly. There is no other tribunal to which they can appeal. Here 
 in the jury box of the grand inquest of the commonwealth, their 
 dearest hopes are centered. Here shall be the last great struggle 
 between that confiding people and the destroyer — the corrupting 
 moneyed power, which is fihng off the iron bars of your Constitu- 
 
MARSHALL B. CHAMPLAIN. 43 
 
 tion. Here is the palladium of their liberties. Here that liberty if 
 ever subverted, shall be cloven down." 
 
 The re.solution of impeachment was adopted by more 
 than a two-third vote. 
 
 Mr. CiiAMPLAix was selected by the Assembly as one of 
 its Managers, to conduct the trial before the High Court 
 of Impeachment. Johx K. Porter was selected as coun- 
 sel for the Managers. They were opposed by Hon. Rufus 
 W. Peckiia:h, Hon. James T. Brady and Hon. Johx H. 
 Rey^stolds, who appeared as counsel for the accused. Mr. 
 Champlai:^' took an important part in the debate. His 
 argument in regard to the general law governing impeach- 
 ment cases is so cogent and able that we make liberal 
 extracts from it. Events which have recently excited the 
 country, impart to his remarks fresh interest. He said : 
 
 '"All poAver is inherent in the people. They have granted to 
 their immediate representatives, the Assembly, the right of impeach- 
 ment. This branch of government is nearest to them, and reflects 
 their wants, and will the more vigilantly guard their rights. It is 
 a power to accuse; to say what acts in a public officer are sufficient 
 in turpitude to demand his removal from office ; what acts disgrace 
 the official and dishonor the State. The Constitution gives this tri- 
 bunal simply the power to try the fact and pronounce the judg- 
 ment. If you have jurisdiction of the officer, then the duty is 
 solemnly enjoined to try the accusation preferred, and if proven to 
 be true in point of fact, to declare the judgment. 
 
 " The Constitution does not vest the power to impeach or accuse 
 conjointly in the Assembly and the Court. It is exclusive with the 
 Assembly. If the Court may revise and modify the articles of 
 impeachment, or strike out accusations, what is it but a reversal 
 of the action of the Assembly, and an exercise of the function of 
 impeachment ? We claim it would be a usurpation of a constitu- 
 tional prerogative of the A<^sembly and an invasion of the solemn 
 rights of the people. Ko Court can despoil the popular branch of 
 the Legislature of this power. Judicial opinion, the waves of par- 
 
44 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 tizaii prejudice, or passion, may beat upon it in vain, but they cannot 
 subvert it. It is founded in the Constitution itself, and upheld by 
 the spirit and power of a free-born people. As a precedent, such 
 an adjudication is full of danger. Suppose that the People by their 
 verdict, ■which Avould be the judgment of the highest tribunal in 
 the world, should reassert this prerogative ; that, rising in their 
 primitive power and energy, they should affirm that the right of 
 impeachment is vested alone by the Constitution in the Assembly, 
 acting through their immediate representatives, they place the pro- 
 mulgation of that constitutional right in the solemn form of an 
 impeachment against the judges Avho have invaded it! This tribu- 
 nal could again usurp a jurisdiction they do not possess ; again 
 invade the prerogatives of the House ; again mutilate the record of 
 accusation; again strike out the articles that impugned them, 
 declare their own immunity and beat down in the dust the consti- 
 tutional power of the People and their Assembly ; and thus the 
 order and harmony of the government would be subverted. The 
 great bulwark of the people, reared against vice and corruption in 
 the government, would be annihilated, and a revolution only could 
 apply the remedy. 
 
 "Sir, standing here in the highest tribunal of the commonwealth, 
 whose humble agent I am, the dictates of a high duty compels me 
 most solemnly to protest against the exercise of this power. Its 
 usurpation now and in this case, may not fix the public attention or 
 arouse the public fears. The event may pass from the public 
 mind like the fleeting clouds upon the horizon, but a conviction 
 weighs upon me that the time shall come, and come as swiftly as 
 the engendering corruptions of the age can bring it, when this 
 sacred principle of constitutional right in the Assemby will be vin- 
 dicated by the recuperative power of the people. The fair fabric 
 of civil government may totter to the fall. The absence of public 
 virtue in government officials may enshroud all in gloom. The dark- 
 ness of political decay and ruin may o'ershadow the land. But this 
 great principle regenerated, breaking forth like the bright effulgence 
 of morning, shall dispel the darkness, and give back to the People's 
 Assembly the high prerogative of which they had been despoiled, 
 and restore to a violated Constitution its departed splendor. 
 
MARSHALL B. CHAMPLAIX. 45 
 
 "This brings me to the examination of the question raised by 
 the counsel, whether an act to be impeachable, must be an indicta- 
 able offense. We shall maintain, that by the Common Law, to 
 which the counsel has appealed, by the usage of Parhament, by all 
 the authorities upon this subject, it is not necessary that an act in 
 orchr to he impeachahh, should he indictahle as a crime at Common 
 Laio, or hy any Statute. We can follow the counsel in his argu- 
 ment, until he refers to the Common Law, to define impeachable 
 acts, and then we choose to refer to one branch of that Law, 
 and he to another. He goes to the provisions of the Common 
 Law, which define indictable crimes — felonies and misdemeanors as 
 such. We prefer to go to that portion ivhitli defines ivhat shall consti- 
 tute impeachcd)h crimes and misdemeanors; and we claim that the 
 Common Law of impeachments, the usage of Parliament, clearly 
 establishes, from the very nature of the proceeding, that the act 
 for which an impeachment may be instituted, need not consist of 
 an indictahle crimed 
 
 Citations of several cases follow. 
 
 " It will be perceived that these cases fully establish the doctrine 
 that an impeachment may be preferred for a usurpation of power, 
 for an excess of jurisdiction, and as Mr. Justice Story says, for neg- 
 lects or malversations in office. What those neglects or malversa- 
 tions shall he is not defined, and I think the counsel will no where 
 find by the authority of any tribunal that the precise class of acts 
 of official misconduct, which are impeachable, have been specified. 
 They cannot be laid down, for the reason that it is a matter which 
 cannot be exactly defined. It may vary with the varying interests 
 of the community, or the changing pohcy of government. The 
 right is reserved to the impeaching body to judge for what sort of 
 misconduct or for what magnitude of misconduct an impeachment 
 may be preferred. When the policy of a government becomes 
 fixed, whatever is opposed to that policy, whatever acts in a pub- 
 lic office, conflict with and affect adversely the public weal, those 
 acts become impeachable. The officer is bound to support the laws, 
 the policy, the prosperity, and the honor of the government he 
 represents. When he neglects this, or acts in direct conflict with 
 
46 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 them, then he forfeits his trust, he violates the compact under which 
 he accepted the franchise, and becomes liable to be removed by 
 impeachment." 
 
 " The theory of this motion is not only that the official who is 
 upon trial, has usurped an important prerogative, not only that he 
 has been guilty of a gross excess of official power, but that the 
 dark outline of his acts has been filled up by corruption — foul cor- 
 ruption. This is conceded by the motion ; and it at the same time 
 asserts that he is not liable to trial or removal, We charge him, 
 in the first five articles, with having awarded contracts for $6,000,- 
 000 of work. His counsel come before this tribunal and say, this 
 was a usurpation of power ; he had no right to do it. They strike 
 from around him all semblance of law, all semblance of official 
 authority. They concede, that in the usurpation of that power, 
 and in its exercise, he disgraced his ofBce and was guilty of corrup- 
 tion. And yet, the startling and monstrous doctrine is advanced, 
 that the State is powerless to dissolve its connection with this 
 delinquent. Mr. Justice Story says that it is the purpose of an 
 impeachment to withdraw from the hands of an official a trust that 
 he has betrayed. It is the purpose of an impeachment to take 
 back from an officer, an office that the people have conferred upon 
 him, when, by any act in the exercise of that office, usurped or 
 not, assumed or not, indictable or not, he has shown himself 
 unworthy longer to hold it. Why, sir, it seems to me that if this 
 doctrine is to be maintained, disgrace and infamy, long and lasting, 
 may be inflicted upon the fair escutcheon of a State or Nation, 
 with no power in the government of either, to rid itself of the 
 unworthy official. Shall it be said that a conspiracy, a corruption, 
 under even an assumed power, is not a disgrace to the officer ? 
 Shall it be said that it is not official misconduct ? Shall it be said 
 that it is not dishonorable ? It is dishonorable to all to whom honor 
 is dear. Shall it be said that an officer may not show himself, by 
 the manner in which he executes an unconstitutional law, entirely 
 unfit to execute a valid law ? Why, sir, crime in the conduct of 
 high officials, has but to be ingenious and studiously avoid the inhi- 
 bitions of criminal law, by steering clear of an indictment, and 
 according to this doctrine the State would be utterly powerless to 
 
MARSHALL E. CHAMPLAIN. 47 
 
 discharge from her temples the unworthy official, or dissolve her 
 connection with him. It is not enough that the commonwealth 
 has suffered a deep pecuniary injury. It is not enough that a dark 
 cloud has been thrown athwart the pathway of her advancement 
 in public glor3\ It is not enough that the generous sensibilities of 
 her citizens have been deeply wounded by her dishonor. But you 
 are called upon, solemnly to declare that she cannot divorce herself 
 from the unworthy agent who has betrayed her ; that she must, 
 although struggling to avert the catastrophe, become an accomplice 
 in the crime, by continuing the official character of the criminal." 
 
 The Court denied the motion against Avhich the argu- 
 ment of Mr. Champlaust had been directed. 
 
 Ml". Champlain's coohiess and skill on the floor, with 
 his superior abilities, secured for him tlie acknowledged 
 position of leader of his party in the House. It was dur- 
 ing this session that dissensions began in the Democratic 
 party. The inaugural address of President Pierce was 
 the occasion for a development of this division. Resolu- 
 tions indorsing the Inaugural were introduced, but they 
 were deemed too faltering and cold by others, and addi- 
 tional resolutions more full and hearty were offered. These 
 w^ere sustained by Mr. Champlaix in an eloquent 
 impromptu speech, which was copied by the leading Demo- 
 cratic papers of the country, and elicited the warmest 
 encomiums from the friends of the President. 
 
 Mr. Champlain has always been a consistent Democrat. 
 His first participation in politics was in 1844, when he took 
 the stump for James K. Polk, as he also did in 1848 for 
 Lewis Cass. He has supported every Democratic candi- 
 date for the Presidency since that time. He was admitted 
 to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1858, on 
 motion of Mr. Black. He was a delegate to the Charles- 
 ton Convention in 1860, supported Douglas, and was 
 chosen to present the claims of the New York delegates. 
 
48 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 In 1861, upon the withdrawal of Hon, Ltmais^ Teemaine 
 as candidate for Attorney-General, Mr. Champlai^t Avas 
 substituted. In Jul 3^, 1862, Governor Moegan appointed 
 him a member of the War Committee of his Congressional 
 District, and in conjunction with Hon. MartijST Grover 
 and Hon. Wilkes Angel, the duty was well and faithfully 
 performed. He was again nominated for Attorney-Gene- 
 ral in 1863. In 1864, he was a delegate to the Chicago 
 Convention, favoring the nomination of Gen. McClellan. 
 In April, 1867, he was elected a Delegate at Large to the 
 Constitutional Convention of this State, where his partici- 
 pation in the debates exhibited the same finish, clearness 
 and power which has always characterized his efforts. 
 His speeches upon the Rights of Naturalized Citizens, 
 Suffrage, National Banks and in Defense of Personal 
 Liberty, attracted wide attention for their forcible declara- 
 tion of his sentiments on those subjects. That upon 
 " Personal Liberty " has been extensively published in 
 Democratic papers from Maine to California. He was 
 elected Attorney-General in the fall of 1867. His popular- 
 ity in his own section of the State was attested by the fact 
 that in the town in which he resides he ran 150 ahead of 
 his ticket ; in the county about five hundred, and largely 
 also in the adjoining counties. 
 
 Fearless, able, firm and upright in public life, Mr. Cham- 
 plain is also honored in private life. As a neighbor and 
 citizen, he is honored ; his social qualities render him a 
 favorite in society, and his kindliness of heart, manifested 
 in practical deeds of love, have attached him to the more 
 humble. 
 
WHP:ELER H. BRISTOL, 
 
 STATE TREASURER. 
 
 Mr. Bristol Avas born in Canaan, Columbia County, 
 Xew York, January 16, 1818. He had none of the advan- 
 tages of education except such as were derived from the 
 common schools of the country. During his boyhood he 
 devoted his time to agricultural pursuits. At the age of 
 eighteen he left home and became engaged with an 
 engineering party upon the construction of the Utica and 
 Schenectady railroad. Upon the completion of that work 
 he went to Ohio and was engaged in various kinds of 
 business until 1847, when he became engaged upon the 
 construction of the New York and Erie railroad, where 
 he remained until 1854, when he was appointed Assistant 
 Superintendent of the Ohio and Mississippi railroad at 
 Cincinnati, and continued upon that road nntil 1857, when 
 he became one of the firm known as the McCallum Bridge 
 Company in Cincinnati, and has continued as such during 
 the past ten years, spending most of his time in the con- 
 struction of bridges in the Western and Southern States. 
 In 1863 and 1864, he was engaged in re-building bridges 
 for the Government, which had been destroyed by the 
 confederate army to impede the progress of our soldiers. 
 Among the prominent bridges re-constructed were the 
 bridges at Bridgeport, Alabama, and London, Tennessee, 
 and many others in the same States. In 1853, he was 
 appointed by Governor Seymour to fill the vacancy in the 
 ofiice of State Engineer, caused by the resignation of W. 
 J. McAlpiiste, but business arrangements compelled him 
 to decline the appointment. He was nominated xxpon the 
 7 
 
50 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Democratic ticket in 1853, for State Engineer but the 
 election resulted in the success of Joiix T. Clakk, 
 the Whig candidate. The Democrats of Tioga county- 
 nominated him for Member of Assembly in 1863 and 1864, 
 and although defeated in both elections, he ran largely- 
 ahead of his ticket, reducing the usual majority of 1,200 
 to about 350. He has held the office of Supervisor of the 
 town of Tioga for the past two years, and was the only- 
 Democratic Supervisor in the county. 
 
 Mr. Bristol has always acted with the Democratic 
 party. He gave liberally towards the support of the 
 Government during the war, and sustained the Adminis- 
 tration in its efforts to maintain the Union. He has 
 always been steadfast and firm in his devotion to the Con- 
 stitution, and opposed to every infi-ingement of this heri- 
 tage of the Nation. Possessed of ample means, mainly the 
 result of his own remarkable energy, his liberal hand is 
 ever open to the poor, and ready to help forward the 
 enterprise of his neighbors. Whatever is of public interest 
 finds in him ready cooperation. Though largely engaged 
 in business, both in Cincinnati and Owego, at which latter 
 place he has extensive iron works, he yet finds time to take 
 an active part in all matters of local interest, political and 
 social. He is a vestryman in his parish church, and gives 
 to it a sincere interest and most liberal support, though 
 not a communicant. The beauty of his residence at Glen 
 Mary, near Owego, the former home of N. P. Willis, and 
 named by him, is not more attractive than the hearty 
 hospitality that generously awaits those who visit it. 
 His character is read in his fine frank face, as a man 
 who despises sham. He is outspoken and fearless, never 
 coui'ting popularity, and in consequence possessed of 
 the more. He is untiring in energy, and courageous in 
 what he believes to be his duty. Of the high estimate in 
 
WHEELER H. BRISTOL. 51 
 
 which his character is held as a citizen and man by those 
 who know him best, no stronger assurance could be given 
 than the vote of his county, which is strongly Republican, 
 where he ran largely ahead of his ticket in the late can- 
 vass. 
 
 Pie was elected Treasurer of the State of New York in 
 November, 1867, on the Democratic ticket, by a majority 
 of 48,000. His known integrity is a guarantee that he 
 will discharge his duties faithfullv and honestlv. 
 
VAN RENSSELAER RICHMOND, 
 
 STATE E]^fGIXEEE AND SURVEYOR. 
 
 Van R. Richmond is a life-long engineer. He is thor- 
 oughly conversant with all the duties of that position on 
 the canals. Pie Avas born in Preston, Chenango County, 
 in January, 1812, being the eldest son of Oliver Rich- 
 mond. His father was a farmer, who died in 1853, at an 
 advanced age. The son was educated at the Academy in 
 Oxford, Chenango County, receiving a first rate practical 
 business education. 
 
 Mr. Richmond, on attaining his ma.]ority, became engaged 
 upon the Chenango canal, then in process of construction, 
 and received from the State the appointment of Chairman 
 in the engineering force. He remained on this canal, 
 gradually rising in point of rank, until 1837, when he was 
 appointed Resident Engineer on the Er^e canal, and took 
 up his residence in Lyons. In 1842, he was placed in 
 charge of the entire Middle Division, under Jonas Earll 
 and Daniel P. Bissell as Canal Commissioners. He held 
 this position until 1848, when he resigned, in order to 
 accept an appointment on the OsAvego Railroad. 
 
 About this time, the Canal Board decided to run a line 
 for the enlarged canal from Jordan to the Cayuga Marshes. 
 This work, including the aqueduct across the Seneca 
 river, will be recognized as one of the most important 
 along the entire canal. The Board, appreciating the neces- 
 sity of having the most accomplished engineer to design 
 the construction, after canvassing the merits of every man 
 in their employ, and, in fact, of all the leading engineers 
 of the State, selected Mr. Richmond as the man to whom 
 
VAN RENSSELAER RICHMOND, 53 
 
 the trust could be most safely confided. The value of this 
 choice will he the more readily understood, when we state 
 that the Board was Whig in politics, while Mr. R. had 
 never been anything else than a Democrat. He accepted 
 an appointment so flattering, perfected his plans, including 
 the aqueduct, submitted them and they were approved. 
 They still remain, the most telling evidences of the skill, 
 capacity and genius of their designer. Having satisfac- 
 torily arranged the plan, Mr. R. resigned in 1850. 
 
 He was at once tendered, and accepted, the oflice of 
 Division Engineer of the Syracuse and Rochester direct 
 railroad, Avhich he held imtil 1852, when he was again 
 appointed Division Engineer of the Middle Division of 
 the Canals. A Whig Canal Board was again elected in the 
 Fall of 1853, the Hon. John T. Clark being chosen State 
 Engineer. Very persistent efibrts were made to secure 
 the removal of Mr. Richmond, but Mr. Clark turned 
 away the most powerful influences, deciding to retain his 
 services, a fact than which none could bear stronger testi- 
 monial to his personal fitness and worth. The American 
 party assumed control of the Canal Board in 1856, and at 
 once removed Mr. R., for the only time in his life. He 
 thereupon retired to his home in Lyons, where he resided 
 until January, 1858, when, in obedience to the voice of the 
 people, as expressed in the election of the preceding Fall, he 
 entered upon the discharge of the duties of the oflice of State 
 Engineer and Surveyor. He acquitted himself to the entire 
 satisfaction of the business public during the two years of his 
 term, retiring with honor and additional credit. He was 
 again elected in 1867. He is of course rendering entire 
 satisfaction to the public in the method of his adminis- 
 tration. 
 
 Of Mr, Richmond's superior abilities as an engineer we 
 need not speak. The tributes to his capacities which we 
 
54 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 have recorded are a sufficient attestation. He is also 
 industrious, upright, faithful and energetic. He is of a 
 tall and slender form, but is nevertheless capable of much 
 physical endurance. His complexion is fair, hair light, 
 eyes light blue. In short, he is an athlete, in mind and 
 body. 
 
PATRICK H. JONES, 
 
 CLERK OF THE COURT OF APPEALS. 
 
 Mr. JoxEs is a gentleman of slight proportions, but 
 plainly possessing powers of great endurance. He has a 
 mild, calculating eye, a pleasant face, and a courteous, 
 modest mien. He was born in the county of Westmeath, 
 Ireland, November 20th, 1830. At the age of seven he 
 was sent to a grammar school in the city of Dublin, 
 where he remained for three years; and, in 1840, at the 
 age of ten, he came to this country with his parents, who 
 settled on a form in the county of Cattaraugus, New 
 Yoi'k. He w^as sent by his parents to the Union School 
 at Ellicottville, then presided over by Professor Lowell, 
 of Middlebury College, Vermont, where he was well 
 grounded in the common branches of school studies. In 
 1850, being then twenty yeai'S of age, he became con- 
 nected with a leading journal of this State, and traveled 
 through the Western States as its correspondent. He 
 subsequently became the local editor of the " Buftalo 
 Republic," and one of the editors of the " Buffalo Sen- 
 tinel." 
 
 The pursuits of a journalist do not appear to have been 
 congenial to the tastes of Mr. Jones, for, in 1853, he 
 began the study of law in the office of Hon. Addison G. 
 Rice, at Ellicottville, New York. Three years afterward, 
 Mr. Jones was admitted to the bar, and commenced the 
 practice of law in partnersliip with Mr. Rice ; he contin- 
 ued this partnership until the outbreak of the Rebellion, 
 when, like so many of his profession, he left the desk of a 
 lawyer to enter the army, in which he was destined to 
 
56 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 rise to distinction. Much of the interest of this sketch, 
 of course, centers in his military career. It was his 
 bravery which brought him so early into prominence, and 
 secured his elevation by the voice of the people to high 
 official position, as a spontaneous testimonial of approba- 
 tion and thankfulness for services rendei'ed to his country. 
 He entered the service in 1861, as Second Lieutenant in 
 the 37th Regiment, New York Volunteers, commanded by 
 Colonel J. H. McCuxn^, now one of the judges of the 
 Superior Coui't of New York city. His regiment was 
 attached to the army of General McClellan, and Lieu- 
 tenant Jones served throughout the whole Campaign of 
 the Peninsula, and was present at the battles of Williams- 
 burgh, Fair Oaks, and the battles of the celebrated 
 retreat to Harrison's Landing. For gallant conduct 
 during this campaign. Lieutenant Jones wds success- 
 ively promoted Adjutant and Major of his regiment, 
 before the close of the Peninsular cami^aign. That the 
 services of Lieutenant Jones' regiment, during these bat- 
 tles, were important, and the fighting severe, will appear 
 from the fact that it formed a part of the command of the 
 gallant Kearney, who fell at Chantilly. Major Jones 
 Avas commissioned Colonel of the 154th Regiment, New 
 York Volunteers, in October, 1862. This regiment was 
 raised in the counties of Cattaraugus and Chautauqua. 
 UjDon its arrival at Washington, Colonel Jones assumed 
 command of it, having just left his old regiment, the 37th, 
 in which he had so gallantly earned his promotion. He 
 soon afterward reported to General Sigel, whose command 
 at that time formed a part of the Army of the Potomac. 
 Upon the retirement of General Buenside in the new 
 organization of the army, Colonel Jones' regiment was a 
 portion of the command of General O. O. Howard, under 
 whom he fought at Chancellorsville, where he fell severely 
 
PATRICK H, JONEF. 57 
 
 wounded, fighting amidst the rout of his corps. He fell 
 into the enemy's hands during the battle, but was soon 
 after exchanged. In the meantime, and while he was 
 recovering from his wounds, General Howard's corps, the 
 11th, and Slocum's, the 12th, were ordered to the west 
 under Hooker, to relieve the starving army of Thomas 
 at Chattanooga, recently driven by BractG from the field 
 of Chickamauga. Colonel Jones rejoined his regiment the 
 day before the battle of Chattanooga, having hastened 
 thither as soon as the nature of his wounds would admit, 
 and thus had the honor of being present at that great 
 battle which eftectually turned the tide of rebel victory in 
 the west, and plucked from Bragg the laurels won at 
 Chickamauga. Soon after the corps of Howard and 
 Slocuh were consolidated by order of General Grant, and 
 formed thenceforth the 20tli corps under General Hooker. 
 In the new organization. Colonel Jones was assigned with 
 his regiment to the division of General J. W. Geary 
 (present Governor of Pennsylvania), a sagacious and skill- 
 ful officer. He commanded a brigade under General 
 (teary during the terrible and glorious campaign of 
 Atlanta, and in the great march of Sherman to the Atlan- 
 tic ; and entered Savannah in triumph, on the 22d of 
 December, 1804, in the van of the army. It is well known 
 that General Geary's vigilance Avas rewarded on the 
 occasion by the discovery of the evacuation of the city 
 by the enemy. He entered Savannah while the rest of 
 the army were sleeping. Colonel Jones was stationed 
 with his brigade in the city. For services during the cam- 
 paigns of Chattanooga and Atlanta, he was promoted to 
 the rank of Brigadiei'-General, upon the recommendation 
 of Generals Hooker and Howard, approved by General 
 Sherman himself After the great review at Washington, 
 active service being over, he resigned his commission and 
 
 8 
 
58 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 retired to civil life. He recommenced the practice of law, 
 on his return home. He was elected on the Union Repub- 
 lican ticket of 1865 to the position of Clerk of the Court 
 of Appeals, and entered upon the duties of the office Janu- 
 ary 1st, 1866. In their discharge he has secured the par- 
 ticular approval of the legal fraternity, who have found 
 him ever attentive and obliging, and faithful to his trusts. 
 Such is a short account of the interesting history of this 
 gentleman. So many men of the present day, fresh from 
 the fields of strife, are so worthy of admiration, that it 
 seems almost invidioiis to eulogize any particular one ; but 
 we cannot refrain from adding that Mr. Jones' course, from 
 boyhood to the present time, has been marked by integrity 
 of purpose and bravery of spirit. Born in a land where 
 the oppression of hundreds of years has not been able to 
 crush out the longings of the people for liberty, and 
 coming to a country where every man is a sovereign, and 
 where eagerness for distinction, wealth and power, is 
 remarkable, he has, in reality, " won his Avay " in a pi-aise- 
 worthy manner. 
 
SENATORS. 
 
 A. BLEECKER BANKS. 
 
 A. Bleecker Banks, the Senator from the Thirteenth 
 District, was born in the city of New York March 7, 1835. 
 His father, David Baxks, is one of the oldest business 
 men of New York, having established a law book publish- 
 ing house in that city as early as 1802, and soon after 
 connected Avith the same a branch house at Albany, the 
 capital of the State. These establishments are now car- 
 ried on by the sons of the founder, the present Senator 
 being at the head of the branch house at Albany. 
 
 Mr. Banks was educated to business, and at an early 
 age became familiar with all the various branches of trade 
 connected with printing and publishing books. The char- 
 acter of the business in which his father was engaged 
 brought him in contact with men of the highest reputa- 
 tion, and made him fomiliar with authors whose works 
 must continue to remain the standard of law literature for 
 many generations to come. The influence thus exerted 
 over his mind was not lost. It tended to shape his future 
 course and inspired him with an ambition to make his 
 own influence felt among those with whom he might be 
 called upon to associate. At the age of nineteen he 
 entered Columbia College and enjoyed the benefits of that 
 
60 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 renowned institution. In 1857, when but twenty-two years 
 of age, he assumed the management of the Albany pub- 
 lishing house of Banks & Brothers, and became one of the 
 partners. In 1860 he Avas the Democratic candidate for 
 the Assembly in the Second District, Albany county. 
 The odds were vastly against him, but his popularity was 
 such that he cut down the large Republican majority of 
 the previous year to 265. In 1861 he changed his resi- 
 dence to the Third, or what is better known as the City 
 District, and Avas again put in nomination for the Assem- 
 bly. This effort proved a success, as he was elected by a 
 majority of 447. He Avas one of the youngest merabei'S 
 of the House that year, but from his knoAvledge of public 
 men and measures, took rank at once as a man of influ- 
 ence ; and although in a political minority was accorded 
 places upon important committees. 
 
 In 1867, after a residence of ten years in Albany, his 
 friends brought forAvard his name as a candidate for Sena- 
 tor. After a someAA'hat active cauA^ass, he was nominated 
 for that oflice by the County Convention, and was elected 
 over Charles H. Adams, his popular opponent, by a 
 majority of 1,166. Two years before, the district now 
 represented by Mr. Banks, elected to the same position 
 Lorenzo D. Collins, Republican. 
 
 Senator Banks does not make pretensions to oratory. 
 His power to influence men lies in his activity, his keen 
 discernment, quick judgment and careful analysis of char- 
 acter. He is ready to give his energies in aid of public 
 enterprises, and uniformly acquires the position of a 
 leader in whateA'er he undertakes. Always a favorite 
 among those who know him best, he cannot fail to become 
 popular with his associates in the Senate, and with the 
 widening circle of acquaintance to which his position must 
 introduce him. 
 
GEORGE BEACH. 
 
 George Beach was born July 26, 1817, in Winchester, 
 Litchfield County, Connecticut — the natal soil of many of 
 the most prominent New York State politicians — and is 
 now in the 51st year of his age. His father, a plain, sub- 
 stantial farmer, was one of that now almost obsolete class 
 of clear-headed, sententious men, quite numerous lialf a 
 century agone. He evidently transmitted to his children 
 many of his excellent and decidedly practical traits of 
 character. 
 
 The circumstances of Senator Beach's parents being 
 moderate, his childhood was not luxurious, nor suri'ounded 
 by many advantages. In 1825, like " the march of empire," 
 westward he took his way, with his father's family, to the 
 Catskill Mountains, where, (land being not only cheap, but 
 the area so extended as to admit of cultivation on three 
 superficial sides), he soon became inured to the laborious 
 duties of a struggling farmer's son — occasionally attend- 
 ing a common district school — but fai'm labor in summer, 
 and lumbering in winter, monopolized his youthful years. 
 
 Early manifesting a taste for political life, upon the 
 attainment of his majority, he at once took a commanding 
 local position, and represented his town (Jewett) for four 
 years in the Boai'd of Supervisors of Greene County, 
 besides holding several minor town and county offices. 
 He was a prominent and active member of the New York 
 delegations to the Democratic National Conventions, in 
 1860 and 1864. In July, 1863, he Avas appointed, by Gov- 
 ernor Seymour, Colonel of the 86th Regiment, National 
 Guard, State of New York, and, in the fall of the same 
 
62 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 year he was elected to the State Senate, from the Greene 
 and Ulster district by 1,500 majority. In July, 1867, he 
 was appointed, by Governor Fenton, Brigadier-General of 
 the 8th Brigade, 5th Division, National Guard, State of 
 New York, and in November, 1867, he was re-elected to 
 the present Senate from the same district by a majority 
 of 2,016. 
 
 He has ever been an old-school Democrat, of " the 
 strictest sect," and was never known to deviate a hair's 
 breadth from the path of political fealty. 
 
 Senator Beach took an active ])art in the proceedings of 
 the Senate during the sessions of 1864-5. He was a mem- 
 ber of some of the most important committees, and, by 
 his untiring energy and strict attention to his duties as a 
 legislator, although largely in the political minority, was 
 instrumental in procuring the j^assage of several bills of 
 both general and local importance. His record was so 
 satisfactory to his constituents that he would have been 
 returned to the following Senate, only for the reason that 
 the nomination (on the principle of rotation) belonged to 
 Ulster county. But at the last election, when it was the 
 privilege of Greene county to name the candidate for 
 Senator, he was the unanimous choice of the delegation. 
 In the present Senate, he is a member of the Committees 
 on Militia, Roads and Bridges and Poor Laws. 
 
 As a speaker, Senator Beach is not ornate, though most 
 convincing and impressive. Utterly discarding the flowers 
 of rhetoric and rotund periods, he does not, like an illus- 
 trious Senatorial predecessor, " defy the English language," 
 but exhibits the workings of a rough-hewn, practical mind, 
 which has arrived at its common sense conclusions after 
 close scrutiny, and liberal observation, and dexterously 
 delivers its points and convictions with positive force. 
 
JOHN J. BRADLEY. 63 
 
 Mr. Beach possesses the most genial social qualifica- 
 cations, which, with his amiable, positive character, and 
 native shrewdness, promote his popularity among all 
 classes. 
 
 He resides in Catskill, Greene county, where he is at 
 present engaged in mercantile pursuits. 
 
 JOHN J. BRADLEY. 
 
 Senator Bradley is the representative of the Seventh 
 Senatorial District, comprising the Eighteenth, Twentieth 
 and Twenty-first Wards of the city of New York, a dis- 
 trict which embraces more wealth than any other district 
 of the State. He is a native of the city of New York, 
 and was born in the Third "Ward in March, 1831. He 
 will therefore be thirty-seven years of age before the close 
 of the present session. His parents were Irish, and came 
 to this country from Ireland in 1827. 
 
 Mr. Bradley was educated at the grammar school of 
 Columbia College. At the age of sixteen, he entered into 
 the employ of the importing house of George Pearce & 
 Co., as a clerk, where he remained for five years, occupy- 
 ing, most of the time, the most confidential position in 
 that house. He then engaged in the livery stable busi- 
 ness at the corner of Fourth avenue and Eighteenth street, 
 and is now one of the most enterprising livery stable pro- 
 prietors in the city of New York. 
 
 In 1855, when twenty-four years of age, he, at the 
 urgent solicitation of the Democrats of the Eighteenth 
 
64 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 "Ward, became a candidate for Councilman. The dis- 
 trict was considered a forlorn hope, but Mr. Bradley was 
 elected by a majority of three votes, and held the position 
 for three years. In 1857, he received the nomination for 
 Alderman in the Fourteenth Aldermanic District, and was 
 elected by a large majority. His course, while holding 
 that position, was such as to meet the commendation of 
 business men of the district. In fact he was one of the 
 most influential members of the Board. 
 
 In 1861, he was nominated by the Democrats of the 
 Sixth Senatorial District, then composed of the ninth, 
 fifteenth, sixteenth and eighteenth wards of the city of 
 New York. This was the first year of the Avar. Both 
 wings of the party united in his support and, although the 
 district was the stronghold of the Republican party in the 
 city, Mr. Bradley was elected by a handsome vote. The 
 Republican party, however, ran two candidates, Mr. Man- 
 NiERE and Mr. Smith, enabling Mr. Bradley to secure his 
 election by a plurality of about one thousand votes. He 
 took an active part in the Senate during the sessions of 
 1862 and 1863, making one of the most attentive and 
 industrious members of that body. He served on three 
 committees, being chairman of the Committee on Public 
 Expenditures, a position to which he was assigned by 
 Lieutenant-Governor Campbell, and was also a member 
 ^of the Committees on Claims and on Indian Afi*airs, 
 
 In 1866, he Avas nominated by Mayor Hoffmax, and 
 confirmed by the Board of Aldermen, as President of the 
 Croton Aqueduct Department. The incumbent of that 
 oftice held on to the position, claiming the right to do so 
 under one of those clauses in the tax levy, Avhich the 
 Republicans placed in that bill at the close of the session 
 of the Legislature of that year. A mandamus being 
 refused by the courts, Mr. Bradley gave up the contest. 
 
JOHN J. BRADLEY. 65 
 
 During the last campaign he Avas nominated by Tam- 
 many Hall, as the representative of the Seventh Senator- 
 ial District. The Mozart and Democratic Union factions 
 of the Democratic jsarty, nominated Jonx Hardy, a young 
 man who has heretofore shown himself a man of great 
 strength before the people in one portion of the district. 
 The Republicans united on Christopher Pullman, who 
 had made considerable reputation in the Board of Council- 
 men. The contest in the district was a spirited one, and 
 one of the most hotly fought of any district in the State. 
 Mr. Bradley not only came out successful, but lacked only 
 fifty-eight votes of receiving a majority over both of his 
 opponents. 
 
 In person Senator Bradley is of medium size and 
 height ; has light brown hair, blue eyes, and fresh counte- 
 nance. He is a gentleman of considerable wealth, wdiich 
 he has accumulated by his superior business attainments 
 and strict attention to whatever he undertakes. 
 
SAMUEL CAMPBELL. 
 
 The village of New York Mills lies in the lovely valley 
 of the Mohawk and Sauquoit. There are three factories, 
 the "Oneida," the famed "New York Mills," and the 
 " Bnrr Stone." For a mile and a half skirting each side 
 of the fine hard road, are the school houses and churches 
 of the village, the grounds and residences of the factory 
 owners, and the homes of the operatives. In summer, 
 New York Mills is very attractive ; it is one of the sights, 
 in Oneida county, which strangers go to see. The houses 
 of the workingmen are neat, convenient and healthy, most 
 of them standing back from the road, with yard in front, 
 garden in rear, and half hidden by foliage. Sobriety and 
 good order at all times prevail. 
 
 It is hard to realize tliat this factory peoj^le, with their 
 comfoi't, temperance and intelligence, their books, Sunday 
 observances, and winter lectures, their freedom from the 
 " clemming" of crowded Europe, are working at the same 
 business, and were originally, very many of them, of the 
 same nationality as the men and the women made familiar 
 to us by Parliamentary reports and debates, by poets and 
 novelists — the men and the women of Eliot, Mrs. Gas- 
 KELL, Charlotte Broxte, Johx Bright and Charles 
 KiNGSLEY. The good standing of New York Mills is due 
 to the character of the employes, which has always been 
 high, and to the regulations and example of the employers. 
 
 The memory of Benjamin Walcott is honored in many 
 places, but nowhere more honored than among the work- 
 ing people, for whose interest and happiness he was 
 zealous and responsible. The ovation given him some 
 
SAMUEL CAMPBELL. C7 
 
 years ago, on his return from tlie Old World, was a strik- 
 ing evidence of the love that was borne him ; the Avhole 
 population turning out to give him joj-ous welcome. His 
 ideas have, in the main, been carried out by his successors, 
 his son and Samuel Campbell, the stranger, whom, thirty- 
 five years ago, the elder Walcott welcomed within his 
 gates. 
 
 Samuel Campbell was born at Tarbolton, Ayrshire, 
 Scotland, in 1809. In his boyhood he had the advantages 
 of those schools for which his native land has been 
 renowned through Europe, since Johx Knox returned 
 from the feet of Calvin, and Scotland broke forever with 
 Rome. He came to America in 1831, and pitched his tent 
 in New York Mills. He began his new life, as a work- 
 ingraan, in the employ of Marshall & Walcott. He 
 had an iron frame, great working power, mechanical skill, 
 ready adaptation of means to ends, quick perception of 
 defects and remedies, and he rose steadily and rapidly. 
 He made many valuable improvements in machinery. In 
 1847, he became a partner in the company. From that 
 time his business career has been upward and onward. 
 The hands and brain of Mr. Caiscpbell have been cease- 
 lessly at work, and with large results in many directions. 
 And now, in his advancing years, he has the joy to know 
 that his ample fortune has been won by honest labor of 
 head and hand, Avithout a stain on his character or reputa- 
 tion, and with a full discharge of his duties to employes, 
 to community, to family and to country. 
 
 Mr. Campbell has given much attention to agriculture. 
 A fine farm is attached to his residence, and he has 
 imported and raised some of the best stock — Ayrshires, 
 Durhams and Alderneys. His herd of Ayrshires is the 
 best in the country. His stock has often won for him the 
 first prizes at State and county fairs. 
 
b8 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Mr. Campbell married, in 1833, the lady whose virtues 
 and whose pleasant ways cheered him during his long 
 years of toil, and who still presides over his household, A 
 large family of sons and daughters have grown up around 
 him ; his eldest son is Consul at Bayonne, France. The 
 residence of the Senator is on an eminence far back from 
 the road, in the centre of fine and variegated grounds, and 
 overlooking a wide and lovely landscape. The rooms are 
 high and large, the hall and staircase of unusual breadth 
 and sweep, and all around are memorials of his mother- 
 land. 
 
 Mr. Campbell was a Whig, afterward a Republican, 
 and always a devoted son of his adopted country. As 
 Supervisor of Whitestown and member of the War Com- 
 mittee of Oneida county, he worked with all his might 
 during the war and for the war. His liberality Avent 
 forth in every conceivable direction. We had intended to 
 give his benefactions, so far as known to us, but the list is 
 too long ; we have no room for it ; and a statement of 
 what we know Avould do but partial justice to an open- 
 handed patriotism most rare and honorable. The Union 
 party shoAved their sense of his nobleness in this regard 
 by appointing him a Delegate to the Convention, at Balti- 
 more, which nominated Mr. Liiccolx for his second term, 
 and by the large majority which sent him to the preced- 
 ing Senate. The manner of his nomination was very 
 complimentary. Dr. L. W. Rogers, of Utica, a man who 
 knew him well, prefaced the presentation of his name to 
 the Convention by the following address. 
 
 " Mr. President — I rise to name a candidate for Senator, who is 
 well known to the members of this Convention — sa favorably 
 known that he needs no word of eulogy from me. He is a man of 
 large experience in business, and well acquainted with the wants 
 and condition of the district ; a Democrat in the true sense of the 
 
SAMUEL CAMPBELL. 69 
 
 term, "who sympathizes with tlie common people, and aims to 
 improve and elevate them; a patriot, who stood by the country in 
 her day of trouble, laboring withX3ut ceasing, and contributing 
 Avithout stint to furnish troops for the Union army, and to support 
 our brave soldiers in the field ; a man Avhose character for personal 
 and political integrity is without reproach and above suspicion ; a 
 large-hearted, liberal gentleman, whom none know but to love, 
 none name but to praiser— Samuel Campbell, of Whitestown." 
 
 The strong sense of Mr. Campbell soon mastei-ed the 
 details of a Senator's duty; and, in his quiet, unobtrusive, 
 but effective way, he has accomplished all that he or his 
 constituents desired. His dischai-ge of the duties of his 
 position was so satisfactory to the Republicans of the dis- 
 trict that liis name was unanimously j^resented by the 
 nominating convention, and he was re-elected in 1867. 
 His integrity was so entirely unassailable and unques- 
 tioned, that he was selected by the presiding officer of 
 the Senate for the important, responsible and delicate 
 position of the Chairmanship of the Railroad Committee. 
 He will stand the ordeal safely. There Avill not be even 
 so much as the smell of fire on his garments. The 
 attention is naturally drawn to him as he sits in the Sen- 
 ate, and the eye of the stranger lingers on the fine head, 
 flowing beard, white hair and bright, cheery face, sur- 
 mounting the broad shoulders and stalwart frame of 
 Samuel Ca:mpbell. 
 
WILLIAM GAULDWELL. 
 
 William Cauldwell, Senator from the Ninth District, 
 was born in New York City on the 12th of October, 1824, 
 and is consequently in the 44th year of his age. His 
 father was a native of Scotland, and his mother, like him- 
 self was born in the metropolis. Like so many men who 
 have carved out by personal industry and indomitable 
 will, a reputation, and secured a competence, Mr. Cauld- 
 WELL had only the benefits of a common school education. 
 Early in life he began to learn the trade of a printer ; and 
 this, probably as much as anything else, was the basis of 
 his future success. He is now one of the editors and pub- 
 lishers of the New York Sunday Mercury, one of the most 
 widely circulated journals in the L^nion, having become 
 connected with it in 1850. 
 
 Senator Cauldwell has always taken an active interest 
 in politics, and yet has often refused many offers of politi- 
 cal advancement. A resident of the town of Morrisania, 
 in Westchester county, he has aided in making it one of 
 the most prosperous and noticeable places in the State. 
 For eleven consecutive years he has been its Supervisor, 
 chosen often without opposition, and always by an over- 
 whelming majority. He has also taken a deep interest in 
 the cause of public education, serving for nine or ten years 
 in the board of education of his town. In short, his name 
 is connected with almost everything pertaining to the 
 prosperity of his section of Westchester, 
 
 Mr. Cauldwell was presented for the position of State 
 Senator last fall, not entirely with his own consent. But 
 once nominated he entered into the canvass with spirit, 
 and was elected by the largest majority ever before given 
 
ORLOW W. CHAPMAN. 71 
 
 foi' any man in the district, which comprises tlie counties 
 of Westchester, Rockland and Putnam, Mr. Cauldwell 
 is and always has been a Democrat, and enjoys, in no 
 restricted way, the confidence and esteem of his associates. 
 Among the members of the Senate there are few who pos- 
 sess a more practical mind, or bring to their aid a more 
 extended experience. 
 
 ORLOW W. CHAPMAN. 
 
 Senator Chapman, representing the Twenty-fourth Dis- 
 trict (Broome, Tioga and Tompkins counties) is one of 
 the younger members of the Senate. His age is 35 years. 
 He was born in Ellington, Connecticut, on the Yth of 
 January, 1832. His father Calvin Chapman, was a 
 farmer. Young Chapman, having acquired a good ordi- 
 nary education at the Ellington Academy, struck out 
 another path, and began by teaching a district school at 
 Tolland, Connecticut, when he was 17 years of age; and 
 during three succeeding winters he taught at East Long 
 Meadow, Massachusetts. Entering Union College in this 
 State as a sophomore in 1851, he was graduated with his 
 class in 1854, though he had occupied a part of his time in 
 teaching. Subsequently he was engaged at Fergusonville 
 Academy, Delaware county, as Professor of Languages. 
 In 1856, Mr. Chapman began the study of the law, with 
 Robert Parker, formerly a partner of the Hon, Amasa J. 
 Parker, and finishing his course removed to Binghamton, 
 where he was wholly i;nacquainted, in 1858, and estab- 
 lished himself in the practice of his profession. Among 
 the men of talent and reputation practicing law in Bing- 
 hamton at that time were Lewis Seymour, Giles W. 
 
12 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 HoTCHKTSs, afterward member of Congress, and the late 
 Hon. D. S. DiCKiNsox. The young lawyer rapidly gained 
 position, and in the summer of 1862, in accordance with a 
 Ijetition of the bar of Binghamton, he was appointed 
 District Attorney, for the unexpired term of Geokge 
 !N'oETHRUP, deceased. In the fall of the same year he was 
 elected to fill the office, and in 1865 was re-elected, leading 
 liis ticket. At the time when he was chosen Senator in 
 November last, one year of his official term as District 
 Attorney remained to be filled. Politically Mr. Chap3IAX 
 has always been a staunch Republican. 
 
 Mr. Chapman's time has been almost exclusively given 
 to the duties of his profession, and to public duty ; but he 
 has occasionally found leisure to engage in literary labor* 
 While studying law he was chosen poet for the occasion 
 of an anniversary celebration of the Zeta Phi Society of 
 Delhi, and in 1866 was selected as orator by that society 
 on a similar occasion. His oration was repeated by request 
 in Delhi in 1867. He has also lectured at intervals before 
 lyceums, &c., and for the benefit of schools. During his 
 practice, he has been an occasional contributor of articles 
 on political and other topics for the press. 
 
 As District Attorney, Mr. Chapman's record was singu- 
 larly good. His faithfulness and ability were conceded, 
 and were conspicuously shown in many important cases. 
 In an unusual number of these he was successful. Only 
 two indictments found during his official terms were 
 quashed. 
 
 As a citizen and public officer Mr. Chapman enjoys 
 universal esteem. He resides permanently in Binghamton. 
 
 In the Senate he is chairman of the Committees on Liter- 
 ature and Erection of Towns and Counties, and is also a 
 member of the Committees on Claims and Roads and 
 Bridges. 
 
THOMAS J. CREAMER. 
 
 Senator Creamer is the youngest member of the present 
 Senate, and, perhaps, the yonngest man that has ever held 
 a seat in that body. He is of Irish descent, and was born 
 on the 26th day of May, 1842, and is, therefore, in his 
 twenty-sixth year. 
 
 Mr. Creamer may truly be termed a self-made man, 
 having, by his own energy and perseverance, worked his 
 way to the present prominent position he occupies in the 
 councils of the State without the advantasce of a collesfiate 
 education, which many of our public men have had, and 
 without even the privilege of a common school education, 
 which most of the young men of the present time possess. 
 He kas, nevertheless, by close application and untiring 
 energy, fitted himself for the duties of the high position 
 which he now holds, far better than most men upon whom 
 a small fortune has been expended in academical training. 
 
 At the age of ten years he left the public schools in the 
 city of New York, and engaged as an errand boy in a dry 
 goods establishment, where he remained several years. 
 
 Few have ever started to fight life's battles at an earlier 
 age, and few men have achieved the same success within 
 such a short period. Mercantile life did not suit his tastes, 
 and he resolved upon a change to that of a professional. 
 The profession of law being more in accordance with his 
 turn of mind, he applied himself diligently night and day 
 to his studies, and at the age of twenty-one was admitted 
 as a member of the New York Bar. Soon after this he 
 commenced taking an active part in politics, and was 
 elected a member of Assembly in the fall of 1864, polling 
 10 
 
74 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 the largest vote ever cast for a candidate in the district. 
 In the Legislature of 1865, he took an active part in the 
 debates on all questions relating to the city of New York, 
 and delivered several able speeches in oj^position to the 
 establishment of commission government. He served 
 during that session on the Committees on Claims and 
 Roads and Bridges. He was re-elected in the fall of 1865, 
 by over 2,000 majority, and was one of the most active 
 members on the Democratic side during the session of 
 1866. He served on the Committees on Railroads, Claims 
 and Engrossed Bills, and won for himself while a member, 
 the friendship of even his political opponents by his 
 straightforward and manly' defense of his principles. 
 During that session he was a strong advocate of a 
 change in our militia law, in order to place the old fogy 
 generals on the retired list, and did more to bring about 
 the desired change than any other member of the Legisla- 
 ture. 
 
 Mr. Ceeamer was re-elected in the fall of 1866 by 
 an increased majority, no one in the district being willing 
 to run in opposition to him. In the session of 1867 he 
 served on the Committees on Insurance and on Privileges 
 and Elections, and also was a member of the Grinding 
 Committee. He was chairman of a committee to investi- 
 gate the affairs of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, 
 and made a very able report to the Assembly in connec- 
 tion with the same. During the session he developed a 
 talent as a legislator far better than at any former 
 period, and was universally acknowledged as one of the 
 most upright, efficient and caj^able members on the floor. 
 
 Few men in the Assembly commanded that universal 
 respect and confidence of all connected with the Legisla- 
 ture as did " Tom " Ckeamer. During his career in the 
 Assembly not a breath of suspicion has ever been raised 
 
THOMAS J. CREAMER. to 
 
 against him — he has passed through all the temptations 
 and trying ordeals of three sessions, and that too when, 
 according to general report, corniption was the rule and 
 honesty the exception. In the fall of 1867, Mr. Creamer 
 was unanimously nominated by the Tammany Democracy 
 of the Sixth Senatorial District, comprising the tenth, 
 eleventh and seventeenth wards of the city of New York, 
 and was elected by a majority of 12,500, the largest 
 majority ever received by a Senator since the organization 
 of the State, In the Senate he is a member of the import- 
 ant Committee on Municipal Affairs, serving also on the 
 Committees on Engrossed Bills and Grievances, and 
 although the youngest man in that body he has already 
 taken a j^rominent position, and is one of the most influen- 
 tial members on the Democratic side. Mr. Creamer is a 
 good general debater, and though not gifted with that 
 plethora of language which characterizes many of our 
 public men, yet he is possessed of those more essential 
 qualities of a practical and successful legislator — a clear 
 and attractive manner of j^resenting a question, concise 
 and logical method of exposition, quickness of perception 
 both as to his own position and opportunities, as well as 
 those of his opponents. He is an argumentative and 
 forcible speaker, carrying with him that earnestness which 
 is almost certain of conviction ; has thorough knowledge 
 of parliamentary rules, and a personal bearing to all with 
 whom he comes in contact calculated to rally strong sup- 
 port. He is a firm friend, adhering with great tenacity to 
 those whom he classifies as his personal friends. Mr. 
 Creamer is a member of the Tammany Hall General 
 Committee in New York, and with the same care in the 
 future as in the past, is destined to win still higher honors 
 and wield an important influence in the politics of his city 
 and State. 
 
76 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 He is above the medium height, standing nearly six feet, 
 slim built, and weighing about one hundred and sixty- 
 pounds, dresses with scrupulous care and good taste, has 
 dark brown hair, dark gray eyes, light complexion and 
 gentlemanly manner. He is unmarried, but too young to 
 be classified in the list of bachelors. 
 
 RICHAKD CROWLEY 
 
 Mr. Croavley is one of the youngest members of the 
 Senate, and was elected to the place which he now holds 
 in that body, before he was twenty-nine years old. He 
 was born at Lockport, ISTew York, December 14th, 1836. 
 His father and mother came to this country from Ireland ; 
 they settled on a small farm, when Mr, Ckowley was ten 
 years of age. His life, until he became twenty-one, was 
 like that of most farmers' sons, of small means, made up 
 mostly of working on the farm, during the summer 
 months, and attending the common school in the winter 
 season. As an exception to the above mentioned educa- 
 tional advantages, he attended the Union school at Lock- 
 port, two terms. During the years that he spent on his 
 father's farm he had access to a tolerably good school 
 district library ; and also studied Latin, and pursued a 
 course of reading nnder the teachings of a friend. He 
 had a great taste for history and biography, which he fully 
 gratified. When he was twenty-one he left home and 
 commenced his fight with the world. He worked his way 
 to the West, as far as Kalamazoo, Michigan, and " hired 
 
RICHARD CROWLEY. Y*? 
 
 oiit" to teach a country school, in an adjoining town. 
 While thus employed, having purchased a copy of Black- 
 stone's Commentaries, he devoted his spare hours to the 
 study of them. When his school term expired, he ti*a- 
 veled through several of the Western States, and then 
 returned to Lockport. In the spring of 1857, he entered 
 the law office of Gardner & Lamont, practitioners in 
 Lockport, devoting a portion of his time, however, to 
 general reading and the study of Latin, rhetoric and 
 mental and moral philosophy. The succeeding winter he 
 again engaged in teaching, in order to replenish his 
 exchequer; and, in the spring, resumed his professional 
 studies in the office of L. F. & G. W. Bowek, where he 
 remained until 1861, when, having been previously admit- 
 ted to the Bar in Lockport, he commenced practicing, 
 after having formed a partnership with E. J. Chase, Esq., 
 a brother of Hon, S. P. Chase. He was admitted to prac- 
 tice in the Supreme Court of the United States in January, 
 1865, Chief Justice Chase, presiding. Mr. Crowley has 
 had entrusted to him many cases of imjiortance, concern- 
 ing property and crime ; and has proven himself an able 
 advocate and counsellor. Li early life he took a deep 
 interest in political matters growing out of the repeal of 
 the Missouri Compromise, and the Kansas and Nebraska 
 agitation. The result of his reasoning was a determina- 
 tion to attach himself to Republican princij^les. He has 
 never before held any public office, except that of City 
 Counsel for the city of Lockport. When first elected to 
 the Senate, in the year 1865, his vote was very flattering, 
 especially in the county of Niagara, wherein he received 
 over four hundred more votes than any other candidate on 
 either the State or county ticket, although some of the 
 most popular men in the county were in nomination. He 
 was re-elected in 1867, and was very properly honored by 
 
78 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 the Lieutenant-Governor with the very responsible and 
 arduous position of Chairman of the Committee on 
 Municipal Affairs. No higher evidence of the value placed 
 upon his character, integrity and ability could be given. 
 
 Mr. Crowley has made achievements that are certainly 
 remarkable. What he now is, cannot be due to ancestry, 
 for like Cicero, when jeered at concerning his name, he 
 has felt that he must make his own name, if he would have 
 a place for it in the great hereafter. He is a living exemp- 
 lification of the truth : " Perseverantia omnia vincit.^'' 
 He is the son of a poor man ; by his own personal efforts 
 he has risen from poverty to be an ornament to the 
 Niagara Bar ; and the high esteem in which he is held, may 
 well be envied by young men who have been surrounded, 
 all their lives, by much more advantageous circumstances. 
 As a speaker and debater he is far above mediocrity. His 
 language is elegant and forcible, sometimes almost severely 
 chaste, and his voice is distinct in utterance. 
 
LEWIS A. EDWARDS. 
 
 Senator Edwards represents the First Senatorial Dis- 
 trict. He was born on Gardiner's Island, in the town of 
 East Hampton, Suftblk county, June 18, 1811, and is a 
 direct descendant of William Edwards, one of the original 
 settlers of the town, who came from Ipswich, Massachu- 
 setts, about the year 1648. Mr. Edwards' educational 
 advantages were limited to the ordinary disti'ict schools. 
 
 In February, 1828, by the destruction of the homestead 
 and effects of his parents by fire, he lost everything, except 
 the clothes he wore. The effect of this disaster was to 
 direct his steps toward the city of New York, where in the 
 following spring he took the position of a grocer's clerk. 
 
 In 1832, he was appointed collector of wharfage under 
 the then existing firm of Wm. C. Tatlor & Co., and 
 afterward under the late Michael Sandford. The man- 
 ner in which he discharged his duties secured the hearty 
 approval of all who were cognizant of his integrity, faith- 
 fulness and energy. At the decease of Mr. Sais^dford 
 in 1846, Mr. Edwards was intrusted with the closing up 
 of the very extensive business affairs of his late employer, 
 and has continued in the management of the affairs of 
 this valuable estate to the present time. 
 
 Mr. Edwards became the successor of Mi*. Sandford in 
 the wharfage business, and in connection with his asso- 
 ciates became the lessee of nearly all the wharves belong- 
 ing to the coi'poration on the North river side of the city. 
 And about this time he became considei-ably interested in 
 the building and employment of vessels in the coasting 
 trade. He prosecuted his business with tact and assiduity 
 
80 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 until 1853, when, in consequence of nearly all the wharves 
 having been leased by steamship companies, he abandoned 
 the avocation and returned to Suffolk county, settling at 
 Orient, a very pleasant place, situated near the eastern 
 extremity of the north branch of the island. 
 
 Mr. Edwards became associated, in 1861, with Messrs. 
 Lawrence, "VVaterbury & Co., of New York, and com- 
 menced the manufacture of fish oil and guano, on Long 
 Beach, contiguous to Gardiner's Bay. Their works deserve 
 more than a passing notice, being the largest of the kind 
 on the Atlantic coast, giving employment (including fish- 
 ermen) to sixty men. The oil is manuf;xctured from the 
 menhaden or mopfunken, and as many as nine millions 
 and a half have been worked up in one season by them. 
 In 1866, Ml*. Edwards jiut up a branch manufactory on 
 Hog Island, Hancock county, Maine, which Avas in opera- 
 tion the past season. The successful management of such 
 an extensive business demonstrates Mr. Edwards to be a 
 man of peculiar and marked talent, enterprise and fore- 
 sight. 
 
 Mr. Edw^ards is a Democrat, and cast his first vote for 
 A:s^DREW Jackson for President, and believes and has 
 adhered strictly to the principle laid down by that states- 
 man, that a man has not the right either to seek or decline 
 office. He was placed in nomination for the office of 
 Senator last fall against his wishes. He was elected by a 
 majority of 3,836, to succeed Hon. N. B. La Bau, Repub- 
 lican. Mr. Edwards is a man of unassuming manners, 
 who attends to his duties as Senator quietly and with 
 despatch. Although in his first term, and his only expe- 
 rience in a legislative body, his long and varied business 
 habits are a sufficient guarantee that he will, in due time, 
 make himself acquainted with the ordinary routine of legis- 
 lation, and commend himself as one who will be measur- 
 
CHARLES J. FOLGER. 81 
 
 ably successful in all the practical duties of his position. 
 He will never retard nor mystify the business of the 
 Senate, by an undue indulgence in talk ; and hence, as a 
 working, energetic, and cool Senator he will not be likely 
 to o;et far astray. 
 
 CHARLES J. FOLGER. 
 
 Charles James Folger, Senator from the Twenty- 
 sixth District, is a native of Massachusetts, in which State 
 he was born on the 16th of April, 1818. His ancestors 
 were sea-faring men ; masters of vessels sailing out of 
 Xantucket, and his early boyhood days were spent in the 
 wild and free associations of the coast life, which pos- 
 sesses so much of romance and adventure. When he was 
 a little*" more than twelve years of age, he removed with 
 his parents to Geneva, in this State, where he has resided 
 since, except when at intervals engaged in the study of 
 law elsewhere. He entered Geneva College in 1833, and 
 graduated in 1836, with the honors of his class. In 
 October of that year, he commenced the study of the law, 
 in the office of Mark H. Sibley & Alvah Worden, at 
 Canandaigua. The influence of such a preceptor as Mr. 
 Sibley, upon a mind so receptive and active as that of 
 his young friend, could not fail to be beneficial, and, 
 undoubtedly, a large share of the great practical success 
 he has since attained in public life, is to be attributed to 
 this association. He also read law in the office of Bowen 
 Whitixg, at Geneva, and with John M. Holley, at 
 11 
 
82 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Lyons. In 1839, he was admitted to practice at the Bar 
 of the Supreme Court, General Term, at Albany, and 
 in May, of the following year, entered upon the pursuit 
 of his profession at Geneva. His advance was rapid 
 and honorable. A fine personal presence, a studious 
 analysis of all the rules and practices of law, a mind 
 fully stored with classic lore, and with the very best 
 productions of the jurists of all countries, and a persua- 
 sive style of eloquence, were the elements of a sure and 
 honorable promotion. In 1844, he was appointed — 
 under the old Constitution — Judge of the Ontario Court 
 of Common Pleas. He held that office for one year, 
 and. discharged its duties with general satisfaction, and. 
 then resigned. He was also Master and Examiner in 
 Chancery until the Chancery Court was abolished by the 
 adoption of the Constitution of 1846, In 1851, he was 
 elected County Judge of Ontario county, and held that 
 office for four years. In 1861, he was elected to the 
 Senate, being re-elected in 1863, 1865, and again in 
 1867. 
 
 Mr. FoLGEE has acted with the Republican party from 
 the period of its organization, and has always been a 
 cons2)icuous and able defender of the principles it was 
 established to maintain. His influence in his own par- 
 ticular section of the State has contributed largely to the 
 great popular j^i'edominance of Republican principles. 
 Upon the Forum, through the Press, and as a Legislator, 
 his voice has always been earnest for equal rights and 
 justice to all. Almost nniformly chosen a rej^resentative 
 in the State Conventions of his party, he has contributed 
 largely to give shape to its general policy. His address 
 as temporary Chairman of the Syracuse Convention in 
 1865, will long be remembered by those who heard it, as 
 a model of eloquence, vigor and terseness. 
 
CHARLES J. FOLGER. 83 
 
 In the Senate, Mr. Folger is a recognized leader. His 
 opinions are al^rays treated by that body with marked 
 respect, and even when he is compelled to dissent from 
 his peers in judgment, he receives from them the credit 
 due to sincere convictions and great ability. As Chair- 
 man of the Judiciary Committee, which he has held in the 
 past and present Senates, much of the most important 
 business of the Legislature passes through his hands ; and 
 his extensive legal knowledge, his great skill in research, 
 his wonderful powers of analysis, and his untiring indus- 
 try, have made his services in this capacity of almost 
 incalculable value. Without derogation of the claims of 
 other gentlemen upon the Committee, it is safe to say that 
 all will pronounce this tribute to his personal usefulness 
 entirely just and deserved. 
 
 The estimation in which Mr. Folger is held by his 
 peers may be judged from the fact that during the session 
 of 1865, he was unanimously chosen President ^jro tern., to 
 serve during the absence of the Lieutenant-C4overnor, 
 Hon. Thomas G. Alvord. This high compliment has been 
 renewed at the opening of each succeeding session, and 
 without a dissenting voice. Senator Folger was a prom- 
 inent member of the recent Constitutional Convention, and 
 was Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of that body. 
 
 The chief characteristics of Mr. Folger, as a Senator, 
 are his great industry and his unbending integrity. He 
 is thoroughly devoted to the duties of his position, and 
 labors incessantly, both upon the floor and in committees, 
 to jDerfect and elaborate legislation. The importance of 
 this fact is best understood by those who know how great 
 are his resources of legal lore. Nobody ever suspected 
 him of favoring a bill or advocating a scheme from the 
 impulse of selfish or mercenary motives. His mind is pre- 
 eminently that of a statesman. He regards all questions 
 
84 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 from the broad, general stand-point of public expediency 
 and justice, and is able to bring to liis use the lessons of 
 history and the experience of centuries in determining 
 his own views. 
 
 As a speaker, there are few among the many eloquent 
 men in the State, who possess so much or siich varied 
 jiower as Mr. Folger. He is a native orator, whose 
 innate abilities have been wondrously increased by a 
 thorough education and severe discipline. He never 
 addresses the Senate without fixing its attention, and 
 always utters ideas which are certain to illustrate the 
 subject in hand. His wealth of imagery is sometimes 
 surprising, and the readiness with which it is employed 
 in giving charms to the most commonplace topics, makes 
 him a most desirable ally and a formidable opponent. He 
 is uniformly dignified and affable in debate ; but the tren- 
 chant vigor with w^hich he disj)Oses of an antagonist is 
 frequently inimitable. Never making speeches for "effect ;" 
 always confining himself to the topic immediately under 
 discussion ; and grouping facts, figures and fancies with the 
 skill of a master, he has achieved a position beside the 
 master intellects of the State, and will long be remembered 
 after he shall have left the Senate Chamber, for — we 
 trust — higher honors and richer spheres of usefulness. 
 
 In personal appearance, Mr. Folger is commanding and 
 graceful. His features wear the stamp of intellect, and 
 advertise the gentlemanly suavity which is a predominant 
 trait in his character. His voice has that peculiarly melo- 
 dious inflection which is always ascribed as one of the 
 graces of the native orator. He is cool and self-possessed 
 under every circumstance, and never finds himself in a 
 situation for which he has not adequate resources. Nobody 
 would suspect him of having approached, within a decade, 
 the forty-nine years he wears so well. 
 
HENRY WEBB GENET 
 
 Senator Gexet was born in Wethersfield, Connecticnt, 
 Febrnary 27th, 1828. His father was John M. Genet, a 
 native of France, who came to America daring the 
 troubles Avhich ensued upon the French Revolution. His 
 mother was a native of Ireland, Avho emigrated to this 
 country, in childhood. Mr. Ge:n-et, tlie elder, removed to 
 Albany when his son was about one year of age, and 
 went into commercial business, near the river. Henry 
 attended school in Albany, for several years, and then 
 taking a fancy for the life of an agriculturist, was placed 
 upon a farm in the town of Moreau, Saratoga county, 
 where he remained four or five years, diligently prosecut- 
 ing his literary studies, during the winter months. "When 
 about sixteen years of age, he left the firm, and entered 
 the Glens Falls Academy, where he remained about a year 
 and a half, Avhen he Avent to the city of Ncav York, AA^here 
 his father was then residing. 
 
 When about nineteen years of age, he entered the Uni- 
 versity of the city of New York, at Avhich he remained 
 tAVO years, and then entered the law office of Mr. HxVSTixgs, 
 in that city, and was, in due time, admitted, finishing his 
 preparatory studies in the office of McCuNisr & Moncriff. 
 He was, in early life, an enthusiastic admirer of Henry 
 Clay, and,' during the life of that great man, naturally 
 acted with the Whig party. On the dissolution of that 
 organization, he joined the Democracy, with Avhich he has 
 ever since cooperated. In 1857, he was elected on the 
 Democratic ticket to the Board of Councilmen from the 
 Twelfth Ward of Ncav York. The folloAving year he Avas 
 
86 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 elected Alderman, and re-elected two years after, being 
 chosen President of the Board, during the last two years 
 of his term. In 1861, he Avas elected to the responsible 
 office of County Clerk, the duties of which he faithfully 
 discharged during the years 1862, 1863 and 1864. 
 
 During the three most important years of the war, 
 viz.: the years ending January 1st, 1864, Mr. Genet, as 
 President of the Board of Aldermen, was, ex officio, a 
 member of the War Fund Committee, of which the Mayor 
 of the city, and the President of the Board of Council- 
 men, were also ex officio members. Every one remembers 
 the coustanttlnd valuable aid rendered by this organization 
 to the Xational Government, during the dark era of oiir 
 history, and there was, on the Committee, no one who 
 privately, or in his public caj)acity, was found more ready 
 to support every measure dictated by patriotism, than Mr. 
 Genet ; and his votes will always be found in favor of the 
 most lavish support, in blood and treasure, of our threatened 
 Nationality. 
 
 Mr. Genet represented the 21st Assembly District of 
 New York in the Assembly of 1866. He was closely 
 attentive to the business of the House, and took interest 
 in all matters of general legislation. His genial warmth 
 won for him many friends, who sustained him in matters 
 affecting his own district, in which he took a special and 
 lively interest, resulting usually in success. He was a 
 most efficient worker. He was elected to the Senate in 
 1867, his constituents elevating him to a higher sphere 
 in evidence of their appreciation of his services. Mr. 
 Genet is a thorough politician, of potent influence, and is 
 popular outside of his own party for his lack of narrow 
 and exclusively partisan notions. 
 
WILLIAM M. GRAHAM. 
 
 Senator Graham was bom in the town of Minisink, 
 Orange county, September 8, 1819. His paternal ancestors 
 came to this country from Ireland, while those of his mother 
 Avere Holland immigrants. In his qualities of mind and 
 person, he combines the excellent characteristics of these 
 two nations. He has all the solidity, industry and j^er- 
 sistence of the Hollander, with the genial warmth, unselfish 
 benevolence and patriotic ardor of the intelligent Irish- 
 man. He received an academic education at the Mont- 
 gomery (Orange county) and Ridgebury (ISTew Jersey) 
 Academies. 
 
 Mr. Graham's business life has been confined to that 
 of banking. He entered the Middletown Bank in 1841 as 
 Teller, and in 1844 was made its Cashier. It was in this 
 institution that he achieved a reputation as a financier of 
 superior qualities — an inflexibly honest banker, and a faith- 
 ful and laborious ofiicer. He necessarily acquired an inti- 
 mate acquaintance Avith the business men of Orange and 
 other counties, Avho were won by his courtesy and fair 
 dealing, and esteemed him for his personal worth and 
 capacities. After twenty years of faithful service in this 
 institution, he was (in 1860) chosen President of the Wall- 
 kill Bank, Avhich position he still holds, retaining the 
 approval of all for his careful discharge of his responsi- 
 bilities, his uprightness and sound judgment. 
 
 Mr. Graham has but once before held public ofiice, and 
 the large majority by which he was then chosen was prac- 
 tical evidence of the appreciation in which he was held. 
 In 1857, he was elected County Treasurer of Orange 
 county, and re-elected at the close of his first term. Dur- 
 
88 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 ing the six years that lie discharged the duties of the 
 office, he showed himself not unworthy the trust reposed 
 in him. He entered the canvass for Senator in 1867 
 under serious disadvantages. The district in which he 
 was nominated, and which he now rejDresents, had for three 
 successive terms sent to the Senate Hon. Hexry R. Low 
 (Avell known to many of our readers), the last time by a 
 majority of 551. Mr. Low's jn-estige was, therefore, against 
 Senator Geaham. The political revolution which swept 
 over the State might not have carried with it men less 
 known for sterling integrity and business capacity. But 
 he was so strong in the confidence of the people that he gave 
 additional impetus to tlie tide in his own district, and was 
 chosen by a majority of 633. Mr. Gkaham is not a man 
 who has either the disposition or the art of holding the 
 Senate from the dispatch of business by fine forensic 
 talent, but he has those other and higher qualities of a 
 successful legislator — attentive apj^lication to business, 
 discriminating perception, and careful, quiet and jiersistent 
 management. His clear judgment is highly appreciated 
 and sought after, especially on questions of finance. 
 Lieutenant-Governor Woodford but gave appro25riate 
 recognition at once to his powers and uprightness, when he 
 placed him on two of the most responsible Committees in 
 the Senate — those of Banks and Railroads. 
 
 Senator Graham's private and social life adds to his 
 honor. The friends of benevolent and humanitarian 
 movements rely upon him as a wise counsellor and willing 
 contributor. The sick and wounded heroes of the late 
 conflict with armed treason, had their sufferings frequently 
 relieved by his kind offices. He has always been a firm 
 Democrat, but never a bigoted partisan. 
 
MATTHEW HALE, 
 
 The original liead of the American branch of the Hale 
 family was one Thomas Hale, who came to Newbury, 
 Massachusetts, in 1635. Hon. Robert S. Hale, late 
 member of Congress from the Sixteenth District of this 
 State, is a brother of the Senator. 
 
 Senator Hale was born at Chelsea, Orange county, 
 Vermont, June 20, 1829. Going through a good academic 
 course of instruction he entered the University of Vermont, 
 and graduated at the age of twenty-two. He then com- 
 menced the study of law with the firm of Kellogg & 
 Hale, at Elizabethtown, Essex county, New York, and 
 pursued his studies until he was admitted to the bar in 1853. 
 Shortly after, in connection with a brother, he opened an 
 office in Poughkeepsie, and commenced practice, soon estab- 
 lishing a promising business. After a time this partnership 
 was dissolved, and his brother removed to St. Paul. Mr. 
 Hale then formed a new copartnership with Mr. A. B. 
 Smith, of Poughkeepsie. This partnership existed for 
 three years. While in Poughkeepsie Mr. Hale became 
 much interested in politics, entering with enthusiasm 
 into the first campaign of the Republican party, and made 
 speeches in support of Feemoxt. 
 
 In 1859 Mr. Hale was led to change the sphere of his 
 professional labors from Poughkeepsie to New York city, 
 forming a copartnership with Lot C. Clark, of that 
 city. This business arrangement continued for five years, 
 at the end of which time he removed to Elizabethtown, 
 where he entered into a laAv partnership with Honorable 
 A. C. Hand (whose daughter Mr. Hale had married), a 
 12 
 
90 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 lawyer of high distinction in that place, and R. L. Haxd, 
 a son of the Judge. The Senator is still a member of this 
 firm. 
 
 The first political oftice ever held by Senator Hale was 
 that of Supervisor of Elizabethtown, which he held during 
 the years 1864, '65. In the Spring of 1867 he was with 
 great unanimity selected as one of the candidates of the 
 Republican party to represent the Sixteenth District in 
 the Constitutional Convention. The Democratic party of 
 the district nominated opposing candidates against the 
 three other candidates on the Republican ticket, but con- 
 strained by their high regard for Mr. Hale, and their 
 confidence in his integrity and sound i^rinciples, they not 
 only declined to nominate a candidate against him, but 
 they indorsed his nomination and j^laced his name upon 
 their printed ballots. In the Convention he was made a 
 member of the Judiciary Committee. In this sphere of 
 extended usefulness his enlarged ideas, his clear logical 
 statements, his evident desire to establish sound principles 
 regardless of mere partisan ends and aims, his faithfulness 
 in labor, his ability as a speaker and his courteousness as 
 an associate, all combined to make liim one of the most 
 respected and admired members of that body, in which 
 was comprised so many of the intellectually strong men of 
 the Empire State. He did not speak often, but when he 
 did, what he said had energy and force and was to the 
 point. His speeches on the separate submission of the Suf- 
 frage question and on the Judiciary article were most 
 able efforts, and were listened to Muth the greatest 
 interest. 
 
 The fine reputation made by Mr. Hale in the Constitu- 
 tional Convention, naturally led the Republicans of his 
 district to make choice of him as a candidate for the ofiice 
 of State Senator. This was done without his knowledge, 
 
MATTHEW HALE. 91 
 
 and the announcement of the fact was to him a great sur- 
 prise. He Avas elected by a majority of 1,436. He is a 
 member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Chairman 
 of the Committee on Claims. ^ 
 
 Senator Hale does not descend to the low tricks of par- 
 tisan warfare, but in the advocacy of such measures as he 
 approves, relies upon argument rather than management. 
 Such men do not seek office nor manipulate jJi'imary meet- 
 ings, nor "run" conventions, nor make partisan bargains. 
 The people respect them for their attachment to principle, 
 and the bold and faithful advocacy of political doctrines 
 to which they subscribe; and this respect impels them to 
 put such men in office. Senator Hale has another charac- 
 teristic of the high toned gentleman and the man of honor. 
 He does not deal in personal abuse nor bandy partisan 
 squibs ; there is no bitterness or biting sarcasms towards 
 political opponents in his language. He is also conserva- 
 tive in his views ; he is a safe man, and seldom or never 
 does a rash or imprudent thing, or one out of season. His 
 feirness and honorableness of word and deed to political 
 opponents have elicited words of praise even from Demo- 
 cratic organs such as the New York World, which most 
 truthfully spoke of him as " one of the best men in the 
 Convention," and characterized his speeches in that body 
 as " amoncf the most interestins: made." 
 
JOHN F. HUBBARD, JR. 
 
 Senator Hubbard was born in Norwich, Chenango 
 county, October 14, 1822. His father, Johx F. Hubbard, 
 Sr., who is still living at the date of this s-ketch, ably- 
 represented the Sixth Senatorial District, under the pre- 
 ceding Constitution, from 1828 to 1836. 
 
 The present Senator received an ordinary academic 
 education, and afterwards read law, but never entered 
 upon the practice of the profession. 
 
 After some years spent in editorial life, he received, in 
 1847, from Hon. W. L. Marcy, an appointment in the 
 War Department at Washington. He remained in that 
 city, holding various subordinate positions in the Govern- 
 ment service, until about 1854, when he resigned, and 
 again took up his residence at Norwich. 
 
 In 1860 he was chosen a delegate to the Democratic 
 National Convention, held at Charleston, from the then 
 Twenty-first District of this State, and participated in the 
 proceedings of that body. 
 
 In 1866 he was appointed Assessor of Internal Revenue, 
 by President Johnson, for the Nineteenth District of New 
 York, but not being confirmed by the United States 
 Senate, his time as Assessor expired on the 4th of March 
 following. 
 
 In the fall of 1847, he was, unexpectedly to himself, 
 nominated for the ofiice of Senator, to represent the 
 Twenty-third District, and was elected by a majority of 
 247 votes. His competitor was Hon. Daniel Waterbury, 
 of Delaware county. At the same election the Republican 
 majority on the State ticket in the district was 52 ; the 
 year previous it was 1,421. 
 
WOLCOTT J. HUMPHREY. 93 
 
 In politics Senator Hubbard is and has been all his life 
 a decided Democrat. He is at present the editor and 
 publisher of the Chenango Union, printed at Norwich, 
 one of the best edited and managed country newspapers 
 of the State. He is a careful politician, bold and undis- 
 guised in his political sentiments, yet affable in his 
 personal address. He is energetic and of sound practical 
 talents, and gives every evidence of becoming a sagacious 
 and successful lea'islator. 
 
 WOLCOTT J. HUMPHREY. 
 
 Mr. Humphrey is a gentleman who has had considera- 
 ble experience in the political affairs of the State. For 
 twenty years or more, he has taken deep interest in public 
 matters, and has served the people in various positions of 
 responsibility and trust. His ability and fidelity have 
 been recognized by a re-election to the Senate, under 
 circumstances which rendered it one of the highest expres- 
 sions of confidence which can be given. A few days 
 preceding the election, he was made the object of a mali- 
 cious personal attack by a disapj^ointed legislative schemer, 
 with the avowed purpose of defeating his re-election. The 
 polls opened on election day, leaving him no defense 
 against the trumped up charge of corruption other than the 
 confidence of his constituents. It was under such circum- 
 stances that he was again elected. The Grand Jury of 
 Albany county heard the case after election, but as there 
 was no evidence substantiatino- the charge aofainst him, 
 dismissed the complaint and refused to find an indictment. 
 
94 LIFE SKETCHES, 
 
 This suffices as a complete vindication. During the present 
 session he is Chairman of the Committee on Commerce and 
 Navigation, and a member of the Finance Committee, two 
 of the best positions in the Senate. He is also Chairman of 
 the Committee on Joint Library. 
 
 Mr. Humphrey's birthplace was Canton, Hartford 
 county, Connecticut. He is forty-nine years of age. His 
 father, grandfather and great-grandfather were natives of 
 the same town. The original head of the family in this 
 country were two bi'others, who came from England, in 
 the sixteenth century, and settled in Massachusetts. From 
 them have descended the numerous branches of the family, 
 which may now be found in every State in the Union. 
 
 Mr. Humphrey's father concluded, in 1818, to remove 
 from the locality where his family had dwelt for so many 
 years, and decided to make the town of Sheldon, Genesee 
 county (now Wyoming), his future home. This section 
 was then the "far West," and when we consider the 
 primitive facilities for travel which then existed — when 
 the long, tedious journeys of the hardy pioneers were 
 performed on horseback or in lumbering wagons — and 
 Avhen it is known that his father had the good old- 
 fashioned family of fifteen children to look after (after- 
 w^ard increased to seventeen), it will be readily believed 
 that the change was one requiring a good deal of New 
 England grit and perseverance. But the exodus was 
 accomplished, and a new scene opened in the lives of the 
 whole family. 
 
 Senator Humphrey's early education was acquired 
 wholly in a common school ; but, by extensive travel 
 through the States, and much mingling with the bustling 
 business world — " keeping his eyes and ears open" the 
 while — he has stored his mind with a large fund of practi- 
 cal knowledge and information. When twenty years old 
 
WOLCOTT J. HUMPHREY. 95 
 
 he entered the military service of the State ; and, in 1840, 
 was elected Colonel of the 9th Regiment, 8th Brigade, 
 New York State Artillery. In 1844, he resigned his com- 
 mission and gave np all connection with military affairs. 
 He married, in 1841, Miss Amaxda Martixdale, a daugh- 
 ter of Major William S. Martixdale, of Dorset, Ver- 
 mont, a lady of excellent domestic qualities. 
 
 At different times Mr. Humphrey has held various town 
 offices; and during the year 1850, was Marshal for taking 
 the census in six of the tOAvns of his county. In 1849, '53 
 and '60, he was appointed Postmaster, and, after serving 
 awhile, as many times, resigned; his second resignation 
 took place when Tyler proved himself recreant to the 
 party with which he was identified. In 1850, he was 
 elected to the Assembly, and was returned in 1851. His 
 political talents and constant activity gave him a leading 
 l^osition in that body. The latter term he served as 
 Chairman of the Committee on Railroads, and reported 
 the Central Railroad Bill,- authorizing the railroad con- 
 solidation, and establishing the existing restrictions. He 
 was also selected by the caucus to take charge of the Pro- 
 hibitory Liquor Law passed at that session ; and he made 
 an able speech in its behalf. 
 
 Some time in 1855, Mr. Humphrey removed to Bloom- 
 ington, Illinois, where he was instrumental in securing the 
 return of the late Owex Lovejoy to Congress, against 
 Judge Davies. He was, we believe. President of the 
 Convention that nominated Mr. Lovejoy. After residing 
 in Bloomington three years or thereabouts, he returned to 
 Wyoming, and resumed business at Xortli Java, from 
 which place he removed to Warsaw, in 1864, Avhere he 
 now lives. During the war, he was enrolling officer for 
 the government, and was mobbed, by foreign opponents 
 of the draft, while in the discharge of his duties. 
 
96 LIFE SKETCHES, 
 
 Mr. Humphrey was first elected to the Senate in 1865, 
 from the Thirtieth District (Wyoming, Livingston and 
 Allegany), by 5,240 majority over the late Judge Has- 
 tings, of Livingston. An excellent j^osition was given 
 him, on the committees, he being a member of the Commit- 
 tees on Railroads, Internal Affairs and Printing, and Chair- 
 man of the Committee on Roads and Bridges. He ranks 
 as a faithful worker, and one of the best debaters among 
 the non-speech-making Senators. His political views were 
 Whig, so long as there was a Whig party, and he became 
 a member of the Republican party when it was formed. 
 He has been fai'mer, merchant, and tanner by turns, and 
 is extensively engaged in the latter business at jjresent. 
 He is a gentleman of fine presence, and great nervous 
 energy, of warm friendships and good impulses, and pos- 
 sesses talents of a high order, as a political organizer and 
 an indefatisrable worker. 
 
GEORGE NELSON KENNEDY. 
 
 George Nelson Kennedy, Senator from the Twenty- 
 second (Onondaga and Cortland) District, is a native of 
 Marcellus, Onondaga county. New York, where he was 
 born September 11th, 1822. His paternal grandfather 
 emigrated from Ireland in 1760, and his maternal grand- 
 father was an immediate descendant of the Puritan set- 
 tlers of New England. Both were active participants in 
 the Revolutionary struggle, as soldiers in the army of the 
 young Republic. His mother's grandfather was killed in 
 the battle of Saratoga ; and both his grandfathers were 
 also engaged in that conflict. His father, in early man- 
 hood, removed to Mai'cellus, and was a farmer in moderate 
 circumstances. In 1831 he removed, with his family, to 
 Skaneateles, in the same county, where he remained three 
 years, in order to give his children the advantages of the 
 academy at that place. When George was eighteen 
 years of age, he was thrown upon his own resources, and 
 his fortune and honorable career have been achieved 
 through his own unaided exertions. Throughout his life 
 he has adhered strictly to the principles of honor and 
 comity that mark the true gentleman, and has aimed to 
 live for the good of those about him rather than for self- 
 aggrandizement. 
 
 Mr. Kennedy began the study of the law Avith Edmund 
 AiKiN, a lawyer at Marcellus ; was admitted to practice 
 in the Court of Common Pleas of Onondaga county, in 
 1842, and to the Supreme Coui't two years later. He 
 remained at Marcellus, engaged in the practice of his pro- 
 fession, and doing an extensive business, until 1854-, when 
 13 
 
98 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 lie removed to the city of Syracuse, liis present place 
 of residence, and entered into a law partnership with 
 Charles B. Sedgwick and Charles Andrews, forming 
 the firm of Sedgwick, Axdrews & Kennedy, which has 
 been and still is a leading law firm in Onondaga county, 
 and one of the foremost in the profession in the Fifth 
 Judicial District. Mr. Kennedy has a prominent posi- 
 tion at the bar of Onondaga county. He has been an 
 active, energetic practitioner ; and to his credit, it is said 
 by his professional compeers, that no more honorable 
 adversary is found in the legal ranks of Central Xew 
 York. He is able both as counsellor and as advocate ; he 
 is a sound adviser in the office, and a strong, convincing 
 speaker before the court and the jury. Since he has 
 resided in Syracuse he has devoted himself assiduously to 
 his profession ; and for more than half this period he has 
 been engaged in a majority of the important legal contro- 
 versies that have claimed the attention of the courts of 
 Onondaga county. 
 
 Mr. Kennedy cast his first vote for James K. Polk for 
 President, in 1S44. Four years later he was a member of 
 the Buttalo Convention, which nominated Van Buren 
 and Adams as the Free Soil candidates. Subsequently he 
 acted with the Democratic party until 1854, when he was 
 among the earliest of those, who, impelled by a sense of 
 duty and patriotism, disconnected themselves from that 
 organization, because of its favoring the extension of 
 slavery over free territory, and joined the Republican 
 party, to whose princij)les he gave an earnest and efficient 
 support, and with which he has since steadfastly acted. 
 Until his election as Senator he held no public station. 
 He had several times been j^ressed for nominations by his 
 party, but waived his claims to subserve Avhat he deemed 
 its best interests. For several vears he was at the head of 
 
GEORGE NELSOX KEXXEDT. 99 
 
 the party organization in Onondaga Connty, holding the 
 cliairmanship of the Republican County Committee, the 
 duties of Avhich he discharged witli ability and thorough- 
 ness, and thereby did much to secure the proud success of 
 his party in that locality. AYhen a candidate for Senator, 
 the best evidences of his personal popularity were afibrded 
 in the A^ote he received, which was greater than that of his 
 party for the State ticket in the Ward, City, and County 
 where he resides. 
 
 During the war to suppress the rebellion, no citizen was 
 more earnest and laborious in prosecuting the work of 
 raising troops for the Government, and in providing means 
 of support for the families of absent soldiers, than Mr. 
 Kenxedy. His voice was heard at the war meetings in 
 city and country, and his means were liberally given to 
 aid the cause of the nation. Few men who did not 
 actually participate in the strife of the battle-field, did more 
 for his countrj^ than he ; and his work was done without 
 ostentation — his aid was extended without parade. 
 
 Mr. Kenzs^edt has achieved a gratifying professional and 
 pecuniary success. The practice of his profession, to which 
 he is enthusiastically devoted, has secured to him a hand- 
 some competency, and his other business operations have 
 been uniformly successful. He has the proud satisfaction 
 of knowing that he has been, in the fullest degi-ee, "the archi- 
 tect of his own fortune." He possesses all the attributes 
 requisite to the attainment of high success in legislative 
 bodies. His ability as a speaker, his thoroughness as a 
 business man, his uniform courtesy and manliness, com- 
 bined with unremitting industry and rare energy, are 
 qualities that indicate for him a bright and honorable career 
 in the halls of Lesfislaticu. 
 
ABNER C. MATTOON. 
 
 Senator MattoojST repi-esents the Twenty-first Senatorial 
 District, composed of the counties of Oswego and Madison. 
 He was born in Locke, Cayuga county, in 1814. Senator 
 Mattoon's has been j^articularly an active business life. 
 At quite an early age, he went to Rochester, where he 
 remained until years of manhood, when he went to New 
 York city and entered into commercial pursuits. His 
 business in New York was of such a character as to 
 require frequent trips to the then " far West," the Missis- 
 sippi river being then considered in the same light by the 
 pioneers, as the " Ultima Thule " of the ancients. While 
 yet a young man, Mr. Mattoo^s^ spent several winters on 
 the steamers of the great " Father of Rivers," and at the 
 rarious towns which line its Avaters, advancing the inter- 
 ests of the house he represented in the commercial 
 metropolis. The time thus spent gave him an experience 
 and a knowledge of business and men which has been of 
 great use to him all his subsequent life. 
 
 In 1844, Mr. Mattoon removed to the then village of 
 Oswego, the jirincipal port upon the southern shore of 
 Lake Ontario, Avith the prosperity and growth of which 
 he has ever since been closely identified. From an unim- 
 portant town, he has lived to see the village of his adoption 
 expand into a point of great commercial importance, 
 rating, in fact, in the year 1867, the sixth port in the 
 Union in volume of receipts for foreign customs ; New 
 York, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New Orleans 
 alone exceeding it. 
 
ABNER C. MATTOON. 101 
 
 On removing to Oswego, Mr. Mattoon entered the 
 employ, as agent and managing man, of tlie firm of 
 Bronson & Crocker, at tliat time tlie oldest, and one of 
 the most extensive and respectable commercial honses on 
 all the northern frontier. Snbseqnently opening a com- 
 mercial house of his own, he has ever since been very 
 extensively engaged in the forwarding business, in grain 
 dealing, in milling, boat building, and in kindred pursuits, 
 his business relations extending to nearly all points in 
 Canada, and to the extent of the great lakes west. 
 
 Activity has always characterized Senator Mattoox in 
 his relations to society. His • own city, during the last 
 twenty years, has taken a leading position in educa- 
 tional matters. The efficiency and success of its schools, 
 and the excellence of its system of education, have given it 
 a deserving prominence among all the cities of the Union. 
 Senator Mattoo^t has been one of the most active members 
 of the Board of Education of Oswego, almost uninterrupt- 
 edly since its first organization. He has several times been 
 its president. Through his efforts in the Legislature, an 
 appropriation was obtained for the support of a " Train- 
 ing School " for the teachers of Oswego, which has since 
 srrown into a most flourishing and successful State 
 Normal School, and which is educating and training 
 hundreds of teachers annually to go out into the State and 
 the Union, prepared to introduce and practice the latest 
 and most approved methods of imparting primary instruc- 
 tion. Of the local Board for the management of this 
 school. Senator Mattoox has been from its organization 
 one of the most active members. 
 
 Senator Mattoo:n- was an early advocate of the temper- 
 ance cause, and in 1854, when political action was 
 proposed in his district, he was the temperance candidate 
 for Member of Assembly, withdrawing, however, before 
 
102 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 the election in favor of the Hon. D. C. Littlejoiix, the 
 Whig candidate, who was elected. 
 
 Senatoi* Mattooj^ has always been an active politician. 
 In eai'ly life he was a Seward Whig. At the winding np 
 of the aiFairs of the Whig party, Mr. Mattoon for a time 
 was identified with the " Americans," and was their candi- 
 date for member of Assembly in 1855, in opposition to Hon. 
 Orville Robinsox, the Democratic candidate, who was 
 elected and became speaker. 
 
 Senator Mattoox, since its organization has been an 
 active and influential member of the Republican party. 
 He was an energetic supporter of President Lincoln's 
 administration and of the war against rebellion. In 
 1862 he was the Republican candidate of his district for 
 member of Assembly and was elected. His experience 
 and pursuits pointed him out as peculiarly fitted for the 
 position, and he was made the Chairman of the important 
 Committee on Commerce and Navigation. He was also 
 upon the no less important Committee on Canals. Being 
 re-elected the following yeai", he was awarded the position 
 of Chairman of the Canal Committee, and was also upon 
 other important committees. 
 
 In 1867, he was nominated by the Senatorial Convention 
 of the twenty-first District, and was elected by a very large 
 majority over General Robert C. Kenyon the Democratic 
 candidate. In the Senate he is Chairman of the Printing 
 Committee, and also a member of the Canal and other 
 committees. His Senatorial career bids fair to be an active, 
 influential and honorable one. 
 
LEWIS H. MORGAN, 
 
 This gentleman represents Monroe count}-, which forms 
 the Twenty-eighth Senatorial District. He resides in 
 Rochester, where he has long been regarded as one of the 
 leading men in the higliest society of that intellectual and 
 cultivated city. He is descended from New England 
 ancestors, of whom those on his father's side settled in 
 Massachusetts in 1636, and those on his mother's as early 
 as 1631. His grandftither, Thomas Mokgax, w^as born 
 in Groton, Connecticut, in 1742, from ivhich place he 
 removed in 1792, with his family, to the Cayuga Lake, 
 Avhere he established himself as a farmer, and w^here 
 he died in 1815. His father, one of eight children, was 
 eighteen years of age at the time of the western move- 
 ment. The expedition of General Sullivax, in 1779, 
 against the Seneca and Cayuga Indians, had attracted 
 public attention in an unusual degree to the beauty and 
 fertility of the lands in Western New York, and particu- 
 larly of the inland lake region between the Onondaga and 
 the Genesee, which led soon after to a large emigration 
 from the New England States. The only roads Avest of 
 L'tica were the Indian trails, and the only mode of emi- 
 gration into the interior was by means of batteaux up the 
 Mohawk, thence across the Wood-creek portage, into 
 Oneida lake ; from which the outlets of the Cayuga and 
 Seneca lakes were reached. At this time a dense forest of 
 heavy timber overspread the entire region, in the subjuga- 
 tion of which the first settlers were forced to contend 
 with innumerable hardships. The rapid development of 
 this inland lake region of Western New York, by the 
 
104 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 hardy class of New England men who were the pioneers 
 in its settlement, has hardly been surpassed in any of the 
 newer States. As early as 1804 a newspaper was pub- 
 lished at Aurora, Cayuga county, which at that time, as 
 the seat of the Land Office, was one of the most important 
 points in Western New York. As population advanced 
 westward, this office was removed first to Canandaigua 
 and afterward, we believe, to Batavia. With the comple- 
 tion of the Erie canal, in 1825, Western Ncav York ceased 
 to be a new country, and began in turn to furnish emi- 
 grants to the Western States. There is no part of Amer- 
 ican history more striking or more fruitful of suggestion 
 than the great movement of population from New Eng- 
 land westward to the Mississippi, during the fifty years 
 between 1790 and 1840. The number of new States 
 formed within this period, the cities and villages founded, 
 the public works conceived and executed, and the com- 
 merce inaugurated, in the brief space of half a century, 
 are without a parallel even in American history. 
 
 Senator Morga^q^'s father, Hon. Jedediaii Morgan, was 
 bred a farmer, but engaged quite early in mercantile pur- 
 suits. After his father's death, he became the proprietor 
 of the homestead, near Aurora, and devoted himself 
 chiefly to agricultural pursuits during the remainder of 
 his life. 
 
 Before the completion of the Erie canal, the market for 
 farm products was limited. At an early day the farmers 
 of Western New York devoted their principal attention 
 to sheep culture as tlie most profitable staple they could 
 produce. Wool was then worth a dollar per pound, 
 Avhilst a bushel of wheat would bring but.half that sum. 
 Flocks of twelve and fifteen hundred sheep for a single 
 farmer, were not uncommon along the east shore of Cay- 
 uga lake. With the completion of the Erie canal, grain 
 
LEWIS H. MOEGAX. 105 
 
 became the staple of the farmer, and sheep culture 
 declined to a subordinate position. 
 
 In the year 1823, Mr. Jedediah Morgan was elected a 
 member of tlie State Senate from the Seventh Senatorial 
 District; in Avhich capacity he served in 1824, 1825, and 
 1826, when his failing health admonished him to resign. 
 He died at Aurora, December 10th, 1826. 
 
 It was during his senatorial term that the "famous 
 seventeen " removed De Witt Clinton from the office of 
 Canal Commissioner. When the vote was taken but three 
 Senators were found on the side of Clinton. McIntyre, 
 Morgan and one other. In politics Mr. Morgan was 
 a Clintonian, and a warm advocate of the Canal policy of 
 the State. 
 
 His son, the present Senator, was born November 21, 
 1818. Wlien eight years old his father removed to the 
 village of Aurora, where he resided until 1844, when he 
 removed to Rochester. His education was commenced at 
 the Cayuga Academy, located at Aurora, in which he 
 remained until sixteen years of age, when he entered the 
 law office of Daniel Wright, and studied law for a 
 year; then entered Union College, and graduated in 1840. 
 Resuming the study of the law in Rochester, he was 
 admitted to practice in 1842, and commenced practice in 
 Rochester in 1844, and continued in such practice for 
 twenty years until 1864, when he retired from the pro- 
 fession. 
 
 With a well cultivated mind and a natural tendency to 
 investigating and philosophical modes of thought, Mr. 
 Morgan's attention was early called to the study of our 
 native Indian .tribes, and especially of the powerful Six 
 Nations, whose seat of empire was in Western and Central 
 New York. He studied them carefully in their historical 
 relations, and especially with reference to the structure 
 14 
 
106 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 and principles of their civil and domestic institutions. In 
 the course of these studies he examined and surveyed 
 many of the ancient traces of Indian occupation in the 
 "western part of the State; and in 1848 he communicated 
 to the Regents of the University a paper urging the form- 
 ation of a museum of Indian antiquities, to illustrate the 
 aboriginal era of our history, and to show the progress 
 and condition of the Useful arts among the tribes. The 
 earlier reports of the Regents upon the condition of the 
 State Cabinet, contain several elaborate and fully illustra- 
 ted papers from his pen, upon the ancient earth-works and 
 modern arts of our Indians, and a large part of the col- 
 lection of aboriginal utensils and relics in the State 
 Museupi. was made by him. 
 
 In 1851, Mr. Morgan published a volume entitled "The 
 League of the Iroquois," in which he gave the matured 
 result of long and careful researches into the true nature 
 of the institutions, civil, social and religious, of that 
 famous confederacy of tribes, whose history is so closely 
 identified with our colonial annals. Of this valuable work, 
 the North American Review, the higliest of our critical 
 journals, said in July, 1865, in an article on the Indian 
 tribes : " Among modern students of Iroquois institu- 
 tions, a place far in advance of all others is due to Lewis 
 H. MoEGAii, himself an Iroquois by adoption, and intimate 
 with the race from boyhood. His work, Tlie League of 
 the Iroquois, is a production of most thorough and able 
 research. Though often differing widely from Mi*. 
 Morgan's conclusions, we cannot bear a too emphatic tes- 
 timony to the value of his researches." In the recently 
 published life of Dr. Francis Wayland, long President 
 of Brown University, we find a letter from that eminent 
 scholar addressed to Mr. Morgan, in which he says : "I 
 have just completed reading, for the second time, your 
 
LEAVES II. MORGAN. 107 
 
 League of the Iroquois. I cannot forbear the pleasure of 
 thanking you for it. It is the most remarkable book of 
 the kind I have ever seen. * * * It is in all respects 
 to me a most surprising book, and ought to be in every 
 public library in the world. Men ought to know that 
 such a race as this has lived." Fraxcis Parkmax, the 
 brilliant historian of " The Conspiracy of Pontiac," " The 
 Jesuits in North America," and other works of the highest 
 character in our early history, bears equally empliatic 
 testimony to the value of Mr. Morgan's book, to which 
 he constantly refers as an authority of the greatest 
 weight in all that relates to the Iroquois. 
 
 Ill the course of his studies of the Indians, Mr. Mor- 
 gan's attention was strongly drawn to their peculiar sys- 
 tem of femily relationship, and to the terms which they 
 employ in addressing their relatives and kindred. In pur- 
 suing his investigations, he made long journeys to the 
 West and visited the tribes of the Great Plains and of 
 the Upper Missouri. He found everywhere among the 
 aborigines a strongly defined and peculiar system of 
 relationship, of which, in the course of his studies, he 
 detected unn^istakable traces among the barbarian nations 
 of the Old World. This led him to enter upon a series of 
 investigations, extended to nearly every nation of the 
 globe, by means of letters and carefully prepared circulars 
 addressed to our missionaries and consuls in foreign 
 countries. The results of this vast and laborious corres- 
 pondence, which was carried on for many years, have been 
 embodied by Mr. Morgan in an extensive and elaborate 
 Avork entitled " Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity of 
 the Human Family," which the Smithsonian Institution has 
 accej^ted, and has now in course of publication. A com- 
 mittee of eminent ethnologists, to whom it was submitted 
 for examination by the Secretary of the Institution, pro- 
 
108 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 nounced it a work of great value, contributing original 
 and important additions to the science of ethnology. 
 
 While sojourning in the Lake Superior region, where 
 he usually spends the summer months, Mr. MoRGA^f made 
 a special study of the habits of the beaver, the result of 
 which he has given to the public in a beautifully illustrated 
 volume, entitled " The American Beaver and his Works," 
 of which LippiNCOTT & Co., of Philadelphia, are the pub- 
 lishers. The book adds largely to our knowledge of the 
 natural history of this most intelligent and interesting 
 animal, about which so many fables haA'e been related, 
 and of which so little has been hitherto accurately known. 
 
 In politics he was a Whig, until the formation of the 
 Republican party, by the vote of which he was elected to 
 represent the Second District of Monroe county in the 
 Assembly of 1861. 
 
 As a lawyer, Mr. Moega]!^, for nearly twenty years, 
 stood high in his profession at Rochester, and having 
 acqiiired an ample competence by its successful practice, 
 retired from the bar to devote himself to scientific and 
 literary pursuits. Socially and personally he is one of the 
 foremost of the citizens of Rochester, where he is held in 
 universal esteem for his fine talents, his scholarly acquire- 
 ments and his spotless purity of character. 
 
LORENZO MORRIS. 
 
 The name of Morris is one of the most familiar in the 
 liistory of the government and public service of this State. 
 It was borne by one of the most distinguished of the revo- 
 lutionary associates of Washington, and has been promi- 
 nent in many departments of action. In leading move- 
 ments of progress, and in legislation, it has never been 
 forgotten by the people ; and at this day it is identified 
 upon the map of the State, by territorial designation, in 
 that part of the State Avhere individuals of that name were 
 best known, most cherished and honored. 
 
 The present Senator from the Thirty-second District, 
 Avas born August, 14th, 1817, at Smithfield, in Madison 
 county. His father, David Morris, and his mother, yet 
 live, in advanced years, in Chautauqua county. 
 
 That corner of the State which a few years since seemed 
 so secluded and remote — the county of Chautauqua — has 
 taken and maintains high rank, having grown to opulence 
 in the possession of whatever gives prosperity, and in 
 political power it has, in the government both of State and 
 Xation, made itself influential. But it had to pass, before 
 attaining that eminence, through its wilderness age. 
 When Senator Morris removed thither with his parents, 
 it had those incidents of an American new land life, which 
 determined to energy of character those who fixed their 
 fortunes in its early day. Its education is only of the pro- 
 ductive school, and mingled with it was the daily task of 
 the culture of soil that, but a brief interval previous, was 
 under the dominion of the Indian. 
 
110 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Senator Morris had the advantages of school and 
 afterwards of academy, and while thus fitting himself for 
 the more intricate j^roblems of life, he was engaged in that 
 preparation of the country for all the purposes of civiliza- 
 tion, which ill our American phrase, we call " clearing it." 
 While thus educating both mind and body, he formed 
 the friendship of the Hon. Emory F. Warren and the 
 Hon. Thomas A. Osbork, with both of whom afterwards 
 he connected himself professionally. 
 
 The profession of the law, which in our country has 
 such fiiscination for all men who study, and out of their 
 study learn to reflect and reason, had its attractions for 
 him, as he found real life coming out before him, and he 
 devoted himself to it, and was admitted to practice in 
 1841. 
 
 Coming to the bar at a time when a Mulett, a Marvin", 
 and a Burnell made the Chautauqua Bar one of the 
 strongest and most eloquent in the State, he has reaped 
 the advantages in pi-actice that observation and contact 
 with great legal minds necessarily give, as is evidenced by 
 his standing at the bar of his county where he is best 
 known, and by his election from a district where the Dem- 
 ocratic party have heretofore polled less than one-third of 
 the popular vote. A few years subsequently, he removed 
 to the county seat and made permanent place for himself 
 in his profession. From 1854 to 1860, he was Postmaster 
 of Fredonia. ^ 
 
 His political judgment being with the opinions of the 
 Democracy, he has shared the varying fortunes of that 
 party. It was a test of no ordinary force to the political 
 life, to be constantly surrounded by a powerful majority 
 opposed to his opinions. It is honorable to the fidelity 
 and ability with which Senator Morris held those views of 
 public duty, that in the crisis and extraordinary circum- 
 
LOREXZO MORRIS. Ill 
 
 stances of the election of 1867, his friends shouhl liave 
 made liini their standard bearer, and the result fully justi- 
 fied their judgment, as he was elected in a district then 
 for the first time choosing a Democrat. 
 
 Quiet and thoughtful, observing closely and proving his 
 judgment in that way which is of all others the wisest, 
 after practical waiting for evidence, Senator Morris at 
 once becomes a valuable member of the Senate of New 
 York. In that body he is a member of two of its most 
 important Committees, those of Judiciary and Literature. 
 
 It is a gratification to see the old names of the State 
 reappearing in its annals. It has in it something of that 
 steadfastness in which our institutions have been, it was 
 feared, deficient ; nor is it the less interesting as found in 
 this instance, in the representation of the most distant of 
 our districts, Avhen in older days it was most intimately 
 connected with those of the sea-board and i-iver. 
 
HENRY CRUSE MURPHY. 
 
 Timothy Murphy, grandfather of the Senator, emigrated 
 to America, from Ireland, in the year 1769, and settled in 
 Monmonth connty, New Jersey, where he married Mary 
 Garrisoist, granddanghter of Richard Hartshorne, of 
 Middletown, for several years member of the Conncil, and 
 Representative of the Assembly of that Province. On 
 the breaking out of the Revolution, the above mentioned 
 Timothy Murphy warmly espoused the American cause, 
 and took up arms in defense of those principles which he 
 cherished, and transmitted to his descendants. He left 
 eight children, four of whom were sons, viz. : "William, 
 John Garrison, Francis and Joseph. 
 
 John Garrison Murphy married Clarissa Runyon, of 
 Princeton, New Jersey, and settled, about the year 1808, 
 in Brooklyn, where he died in 1854, in the seventieth year 
 of his age, leaving two sons and four daughters. 
 
 Henry C. Murphy, the eldest of these children, was born 
 in Brooklyn in 1810, and has ever since been a resident of 
 that city. After receiving a preparatory education, he 
 entered Columbia College, from which he graduated in 1830. 
 He then commenced tlie study of the law, with the late 
 Peter W. Radcliffe, of NeAV York, and was admitted to 
 the bar in 1833. In the year following, he married Miss 
 Amelia Greenwood, daughter of RichxVrd Greenwood, 
 of Haverstraw, Rockland county. New York. Though 
 applying himself assiduously to the duties of his j^rofes- 
 sion, Mr. Murphy found time to bestow on literary and 
 political subjects, and was a frequent contributor to several 
 periodicals of the day. He thus early became known in 
 
HENRY CRUSE MURPHY. 113 
 
 political circles, in -which lie has since occupied a foremost 
 position. . 
 
 At the time Mr. Murphy entered public life, the-State 
 of N"ew York had been long pursuing-, in regard to its 
 moneyed interests, a policy which had placed the banks,, 
 in every section of the State, under the control of petty 
 monopolists, created by political favoritism. A convention 
 of the young men of the day assembled at Herkimer, in 
 1834, to which Mr. Murphy was elected a delegate. On 
 its organization, he was appointed Chairman on Resolu- 
 tions, and then, for the first time, exhibited that foresight 
 and energy of character for which he has since been 
 distinguished. He took occasion at once to introduce in 
 the Committee, and subsequently in the Convention, a 
 resolution denouncing the above policy, although the 
 patronage which it created had been distributed for the 
 benefit of his own party. Violent opposition was made 
 to the adoption of the resolution, but it finally passed, 
 with some modification. It was, however, never permitted 
 to see the light, having been suppressed in the ofticial 
 report of the proceedings of the Convention. Still it had 
 its efiect. The fiict that the resolution had been sup- 
 pressed, soon became known. The New York Evening 
 Post, then edited by the late William Leggett, and 
 many other journals, exposed the unfair proceeding, took 
 up the doctrine, and gave it a strength and popularity 
 which resulted, in a few years, in the utter prostration of 
 the system of monopolized banking in the State of New 
 York. 
 
 Mr. Murphy was, soon after, appointed Attorney and 
 Counsel to the Corporation of his native city, and, conse- 
 quently, became familiar with the nature and operation of 
 municipal corporations generally. In 1842, he was elected 
 Mayor of Brooklyn. During his administration, he intro- 
 15 
 
114 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 duced a system of retrenchment, Avliich actually kept the 
 expenditures of that city within its income. He com- 
 menced this retrenchment by the reduction of his own 
 salary. Before the expiration of his term of office as 
 Mayor, he was elected member of the Twenty-eighth 
 Congress, and took his seat accordingly in the House of 
 Representatives, in 1843. Although one of its youngest 
 members, he at once occupied a high position in that body ; 
 and, on the Tariff question, advocated a system of duties 
 for revenue purposes only, and thus incidentally indorsed 
 the doctrine of free trade. 
 
 On the question of the annexation of Texas, he was in 
 favor of the measure, but advised its postponement, in 
 order that Mexico might be afforded an apportunity to 
 give her assent, and that more unanimity might be secured 
 thereby in favor of it in the United States. In view of 
 the events which have since transpired, the Avisdom of this 
 recommendation must be admitted. On other questions of 
 public policy, he took an equally prominent position ; and, 
 with ability, opposed the alteration of the Naturalization 
 Laws, and demonstrated the inconsistency of such a 
 measure with the genius of our government, and its bad 
 effects on the settlement of tlie public domain. For the 
 splendid Dry Dock which has been constructed at Walla- 
 bout bay, the port of New York is entirely indebted to 
 Mr. Murphy's zeal and perseverance. 
 
 The most notable position in State jjolitics which this 
 gentleman has occupied, was that of member of the Con- 
 vention which assembled in 1846, to frame a new Consti- 
 tution for this State. Here he brought forward several 
 important provisions, some of which were eventually 
 incorporated into that instrument. His course on this, as 
 on most occasions, met the approbation of his constituents, 
 and on his return from the Convention he was again 
 
 I 
 
HENRY CRUSE MURPHY. 115 
 
 elected to Congress by the largest vote ever previously 
 polled in his district. 
 
 On the accession of Mr. Buchaxan to the Presidency 
 Ml'. Murphy received the appointment of Minister to the 
 Hague. Identified, as he had long been, with the efforts 
 made to rescue from oblivion the early history of our 
 State, 2:)articularly that portion of it Avhich relates to its 
 first colonization by Holland, the selection elicited general 
 approval. When the rebellion broke out, Mr, Murphy 
 was still Minister of the United States to the Netherlands. 
 It was exceedingly important at the time, that the govern- 
 ments of Europe should be correctly informed of the 
 precise fiicts of the case, and of the real relation of the 
 States to the Federal Government, in order that foreign 
 powers might readily see and adhere to their well-estab- 
 lished line of duty. Accordingly, Minister ]VIurphy 
 addressed to the Government of the Netherlands, an 
 elaborate exposition of that relationship, and clearly 
 i:)ointed out the absolute supremacy of the General Gov- 
 ernment in all matters committed to it by the Constitu- 
 tion, and the equally absolute rights of the States over 
 all matters not delegated to the United States by that 
 instrument. He seized the opportunity to show, at the 
 same time, that the rebellion owed its origin chiefly to 
 sectional hate and the ambition of the leaders. This paper 
 was printed at length in the Diplomatic Correspondence 
 of 1861 and 1862, and was highly praised by men of 
 all parties. Upon his return to the United States, he 
 announced his determination to uphold the National flag 
 against secession, and was immediately elected to the Senate 
 of the State as a Union man. At the State Convention of 
 the Democratic party, in 1862, he was chosen temporary 
 Chairman, and insisted that all citizens, without distinc- 
 tion of party, should support the Administration in 
 
116 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 putting down the rebellion. In the annual oration before 
 the Tammany Society, on the 4th of July, 1863, he took 
 no less patriotic ground in behalf of the Union. Indeed, 
 he was no less zealous in acts than in Avords ; for mainly 
 by his exertions, the Third Senatorial Regiment — the 
 159th New York State Volunteers, Colonel Molineux — 
 was raised, and the bounties paid to the men, without 
 calling ujion either the State, city or county authorities for 
 that purpose. Such, in brief, is the history of his action 
 in regard to the rebellion. 
 
 Mr. Murphy has been elected four times to the Senate, 
 for successive terms, and is now in his seventh year of ser- 
 vice in that body. He has taken a conspicuous part in 
 all important debates and discussions, and particularly 
 distinguished himself in his efforts to repeal the bill in 
 regard to ecclesiastical tenures, and to establish the quar- 
 antine in the lower bay of New York — measures which 
 he successfully carried through. He also was in favor of 
 sustaining the different internal improvements throughout 
 the State, without regard to the section Avhere they were 
 proposed, provided they contributed to the general pros- 
 perity. Having always been a strict constructionist, Mr. 
 Murphy voted against ratifying the Amendment to the 
 Constitution of the United States abolishing Slavery. He 
 holds that, as the Federal Government is one of delegated 
 powers exclusively, and as the subject of slavery was not 
 embraced in the Constitution, and was to be disposed of 
 only by the States where it existed, the power of amend- 
 ment is necessarily limited to the subjects embraced in the 
 Constitution, and does not legitimately apply to that of 
 abolishing slavery. 
 
 Senator Murphy is the acknowledged representative of 
 his party in the Senate. In 1867, he received the nomina- 
 tion for United States Senator from the Democratic 
 
HENRY CRUSE MURPHY. 117 
 
 members of the Legislature. He was a leading member 
 of the Constitutional Convention just held, and took 
 prominent part in all its proceedings. 
 
 In debate, Senator Murphy always speaks extempora- 
 neously ; in argument, he is close and logical ; in manner, 
 earnest and apparently severe; and, when he warms to 
 jiis subject, history, precedent and analogy, all seem to rise 
 unbidden to fortify the positions he assumes. In private 
 character, he possesses, in an eminent degree, all the 
 essential elements of a liigh-toned and honorable gentle- 
 man ; and no public man has, probably, passed thus far 
 through the trying ordeal of a legislative career, so entirely 
 free from the taint of corruption. Though eminently a 
 practical man, taking a deep and active interest in public 
 aifairs — a man of the people — he is a scholar, " and a ripe, 
 good one." To the gratification of this taste, Mr. Murphy 
 has given much of his time and means. During his travels, 
 at home and abroad, he has accumulated one of the finest 
 private libraries in America, and possesses the full power 
 to appreciate and enjoy it; and however much he may win 
 honor and fame as a public spirited citizen, or a successful 
 political leader, his claims as one of the literati can never 
 be lost sight of, and will constitute his most enduring 
 fame, Mr. Murphy's contributions to literature are of a 
 very valuable character, and include a number of trans- 
 lations from the Dutch language, of which he is a perfect 
 master. 
 
 k 
 
ASHER P. NICHOLS. 
 
 Henry Ward Beecher, in one of his literary lectures, 
 made the assertion that a peculiarity of Yankee blood was 
 that it ran to brains. The remark betrays the Beecheriax 
 vanity and class pride, and yet there is much force in it. 
 The descendants of the Puritans, as a race, are probably 
 ahead of all others in natural intellectual powers and 
 capacities. One need hardly refer to census reports or 
 statistical tables to convince himself that a very large 
 shai'e, at least of the intellectual men of our country, are 
 of New England birth or parentage. In this connection 
 it is interesting to note the fact that a large niimber of our 
 State Senators are of New England biith, and that 
 Vermont can claim the honor of being the native place 
 of five of them. Of these five. Senator Nichols is one. 
 
 Mr. Nichols Avas born in Whiting, Addison county, 
 Vermont, and is fifty-two years of age. Having obtained 
 an excellent education, he commenced the study of law 
 with Judge Clinton, at Buftalo, in this State, to which 
 place he removed in early life, and where he now resides. 
 He is one of the first lawyers of that city, and is greatly 
 respected and esteemed. At one time he was a law 
 partner of Judge Clinton. At present he is associated 
 with jNIr. RoBBiNS, of that city, and the firm of Nichols 
 and RoBBiNS has a high standing at the Buffalo Bar. This 
 is all we have been able to learn of his personal history. 
 
 Senator Nichols ever since attaining his majority, has 
 acted Avith the Democratic party ; but he has not been a 
 managing politician nor a party operator. Like many other 
 people of New England birth, he does not think it honor- 
 
ASHER P. NICHOLS. 119 
 
 able or manly to seek office. His whole course in respect 
 to politics lias been that of disinterested attachment to, and 
 support of, political principles involved in National, State 
 and Municipal governments. By no other person could 
 have been uttered with a better grace the declaration, Avhen 
 expressing his surprise to the Committee that waited on 
 him to inform him of his nomination for the position he 
 now holds, that " I regard it at all times an honor to serve 
 the people, but have certain peculiar notions on the subject. 
 But it has always been my belief, that when the people really 
 desired the services of an individual in any capacity, they 
 would make their wishes known, in which case it would 
 become the duty of the man honored by their choice to 
 throw aside all personal preferences, and devote himself to 
 the public interests. Therefore I feel honored that you 
 have selected me for this important nomination, which I 
 gratefully accept.'' 
 
 He has never before this held any political office. He 
 was elected to represent the thirty-first Senatorial District 
 by a majority of 1521 over James Sheldox, Republican. 
 In 1865, a Republican Senator was elected by a majority 
 of 743. He is a member of the Committee on Canals. 
 
 Senator Nichols, though a staunch Democrat and no 
 trimmer, is not a rabid partisan. He does not, as some do, 
 give all his mind to politics, for, beside his law business, 
 he has a love of general literature. He is pleasant and 
 easy, and yet dignified in his manners, and has the highest 
 esteem and confidence of his associates. 
 
JOHN I. NICKS. 
 
 Senator Nicks was born at Rhinebeck, in Dutchess 
 county, in the year 1822. He is of English descent. At 
 an early age he was left to fight his own way through life. 
 His advantages of early education were extremely limi- 
 ted ; a few months in the rude common school of the day 
 was all that he enjoyed. A necessity more immediately 
 pressing, than a brilliant, or even an ordinary education, 
 made imperative demand on his time and energies. He 
 must work — and so was apprenticed with Messrs. Neak 
 & Hendricks, at Red Hook, New York, to learn the art 
 and mystery of a tobacconist. He afterward, before he 
 was of age, carried on a little business in that line, in 
 Brooklyn, from whence he removed to Ithaca. At this 
 latter place, he was, for some time, foreman of a large 
 tobacco factory, and also carried on business for himself 
 In 1847, he removed to Elmira, at which place there was 
 then no establishment of the kind. Mr. Nicks' resources 
 were small, and he opened business in a modest way ; but 
 constant success, from the fii'st, attended his enterprise. 
 For years past, his business has been larger than that of 
 any similar establishment in Southern New York. 
 
 Mr. Nicks early took a jDrominent interest in politics. 
 The first political office held by him was that of Supervisor 
 from the Second Ward in the village of Elmira, in 1851, 
 having been chosen by the Whig party. He was after- 
 ward, for several terms, chosen Trustee of the village, also 
 member of the Board of Education, and Chief Engineer of 
 the Fire Department. In 1864, Avhen Elmira was made a 
 city, he was the candidate of the Republican party for 
 
JOHN I. NICKS. 121 
 
 Mayor, but fiiileJ, by a few votes, of an election. In 18G5, 
 his name was again used, and his election secured by an 
 unprecedented majority. In 1866, he was re-elected by a 
 handsome vote, in spite of very determined opposition. 
 His term expired in March, 1867. In the prompt, 
 intelligent and satisfactory discharge of the duties of 
 ]\Iayor, he has displayed his marked executive talent. 
 Under his administration, numerous reforms and improve- 
 ments have been inaugurated, until the business matters of 
 the city have been reduced to the same thorough system 
 which ever characterizes the prudent management of his 
 private aflairs. 
 
 In 1862, when the present internal revenue system was 
 inaugui-ated, Mr. Nicks was appointed by President 
 Lincoln to the office of Assessor for the Twenty-seventh 
 District of Xew York. To the management of this office 
 he brought the same characteristic ability which has 
 marked his discharge of every public as well as private 
 duty. Out of chaos he produced system and order, and 
 ranked, at Washington, among the best officers of his 
 class in the country. No decision of his was ever over- 
 ruled by the Department. The duties of this office he 
 was quietly pursuing when Mr. Johnson commenced his 
 gyrations " around the circle." Mr. Nicks, like hundreds 
 of other Republican office-holders, was true to principle. 
 He kept on the even tenor of his way, pursuing precisely 
 the same course which he would have pursued under ordi- 
 nary circumstances. He neither courted martyrdom nor 
 hid from the wrath of the " powers that be." In August, 
 1866, after the adjournment of Congress, the Republicans 
 of Elmira invited their able and faithful Representative, 
 Hon. Hamilton Ward, to address them on the political 
 issues of the day, at Ely Hall. Over this meeting Mr. 
 16 
 
122 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Nicks was invited to preside. On taking the chair, 
 among other remarks he made the following : 
 
 "Ladies AND Gentlemen: — You are all aware that I am now- 
 filling a small office in the gift of the Grovernment. But if to hold 
 that office I must sacrifice my princiisles, I say begone with the 
 office. I say to you, and desire it may be heard and understood 
 throughout the length and breadth of the land, that principle is, 
 and ever should be, above office. When I, in my boyhood, learned 
 to love that great man, Henry Clay, I was taught by him that it 
 was ' better to be right than President.' I say to you, ladies and 
 gentlemen, of this platform sent forth by Congress, that in looking 
 it over carefully, I feel that I can indorse every word of it. I feel 
 that it is asking but little of those men who have combined to 
 destroy our Government to submit to the policy of Congress. I 
 care not for the position in which this may place me, so long as 
 I feel that I am acting upon principle, fearless of all considera- 
 tions." 
 
 This was but a few days before the Philadeli^hia Con- 
 vention. Within a week, the head of Assessor Nicks 
 rolled in the basket. On the evening of the day of the 
 telegraphic announcement of this fact, the Republican 
 citizens of Elmira, to the number of three or four thou- 
 sand, marched with music and banners, to the residence 
 of the Mayor, and saluted him in honor of his adherence 
 to principle. The demonstration was a spontaneous and 
 heartfelt expression of popular sentiment. A few days 
 afterward, when the office of Senator for the Twenty- 
 seventh district was made vacant by the resignation of 
 Canal Commissioner Hatt, the public voice suggested 
 Mr. Nicks as his successor. In the nominating Conven- 
 tion, held at Corning, each delegate from Chemung, 
 Steuben and Schuyler, as his name was called, rose in his 
 place and designated him as the candidate of their choice. 
 The nomination thus made was ratified by the people, by 
 
MICHAEL NORTON. 123 
 
 a larger majority than was ever before received by any 
 candidate in the district. 
 
 In the last Senate Mr. Nicks served on the Committees 
 on Canals, Grievances and Retrenchment. He was 
 renominated and re-elected by a flattering vote. He 
 serves the present term on the Canal Committee, and as 
 Chairman of Roads and Bridges, and Poor Laws. 
 
 Aflable, attentive to his duties, wise and firm in his 
 course and judicious in his management — these are the 
 characteristics which have made Senator Nicks strong 
 with the people and with his associates. 
 
 MICHAEL NORTON, 
 
 Senator Norton is the representative of the Fifth Dis- 
 trict, and in every particular is a self-made man. His 
 career shows what a man with little or no advantages can 
 accomplish, with energy and determination. 
 
 Mr. Norton was born in Ireland, on the 25th day of 
 December, 1837. His parents came to this country when 
 he was only about five months old, became residents of 
 the city of New York, and lived there until their death. 
 He is entirely self-educated, never having attended school 
 over six months. His parents being in moderate circum- 
 stances, he was obliged at an early day to earn his own 
 living. He has had a varied life, but yet active, and 
 has seen the world in a variety of phases. Possessing 
 a strong practical turn of mind and an excellent memory, 
 life has been a school from which he has drawn far more 
 
124 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 knowledge than others would gain by close study. He 
 commenced working out when but eight years old, his 
 first situation being in a crockery factory, where he remained 
 three years. At the age of eleven he went into the employ 
 of Swift & Co., sugar refiners, where he remained five 
 years. He then engaged on the ocean steamer Atlantic, 
 of the Collins line, as a mess boy, and made six trips 
 across the Atlantic in that capacity. At the expiration 
 of his service on that vessel he learned the cooper's trade. 
 
 In 1861 he enlisted in the volunteer service and was 
 elected Captain of Company D, of the 25th Regiment. 
 He was mustered in the service in May of that year, thus 
 being one of the earliest to respond to the call of the 
 country. While in this service he received the news of 
 the death of his father and the severe illness of his mother. 
 This threw the care of his father's family upon his shoulders, 
 and compelled him to resign his position in the army and 
 return to New York, which he did in November of that 
 year. 
 
 In 1862, he ran for Alderman in the Third Aldermanic 
 District. There were four Democratic candidates running, 
 and Mr. Noktok was second in the ra^e, being defeated 
 by John T. Henry. He was again a candidate in 1864, 
 and elected; was re-elected in 1866, and still holds his 
 position, his second term expiring on the 1st of January, 
 1869. Since he has been a member of that board, he has 
 served on some of the most important committees, having 
 held the position of Chairman of the Committee on Streets, 
 of Lamps and Gas, and of the Joint Committee on 
 Accounts. He has also been a member of the Committee 
 on Finance, and Wharves and Piers. 
 
 In political affiliations, he is identified with Tammany 
 Hall, and connected with both the ward and general 
 committees of that organization, at the present time head- 
 
MICHAEL NORTOX 125 
 
 ing the delegation from the eighth ward in the General 
 Committee. He is an active worker in his party, and 
 generally acknowledged as one of the strongest men in 
 the organization of that ward. 
 
 Mr. NoRTOx is a man of strong practical common sense, 
 and knows how to make his knowledge of politics available. 
 Few men of his education can compare with him in his 
 control of men to carry his points. In securing his nomi- 
 nation for the position of Senator, he exhibited this talent 
 to a degree seldom equaled, even by those who profess to 
 be experienced political tacticians. He makes no preten- 
 tions to speech-making, and is a man of few words. His 
 district comprises the Eighth, Ninth, Fifteenth and Six- 
 teenth wards of New York, a district in which the 
 Republicans have more strength than any other in the city. 
 He ran on the Tammany nomination, with Charles Blau- 
 VELT, as the Mozart candidate, and two Republican 
 candidates against him. The result at the time of his 
 nomination Avas considered doubtful, but he came out of 
 the conflict with seven hundred and thirty-three more votes 
 than received by all his competitors combined. 
 
 In personal appearance, he is a man above the medium 
 size, stout, muscular and powerfully built, with smoothly 
 shaven face, brown hair and florid complexion. 
 
JOHN O'DONNELL. 
 
 Senator O'Donnell is a native of Fort Ann, \yash- 
 ington county, New York, where he was born in 1827. His 
 father was born in Irehmd and his mother in America. 
 In early life he removed to Lyme, Jefferson county, and 
 in 1849, settled in Lowville, Lewis county, where he now 
 resides. Here he commenced trade, as a general merchant ; 
 and, by earnest and careful attention to business, gradually 
 extended his means, and acquired the confidence and 
 respect of his fellow citizens. He subsequently purchased 
 largely of real estate, in the most central and eligible 
 points for business in the village, and erected large and 
 commodious blocks of buildings, extending along both 
 streets, which have added greatly to the business facilities 
 of the place. Within a year or two, he has withdrawn 
 from trade, as a successful merchant. Senator O'Doxneli. 
 is known at home, as a man of great energy and persever- 
 ance, and seldom undertakes an enterprise without carry- 
 ing it through. 
 
 In 1864, he was on the Republican State Committee, 
 and was a delegate to the Baltimore Convention, which 
 renominated President LiisrcoLic. In the same year he 
 was elected to the Assembly from Lewis county. In that 
 body, he served as Chairman of the Committee on the 
 Internal Affairs of Towns and Counties, and was noted 
 for the diligent attention he bestowed upon the inter- 
 ests of his constituents, and upon all measures for the 
 
I 
 
 JOHN o'donnell. 127 
 
 jDublic Avelfare. He obtained, in various appropriations 
 for Lewis county, for building a bridge, lock and dam, 
 on Black river, and for the improvement of Beaver 
 river, over fifty thousand dollars ; also, secured the 
 passage of an act removing the Court House from 
 Martinsburgh to Lowville ; and was the author of an 
 act of great importance to the dairy interests of the 
 State: — "To protect butter and cheese manufactories." 
 
 In 1865, he Avas elected Senator for the Eighteenth Dis- 
 trict (Lewis and Jeiferson), in the place of Hon. James A. 
 Bell against Andrew Cornwall, the Democratic candi- 
 date. He was Chairman of the Senatorial Committee upon 
 Internal Aliairs of Towns and Counties, and a member of 
 the Committee upon Insurance, and upon Public Expendi- 
 tures. Mr. O'DoNNELL reported the Xew York Excise 
 Bill, and was active in securing its passage through the 
 Senate ; he was the author of the bill to protect " Primary 
 Meetings, Caucuses and Conventions of Political Pai'ties ; " 
 also of the bill to divide the safety fund of $80,000, remain- 
 ing in the Bank Department, among the bill-holders of 
 the Lewis County, Yates county, and Reciprocity Banks, 
 resulting in a payment of nearly fifty per cent to the bill- 
 holders. During the campaign of 1866, he was very active, 
 and spoke some forty times, at political meetings, held by 
 appointment of the State Committee. During the session 
 of 1867, Senator O'Donnell introduced a measure distin- 
 guished for its originality and for its success in the Legis- 
 lature. It was known as the " O'Donnell Railroad Bill." 
 It provided in the place of State aid to individual roads, a 
 general plan by which the State should aid any steam rail- 
 road in the State — out of the county and city of New 
 York — that should build and complete in good running 
 order, twenty miles of road, where a parallel road is not 
 already built, or in jji'ocess of building, within an average 
 
128 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 distance often miles thereof ; and that the Treasurer of the 
 State upon the certificate of the State Engineer that the 
 conditions had been complied with, upon the warrant of 
 the Comptroller, should pay to the said road five thousand 
 dollars j^er mile, for every twenty miles of road so con- 
 structed. It was with difficulty that a report, even for 
 consideration, could be obtained from the railroad commit- 
 tee in the Senate. At the first a2:)pearance of the bill in 
 committee of the whole but two Senators were in favor of 
 it, but upon discussion it was regarded more favorably, 
 and after repeated and exhaustive examination in debate 
 upon the floor of the Senate it passed bj^ a large vote. 
 Afterwards it passed the Assembly, but was vetoed by 
 Governor Fenton. The success of this measure was 
 justly regarded by the friends of the Senator, as flattering 
 to his perseverance, and they are sanguine that it will yet 
 become a part of the fundamental law of the State. 
 
 The bills to extend the provisions of the Metropolitan 
 excise law over the State, and the bill to suppress obscene 
 literature, to j^rohibit the employment of railroad conduc- 
 tors and other employes who use intoxicating liquors, as a 
 beverage, were passed by him in the Senate, but failed in 
 the Assembly. The Senator is the recognized champion 
 of the temperance interest in the Legislature, and never 
 fails to respond when that interest is before the Senate. 
 
 Senator O'Donnell was re-elected to the Senate at the 
 last election over Le-vvis H. Browjt by 1,647 majority. 
 He is Chairman of the Commitee on Finance, or the 
 Premier of the Senate, a position unanimously conceded 
 to him by his associates, and by the party, as a reward 
 for his fidelity to the interests of the State, and for his 
 unbenduig integrity and honesty. He is also a member 
 of the Committees on Printing, Privileges and Elections, 
 and Public Health. 
 
JOHN o'DONlSrELL. 129 
 
 The Senator is devoting his entire time this session to 
 the revision of the Assessment Law, and if we may judge 
 from his success in the i>ast, this great subject will be 
 thoroughly mastered, and the State will have an assess- 
 ment law that will deal justly with its citizens, in place of 
 the miserable laws that now disgrace the State. 
 
 As a public speaker, Senator O'Donnell is energetic, 
 fluent and argumentative, seldom failing to fix the atten- 
 tion of a political opponent, and always leaving the impres- 
 sion, that he is correct and conscientious in his views. 
 
 17 
 
ABIAH W. PALMER. 
 
 There are some natures which have a magnetic power 
 by which they attract to themselves the sympathies of 
 acquaintances, irrespective of political tenets and social 
 creeds. Whether they are favored with wealth or doomed 
 to poverty, it seems to matter little, so far as the number of 
 their friends is concerned. They go through life, making 
 this man happy by a smile, that one joyful by a kindly 
 word or act, and when thej^ pass out from the world, there 
 is many a mourner for them who does not wear the insignia 
 of sorrow, and yet who secretly murmurs a benediction 
 over their graves, and consecrates a grateful memory to 
 their good deeds. We are uttering no empty plaudit, as 
 hundreds can attest, when we say that Senator Palmer 
 belongs to this class of men. 
 
 His father Abiaii Palmee, was a Captain in the army 
 during the Avar of 1812. He was a man of wealth and 
 influence, and was highly appreciated by a large circle of 
 friends. 
 
 Abiah W. Palmer, the gentleman whose name heads this 
 article, was born on the 25th day of January, 1835, in the 
 town of Amenia, Dutchess county, N. Y., on the old home- 
 stead, which has for many years been in the possession of 
 the Palmer family, and on which Mr. Palmer now resides. 
 Both of his i:)arents died when he was still in his early 
 childhood. He pursued his studies at the Amenia Semi- 
 nary, and afterwards, at the Oneida Conference Seminary, 
 in Cazenovia, with a view to a complete collegiate course. 
 At nineteen, he entered the Sophomore class, at Union 
 College; but in 1856 he was compelled by ill health to 
 
 / 
 
ABIAH W. PALMER. 131 
 
 relinquish his studies, and to seek remedies at the Clifton 
 Springs Water Cure, in which institution he remained 
 during several months. Having been convinced that he 
 needed a diiferent kind of treatment, he made arrange- 
 ments for a protracted visit to Europe. Accordingly, in 
 1857, he went to that country, whei'e he not only visited 
 the cities of Great Britain and the Continent, but also 
 availed himself of opportunities for acquiring a knowledge 
 of modern languages. 
 
 In 1859, Mr. Palmer returned from Europe, and 
 resumed the management of his estate, in Amenia, paying 
 particular attention to mining for iron ore, a large bed of 
 that metal being on his lands. In the fall of that year, he 
 was nominated for member of the Assembly, by the 
 Republican party, and elected by a large majority, though 
 the District had, hitherto, been closely contested by both 
 parties. It will be perceived that Mr. Palmer entered 
 upon his political career, when he was but little over 
 twenty-four years old. Up to that period, his time had 
 been spent either in school or abroad ; but we are not to 
 suppose that he had formed no decided opinions relative 
 to public affairs ; on the contrary, he had been among the 
 foremost to indorse the enduring principles of universal 
 freedom, which were confirmed in his mind by the contrast 
 which was presented to his observation, while in Europe. 
 Therefore, though among the younger members of the 
 Assembly, he held an honorable and jjrominent place, in 
 his official capacity ; and was respected because he had 
 integrity sufficient to enable him to resist the overtures of 
 corrupt schemers. The following year, he was unanimously 
 renominated for the same office ; but, in conseqiaence of 
 ill health, he was compelled to decline the nomination. He 
 thereupon withdrew from politics, and gave his attention 
 to business and the restoration of his health. 
 
132 LIFE SKETCHES, 
 
 In 1865, he again accepted the nomination for the 
 Assembly, and was elected by the largest majority ever 
 given by his district. His talents were recognized, and he 
 was appointed as a member of the Committees of Ways 
 and Means, and Revision and Rules. While serving on 
 the former Committee, his attention was called to the 
 necessity of making provisions for the better accommoda- 
 tion of the insane. He succeeded in effecting the enact- 
 ment of a law authorizing the Governor to appoint 
 Commissioners to select a site for a new asylum for the 
 insane. The following summer, Mr. Palmer was 
 appointed by Governor Fenton, as Chairman of that 
 Board. He devoted nearly the whole of his attention, 
 during the ensuing season, to the selection of a proper site, 
 and strenuously urged upon the inhabitants, at different 
 j:)oints, along the Hudson River, to make proposals for 
 havino- the institution located in their localities. The city 
 of Pouo-hkeepsie offered the most liberal and desirable 
 inducements for the purpose in question ; and consequently 
 the Commissioners decided to establish the asylum at that 
 place. Thereupon, a splendid farm of two hundred acres, 
 affording one of the most beautiful sites on the Hudson, 
 was purchased, costing the city of Poughkeepsie and the 
 remainder of Dutchess county |85,000. 
 
 During that year Mr. P'almer was again renominated, 
 but his delicate state of health compelled him to decline 
 the candidacy. During the session of the Legislature of 
 1860, he presented the report of the Commissioners rela- 
 tive ta their action, and pi-ocured the passage of an act 
 accepting the site, on the part of the State, and also an 
 act for the establishment and organization of the Hudson 
 River State Hospital for the Insane ; and secured an 
 appropriation of $100,000, with which to commence work 
 upon the building. Under this act he was appointed one 
 
ABIAH W. PALMER. 133 
 
 of the Managers, on behalf of tlie State, for the consum- 
 mation of the plans ; and was subsequently elected Pres- 
 ident of the Board of Managers. This honor was justly 
 deserved, for Mr. Palmer had initiated and done much 
 towards perfecting one of the most benevolent and 
 humane charities dispensed by the State of New York. 
 In fact, the accomplishment of this beneficent purpose was 
 the master-good which he desired to have conferred upon 
 suffering humanity ; and he entered into the work, actu- 
 ated by sympathy for the unfortunate and by motives of an 
 exalted charity. The time will come when many, having 
 emerged from the terrors of disordered minds, will have 
 cause to be grateful for the impulses which prompted Mi-. 
 Palmer in his devotion to this project. 
 
 In 1867, Mr. Palmer was unanimously nominated as 
 the Republican candidate for State Senator for the Elev- 
 enth District, composed of Dutchess and Columbia coun- 
 ties. The result shows his great popularity ; for although 
 his district gave the Democratic State ticket, nearly two 
 hundred majority, yet Mr. Palmer was elected by nearly 
 seven hundred majority. In the Senate, he is Chairman of 
 the Committee on Banks (Senator Palmer is now a bank 
 president) and Charitable and Religious Societies, and is 
 a member of the Committees on Municipal Affairs and 
 Agriculture. 
 
 Senator Palmer's mien is that of a true American gen- 
 tleman. His features are clearly defined, and indicate the 
 benevolence of his nature ; and his voice, almost always 
 modulated to gentleness, is magnetic. He is esteemed by 
 his colleagues in the Senate, as one of the most sterling 
 men in the Legislature ; and it is with much pleasure that 
 we improve this opportunity for paying tribute to a man 
 whom we have learned to admire. 
 
ABRAHAM X. PARKER. 
 
 Senator Parker was born in the year 1831, in Addison 
 county, Vermont. Although his career has been brief, it 
 has demonstrated that he is possessed of commanding 
 qualities, and is destined to take front rank with New 
 York's most honored and admii-ed sons. The branch of 
 the fiimily from which he descended settled originally, 
 before the Revolution, near Boston. He was educated in 
 the St. Lawrence Academy, at Potsdam, and subsequently 
 studied law for a year with Hon. Hexry L. Kxowles, of 
 that place. In 1854, he attended the lectures at the 
 Albany Law School, and was then admitted as Attorney. 
 He subsequently practiced for six months in the office of 
 Hon. Eli Cook and Freeman J. Fithian, then in the full 
 tide of a large practice, at Buffalo, and was, for a con- 
 siderable time, in the office of James Noxon, at Syracuse. 
 
 Mr. Parker opened an office in Potsdam, in 1856, 
 where he has since continued in the practice of his profes- 
 sion. He is regarded as an eminently safe counsellor, and 
 is an exceedingly effective practitioner at the bar. He 
 enjoys the extensive practice such talents are sure to 
 command. From the time of his location in Potsdam 
 to the present, each yeai*, including that of 1856, has 
 found Mr. Parker on the stump, a fearless yet discreet 
 champion of the principles of the Republican party. He 
 has never been anything else but a Republican. 
 
 Mr. Parker was, for many years. Chief Engineer of 
 the fire department of Potsdam, and a trustee of St. Law- 
 rence Academy. He is President of the village, and has 
 held the position several preceding years. He is a mem- 
 
ABRAHAM X. PAEKEK. 135 
 
 ber of the local board of managers of the State Normal 
 School, located at Potsdam. He was a Justice of the 
 Peace from 1857 to 1861, when he resigned. In all these 
 positions he has commended himself to his fellow-citizens 
 by his able and laithful discharge of the trusts reposed 
 in him. 
 
 He Avas member of the Assembly in 1863, and, although 
 a new member, was at once given the Chairmanship of a 
 very important committee, that of Claims, and he fulfilled 
 the delicate and responsible duties of the arduous position 
 with signal credit. The following year he was re-elected, 
 and was appointed Chairman of tlie Committee on Com- 
 merce and Navigation, a position requiring a high order 
 of talent, and the strictest integrity, and it found in Mr. 
 Parker a man every way adapted to the place. He 
 entered a special protest against renomination in 1865, but 
 his constituents so highly appreciated his earnest and suc- 
 cessful eiforts in their behalf, as well as the advanced 
 position he held in the Assembly as a general legislator, 
 and ready and effective debater, that he was renominated 
 by acclamation. He was, however, compelled peremptorily 
 to decline, by reason of business engagements. He was 
 appointed Postmaster of Potsdam in the spring of 1865, 
 and in the fall of 1866 was removed, for opposing the 
 HoFFMAX and Prutx ticket. He was unanimously nomi- 
 nated to his present position, and was elected by over six 
 thousand majority. He holds the honorable positions of 
 Chairman of the Committees on Insurance and Public 
 Health, and is a member of the Committees on Railroads 
 and Public Expenditures. He is one of the most reliable 
 and useful members of the Senate, and is a man of acknow- 
 ledged power and ability. During the canvass, the New 
 York World well said of him, that he "was considered 
 one of the most straightforward members during the ses- 
 
136 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 sions of 1863-4. He is a zealoiis Eepublican, but free from 
 bigotry. He was a candidate for Clerk of Assembly in 
 1867, and received a large vote in the Republican caucus. 
 He is an able, industrious and incorruptible Senator." 
 This tribute from a political opponent is woi'th more than 
 any commendation of ours. 
 
 JAMES F. PIERCE. 
 
 The Second Senatorial District is this year represented 
 by a Democrat, in the person of James F. Pieece. He 
 was born in Madrid, St. Lawrence county, on the 8th day 
 of April, 1830, and is therefore about thirty-eight years of 
 age. His jjarents were natives of New England. His 
 father was a physician and a graduate of Dartmouth Col- 
 lege, New Hampshire. 
 
 Mr. Pierce at an early age prepared to enter college, 
 taking the preliminary steps for a collegiate course in the 
 St. Lawrence Academy ; but his health failing him he w^as 
 compelled to abandon all ideas of a collegiate education. 
 This proved a great drawback to his advancement and 
 ambition. A few years of self-denial and careful attention 
 to- his health, enabled him to so far regain it thaf he 
 entered upon the study of law in the office of Judge 
 Henry L. Knowles, of Potsdam, He remained there 
 pursuing his studies about fifteen months, when circum- 
 stances opened to him a wider field, and he was able to 
 secui-e for himself better advantages, by going to the city 
 of Troy, and entering the law office of Hon. Job Pierson 
 and Wm. A. Beach, where his law studies were completed. 
 
JAMES F. PIERCE. 137 
 
 He was admitted to tlie bar at Albany, in the year 1851. 
 when only twenty-one years of age. 
 
 After his admission it was discovered that a pulmonary 
 difficulty was making- serious inroads upon his health, and 
 there being a family predisposition in this dii-ection, after 
 consultation with, and under the advice of some of our 
 most eminent physicians, he sought the mild and genial 
 climate of St. Augustine, Florida, where he remained 
 three years. Sea bathing, with the balmy air of that 
 locality, and such remedial agents as were prescribed by 
 his physicians, had the desired effect, and he was restored 
 to his usual health. While at St. Augustine, Mr. Pierce 
 occupied an office with the Hon. Isaac H. Broxsox, now 
 deceased, then United States Judge for the Eastern Dis- 
 trict of Florida, whose friendship he retained np to the 
 period of his death. Among the visitors to that section 
 was Governor Marcy, whose acquaintance Mr. Pierce 
 formed, wliicli grew into intimate personal relations. 
 During the campaign which resulted in the election of 
 Franklix Pierce as President, he took an active part on 
 the stump and otherwise, and was a frequent contributor 
 to the "Ancient City," the only Democratic paper pub- 
 lished at St. Augustine. 
 
 On his return from Florida, he again resumed the prac- 
 tice of his profession, and in 1856 took up his residence at 
 Canton, St. Lawrence county, the home of Silas Wright. 
 
 At the hazard of paying Mr. Pierce an equivocal com- 
 pliment, it may be said of him that he is by instinct a 
 politician ; he early formed a taste for politics, and the 
 excitement incident to political life has always had a charm 
 for him. For years he was the regular delegate to the 
 Democratic State Convention from his district, and in this 
 Avay became intimately acquainted with the representative 
 men of the party in the State, whose confidence he enjoys. 
 18 
 
138 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 At the commencement of the war, Mr. Pierce believing 
 that the Union ought to be preserved, took an active part 
 in raising troops, speaking in almost every town in his 
 county, and taking hold with a zeal unequaled by few men 
 in that locality. Mr. Pierce, however, remained faithful 
 and unswerving in his adherence to his party and its 
 principles, to which he has ever been warmly and devotedly 
 attached. . In 1862, the party being in a hopeless minority, 
 a Union ticket was formed, Mr. Pierce being placed on it 
 as a candidate for County Clerk, on account of the work 
 which he had performed, his activity in raising troops, 
 and the interest which he took in the cause of the Union. 
 A strong effort was made to defeat him, but he came out 
 of the contest successfully, his majority being about one 
 thousand. His appearance at the Democratic State Con- 
 vention while holding that position, was hailed with a 
 perfect ovation. The idea of a Democrat being elected to 
 a county office in St. Lawrence county, was looked upon 
 as a remarkable event, and the person so elected a curiosity. 
 
 In 1865, Mr. Pierce removed to the city of New York, 
 and there engaged in the j^ractice of his profession. Soon 
 after this he was employed as counsel to the Merchants' 
 Union Express Company, which position he still holds. 
 In the fall of 1866, he took up his residence in Brooklyn, 
 and in the fall of 1867, was nominated by the Democrats 
 of the Second Senatorial District, a district which has 
 heretofore been represented by a Rej)ublican ; and 
 although comparatively a stranger in the district, he was 
 elected by nearly four thousand majority. At the com- 
 mencement of the present session, he was placed by the 
 Lieutenant-Governor on the Committees on Commerce and 
 Navigation, and Retrenchment. 
 
 In person, he is above the medium height, slim built, 
 straight and upright figure, large, full bluish gray eyes, 
 
CHARLES STANFORD. 139 
 
 dark brown hair, and wears a moustache. He still bears 
 the appearance of his former lung difficulties, and cannot 
 be said to be a person of robust health. He is a person of 
 cultivated manners, a clear head, fine social qualities, 
 warm and sincere in his attacliments, calculated to make 
 friends wherever he goes, and to become popular in the 
 Senate. There was no person nominated for the Senate 
 last fall who received so universal commendation from the 
 press of all parties, as did Mr. Pierce. Tlie Republicans 
 from his native county in several instances volunteered their 
 services in his behalf, a fact that shows his personal popu- 
 larity among those v/ho knew him the best. 
 
 CHARLES STANFORD 
 
 Senator Stanford was born on the 26th day of April, 
 1819, in the town of Watervliet, Albany county, New 
 York. His father, Josiah Stanford, a native of New Eng- 
 land, early settled in that town. During his long life he 
 was distinguished for his integrity, energy of character, 
 and intelligence. He was both a farmer and contractor. 
 He died in 1862, widely known and lamented. His 
 mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Phillips, was 
 a native of Vermont, and is still living, at the age of sev- 
 enty-seven, and has a remarkably strong and vigorous 
 mind. Of six sons, five are still living, three in Califor- 
 nia, one in Australia, and one the subject of this sketch. 
 After receiving a common school education, young Stan- 
 ford further prosecuted his studies at the Prattstown 
 
140 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Academy, in Steuben county, and the Clinton Liberal 
 Institute, in Oneida county. Leaving school, the future 
 Senator devoted his time to the assistance of his father 
 upon the farm, and in the jDrosecution of his various con- 
 tracts. In 1844 he took a lai-ge contract upon his own 
 responsibility, in the city of Albany, to grade the ravine 
 then known as the Hudson street hollow. This enterprise 
 proving a success, was followed by contracts upon the 
 Pittsfield and North Adams, and the Hudson River Rail- 
 roads. While engaged upon the Hudson River Railroad 
 an incident occurred, bringing out the characteristics of 
 the man and the qualities which have given him success 
 in the world. Owing to sharp competition, the contracts 
 were all taken low. After a partial performance, nearly 
 all the other contractors abandoned their contracts and 
 the railroad company informed Mr. Stanfokd that he 
 would be permitted to abandon his. His reply was, " I 
 take no contracts to throw up ;" and he finished his work, 
 making a fair profit where the others predicted a loss. 
 
 In 1850, he went to California, then just opening its 
 gates of golden promise to the world. His brothers 
 either accompanied or soon followed him. In connection 
 Avith, we believe, three of them, he founded a commercial 
 house, which soon rose to be one of the largest and 
 wealthiest upon the Pacific coast. The firm of Sta:n^foed 
 Brotheks, then first organized, still exists, the Senator 
 remaining at its head. Neither disastrous fires, nor finan- 
 cial panics, have disturbed its solidity, though a loser by 
 both. It has established bi-anches in different parts of 
 California. In 1859, in connection with two of his 
 brothers, he established a large commercial house in Mel- 
 bourne, Australia, and soon after, branches in Sidney and 
 New Zealand. The trade of these several houses is very 
 large. One of his brothers, the Hon. Lelmstd Stanford, 
 
CUARLES STANFORD. 141 
 
 was elected Governor of the State of California, in 18G1, 
 and held the office for two years. He is the President of 
 the Central Pacific Railroad, now being rapidly con- 
 structed, and soon about to form the extreme western 
 link of the great chain of railroads across the continent. 
 
 In 1854, the interests of his firm requiring that one of 
 its members should reside near New York city, Mr. Stax- 
 FORD returned to the State of New York, and, in 1861, 
 took up his residence in Schenectady county, purchasing a 
 large farm in the town of Niskayuna, where he has since 
 resided. In 18G3, he was elected by the Republican party 
 to represent his county in the Assembly. He was a 
 member of the Committees on Public Lands and Public 
 Printing. He was again elected in 1864, and was made 
 Chairman of the resj^onsible Committee on Railroads. 
 He was chosen a delegate to the Baltimore Convention in 
 1864, and voted for the renomination of President Lin- 
 coln. In the fall of 1865, he was prevailed upon to accept 
 the Republican nomination for Senator of the Fourteenth 
 District. This district was composed of Schenectady, 
 Schoharie and Delaware counties, and, according to the 
 previous elections, was largely Democratic. He was 
 elected, however, by a majority of 1,614. This result 
 was as gratifying to the friends of Mr. Stanford as it was 
 unexpected to his opponents. During this campaign, 
 he established the Schenectady Daily Union; he still 
 remains its proprietor. It is one of the handsomest daily 
 papers in the State, is conducted with enterprise and 
 talent, having done much to change the county of Schen- 
 ectady from one of doubtful politics to a Republican 
 stronghold. 
 
 Mr. Stanford rendered invaluable service to the State, 
 in 1867, in his capacity as Chairman of the Senate Com 
 mittee of Investigation into the Management of the Canals 
 
142 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 of the State. The effective labors of that Committee are 
 well known and need but a reference from us. To the bold, 
 fearless and rigid scrutiny of Senator Stanford is the 
 public indebted for the exposure of the nefarious frauds 
 which have been perpetrated on the Canals of the State. 
 He was nominated as an Independant Republican, for 
 re-election, in a district considerably altered from the one 
 in which he was originally elected as Senator the preced- 
 ing term. The regular nomination was given to the 
 Senator who had represented the greater portion of the 
 district the previous session. Many of Mr. Stanfokd's 
 friends, who had admired his upright course, deemed it 
 due him that he should be returned, and due to the State 
 that he should be placed where he could complete the 
 work he had so successfully begun. He was therefore 
 nominated and elected, receiving a liberal Democratic 
 support. He is a strong Republican. 
 
 Mr. Stanford is now in the prime of life. He is a 
 man of robust and portly frame, fine presence, and an 
 easy dignity of manner. In the Senate he is a working, 
 rather than a talking member. He is Chairman of the 
 Committee on Canals, second on Commerce and Naviga- 
 tion, and a member of the Committee on Insurance 
 and Retrenchment. In the preceding Senate he was 
 a member of the Committees on Commerce and Navi- 
 gation, Agriculture, and the Erection and Division of 
 Towns and Counties, being Chairman of the latter Com- 
 mittee. It need hardly be said that he is a man of strong 
 common sense, great energy of character, firmness of 
 purpose, and untiring industry. With him obstacles are 
 the things to be surmounted, not hindrances to advance- 
 ment. A conviction that a measure is right, secures for it 
 his support ; and though the measure may, for the moment, 
 be unpopular, his support of it is none the less zealous ; 
 
FRA^TCIS S. THAYER. 143 
 
 he is willing to wait for justice. To his other qualities he 
 adds an integrity that is unquestioned, and a jirivate char- 
 acter above rejiroach. The schemes of corruption which 
 are but too frequently the objects of legislative favor, find 
 in Mr. Stanford neither advocate nor friend, as he has 
 convincingly proven in his action in regard to canal 
 frauds. Too rich to desire a bribe, and too honest to take 
 one, he is a good ty2De of the public servant, whom the 
 State can illy spare. 
 
 FHxlNCIS S. THAYER. 
 
 This gentleman, who rej^resents the Twelfth District in - 
 the State Senate, comes of the old Massachusetts Puritan 
 stock. His father came from the Bay State to Vermont, 
 and in Dummerstown, Windham county, in the Green 
 Mountain State, the subject of this sketch was born on 
 the 11th of September, 1822. He is one of a family of 
 eleven brothers and sisters. He lived in that county 
 mitil he was nineteen years old, enjoying the ordinary 
 advantages of education then usually falling to the lot of 
 sons of that State. Here was ripened a rugged constitu- 
 tion, and those habits of iu<lustry, thrift and good morals 
 were formed which laid the foundation for future sti'ength 
 of character and usefulness. At eighteen years of age he 
 was elected captain of a military company, and held that 
 position until he left the State. Up to nineteen years of 
 age he had worked on a farm, and for a time was a clerk 
 in a country store. In the summer of 1841 he came 
 to Hoosick Falls, Rensselaer county, 'New York, where 
 
144 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 his father had removed. He remained a few weeks here, 
 and then went to Cambridge Academy, in the adjoining 
 county of Washington, where he received instruction 
 for four months, and acquired a fair education in all the 
 English branches. 
 
 In the winter of 1842, he taught school in the village of 
 North Bennington, Vermont, and " boarded around" in the 
 families of the scholars. In those days, no young man's 
 education was considered " complete" without this expe- 
 rience. In the spring of 1842, Mr, Thayer came to Troy, 
 and was employed as a clerk in the flour store of Howland 
 & Bills, the first year receiving only one hundred dollars 
 and board. But he soon mastered the business, and his 
 aptitude, discretion, foresight, judgment and business 
 qualifications were of so high an order that he was 
 admitted a partner in the firm at the end of five years, 
 Mr. Thayer has remained in the flour and milling business 
 ever since, being extensively and heavily engaged in the 
 maniifocture of flour, and has acquired, as the result of 
 good judgment and proper attention to business, a hand- 
 soiTfe competency. His firm has from the first been one 
 of the largest concerns in his line of business in the city 
 of Troy. The brands of flour from his mills are widely 
 known in the markets of the country as among the best 
 known as Troy flour. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Thayer was a Whig from first man- 
 hood until the old Whig party had " outlived its useful- 
 ness " and was mainly absorbed into the Republican 
 organization. His first vote was cast for Heis^ry Clay, 
 of whom he was a staunch supporter, in 1844. Since the 
 formation of the Republican party, he has been one of its 
 most ardent and unflinching members. Mr. Thayer has 
 been several times a delegate to State and local conven- 
 tions, but beyond this, he has steadily declined political 
 
FEAKCIS S. TUAYEE. 145 
 
 honors, until his acceptance of the nomination for Senator 
 in the fall of 1867, when lie was elected by 1,600 majority, 
 running 532 votes ahead of his ticket in his own county. 
 
 Mr. Thayee is a warm friend of the Canals of the State, 
 and takes especial interest in the welfare of the Cham- 
 jjlain canal. His marked integrity, sound judgment, 
 practical knowledge, and unwavering support of whatever 
 cause he espouses, will render his services of the most 
 valuable character in defending, protecting and fostering 
 in the Senate, not only the Canal interests of his constitu- 
 ents, but also all others, whether of a local or general 
 character, which may be affected by State legislation. 
 Self-reliant, discreet, clear-headed, and with an unerring 
 judgment, and a wide practical knowledge of public 
 interests and public wants, he Avill prove a most valuable 
 member of the Senate, no less than a prominent and influ- 
 ential associate in the leading counsels of the Republican 
 party of the State. 
 
 Senator Thayer is Chairman of Committees on Manu- 
 factures and Public Expenditures, and a member of the 
 Committees on Canals and Public Buildins^s. 
 
 19 
 
WILLIAM M. TWEED. 
 
 f^r 
 
 Were we called upon to select from among the many- 
 able and distinguished men in the Senate the most 
 remarkable man of them all, we should, unhesitatingly, 
 name William M. Tweed. Not that he would be picked 
 out as such by a stranger, visiting the Senate Chamber. 
 There are others who would undoubtedly be awarded the 
 meed of superiority, as they would certainly be entitled 
 to it, in regard to a number of the qualities that enter into 
 the character of an able, eloquent, laborious and influen- 
 tial Senator. Nevertheless, the capacities of Mr. Tweed's 
 mind are so peculiar and strong, and his achievements so 
 marked and unusual, that we are justified in setting him 
 down as the most remarkable man in the Senate. 
 
 Mr. Tweed was born in New York city April 3d, 1823. 
 Both his father and mother were of Scotch descent. The 
 former was born in New York city and the latter on Long 
 Island. He commenced preparation for active life by 
 studying law, and graduated at the Law School of the 
 New York University. He was for a number of years 
 extensively engaged in the manufacture of chairs, but is 
 now practicing law. 
 
 jNL, Tweed's first ofiicial position, Avas that of Alder- 
 man of the Seventh Ward, New York city, which he held 
 in 1852 and 1853. The following year he was nominated 
 and elected to the Thirty-third Congress, and held a seat 
 in that body in 1855 and 1856. He was School Commis- 
 sioner of the Seventh Ward in 1856 and 1857, evincing a 
 warm interest in the cause of education, and excellent 
 judgment, and was very successful in the management of 
 
WILLIAM M. TWEED. 147 
 
 schools under his charge. He has been a Supervisor of the 
 city of New York since 1856, and has been Chairman of 
 the Board. In all these positions, Mr. Tweed has shown a 
 keen insight into the motives of men, ready tact in mould- 
 ing them to his purposes, and singular power as an organizer 
 and director of legislative bodies. He has been Deputy 
 Street Commissioner of New York city since 1861, and 
 gives to the position untiring industry, wise direction and 
 stirring energy. He was elected to the pi-esent Senate by 
 a majority of about twelve thousand, where he maintains 
 fully his reputation as a superior parliamentary leader. 
 As a member of the Committee on Finance, his experi- 
 enced counsels are invaluable. 
 
 But it is not with Mr. Tweed, principally or chiefly as a 
 successful officer, that Ave have to do. He stands unsur- 
 passed as a political organizer. He has held, since 1861, 
 the Chairmanship of the Tammany Hall General Com- 
 mittee, an organization than which there exists none more 
 powerful, compact and overshadowing. Its sway cannot 
 be successfully resisted in the city of New York, either in 
 the Democratic party or out of it, and it wields a powerful 
 influence in State and National politics. Its plans are 
 admirably laid and thoroughly executed. Mr. Tweed is 
 the executive head of this organization. We need bring 
 no other fact than this to fully justify our opening remark. 
 The man who can maintain himself at the head of Tam- 
 many Hall, as its acknowledged leader, must be a 
 remarkable man. A casual observer would fail to perceive 
 in Mr. Tweed the elements of his success. His rotund 
 corpulent form, quiet movements, and not extraordinary 
 countenance, give no evidence of superior talent. But 
 behind that unimpressive exterior there is both an engine 
 and an engineer of motive and guiding powers unsur- 
 passed. It may be difficult to designate the true secret of 
 
148 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Mr. Tweed's great success as an organizing politician. 
 His intellect is quick and active ; his perceptive faculties 
 are very keen ; he has rare discrimination in the choice of 
 his agencies, and is ever true to his engagements and loyal 
 to his friends. He is magnanimous to a fault, where 
 magnanimity is appreciated, and unrelenting to those who 
 insist on his hostility. He seeks the advancement of 
 young men, and chooses wise and experienced counsellors 
 as his intimates; his temperament is of the nervous, 
 sanguine order, which knows no faltering nor doubt, and 
 he is sagacious, cool and determined. 
 
 These are some of the characteristics which place Mr. 
 Tweed in the front rank as a remarkably effective 
 organizer. We believe we will not be regarded as over- 
 estimating the man by those who know him best. 
 
 JAMES B. VAN PETTEN. 
 
 Senator Van Petten was born June 19th, 1827, in 
 Sterling, Cayuga county. New York, and graduated at 
 the Wesleyan University, in the class of 1850. Before the 
 war he was well known as the ver}^ successful Principal 
 of Fairfield Seminary, one of the oldest and most popu- 
 lar institutions of the State. Though a literary man 
 and practical educator, he was always public spirited and 
 much interested in national affairs. During the adminis- 
 tration of Polk and Pierce he belonged to the Democratic 
 party, but broke from it on account of its pro-slavery ten- 
 dencies, and supported John C. Fkemoxt for President. 
 Since that time he has been identified with the Republican 
 party. 
 
JAMES B. VAN PETTEN. 149 
 
 In the Spring of 1861 he resigned his position as Princi- 
 pal of Fairfield Seminary, and went to the field as Chap- 
 lain of tlie Thirty-fourtli New York Volunteers. In this 
 capacity he not only gained the reputation of a faithful 
 chaplain, but evinced a decided military spirit, and in his 
 brigade and division was known as the " fighting parson." 
 He remained with the Thirty-fourth Xew York Vohinteers 
 until the Fall of 1862, and was with it at Fair Oaks and 
 in all tlie marching and fighting on the Peninsula until 
 the Second Bull Run. He then accepted the position 
 of Lieutenant-Colonel of the One Hundred and Sixtieth 
 New York Volunteers, and went with his regiment on the 
 " Banks Expedition," to the Department of the Gulf In 
 three weeks from the time he entered the department, the 
 Colonel of the regiment went on detached service, and he 
 was left the permanent commander of that brave and distin- 
 guished regiment for two years. He participated with it 
 in every expedition and important battle in the Depart- 
 ment of the Gulf, and was often noticed in the public 
 prints and commended in orders, for superior gallantry 
 and merit. He distinguished himself in the Gotten and 
 Bislen affairs ; in the assault on Port Hudson on the mem- 
 orable 2'7th of May and the bloody 14th of June, 1863; 
 and again, on the Red River Expedition, in the severe 
 engagements of " Sabine Cross-roads," " Pleasant Grove," 
 "Mansusa," and "Carre River." In the summer of 1864, 
 he shared in the perils and achievements of the most bril- 
 liant campaign of the war, that of Sheridan in the Shen- 
 andoah Valley. At the battle of Winchester, on the 19th 
 of September, he was severely wounded, early in the day, 
 but wath characteristic fortitude and resolution, remained 
 on the field until the battle was won. This he did against 
 the advice of his generals and to the admiration of the 
 brigade. For this he received the warmest commendation 
 
150 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 of Generals McMillen, Emoky and Sheridan, and was 
 recommended for the commission of Brigadier General. 
 In the Fall of 1864, while home on account of his wounds, 
 he received a staif appointment from Governor Fexton", 
 which he did not accept, as he preferred to remain in 
 active service until the war was over, and took the 
 colonelcy of the One Hundred and Ninety-third New York 
 Volunteers and returned to the field. With this regiment 
 he joined the army of the Shenandoah, commanded by 
 Brevet Major-General Toebert. From this he was trans- 
 ferred to the Department of West Virginia, commanded 
 by Major-General Emory, and assigned to the command 
 of the District of Cumberland, with headquarters at 
 Cumberland, Maryland. Subsequently he was assigned 
 to the command of the District of Harper's Ferry, West 
 Virginia. His services were recognized at Washington ; 
 and in March, 1865, he was commissioned Brigadier- 
 General by brevet, for gallant and meritorious service. 
 During the Summer and Fall of 1865 he was in the 
 Department of West Virginia, and in command of the 
 District of Cumberland. He remained in the military ser- 
 vice until February 10th, 1866, and then returned to the 
 position he occupied before the war, as principal of Fair- 
 field Seminary. 
 
 He has the reputation of an accomplished scholar and 
 eloquent speaker. Though a clergyman and educator by 
 profession, he early acquired a ci'itical knowledge of the 
 fundamental pi'inciples of law, and is well qualified for 
 the position he now occupies. Senator Van Petten is 
 Chairman of the Committee on Militia and on Internal 
 Affairs of Towns and Counties, and is a member of the 
 Committees on Literature and Engrossed Bills. 
 
STEPHEN K. WILLIAMS. 
 
 \ 
 
 Senator Williams was born in Bennington, Vermont, 
 May 9th, 1819. His father, Richard P. Williams, M. D., 
 emigrated to what is now the village of Newark, then new 
 and unsettled, in Wayne county. New York, when the 
 subject of our sketch was four years of age. 
 
 Mr. Williams early evinced that aptness and proficiency 
 in his studies, which have been so characteristic of him 
 throughout his after life. During his boyhood he was 
 studious and reserved, reading much, particularly history 
 and biography, being far in advance of most boys of his 
 age in his studies. For this, he was indebted much to the 
 kind attentions of his father, who taught him during his 
 evenings. Owing to his thorough preparation for a col- 
 legiate course, and evident maturity of qualification, the 
 faculty of Union College in his case varied the rule requir- 
 ing the applicant for admission to be sixteen years old, and, 
 at the early age of fifteen, admitted him to the Sophomore 
 Class, Avith which he steadily advanced until he graduated 
 with marked distinction, in the year 1837. 
 
 After a few months travel in the Eastern and Southern 
 States, having chosen the profession of the law, he com- 
 menced the study of it in the ofiice of Judge Sherwood, at 
 Newark, Wayne county, and finally completed his prepar- 
 atory reading in the ofiice of the Hon. George H. Mid- 
 DLETON, late of Syracuse, and was admitted to practice in 
 the year 1842. He at once entered into copartnership 
 with Judge Middleton ; and his success as a practitioner, 
 was marked and continuous. In some respects his first 
 business connection was a fortunate one. Judge Middle- 
 
J 52 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Tox, was a man of much more than ordinary caliber ; he 
 was a thorough scholar, possessing a fine judicial mind, 
 and an able and effective advocate. But the multi- 
 farious and confining details of the office business were 
 particularly distasteful to him, and to these, from necessity 
 as well as from choice, Mr. Williams applied himself with 
 tireless energy. With such zeal and earnestness did he 
 prosecute his laboi-, that, for weeks together, all through his 
 professional life, his lamp might be seen burning almost 
 into the small hours, night after night, thus laying the 
 foundation of the success which has since crowned his 
 professional labors. A few years was sufiicient to make 
 him known as one of the leading lawyers of his district. 
 
 As a student, he was laborious, indefatigable ; as a law- 
 yer, scrupulously fixithful to the interests of his clients, and 
 untiring in the advocacy of their claims ; and despising 
 the mere trickery by which too many of the profession are 
 willing to gain temporary forensic triumphs, he acquired, 
 with the bench, a high reputation for candor and frank- 
 ness as well as legal attainments ; and with the Bar, the 
 character of a fair, courteous and gentlemanly prac- 
 titioner, whose professional reputation was a guaranty 
 against chicanery. 
 
 Mr, Williams has always been an earnest and a consis- 
 tent politician, believing in human progress and the doc- 
 trine of the equal rights of all, and has made it the object 
 of some of his leading eflbrts, to advocate the extension of 
 equal rights to all races and conditions of men. 
 
 He has always devoted himself so closely to his jjrofes- 
 sion as to prevent all thought of political preferment — 
 having held but one public office, that of District Attorney 
 of his county — vintil 1863, when he was elected Senator 
 of the Twenty-fifth District ; to which office he was 
 re-elected, in the fall of 1865, by a majority of over four 
 
STEPHEN K. AVILLIAMS. 158 
 
 thousand, and more than two hundred in advance of his 
 ticket, and Avas again elected, in 1867, by a flattering vote. 
 During these terms he has held important positions on 
 committees, such as Railroads, Judiciary, State Prisons, 
 Retrenchment, &c., and takes a prominent part in all the 
 proceedings of the Senate. Within a few years he has 
 several times been proposed for Congress from his district, 
 but the claims of locality taking precedence, the nomina- 
 tion Avent to Cayuga county. 
 
 In 1865, Mr. Williams was a delegate to the Baltimore 
 National Convention, which renominated Abraham Lix- 
 COLX for the Presidency. He aided in the admission of 
 the Louisiana delegates into that convention, whom he 
 regarded as entitled to representation there, as they had 
 formed a loyal constitution and a loyal government which 
 was then in the hands of loyal men. In regard to his 
 action on that occasion, the New Orleans True Delta, then 
 a loyal paper, and published by Hon. William R. Fish, 
 said : 
 
 " It is well known to most of our readers, that when the Louisi- 
 ana delegation presented themselves as members of the Baltimore 
 Convention, in April last, there was considerable oisposition to 
 their admission. It is not generally known, however, how that 
 opposition was overcome, at least, on the part ot the New York 
 delegates. Mr. Williams, a member from that State, enjoying the 
 confidence of Mr. Preston King, the Chairman of the Committee 
 on Credentials, and the respect and good will of all the other mem- 
 bers who knew him, used his influence, both publicly and privately, 
 in behalf of the admission of our delegates ; and it is not too much 
 to attribute their admission, in a great measure, to his exertions. 
 This circumstance forms a connecting link between the New York 
 State Senator and the citizens of Louisiana." 
 
 He has always been an earnest and eflective friend of 
 the canals of this State, and has endeavored, several times, 
 20 
 
154 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 to abolish the system of repairs by contract; but the 
 strong influences, interested in preserving the present 
 system, have thus far prevented the accomplishment of its 
 repeal. 
 
 In the Senate, Mr, Williams has been a firm friend of 
 the soldier. In 1864 he introduced a bill "for the relief 
 of the families of volunteers in actual service in the army 
 and navy of the United States ;" supported warmly and 
 eflSciently the Constitutional amendment, giving them the 
 rio-ht to vote while in the field ; dedicated his services, for 
 several months each year, during the war, to the promotion 
 of the interests of volunteers, and gave his active support 
 to bills raising bounties for soldiers. 
 
 Senator Williams is a ready and accomplished debater, 
 speaking seldom on unimportant questions, but on issues 
 of importance, always taking a prominent part. 
 
JAMES TERWILLIGER, 
 
 CLERK OF THE SENATE. 
 
 Mr. Terwilliger is a native of New Scotland, Albany 
 county, New York, where he was born January 30th, 1825. 
 He is of Holland and Scotch lineage. In the year 1836, 
 he removed to the town of De Witt, Onondaga county ; 
 and, up to the age of eighteen, his time was spent in 
 working on the farm, and obtaining the meager education 
 imparted by the district schools. He early manifested 
 a great love for books and newspapers. He seized every- 
 thing of the kind which came in his way, and devoured 
 the contents Avitli avidity. His tastes were more particu- 
 larly in sympathy with works of a political nature, and 
 biographies of statesmen; and thus his thoughts were 
 turned to the workings of political machinery. In the 
 mean time, until he was twenty-six years old, he labored 
 on his father's farm, familiarizing himself with all of the 
 weary routine of agricultural toil. In 1851, a new chap- 
 ter was opened in his life. Laying aside the implements 
 of manual work, he invested his capital in journalism, 
 and became one of the proprietors of the Syracuse Daily 
 Journal. His connection with that newspaper continued 
 imtil 1855, when he was appointed Deputy Clerk of the 
 Assembly, by R. IT, Shermak, then Clerk of the House. 
 In 1856, he received the appointment of Journal Clerk of 
 the Senate, and held that appointment for four years, at 
 the end of which time he was elected Clerk of the Senate. 
 Mr. Terwilliger has since been four times elected with- 
 out opposition. In addition to this post of honor and 
 responsibility, he has held others of similar importance. 
 
156 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 In fact, the past eighteen or twenty years of his life have 
 been more or less employed in arranging the details of 
 either county or State campaigns, and in supervising the 
 order of legislative business. Mr. Terwilliger was chosen 
 Clerk of the Board of Supervisors of Onondaga county, in 
 1849; and, from the organization of the Republican party 
 in 1856, to the year 1860, he was Secretary of the Onon- 
 daga County Republican Committee, when he was elected 
 Secretary of the Republican State Committee. He con- 
 ducted the memorable presidential campaign of that year 
 with masterly tact and acceptance, and originated the 
 plan of sending speakers, by the State Committee, into 
 different sections, a practice now so generally adopted. 
 Mr. Terwilliger has been Secretary or Acting Secretary 
 of the Republican Union State Committee ever since, 
 excejjt the years 1862, '64 and '67. In the canvass of 
 1864, he was Acting Secretary of the National Union 
 Executive Committee, and additionally aided the State 
 Committee very materially. 
 
 When the lamented Prestox Kixg was appointed Col- 
 lector of the Port of New York, the position of Private 
 and Confidential Secretary to the Collector was offered 
 to Mr. Terwilliger, without any solicitation or previous 
 knowledge of the matter, on his jjart. Induced by friend- 
 ship for Mr. King, he accepted the place, and held it until 
 the appointment of the present Collector, when he resigned. 
 
 Mr. Terwilliger's familiarity with all the ramifications 
 of political forces ; his very large acquaintance with the 
 leaders of parties in this State and the country at large ; 
 his ready comprehension of the right thing in the right 
 place, render his services almost invaluable. As Clerk of 
 the Senate, he is a master. All of the duties attending 
 that post are as familiar to him, as are the successions of 
 propositions of Euclid, to a professor in college ; and his 
 
JAMES TERWILLIGER. 157 
 
 marked executive abilities, his steady application to the 
 rapid dispatch of business, and his almost uninterrupted 
 attendance upon the sessions of the Senate, greatly enhance 
 the value of his services. 
 
 There is no bluster in his composition. The calm dignity 
 of the perfect gentleman always rests upon him, and the 
 smile of good nature is rarely missed from his face. Mr. 
 Tebwilliger is held in high estimation by both parties. 
 At the close of each term, elegant testimonials have been 
 presented to him by the Senators, as an expression of their 
 appreciation of his ability and kindness. 
 
MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY. 
 
 I 
 
 WILLIAM HITCHMAN, 
 
 SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY. 
 
 The Speaker of the House is one of that class of men, 
 now very common, who have pressed their own way to the 
 front, over many and serious obstacles. Indeed, of nearly 
 all our public men can the American people with excusable 
 pride boastingly say, they carved their own way to fortune 
 and to fiime. It is the genius of our institutions that 
 young men, born Avith noble impulses and honorable 
 ambitions, as they press energetically on to the goal of 
 their hopes, find the way ojDening clearer and brighter 
 before them. It is the first hills that need bi-avery and 
 toil in the surmounting — ever after, the race is only 
 limited by the endurance. The Speaker is of those who 
 find no limit to their determinations, having before them 
 only steady, persistent, earnest struggling, and a prepa- 
 ration and cultivation for its rewards. 
 
 William Hitchmajt is a native of New York city, 
 having been born in Pearl street, near New street, Novem- 
 ber 18, 1830. His father, at that time, kept a livery stable 
 in the last named street ; but being unsuccessful there, 
 he soon after removed to Yorkville. Willie IIitchman 
 was a favorite pupil in the public school in Eighty-sixth 
 
160 LIFE SKETCHES, 
 
 Street, where he received his early education. His conduct 
 record was always of the highest, and the head of the 
 class the usual reward of his natural intelligence and appli- 
 cation to study. The old gentleman, with an amount of 
 sound common sense rarely to be found, determined that 
 his son should have a trade. The teacher, Mr. Thomas 
 Spofford — afterwards Alderman and member of Assembly 
 — remonstrated earnestly, that the lad's superior mental 
 powers fitted him for a profession, and begged that one 
 be chosen for him. The father's ansAver deserves to be 
 written in gold and set in a framework of diamonds, to be 
 placed in the home of every father and every son in the 
 land : " Let him get a trade to earn his bread, ak^d 
 
 THEN^ THE PROFESSIOIS^ AFTERWARD, IF HE CHOOSES." 
 
 And the trade was learned. Willie seemed to have a taste 
 for carriage painting, and he was apprenticed to James 
 Flynx, whose shop was at that time in Eighty-sixth 
 street, near Third avenue. He entered upon the calling 
 with industry, and mastered all the mysteries and intri- 
 cacies of the craft, in a comparatively short time. Young 
 HiTCHMAN possessed the very common attachment to " the 
 machine," and served a full term as member of Engine 
 forty-five, filling the position of Secretary most of the 
 time. 
 
 Plis apprenticeship being ended, he entered the carriage 
 manufactory of Isaac Lockwood, at the North End, 
 where he worked some time, but the avocation not agree- 
 ing with his health, he determined on a change. He 
 secured a position in the old Municipal Police Department 
 of New York city. He was almost immediately promoted 
 to a Sergeantcy, and held the office of Lieutenant of the 
 Nineteenth Ward Police at the time of the institution of 
 the Metropolitan Police system. He then, while the litiga- 
 tion between the two Departments was pending, entered 
 
AVILLIAM HITCHMAX, 161 
 
 the office of Dennis McCaktht, United States Weigher, 
 as clerk, and conducted the business for a year in a 
 masterly manner. Thus ftir we find Mr. Hitciiman filling 
 Avith fidelity the various subordinate trusts committed to 
 him. We now come to the turning point in his career. 
 We find, as in all cases of the advance of young men, that 
 the opportunity which made elevation possible to Mr. 
 HiTciniAX was of the most ordinary kind, and that it was 
 merely his own energy, industry and perception that 
 secured advancement. In 185 9, he was appointed engross- 
 ing clerk of the Board of Aldermen of Xew York city, 
 and held the position over eight years, discharging the 
 duty with ability and usefulness. That was his oppor- 
 tunity. Young men are found on every hand Avith 
 opportunities equally or more conducive to success. The 
 chance it gave was simply the opportunity for self- 
 improvement ; and, surely, many have that. Ilis desk was 
 located in the City Library. While his time was w^ell 
 occupied in his public duties, he yet had leisure hours, and 
 those hours were devoted to laying the foundation for 
 higher positions. Manuals of Parliamentary practice, 
 debates in Congress, political, statistical, historical and 
 scientific works, Avere not only read but studied. Thus he 
 stored his mind Avith valuable material, Avhile day by day 
 he made his mental acquirements the more valuable, by a 
 constantly augmenting practical experience with the 
 AV^orld. 
 
 Mr, HiTCHMAN was elected a member of the Board of 
 School Trustees of the Nineteenth Ward in 1860, and was 
 re-elected. At the close of his second term, he was chosen 
 School Commissioner, and held the office during the term, 
 Avhich expired shortly after the opening of the Assembly. 
 He was a wise and disicriminating officer, and won the 
 affections of both scholars and teachers. Mr. Hitchman's 
 
 21 
 
 k 
 
162 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Democracy is of the kind thut favored the vigorous crush- 
 ing of rebellion, and the speedy reunion of the country, 
 under but one, and that the good old flag. He has 
 been a valuable member of Tammany Hall General Com- 
 mittee since 1861, and its efiicient Secretary since 1863. 
 He was elected a Trustee of the Fire Department in 1864, 
 and still retains the position. He was chosen member of 
 the Constitutional Convention in the spring of 1867, and 
 served in that body on several important committees. 
 His wise appreciation of correct fundamental principles, 
 keen perceptions and cultivated judgment, won for him 
 many friends in that body. 
 
 Mr. Hitchman's nomination to the Assembly attests his 
 popularity. He had no thought toward nor aspiration for 
 the oftice, but each of the two wards in his district had their 
 favorite candidate, and the struggle for success became so 
 earnest that it was impossible for either to break the tie in 
 the Convention. In this critical period, and within but a few 
 days of the election, Mr. Hitchman's name was suggested 
 as a compromise, and was received with warmth by both the 
 candidates and their supporters. He finally, with reluc- 
 tance, yielded to the logic of the position and the urgency 
 of his friends, and accepted tlie nomination. The canvass 
 was no easy one, but he was triumphantly elected. The 
 Speakership was still less anticipated or sought. But his 
 party being in the ascendancy, many leading minds 
 turned to him as best fitted, by accomplishments and 
 position, to fill the post. In the canvass he had to con- 
 tend with the prestige of the legislative experience of 
 Mr. Jacobs, the strength of Mr. Flagg in the interior, 
 and the powerful influences operating in favor of both. 
 He succeeded, after an interesting struggle, in caucus. 
 His only drawback to the highest and most immediate 
 success as a presiding oflicer, was his lack of experience in 
 
■WILLIAM HITCHMAN". 163 
 
 the Assembly. But he brought to the discharge of the 
 duties a well trained intellect, a cool and quick mind, and 
 a firm and imjdelding resolution. His success has been 
 remarkable. Prompt, decided and impartial, even his 
 strongest opponents can find nothing in him worthy of 
 censure. His mistakes, even at the outset, were few and 
 unimportant, and his determined eiFort to become efticient 
 in the routine duties of the Chair, and a master of the rules 
 by which it is govei*ned, was crowned with the highest 
 success. His unaifected but cordial courtesy, bland man- 
 ners, and firm but pleasant administration, have made for 
 him friends of the whole membei'ship of the House. His 
 voice is fluent, pleasant and correct. In the designation of 
 his appointees, and selection of his committees he was very 
 successful. He is a man about the ordinary size, well 
 built, but neither stout nor tall, of long features, fair com- 
 plexion, mild eye, and bold development of the head. In 
 public life he is charitable and elevated in tone, while in 
 his domestic relations he is aifectionate and kind. At 
 home, beloved ; abroad, respected and honored, the career 
 of life but just opens before him. It can be nothing else 
 than a prosperous and happy one. 
 
ALFRED THEODORE ACKERT 
 
 Mr. AcKEET is one of the youngest members of the 
 Assembly. He is a lawyer of much promise, and more 
 than ordinary ability. By his own perseverance and 
 energy he has acquired an excellent education. He is 
 descended from German and Dutch ancestry, who settled 
 at Rhinebeck, Dutchess county, some time before the 
 American Revolution, at which place he was born April 
 15th, 1840. Until seventeen years of age, he Avas employed 
 upon his fxther's farm, attending common school at 
 intervals. He then pursued a thorough course of studies, 
 first at the Amenia Seminary, Dutchess county, 'New 
 York, and afterward at the Fort Edward, New York, 
 Collegiate Institute, always receiving the highest honors. 
 In ^1861, he commenced reading law in the ofiice of H. M. 
 Taylor, at Rhinebeck, and soon after came to Albany 
 to attend lectures at its celebrated Law University, 
 from which institution he graduated honorably in 1863, 
 receiving the highest commendations from the professors. 
 While in Albany he was in the office of Messrs. Cagger 
 & Porter. 
 
 Ml'. AcKERT commenced the practice of his profession in 
 the city of New York in the fall of 1863, with the firm of 
 Wet:hore & BowxE, maintaining his residence at Rhine- 
 beck. 
 
 He received the unanimous nomination by acclamation 
 for member of Assembly from the Second District of 
 Dutchess county, at the Democratic Assembly Convention 
 last fall, and was elected by a majority of 183 over Hon. 
 Mark D. Wilber, the Republican candidate, who for 
 
I 
 
 ALFRED THEODORE ACKERT. 165 
 
 three years had represented the district in the Legislature, 
 and who expected to be triumphantly re-elected. His dis- 
 trict comprises the city of Poughkeepsie, and seven country 
 towns. His vote in his own town w^as very flattering, 
 carrying it by 45 majority, a gain of 171 over the previous 
 year. 
 
 Mr. AcKERT has an ixnbleniished character and reputa- 
 tion. He is a worthy and deserving young man, and 
 reflects credit upon the district Avhich sent him to the 
 Assembly, the first and only oflice he ever held. 
 
 He is a prominent and active legislator, perfectly inde- 
 pendent, and sustains Avith energy every measure he 
 believes to be right. He is no mere partisan, although a 
 firm adherent to the principles of his party. He seldom 
 occupies the time of the house with speech-making, but 
 Avhen important measures are under consideration presents 
 his views in a terse and vigorous way, with a clear, 
 ringing voice, and always commands the attention of the 
 members. He is a member of the Judiciary Committee, 
 Chairman of Committee on Grievances, and a member of 
 Committee on Indian Affairs. 
 
AUGUSTUS G. S. ALLIS. 
 
 Mr. Allis, wlio represents tlie First Assembly District 
 of Onondaga county, was born in Cazenovia, Madison 
 County, January 5, 1831. His father, Elisha Allis, was 
 a native of Whately, Mass., and his mother is a direct 
 descendant of the Stanleys, of Hartford, Conn. He was 
 christened by his grandfather, James Stanley, against 
 whom, he says, he has always borne a slight grudge for the 
 burden of liis name, Augustus Gridley Stanley Allis. 
 At an early age he manifested an aptness for study, and 
 when able to attend school regularly ranked among the 
 lii'st in his classes. Owing to unfortunate speculations, 
 his father lost largely, and at the age of fifteen he was 
 thrown entirely upon his own resources. His first earnings 
 for two years were voluntarily devoted toward paying off" 
 his father's indebtedness, thus relieving him from much 
 annoyance and embarrassment. He then resolved to obtain 
 a good education. He taught his first school at the early 
 age of seventeen, and used the earnings in attending the 
 State Normal School. His means being necessarily limited, 
 he was obliged to practice the most rigid economy. He 
 was prepared to graduate with the highest honors of the 
 school in 1851, but desiring to review some of his studies, 
 he, with two others, declined the diplomas and returned 
 the succeeding term, when he organized the Experimental 
 School and received the most flattering testimonials from 
 the Superintendent of the Department. He refused several 
 advantageous offers to teach, being intent on study, but 
 finally yielded to the urgent personal appeal of Prof 
 Phelps, received his diploma and accepted a situation at 
 
i 
 
 AUGUSTUS G. S. ALLIS. 167 
 
 Brockport, X. Y., where he taught two years. He then 
 came to Albany, and, under a private instructor, pursued 
 the study of the hinguages. After thus spending some 
 months here, two vacancies occurred in the city schools, 
 and he went before the examining committee of the Board 
 of Education. The examinations were conducted by Com- 
 missioners Cole, Carpenter and McElroy, and were 
 protracted and thorough. There were many applicants 
 from all parts of the State, including several noted teach- 
 ers, and Mr. Allis was selected for the school on Washing- 
 ton avenue. His success was marked. After the close of 
 the first term, there were more applicants for seats than 
 there were places for them. At the end of the year he 
 resigned to enter college, pursuant to a former resolve. 
 The Board of Education offered a liberal advance of salary, 
 and patrons proffered from their private purse, but he 
 adhered to his resolution. The remarks of the Albany 
 press, at the time, were most flattering, and the proceedings 
 of the Board highly complimentary. He has conducted 
 successful Teacher's Institutes in several of the large cities 
 in the interior of the State. He attended New York Cen- 
 tral College for a time, and entered Union College regularly 
 in 1855. After being there a short time circumstances of 
 a private nature, creditable to his head and heart, led hina 
 to take a voyage to Europe. He returned with an addi- 
 tional fund of knowledge, his own health benefited, and 
 that of his wife completely restored. On his return, he 
 entered upon the study of the law in the office of Jerome 
 Fuller, at Brockport, and December 7th, 1856, was 
 admitted to the bar. The following spring he was chosen 
 Police Justice of the place, and held the office until he was 
 induced to accept the position of Principal of the High 
 School at Joliet, III, where he remained two years. In 
 1860 he returned East, in consequence of the health of his 
 
168 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 aged parents, and opened a claim office in Syracnse, in 
 connection with Major Park Wheeler, now Treasurer of 
 Onondaga county. He was elected Justice of the Peace 
 in 1864, entering upon his duties in January, 1865, and 
 still continues in their discharge. He is also partner in the 
 wholesale house of Wheeler, Allis & Co. 
 
 The persistent energy, indomitable perseverance and 
 strict integrity of Mr, Allis have given him the confi- 
 dence of the community in which he resides, and enabled 
 him to discharge his professional and other duties Avith 
 marked success and honor. His varied experience, genial 
 manner, and firm principle, make him a valuable member 
 of the House. In the Assembly, he is a member of the 
 Judiciary Committee and of the sub-Committee of the 
 Whole. 
 
 ALEXANDER H. ANDREWS. 
 
 Mr. A. H. A:n^drews is the second son of John B. 
 Andrews, a pioneer, who emigrated from Vermont and 
 settled in Massena, St. Lawrence county, in 1810, engaging 
 in the mercantile business. He performed a prominent 
 part in the settlement and progress of the town, holding 
 the offices of Supervisor, Town Clerk, and Justice of the 
 Peace. His family consists of five sons and one daughter, 
 all of whom are now living in their native town. He died 
 at the age of sixty-seven. All of that name in this 
 country, trace their origin to two brothers who emigrated 
 from England about 1640, one of whom settled in Con- 
 necticut and the other in Massachusetts. The family to 
 which the present member belongs is descended from the 
 one that settled in Connecticut. 
 
ALEXANDER H. ANDREWS. 169 
 
 Alexander H., the second son, was born in Massona, 
 April 10, 1819. He attended the common school of the 
 village until he was thirteen years of age, when he entered 
 the academ)^ at Fort Covington, Franklin count}^, where 
 he remained a year, and he was also a year at the St. Law- 
 rence University. His education, therefoi-e, in the English 
 academic studies, was as good as could be obtained at that 
 time. When not at school he was employed in his father's 
 store, and had no acquaintance with any other pursuit. 
 
 On attaining his majority, he engaged in mercantile busi- 
 ness in Massena, with his elder brother. At the same time 
 he was appointed Postmaster under Harrison's admin- 
 istration, to succeed his fother, and held the office until 
 removed by President Polk. About this time, the village 
 was stirred by a spirit of military enthusiasm, a uniformed 
 militia company was organized and Mr. Andrews elected 
 to the command. He had no taste for mercantile life, and his 
 success not having been what his youthful anticipations 
 had pictured, he determined, at the age of thirty, to engage 
 in agricultural pursuits, and in this his prosperity has been 
 far more gratifying than he had anticipated. He was Cen- 
 sus Marshal in 1855 and in 1865, and was special agent 
 under the Provost Marshal in 1863-4. In politics, Mr. 
 Andrews was formerly a Whig, and an ardent admirer of 
 Henry Clay. In 1855, he was a delegate to the County 
 Convention that organized the Republican party in St. 
 Lawrence county. He is, and' ever has been, thoroughly 
 radical in his views, leaning strongly to the extreme meas- 
 ures of the Old Commoner, Thad. Stevens. 
 
 Mr, Andrews was elected to the Assembly from the 
 Third District of St. Lawrence county, by a majority of 
 2,338. In his legislative duties he is quiet and unassuming, 
 straightforward in all lie says and does, and is a man of 
 sound judgment and great solidity of character. 
 2ii 
 
J 
 
 ^ 
 
 WILLIAM S. ANDREWS. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is one of the youngest, and 
 decidedly the youngest looking man in the Assembly, 
 although his career has been as varied and full of adven- 
 ture as that of many an older man. He was born in 
 Houston, Texas, July 8th, 1841, his parents being from 
 New England ; and is a son of S. P. Andrews, the scien- 
 tific and philosophical writer and linguist, author of Dis- 
 coveries in Chinese, and other works. At a very early 
 age he came North, and has since resided in the cities of 
 New York and Brooklyn the greater portion of the time. 
 
 Mr. A^'DKEWS at an early age developed a taste for the 
 dramatic art, and in the winter of 1860 and '61, we find 
 him occupying a prominent position as an actor at Niblo's 
 Garden, in New York, he being then eighteen years 
 of age. 
 
 Immediately on the receipt of the intelligence of the 
 bombardment of Fort Sumter, he enlisted in the volun- 
 teer force as a private; and in June, of 1861, while in 
 the field, was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 
 Ninth New York (Hawkins' Zouaves). He participated 
 in the battle of Big Bethel, known as the first battle of 
 the war, and was in the first boat which landed at Hat- 
 teras Inlet, in August of 1861, under Butlep.. Shortly 
 afterwards he was attached to the staff of Brigadier Gen- 
 eral Thomas Williams, commanding District of North 
 Carolina, in the capacity of topographical engineer, where 
 he acquired a familiarity with the inhabitants and topog- 
 raphy of the coast of North Carolina, which enabled him 
 to render signal service in the Buristside Expedition. 
 
^VILLIAM S. ANDREWS. 171 
 
 On the arrival of General Buexside at Hatteras in the 
 winter of 1862, Mr. Andrews was transferred to his staff 
 as a special aid. Some sixty pilots being required for 
 the expedition, Mr. Andrews was intrusted with the duty 
 of procuring them; in the performance of which duty he 
 was obliged to penetrate many miles into the enemy's 
 country. 
 
 Ml". Andrews was now placed by General Burnside in 
 charge of the secret service. He succeeded in obtaining 
 correct information as to the number and position of guns, 
 number of troops, location of batteries, &c., within the 
 enemy's lines on Roanoke Island. 
 
 On the 7th of February, 1862, the day of the landing 
 of our troops on Roanoke Island, he went in a small boat 
 to the shore, and, under a sharp fire of musketry, selected 
 a landing place for the troops, and found a channel- way 
 for the transports to the shore. Returning to the fleet, he 
 was ordered to pilot the troops to the shore, which difiicult 
 duty he successfully performed.* 
 
 Mr. Andrews then entered the Signal Corps of the 
 United States Army, in which corps he was a First Lieu- 
 tenant until near the close of the war, when, in consequence, 
 of ill health, he left the service. While in the Signal 
 Corps he participated in most of the engagements under 
 Burnside and Pope, in Xorth Carolina and Virginia, and 
 under Gilmore and Terry in South Carolina, where he 
 remained until his withdrawal from the army. 
 
 "While stationed on board gunboats in the York River, 
 as a signal officer, he perfected an invention for signaling 
 from within the turrets of " Monitor" vessels ; and he was 
 sent to South Carolina to apply his invention to the 
 
 *See reports of Major-Generals A. E. Burnside and Johk G. Foster of the 
 Battle of Roanoke Island, and operations leading thereto. 
 
172 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Monitors then oiF Charleston (before the bomljardment of 
 Fort Sumter). The invention, though perfectly successful, 
 was only used once or twice, as there was a prejudice 
 against the presence of army officers in the fleet, and no 
 time was allowed for the proper instruction of naval 
 officers in its use. 
 
 On leaving the army, Mr. Aircrews returned to the 
 stage, and after traveling for a time East and West, he 
 was for two years the leading comedian of the Winter 
 Garden Theatre, in New York, where he appeared in all 
 of Edwix Booth's plays. He met with a success which, 
 had he remained in it, would have carried him to the top 
 of his profession. His personations of the Grave Digger in 
 Hamlet, Launcelot Gobbo in The Merchant of Venice, 
 Lord Dundreary, and many other parts, will not be soon 
 forgotten l)y New York play-goers. As an actor, he was 
 chiefly remarkable for his versatility and power of 
 delineating character, he being equallj^ excellent as the 
 polished gentleman or the uncouth clown. 
 
 Having accepted an appointment as Deputy Collector 
 of Internal Revenue in the city of Brooklyn, he determined 
 to quit the stage, and made his farewell appearance on the 
 occasion of a complimentary benefit, tendered by the 
 Mayor and other distinguished citizens of New York. 
 
 He was a Deputy Collector under three Collectors, and 
 wlien T. C. Callicot was suspended from office Mr. 
 Andrews was appointed Acting Collector in his place, 
 which position he held iintil after his election to the 
 Assembly. 
 
 In politics Mr. Axdrews has heretofore been a Rejjub- 
 lican, although moderate in his views, and opposed to the 
 policy of the party in this State as regards their legislation 
 on local aflriirs, and the passage of sumptuary laws. He 
 received a nomination for the Assembly as a " Soldiers' 
 
WILLIAM S. ANDREWS. 173 
 
 and Sailors' " candidate, without regard to party, and was 
 indorsed by the Democrats. He ran aliead of his ticket 
 and was elected by a large majority, in a district here- 
 tofore largely Republican. 
 
 He went into the Democratic caucus, and has, on all 
 State questions, voted uniformly with that party. He is a 
 valued member of the Committee on Railroads and Fed- 
 eral Relations. Mr. Andrews is a ready debater, present- 
 ing his points compactly, forcibly and elocpiently. He is 
 unobtrusive in manner, congenial and pleasant. He is of 
 a sandy complexion, fair features, and handsome expres- 
 sion. Tasty in his attire, and unaifected in style, he is 
 one of the most promising young men in the House. His 
 social habits are correct, and his public life unspotted. 
 
 L 
 
RAYMOND P. BAB COCK. 
 
 Mr. Babcock is a quiet and observing member of the 
 House, who has lived to a good and green okl age, and 
 rejoices in being respected and honored by the sterling old 
 county of Cortland. He was born April 19, 1800, in 
 Hopkinton, Rhode Island, the little State in which Ameri- 
 can liberty was cradled, and shows his attachment to the 
 free principles of Rogek Williams by a strong devotion 
 to the cardinal features of the Republican party. His 
 educational advantages, so far as schooling is concerned, 
 were limited to the common schools, but he has had the 
 broader education of a close contact with the world, in an 
 active life. He is a successful farmer, of the town of Scott, 
 Cortland countj^ His neighbors and friends have borne 
 frequent witness to the sterling probity of his character, 
 by frequent elections to the offices of Justice of the Peace 
 and Supervisor, In these days of degenerate offspring, 
 it is refreshing to witness one of his years able to attend 
 to the arduous labors incident to the faithful discharge of 
 the duties of member of Assembly. His last days give 
 promise of being his best days, in that they are so 
 pregnant with the evidence of the attachment and confi- 
 dence of his constituents. 
 
LYMAN BALCOM. 
 
 Mr. Balcom was born on the 19th of November, 1800, hi 
 the town of Preston, Chenango county. He worked with 
 his father, Sajiuel Balcom, farming and lumbering on 
 the Susquehanna river, until April 1820, when he bought 
 his time from him at llOO. On the 12th of July follow- 
 ing he married Clarissa Hallenbeck. Both were poor, 
 and all her worldly goods was a bed. He had |50 in cash, 
 which he had saved from the odd pennies he had picked up. 
 On holidays his father would give the boys the day, and 
 tw^enty-five cents with which to obseiwe it. Lyman then 
 laid the foundation of his present competency by saving 
 the silver, and when he had from |3 to |5 Avould put it on 
 interest. This is the way the |50 had been made up. He 
 at once, on marriage, ran in debt $3,600 for real estate, 
 and engaged in farming and lumbering. He visited Balti- 
 more with lumber each year until January 6, 1826, when 
 he sold out, paid up all Ins debts, and had '15,000 left. So 
 much for patient industry and prudent management, both 
 on the part of the frugal and active wife, as well as the 
 laborious and energetic liusband. He then moved from 
 Greene to Oxford, where he continued in the same avoca- 
 tion until April, 1835, when he removed to Steuben 
 county. In the fall of 1836, a little more than ten years 
 since the first balancing of books, he sold out, settled up, 
 and had $22,000 left. He continued farming and lumber- 
 ino- until 1855, since which he has confined himself to 
 farming and dealing in real estate. He has three sons 
 and four daughters, all of whom are well married and 
 comfortably settled. 
 
176 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Mr. Balcom voted the " Bucktail" ticket from 1821 to 
 1826, then the Jackson ticket until 1830, then the Whig 
 ticket until 1 854, and since then has been a firm Republican. 
 He has held various town offices, has been Vice-President 
 of the Steuben County Agricultural Society eight years, 
 and its President four years. He was appointed by 
 Governor Seward and confirmed by the Senate, County 
 Judge of Steuben county in January, 1840, and held the 
 office five years. 
 
 It is a curious fact, that Mr. Balcoji's opponent in the 
 late canvass, was liis own brother, who is the only Demo- 
 crat in the family. He achieved considerable notoriety by 
 introducing into the Assembly resolutions in favor of a 
 " greenback theory " of National finances, and sustained 
 them in a strong speech. He is a member of the Commit- 
 tees on Indian Affiiirs and Two-thirds and Three-fifths Bills. 
 
 Mr. Balcom's personal habits are the most exemplary. 
 He neither uses tobacco nor drinks liquor, and is one of 
 the most genial and pleasant of men. He has the old 
 Roman integrity and the rugged, far-seeing intellect of the 
 successful yeoman. He has several brothers, all of whom 
 are possessed of marked talents. Among them is Ransom 
 Balcom, a Justice of the Supreme Court. 
 
GEORGE J. BAMLE 
 
 Mr. Bamler is the representative from the first district 
 of Erie county, and was elected to the present Assembly 
 on the Democratic ticket, by a majority of six hundred and 
 fifty-six over Johx Hoy, Republican. 
 
 Mr. Bamler is a native of Bavaria, in which country he 
 was born April 21, 1835. When eight years old his family 
 emigrated to this country, and settled in Buffalo, where he 
 has ever since resided, and is now engaged in mercan- 
 tile business in that city. He is known as an active and 
 influential Democratic politician in his locality, and exer- 
 cises great influence among his German friends. In 1863, 
 he w^as elected a member of the Common Council of Buf- 
 falo, and re-elected in 1865. In the Assembly he is a 
 member of the Committees on Cities, and Trade and Manu- 
 factures, and is a faithful and intelligent member. 
 
 23 
 
MATTHEW P. BEMUS. 
 
 Mr. Bemus is descended from a family of some note in 
 colonial New York. His father, Captain Charles Bemus, 
 commanded a company during the War of 1812; and Mr. 
 William Bemus, his grandfather, was a prominent citizen 
 of the county of Rensselaer, and an early settler of Chau- 
 tauqua county. He married Miss Maby Prendergast, so 
 that the subject of this sketch is a lineal descendant of 
 one of the most reputable families of Western New York. 
 
 Mattheav p. BiiXMUs was born in the town of Ellery on 
 the 3d of January, 1818. He received a common school 
 education, displaying extraordinary tact, shrewdness and 
 proficiency. On arriving at maturity, he engaged in 
 mercantile business, which he prosecuted for ten years. 
 
 He early took an active interest in politics, and was a 
 zealous Whig, first taking the field in favor of the election 
 of General William Hexry Harrison for President, and 
 William PI. Seward for Governor. In 1840 he received 
 the appointment of County Treasurer, and held the office 
 for six years. He was then nominated for County Clerk, 
 and elected. At this time he was regarded as one of the 
 most promising and energetic young men in the county. 
 
 About this time he made purchase of a tract of land in 
 the town of Chautauqua, 1,400 acres in area, and engaged 
 in agriculture. For ten years ensuing, he pretty much 
 withdrew from prominence in political matters, to give his 
 attention to private business. But he could not remain 
 inert, and finally engaged upon an extended field of opera- 
 tions, embracing local improvements both at home and 
 elsewhere. Several of the most prominent measures 
 
MATTHEW P. BEMUS. 179 
 
 which were acted upon by the Legislature of 1860, and 
 subsequently, received their impress from his active 
 efforts ; and, upon the breaking out of the rebellion, he 
 entered more actively than ever into the political and 
 other movements required for supporting the national 
 administration. 
 
 Three years since he became the Inspector of the Buffalo, 
 Corry and Pittsburgh Railroad. This road extends from 
 Brockton to Corry, and is designed to afford another route 
 for coal and other products of Western Pennsylvania to 
 Buffalo. The future prosperity of Chautauqua county is 
 closely associated with this enterprise, which Mr. Bemus 
 is so conspicuously prosecuting. It is hardly necessary to 
 add that such enei-gy and piiblic spirit have won favor and 
 general pojuilarity among his fellow-citizens. In the 
 spring of 1867, he was elected Supervisor of the town of 
 Chautauqua, there being no opposing candidate. In the 
 ensuing autumn, he became the Republican candidate for 
 member of Assembly. Extraneous circumstances gave 
 rise to a violent opposition to his election, and an inde- 
 pendent Republican candidate was placed in the field. 
 Mr. Bemus, however, received a majority of 376. This 
 spring he was unanimously re-elected Supervisor of Chau- 
 tauqua. His identification with the material interests of 
 the county, his great energy and perseverance, and his 
 personal suavity of manner, account for his influence and 
 popularity. He possesses rare power of calculating 
 chances, and so is seldom disappointed. His life has been 
 a continued succession of struggles, and generally of 
 successes. 
 
CHAUNCEY C. BENNETT. 
 
 Mr. Bennett, the member from Broome county, is 
 thirty-eight years of age. He was born in the town of 
 Lincklaen, Chenango connty, N. Y,, August 23d, 1829. 
 His ancestors were New England people. Wolcott Ben- 
 nett, his grandfather, a native of Connecticut, served as a 
 commissioned officer in the Revolutionary army, under 
 General Washington. 
 
 Ml-. Bennett has received an academic education, but 
 is essentially a self-made man. He has always been an 
 attentive reader of law, and for several years held the 
 office of Justice of the Peace in Chenango county and in 
 Broome county. He was elected Justice in his native 
 town when he was twenty-three years of age, and was a 
 number of times re-chosen. It is extremely creditable to his 
 judgment that in a large business, during which he decided 
 about four hundred cases, there was but one case of 
 probably fifty that were appealed in which his decision 
 was not sustained. He was also Supervisor of Lincklaen. 
 
 In 1859, Mr. Bennett removed to the town of Triangle, 
 in Broome county, where he now resides. In Triangle he 
 was elected and re-elected Justice of the Peace, and in 
 1865, 1866 and 1867, was chosen Supervisor. He was a 
 very active supporter of the late war, and used his time 
 and means freely. 
 
 Mr. Bennett is a farmer, and makes his business as such 
 a sort of profession. A large part of his time at home is 
 devoted to his ample library, and to various publications 
 of the day. His probity, ability and geniality have secured 
 to him the confidence and esteem of the people of his dis- 
 
■WILLIAM C. BENTLEY. 
 
 181 
 
 trict in a marked degree. Quickness of discernment, 
 readiness of action and undoubted integrity are among his 
 most decided characteristics. 
 
 In politics, Mr. Bennett has been a Republican since 
 the Republican Party was organized, and he is " strong in 
 the faith." His majority as representative was about 
 1,100. He is a member of the Committee on the Aftairs 
 of Villao;es. 
 
 WILLIAM C. BENTLEY. 
 
 Wm. C. Bentley, Member from the Second District of 
 Otsego county, is 58 years of age. He was born in the city 
 of Albany in the year 1810. His ancestors came from Eng- 
 land about the year 1750, and settled in Rhode Island, 
 Providence Plantations. His father, Captain Randall S. 
 Bentley, was long a citizen of Albany. William received 
 a good education. He chose the profession of law and 
 removed to Butternuts, Otsego county, where he engaged 
 in the practice of his profession, and has resided there for 
 over thirty-five years. He has held various offices in the 
 towm Avhere he resides, and has always been an earnest and 
 consistent advocate of Democratic principles. In 1867 he 
 accepted the nomination of the Democracy for Member of 
 Assembly for the Second District of Otsego, and was 
 elected by a small majority over his opponent, Mr. Henry 
 R, Washburn, being the first Democrat returned from that 
 district for fifteen years. He is Chairman of the Com- 
 mittee of Claims, and member of the Committees on Ways 
 and Means, and Sub-Committee of the Whole. 
 
182 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Mr. Bentley is a man of solid parts. His judgment is 
 sound, his mind clear and discerning, his integrity unyield- 
 ing, and he is a gentleman of the old school, courteous and 
 kind. He has been a Democratic wheel horse in his town 
 for years, and is well versed in general politics. 
 
 WILLIAM G. BERGEN. 
 
 Mr. Bergen was born in Ireland, Februaiy IVth, 1829. 
 His parents emigrated to America in the year 1830, set- 
 tling in the city of New York, where they still reside. 
 Mr. Bergen was early sent to a private school, in which 
 he pursued his studies until, the age of fourteen years, 
 when he obtained employment in the office of the Courier 
 and Enquirer newspaper. He served in the capacity of 
 office boy in the editorial department of this establish- 
 ment, until, desiring to learn the ^Ji'inter's art, he became 
 an apprentice to the business. In consequence of ill 
 health, he Avas obliged to abandon the craft for one more 
 laborious, and to him more healthful. He finally learned 
 the trade of a mason, which he now follows. 
 
 Mr. Bergen is quiet and retiring in his manners, fond 
 of study, but withal a pleasant and agreeable gentleman, 
 having a large circle of earnest friends, amongst whom he 
 is very poj)ular. He has been a life-long, earnest Demo- 
 crat. He has never sought any prominence as an active 
 worker for his party, and has never held any political 
 office whatever, before being elected to his present posi- 
 tion. He represents the Ninth Assembly District, com- 
 
LAFAYETTE J. BIGELOW. 183 
 
 prising the Xinth and part of the Sixteenth Wards of the 
 city of New York, in which he received a decided 
 majority. 
 
 Mr. Bergex is a member of the Committees on Public 
 Printino- and Charitable and Religious Societies. 
 
 LAFAYETTP] J. BIGELOW 
 
 Mr. BiGELOW was born in the town of Ellisburgh, Jef- 
 ferson county, Xew York, on the 13th of May, 1835. His 
 parents came from Vermont, and his father, Jotiiam Bige- 
 LOW, was a farmer in independent circumstances, Avho 
 always took a lively interest in public affairs, held the 
 office of Supervisor of his town for several years, and in 
 1835 and '36, was a member of Assembly. Lafayette, 
 his youngest son, was sent to Union Academy, at quite an 
 early age. At this excellent institution he was prepared 
 for college, and entered the Sophomore class of Union Col- 
 lege in the fall of 1854. While there he was studious and 
 stood about average in general scholarship. He was 
 elected President of the Adelphic Society of that institu- 
 tion, and once read a poem before it. He was always 
 fond of general reading, and was more given to perusing 
 the English classics than in digging after the Greek roots, 
 or divining the subtle mysteries of the higher mathe- 
 matics. In composition, declamation and extemporaneous 
 speaking, he took rank among the first while at school. 
 
 At the end of the Junior year, feeling anxious to begin 
 active life, and having already decided on his profession, 
 he left Union College and entered the University of 
 Albany, Department of Law, in the fall of 1855. He 
 
 U*' 
 
184 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 graduated at this institution in the spring of 1857, receiv- 
 ing the degree of LL.B., and while there he took the 
 silver medal as the prize for the second best original essay 
 on the subject of" Eminent Domain." 
 
 In May, 1857, he removed to Watertown, and com- 
 menced the practice of law in company with Bradley 
 WixsLOW, Esq., a young gentleman who had just been 
 admitted to the Bar. In 1861, he was appointed District 
 Attorney, to take the place of his law partner who had 
 been elected to the office, but who entered the volunteer 
 service early in that year, and served in the Union army 
 with distinction, rising successively from Lieutenant to 
 Colonel. In the spring of 1865, while in command of his 
 regiment, he was shot through the abdomen, and did not 
 recover until months after. Mr. Bigelow served out his 
 official term as District Attorney, and gave his partner, in 
 the field, 1600 out of the $800 salary of the office. 
 
 In the fall of 1862, he was nominated almost by accla- 
 mation for District Attorney, and was elected by a large 
 majority. For three years longer, he discharged the duties 
 of the office with entire satisfaction to the county, and had 
 the reputation of being a very faithful and successful pub- 
 lic prosecutor. In the fall of 1863, following an inclination 
 Avhich he had long felt for the editorial profession, he 
 bought an interest in the Daily and Weekly Reformer, 
 published at Watertown, and one of the largest and most 
 influential Union journals of Northern New York. 
 
 Mr. Bigelow has, for a young man, a high reputation 
 as a campaign speaker and literary lecturer. In the cam- 
 paign of 1864, he took a prominent part, and spoke in 
 Brooklyn and difterent parts of the State, In politics, he 
 has always been a Republican, and has never acted with 
 any other party. During the rebellion, he made many 
 Union Speeches ; was a member of the War Committee 
 
LAFAYETTE J, BIGELOW. 18o 
 
 in his county, and rendered effective service in raising 
 recruits. 
 
 Mr. BiGELOw's tastes are really literary, rather than 
 political, and is a graceful and vigorous writer. He has 
 lectured before some of the first Lyceums in this State, 
 and his name is frequently seen in some of our popular 
 periodicals. At the commencement of Union College, in 
 1866, he received the honorary degree of A. M., as a 
 recognition of his literary character. He has always 
 taken an interest in educational matters ; is a trustee of 
 St. Lawrence University, and of two Academies. In the 
 winter of 1865 and '66, he held the office of Assistant 
 Clerk of the Assembly. 
 
 In the fall of 1866, Mr, Bigelow was nominated for 
 Assembly, receiving twenty-nine of the thirty votes in the 
 convention on a first ballot. He ivas elected by a majority 
 of one thousand six hundred and seventy-eight. 
 
 He was made Chairman of the Committee on Printing, 
 and accorded a position on Colleges, Academies and Com- 
 mon Schools, of which he was an active member. He 
 supported earnestly the bill to establish free schools, and 
 opposed most bills making any appropriation not neces- 
 sary for the support of the government. His constituents 
 approved his course ; he was renominated by acclamation 
 and re-elected by a large majority. This session he was 
 accorded a place on the Committee on Public Education, 
 and has been conspicuous in supporting measures of 
 retrenchment and reform in all departments of public 
 expenditure, and especially in checking the extravagance 
 in the printing of useless documents. He is an excellent 
 debater and one of the most intellectual members of the 
 House. 
 
 24 
 
NEHEMIAH C. BRADSTREET. 
 
 Nehemiah Cleaveland Beadstreet and Nathaj<iel 
 Foster Bradstreet, twin sons of Samuel and Mehita- 
 BEL Bradstreet, were born in Danvers, Essex county, 
 Massachusetts, April 25, 1821, Their mother's nativity- 
 was Boxford, Massachusetts. She was an elder sister to 
 the late General Jacob Gould, of Rochester, and was 
 born March 19th, 1791, and is now residing in that city. 
 Their father, Samuel Bradstreet, was born in Topsfield, 
 Massachusetts, August 26th, 1789, and was a lineal des- 
 cendant of the venerable Simoin" Bradstreet, one of the 
 Colonial Governors of Massachusetts. He was a farmer, 
 and was born upon and occupied, during most of his life, 
 the hereditary estate of his noble ancestor, which was 
 situate on the banks of the Ipswich river, remarkable for 
 its beautiful meanderings and diversified scenery. Tops- 
 field made no boast of its educational edifices, but within 
 those musty walls wei'e puritanical discipline and earnest 
 study. At the age of fourteen, with Greenleaf's National 
 Arithmetic and Brown's Grammar at heart, the rustic 
 could enter the Academy ; two years in which completed 
 the scholastic days. Such were the advantages of Mr. 
 Bradstreet's education. The family removed to the 
 vicinity of Rochester, New York, in the year 1838. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was at once invited to a clerk- 
 ship in the shoe and leather house of his uncle. General 
 Gould, and at the expiration of three years was admitted 
 as a co-partnei', continuing such i;ntil 1863, when he retired 
 from mercantile life and has since devoted his attention to 
 the management of his farm. 
 
NEHEMIAH C. BEADSTREET. 187 
 
 Younsf Bradsteeet had scarcely made his bow as a 
 citizen of Rochester when lie was served with a " notice" 
 to " appear armed and equipped as the law directs " for 
 military duty and inspection. Having responded to the 
 call according to " military tactics," he resolved to merge 
 " parliamentary tactics" in the amusement, and at the 
 ensuing election of officers for the company, he showed his 
 skill by a triumphant election as captain, receiving his 
 commission, and in due time an honorable discharge. He 
 also served five years in the fire department, and now 
 holds his exempt fireman's certificate. 
 
 Mr, Beadstreet undoubtedly received his penchant for 
 public afiairs from his associations with General Gould, 
 who, as is well known, did not allow his interest to flag 
 either in local or general politics. He had been early 
 taught that Jeffersox was the father of Democracy, and 
 had learned that in 1769, when first chosen a Representa- 
 tive to the Legislature of Virginia, he proposed a bill 
 for the permission of the " Emancipation of Slaves," and 
 it is not, therefore, singular that in 1848, just in the flush 
 of manhood, he should have been found listening to the 
 eloquence of Charles Francis Adams, at a Free Soil 
 Convention, or have been captivated by the bewitching 
 oratory of John Van Buren. 
 
 We may, perhaps, date Mr. B.'s interest and influence 
 in politics from the memorable period just alluded to — 
 though choosing the work of a private in the ranks. 
 
 Mr. Bradstreet Avas, hoAvever, called out as a candidate 
 for Supervisor in 1857, and was duly elected to that oflice. 
 At the charter elections of 1859, 1861 and 1864, Mr. B. 
 was the Democratic nominee for Alderman, and was in 
 each case triumphantly elected over the strongest oppo- 
 nents that could be pitted against him. 
 
188 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Upon entering the Common Council, of Avhich he was a 
 member for nearly six years, he at once familiarized him- 
 self with the charter and with parliamentary rules, and 
 gave his fullest energies to the honor of the Board and to 
 the promotion of the best interests of the city. His actions 
 and votes were always based upon the principle of "the 
 greatest good to the greatest number." In the Spring of 
 1863, when the spirit of national politics Avas somewhat 
 acrid, the Republicans of Rochester, believing themselves 
 invincible at the ballot box, placed in nomination for the 
 mayoralty the Hon. Samuel Wilder, a gentleman embody- 
 ing the Radical ideas intended to be endorsed at the polls. 
 The Democracy determined to meet their opponents with 
 manliness and zeal, and selecting Mr. Bradstreet as the 
 standard bearer of Conservatism. After one of the most 
 exciting contests ever witnessed at the charter election, 
 he Avas chosen Mayor by 512 majority over Mr. Wilder. 
 
 An incident occurred in this canvass which probably 
 inured somewhat to the success of Mr. Bradstreet. His 
 tAvin brother, who bears an almost exact likeness to him, 
 and who is fond of a good joke, being frequently accosted 
 as the supposed candidate for the mayoralty, Avould 
 improve a good opportunity in the course of conversation 
 to suggest that faithful service for him (his brother), 
 would be remembered, if any position should be sought, in 
 case of success. The consequence Avas, that Mr. Brad- 
 street, not being apprised of what had occurred, Avas 
 considerably confused after his election at the numerous 
 reminders^ Avlien, in fact, he had made no promises at all. 
 The sequel Avas, however, soon found, and the joke Avas 
 considered so good that no ill-feeling was engendered. 
 
 Mr. Bradstreet heartily espoused the National cause in 
 the late AA^ar, and shoAved his sympathy Avith the soldiers 
 in a practical Avay, by assisting to relieve their families. 
 
NEHEMIAH C. BRADSTREET. 189 
 
 He gave his constant attention to the distribution of the 
 funds provided for relief In procuring volunteers to fill 
 the quotas, he was particularly active, and assisted those 
 who avowed their readiness to go to the field. As Mayor, 
 Rochester probably never had a more industrious chief 
 magistrate than Mr. Bradstreet. 
 
 Mr. Bradstreet declined being a candidate for re-elec- 
 tion in 1864, but in 1865 was put in nomination again 
 for Mayor without opposition. Disaffection had arisen 
 in the party, and he was defeated by a few votes. He 
 soon after removed to his farm, some six miles from the 
 city. Returning to town again with his family some time 
 during the past summer, he was again called upon to 
 enter the political arena. 
 
 The Republican party had placed in nomination for the 
 Assembly Hon. Henry Cribben, the member from Roches- 
 ter last year, who was supposed to be invincible from his 
 connection with the Eight Hour Movement, and from the 
 fact of his belonging to sundry organizations of working 
 men, composed mainly of Democrats. Mr. Bradstreet 
 took the field, as the Democratic nominee, only three days 
 before election, and yet so Avell Avere his former services to 
 the party and city remembered, that against tremendous 
 odds he was elected over Mr. Cribbex by 57 majority. 
 
 Mr. Bradstreet is Chairman of the Committee on 
 Canals, and has introduced and carried through the House 
 several very important measures for the maintenance of 
 those great commercial highways. He is a high toned 
 gentleman ; a man of marked abilities, and is one of the 
 leading minds of the Assembly. He is courteous and 
 elevated in demeanor, self-possessed and firm in action ; 
 respectful and kind in his personal intercourse ; thorough 
 and able in the discharge of his duties, and respected and 
 beloved by all. 
 
WILLIAM BRISTOL. 
 
 Mr. Bristol, the member from Wyoming, was born at 
 Gainesville, in that county. May Vth, 1821, and has resided 
 there ever since. His father Avas a native of this State, 
 and a fine type of the resolute and hardy pioneers who 
 planted in Western Noav York, the germ of that intelli- 
 gence, industry, wealth and patriotism which now 
 characterize that section of the State. He was a Member 
 of the Assembly of 1823. His mother, a woman of strong 
 character and sterling virtues, was a worthy daughter of 
 Massachusetts. His grandfather was a Revolutionary 
 hero, and his father, a soldier in the Avar of 1812. Like 
 many others of our successful men, Mr. Bristol received 
 in a common school the basis of his education. Personally 
 directing the management of his extensive farm, he has 
 occupied himself principally as a avooI dealer. His large 
 business operations have been generally successful, and he 
 possesses an ample fortune, Avhich is as generously used 
 as it Avas honorably won. Mr. Bristol's Avide-awake and 
 intelligent interest in political affairs, began before he 
 could vote. He Avas originally a Democrat; in 1848, 
 became an active and influential Barn-Burner, and in the 
 Syracuse Barn-Burner Convention of 1856, AAdiich indorsed 
 Fremont, he Avas one of the fcAV representatives of his 
 section of the State. Since that time, he has been an 
 enthusiastic Republican. He was Presidential Elector for 
 the Twenty-ninth District in 1864, and Avas one of the 
 Secretaries of the College. He was unanimously chosen 
 Supervisor of his town in the years 1863-66, and served as 
 Chairman of the Board for two years. 
 
WILLIAM BRISTOL. 
 
 191 
 
 In 1862, when President Lincoln issued his call for 
 600,000 Volunteers, Governor Morgan appointed Mr. 
 Bristol one of the War Committee for the Thirtieth 
 District. At this time he was at Rochester, deeply 
 eno-aoed in business. He immediately returned home. 
 On Sunday, notice was read' from the pulpit of one of 
 the churches, inviting all who desired to aid in crush- 
 ing the Rebellion to meet in his orchard. The Thursday 
 following, largely through his indefatigable energy, a 
 full company, made up of some of the finest young 
 men that left the State at their country's call, was 
 enrolled, ready for duty. It was the first company on 
 the muster-roll of the famous First New York Dragoons. 
 Three years afterward, when "all that were left of 
 them" returned from following the fiery Sheridan, out 
 of money and anxious to go to their friends previous 
 to being paid off", Mr. Bristol interested himself in 
 getting them released from their miserable quarters 
 near Rochester, and advanced them money from his 
 private purse to carry them to their waiting homes. In 
 the same pleasant grove, where, three years before, these 
 brave boys liad enlisted, a grand pic-nic was gotten up 
 to welcome their return. Over four thousand persons 
 were present, and it was one of the most notable rural 
 gatherings ever held in that section. By the unanimous 
 wish of his fellow-citizens, the whole matter of volun- 
 teering, bounties, &c., was left to his discretion, and so 
 well was the duty done that the repeated calls were 
 always honored, and the town owes not a dollar for 
 bounties. The same good management was manifested 
 in the conduct of the county's volunteering and finances, 
 by the Committee of Supervisors, of which he was 
 Chairman, and the county paid its last bond, in 1866. 
 Aside from private bounties paid to volunteers from his 
 
192 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 town, their families received many substantial tokens 
 of his remembrance. The soldier and the soldier's family 
 had no truer friend than he. 
 
 Mr. Bristol is now in his second term as member, 
 having been twice elected by flattering majorities, serving 
 each year on the Committee on Cities, and also the 
 present year on the Sub-Committee of the Whole. Per- 
 sonally he is a gentleman of fine appearance, open and 
 courteous manners, and most generous impulses — a man 
 of ability, experience in the Avorld, and strong common 
 sense — having a large acquaintance among the public 
 men of the State, and the good will and confidence of 
 his constituents. The position which he holds is very 
 responsible. He has discharged its duties with faithful- 
 ness to his constituents, honor to the State, and credit 
 to himself. His reputation is unsullied. He is one of 
 the most energetic and successful workers and organizers 
 in the House. 
 
AUGUSTUS A. BRUSH. 
 
 Mr. Brush's ancestors came to i^his country from Eno-- 
 land, and settled on Long Island. They were very 
 conspicuovtsly identified with the early history of this 
 nation. His grandfather served, during the revolution, as 
 an officer of various ranks, from Captain up to General, 
 and his bravery gave him the respect of his fellow officers. 
 Mr. Brush left school, at the age of twenty, and entered 
 upon a mercantile life, in the town of East Fishkill, New 
 York, to which he had removed from New Fairfield, 
 Connecticut. He still conducts the business of a general 
 country store, in that place. He was elected School Com- 
 missioner in 1860, and re-elected in 1863. The watchful 
 manner in which he took care of the school interests in 
 his district, aftbrded great gratification to the inhabitants. 
 His irreproachable character, and searching insight into 
 human nature, were two very important qualifications for 
 a man in his official position. In his intercourse with his 
 fellow-citizens, he always extended a courteous greeting 
 to all, whether in exalted or humble station, and thus won 
 their high regard, Avhich they plainly exhibited by electing 
 him to a still more exalted office, in the Legislature, and 
 by re-electing him to a second term. He is an eflTective 
 worker in politics. Possessing a noble heart, he gives 
 willingly and liberally, whenever charity aj)peals to him 
 for assistance ; and, with a firm purpose to avoid that 
 which might compromise his honor, he combines the quali- 
 ties of a good public officer and reliable friend. 
 
 He is a member of the Committees on Public Health 
 and Medical Colleges and Societies, and held the same 
 25 
 
194 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 positions last year, with that on State Charitable Institu- 
 tions. In the transaction of legislative business, he 
 assumes no showy demeanor for the sake of effect ; but 
 talks and acts with a motive to make himself useful. 
 
 SAMUEL W. BUEL. 
 
 Mr. BuELL was born in Broadalbin, Fulton county, 
 N. Y., on the 16th day of March, 1830. His ancestors 
 were from the State of Connecticut. His early educa- 
 tional advantages were such only as the common schools 
 of his native town afforded. His father was a farmer, 
 and he resided with him and followed that occupation till 
 he was eighteen years of age, when his father permitted 
 him to enter vipon the active business of life on his own 
 account, and receive the proceeds thereof for his own 
 benefit. He then engaged in the lumbering business, and 
 has ever since followed it, carrying it on as successfully 
 as he could have hoped to do. His present residence is in 
 the town of Benson, in the county of Hamilton. 
 
 He has always acted with the Democratic party. Dur- 
 ing the late war he was styled a War Democrat, and 
 exerted all his influence, which was very considerable, 
 for preserving the Union and maintaining the Constitu- 
 tion. Though possessed of considerable political influence, 
 he never sought and would not consent to hold an oftice 
 until the fall of 1866, when he was persuaded to accept 
 the nomination for School Commissioner of Hamilton 
 county, and was elected by a large majority. He still 
 
SAMUEL W. BUEL, 195 
 
 holds the office, discharging its duties with general 
 acceptance. 
 
 In the fall of 1867, without his knowledge or consent, 
 and w^hile he was absent from the county, he was nomi- 
 nated by the Democratic party for Member of Assembly, 
 and very reluctantly consented to become a candidate. 
 At the election he received the largest majority ever 
 given in Hamilton county for any candidate, and a 
 majority of fifty-six in Fulton county, which the preced- 
 ing year had given the Republican candidate for Member 
 of Assembly a majority of over nine hundred. We could 
 give no better evidence than this of the confidence reposed 
 in his integrity and ability, and of his personal popu- 
 larity. He is an energetic, hard working and successful 
 member, and is Chairman of the responsible Committee 
 on Public Printing. He is also a member of the Sub- 
 committee of the Whole. 
 
EDWARD I. BURHANS. 
 
 Mr. BuRHANS is one of that class of men who, by steady- 
 application, make no little progress in the work as well as 
 the honors of life. Sucli men may not make so brilliant 
 displays as others do, but pei-severing honest purpose 
 brings them a certain reward, which is frequently more 
 preferable, when a whole life-time is being summed up, than 
 that which is measured out to many who started in life 
 with pecuniary advantages in their favor. 
 
 Mr, BuRHAjv'S was born in the town of Roxbury, N. Y., 
 March 25th, 1804. His parents were among the first 
 settlers of the town, having moved thither from Ulster 
 county. His father was of Holland ancestry and his 
 mother of French Huguenot extraction. When he Avas 
 five years old his mother died ; but the loss which he had 
 to sustain thereby was partially made iip by tlie kindness 
 of his grand parents, with wliom he lived for a few years. 
 Until he was nine years old, he did not speak English at 
 all, having been taught to talk Dutch up to that i)eriod. 
 At about that time, however, a new field was opened to him, 
 in the way of school-life. But the opjDortunities were very 
 circumscribed, and lasted only until he Avas tAvelve ; after 
 that, he was obliged to get his education at home. Pos- 
 sessing keen intellectual fiicidties, and being especially 
 inclined to mathematics, he soon mastered the common 
 English branches sufficiently to be able to take up survey- 
 ing in its jiractical details Avhen lie Avas fifteen ; and at 
 sixteen, he taught school during a winter term. At the 
 age of tAventy-one Mr. Bukhans entered the mercantile 
 business without any capital, and has continued therein 
 
EDWARD I. BUEHANS. 197 
 
 luitil the present time. In tlie meantime, he has carried 
 on farming, and honght and sold real estate to considerable 
 extent. He has been, and now is, a thorough worker, 
 rising early and toiling late. When nineteen years old he 
 first tasted the successes of politics by being elected 
 Inspector of Common Schools, and three years after he 
 Avas made Justice of the Peace, and acted in that capacity 
 for sixteen years. He was also Post Master from 1837 to 
 1850, and Supervisor for several terms. During the year 
 1844 he was elected to the Assembly; and v/as a member 
 of the State Senate during 1858-59. Such were his 
 honesty of principles and practical knowledge of legal 
 matters, that he was appointed County Judge in 1845, his 
 term being terminated January 1st, 1847, by the require- 
 ments and action of the new Constitution. 
 
 Mr. BuRHAXS was a candidate for delegate to the Con- 
 stitutional Convention in the Spring of 1867, but was 
 defeated. He was elected to his present office in the 
 Assembly by forty majority. He is Chairman of the Com- 
 mittee on the Erection and Division of Towns and Coun- 
 ties and a member of the Committee on Federal Relations. 
 Though he does not consider himself a strict party man, 
 his views not agreeing in full with those of either party, 
 yet he voted for Jackson, Cass, Pierce, Buchanak and 
 McClellax, all of which is enough to confirm him as a 
 Democrat through everlasting ages. 
 
 Mr. BuRHANS has largely and frequently contributed to 
 the wants of schools and churches ; and his liberality in 
 aiding yovmg men in acquiring an education and in enter- 
 ing business, has made many a heart grateful for his 
 kindness. His experience in legislative matters, coupled 
 with his supei'ior judgment, make him a useful and valu- 
 able member. 
 
DENNIS BURNS. 
 
 Mr. Burns is the representative from the Second 
 District of New York. He was born in Ireland in the 
 year 1827, and came to New York when ten years of 
 age, and has ever since resided in that city. He learned 
 the trade of a stone-cntter, but some years since was 
 compelled to relinquish it, on account of his health, and 
 now holds a j^osition in the County Clerk's office. In 
 1867, he was elected to the Assembly on the Democratic 
 ticket (Tammany), and was chosen by a plurality of 1,101 
 votes over James Doxovan, Union Democrat. This is the 
 first elective position he ever held, and previous to last 
 fall was never a candidate for any office. He is a member 
 of two important committees, Banks and Claims. 
 
 Mr. BuKNS is kind hearted, sociable, enjoys a good joke, 
 and has the faculty of making i3lenty of friends. He is an 
 energetic member, and scrutinizes closely every measure 
 which comes uj) for consideration. 
 
PATRICK BURNS. 
 
 Mr. BuRXS, one of the Representatives from Kings 
 county, is a native of the county of Monaghan, Irehand, 
 and was born January 1st, 1833. His parents emigrated 
 to this country about twenty-four years ago and settled in 
 Brooklyn, in the Second and Fifth Wards of which they 
 have ]-esided ever since. Mr. Burns was early appren- 
 ticed to a shipjoiner, and became an adept in the busi- 
 ness of ship-building, at which he worked for about seven 
 years ; the most of the time being in the employ of the 
 Government at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He early 
 attached himself to the Democratic party, in Avhose ranks 
 he was an active worker. At the age of twenty-one he 
 was elected a member of the Democratic General Com- 
 mittee; and, in 1862, was chosen to represent the Fifth 
 AVard in the Board of Supervisors, serving during his 
 term as Chairman of the Alms House Committee, and 
 Committees on Grades, Relief of Families of Volunteers, 
 Courts, County Jail, and Bounties. As a member of the 
 latter Committee, he was assigned to the receiving ship 
 North Carolina, where he paid the bounties to the volun- 
 teers accredited to Kings county. The duties of this 
 position were very arduous, but Mr. Burns acquitted him- 
 self with credit, and won the praise of his associates and 
 the public. Just before the close of his term as Super- 
 visor, in 1864, he was unanimously nominated as the 
 candidate of his party for the Assembly, and was elected 
 by over five hundred majority, notwithstanding an Inde- 
 pendent Democrat took the field against him. In the 
 Assembly of 1865, he served on the Committee on Salt, 
 
200 LIFE. SKETCHES. 
 
 but its duties not taking much of his time, he devoted 
 himself to the affairs of his city, and became a useful 
 member. Mr. Burns made quite a reputation in an eifort 
 to have all the streets of Brooklyn opened to the public, 
 but failed, owing to the desperate efforts of property 
 owners, who insist upon holding the thoroughfares in 
 which they live, as private property, subject to no local 
 control. In 1865, Mr. Burns started an extensive kind- 
 ling-wood factory, which proved a pecuniary success. At 
 the present time he carries on an extensive distillery. In 
 the Fall of 1866, he was again nominated for the Assem- 
 bly, to which he was chosen by a majority of nearly two 
 thousand, and was re-elected last year by a largely 
 increased vote. Mr. Burns is a gentleman of generous 
 impulses, enlarged experience and good judgment. He is 
 quite an effective debater and an active working member 
 of the House. He is a member of the Committees on 
 Commerce and Navigation, and Expenditures of Execu- 
 tive Department. 
 
JONAS K. BUTTON. 
 
 Jonas K. Butto^st, member of Assembly from the First 
 District of Cattaraugus county, was born in the town 
 of Machias, Cattaraugus county, N. Y., May 3d, 1821. 
 
 His parents were of Welsh extraction, and emigrated 
 from Vermont to Cattaraugus county in the year 1816. 
 
 To a common school education, in his case, was super- 
 added the mental discipline acquired by an active business 
 life, and a careful stud)^ of human nature. He is by pro- 
 fession a farmer, and until recently has dealt extensively 
 in cattle. 
 
 Mr. BuTTOx is emphatically a self-made man. He began 
 life for himself at the age of eighteen, since which time, 
 by force of his own energy, he has accumulated a hand- 
 some property, and is one of the largest land-holders in 
 his native county. His residence, built after a design of 
 his own, is one of the finest in "Western New York. 
 
 Mr. BuTTOx enjoyed in a high degree the friendship of 
 the late Hon. Peter Ten Broeck during his life time ; 
 the last named gentleman reposing such unbounded confi- 
 dence in his integrity that, at his death, he appointed him 
 sole executor of his will, and President of the Board of 
 Trustees of the Ten Broeck Free Academy, an institution 
 the construction and endowment of which jMr. Ten 
 Broeck handsomely provided for in his last will and 
 testament. 
 
 In 1843, Mr. Button was elected School Inspector in 
 
 the town of Machias, and continued to hold the office 
 
 until its abolishment. In 1847, he removed to Franklin- 
 
 ville, where he has since resided. 
 26 
 
202 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 As regards politics, Mr. Button is a staunch Democrat ; 
 nevertheless, in a county strongly Republican, whenever 
 he has allowed himself to become a candidate for office, he 
 has uniformly run ahead of his ticket. In 185?i, '54, he 
 was elected Supervisor of the town of Franklinville, and 
 was re-elected in 1857. In the fall of the same year, he 
 was nominated for member of Assembly, Hon. Henry 
 Van Aernam, the successful candidate, beating him by 
 about two hundred votes. In 1862, he was nominated 
 again for the same office, and was defeated by Hon, A. L. 
 Allen, the Republican candidate. In 1864, Mr. Button's 
 friends nominated him for Member of Congress from the 
 Thirty-first Congressional District. He was defeated, 
 however, by the Republican candidate, Hon. Henry Van 
 Aernam, the present incumbent. In 1867 he was again 
 nominated for Member of Assembly, defeating the Repub- 
 lican candidate, Hon. Gideon Searle, by 772 votes, in a 
 district which gave the Rej^ublican State ticket a majority 
 of nearly 650. He is a member of the Canal Committee, 
 and also that on Roads and Bridges. 
 
 In private life, Mr. Button is eminently social. His 
 large-heartedness, combined with honorable dealing, has 
 won for him a large circle of friends. In the Assembly he 
 is closely attentive to his legislative duties, and is highly 
 esteemed. 
 
ALANSON B. CADY. 
 
 The representative of the second district of Oneida, is a 
 native of the county of Herkimer, where, in Newport, he 
 was born on the loth of November, 1810, His father was 
 a native of Rhode Island, and his mother of Vermont. 
 He had, however, seen but five years, when his parents 
 removed to Waterville, Oneida county, where, from that 
 dav, Mr. Cady has made it his home. In the common 
 school and academy of his adopted village, Mr, Cady 
 received as good an education as was in those com- 
 paratively primitive days, accorded to American youth. 
 At the age of seventeen Mi\ Cady commenced life for 
 himself, as an apprenticed builder. Industry was rewarded 
 by success, and after years of faithful application to busi- 
 ness, by a natural sequence, we find Mr. Cady, from a 
 boy with no other capital than a strong hand and an 
 honest heart, risen to a man of influence and competence. 
 Mr, Cady has in his house a fine library, purchased with 
 money earned when he was an apprentice boy, " after 
 hours," that is, after the conclusion of the regular duties 
 of the day. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Cady was formerly a Whig, but was the 
 first man in his town to join the Republican party. 
 Though not taking a very active part in politics, he has 
 still been frequently a delegate to the State Conventions of 
 his party, and in 1860 was an alternate delegate to the 
 Chicago Convention, which nominated Abraham Lincoln 
 for the Presidency. When Joshua A. Spencer ran as 
 an independent candidate against O. B. Matteson, Repixb- 
 liean, in the Oneida District, for Congress, Mr. Cady felt 
 
204 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 it his duty to espouse the cause of Mr. Spencer. Through 
 his influence, Mr. Spencer received nearly one hundred 
 votes in the town of Sangerfield. 
 
 This is Mr. Cady's first political oifice. As a Member of 
 Assembly he is conscientious and industrious, and repre- 
 sents faithfully and intelligently the interests both of his 
 constituents and the State. Mr. Cady, in " ye olden time," 
 was connected with the military of the State, and in 1832-3 
 was Colonel of the 45th Regiment State Militia. 
 
 In appearance, Mr. Cady is the physical Falstaff of 
 the Legislature, bringing down more pounds avoirdupois 
 than any of his colleagues. In manner, uniformly courte- 
 ous, affable, and considerate of the feelings of all with 
 whom he mingles, Mr. Cady is as good a specimen of the 
 gentleman of the old school as is often found. 
 
WINFIELD S. CAMERON. 
 
 Mr. Camerox is a descendant of a Scottish family or 
 clan that has occupied no small part in the history of that 
 countr3^ He possesses in an eminent degree the peculiar 
 traits which distinguish his countrymen, and his success in 
 life, achieved against the most unfavorable circumstances, 
 has called into action the excellent qualities for which his 
 race is remarkable. 
 
 Mr. Cameron was born June 5th, 1838, in the town of 
 Ellicott, Chautauqua county, New York. His father, Johx 
 A. Cameron, died when he was four years of age. From 
 the age of twelve until seventeen, he spent the summers in 
 working for wages as a farm laborer, and the winters 
 in attending school. During the winters of the two 
 succeeding years, he attended the Academy at James- 
 town, New York, The following four years were spent 
 in farm labor, and in rafting lumber down the Alleghany 
 and Ohio rivers to Cincinnati and other places ; and the 
 three succeeding years were spent by him in alternately 
 teaching a district school, and in attending the Academy 
 at Randolph, New York. In 1862, he entered the office of 
 Alexander Sheldon, of Randolph, as a student at law. 
 While prosecuting the study of law at this place, the 
 second call of President Lincoln for more troops was 
 issued. After a severe mental struggle, he enlisted as 
 a private >in Company H, of the 154th Regiment New 
 York Volunteers. He was first promoted to the office of 
 Sergeant, then to that of Second-Lieutenant, and finally 
 to that of First-Lieutenant. He was w^ounded in the 
 thigh at the battle of Chancellorsville. While lying on 
 
206 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 the ground after being wounded, he was captured by 
 stragglers following the rebel army, and robbed of his 
 watch and his money. He was held as a prisoner about 
 two weeks, when he was released on parol, and was 
 brought into the Union lines. His wound healed, and at 
 the expiration of six months he was regularly exchanged, 
 and rejoined his regiment, which, in the meantime, had 
 been transferred to the Army of the West, He took 
 part in the battle of Lookout Mountain and the Ivnox- 
 ville campaign. The following year he was made Captain 
 of the Color Company of his Regiment. With this com- 
 pany he was engaged in the battle of Rocky Faced 
 Ridge, in Georgia. His company, on going into the fight, 
 numbered twenty-four men. He came out with only 
 seven. On the same day his brother John, a member 
 of the 9th New York Cavalry, was instantly killed by 
 a Minnie ball, at the battle of the Wilderness. His 
 mother, on learning this sad event, urged him to leave 
 the service. He obtained a leave of absence, in oi'der to 
 visit his mother, but on arriving at home, learned the 
 painful fact that she was dead. His grief at his double 
 loss only made him more anxious to rejoin his regiment, 
 which he did without delay. Some time afterward he 
 was placed on the staff of General P. H. Jones, command- 
 ing the Second Brigade of General Geary's Division, 
 Twentieth Army Corps. He was afterward detached to 
 serve as Assistant Inspector-General on the Staff" of Gen- 
 eral A, S. Williams, commanding the Twentieth Army 
 Corps, in Avhich capacity he served until the close of the 
 war. 
 
 On being mustered out of the service, Mr. Cameron 
 returned to Jamestown, New York, and resumed the study 
 of law, and prosecuted the same at that place until the 
 latter part of 1865, when he entered the Albany Law 
 
WINFIELD S. CAMEROX 207 
 
 School. In May following he Avas admitted to the Bar, 
 and soon after opened an office and commenced practice 
 at Jamestown, New York. 
 
 In recognition of his patriotic services, Mr. CxVmeron 
 was made a Major, by brevet, by President Johnso^t, for 
 "gallant conduct during the campaign of Georgia and 
 the Carolinas," his appointment to date from March 11th, 
 1865. He was also breveted Lieutenant-Colonel by 
 Governor Fentox, for gallant conduct at the battle of 
 Lookout Mountain. So honorable and patriotic a record 
 naturally enough attracted the attention of his party, 
 and he was, with the greatest unanimity, made a candi- 
 date for Member of Assembly for the Second District of 
 Chautauqua county, and was elected by 1,527 majority. 
 He is a member of the Committee on Commerce and 
 Navigation. He is a gentleman of fine appearance, agree- 
 able manners, and a warm friend. Although a good talker, 
 he is remarkably quiet in the House, seldom taking part in 
 debate. 
 
TIMOTHY J. CAMPBELL. 
 
 Mr. Campbell, who represents the Sixth District of the 
 county of New York, is one of the young men of the 
 Assembly, having been elected to his present position at 
 the age of twenty-seven. Born of Scotch-Irish ancestry, 
 in the County of Cavan, Ireland, in January, 1840, he was 
 brought by his parents to the city of New York when a 
 child of five years. At the proper age, young Campbell 
 was placed in the public schools of his adopted city, and 
 continued therein until he was twelve years old. Impelled 
 by a laudable ambition to be independent of the support 
 of his parents, who were in humble circumstances, he left 
 school at that early age, and connected himself with an 
 institution not less worthy of being ranked as an educator 
 — the printing press. Thus early thrown upon his own 
 resources, whatever success in life he has since attained is 
 due to his own exertion. Meanwhile, the labors of the day 
 at the press being ended, young Campbell, desirous to 
 make up for the deficiency of early training at the ^^ublic 
 schools, added to his practical business education a further 
 book knowledge gained by attending evening schools. 
 He also joined a debating club, and by participating 
 in its weekly disj^utations he familiarized himself with 
 the prominent political and social topics of the day, and 
 thei'e doubtless laid the foundation of his future success. 
 In the meantime he rose through the various gradations 
 of a printing office from "fly boy" at the press, up to 
 general office manager, serving at times in job offices and 
 again in various newspaper offices, including the Herald, 
 Express and Times. 
 
TIMOTHY J. CAMPBELL, 209 
 
 During a portion of the year 18G0, while the dark and 
 threatening war clouds were rolling up, obscuring our 
 political horizon, we find Mr. Campbell living in Augusta, 
 Georgia, and connected with the ofiice of the Dispatch, 
 there published. lie soon, however, returned to New 
 York, where, Avith the exception of the few months spent 
 in the south, he has always resided since coming to 
 America. For the j^ast three years, ignoring types and 
 cases, Mr. Campbell has been a clerk in the ofiice of the 
 County Clerk of New York. Though never till now 
 having held oflicial position, Mr. Campbell has yet for 
 some years been active in local municipal politics, and is 
 now a member of the General Committee of Tammany 
 Hall. As a member of the Fire Department in the good 
 old days of the " volunteer " system, he had his share of 
 "perilous adventure and hairbreadth 'scapes." Though 
 serving his first term, the Speaker recognized the ability 
 of Mr. Campbell by placing him at the head of the Com- 
 mittee on Roads and Bridges, and also making him a 
 member of the Committee on Internal Afiairs of Towns 
 and Counties. Socially, Mr. Campbell is one of the most 
 genial of men, uniting with the firmness, pertinacity and 
 frankness of the Scotch, the characteristic humor, hearty 
 friendship and unswerving fidelity of the Irish. Possessed 
 of such a happily compounded nature, it is not surprising 
 that his friends are many, and grappled with " hooks of 
 steel." 
 
 27 
 
WILLIAM H, CHAPMAN. 
 
 Mv. Chapman is one of the clear-headed and intelligent 
 members of the House, He shows a ready appreciation 
 of the duties of the office, and with the requisite exper- 
 ience will make a valuable member. He was born in 
 New Hartford, Oneida county, November 13, 1820. His 
 parents both emigrated from England in 1810, and in 
 1811 his father purchased a hotel in New Hartford, which 
 is still standing and is now owned by his son, the present 
 member, who is also responsible for its management, 
 although he himself resides on a farm, which, in the 
 order of its arrangements and beauty of the buildings, 
 is an ornament to the village. His father died when the 
 son was but three years of age, leaving his mother in 
 moderate circumstances, needing the labor of all her chil- 
 dren to aid in the maintenance of the family. William's 
 education was therefore confined to the common school, 
 and he was able to attend but three months in the year. 
 He lived in the hotel purchased by his father until he was 
 29 years of age, when he built his present handsome resi- 
 dence. He has always taken an active interest in politics, 
 being a strict adherent to the principles of the Democratic 
 Party, but he has never before held office. In 1854 he 
 was the Democratic candidate for Member of Assembly 
 from the First District of Oneida, but the district being 
 strongly Whig he was defeated, although he ran 250 ahead 
 of his ticket. He represents the First District of Oneida 
 County, and was elected by a majority of 94. He is 
 Chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs. 
 
JOHN C. CHISM. 
 
 Mr, Chism, who represents the first district of Albany- 
 county, is a gentleman of warm social qualities, energetic 
 in business, clear discernment, penetrating observation 
 and untiring industry. He was born in Schenectady 
 county, January 18, 1822, and graduated from the Schenec- 
 tady Lyceum. He resides in the town of Guilderland, 
 Albany county. He is an attorney-at-law, by profession, 
 and acts as Insurance agent and auctioneer. He prosecutes 
 a successful business. His fellow-citizens have evinced 
 their appreciation of his abilities, and their confidence in 
 his integrity, by keeping him in the office of Justice of the 
 Peace for twelve years. That he has been faithful to the 
 trusts reposed in him, is evinced by his continuance in that 
 office, and his election to the one he now holds. Mr. 
 Chism is fast acquiring that familiarity with the routine 
 and intricacies of legislation, necessary to the wise and 
 proper discharge of the duties resting upon him. Quick, 
 persevering and apt, he bids fair, with the requisite expe- 
 rience to make a successful legislator. 
 
GEORGE CLARK 
 
 Mr. Clark represents Schuyler county. His family is 
 of English extraction. His parents removed from Orange 
 county in this State to Tyrone, Steuben county, in 
 the year 1800, at which place he Avas born June 25th, 
 1820. He joassed the first twenty years of his life in 
 the manner i;sual to formers' sons of that day, that is 
 most of the time at work in the fields, with a little of 
 book education at common school thrown in at intervals. 
 The pursuit of agriculture was rather against his inclina- 
 tion, and hence, at the age of twenty-one, he gratified 
 the constructive propensities of his disposition by learn- 
 ing the trade of a carpenter. This occupation he 
 pursued for eleven years, when his plans for the future 
 again were changed, and he entered upon a mercantile 
 career, in which he is still engaged. He is also largely 
 interested in the lumbering business in the State of 
 Michigan. 
 
 Mr. Claek, on becoming a voter, acted with the Whig 
 jjarty, and afterward with many of his Whig brethren 
 entered the Republican ranks. He was a great admirer of 
 Henry Clat. He was elected town clerk in 1848, and 
 was re-elected to that oflice for four consecutive years. In 
 1854 he was elected to the ofiice of Supervisor, and was 
 re-elected to that office every year for the six succeeding 
 years. In 1859 he accepted a nomination as an Indepen- 
 dent or People's candidate for member of As,^embly, 
 against the regular Republican candidate, and came within 
 a few votes of an election. In 1862 he was appointed by 
 Govei*nor Moegak, Enrollinsr Officer for his town. He 
 
WILLIAM S. CLARK. 213 
 
 was elected to the position he now holds, by a majority of 
 336 over Andrew IST. Ackerly, the Democratic candidate. 
 Mr. Clark enjoys to a high degree, the confidence and 
 esteem of his neighbors. He gave great satisfaction, and 
 established a fine reputation for ofticial integrity and 
 executive ability, in the discharge of his duties as Super- 
 visor. In his present position he is very faithful in his 
 attention to legislative matters, and anxious to give his 
 vote on every measure so as to secure the greatest good to 
 the greatest number. He has power, but he exercises it 
 in a quiet, persuasive waj^ He has pleasing manners and 
 strong social feelings, and easily makes friends. 
 
 WILLIAM S. CLARK. 
 
 Mr. Clark's grand-parents, who Avere born in Dutchess 
 county, New York, settled in Coeymans, Albany county, 
 during the year 1773. His paternal grandfiither being- 
 unable to endure the privations of pioneer life, died at the 
 age of thirty-two ; his maternal grandfather, Reuben 
 Stanton, was among those who, by their vigor and hardi- 
 hood, contributed much to clear up the wildnerness in 
 Coeymans, in the days when homes were never safe, in 
 consequence of the depredations of marauders from the 
 army in the war preceding the Revolution. He was, for 
 some years, a licentiate in the Baptist Church, and was 
 regularly ordained by that denomination, in 1793, continu- 
 ing to preach until he was disqualified by age. Mr, 
 Clark's j^ai'ents settled on a farm in Carlisle, Schoharie 
 county, in 1813, where his father died in 1849. His 
 
214 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 mother is still living ; and, though eighty years old, she is 
 healthful and active, with faculties u.nimpaired, and with 
 her dark brown hair scarcely marked with a thread of 
 silver. 
 
 Mr. Clark was favored with good educational oppor- 
 tunities, having attended some of the academies of 
 Schoharie and Madison counties. He was a teacher during 
 several winters, and then chose law as a profession ; he 
 graduated from the Albany Law School in the spring of 
 1858, and returned to Sloansville, where he now resides. 
 Since then, however, he has gratified his desire for travel 
 very largely, and has also been identified with all move- 
 ments of public interest in his locality, yet devoting him- 
 self to the practice of his profession. 
 
 Mr. Clark was elected Town Superintendent of Com- 
 mon Schools, in the year 1850, and was Commissioner of 
 Excise during the years 1862, '63 and '64. 
 
 He was nominated by acclamation by the Democrats, 
 and elected without opposition to the Assembly of 1867, 
 and was renominated and returned to the present Legisla- 
 ture by a majority of 1,778, leading his ticket just a 
 hundred. During the war, his talents and influence were 
 exerted to sustain the government, by addressing Avar and 
 bounty meetings, and encouraging volunteering, both in his 
 own and the surrounding counties. He has always been 
 a Democrat, and various political articles from his pen, 
 which have appeared through the public press — among 
 them his discussions of the proposed Constitutional Con- 
 vention in 1858, and of the Constitutional modifications 
 suggested in the Convention of 1867 — display a replete- 
 ness of ideas and a vigor of analysis above the ordinary 
 cast of mind. 
 
 Mr, Clark has a finely cultivated literary taste, and 
 exhibits in his composition a certain vim and dash which 
 
WILLIAM S, CLARK. 215 
 
 excite and insure one's admiration. His "Memoir of 
 Charles Howard Phelps," which Avas written for the 
 Trustees of Dudley Observatory, and subsequently pub- 
 lished by them, is a chaste and beautiful tribute to the 
 memory of one Avhose whole soul Avas inspired with 
 the grandeur of Astronomy, and Avhose life trembled at 
 the impressions of those master thoughts which seem to 
 transfigure the whole being. 
 
 The position taken by Mr. Clark in the Legislature of 
 1867, was recognized by his appointment, by Speaker 
 Pitts, as a member of the Joint Committee to investigate 
 the management of the canals. His ability and legisla- 
 tive experience made him quite a prominent candidate 
 for Speaker of the present House, for which position he 
 received favorable commendations from the press, but in 
 deference to the unanimity of the New York delegation, 
 and in recognition of the claim of the New York Democ- 
 racy, Mr. Clark withdrew from the canvass prior to the 
 caucus. 
 
 As we should expect from such antecedents, Mr. 
 Clark's conception of legislative duties is not confined 
 to mere local interests, but embraces in its scope legisla- 
 tion of a general character, and the comprehensiveness 
 both of his views and his familiarity with the require- 
 ments of the people, is indicated by the bills introduced 
 by him in relation to the registry, assessment, and high- 
 way laws of the State. In debate, he is ready, forcible, 
 logical, and at times eloquent, always having the atten- 
 tion of the House ; and by his suavity of manner and 
 geniality of nature, has secured, not only the good will 
 but the personal regard of all his associates in the 
 Assembly. 
 
 In his position of Chairman of the Committee on the 
 Internal Affairs of Towns and Counties, he has been inde- 
 
216 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 fatigable in his labors to facilitate the progress of the 
 measures submitted to the scrutiny of the Committee. 
 He serves also on the Committee on Charitable and 
 Religious Societies, and on Local General Orders. Mr. 
 Clark is in the prime of life, enjoys a good joke or a 
 keen sarcasm Avitli the same zest that an epicure relishes 
 his salads and " green seal ;" and we doubt not that his 
 versatile intelligence and recognized ability will secure 
 for him higher positions and larger trusts ; and however 
 high the position the future may assign him, he will 
 discharge its duties with fidelity unquestioned and honor 
 untarnished. 
 
 WILLIAM F. COOK. 
 
 Mr. Cook was born at Kingsbury, Washington county, 
 -N. Y., October 8, 1810. His parents on both sides were 
 from Connecticut; their ancestors were from England. 
 He received a common school education. His parents 
 died when he was about fourteen years of age, but he 
 continued to reside on his father's farm, with an elder 
 brother, until he was thirty-five. He held various town 
 offices while a resident of Kingsbury, and in 1846 removed 
 to Whitehall and engaged as foreman in a steam planing mill 
 and lumber yard. He remained in that place about seven 
 years, and in 1853 removed to Champlain, Clinton county, 
 where he engaged in the lumber and planing mill business 
 as one of the firm of Hoyt, Cook & Co. (now W. F. 
 Cook & Co.), where he has since resided. 
 
 Mr. Cook always acted with the Whigs until the 
 organization of the Republican party. He was not 
 
AVILLIAM F. COOK. 217 
 
 engaged in the military service during the rebellion, but 
 gave evidence of his loyalty to the Union by consenting 
 that his only son, who was then just ready to enter college, 
 shoidd go and battle against armed treason. His son enlis- 
 ted as a private, and soon after was made a corporal, in the 
 Thirty-fourth Regiment New York Volunteers. Soon 
 after reaching Washington, he was detailed for service in 
 the Signal Corps, and was attached to General Banks' 
 Division. He was engaged at the battles of Winchester 
 and Cedar Mountain, and was with General Baxks' com- 
 mand in the retreat from the Shenandoah Valley, and was 
 in the second Bull Run campaign. Soon after he was sent 
 to Sugar Loaf Mountain to watch the movements of the 
 rebel army across the Potomac, and sent the first des- 
 patches to Washington of Lee's army crossing the river. 
 Previous to the battle of Antietam, he, with another 
 officer, captured a bearer of despatches from Davis to 
 Lee, who was tinder the escort of two rebel soldiers, 
 when they were surprised and surrounded by a detach- 
 tachm.ent of Stuart's cavalry, and captured, together with 
 their prisoners and despatches, and sent to Libby Prison. 
 After a month of suffering, he was exchanged, and again 
 entering the service, remained his full time, and was 
 honorably discharged. In June, 1862, he was recom- 
 mended for promotion by his superior officers, and it was 
 approved by General Banks, but the recommendation 
 failed to be acted upon, either by Governors Morgan or 
 Seymour. His services have been recognized, however, 
 by a First-Lieutenant's commission by brevet, from Gov- 
 ernor Fenton. 
 
 Mr. Cook is one of the first business men of Clinton 
 county. He holds the esteem and confidence of his fellow- 
 citizens in a marked degree, as is shown by the fact that 
 in the late canvass, when so many Repulilican districts 
 28 
 
218 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 went Democratic, he Avas elected by a large majority, 
 to succeed a Democrat. He is a man every way worthy 
 of this high mark of regard. Of mature judgment, integ- 
 rity of purpose, and clear discei-nment, he brings to the 
 halls of legislation qualities more important than that of 
 mere ability to speak with credit. He is unostentatious, 
 but as valuable as he is retiring. 
 
 ANDREW CORNWALL. 
 
 It is many yeai'S since Jefferson county has had a 
 Democratic representative in the Legislature. For a long 
 period in the annals of politics it could be depended upon 
 for rousing majorities for the Whig and Republican can- 
 didates. Last year the Second Assembly District was 
 represented by Hon. Albert Shaw, Republican, Avho 
 was elected to the Assembly by a majority of eleven 
 hundred and fifty-four. He was a candidate for re-elec- 
 tion last Fall, but the large majority given him the 
 previous year was overcome by Mr. Cornwall, who was 
 chosen by a majority of four hundred and five. Local 
 causes, undoubtedly, contributed to a considerable extent 
 to this result ; but it is j^roper to say that the flattering 
 vote given to the present member was in a great measure 
 due to his personal popularity. 
 
 Mr. Cornwall was born at Pultneyville, Wayne 
 county. New York, in 1814, and on the 25th of March last 
 celebrated his 54th birth-day. His parents wei-e natives 
 of Old Chatham (now Portland), Connecticut, who 
 removed to Wayne county about the year 1800. After 
 
ANDREW CORNWALL, iil9 
 
 attending school nntil thirteen years of age, he entered a 
 country store as clerk. In 1844, he removed to Alexan- 
 dria Bay, Jefferson county, his present residence, and 
 opened a store, and has continued in mercantile business 
 there for the past twenty-one years. From his youth Mr. 
 Cornwall has taken a lively interest in politics, always 
 acting with the Democratic party. For eleven successive 
 years he has been Supervisor of the town of Alexandria. 
 In 1865, he was the Democratic candidate for Senator for 
 the Eighteenth District, against Hon. John O'Donxell, 
 but the district being largely Republican, he was of 
 course defeated. 
 
 During the Rebellion he was one of the War Commit- 
 tee of his county, and as Supervisor of his town, filled all 
 the quotas for volunteers promptly, and with less local 
 bounty than was required for any other town in the 
 county, that furnished as many men. 
 
 Mr. Cornwall is possessed of sound common sense, is 
 prudent and thoughtful, and always watchful of the inter- 
 ests of his constituents. His address is pleasant and his 
 manner courteous. In the Assembly he makes no pre- 
 tension to oratorical display, and seldom takes up time in 
 debate. He is a member of the Committees on Ways and 
 Means, Manufacture of Salt, and Sub-committee of the 
 Whole. 
 
NATHANIEL DAILY. 
 
 Mr. Daily is a staunch member of the Republican party. 
 His political antecedents, prior to 1856, were Democratic; 
 in fact, he held the oiRce of Justice of the Peace by favor 
 of the Democrats as early as the year 184T, and has con- 
 tinued to hold it for the last twenty years. Like thou- 
 sands of otliers, however, who are not completely " wed- 
 ded to their idols," he energetically entered into the 
 movements which resulted in the formation of the Repub- 
 lican party. From that time to the present, Mr. Daily 
 has been found on the pioneer lines of political advance- 
 ment. He unhesitatingly indorses the measures adopted 
 by Congress to restore the South to the rights and 
 privileges of the government; and believes that those 
 measures are sufficiently lenient to meet the demands of 
 mercy, and the approval of every loyal heart. 
 
 Mr. Daily was born in Hampton, Washington county, 
 N. Y., October 3, 1813. His father followed farming as an 
 occupation. But during the conflict between this coun- 
 try and Great Britain, in 1812, he gave up his agricul- 
 tural calling and entered the army, returning to his 
 former pursuits at the termination of the war. His son 
 Nathaxiel, the subject of this article, received as good 
 an education as was aftbrded by the common schools of 
 that time. Having mingled the toil of the farm with 
 the toil of the school room during his youth, he also 
 became a farmer. But he likewise possessed business 
 sagacity, and, as a consequence, speculated from time to 
 time in cattle, sheep and wool, until, at last, no small 
 amount of his means and attention was turned in that 
 direction. 
 
JOHN MARTIX DAVIS. 221 
 
 Dnrino; tlie recent war at the South, when homes were 
 being made dark by the devastations of battles which laid 
 low the pride of many a northern household, Mr. Daily 
 was elected Chairman of the Town War Committee 
 appointed to raise men and means for the relief of an 
 endangered government. In 1862, he was elected Justice 
 of Sessions, and re-elected in 1863. He was elected to the 
 present Legislature by 152 majority. He serves on the 
 Committee on Public Lands. 
 
 Mr. Daily is a good legislator, possessing a strong 
 mind and good judgment, qualities which peculiarly fit 
 him for the position he occupies. 
 
 JOHN MARTIN DAVIS. 
 
 Mr. Davis was born August 9th, 1826, in the town of 
 Lima, Livingston county. His grand-father, Ezra Davis, 
 was of Welsh extraction, but a native of the State of Con- 
 necticut. He was one of the early volunteers in the great 
 struggle for the independence of the colonies ; and during 
 that long and eventful period of our National history, was 
 in the ranks of the army, doing much credit to himself, and 
 valuable service to his country. 
 
 His father Martin Davis, born in Columbia county, 
 State of New York, w^as one of the pioneers in the early 
 settlement of what was then, and is still known as the 
 Genesee country, and was identified with the early history, 
 the rapid growth, and final prosperity of that rich and 
 productive region. He, too, like his father Ezra, as a 
 citizen soldier, performed military service for his country, 
 being engaged along the Canada lines in the war of 1812 ; 
 
222 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 but subsequently becoming a member of the religioits 
 Society of Friends — a body opposed in theory and in 
 principle to the art of war — he declined to receive from the 
 general government the bounty afterwards provided by 
 Congress for the soldiers of the war of 1812. Ignoring to 
 a great extent the exciting subject of politics, he devoted 
 his time during the remainder of his life to agriculture 
 and the careful training of his somewhat large family of 
 children, of which the subject of this sketch is the eighth. 
 
 Ml'. Davis received as his principal legacy from his 
 father's estate a fair common school education and the 
 precepts of a parent alive to the best interests of his 
 children. He has served by appointment and election, as 
 superintendent of common schools in the town of Mendon, 
 Monroe county, where he now resides. Also, by appoint- 
 ment and election, as a Justice of the Peace for the 
 same time ; represented the town in the board of Super- 
 visors of Monroe county in the year 1861, was re-elected in 
 1862, and also in 1867. He was a candidate for member 
 of Assembly from the first Assembly district of Monroe 
 county in 1866, but received the minority vote by fifteen 
 ballots, occasioned undoubtedly by a difiiculty in the 
 Republican party growing out of the election of a member 
 of Congress in the Twenty-eighth Congressional district 
 of New York, of which the first Assembly district of 
 Monroe forms a part. In the fall of 1867, he was again 
 nominated, and was elected. 
 
 Mr. Davis is a man of sterling worth. Plis judgment 
 is ripe and discerning ; his principles pure and inflexible • 
 his action generally judicious and taken with energy. He 
 is ever at the post of duty, and fearless in meeting all its 
 demands. He has secured the confidence and respect of 
 his associates in the House, and makes a valuable working 
 member. 
 
LEWIS p. DAYTON. 
 
 Dr. Daytox is a native of the county which he in part 
 represents. He conies of the staunch stock of the Puri- 
 tans, being descended in a direct line from Johx Daytox, 
 who was one of the little band that came over in the May- 
 flower. From that remote ancestor are descended all 
 those bearing that name living in America. The parents 
 of Dr. Dayton removed from Connecticut to Erie county, 
 New York, in 1814. At that day Western New York 
 was comparatively a wilderness, and bold indeed Avas the 
 pioneer who could venture to establish his home in its 
 midst. Buftalo was then an insignificant village, recently 
 reduced to ashes by British incendiaries, and Black Rock 
 loomed up as the principal town of that county, and, 
 indeed, of that section of the State. For years afterward 
 it was questionable which of these villages would eventu- 
 ally be the city, which nature seemed to have marked out 
 to lie at the foot of Lake Erie. 
 
 In that county, in the felicitously named town of 
 Eden, on the 10th day of October, 1820, the future 
 physician, Avhose life we now outline, first saw the light. 
 He learned the rudimentary branches at the little school 
 house near his country home, and then was sent at difier- 
 ent periods to Aurora and Springville Academies for 
 a more advanced educational ti'aining. Having resolved 
 to become a disciple of Esculapius, Mr. Day'ton went to 
 the Geneva Medical College, from which, in due time, he 
 received his professional degree. Settling in the village 
 of Black Rock, since swallowed up by the ambitious city 
 of Buftalo, our now Dr. Dayton entered upon the practice 
 
224 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 of his profession, which has since grown to be very large. 
 In 1852, Dr. Daytox, Avho had always taken a deep 
 interest in the canse of education, was elected Superin- 
 tendent of Schools in his adopted village. Subsequently, 
 Black Rock having become the twelfth Ward of Buffalo, 
 Dr. Daytox was elected Alderman. In 1855, and again 
 in 1859, he was President of the Buffalo Common Council. 
 In 1864, he was elected County Clerk of Erie county, 
 running considerably ahead of his ticket, as he invariably 
 does. This office he held until the first of January, 1&68. 
 Last fall in a district which gave the RejDublican general 
 ticket nearly 300 majority, and which in 1866 sent a 
 Republican Assemblyman, Dr. Daytox, though a Dem- 
 ocrat as he has always been, received a majority of 42 
 over his competitor. 
 
 In making up the committees of the Assembly, the 
 Speaker placed Dr. Daytox on Canals and on Public 
 Health. At the Democractic joint caucus to nominate a 
 Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Dr. Daytox was called 
 to preside. 
 
 The Doctor is not a " talking member," yet there are 
 few men in the Assembly who exert greater influence, or 
 attend more closely to their official duties. Of strict 
 integrity, and possessing no little experience in public 
 affairs. Dr. Daytox is a man whose public career does 
 honor to himself, and who, by his sacrifice of private 
 interest to look after the public good, is entitled to the 
 gratitude of all friends of honest and intellio-ent leofislation. 
 
JOHN DECKER, 
 
 Mr. Decker is j^erhaps more widely known in the city 
 of New York than any of her representatives. He was 
 born in the Third Ward in February, 1823; and, when 
 old enough, was sent by his parents to the public school in 
 Fulton street. At the age of fifteen he shipped as cook on 
 board of a vessel employed in the coasting trade. But 
 though of an adventurous turn, he did not relish this mode 
 of life, and accordingly returned home the next year, 
 where he remained till he became of age. In 1844 he 
 joined the Volunteer Fire Department of the city of New 
 York, and belonged to Engine 14. In 1848 he was elected 
 Assistant Foreman, and re-elected in 1849. The next 
 year he became Foreman, but declined a second election. 
 In 1853 he was chosen Assistant Engineer, and was 
 re-elected in 1866 and 1859. At this period he was pei*- 
 haps the most popular man in the Fire Department. He 
 was elected Chief Engineer in 1861 and again in 1863. 
 Two years afterward the Metropolitan Fire Department 
 was established by the Legislature, and Mr. Decker was 
 thus removed from office. He made his residence at Port 
 Richmond, on Staten Island, and has been ever since 
 engaged in real estate business. In the Fall of ISeY he was 
 nominated by the Democrats to represent Richmond county 
 in the Assembly, and received 2,336 votes, a majority of 
 1,096. He is a member of the committee on State Prisons, 
 and Sub-Committee of the Whole, and is a hard-working 
 and popular representative. 
 
 Mr. Decker took an active part in the organization of 
 the 1st and 2nd Regiments of Fire Zouaves, and was 
 29 
 
226 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 elected Colonel of the Second. He held the position while 
 the incipient steps were taken, and then resigned. He was 
 often at the seat of w^ar, attending to the wants of his 
 former associates, particularly after they had been engaged 
 in battle. In this way, as well as by his unfailing cour- 
 tesy and obliging temper, he became regarded as the father 
 and counsellor of the lirenien and their friends. 
 
 HIRAM EATON. 
 
 Mr. Eaton's ancestors were natives of Xew England. 
 He was born in Manlius, Onondaga county, New York, 
 June 20, 1808, and is, therefore, nearly sixty years old, 
 though he has the appearance of being much younger. 
 
 For several years he was engaged in the transportation 
 business on the Erie canal, but since 1853, has been engaged 
 in banking, and is, at the present time. Cashier of the 
 Fayetteville National Bank. He was formerly a Whig, 
 but since the Republican party has been in existence, has 
 uniformly supported its principles and candidates. He 
 was elected to the Assembly by a majority of 316, and 
 serves on the Committee on Salt. 
 
BENJAMIN FARLEY. 
 
 Mr. Farley is one of that class of intelligent farmers 
 Avho constitute the happiest and most useful of our 
 citizens. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, October 
 4, 1810, of parents, Avhose ancestors came from England. 
 In 1815 his parents settled in the town of Pompey, Onon- 
 dao-a county. After remaining at this latter place some 
 time they removed to Leroy, Genesee county. Here the 
 subject of this sketch attained his majority, gaining that 
 strength of body which a life upon a farm tends to impart, 
 and that vigor of mind which may be obtained from 
 a good common school education, and the great lessons to 
 be learned from the broad ])ages of the book of nature. 
 Becoming a voter he allied himself with the Whig party. 
 In 1842, he moved into Niagara county, going bravely to 
 Avork upon a portion of land Avhich Avas then a Avilderness. 
 He Avas soon called upon to fill various tOAvn offices, and 
 in 1857 he Avas elected by the Republican party to the 
 office of Sheriff, and in the discharge of the duties of that 
 office gave universal satisfaction. In 1865, he filled the 
 office of Supervisor of his toAvn. During the rebellion he 
 was very active and efficient in raising money and securing 
 men to fill the several quotas of his town. In 1867 he 
 Avas elected to the present Assembly, from the Second 
 District of Niagara county. 
 
 Mi\ Farley takes great interest in agricultural affi\irs, 
 and in aiding to bring the truths of science to bear upon 
 the tillage of the soil. He has served as President of the 
 Agricultural Society of his town and also of that of his 
 county. 
 
RICHARD FLACH. 
 
 Mr. Flach, who repi-esents the Second District of Erie 
 county in the Assembly, is a native of Saxony, and is 
 thirty-five years okl. He immigrated with his parents to 
 this country, and settled in Buftalo when he M'as about 
 fourteen years of age. He received a good education at 
 a Seminary in Saxony, and in private schools in Buffalo. 
 He has always resided in Buifalo since coming to this 
 country, except for two years, which he spent in traveling 
 through the Southern States. He is a merchant. 
 
 Mr. Flach is a Democrat. In 1860, he Avas chosen 
 Supervisor, and from 1862 to 1866 was an Alderman. In 
 1868, he held a position as Lieutenant in the 65th Regi- 
 ment New York State Militia, and served in the Pennsyl- 
 vania campaign, imder orders from Governor Seymour. 
 He is now Colonel of the regiment, and is interested in 
 everything that tends to promote the welfare of the Home 
 Guard of the State. He was elected to the Assembly by 
 a majority of four hundred and ninety-six over our old 
 friend, Geokge W. Bull. 
 
 Mr. Flach is chairman of the Committee on Militia, and 
 a member of the Committee on Aliens, and is prompt and 
 faithful in the discharo;e of his Legislative duties. 
 
JOHN LAMSON FLAGG. 
 
 Mr. Flagg was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, Sep- 
 tember 11th, 1836. His boyhood, up to the age of twelve, 
 was spent in the place of his nativity. In 1848, his 
 parents removed with him to Troy, New York, where he 
 has ever since resided. Being desirous of obtaining a 
 good classical education, he prepared for college in the 
 schools of Troy, and, in 1853, entered Harvard. While at 
 that institution, he ranked well as a student, and Avas 
 highly esteemed for his gentlemanly qualities. He gradu- 
 ated in 1857. Soon afterwards, as a first step toward the 
 study of the profession of the law, Mr. Flagg entered the 
 law office of the late Hon. David L. Seymour, who was 
 then in business with Hon. George Van Santvoord, 
 both of whom had a wide reputation for their vigorous 
 legal acumen. Meanwhile, he attended lectures at the 
 Albany Law School. In the month of December, 1858, 
 the degree of LL.B. was conferred upon him, by that 
 institution ; and he was thereupon admitted to the Bar. 
 A short time subsequent, a partnership was formed 
 between himself and the late Hon. Job Pierso:^, a law- 
 yer of repute. This partnership w^as terminated by the 
 death of Mr. Pierson, in 1861. Shortly after that occur- 
 rence, Mr. Flagg formed a partnership with Jacob Geb- 
 HARD RuNKLE, of Schoharie county, under the name of 
 RuxKLE ct Flagg, which still exists. At about this time 
 he received the degree of A. M. at Harvard; and in 1867, 
 the honorary degree of A. M. from Union, At the bar, 
 he is recognized as a lawyer of sound judgment and many 
 
230 LIFE SKETCHES, 
 
 acquirements ; and is remarkable for liis equanimity of 
 temper, even when jDoints go against his caiise. 
 
 But, in addition to his knowledge of the law, he has 
 taken pains to cultivate a fine literary taste. He early 
 identified himself with the Young Men's Association of 
 Troy, an organization well knoAvn in literary circles as 
 being one of the most active and flourishing in the Union. 
 The Debating Society connected therewith first elected 
 him as its President. Subsequently he was elected Corres- 
 ponding Secretary of the Association proper, and, in that 
 capacity, he arranged a course of lectures. The Associa- 
 tion afterwards still further honored him by electing him 
 President. 
 
 Mr. Flagg has always been a Democrat. Under the 
 auspices of the Democracy, he was elected member of the 
 Board of Education in March, 1860, and served two years, 
 representing the Third Ward of his city. He proved to 
 be an eflicient ofiicer, having the true educational interests 
 of the people at heart, by introducing many reformatory 
 measures into the schools. He was among the leading* 
 members of the Board. 
 
 In March, 1862, he was elected Police Justice of 
 Troy, by a large majority, in which capacity he served for 
 three years. As Police Justice he acquired a reputation 
 for vigorously enforcing the laws against persons who were 
 clearly guilty ; and toward the close of his term, many a 
 villainous fellow who had broken the laws, knew that he 
 Avould have a good measure of justice meted out to him by 
 Justice Flagg. Such measures were indeed essential to 
 the good of Society, for crime seemed rampant in that 
 locality. 
 
 In the spi-ing of 1866, the office of Mayor of the city 
 of Troy was conferred upon him by a majority of 350 
 against his opponent, though his predecessor was of the 
 
JOHN LAMSON FLAGG. 231 
 
 opposite political faith, and the city was in the hands of 
 the Republicans. 
 
 During the year of his mayoralty, the Common Council 
 over which he presided, was politically a tie, there being 
 eleven uiembers of each party ; and a sharp contest was 
 kept np for the control of the local legislation. On those 
 occasions, he displayed an intimate knowledge of parlia- 
 mentary rules, and good executive ability. This state of 
 affairs concerning the Common Council, of course became 
 very unpleasant, therefore, during the session of the 
 Legislature, in 1867, a bill was introduced to take away 
 the right of the mayor to vote. The passage of such 
 a law w^ould have broken the tie in the Common Council 
 of Troy. The proposed measure caused no small excite- 
 ment in that city, and had the effect to produce an elabo- 
 rate presentation of the subject before the Committee on 
 Cities, by which the bill was favorably reported to the 
 Assembly ; but it never became a law. 
 
 At the city election, in March, Mr. Flagg was re-elected 
 mayor by five hundred majority; and, inasmuch as his 
 party also secured a majority in the Common Council, he 
 has probably had a pleasanter official year than before. 
 
 Last Fall he was elected to the Assembly by a majority 
 of ten hundred and forty, although his predecessor, who 
 was a Republican, had received a majority of eight hun- 
 dred and fourteen. 
 
 On the oi'ganization of the present Legislature, his name 
 was prominently used as candidate for Speaker. Mr. 
 HiTCHMAN, however, was the choice of the majority ; and 
 consequently, Mr. Flagg was rightfully made Chairman 
 of the Committee of Ways and Means, the most important 
 position below the Speakership. He is likewise a member 
 of the Committee on Federal Relations. In his labors in 
 committees, he is patient and industrious, and manifests a 
 
232 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 good broad judgment. In the Assembly, he shows a fair 
 and courteous spirit in debate, and makes friends in both 
 parties. 
 
 He is a director of the Troy City National Bank, and is 
 also an officer of the Troy & Lansingburgh Horse Rail- 
 road Company, and President of the Rensselaer Park 
 Association. His father, John Flagg, Esq., has for years 
 held a position of wealth and influence in Troy ; and 
 to-day is counted among the leading citizens of that city. 
 In 1 860, Mr. Flagg, the subject of this article, married 
 Miss Ellen H. Brown, of Providence, Rhode Island, a 
 lady of superior accomplishments, possessing excellent 
 taste in literature and art. Her name is known to the 
 public as that of a poetess ; and her pleasant social attain- 
 ments are appreciated by a wide circle of friends. 
 
FREDERICK H. FLAGGE. 
 
 Mr. Flagge was born in Hanover, Germany, December 
 12th, 1829, He belongs to a respectable family, and 
 received an excellent education in the public schools, 
 becoming proficient in German literature, and learning 
 both the French and English languages. On coming to 
 manhood he emigrated to this country and took up his 
 residence in the city of New York. He engaged in mer- 
 cantile business and has been for many years an extensive 
 dealer in groceries. More recently he has carried on busi- 
 ness in the 22d Ward, although he formerly resided in the 
 Eighth. As was very natural, he always bore his part in 
 Ward politics, and held, for a time, a place on the Tam- 
 many Hall General Committee. A year ago he was 
 dropped off by the managers of the party, and was placed 
 in nomination by the Mozart Democrats for the Assembly 
 in the 17th District, against Colonel Joel W. Mason, 
 Republican. The result was his election by the handsome 
 plurality of 436 votes. 
 
 Mr. Flagge is a quiet man, minding his own business, 
 kind-hearted and always ready to do a good turn for a 
 friend. He is a little inclined to impatience, however, when 
 business becomes prosy ; evidently believing that a legis- 
 lator should be wide awake and active, neither fooling 
 away time nor spending it stupidly. 
 
 30 
 
ALEXANDER FREAR. 
 
 In the seventeenth century, three brothers, Huguenots, 
 bearing the name of Fkear, obtauied from the United 
 States of Holland a grant of lands on the Hudson River, 
 now embraced in the counties of Ulster and Dutchess. 
 Their descendants are still numerous in that region, and 
 are generally thrifty, i^rosperous citizens. Several of them 
 have been characterized by their deep interest in politics. 
 When the Republicans of this State were divided between 
 the supporters of General Daniel D. Tompkins and the 
 friends of DeWitt Clinton, partisan feeling ran very 
 high. Mr, James B. Freae, of Poughkeepsie, a man of 
 active mind and character, was foremost among the 
 " Bucktails," and retained the ascendency in the party in 
 Dutchess county till the period of his death, in 1833. He 
 was the father of the present member from New York, 
 
 Alexander Freak was born at Poughkeepsie, on the 
 18th day of August, 1820. He received a common school 
 education, and also attended the academy in his native 
 town. He began at an early age to display an aptness for 
 business. At fourteen he was a clerk in a store in Pough- 
 keepsie, and three years later went to New York " to seek 
 his fortune," When only nineteen, he became a partner 
 in the house of Sheldon & Company, in Pearl street. 
 He remained there till 1848, when he established the 
 importing house of Alexander Frear & Company, in 
 New York, with branches in Chicago and Galena. This 
 firm carried on a heavy business with great success, till the 
 financial revulsion of 1857. The effects of this crisis were 
 
ALEXANDER FREAR. 235 
 
 even more disastrous at the West tlian in New York, and 
 the establishment was compelled to close up its affairs. 
 
 Mr. Freak now entered more deeply into politics, and 
 was elected to the Board of Councilmen from the Seventh 
 Senatorial District. The next year he Avas chosen Alder- 
 man for the Eleventh District, consisting of the Twentieth 
 ATard of the city of New York. In his official duties he 
 displayed energy as indefotigable as that which had 
 characterized him as a man of business. 
 
 When the rebellion broke out he was among the fore- 
 most in sustaining the Government, and employed his 
 official as well as personal influence to secure the adoption 
 of measures for furnishing men and money for the service 
 of the country. His zeal in the matter disturbed for a 
 time his political relations, and e took the lead in organ- 
 izing a Union Association in the twentieth ward, in the 
 autumn of 1861, comprising Democrats and Republicans, 
 and electing its candidates for the Assembly and other 
 offices. 
 
 In 1865, Mr. Frear was the Tammany candidate for 
 the Assembly, and was elected by a plurality of about 
 eight hundred votes over Oliver Charlick, the Mozart 
 candidate, who had also a Republican nomination. In 
 1866 he was re-elected, receiving 2,671 votes, a plurality 
 of over one thousand. Last fall he was again elected 
 by a plurality of 434 ; the Democratic vote being divided 
 between five candidates. By virtue of his position and 
 his known sagacity, he is recognized as a leader of the 
 House. He is always on hand, wary and indefatigable, 
 and directs the principal movements of his political asso- 
 ciates. Though never distinguished as a debater, he is 
 one of the most effective and successful men that ever 
 engaged in public business, and he always has enough on 
 hand to occupy his attention. To superintend the details 
 
236 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 of party management, bring up the wayward and lagging, 
 and see that everything receives attention in its turn, are 
 duties constantly devolving upon him and thoroughly dis- 
 charged. Yet he generally makes friends, and has always 
 been as popular with his political adversaries as with his 
 own associates. He is Chairman of the Committee on 
 Cities — a very responsible position. 
 
 ROBERT FURMAN. 
 
 Mr. FuRMAX, the member from Schenectady county, 
 is a native of Oneida county. New York, and is now forty- 
 two years of age. For twenty-five years past he has been 
 a resident of the city of Schenectady, and is, therefore, 
 as much identified with its business interests as though a 
 native to the manor born. 
 
 Most of the time, during his residence in Schenectady, 
 his attention has been given to the dry goods trade, 
 though for several years past he has conducted cases 
 before the courts of law ; he having been admitted as an 
 Attorney and Counsellor, besides permitted to practice in 
 the United States Circuit Coui-t. 
 
 Shortly after the enactment of the law constituting our 
 present system of a State National Guard, he was com- 
 missioned, by Governor Seymour, as Colonel of the 83d 
 Regiment. The duties of the new position, conferred 
 without solicitation and surjDrising the recipient, were of 
 an order to make a civilian shrink from their acceptance, 
 bestowed, as it was, during the progress of the late war. 
 
ROBERT FURMAN. 237 
 
 Avhen militarj'- criticism ran high and charity for novices 
 at military training was by no means a rule of guidance. 
 Colonel FuRMAN immediately took hold of his new duties 
 with a Avill, and upon the first annual parade and inspec- 
 tion of the S3d Regiment, not merely surprised spectators 
 and furloughed military men with the numerical strength 
 and esjyrit of his Kegiment, but received the commenda- 
 tion of the General commanding the Brigade. The 83d 
 Regiment still preserves its military bearing, second to no 
 other regiment in the State outside of New York city. 
 
 Colonel FuRMAN has ever been identified with the 
 politics of his adopted county. As a firm, consistent 
 member of the Democratic party, he has been honored on 
 more than one occasion with delegated positions of repre- 
 sentative trust. His first ofiice in the service of his 
 county and State is that of Member of Assembly, now 
 held. He was chosen, after a most animated canvass, 
 by a majority of fifty votes; overcoming a majority of 
 nearly five hundred votes obtained by his Republican 
 predecessor. In the Assembly, Colonel Furmax has been 
 designated as Chairman of the Committee on Education. 
 He also serves on the Committees on " Public Lands," and 
 " Roads and Bridges." 
 
 That live enterprise of the age, the conception and 
 completion of railroads, has ever met with a warm friend 
 in the person of the member from Schenectady. No one 
 in the city named was more instrumental in projecting 
 and carrying out the noted Athens Railroad, or " cut ofi"," 
 as commonly termed. The preliminary survey line for 
 that direct and demanded railway from Schenectady to 
 Ogdensburgh — or rather from New York to the Canadas 
 — known as the Northern Rairoad, which will come up 
 for further action at the present legislative session, was 
 only undertaken and accomplished through the strenuous 
 
238 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 efforts of Colonel Fukjiax, in securing a small appropria- 
 tion for purposes of the survey. The latter extending 
 through a perfect wilderness of woods, seventy miles in 
 extent, pi'oved a most important and noticeable under- 
 taking. 
 
 This sketch would not be complete without brief allu- 
 sion to a handsome and commodiovis armory building now 
 in process of construction, at Schenectady, and designed 
 for the use of the Eighty-third Regiment State National 
 Guards. The appropriation for the same Avas only secured 
 by the personal efforts of the representative from Schen- 
 ectady. The structure when complete will be an ornament 
 to the city, and a standing monument to its jDrojecting 
 spirit. Enough has been wi'itten to show that, in all 
 matters pertaining to the interests of Schenectady, and 
 the material welfare of the Commonwealth, the present 
 member. Colonel Robert Fursiais^, is not wanting in 
 attributes of energy and progressive improvement. 
 
JOHN GALVIN. 
 
 The Emerald Isle, to whose sons, in so many ways, our 
 country is indebted, and to which the Legislature of 1868 
 is indebted for not less than thirteen members, is also the 
 fatherland of Mr. Galvin. He was born in Kings county, 
 Ireland, in April, 1840. When six years old he was 
 brought by his parents to America ; they settling in the 
 city of New York. His education was such as was 
 aiforded by the public schools of the Metropolis. Mr. 
 Galyix by occupation is a liquor dealer, on Grand street. 
 He has always taken a deep interest in the political issues 
 of the day; acting invariably with the Democratic party. 
 In 1866 he was a nominee for the Assembly, but was 
 defeated by one thousand majority. In 1867, in the same 
 district, he was triumphantly elected, receiving the deci- 
 dedly flattering majority of eighteen hundred votes. The 
 present is the first political position he ever held. For 
 several years however, he has been one of the General 
 Committee of Tammany Hall, Avhich has elevated so 
 many others to political honors. 
 
 Mr. Galvix, in the Assembly, is a member of two 
 important Committees — Canals and Insurance. As 
 becomes a member serving his first Legislative term, Mr. 
 Galvin has watched with scrutiny the course of Legis- 
 lation, familiarizing himself with its multifarious and 
 multitudinous duties, rather than taking an active par- 
 ticipation therein. On one question, however — that of 
 the repeal of the Metropolitan Excise Law — with which 
 his opportunities rendered him especially familiar, Mr. 
 Galvix made a brief but telling speech in favor of the 
 
240 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 repeal of the j)resent laAV, and of vesting the powers of 
 the Board with the city authorities. Although dealing in 
 liquors, he is himself strictly temperate in his habits, 
 never having drank a glass of liquor or used tobacco in 
 any shape. 
 
 SANFORD GIFFORD, 
 
 Mr. GiFFORD is serving his first term in the Legislature 
 of the State ; but notwithstanding this fact, he brings to 
 his use no little experience as a business man, and no small 
 amount of parliamentary knowledge, for his life has been 
 an active one, both in public and private. He is prompt 
 in his acts, brief in the expression of his opinions and 
 devoid of ostentation. He was among the first who entered 
 the Republican ranks, and has always continued to act in 
 accordance with the principles advocated by that party. 
 During the month of March, 1856, Mr. Gifford was 
 elected Supervisor of the town of Ledyard, Cayuga 
 county, and from that time to March, 1867, he held the 
 same office for every successive term. During four years 
 of that i^eriod he was Chairman of the Board, and for five 
 years he was Chairman of the Committee on Equalization. 
 Though his term of office as Supervisor expired in the 
 Spring of 1867, yet the people were anxious to extend the 
 field of his usefulness, and therefore nominated him for 
 Member of the Assembly. His majority was very compli- 
 mentary, being 1533. He is a member of the Committee 
 on Trade and Manufactures. 
 
 Mr. Gifforb was born in the town of Greenfield, Sara- 
 toga county, N. Y., but when he was five years old his 
 
GEORGE M. GLEASON. 241 
 
 parents removed with him to Ledyard, Cayuga county, 
 where he has ever since continued to reside. Though Mr. 
 GiFFOED is a farmer by occupation, yet he has good ideas 
 of finance and trade. He is one of the Directors of the 
 First N'ational Bank of Aurora, and also is a member of 
 the Executive Committee of the New York Central Insu- 
 rance Company. These facts alone are sufficient to show 
 in what high estimation he is held at home, and we presume 
 that his record in the Assembly will favorably compare 
 with that of his more circumscribed fields of action. 
 
 GEORGE M. GLEASON. 
 
 This gentleman, representing the First District of St. 
 Lawrence county, was born in what was then called Poto 
 Ferry, and which is now the town of Pitcairn, New York. 
 He is thirty-eight years of age. 
 
 Mr. Gleasox enjoyed good educational privileges until 
 eio-hteen years of age, and commenced life as a teacher, 
 which occupation he followed for ten years. Since that 
 time he has been engaged in farming. While attending 
 with energy to his personal afiairs, he has devoted no 
 little of his time to matters afiecting the interests of the 
 locality in which he resides; and has five times been 
 chosen Supervisor of the town of Pitcairn ; has served five 
 years as Justice of the Peace, and four years as Town 
 Superintendent of public schools. 
 
 In September, 1861, Mr. Gleason enlisted in the ser- 
 vice of the United States, as a private in Company "D," 
 31 
 
242 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 60tli Regiment, New York Volunteers. In October fol- 
 lowing, he was promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant, 
 in which capacity he served either with his company, then 
 stationed at the Relay House, Maryland, guarding the 
 Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, or in recruiting service at 
 Ogdensburgh, until May, 1862, when his regiment was 
 ordered to report to Gen. Sigel at Harper's Ferry. Soon 
 after their arrival he was appointed Assistant Quarter- 
 master of the regiment, and accomj^anied it in its marches 
 through the Shenandoah and Rappahannock valleys until 
 August, when he was attacked with typhoid fever, in con- 
 sequence of Avhich he was reduced from one hundred and 
 ninety jjounds to one hundred and eight. The surgeon in 
 charge informed him that there was no probability of his 
 recovering his health while in active service, and he there- 
 fore tendered his resignation, accompanied by the surgeon's 
 certificate of disability, which was accejited. In his ema- 
 ciated condition he returned home. 
 
 About this time it was ascertained that, although one- 
 half of those liable to military duty in his town had 
 already enlisted, no credits to the town had been made ; 
 and after partially recovering his health, he visited Albany 
 and Washington, and succeeded in having those who had 
 entered the military service from that locality duly cred- 
 ited. He continued active in every movement set on foot 
 with a view of reinforcing the army ; aided the families 
 of soldiers, and attended personally to the filling of the 
 quotas of the town of Pitcairn ; and also, under appoint- 
 ment from the Board of Supervisors, acted as one of the 
 County Recruiting Agents for St. Lawrence county. 
 
 3Ir. Gleason first entered the Legislature in 1866 ; was 
 re-elected to the Assembly of 1867 by an increased 
 majority; was appointed one of the Committee on Claims, 
 and was Chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs. 
 
ELIJAH M, K. GLENX. 243 
 
 He was returned to the present Assembly, having a larger 
 majority than any other candidate upon the ticket. He 
 enjoys the confidence and esteem of his constituents; is 
 well informed in regard to the aifairs of the State ; is an 
 undemonstrative but efl:ective speaker, and having the 
 advantage of experience, is one of the most useful of the 
 members of the present Assembly, 
 
 ELIJAH M. K. GLENN. 
 
 Mr. Glbxx was born of Scottish parentage, in Amster- 
 dam, in this State, August 12th, 1807. His education 
 in early life was limited. La his boyhood he learned the 
 trade of a shoemaker, and continued to work at it for 
 some years. When he arrived at manhood, in 1836, he 
 identified himself with the anti-slavery movement. When 
 a division in the ranks of the Abolitionists on the right 
 and duty to vote under the Federal Constitution, took 
 place, Mr. Glexx advocated the duty of voting. From 
 1838 to 1857, Mr. Glexx spent nearly fifteen years in 
 lecturing on slavery, land reform and kindred topics. He 
 held that all slave laws were void ; that by the law 
 of God and nature, the slave, as every man, was free, and 
 that wicked men could not make valid laws to enslave him. 
 Mr. Glexx advocated the doctrine that the Federal 
 Government held the public lands in trust for the landless; 
 that the Government had no right to sell in large parcels 
 to speculators. 
 
 Mr. Glenx married at about twenty-one years of age. 
 He has now living five sons and one daughter. His 
 youngest child is nearly twenty-five years of age. He 
 
244 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 resided in Montgomery county during the first forty years 
 of his life, and for the last twenty years in Macedon, 
 Wayne county. He has held some trifling town oflices in 
 Florida and Macedon. He was a keeper in Sing Sing 
 Prison from May, 1857, to September, 1859, and was 
 Postmaster at Macedon from June, 1861, to March, 1866. 
 For forty years he has been a strict temperance man, and 
 believes in promoting the cause solely by moral suasion, 
 and has no faith in prohibitory laws. 
 
 In 1828, he cast his first vote for John Q. Adams for 
 President. In 1840, he came to Albany to unite in the 
 organization of the Liberty Party, and voted the Liberty 
 ticket until the formation of the Republican Party ; so in 
 1856 he went for "Free men and Feemont." In 1860, he 
 gave his preference to Mr. Sewaed as a candidate, but 
 cheerfully acquiesced in the nomination of Mr. Lincoln. In 
 1864, he did not think it wise to " swap horses in crossing 
 the stream ;" — he preferred Lincoln to any or all others. 
 From the nomination of Mr. Lincoln, in 1860, to the day 
 of his death, he had full and unwavering faith in his wis- 
 dom and integrity, and of course fully and cordially 
 supjDorted his administration and mourned his untimely 
 death. 
 
 On the question of Reconstruction, as between President 
 Johnson and Congress, he sides with Congress. He holds 
 that " the loyal element, whether white or black, should 
 form the nucleus or foundation around or upon which to 
 construct, and that rebels and traitors can claim no voice 
 in a government they have sought to destroy." 
 
 Mr. Glenn was elected to the Assembly from the First 
 District of Cayuga county. He is a fine looking old gen- 
 tleman, always in his seat during the sessions of the House, 
 and closely watching its proceedings so that he may vote 
 understandingly. 
 
THEODORE GUIGOU. 
 
 Mr. GuiGOU is a native of Marseilles, France, where he 
 was born January 8, 1817. With the exception of his son 
 he is the only person by the name in the United States. 
 He came with his father, Augustus Guigou, to this country 
 in 1820. He received an excellent education, graduating 
 from Columbia College in 1835. 
 
 Mr. Guigou resides at Shandaken, Ulster county, where 
 he has been extensively engaged in the tanning business 
 for many years. His integrity in business transactions, 
 and his kindly and pleasant manner, have made him very 
 popular, and he occupies a prominent and influential 
 position among his neighbors. He has been Supervisor, 
 and held many other local offices. He was elected to the 
 Assembly on the Democratic ticket, by a majority of 533, 
 over David C. Geiffix, Republican. He is attentive and 
 faithful to his duties in the Legislature, and his intelli- 
 gence and superior judgment make him a valuable member. 
 He was assigned by the Speaker to the Committees on 
 Public Education and Agriculture. 
 
JAMES M, HALSEY. 
 
 Mr. Halsey represents Suffolk county, having been 
 elected to the Assembly by the Democracy of that county 
 by about 500 majority. He comes of excellent stock, his 
 father being English and his mother Scotch in their origin. 
 He Avas born in the town of Bridgehampton, Suffolk county, 
 N, Y., May 22d, 1825. He enjoyed fair opportunities for 
 obtaining a common school education, and made the most of 
 them by diligent study. He has been engaged in farming 
 during the greater portion of his life, but for the last six 
 years, in addition to conducting the affixirs of a fine 
 farm, has been engaged in mercantile business. In all his 
 undertakings he has been very succesful. Mr. Halsey is 
 and has been a firm supporter of the principles and candi- 
 dates of the Democratic Party. He has held several town 
 offices, and has served four years in the Ncav York Custom 
 House. 
 
 Mr. Halsey is not a public speaker, and discharges his 
 legislative duties by committee work and by means of 
 conversation. He is a member of the Committee on State 
 Charitable Institutions and also of the Committee on 
 the Affairs of Villages. He is well qualified for either 
 position, for while a friend to all real advancements and 
 improvements, he is a rigid economist. 
 
ANTHONY HARTMAN 
 
 Mr. Hartma^c was bora March 18tb, 1835, in the city of 
 New York. He is of German pai-entage, and received but 
 a common school education. When about fifteen years of 
 age he went to work in the tobacco manufacturing estab- 
 lishment of JoHisr AiSTDERSOX, in New York city, and left 
 there about tAvo years after, to enter the establishment of 
 C. H. LiLLiEiS^THAL, wlicrc he remained about seven years, 
 when the establishment was destroyed by fire. While 
 employed there, his I'ight hand was caiight in the ma- 
 chinery, by which he lost part of his thumb, and came 
 near losing the hand. 
 
 He joined the Fire Department July 31st, 1856, as a 
 member of Live Oak Engine Company, No. 44, in the old 
 Volunteer Fire Department, and served his full term. In 
 1861, he assisted in raising a company in the Anderson 
 Zouaves, afterwards known as the Sixty-second Regiment 
 New York Volunteers. He was elected Second Lieuten- 
 ant, and served nineteen weeks, when he left the service 
 on account of losing a son, about three years old, by 
 death. Li the Fall of 1861, he took an active part in 
 politics with his party (Democratic). On the 20th day of 
 January, 1862, he was appointed to a clerkship in the 
 Street Department, at a salary of one thousand dollars per 
 annum, which was increased to fifteen hundred after he 
 had been there a year. 
 
 Li 1864 he joined one of the companies of the Eighty- 
 fourth Regiment, National Guard, State of New York, as 
 a private, and was only five weeks a member when he was 
 promoted to a first lieutenancy. The regiment was called 
 
248 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 out to serve one hundred days, and he accompanied it, 
 serving in Maryland and Virginia. After returning home 
 he was again promoted, to a captaincy, but resigned in 
 May last, on account of business engagements. 
 
 In the Fall of 1865 he was nominated and elected Coun- 
 cilman in New York by a large majority, notwithstanding 
 there was great opposition to him. He was re-elected the 
 following year for the term of one year, when the Legis- 
 lature of 1867 extended the term another year. In 1867, 
 he was elected to the Assembly from the Tenth District, 
 New York city, on the Tammany Hall ticket, by twelve 
 hundred and fifteen majority. The preceding year the 
 Tammany Hall candidate had been defeated in the district 
 by two hundred and ten votes. The district has a strong 
 German population, and his constituents have great confi- 
 dence in him. On the 15th of February, 1867, they pre- 
 sented him with a splendid gold watch. He is a man 
 of ready parts, very popular in the House, and faithful 
 in the discharge of his duties. 
 
ABRAHAM E. HASBROUCK 
 
 Mr. Hasbrouck represents the Second Assembly Dis- 
 trict of Ulster. He is a descendant of one of the original 
 French Huguenots, who came to this country in 1680, and 
 settled at Kingston, Ulster county, and afterwards became 
 one of the proprietors, or " twelve men," to whom was 
 granted the Paltz Patent. He was born July '7th, 1832. 
 He received a good common school education, and passed 
 one winter at Professor Fay's Academy at Poughkeepsie. 
 
 Mr. Hasbrouck has been for the past eighteen years 
 largely engaged in the freighting business from New Paltz 
 Landing to New York city, running the barge " Ulster 
 County," one of the largest of its class on the Hudson 
 river, and carrying to market the agricultural products of 
 the fertile valley of the Walkill. In this capacity he gave 
 general satisfaction to the farmers and business men of 
 that locality. 
 
 Mr. Hasbrouck became interested in politics about the 
 time of the organization of the American party, with 
 which he identified himself, and became an active member. 
 When that party ceased to exist he entered the ranks 
 of the Democratic party, and has remained ever since one 
 of its strongest supporters. He has held several town 
 offices, and has often been pressed by his fellow townsmen 
 to accept the nomination for the office of Supervisor, but 
 would never consent to take it. In the fall of 1866, he 
 was the candidate of the Democratic party for the office 
 he now holds, but his district being strongly Republican 
 and his opponent being a remarkably strong one — Hon. 
 Jacob Le Fever — he was defeated. At the late election 
 32 
 
250 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 he was again put in nomination, and was elected by a 
 majority of 470, running about 200 ahead of his ticket. 
 
 Ml-. Hasbrouck is a member of the Committee on 
 Banks, Engrossed Bills, and Sub-Committee of the Whole, 
 and is an active working- member. 
 
 HARRIS B. HOWARD. 
 
 Mr. Howard is a native of Schodack, Rensselaer county, 
 New York, where he was born April 27th, 1830. He is of 
 English ancestry. During his childhood, his means for 
 acquiring an education were limited, and he was obliged 
 to accept those afforded by the common school. There is 
 but little, in many of the district schools, to stimulate the 
 minds of children to very lofty endeavors, as regards 
 the acquirement of knowledge. And such was the experi- 
 ence of Mr. Howard. But when he grew older, and 
 found that the world's horizon extended beyond his boy- 
 hood's home, he was eager to mingle in the general effort 
 to win success. Possessing ready instincts, and a vast 
 deal of self reliance, he was able, after arriving at the age 
 of maturity, to command the attention of his fellow- 
 townsmen. 
 
 Mr, Howard is a merchant by occupation. He has fol- 
 lowed that calling for a number of years. But he also 
 has some proclivities for the law, as a profession; and 
 though he has never made that a leading feature of his 
 aims in life, yet he has practiced with average success in 
 Justices' Courts. In the politics of his town, he has for 
 
MYROX J. HUBBARD. 251 
 
 several years taken no unimportant part ; and while shar- 
 ing in the work he has likewise participated in the honors ; 
 for he has held nearly every one of the town offices, and 
 represented Schodack in the Board of Supervisors for 
 three years. He has always been a Democrat, and as such 
 has always strictly adhered to the principles of his party. 
 He was elected to the Assembly, during the last campaign, 
 by 680 majority; whereas his predecessor, a liepublican, 
 had a large vote in his favor. 
 
 Mr. Howard is Chairman of the Committee on State 
 Charitable Institutions, and is a member of the Commit- 
 tee on the Division of ToAvns and Counties. 
 
 MYRON J, HUBBARD, 
 
 Mr. Hubbard is a native of Westford, Otsego county, 
 in which town he was born July 27, 1828. Both liis 
 grandfathers were soldiers of the Revolution, who came 
 from Connecticut and settled in Otsego county while it 
 was yet an almost unbroken wilderness. His father was 
 a farmer and brought up his son to the same business. 
 His education was obtained at the common school. He 
 made better use of his advantages than many others who 
 have had better facilities for acquiring a good education. 
 When he was sixteen years old he commenced teaching 
 school, and taught four winters, working on the farm 
 during the summer. His occupation has always been that 
 of a farmer, with the exception of two years when he was 
 in the mercantile business, and four years when he was 
 
 I. 
 
252 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 occxipied in running a flouring and saw mill. He has 
 always resided in the same town where he was born. 
 
 Mr. Hubbard has always acted with the Democratic 
 party, and by it has been elected to various town offices. 
 He was Supervisor in 1854, Town Clerk in 1860, and Jus- 
 tice of the Peace in 1862. He was chosen to these 
 positions notwithstanding the fact that prior to the Fall 
 of 1862, the Democratic party was in a minority in his 
 town. In 1862, the town, for the first time, gave a Demo- 
 cratic majority, and at that election he was elected Coro- 
 ner of the county of Otsego. He was elected Railroad 
 Commissioner in 1865, and held the office two years, and 
 was re-elected Justice of the Peace in 1866, and is now 
 serving his second term. He was elected member of 
 Assembly last Fall, by a majority of sixty-two, in a very 
 closely contested canvass. At the age of eighteen he 
 enlisted in the State militia, and has been connected with 
 it ever since, having held all the offices from Second Lieu- 
 tenant up to Colonel. He is now Colonel of the Thirty- 
 ninth Regiment New York State National Guard. 
 
 At the breaking out of the Rebellion, he, in connection 
 with other citizens of the county, commenced recruiting 
 volunteers, with the intention of raising a full regiment. 
 Five hundred men were rarised, and they were ordered 
 into camp at Cherry Valley, Mr. Hubbard acting as 
 Lieutenant-Colonel. In June, 1862, he was ordered to 
 Albany, where his command was consolidated with parts 
 of other regiments and he returned home. 
 
 Mr. Hubbard is an upright, fair and intelligent man, and 
 a useful and energetic citizen. In the Assembly he serves 
 his constituents diligently and faithfully. He is a member 
 of the Committees on Banks, and Militia and Public 
 Defense. 
 
SAMUEL D, HUMPHREY, 
 
 Doctor Samuel D. Humphrey, Member of Assembly 
 from the county of Putnam, is a fair exemplification of 
 that persistence, endurance and ingenuity which have long 
 been regarded as constituting the Yankee character. He 
 was born in Hartland, Connecticut, April 4th, 1823. His 
 parents died while he Avas young, so that at the age of 
 twelve he was obliged to depend upon his own resources. 
 He managed to secure an academic education at Wilbra- 
 ham, Massachusetts. Chemistry had for him strong 
 fascinations. In 1 850 he established the Scientific Journal, 
 which continues to bear his name, in the city of New 
 York, and conducted it for nine years. At that time he 
 made his residence at Morrisania in Westchester county. 
 Resolving to adopt the j^rofession of medicine, he attended 
 the sessions of the New York Medical College in the win- 
 ter of 1857-8. He had already made himself familiar Avith 
 the practice ; attended three terms, and finally graduated 
 at the Bellevue Hospital Medical College in 1863. He 
 removed shortly afterward to Patterson, Putnam county, 
 his present residence, and entered upon a coui-se of suc- 
 cessful i^ractice. As a medical practitioner he is eminently 
 successful, quick, and very correct in judgment, kind and 
 attentive to those who come under his charge ; accomplish- 
 ing a vast amount of labor, often riding sixty and eighty 
 miles a day in his practice. Though not an active poli- 
 tician, the Democrats, having experienced repeated defeats, 
 placed him in nomination for tlie Assembly. The result 
 gratified their expectation. He was elected by a majority 
 of 223 votes over Mr. Mabie, the Republican candidate. 
 
254 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 He is Chairman of the Committee on Public Health, and 
 Medical Colleges and Medical Societies ; but he has made 
 his mark principally by his zealous efforts in protecting 
 the interests of the farmers along the line of the New York 
 and Harlem Railroad, and to procure legislation for the 
 reduction of the price for conveying milk on that road. 
 Though dealing with a strong antagonist, he has shown 
 liimself an adversary of no mean ability, and a man to be 
 dreaded by all monopolizing corporations, no matter of 
 what magnitude they may be. 
 
 JAMES IRVING. 
 
 Mr. Irvixg Avas born in tlie city of New York, on the 
 6th day of July, 182]. His father was a Protestant Irish- 
 man, and emigrated from Londonderry in 1808. His 
 mother was a native of the United States. He was a bold 
 lad, fond of adventure, but never neglectful of business. 
 During his boyhood he attended several private schools, 
 and was also a pupil in the public and higher schools for 
 several seasons. He then went into the employment of 
 the noted "Chris. Guiee," in Washington Market, and 
 remained witli him ten years, sustaining a good reputation 
 for industry and fidelity. He thus became familiar with 
 the business in every department, and in 1847 engaged 
 a market stand and began on his own account. His 
 shrewdness in making purchases was unrivaled. He 
 speedily became a leading man among the butchers of 
 New York, buying and selling, on the average, one hun- 
 
JAMES IRVING. 255 
 
 dred head of cattle a week. He seldom, varied five 
 pounds from a correct estimate of the weight of an ani- 
 mal. His energy, good judgment and industry soon 
 rendered him prosperous, and in ten years he had accu- 
 mulated the handsome fortune of 1400,000. He held 
 large contracts for supplying the penitential and reforma- 
 tory institutions on Ward's and Blackwell's Islands, and 
 also for the army and navy. But the financial difticulties 
 of 1857 seriously aftected him, and half of his projicrty 
 was swallowed up by the disasters of that year. He con- 
 timied in business, with varied success, till 1863, a period 
 of sixteen years. 
 
 In 1847, Mr. Irving was married to Miss Hannah 
 Leonard, a sister of James Leonard, the well-known 
 Insjiector of the Metropolitan Police. Mrs. Leonard, 
 their mother, was a member of the Roman Catholic 
 Church, a woman of superior mind, and of strictly con- 
 scientious principles, and carefully instructed her children 
 in religious duties. Mrs. Irving admirably displays the 
 effect of her early culture, in her careful supervision of 
 the conduct and education of her own children, six in 
 number. In these matters she has the full concurrence of 
 her husband, who professes no religious faith himself, but 
 is liberal to all who do. 
 
 Mr. Irving has taken an active part in politics for many 
 years, belonging to the Tammany wing of the Democratic 
 party. He was repeatedly in the field as a candidate 
 without the regular nomination, and was always obliged 
 to encounter a powerful combination of the factions 
 opposed to him. It was always his boast, however, that 
 he received a higher vote than the rival Democratic can- 
 didate. In 1865, he was a candidate for Alderman in the 
 Fourteenth District, embracing the Eighteenth Ward, and 
 received twice as great a number of votes as the regular 
 
256 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Democratic candidate, although defeated by Mr. Joseph 
 B. Vaenum, Republican, by a small majority. The next 
 year he was an independent candidate for the Assembly, 
 against Michael N. Salmon, Democratic Unionist, and 
 Henry Beexy, Republican, and was elected by a plurality 
 of sixteen. In 1867, he was a candidate against Henry 
 Rawley, Republican, William Beard and Michael S. 
 Lambert, Democrats, and received a plurality of 279. He 
 is one of the most faithful members of the Assembly, attend- 
 ing carefully to the business under consideration. He has 
 also distinguished himself by a vigorous endeavor to 
 procure the enactment of a bill regulating the sale of hay, 
 to protect purchasers from imposition. The measure was 
 defeated last winter, and he has renewed the struggle with 
 better prospects of success. But, as a general rule, he 
 remains quietly in his place, saying nothing, but always 
 watching every measure that is proposed. He is a member 
 of the Committees on Railroads, and Public Education. 
 
JOHN C. JACOBS. 
 
 I 
 
 Mr. Jacobs is the acknowledged leader of the majority 
 in the House. No member of that body has had so long 
 and so varied an experience in parliamentary rules and 
 usages and Legislative tactics as he. For many years he 
 has been a constant attendant upon both branches of the 
 Legislature in the capacity of special coi-respondent for 
 some leading newspaj^er. This is also his second term as 
 a member of the House. Added to this long and vai'ied 
 experience, is his effectiveness as a party manager and 
 his readiness and ability in debate ; bis tireless activity 
 and his dauntless courage in battling for his political prin- 
 ciples. In short, there is that in his constitution and in 
 his training which admirably fits him for the position of 
 leadership which has been readily accorded him by his 
 political brethren in the House. He was a prominent 
 candidate for the Speakership, and would have filled that 
 position well, but the Tammany men of New York city 
 were opposed to him, and as they succeeded in securing a 
 a majority of the country members he was defeated. 
 
 Mr. Jacobs was boi*n December 16, 1838, in Lancaster 
 county. Pa. The paternal ancestors of Mr. Jacobs, were 
 of the old New England revolutionary stock, and several 
 of them participated in the struggle for independence ; 
 the maternal side were of German origin, one of them 
 having held a high position under Frederick the Great, 
 of Prussia. 
 
 When Mr. Jacobs was quite young, his parents removed 
 to the city of Brooklyn, where, with the excejDtion of a 
 year, he has since resided. At an early age, he went to a 
 33 
 
258 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 select school, and was progressing rapidly, when his 
 family removed to Philadelphia, Avhich broke in upon his 
 educational progress ; and from his twelfth year, it may 
 be said that his school house studies ended. Return- 
 ing to Brooklyn he entered a lawyer's office, but growing 
 dissatisfied with the day labor thei-e laid out for him, 
 sought and obtained a place in the large printing estab- 
 lishment of Jous A. Gray & Co., in New York. Here, 
 as copy-holder, he became acquainted with many news- 
 paper men of prominence — their journals being issued 
 from the establishment — and soon cultivated a taste for 
 the profession of a journalist. When eighteen years of 
 age, he commenced newspaper life as a Reporter on the 
 New York Express, and rapidly advanced, until he had 
 charge of the political news columns. In 1860, he became 
 the correspondent of the same paper, in Albany, remaining 
 with it until 1865, when in the same capacity, he repre- 
 sented the New York World. In 1862, Mr. Jacobs 
 volunteered to acompany McClellan's army on its 
 famous Peninsular campaign, as a correspondent, and, 
 becoming attached to the 1st New York Volunteers, then 
 in Kearney's Division, he had a chance to see, and par- 
 ticipate in, some of the hardest fighting of the war. His 
 account of the evacuation of Harrison's Landing, and the 
 march to Yorktown, published in the Express, was exten- 
 sively copied by the press, throughout the country. 
 
 Mr. Jacobs began his jiolitical life early. In the cam- 
 paign of 1856, though but a boy, he was active in the 
 opposition to Fremoxt's election, and in 1860, was well 
 known in Brooklyn as a leader among the young men who 
 combined against the Lincoln ticket. In 1863, he was 
 nominated by the Democrats for Assembly, John C. Perry 
 being the Republican candidate, Theophilus C. Callicot 
 and an independent Democrat, also running. This split 
 
JOHN C. JACOBS, 259 
 
 defeated him. In 1865, he also ran, behig again defeated 
 by William W. Goodrich, after a contest of great 
 severity. Mr. Jacobs' friends insisted that he shonhl 
 again run in 1866, and the Democratic convention nomi- 
 nated him by acchamation. The llepublicans made every 
 eifort to defeat him, but this time he won by a majority 
 of nearly nine hundred. In the last Assembly he was an 
 active member, but devoted most of his time to local 
 matters. He served on the Committees on Public Printing 
 and Colleges, Academies and Schools. He was re-elected 
 to the present House by a largely increased majority, 
 and is a member of the Committee of Ways and Means, 
 and Chairman of tlie Committee on Expenditures of the 
 Executive Department. 
 
 Personally, Mr. Jacobs is a great favorite with all his 
 acquaintances. Though an ardent and active partisan, 
 pushing all party measures with vigor, there is yet a 
 courteousness of manner, a fairness of dealing and a frank- 
 ness of language in all his political endeavors, that does 
 not fail to make even his opponents yield him a large 
 share of admiration and respect. He is a man of large 
 heart and warm sympathies, true to his friends and 
 o-enerous to his foes. 
 
CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON. 
 
 Mr. JoHNsox, tlie representative of the Fifth Assembly 
 District of New York city, was born in the First Ward of 
 that city, on the 11th of February, 1836. His parents 
 immigrated to this country from Irehand. They Avere of 
 humble origin but poor, rendering it incumbent upon the 
 son to begin early to earn the ordinary necessaries of life. 
 But notwithstanding the limited opportunities for educa- 
 tion, and the other disadvantages incident to his con- 
 dition, his good judgment and native energy have united 
 in securing for him a good measure of success in life. 
 
 At the early age of eight years he was apprenticed to a 
 New Jersey farmer, with the time-honored privilege of 
 going to school in winter, which was the only educational 
 advantage, so far as schools are concerned, that he ever 
 enjoyed. In 1847, he Avent to Goshen, Orange county, 
 and remained there imtil Novembei', 1849, immediately 
 after the ravages of the epidemic of that year, when, 
 tired of country life and desirous of seeing the city once 
 more, he returned to New York. He did not remain 
 there long, however, as the prostration of business which 
 followed the epidemic compelled him to adojDt the roving 
 life of a seaman in the merchant service, and gave him 
 the opportunity of seeing considerable of the world. In 
 1853 he shipped in the United States navy, and during 
 the Crimean Avar was attached to the frigate Savannah. 
 He was on the South American station during the excite- 
 ment concerning the steamer America, in the harbor of 
 Rio Janeiro. He returned to NeAv York in November, 
 1856. 
 
CHEISTOPHER JOHNSON. 2G1 
 
 Mr, Johnson joined the Volunteer Fire Department of 
 the city of Xew York in December, 1858, connecting 
 himself with Engine Company No. 11. He had the honor 
 of filling all the offices in tlie gift of the company, having 
 been chosen Treasurer, Secretary, Assistant-Foreman and 
 Foreman. He was unsuccessful in being re-elected to the 
 latter office in 1862, his opponent being one of the recently 
 chosen coroners of the city. In 1864, however, he beat 
 the same oj^jionent by a handsome majority, and was 
 again re-elected in 1865. He served in that capacity 
 until the Metropolitan Department was put into active 
 operation in September of that year. His services in the 
 Fire Department were valuable and efficient. He was 
 clerk in the Board of Aldermen for the year 1865, and 
 Assistant Clerk in the Street Department in 1867. He is 
 a member of the Tammany Hall General Committee, and 
 was the Tammany nominee for the Assembly, having 
 three Democratic competitors and one Republican, and 
 being elected by a plurality of 1,296 votes. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Committee on Cities. 
 
WILLIAM C, JONES. 
 
 Mr. JoxES represents the Fifth District of Kings county, 
 a district which in 186G gave a Republican majority of 
 800, and in 1867 reversed it by giving ]\[r. Jones a 
 majority of 500, a result attributal^le more perhaps to his 
 personal popularity than sympathy with his political prin- 
 ciples. He Avas born in New York city, October 19, 1822, 
 His father was a native of Pennsylvania, and served in 
 the war of 1812. His mother was a native of New York : 
 both Avere of English ancestry. He received a good edu- 
 cation, passed several years as clerk in a store, and then 
 engaged in the granite business. Mr. Jones has been, 
 for many years past, connected with the Brooklyn Navy 
 Yard, and discharged his duties very efficiently, always 
 having the confidence of the commanding officers. He 
 is now a lessee of Government docks in Brooklyn. He 
 w^as a member of the Assembly in 1860, serving on the 
 Committee on Cities, and holds the same position now. 
 During the rebellion, he was in the South Atlantic 
 Blockading Squadron, serving on the staff of Fleet 
 Eno-ineer Robert Danby, whose fleet consisted of one 
 hundred vessels. Mr. Jones is what is properly termed a 
 Avorking member of the House. He is very attentive to 
 the duties of the committee room, the place where legisla- 
 tion is really shaped. He is an intelligent and valuable 
 member of the Committee on Avhich he serves. He is 
 pleasing in his personal manners, and makes many friends. 
 His opinions are listened to Avith respect, and his counsels 
 sought. He is of the class of men who practically impress 
 much of their individuality on legislation. 
 
FREDERICK JULIAND. 
 
 Mr. JuMAXD was born in Greene, Chenango county, 
 New York (his present residence), October 9tli, 1806, 
 being the youngest son of Captain Joseph Juliaxd, a 
 native of Lyons, France, who immigrated to this country 
 during the stormy times of the French Revolution, and 
 settled in Greene, in 1798 (a town purchased by the State 
 from the Oneida and Tuscarora Indians, in 1785, and 
 named in honor of General Xathaniel Greene). His 
 was one of eight or ten French fiimilies who Avere the 
 first white settlers of that vicinity. Among the incidents 
 of their pioneer life they boast of a visit from the cele- 
 brated French Statesman Talleykand. 
 
 Tlie boyhood days of Frederick Juliaxd were spent 
 on his father's farm, he being the recipient of such privi- 
 leges as the common schools of that day afforded. In his 
 more advanced youth he received academic advantages at 
 Oxford, in his own county, and at Utica. 
 
 Having served an apprenticeship as merchant's clerk, he 
 embarked in the mercantile business, in his native town, 
 which he successfully prosecuted for upward of twenty- 
 five years, retiring from active pursuits, with a handsome 
 competency, in 18G0. 
 
 From his youth upward he has taken an interest in the 
 political issues before the country. He was a staunch 
 Whig in the days of that party, and at its dissolution 
 became an equally ai'dent ReiDublican, his opinions and 
 advice having great weight in the locality where he was 
 best known. He has twice been a member of the Union 
 State Central Committee, and has held several offices of 
 
264 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 trust, in all of which he has served faithfully, and Avon a 
 reputation for purity of purpose, dignity of charactei", 
 ability and enterprise. He was Postmaster under Har- 
 rison and Tyler ; is one of the incorporators for locating 
 the Soldiers' Home, and is one of the Trustees of the 
 Inebriate Asylum, at Binghamton. He was a member of 
 Assembly in 1856, serving upon the Committee on Banks, 
 and was State Senator from the Twenty-third District, 
 comprising the counties of Chenango, Madison and Cort- 
 land, in 1864 and '65, being chosen by a majority of 
 5,459. During this service, he was Chairman of the Com- 
 mittee on Public Printing, and a member of the Committees 
 on Banks, Roads and Bridges, and Poor Laws. He earned 
 considerable distinction as Senator, acquiring a name for 
 exercising careful and comprehensive judgment, upon all 
 matters of legislation, and for steadfastly advocating 
 economy in conducting the affairs of the State. Standing 
 in the foremost ranks of those whose honesty and firmness 
 could be relied upon, his career as a Senator was without 
 a blemish. Among the important questions settled by 
 the Legislature Avhile he was in the Senate, was that of the 
 Chenango Canal extension. This measure was, through 
 the immediate supervision and active exertions of Senator 
 JuLIA^TD, put into practical effect, and by virtue of the 
 law passed, mainly by his influence, is now near its com- 
 pletion. The speech made by Mr. Juliand, in its behalf 
 before the Committee of the whole Senate, displayed 
 careful research and wise judgment. 
 
 Mr. JuLiAND was an effective supporter of the late war, 
 contributing liberally from his time and means to sustain 
 the Union. He was one of the Committee appointed by 
 the Governor to raise recruits, and performed A^aluable 
 service in that behalf His liberality toward the families 
 
FREDERICK JULIAXD. 265 
 
 of absent soldiers, has made his name familiarly welcome 
 at many a lonely fireside. 
 
 In the summer of 1864, the town of Greene had occa- 
 sion to forward funds to an agent at Newbern, North 
 Carolina, Avho was there endeavoring to enlist men to fill 
 their quota. Much against his will Mr. Juliaxd was 
 induced to undertake the task. He started via Wash- 
 ington and Xorfolk, taking the steamer Fawn at the latter 
 place for Roanoke Island, via the Dismal Swamp Canal. 
 When about 150 miles from Norfolk, the steamer was 
 attacked by Guerrillas. Upward of a hundred shots were 
 fired at the steamer, killing and wounding nine of the 
 little party of only thirty. Mr. Juliand and the remain- 
 ing survivors were taken prisoners and robbed of all their 
 baggage; the steamer was burned, and they were com- 
 pelled to march, the whole night, thirty miles, to Elizabeth 
 City, where, after being robbed of $6,000 (a portion of the 
 funds he was transporting), he and Major Jenny of 
 Syracuse, were paroled, through the interference of a 
 friend, the remainder of the party being marched oif to a 
 vile Southern prison, where it has since been ascertained 
 more than half of them died horrible deaths. Mr. 
 JuLiAND and his companions made their escape from rebel 
 domain in a sail boat, after being without food or shelter 
 for about two entii-e days. 
 
 His election to the Assembly of 1867 was a flattering 
 expression of the esteem and regard in which he is held 
 at home. The county by the late apportionment was 
 reduced to one member, and there was considerable strife 
 among prominent gentlemen for the position. Mr. 
 Juliand's name was not mentioned in that connection 
 until the Convention which placed him in nomination had 
 organized, and even then against his express desire. He 
 received a unanimous nomination, and at the polls received 
 a4 
 
266 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 1,608 majority, the highest vote given to any candidate 
 upon the ticket. He was nominated and re-elected last 
 fall to the present Assembly. His experience makes him 
 a valuable member. 
 
 PATRICK KEADY. 
 
 Mr. Keady, the Member of Assembly from the Third 
 District of Kings county, was born at Mount Equity, 
 county of Roscommon, Ireland, on the 26th day of June, 
 1832. His parents soon after moved to Correen, an unpre- 
 tending village about four miles distant from the town of 
 Ballinasloe, where his father leased a small farm, which 
 he worked for a few years, and then died. Patrick had, 
 at that time, just begun to go to school; but, being the 
 oldest son, he was forced to stay at home and work 
 the farm for the support of himself and his brothers 
 and sisters. Finding farming unprofitable in his native 
 country, he came to America, in 1851, in order to better 
 his condition. Arriving here on the 17th day of March 
 in that year, he lost no time in seeking employment, and 
 was soon afterward bound as an apprentice to a promi- 
 nent master painter, Josiaii T. Smith, of Brooklyn. Mr. 
 Keady could then scarcely write his own name in a 
 legible manner, but, by his devotion to study in his 
 leisure hours, he soon began to improve in the art of 
 reading and writing. He rapidly acquired a knowledge 
 of the country and was passionately fond of newspaper 
 reading. Indeed, the price of newspapers, and his cloth- 
 
PATRICK READY. 267 
 
 ing and board bills, were, for a time, his only expense. 
 By the advice of his employer, he practiced exact econ- 
 omy, and Benjamin Franklin himself could not have 
 been more scrupulous in this respect than he was for a 
 time. In a few years he Avas able to aid his mother, two 
 brothers and one sister, who were yet in Ireland, but Avho 
 also came to this country shortly before Mr. Keady's time 
 for service had expired. Having served his apprenticeship 
 according to agreement, he was paid full journeyman's 
 wages by his employer, a compliment which falls to the 
 lot of few apprentices, even in this country. Mr. Keady 
 continued to work at his trade in New York city, where 
 he pursued it for upwards of fifteen years ; he then found 
 his health greatly impaired by his exhausting labors by 
 day, and his studies by night. He at length concluded 
 to find some other employment, and, having a taste for 
 journalism, he at once commenced the study of short- 
 hand writing. Having studied phonography for over a 
 year, during which time he still worked at his trade, he 
 sought and obtained a position as reporter on one of the 
 New York daily j^apers. He has always been a Demo- 
 crat in politics. In 1866 he was nominated for the Assem- 
 bly, and was opposed during the campaign by the regular 
 Republican candidate, and by a prominent Democrat 
 also ; but he defeated both by a plurality of over fifteen 
 hundred votes. In 1867 he was re-elected by a majority 
 which outnumbered both his opponents. The Republicans 
 withdrew their candidate against him and, although he 
 would not accept any formal endorsement at their hands, 
 they voted for him almost to a man, thus leaving his two 
 Democratic opponents to mourn their folly the day after 
 election. 
 
 Mr. Keady is still connected with the press, and will 
 probably remain so for the remainder of his life. What- 
 
268 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 ever Mr. Keady knows — and lie is a gentleman of no little 
 intelligence — is the result of close study under unfavor- 
 able circumstances. He still devotes his leisure hours to 
 study, is temperate in his habits, and is refined in his 
 deportment. He is an industrious member, a good debater, 
 and takes an active part in all the proceedings of the 
 House. 
 
 LAWRENCE D. KIERNAN. 
 
 Mr. KiERisTAN was born February 12, 1844, about a mile 
 from a small village known as EdgCAVorthstown, in the 
 county Longford, Ireland. His parents were in moderate 
 circumstances, his father being a farmer of limited means. 
 After the death of both his parents, and about twelve 
 years since, he immigrated to this country, and has since 
 resided in New York city. 
 
 After attending the public school for a year, Mr. Kiek- 
 NAN was admitted to the Free Academy, Here he distin- 
 guished himself by his application to and proficiency in 
 his studies, and, on graduating with the highest honors in 
 1861, he received the first prize for public speaking. He 
 at once entered on the study of the law, and in about 
 six months was appointed a teacher in Grammar School 
 eighteen, in which capacity he served with marked success 
 and acceptability until his election to the Legislature. He 
 continued the study of the law while employed as teacher, 
 graduating from the Law Department of the New York 
 University in 1865. During the Rebellion he was desig- 
 nated Private Secretary to the Irish Brigade, then com- 
 
LAWEENCE D. KIERNAN. 269 
 
 mandecl by General Thomas Francis Meagher, but never 
 entered on the discharge of the duties of the office, owing 
 to family embarrassments. He received the degree of 
 Master of Arts from the New York College in 1864, and 
 is now a member of the Alumni Committee on the rela- 
 tions of Alma Mater with kindred institutions. He was 
 elected to the Assembly by a vote of 2,498 against 1,132 
 for Mr. Fay (Dem.), 431 for Mr. McDonough (Dem.), and 
 1,435 for Mr. Urmy (Rep.). 
 
 The record of Mr. Kiernan's life, it will be thus seen, 
 is but the recounting of a preparation for active life. He 
 stands on the threshold of a career which bids fair to be 
 bright and prosperous. His first inti'oduction to political 
 life in Albany was in the presentation of the name of 
 William Hitchman, as candidate for Speaker to the 
 Democratic caucus. It w^as a brilliant effort, and contri- 
 buted largely to the success of his nominee. Mr. Kier- 
 nan's voice is clear, round and penetrating, and his 
 enunciation accurate. He has a discriminating, logical, 
 judicial mind, which will enable him to succeed as a 
 counsellor, while his powers of oratory will make him a 
 successful pleader. He finds an appropriate place in the 
 Judiciary Committee room. In his modest anxiety to 
 avoid that which has ruined many j^i'omising young men, 
 too much speaking, Mr. Kierxax seems to have commited 
 the opposite error, for he rarely takes the floor. It is to 
 be hoped that he will change his course somewhat in this 
 regard, so as to give his powers their necessary develop- 
 ment and discipline. If he maintains the well-balanced 
 intellect he now possesses, and observes as closely and 
 acts as intelligently through life, Mr. Kiernan's career 
 will be a proud one in the annals of our nation's history. 
 
OLIVER H. P. KINNEY. 
 
 O. H. Perry Kixney was born in Sheshequin, Bradford 
 county, Pennsylvania, on the 15th of December, 1819, and 
 is consequently forty-eight years old. He traces his 
 ancestry back to Vermont, thence to Scotland. His 
 gi-andfather, Joseph Kixney, was a soldier of the Revo- 
 lution, and settled in the beautiful valley of Sheshequin, 
 on the Susquehanna river, soon after the Wyoming mas- 
 sacre. His fiather, George Kinney, was there born in 
 1790, and there reared to maturity a flimily of nine chil- 
 dren, of Avhom Perry was the sixth. The common dis- 
 trict school became the fixed boundaries of the educational 
 aspirations of the family. The eldest, Julia. H., (after- 
 wards Mrs. Scott), became a poet of considerable celeb- 
 rity, and contributed largely to the religious and literary 
 periodicals of her day ; among the latter being The New 
 Yorker, then published by Horace Greeley. Since her 
 death her writings have been collected and published. 
 
 Perry (as he was always familiarly called), upon 
 arriving at the age of twenty-one, broke through the 
 barriers by which the family had long been hedged about, 
 and by his own efforts succeeded in spending two quar- 
 ters at an Academy in Towanda, the county seat, which 
 little advantage he followed up by reading law with Hon. 
 David Wilmot, of "Wilmot Proviso" notoriety. He 
 was admitted to the bar of Bradford county in 1844. 
 He Avas candidate for District Attorney on the Whig 
 ticket in 1847, and was defeated by but eighty-six votes 
 in a canvass which showed a majority of five hundred 
 against his party. He moved to Towanda in 1 848, and 
 
OLIVER H. P. KINXEY. 271 
 
 entered into copartnership Avitli E, W. Baied in the prac- 
 tice of law ; but the next year he opened an office on his 
 own account, and continued practice until the breaking 
 out of the California gold excitement, when he sailed for 
 the Golden State in September, 1851. He returned in 
 July, 1853, with health so utterly broken as to forbid any 
 serious labor, mental or physical, for several years. 
 
 In 1858 he was elected to the Lower House of the Penn- 
 sylvania Legislature by over 5,000 majority — a larger rela- 
 tive vote than any candidate ever received for any office in 
 that county. In 1859 he was re-elected. During his first 
 term he Avas on the Educational Committee, and his ardent 
 labors in behalf of free common school education gave 
 him the chairmanship of that important committee the 
 next year. The second winter of his service he was made 
 Chairman of a Select Committee to whom Avas referred 
 innumerable petitions asking for a law to prevent blacks 
 from coming into the State, or, in lieu thereof, a law to 
 enslave them. Upon this, Mr. K. made an elaborate report 
 setting forth the true relationship between man and man 
 under our system of government, and evolving and defin- 
 ing those natural rights which pertain to all men, regard- 
 less of nationality. His report, though regarded as radi- 
 cal, and in advance of the day in Avhich it was made, 
 embodied the principles which have since obtained in the 
 nation. He was appointed on the committees of two im- 
 portant cases of contested election, in one of which he was 
 selected to write out the report. That report has become 
 valuable as a precedent of important legal points settled. 
 
 In the fall of 1860, Mr, Kixney purchased an interest in 
 and became editor of the Waverly Advocate, published at 
 Waverly, Tioga county. New York ; and on the first of 
 January following settled in that enterprising village. 
 The Advocate, up to that time, had been a vacillating, 
 
272 MFE SKETCHES. 
 
 unreliable, unimportant political paper ; but he at once 
 made it such an unswerving and undisguised exponent 
 of Republicanism that its force and character were soon 
 felt throughout the country. As an editor Mr. K. ranks 
 as a clear, concise and forcible writer, making those prin- 
 ciples which he conceives to be right the leading element 
 of all his efforts, leaving policy as a matter of secondary 
 and subordinate consideration. Earnestness and honesty 
 of piirpose have thus far characterized his editorial career ; 
 and as a wise and judicious manager of a political paper 
 he stands deservedly high. For six years he was 
 Assistant-Postmaster at Waverly, and had almost the 
 entire control and responsibility of that office. That, 
 together with the care of his paper, seriously impaired his 
 health, and made a change desirable. He was elected in 
 April, 1867, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention 
 from the Twenty-fourth Senate district. In this conven- 
 tion he took no very active part, choosing to act in the 
 capacity of a juror, and aim to give an honest and intelli- 
 gent vote after hearing the facts, rather than venture into 
 the deep water of constitutional debate. But his sugges- 
 tions in committee and in convention were regarded as 
 sound and eminently practical. He favored manhood suf- 
 rao-e, and opposed selecting the negro out as a target for 
 politicians by separate submission. He was an ardent sup- 
 porter of Woman Suffrage, and his speech on that subject 
 was republished in many papers of the State and highly 
 complimented for the spirit of humanity, and for its strong 
 logical appeal in behalf of the mothers, wives and 
 daughters of the Empire State. While a member of the 
 Convention he was elected a member of the Assembly 
 from Tioga county. 
 
NICHOLAS B. LA BAU. 
 
 Mr. La Bau's personelle is really one of the finest in 
 the Assembly. A person is attracted by his finely cut 
 features which are decidedly classical, as well as by his 
 polished manners and faultless exterior. He displays that 
 carefulness in dress, which marks the gentleman of 
 refinement, without creating an impression of superlative 
 fastidiousness ; and his rich voice, whether heard in debate 
 or in conversation, is exceedingly pleasing. 
 
 He is a native of Trenton, New Jersey, at which place, 
 he was born, July 29th, 1823. His maternal grandfather 
 was born on the Island of Scio, of Greek parents, and 
 came to this country while young, settling in Philadelphia 
 He became one of the wealthiest merchants in that city. 
 His paternal ancestry were Huguenots ; they left France 
 during the reign of Louis XIV, and settled in New Jei'sey. 
 
 Mr. La Bau is a graduate of Columbia College, New 
 York. After leaving college, he studied law, and Avas 
 admitted to practice at the Bar. He followed the legal 
 profession until 1859, when, on account of ill health, he 
 was compelled to relinquish his professional pursuits. In 
 1860, he had a severe and dangerous illness which confined 
 him to his bed for six months; and he did not entirely 
 recover from this attack, until January, 1863. 
 
 Up to the year 1859, he had identified himself with the 
 
 first Division New York State Militia, and had served in 
 
 almost every capacity — Aid to Brigadier-General, Brigade 
 
 Judge Advocate, Captain New York City Guards; and 
 
 when his health failed him, he was Lieutenant-Colonel 
 
 of the 55th Begiment. 
 35 
 
274 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Mr. La Bau was an ardent Union man, from the begin- 
 ning of our national conflict, and, as soon as his health 
 permitted, took an unmistakable position in favor of the 
 Administration. He was, at that time, a resident of 
 Richmond county, to which lie had removed from New 
 York, for the purpose of fully regaining his health, 
 liichmond county was hopelessly Democratic : and its 
 financial aftairs Avere in the hands of a most corrupt 
 ring. In 1863, the Board of Supervisors passed a resolu- 
 tion to raise, upon the bonds of the county, a sum sufti- 
 cient to pay every drafted man's exemption fee ; and they 
 individually said : " Not a man shall go to the war from 
 Richmond county." Such a flagrant determination to 
 indirectly aid the active enemies at the South, was enough 
 to make the blood boil in tlie veins of any true Union 
 man ! Mr. La Bau took an earnest part in favor of the 
 tax payers of the county, to break up the strongholds of 
 corruption. He was the Union candidate for the Assem- 
 bly, from Richmond county in 1863 ; but the Democratic 
 tide was too strong against him, and his opponent was 
 elected. Li the spring of 1864, he canvassed the county 
 against the corrupt Board of Supervisors, and in favor of 
 the reformatory movement which he had inaugurated. 
 His attempt was successful ; for all of the Board, except 
 one, Avere rejected ; and honest, independent men were 
 elected in their stead. In the autumn of the same year, 
 he again ran for Member of Assembly, but he was beaten 
 by the opposing candidate, nevertheless having run far 
 ahead of his ticket. 
 
 In 1865, Mr. La Bau's name was brought before the 
 people of the First Disti'ict as candidate for State Senator. 
 After his nomination, the Democratic Committee split on 
 the nominations of Mi-. Christie and Mr. Havens, both 
 factions claiming that their proceedings were regular. 
 
NICUOLAS B. LA BAU. 275 
 
 Mr, La Bau made a thorough canvass of the counties of 
 Richmond and Suffolk, speaking to audiences nearly every 
 night. Four days before the election, a reconciliation was 
 effected between the two Democratic factions, and Mr. 
 Havexs withdrew in favor of Mr. Christie. Mr. La Bait's 
 chances for success were considered hopeless, as the district 
 was Democratic by at least 1,800 majority. In fact, Geo. 
 William Curtis had, in 1862, been defeated in running 
 for Congress, by a majority of 1,308 ; and Mr. Christie, 
 in 1863, had been elected to the Senate by 1,612, in his 
 favor. Mr. La Bau's friends, however, worked tenaciously, 
 resolved not to give up the contest until the last moment. 
 The result was his election by about seventy majority — 
 a most satisfactory triumph, as it demonstrated his popu- 
 larity among his constituents. 
 
 In the Senate of 1866-7, he Avas a member of the Com- 
 mittees on Judiciary, Engrossed Bills, and Roads and 
 Bridges. He was a leading and influential Senator, and 
 secured the passage of a number of important measures 
 during the session. 
 
 Mr. La Bau, having, during his Senatorial term, removed 
 to Warren county, he yielded to the demands which the 
 citizens of that county made upon his experience and 
 superior qualifications, and accepted the nomination for 
 the Assembly. He is a member of the Judiciary Com- 
 mittee. 
 
 As a debater, Mr. La Bau is ready and perspicuous. 
 His style of oratory is often florid, though not excessively 
 so, and his points of advantage and defense are usually 
 well selected. Ornate in rhetoric, and sagacious in argu- 
 ment, he is an opponent of gentlemanly bearing, and a 
 colleague of fine culture 
 
JAMES D. LASHER. 
 
 One of the most attentive men to his duties in the 
 House is James D. Lasher, who represents the Second 
 District of Oswego county. He is of German descent, 
 and was born in 1814 in the town of Manlius, Onondaga 
 county, New York. He was educated mostly in the com- 
 mon schools of his native place. He spent several years 
 of his early life in New York city, and subsequently, some 
 time in the South. 
 
 For many years he was a merchant tailor in the village 
 of Fulton, but his health demanding the change, he 
 retired upon a farm. He was also, at one time, quite 
 extensively engaged in the lumbering business. During 
 the past few years he has resumed his old avocation, and 
 is now extensively engaged in the clothing business in 
 Fulton. 
 
 Mr. Lasher very early took an active part in politics ; 
 always, until a recent period, being attached to the prin- 
 ciples and fortunes of the Democratic party. In his own 
 locality he has always been prominent in party matters. 
 During his early residence in Fulton he was often elected 
 Town Clerk, and frequently to offices under the village 
 organization. After his removal to his farm he was elected 
 Supervisor of the town of Granby, in 1849; and was 
 again elected in 1850, and 1858, and again in 1864. 
 
 As a member of the " Local Legislature," Mr. Lasher 
 always held a- prominent position. He was a faithful 
 and influential officer, and, in 1853, presided over the 
 deliberations of the Board. 
 
 Mr. Lasher continued to act with the Democratic party 
 until 1860. When the rebels fired upon Fort Sumter, 
 
THOMAS LAAVEENCE. 211 
 
 and the secessionists phinged the country into a war, in 
 the mad attempt to destroy the Union, he entered the ranks 
 of the Republican party. Of the principles and measures 
 of that party, he has since been a consistent and earnest 
 supporter. During the war he was very active in the sup- 
 port of the government, and was very efficient in raising 
 companies and filling the various quotas of soldiers asked 
 of his own locality. 
 
 Mr. Lasher is a genial gentleman, of strong sound 
 sense, and diligent and persevering in the support of any 
 cause or measure which meets his approbation. As has 
 been intimated above, he is attentive to his duties, and 
 looks well to the interests of his constituents. He is a 
 member of the Canal Committee. 
 
 THOMAS LAWRENCE. 
 
 Mr. Lawrexce was born in the city of New York, May 
 16, 1819. He is a descendant of Thomas Lawrence, one 
 of the three Lawrence brothers who originally settled on 
 Long Island, in 1644. His grandfather, Thomas Law- 
 rence, removed his family from New York city to 
 Rockland county just previous to the Battle of Long 
 Island, and they remained there until after peace was 
 established, in 1786, when they removed to Mount 
 Pleasant, Westchester county. He served in the Conti- 
 nental army under Washington, and at the close of the 
 war held a Lieutenant's commission, with a brevet of 
 Captain. William Lawrence, the youngest son of 
 Thomas Lawrence, and the father of the subject of this 
 notice, was born in New York city, February 4, IV 76, and 
 married, in 1795, Thamer Fisher, eldest daughter of 
 
278 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Gilbert Fisher, of Mount Pleasant. Mr. Fisher was 
 known during the whole Revolutionary war as an active 
 and zealous partisan Whig scout, serving under Major 
 Jonathan Paulding. The Fisher family were among 
 the earliest settlers of White Plains and vicinity. Wil- 
 liam Lawrence removed to New York city immediately 
 after his marriage, and started the first mill for grinding 
 drugs in America, on the site of the jjresent Essex Market, 
 in that city. In the War of 1812, he volunteered for the 
 defense of the city, and served until the danger Avas 
 passed and the troops wei'e disbanded. 
 
 In 1822, when Thomas was but three years of age, his 
 jDarents removed to Mount Pleasant, W^estchester county, 
 and his early education Avas consequently obtained in the 
 district schools of the neighborhood, dividing his time as 
 most boys did at that period who resided in agricultural 
 districts, between working on the farm in summer and 
 going to school in winter, until about the year 1833, Avhen 
 he entered the Mount Pleasant Academy at Sing Sing. 
 He remained at this acad(^my about two years, and 
 then entered the law office of Smith Barker, in New 
 York city, as a student at law. Too young at this time 
 to appreciate the dry study of the law, he only remained 
 one year, when he returned to the country and diversified 
 his employment by working on his father's farm, attend- 
 ing school, teaching and surveying until 1842, when his 
 health failing him, he removed to Adams county, Illinois, 
 where he remained for over four years, following various 
 pursuits and traveling over the greater part of the then 
 inhabited West, even penetrating the Indian territory 
 alone and on horseback. 
 
 He returned home with health completely restored, and 
 again sought the law office of his old patron. Smith Bar- 
 ker, and, completing his studies, Avas admitted to the bar 
 
THOMAS LAWREXCE. 279 
 
 in February, 1851. He then took \ip his residence in the 
 city of New York, following the practice of his profes- 
 sion, part of the time under his own name alone, and 
 part of the time as one of the firm of Lockwood, Law- 
 KEXCE tfc Crosby, until 1858, Avhen he removed to 
 Nyack, Rockland county, his present place of residence. 
 In 1859, he was elected District Attorney of that county, 
 and served the term of three years, still, however, con- 
 tinuing his private practice in the city of New York, 
 which he still follows. 
 
 His grandfathers, both on his father's and mother's side, 
 were Jeffersonian Democrats. His father cast his first 
 vote for Thomas Jeffersox, and never varied in his 
 support of Democratic principles, and Mr. Lawrence 
 himself has always, from his first vote to his last, sustained 
 the same political principles. By some considered iiltra 
 in his views, he cannot be accused of ever swerving. 
 Taking his stand upon Avhat he deemed the fundamental 
 principles of our government, he resolutely opposed every 
 measure of President Lixcoln's administration for the 
 subjection of the Southern States, and was one of the first, 
 if not the first man, in this State who organized what Avas 
 known as Peace Meetings during the Avar. Denounced by 
 many, even of his former political friends, threatened with 
 imprisonment and lynch law, he never changed his princi- 
 ples, nor ever faltered in their fearless advocacy. 
 
 Mr, Lawrence was elected to the Assembly by 615 
 majority. He is a member of the Committee on Banks. 
 
DAVID D. LEFLER. 
 
 The little county of Seneca elects one member of 
 Assembly. It is situated between two of the beautiful 
 inland lakes of western New York, from one of which it 
 takes its name — and since the days of Andrew Jack- 
 son's first candidacy has been one of the Democratic 
 counties of the State, which seldom falters — having been 
 one of seven counties, which stood firm in the Dem- 
 ocratic column in the memorable canvass of 1861. It is 
 frequently called the "fast anchored isle of Democracy," — 
 in view of its isolated position as the only Democratic 
 county in the Seventh Judicial District, and surrounded, 
 as it is, on all sides by strong opposition majorities. 
 
 The fertility of its soil attracted the attention of soldiers 
 of the army of General Sullivan in their march across it, 
 in the celebrated Indian Campaign, near the close of the 
 Revolutionary struggle, and soon after the restoration of 
 peace, many of these veteran warriors returned and 
 located lands in Seneca county. The three military town- 
 ships of Ovid, Romulus and Junius, comprising the 
 greater portion of the present county, were set apart 
 as bounty lands for soldiers of the Revolutionary War — 
 many of whom became actual settlers. To this element 
 were added many settlers from Long Island, New Jersey 
 and Pennsylvania ; two of the towns having been settled 
 principally with Pennsylvania Germans. 
 
 David D. Lefler, deriving his descent from such 
 patriotic stock, was born in the town of Covert, Seneca 
 county, where he now resides, on the 5th day of 
 September, 1825. Both his paternal and maternal grand- 
 
DAVID D. LEFLER. 281 
 
 fathers served in the War of the Revohition, — and both 
 lived to the age of about one hundred years. 
 
 Mr. Lefler's father is a native of Pennsylvania, and still 
 living at the advanced age of ninety-two yeai-s ; his mother, 
 now in her eighty-ninth year, is a native of New Jersey. 
 His father, a mechanic in humble circumstances, was unable 
 to extend to his son David the advantages of a liberal edu- 
 cation. Leaving home at the early age of thirteen years, 
 M'ith but a few shillings in his pocket, young Lefler 
 entered upon the battle of life for himself Avitli indomita- 
 ble energy, and a determination to succeed. For a time he 
 engaged himself to a firmer to chop cord wood and split 
 rails, and afterwards for several years worked on a farm in 
 summer and attended school in winter, working nights and 
 mornings lor his board. His education was finished at a 
 select school at Farmer Village, then under the charge of 
 Rev. Phineas C. Headley, who has since acquired con- 
 siderable reputation as an author and a divine. After 
 teaching school several terms, he selected the avocation of 
 a farmer, (having married at the age of twenty-three years) 
 at first Avorking lands upon shares. By strict industry 
 and application to business he soon became the owner of 
 a fine larm, and gradually enlarged his business by adding 
 to it the purchase of live stock, tarm produce and wool, to 
 which latter branch of this business he now devotes the 
 greater portion of his time. 
 
 As a public spirited citizen he has always been ready to 
 unite in all local enterprises calculated to advance the 
 interest of the community in Avhich he resides. Pie was 
 the first President of the Trumansburgh and Seneca Falls 
 Telegraph Company, and has always been a prominent 
 member of the County Agricultural Society. 
 
 In politics, Mr. L. was an early admirer of Hexry Clay 
 and Daniel Webster, and of the doctrines advocated by 
 36 
 
282 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 them, and on arriving at his majority united his political 
 fortunes with the Whig party, then in the minority in 
 Seneca county, casting his first Presidential vote for Tay- 
 lor and Fillmore, in 1848. A conservative in his politi- 
 cal views, on the organization of the Republican party, he 
 identified himself with the conservative branch of that 
 party. In 1858 he received the Republican nomination 
 for Sheriff of Seneca county, and made a handsome run, 
 although defeated by the Democratic candidate. 
 
 During the late war he was a member of the Senatorial 
 War Committee, by appointment of Governor Morgaist, 
 and was Chairman of the Town War Committee, in which 
 capacities he rendered very active and efficient services in 
 promoting enlistments and in raising money to carry on 
 the same — giving liberally of his own means. At the close 
 of the war he took issue with the majority of his party on 
 its reconstruction policy and the question of the civil and 
 political status of the Southern States. In the fall of 
 1866, he entered heartily into the canvass, and warmly 
 supported the Hon. John T. Hoffman and his colleagues 
 on the Democratic State ticket. At that election, owing 
 greatly to his efforts and influence, his town, which for 
 many years had been strongly Republican, gave Judge 
 Hoffman 36 majority, and at the election of 1867, this 
 majority was increased to 66. 
 
 At the Democratic nominating Convention of Seneca 
 county, in October, 1867, Mr, L. was nominated for Mem- 
 ber of Assembly, receiving the votes of more than two- 
 thirds of the Delegates on the first ballot, and after a 
 somewhat exciting canvass, was elected by a majority of 
 575 ; the largest majority ever given in that county for a 
 Democratic nominee for member. 
 
 After the organization of the Legislature, Mr. L. was 
 assigned by the Speaker to the Chairmanship of the Com- 
 
JOIIX F. LITTLE. 283 
 
 mittee on Public Lands, and is also a member of the 
 important committees on Railroads and Sub-committee of 
 the Whole. As a legislator, he is prompt, industrious and 
 watchful of the interests of his constituency, and is 
 deservedly popular and influential with his fellow members. 
 As a son, husband and father, he is kind and devoted ; 
 as a politician and man of business, frank, decided and 
 outspoken ; as a neighbor and citizen, genial and warm- 
 hearted — and the poor, the orphan and the fiitherless, 
 know no better friend than David D. Lefler. 
 
 JOHN F. LITTLE. 
 
 Mr. Little was born July 13th, 1839, in the town of 
 Reading, Steuben county (now Schuyler). His parents 
 were farmers, and, like all boys brought up in agricul- 
 tural sections, he was employed in the labor of the 
 farm. Manifesting at an early age a desire for study, 
 and more information than was to be obtained in the 
 common schools of the country, he Avas permitted to 
 attend the high schools and academies of that section of 
 the State, when the labors of the farm did not require his 
 time at home, and was thus alternately employed on the 
 farm of his pai-ents and attending school until he arrived 
 at the age of eighteen. He then abandoned agricultural 
 labor, and for ten years was engaged as a teacher in 
 the schools of his native county, in Avhich capacity he 
 succeeded well, and gained some reputation as an educator 
 in the public schools. He then gave up teaching as a 
 business, and entered upon the study of the law, pursuing 
 it studiously until the breaking out of the rebellion in 1861 , 
 
284 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 when he at once became enlisted in the success of the 
 North. During the first year of the war, a great portion 
 of his time was spent in obtaining vohmteers for our army 
 by acting as a recruiting officer, and in making Avar 
 speeches thi'oughout his county. Tlie reverses to our arms 
 and the necessity of at once filling up our depleted armies, 
 in the summer of 1862, again called him forth from his 
 studies, which he had in the spring of that year resumed, 
 and again he took the field ; and after assisting by his 
 time and money in raising the quota of his county, he 
 entered the army as First Lieutenant in the 161st Regi- 
 ment of New York Volunteers. His rescinient beinEf 
 assigned to the "Banks Expedition," was sent with that 
 command to the "Department of the Gulf," and took part 
 in every battle and skirmish in that Department, com- 
 mencing with the siege of Port Hudson and ending with 
 the capture of Mobile, and in the meantime he was pro- 
 moted to a Captaincy in his regiment. At the close of 
 actual hostilities, his executive abilities having attracted 
 the attention of his superior officers, he was selected from 
 a large command, and, with a proper garrison, was sent to 
 Marianna, a large town in the interior of Florida, to 
 establish a military post and administer the law as a civil 
 officer, being charged with the duties of an officer of the 
 " Freedmen's Bureau," and of administering the oath of 
 allegiance and amnesty. 
 
 Order being restored to that section of the State, he was 
 relieved of his command and ordered to report at Talla- 
 hassee, the Headquarters of the Department of Florida, 
 then under the command of Major-General John" G. 
 Foster, by whom he was assigned to duty as Provost 
 Marshal and acting Mayor of the city, the multifarious 
 duties of which position he discharged to the entire satis- 
 faction of his superior officers, until his health failed him, 
 
JOHN F. LITTLE. 285 
 
 and for a time he was prostrated by disease superinduced 
 by the exposure incident to active campaigns. On 
 his partial recovery, his commanding officer, believing 
 that a change of climate would bo of value in restoring 
 him to liealth — he having been in the extreme South 
 . continuously for over three years, never having had a 
 day's leave of absence — ordered him to Washington in 
 charge of the witnesses in the Wirz case from the Depart- 
 ment of Florida. 
 
 On his arrival at Washington he discharged his duties, 
 and his short visit North having failed to restore his 
 health, the Avar being at an end and his regiment having 
 previously been mustered out of the service, he was, at 
 his OAvn request, by the War Department, ordered to 
 Elmira, N. Y., where, on the IVth day of October, 1865, 
 he was honorablj^ mustered out and discharged. Return- 
 ing to the home of his father, he was for several months 
 prostrated by sickness from disease contracted during his 
 service in the army. As soon as his health would permit, 
 he again resumed the study of law, and was, on the 6th 
 day of December, 1866, admitted to the Bar, and at once 
 commenced the practice of law in the village of Bath. 
 
 From a boy, Mr. Little has taken an active interest in 
 the politics of the cqimtry, and at a very early age became 
 active in the local politics of his county, always acting 
 with the Democratic party. In the fall of 1867 he was 
 placed in nomination by the Democratic party for the 
 office of member of Assembly in the First Assembly 
 District of Steuben county. The District was largely 
 Republican, having the previous year given the Republi- 
 can nominee a majority of about 600 ; but by his efforts 
 and those of his personal and jjolitical friends, he over- 
 came the majority against him and was elected by a 
 majority of nearly 500. He is a member of the important 
 
286 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Committees on Judiciary, Can.al Fraud Impeachment, and 
 Salt. 
 
 Mr. Little is tall, slim, and attractive in person. 
 There is considerable native humor lurking in his com- 
 position, and he is genial and pleasant in his disposi- 
 tion. He ranks as one of the foremost young men in the 
 Assembly. His perceptions are clear, and his manner of 
 of presenting his thoughts forcible. He is an able debater 
 and cogent reasoner. There is no hesitancy, no mere 
 reading in his oratory. His utterance is distinct and his 
 voice pleasant. He is thoughtful and observing. His 
 attachments are warm and his friends numerous, and they 
 rejoice at the evidences of his prosperity. 
 
 JAMES LOUGHRAN. 
 
 Mr. LouGHRAN was born at Hamden, Delaware county, 
 N". Y., February 1st, 1831. His education was obtained 
 solely in the common school of his native town ; and after 
 acquiring an ordinary proficiency in the rudimentary 
 branches, he learned the clothier's trade, which he contin- 
 iied to follow as an occupation nntil the year 1853, at 
 which time he engaged in mercantile business, at Wind- 
 ham, Greene county. Mr. L. is still a successful merchant 
 of that place. 
 
 At the age of twenty-one, he joined his political for- 
 tunes with those of the Whig party. When, however, that 
 once powerful organization became dissolved, as new inte- 
 rests sprang up, he allied himself with the Democrats. 
 He has ever since been a steady adherent to their princi- 
 ples and modes of action. Nor has the warmth of his 
 
WILLIAM LOUNSBERY. 287 
 
 devotion to his party gone unrewarded. Pleasant proofs 
 of appreciation have, from time to time, been extended 
 to him by the conferring of offices of trust upon him. In 
 the sprhig of 1854, he was elected Justice of the Peace ; 
 and so well did he administer the duties of that office that 
 he was re-elected ; and in fact, he has held the position dur- 
 ing every subsequent term, down to the present time. In 
 1862, he was a member of the Board of Supervisors. Last 
 fall he ran for Member of Assembly on the Democratic 
 ticket, and was elected by a majority of 925. He is a 
 member of the committees on Privileges and Elections 
 and Roads and Bridges. 
 
 He is unambitious to be among the leaders of his 
 party in the House, and seems always disposed to do his 
 duty conscientiously. 
 
 WILLIAM LOUNSBERY. 
 
 Mr. LouxsBERY represents the First Assembly District 
 of the county of Ulster. He was born in the town of 
 Marbletown, in that county, December 25th, 1831. His 
 paternal ancestors are of Welch descent, and some of 
 them were among the earliest settlers of Ulster county. 
 Nearly all of the name now living in this country, trace 
 their origin to the Ulster family. A great uncle (Colonel 
 JoHX Loujstsbeby) was a member of the Senate, and of 
 the Council of Appointment, during the gubernatorial 
 administration of De Witt Clintox; another great 
 uncle (Col. Ebenezer Lounsbery) was a member of the 
 Senate in 1838, '39. Both served in the war of 1812, in 
 which they acquired their military rank. His father, 
 JoHX LoUNSBERY, was a member of the Assembly in 
 
288 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 1853, and was classed as a Hunker, in the political divi- 
 sions of the Democracy of that i^eriod. 
 
 Mr. LouxsBERY has enjoyed excellent educational 
 advantages, which he has not failed to improve. He 
 graduated, in 1851, at Rutgers College, obtaining the 
 third honor of the graduating class. He studied law at 
 the Law School of the University of the city of Albany, 
 and was admitted to practice in 1853; and immediately 
 opened an office in the village of Kingston. By his care- 
 ful preparation of, and faithful attention to, the causes at 
 first entrusted to him, he soon obtained tlie confidence of 
 the public and a handsome share of business. About two 
 years since he entered into copartnership with Hon. 
 Erastus Cooke, of Kingston, and the law firm of Cooke 
 & LouNSBEKY now occupics a commanding position at 
 the Ulster bar, and does a very large share of its business. 
 
 Mr. LouNSBERY has been connected with the editorial 
 fraternity, having been from 1S57 to 1861, associated Avith 
 Mr. S. IS. HoMMEL in the proprietorship of the Ulster 
 Kepublican — now the Kingston Argus — then, as now, 
 the recognized organ of the Democracy of Ulster county. 
 This was a period of sharp ^^olitical controversy, and Mr. 
 LouxsBERY, in such intervals of leisure as were allowed 
 him by his profession, entered into the contests of that 
 period with spirit and zeal. His editorial articles, like his 
 efforts at the bar, were marked by smoothness and 
 elegance of style, clearness, directness and force, and 
 added greatly to the effectiveness of that journal as a 
 party organ. Mr. Lounsbery is no mere slave to his pro- 
 fession. He finds time to glean in the broad fields of 
 general litei-ature, and hence he naturally became a 
 member of the Ulster county Historical Society, and 
 took great interest in preparing papers to be read before 
 it. The same literary tastes led him to accept invitations 
 
I 
 
 WILLIAM LOUNSBERY. 289 
 
 to make addresses before the Kingston Literary Associa- 
 tions, and the Ulster County Agricultural Society. All 
 of these literary productions exhibit fine scholarly tastes 
 and attainments ; a clear and practical habit of thought, 
 and great felicity of expression. 
 
 With this large and varied experience in law, politics 
 and literature, backed by a laudable ambition and an 
 ardent temperament, Mr. LouisrsBERY naturally became a 
 leading member in the present Assembly. He was selected 
 as a candidate by the Democracy of his party with great 
 unanimity, and was elected by the largest majority ever 
 given in the District for the same office. 
 
 His abilities were appreciated at Albany as well as at 
 home, in the organization of the Committees of the 
 Assembly, He is Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, 
 a position of great responsibility. He is also a member of 
 the Committee on Claims. He gives the closest attention to 
 legislative matters, and evidently intends to make himself 
 entirely familiar with the interests and needs of the 
 Empire State. He is fond of social enjoyments that 
 partake of a literary character, is well fitted to take part 
 in conversation, and greatly delights in a good joke or a 
 witty repartee. 
 
 37 
 
JOHN B. MADDEN. 
 
 Mr. Madden is a native of Ireland. He was born at 
 Carronakelle, in the county of Galway, June 13th, 1823. 
 His father was an extensive land-holder, and was classed 
 as a " gentleman farmer." His position of comparative 
 wealth afforded him the opportunity of giving his son a 
 classical education. Accordingly the youth was duly pre- 
 pared for a collegiate course, and entered the College of 
 Esker, in his native county. Subsequently he became 
 anxious, like thousands of others of his countrymen, to 
 try his fortune in the New World. Convinced that so 
 long as England might continue her peculiar mode of 
 governing Ireland, there would be little chance of accom- 
 plishing much for himself, he resolved to emigrate to 
 America, where the rights of men are better respected, 
 and every citizen has a voice in relation to the administra- 
 tion of the Government. He accordingly took passage 
 for the United States, and landed in New York in the 
 month of July, 1845. 
 
 As soon as he could properly do so, he took the first 
 steps toward becoming a citizen of the country of his 
 adoption; and in the Autumn of 1850 he cast his first 
 vote. Like a great majority of the men who have come 
 from Ireland, he joined the Democratic party, and worked 
 vigorously for the promotion of its interests. Mr. Mad- 
 den continued to live in New York from 1845 to 1855, 
 being engaged in mercantile pursuits. At the end of that 
 time, he jDurchased property in the town of Newtown, 
 Queens county, where he has ever since resided. 
 
FRANCIS AVERT MALLISOX. 291 
 
 In the spring of 1860, he was elected Justice of the 
 Peace by a majority of thirty-six votes ; and re-elected in 
 1863, by 700 majority. In 1807, though there were two 
 Democratic candidates in the field against him, he was 
 again elected to fill the same position by 400 majority. 
 Last fall, Mr, Madden was tendered the nomination for 
 member of Assembly, and his great local popularity Avas 
 shown by a majority of 1,198, the largest given in his 
 district during the past ten years. He is a member of the 
 Committee on Privileges and Elections, and Chairman of 
 the Committee on Charitable and Religious Societies, and 
 is an active and intellioent member. 
 
 FRANCIS AVERY MALLISON. 
 
 Mr. Mallison, one of the representatives of the county 
 of Kings, was born in Rome, Oneida county, March 13, 
 1832, of Connecticut parentage. His father was of that 
 hard worked and poorly paid class, the Methodist clergy, 
 and was a teacher in Rome. Sarah Warner was the 
 maiden name of his mother. She was from Plymouth, 
 Conn. Their son was educated in the Oneida Conference 
 Seminary, the Polytechnic School at Chittenango, Madison 
 county, and the Seminary at Lowville, Lewis county. 
 
 Mr. Mallison traveled in the west in 1849 and in the 
 south in 1851 and 1852, acquiring valuable information 
 relative to the characteristics of the people in those sec- 
 tions, and the value and products of the territory. He 
 was for seven years telegraph operator in Central New 
 York. In November, 1859, he settled in Brooklyn, and 
 
292 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 was at once engaged as a writer upon the City News, a 
 daily paper, and was subsequently employed on the Daily 
 Times, For three years he has been connected with the 
 Brooklyn Eagle, the organ of the Democratic party of 
 Kings county. He writes under the nom de plume of 
 "O'Pake." His contributions are widely admired, and 
 have added largely to the popularity and circulation of 
 the very influential journal with which he is now connected. 
 He was confined in Fort Lafayette four months and two 
 days for copying the bogus proclamation of President 
 LiNCOLif, commonly known as the Howard proclamation, 
 which was published in May, 1864, and for printing which 
 the oflices of the New York World and the Journal of 
 Commerce were closed by military order. He was sent to 
 the Fort May 21, and released September 23, 1864. 
 
 The manner of his release is mentioned by Mr. Carpen- 
 ter, in one of his papers containing recollections of Presi- 
 dent LiNCOLK^, published in the New York Independent, 
 in which he says that " Howard, the proclamation forger 
 — a Republican — was pardoned out of Fort Lafayette, 
 while Mallisox, his confederate, who was a Democrat, 
 continued incarcerated. A Brooklyn gentleman men- 
 tioned the fact to Mr. Lincoln. He was busy at the 
 time, but said very earnestly, ' Don't leave the city till I 
 fix that ; ' and at the first leisure moment he wrote and 
 placed in the hands of the gentleman an order for Malli- 
 son's unconditional release." This may or may not be 
 true, but no one will suppose that President Lincoln 
 intentionally kept Mr. Mallison in confinement because 
 of any difference in politics. He was too just, not to say 
 kind hearted and humane, for that. And we are pleased 
 to know that Mr. Mallison accords with us in this view. 
 
 Mr. Mallison was admitted to practice law in the 
 Supreme Court of the State, in December, 1806. He has 
 
JOHX F. MA3^N, 293 
 
 been a member of the Democratic General Committee of 
 Kings county for several years, and is a popular, active 
 and successful politician. He has never held office before. 
 He received a majority of 2,683 for member of Assembly. 
 He abounds in humor, and is the wit of the House. 
 
 JOHN F, MANN. 
 
 In the life of Mr. Maxx we have another instance of 
 what native talent and tact, backed up by energy and 
 perseverance, will do in enabling even the most humble of 
 our race to rise in the scale of manhood, and in obtaining 
 wealth and influence. He was the son of a carpenter, and 
 was born at Lowville, Lewis county, New York, September 
 21, 1824. Three years after his birth his parents removed 
 to New Bremen, in the same county, making their home 
 in a log house, surrounded by an entire wilderness. When 
 old enough to labor he assisted his father at the busi- 
 ness of house carpenter, receiving in the meantime, such 
 education as the common schools of his locality could 
 furnish, and obtaining it in those intervals when his 
 services could most easily be dispensed with by his father, 
 *At the age of twenty-one he commenced attending the 
 Lowville Academy, and by teaching occasionally and 
 working at his trade when nothing better presented, he 
 succeeded in paying for such tuition as that institution 
 could give. At the age of twenty-six he secured a place 
 as clerk in a store, and served faithfully in this cajjacity 
 for four yeai's, carefully saving all his wages not absolutely 
 needed for personal expenses. He then commenced keep- 
 ing store on his own account. He Avas successful in busi- 
 ness, and has secured for himself a fine competence, and 
 can now enjoy the fruits of his early self-sacrificing toil. 
 
294 LIFE SKETCHES, 
 
 In 1855 Mr. Mann was appointed Postmaster at New 
 Bremen, his place of residence, and has held the office ever 
 since, with the exception of about six months. He also 
 acted as Census Marshal in 1855, He was formerly a 
 Whig, and became one of the earliest members of the 
 Republican party. He is quite active in political matters, 
 and has often been chosen to represent his locality in dis- 
 trict and State couA^entions, As he is and has been in 
 business transactions, so he is and has been found in 
 political matters — straightforward and honest. He was 
 elected on the Republican ticket to represent Lewis 
 county in the Assembly. He is a member of the Commit- 
 tee on Public Printing. He takes no part in debate, but 
 in a quiet way is very attentive to his duties. 
 
 ANGELL MATTHEWSON. 
 
 Mr, Matthewson was born in Pulaski, Oswego county, 
 New York, June 8th, 1837, where he received a good 
 academic education. At the age of fifteen he commenced 
 learning the printer's trade, in the office of the Pulaski 
 Democrat, At twenty-one he was foreman of the job 
 department of the Daily Palladium, in Oswego, and a 
 year later was city editor of the Palladium, In 1859, 
 he went to Utica, where he was employed in the Daily 
 Herald office until January 4th, 1860, when he Avent to 
 Fort Plain, Montgomery county (his present residence), 
 Avhere he soon after purchased a half interest in the 
 Mohawk Valley Register. 
 
 September 15th, 1861, he commenced raising a company 
 for the War, in Avhich he took a Second Lieutenancy — 
 
I 
 
 ANGELL MATTHEWSON". 295 
 
 Hon. Lorenzo Crouxse, District Judge of Nebraska, 
 being Captain, and Capt. S. Walter Stocking, now Clerk 
 in the Executive Deparment of this State, First Lieuten- 
 ant. This company rendezvoused at Ehnira, in September, 
 
 1861, Avhere it was attached to the 1st Xew York Light 
 Artillery, as Battery "K" of that regiment. May 18, 
 
 1862, Lieutenant Matthewsox Avas appointed Post Adju- 
 tant, at Camp Barry, Washington, D. C. 
 
 May 30th, 1862, at Bolivar Heights, near Harper's 
 Ferry, with a single liiece of artillery, he routed the 
 enemy's sharp-shootei's, and engaged a four gun battery 
 for half an hour, handling his gun with such judgment 
 and skill that the only damage sustained was the disabling 
 of one of the wheels of the gun carriage by a solid shot 
 from the enemy, while the enemy's loss, as reported by 
 Major Gardner, of the 5th New York Cavalry, was 
 seven killed and upwards of fifty wounded. For his 
 services on this occasion, he was appointed Ordnance 
 Officer on the Staff of Major-General Franz Sigel, June 
 7th, 1862, and afterward served in the same capacity on 
 the Staffs of Generals Cooper and Augur. 
 
 November, 1862, he was promoted to First Lieutenant, 
 and assigned to duty with Battery " D " of his regiment. 
 
 May 23d, 1863, he was appointed Adjutant of his regi- 
 ment, and May 25th was appointed Acting Assistant 
 Adjutant-General of the Artillery Brigade, First Corps, 
 Army of the Potomac, which position he held one year. 
 
 July 1st, 1864, he was promoted to Captain of his 
 company, for meritorious service at North Anna River, 
 Va., May 23d, 1864, where he was shot through the thigh 
 with a Minnie ball, while in command of his Battery 
 ("D"), and fighting almost a forlorn hope. 
 
 He was in service until the end of the war, three years 
 and nine months, and was mustered out at Elmira, New 
 York, the 17th day of June, 1865. 
 
296 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 He was engaged in the following battles: Harper's 
 Ferry, Cedar Mountain, Rappahannock Station, Freder- 
 icksburgh, Chancellorsville, Gettysburgh, Mine Run, Wil- 
 derness, Spottsylvania, North Anna River, Siege of 
 Petersburgh, Weldon Railroad, Hatcher's Run and Lee's 
 surrender, at Appomattox Court House. 
 
 July 1st, 1865, he became sole editor and proprietor of 
 the Register newspaper, at Fort Plain, and still conducts 
 that paper ; being also one of the proprietors of the Can- 
 ajoharie Radii. 
 
 In the fall of 1866, he received sixteen votes in the 
 county Democratic ISTominating Convention, for member 
 of the Assembly ; and last Fall (without asking or seek- 
 ing), was put in nomination and elected by the largest 
 majority (seven hundred and twenty-four) ever received 
 by any member from Montgomery county ; running two 
 hundred and eighteen votes ahead of the State ticket. 
 
 In the field, Mr. Matthewsox was brave, and received 
 frequent commendations from his superior officers. He is 
 active and energetic, pushing to success vigorously every- 
 thing he undertakes. He is a calculating and wise financial 
 manager, and in the Assembly is an observing, industrious 
 and efficient legislator. He is an easy and graceful writer, 
 possesses fine social qualities, and his personal character is 
 above reproach. 
 
JAMES Mc KIEVER. 
 
 Mr. McKiEiTER is the member from the Fourteenth 
 Assembly District of New York. For the past three 
 years this district has been represented by Plon. Thomas 
 J. Creamer (now Senator), whom the present member 
 delights to call his friend. Mr. McKiever is a member of 
 the Tammany Hall Democracy, and is an active worker in 
 its ranks, and a steadfast believer in its principles. He is 
 a native of Ireland, having been born in Tyrone county, 
 October 23, 1832, and has resided in Xew York city most 
 of the time since coming to this country. He is a ship- 
 carpenter by trade. In 1861, he held the office of Con- 
 stable, and in Janiiary, 1864 was appointed Marshal to 
 the Board of Supervisors, but resigned immediately after- 
 w^ards. He was elected to the Assembly by a plurality 
 of 1,258. He is a member of the Committees on Com- 
 merce and Navigation and Charitable and Religious Socie- 
 ties. He is modest and unassuming in manner, and has 
 many friends both at home and in the Legislature. 
 
 38 
 
EDMUND MILLER, 
 
 Mr. Miller, who represents the county of Chemung in 
 the Assembly, was born in Southport, November 1, 1808. 
 His father is of German descent, and his mother a native 
 of Connecticut. In 1783, during the French and Indian 
 war, his grandfather was taken prisoner by the Indians in 
 Northampton county, Penn,, and brought to the head of 
 Seneca Lake, where he escaped and returned home. He 
 subsequently settled in Southport, and his son, the father 
 of Edmukd, who was a farmer, lived and died upon the 
 farm now occupied by the latter. 
 
 Mr. Miller's education was confined to the common 
 schools, but those advantages were thoroughly improved. 
 He has held all the various offices in his town, and has been 
 Supervisor for many years, and was re-elected while a 
 Member of the House. His varied experience, ripe judg- 
 ment and practical common sense render him an invalu- 
 able Member of the House. He is a farmer, cattle dealer 
 and lumberman. He was elected member by a majority 
 of over five hundred, running three hundred ahead of 
 his ticket. His competitior was George W. Buck, who 
 had been chosen the preceding year by a majority of 110. 
 
 He is a member of the Committee on Claims and Chair- 
 man of the Committee on Agriculture. He has always 
 been true to the Democratic party, and of great service to 
 it. He is a successful politician and a careful legislator. 
 
JAMES C. MORAN. 
 
 Mr. MoRAX, Avho represents the Thirteenth Assembly- 
 District of New York, was born in the Ninth ward January 
 22, 1839, and has always resided in tliat city. His ances- 
 tors immigrated to this country from Ireland. Mr. Moran" 
 obtained his education in the public schools of the city of 
 New York, and is a carpenter by avocation. He has never 
 before held a political office, but has been an active Demo- 
 cratic politician in his ward and district for the last ten 
 years. He ran on both the Tammany and Mozart tickets, 
 and was elected by a plurality of 636, and a majority of 
 248. He serves on the Committees on Public Printing, 
 and Trade and Manufactures. As a member of the House, 
 he is remarkably quiet, but always attentive to his duties. 
 
MICHAEL C. MURPHY. 
 
 Mr. Murphy, though still young, has expei-iencecl many- 
 exciting adventures, and has won military distinction in 
 defending his adopted country. He is a native of Kilmal- 
 lock. Limerick county, Ireland, where he was born March 
 'Zth, 1839. When about eight years of age, he came to 
 America, arriving in New York city, November, 1847. 
 "When he reached a suitable age, he learned the printer's 
 trade. At the opening of the civil war in this country, 
 Mr. MuEPHT, in common with hundreds of others from the 
 same avocation, enlisted in the army. April 20th, 1861, he 
 was commissioned as Captain in the Ellsworth Regiment 
 of Fire Zouaves. After the release of General Corcoran 
 from the rebel prison. Captain Murpht resigned his com- 
 mission in the Regiment of Zouaves, and joined the " L-ish 
 Legion," as Captain. He was promoted January 4th, 
 1863, to a Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the 2d Regiment of 
 the " Legion." He was closely identified with the move- 
 ments of General Corcoran's command, until he Avas 
 dismissed from the service by order of General Meade, 
 to date from June 9th, 1864, for sending a flag of truce to 
 the skirmishing line of the enemy, in an endeavor to save 
 the lives of one hundred and five privates and seven 
 ofiicers, who were wounded and lying between both lines. 
 This took place May 24th, 1864, while he Avas in command 
 of the advance line of the Second Division of the Second 
 Army Corps. When this dismissal was brought to the 
 notice of General Grant, and the facts of the case were 
 clearly presented to hira, he justified the course of 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Murphy, who was immediately restored 
 
MICHAEL C. MURPHY. 301 
 
 to his rank, by order of President Lincoln. He left the 
 service in March, 1865, in consequence of ill health. He 
 was a valorous officer, and a man true to his country. 
 
 The Fenian raid upon Canada, which set the English 
 Cabinet in a flutter, made the Canadians quake with sud- 
 den fear, and caused her Majesty's troops to suppose that 
 the time for field duty had come, will long be remembered 
 as a preliminary movement which, though it failed to 
 accomplish the purposes of the Irish people, nevertheless 
 caused John Bull to cast an inquiring glance toward the 
 Emerald Isle, and wonder if Erin was really in earnest. 
 Mr. Murphy was General of that portion of the Fenian 
 army, in May and June, 1866, which was concentrated at 
 Malone, jSTew York, and was intended for the assaulting 
 column against Montreal. Every reader is familiar with 
 the failure of that undertaking, the causes of which it is 
 neither our place nor purpose to discuss. 
 
 In November, 1866, Col. Murphy was elected to the 
 Assembly by the Demcrats of the First District of the city 
 of Xew York, which is comj^osed of the First, Second, 
 Third and Fifth Wards. His majority was 1,496. He was 
 appointed on the Committee on Militia and Public 
 Defense. He was re-elected in 1867 by a majority of 
 1,501, and is a member of the Militia and City Com- 
 mittees. 
 
 Colonel Murphy is a practical and proficient legislator. 
 He has, at times, a brusqueness of manner which is some- 
 what disagreeable to those not entirely acquainted with 
 his kindly nature and warm heart. Notwithstanding this 
 peculiar characteristic, he soon succeeds in winning the 
 good will of those with whom he comes in contact, and 
 impresses himself on them as an agreeable gentleman. He 
 has a fine military bearing and courteous manner. 
 
HENRY C. NELSON. 
 
 Mr. Nelson is a native of Sing Sing, Westchester 
 county, and was born July 29, 1838. His family is 
 Dutch, but by his mother's side he is descended from 
 the Huguenot family of Delaxoy. He was educated in 
 the public schools of New York, afterward entering the 
 Free Academy, where he remained two years. He then 
 went into a law office in the city, and was, in due time, 
 admitted to the bar. He then entered upon the practice 
 of his j^rofession at Sing Sing, where he soon obtained a 
 remunerative practice. He was generally popular, and 
 was chosen to several positions in the village and town. 
 Last fall, he accepted the Democratic nomination for 
 Assembly in the Third District of the county, and 
 received, somewhat unexpectedly to himself, the majority 
 of 991, overcoming a Rej^ublican majority of 630. He 
 was promptly assigned a leading position in the House. 
 He is Chairman of the Committee on State Prisons, and a 
 member of the Railroad Committee and Sub-committee of 
 the Whole, thus enabling him to exercise a marked influ- 
 ence in shaping legislation. Having succeeded in carrying 
 a district heretofore Republican, he is very likely to be 
 pressed for re-election, an event which would continue a 
 very estimable gentleman in the legislative councils of the 
 State. 
 
AMBROSE NICHOLSON. 
 
 Mr. Nicholson is ca native of Hinsdale, Berkshire county, 
 Massachusetts, Avhere he was born March 16th, 1801, His 
 father was from Glastonbury, Connecticut, where his 
 grandfather also lived during the Revolutionary war, all 
 of the male members of whose family were in the army 
 during that early struggle of the colonies. Mr. Nichol- 
 son's father was in the army of General Washington when 
 he evacuated Long Island, and continued in that branch 
 of the service to the end of the war. Beino- only sixteen 
 years old when he enlisted, his health Avas broken down 
 by the hardships of the service, so that, for the last twenty 
 years of his life, he was a contirmed cripple. He died in 
 1814, at the age of fifty-four. 
 
 Mr. Nicholson's maternal grandfiither was Nathan 
 HiBBARD, who removed from Norwich, Connecticut, and 
 settled in Hinsdale, Massachusetts, when the country was 
 new. He was a leading man in the community, distin- 
 guished for his sound judgment and his integrity. He 
 was one of those who resisted " Shay's Insurrection," and 
 at one time frightened Shay's forces away, by mounting 
 a log on cart wheels, and displaying it on an eminence, so 
 as to present the appearance of a cannon. He had a son, 
 Billy Hibbard, who Avas, for a long time, a traveling 
 preacher of the Methodist persuasion, and somewhat noted 
 for his strength of character, as Avell as his eccentricities. 
 
 Mr. Nicholson's father, at the time of his death, which 
 occurred when this son was thirteen years old, left a 
 family of eight children — five daughters and three sons, 
 of whom he was the youngest. Up to that time he had 
 attended the district school, and had a strong desire to 
 
304 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 acquire a thorough education. But circumstances were 
 against his so doing, as shortly after his father's death he 
 was apprenticed to learn the tanner's trade. He however 
 used such means as he could find to make up for the lack 
 of more favorable chances, and, at the age of eighteen, he 
 was employed to teach a district school. He followed 
 teaching in the winter time for several years. His tastes, 
 and also circumstances, led him into mechanical pursuits, 
 other than the one to which he was bred. Hence, he 
 became a carpenter, then general builder, and then mill- 
 wright and machinist. He is now a manufacturer of lum- 
 ber, doors, sash and blinds and cheese boxes. 
 
 Mr. Nicholson, for fifteen years, was one of the Super- 
 intending Sch<fbl Committee of his native toAvn. He was 
 also town clerk for a number of years, and Adjutant in 
 the militia of Massachusetts twelve years. 
 
 After he removed to Russia, Herkimer county, N. Y., he 
 was elected Justice of the Peace, Road Commissioner and 
 Supervisor, notwithstanding the fact that the town was 
 Democratic and he a Henry Clay Whig. In 1855 he 
 moved with his family to Trenton, where he resided until 
 1860, when he removed to Oriskauy, Oneida county, where 
 he now resides. Three of his sons were in the Federal 
 service during the Rebellion, leaving in his care alone a 
 somewhat extensive business. They all returned home, 
 but with constitutions impaired by the hardships of war. 
 One of them has since died from causes which no doubt 
 originated in his army life. Mr. Nicholsox has faithfully 
 served under the banner of the Republican party since its 
 first organization. Without his knowledge or expectation 
 he was nominated for the Assembly and was elected by 
 434 majority. He is a gentleman of sound, practical views, 
 aspiring to no great personal distinction, and satisfied 
 only with an honest discharge of duty. 
 
DANIEL O'REILLY. 
 
 This gentleman has royal Irish blood in his veins, being 
 a descendant of the famous O'Reillys, of the county of 
 Cavan, Ireland, who were Princes under the Irish mon- 
 ai'chy, and participated in the ineffectual struggles of Erin 
 to keep herself an independent government. 
 
 He was born in Cavan county, Ireland, in the year 1839. 
 When very young, he left his home, without the know- 
 ledge, and, in fact, against the will of his parents, and 
 came to New York city, where he obtained an education 
 in the public schools. After leaving school, Mr. O'Reilly 
 was employed in the manufacture of soda water, for several 
 years. But being, at that time, of a restless and ven- 
 turesome disposition, he embarked on an expedition to 
 Nicaragua, with the late General Walker. The romance 
 of his dreams were dissipated by the privations which he 
 had to endure. Instead of General V/alker's marching, 
 with triumphant banners, to the consummation of success, 
 his progress was, inch by inch, disputed, until he found 
 his army dwindled down to a mere handful of men. After 
 many sufferings, Mr. O'Reilly returned to New York. 
 
 When the late war broke out, he enlisted in the 1 70th 
 Regiment, New York State Volunteers, and served xmtil 
 the surrender of the rebel forces. He participated in 
 twenty-one different battles, among which were those of 
 Bristow Station, Mine Run, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, 
 Spottsylvania Court House, North Anne River, Peters- 
 burgh, Richmond, &c. After his return from the war, he 
 was elected School Inspector of the Fourteenth Ward of 
 New York, and acted in that capacity until an act of the 
 39 
 
306 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Legislature abrogated tliat office. In the fall of 1866, he 
 was nominated by the Mozart Democracy of the Third 
 District for Member of the Assembly, and was elected 
 against three other candidates, by a plurality of four hun- 
 dred and eighty-two votes. He was re-elected to the 
 present Assembly by the large majority of four thousand 
 one hundred and thirty-four. He is Chairman of the Com- 
 mittee on Petitions of Aliens, and a member of the Insur- 
 ance Committee and Sub-committee of the Whole. 
 
 Mr. O'Reilly is very popular in his district ; is rather 
 bluff in his manner, but possesses a good heart and is a 
 warm friend. 
 
 JULIUS M. PALMER. 
 
 Mr. Palmer, who represents the Second District of St. 
 Lawrence county, is serving his first term in the Assembly. 
 Mr. Palmer is a native of New York State, and was born 
 in Wilna, Jefferson county, December 11, 1830. He 
 received a good education, and at the age of eighteen 
 went to Russell, St. Lawrence county, where he acquired 
 a knowledge of surveying and followed the business for 
 several years. In 1851, he engaged in trade as a 
 merchant, in which occupation he has been successful, 
 and is a prosperous business man ; his partner at present 
 being Hon. Benjamin Smith, who formerly represented 
 the same district in the Assembly during two terms. 
 
 Mr. Palmer has taken an active interest in all matters 
 of public concern iji the locality where he resides ; was 
 chosen Clerk of the town of Russell in 1856, and held the 
 
JULIUS M. PALMER. 307 
 
 position for six years. He was elected Supervisor in 1 8G2, 
 the duties of wliich position he discharged for five years, 
 and until he declined further service. Dui'ing his connec- 
 tion with the Board of Supervisors, ]\[r. Palmer was 
 Chairman of several important comniittees, and also of the 
 Commission, appointed in 1866, to equalize the assessment 
 of the county, whose report he wrote, and which has 
 received very general approval. During the war he gave 
 much of his time in aid of all enterprises looking to the 
 support of the government, and, in common with his 
 fellow-citizens, has given his town a record Avhicli shows 
 it to be one of the most jiatriotic in St. Lawrence county. 
 He was Recruiting Agent and Treasurer of the " Russell 
 Volunteer Association." He was ajjpointed Postmaster 
 in May, 1861, by President Lincoln, and was removed in 
 November, 1866, by President Johnson. 
 
 Mr. Palmer is an ardent and active Republican, and 
 was chosen to represent his district in the Assembly at 
 the last election, by a majority of 2,121. He is a member 
 of the Committee on the Expenditures of the Executive 
 Department. 
 
 Mr. Palmer is a gentleman of quiet habits, of excellent 
 judgment, and of unimpeachable integrity. 
 
DE AVITT PARSHALL. 
 
 Mr. Parshall was born at Palmyra March 23, 1812; 
 and is therefore now in his fifty-seventh year. His parents 
 were of American birth, and had previously resided in 
 Orange county, neighbors of De Witt Cliitton ; and 
 in naming his son, the elder Parshall complimented at 
 the same time the illustrious founder of the Erie canal and 
 a brother surveyor, then well known throughout tlie 
 State, Simeon De Witt. 
 
 Mr. Parshall was "brought up to work." His father, 
 a surveyor and farmer by occupation, and a bustling, 
 energetic, go-ahead man, would tolerate nothing that sav- 
 ored of thriftlessness ; and it Avas in his boyhood that his 
 son learned those lessons of prudence and good manage- 
 ment that have been put in practice with such telling 
 results in his maturer life. A common school education, 
 with a few terms at the Canandaigua Academy (where 
 he was the room-mate of Stephen A. Douglas), were all 
 that were afforded him in the way of educational advan- 
 tages. Leaving the Academy, he chose the profession of 
 the law, and entered the office of the late General William 
 H. Adams (at Lyons), then in the height of his fame as an 
 able and eloquent counsellor and advocate. Mr. Par- 
 shall was in study as diligent as in work, and in good 
 time was admitted to the bar ; but the demands of other 
 claims upon his attention, prevented him from commenc- 
 ing practice until 1840, at which time he had reached the 
 age of twenty-eight years. He connected with his prac- 
 tice (which soon came to be very large) a real estate 
 agency — in which department of business he was, how- 
 
DE WITT PARSE ALL. 309 
 
 ever, himself the best patron. Buying depreciated farms 
 at low figures, he Avould repair the buildings and fences, 
 reinvigorate the soil, and put the property in the best pos- 
 sible condition — of course, realizing a handsome profit 
 when he came to sell, as he deserved to do. This branch 
 of business he has continued to the present day ; and it 
 is estimated that he owns now, and has owned, since 
 1840, in AVayne county, something like ten thousand acres 
 of land, in various farms, valued at from $500,000 to 
 $600,000. The village of Lyons is largely indebted to Mr. 
 Parshall's enterprise ; he having owned, at one time 
 and another, more than half the land the village stands 
 ixpon ; and besides about fifteen houses now owned by 
 him, he has built or refitted upward of seventy-five more ; 
 selling them, with building lots, at fair prices and on 
 accommodating terms, to mechanics and laborers; thus 
 increasing the population of the village and adding to its 
 material prosperity. In addition, he owns at jiresent four 
 blocks of stores in Lyons — one just completed, the hand- 
 somest in the county, and a lasting monument to his 
 enterprise and liberality — and others are projected for 
 the coming season. Of farm property, Mr, Parshall 
 now owns more than two thousand acres ; one parcel 
 being the well known " Shaker Tract," on Sodus Bay. 
 
 Li 1852 Mr. Parshall commenced the business of bank- 
 ing — starting " The Palmyra Bank of Lyons," afterward 
 " The Lyons Bank," and now " The Lyons National Bank." 
 This bank is doing a very large business, its capital being 
 $100,000, and its circulation $90,000. Mr, P, has, besides, 
 extensive banking interests (as well as real estate) in Buf- 
 falo, where he has a son engaged in that business ; and also 
 much valuable real estate iu the States of Michigan and 
 Iowa. In politics Mr. Parshall is a Republican of the 
 strictest sect, and has been one since the organization of 
 
310 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 the Republican party, previous to which time he acted 
 with the Democratic party. He has several times been 
 elected Supervisor of the town and President of the village ; 
 but never until now has he been prevailed upon to accept 
 any other official position. He was nominated for the 
 Assembly because of his peculiar fitness for the place ; 
 because of his close identification with the interests of his 
 district and county ; because of his well-known executive 
 ability ; and because the people would have it so — running 
 largely ahead of his ticket at the election. His constitu- 
 ents know him for a man of deeds rather than of words — 
 a man of work rather than of theories — a man of facts 
 and not of fancies ; and they do not expect windy sj)eeches 
 from him. But they do expect to find him one of the 
 hardest working, most attentive and most influential Mem- 
 bers in the House — alive to the public interests, industri- 
 ous in advancing them, and free from suspicion. 
 
 Personally, Mr. Paeshall is a man of fine presence, of 
 commanding stature, with shoulders scarcely stooped by 
 years of bending over his desk ; keen eye ; hair and beard 
 bleached with the frosts of advancing years ; and counte- 
 nance indicative of the most robust health. Mr. Par- 
 shall's appearance is one that strikes a stranger favorably, 
 and though a plain man, and making no attempt to curry 
 favor with his fellows, his straightforward manner, his 
 close attention to business, and his constant endeavors to 
 enhance the thrift of his village and county, have won for 
 him the confidence and respect of all who know him. 
 Emphatically he is a self-made man : one of those who 
 have won success and deserved it, too. 
 
GEORGE J. PENFIELD. 
 
 Mr. Penfield was born March 24th, 1826, in Camden, 
 Oneida county, New York. He is tlie youngest son of 
 Fowler Penfield, of English descent, who took part in 
 the war of 1812, on the western frontier, and who was the 
 second son of Jesse Penfield who distinguished him- 
 self in the Revolutionary war, having entered the service 
 at the age of seventeen. He served in the army, over 
 seven years, and was in the battle of White Plains, and 
 all the other memorable battles of the Revolution ; he then 
 removed from the State of Connecticut to Camden, New 
 York, where he lived to a good old age. 
 
 On the maternal side, Mr. Pen^field is of French and 
 Holland descent, of the families bearing the names of 
 De Milt and Wormsley, that fled from the persecutions 
 instituted against the Christians, having left their property 
 to be confiscated, and landed on Manhattan Island, when 
 New York was but a small village. Benjamin^ De Milt 
 was a man of almost unbounded liberality; he donated 
 an extensive library to the Mechanics' Library of New 
 York city, and appropriated a large amount of money 
 to that institution. His maiden sisters bequeathed a great 
 portion of their estate to benevolent institutions ; and the 
 authorities of New York honored them for the deed, by 
 giving one of the Dispensaries their name. 
 
 Mr. Penfield had few advantages for acquiring learn- 
 ing. From boyhood to the age of twenty-five, he was 
 employed in forming pursuits. Before he was twenty-one, 
 he removed, with his father and family, to Westchester 
 county, New York. 
 
312 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 For twelve or thirteen years, Mr. Penfield conducted 
 a lucrative business, in the town of New Rochelle. On 
 the breaking out of the war, he aided in fitting out the 
 first regiment of volunteers which went from Westchester 
 county, and which pai-ticijiated in the disastrous battle 
 of Bull Run. He, and other patriotic gentlemen in that 
 vicinity, pledged themselves to the support of the families 
 of the soldiers who went out at that time ; and they faith- 
 fully redeemed their pledge. And, in fact, all through 
 the war, Mr, Pexfield was among the foremost of those 
 who assiduously exerted themselves to fill the quotas of 
 men, which were demanded for the purpose of filling up 
 our broken columns in the field. In 1862, he was elected 
 Secretary of the Westchester county Mutual Insurance 
 Company, and was subsequently chosen President of it. 
 He has also held various town offices. He is now a mem- 
 ber of the Board of Education, and one of the Trustees 
 of the village of New Rochelle ; and he has twice repre- 
 sented his town in the Board of Supervisors, having been 
 elected by the Democratic party. He is President of the 
 Savings Bank in New Rochelle ; and, as a business man, 
 displays eminent characteristics. He very materially aided 
 in securing the erection of a new church edifice for the 
 congregation of which he is a member, also in improving 
 the public schools, in order to meet the growing wants of 
 his town, and in accomplishing the incorporation of the 
 village of New Rochelle. 
 
 Ml'. Pexfield was a member of the preceding Assembly, 
 and performed his legislative work acceptably to his con- 
 stituents, and with credit to himself He was re-elected 
 to the present Hoxise by a majority four times larger than 
 that he received in 1866. He is Chairman of the Com- 
 mittee on Insurance Companies, and a member of the 
 Committee on AflTairs of Villasces. 
 
EDMUND L, PITTS. 313 
 
 Mr. Penfield is of irreproachable character, and a useful 
 citizen. As a legislator, he has made an honorable record, 
 aud is highly esteemed by his fellow-members for his uni- 
 form courtesy and gentlemanly bearing. 
 
 EDMUND L. PITTS. 
 
 Mr. Pitts is a native of Yates, Orleans county, New 
 York. He is not yet twenty-nine years of age ; but he 
 has a maturity of mind which is rarely found in one so 
 young. When a lad, he attended the academies in the 
 vicinity of his home, and was considered to be a remark- 
 ably brilliant scholar. A desire sprang up in his mind to 
 go through college; and, thei-efore, the mysteries of 
 amo-as-at and hoyms-a-xi^n were in due time mastered, the 
 classics and mathematics duly conned, and, after a time, 
 the boy found himself prepai'ed for the Sophomoi'e year in 
 college. During these terms of study, he had an able 
 instructor and reliable friend. Professor Charles Fair- 
 man, now Principal of the Medina Academy, of whom he 
 speaks in Avarm terms of gratitude. "When Mr. Pitts 
 was fifteen, he carried off the first prize for declamation at 
 a public exhibition, and, from our knowledge of him, he 
 has not yet relaxed his study in that direction. But the 
 question of a collegiate course was abandoned, because 
 his father, though now in comfortable circumstances, was 
 then scarcely prepared to take the I'esponsibility of meet- 
 ing the bills which would have to be incurred. In the 
 year 1859, Mr. Pitts attended the Law School at Pough- 
 
 keepsie, and then read law with Hon. Sanford E. Church, 
 40 
 
314 LIFE SKETCHES, 
 
 at Albion. Such was the rapidity of his progress, he was 
 admitted to practice in 1860, about fifteen months after he 
 began the study of his profession. In the autumn of 
 1860, he entered into a partnership with Adna Boweis", 
 Esq., Avhich has continued ever since. Confidence was had 
 in his legal acumen ; men trusted the firm with cases of 
 importance, and found that they were skillfully managed ; 
 and what was, at one time, a promising beginning, has 
 ripened into a steady success. 
 
 When Mr. Pitts was nineteen, he was a Douglas 
 Democrat, and made campaign speeches in favor of that 
 wing of the Democracy ; but when he began to studiously 
 weigh the doctrines Avhich he was promulgating, he 
 became convinced of their sophistry, and discarded them 
 altogether. His first vote, he is proud to say, was cast 
 for Abraham Lincoln; and every campaign since he 
 was of age, has found him advocating, from the forum, 
 almost daily and nightly, the enduring principles of his 
 party. In 1862, in convention, Mr. Pitts, without any 
 thought that he was even remotely dreamed of for a can- 
 didate to the office, came within one vote of the nomination 
 for Member of Assembly ; two years after, however, he 
 was elected to the Assembly, and has continued to repre- 
 sent his district ever since. While carefully watching and 
 urging the local interests of his constituents, he has boldly 
 battled against the " New York ring," and has never 
 hesitated to attack the strongholds of corruption, or to 
 tear away the flimsy gauze of trickery. In 1866 he 
 introduced a very important amendment into the New 
 York tax levy, which met with obstinate resistance from 
 certain parties ; and yet, if we mistake not, a subsequent 
 decision of Judge Barnard, in relation to the notorious 
 gas contract swindle, turned upon that very amendment 
 which was finally fought through by Mr. Pitts. He is 
 
EDMUND L. PITTS. 315 
 
 regarded with confidence by many of the best men of 
 New York city, Avho recognize in him the exponent of 
 unselfish motives, and the s t ami ch friend of their munici- 
 jDality. In the Assembly of 1866, he was Chairman of 
 the Committee on Privileges and Elections, and was a Mem- 
 ber of the Committee on the Aflfairs of Cities. 
 
 j\[r. Pitts has attained a height of popularity seldom 
 reached by men at so early an age. The canvass for 
 Speaker of the Assembly of 1867, gave a striking illustra- 
 tion of this. His name was mentioned in that connection 
 even before the close of the political struggle of the year. 
 After the result had become definitely known, and the 
 question of Speakership became more generally agitated, 
 names of men long indentified with legislative action, of 
 conceded ability, and who Avere among the leaders of 
 the Republican party, were mentioned as being worthy of 
 the honor ; but, as the time for the assembling of the 
 Legislature drew near, and previous to the meeting of the 
 Republican caucus, one name after another was droj^ped, 
 and Mr. Pitts was conceded the candidacy with cordial 
 good feeling and perfect unanimity. On the assembling of 
 the caucus, he was nominated by acclamation. The comjoli- 
 ment was well bestowed, and was in accordance with public 
 sentiment. As Speaker of the Assembly, he distinguished 
 himself for his ready jDcrceptions, his intimate knowledge 
 of parliamentary law, acquired by long familiarity with 
 legislation, his impartiality in administering the rules, for 
 which he was warmly commended by his political oppo- 
 nents, and his speedy dispatch of business. He was 
 uniformly courteous, but self-reliant ; and in referring bills 
 to the various committees — an act which requires discre- 
 tion — he seldom made mistakes. The present session he 
 is a member of the Committees on Ways and Means, and 
 Privileges and Elections. He has previously served on the 
 
316 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 latter Committee, and uniformly has impressed political 
 friends and opponents alike with his impartiality and free- 
 dom from partisan bias. In 1866, he reported in favor of 
 three Democratic sitting members, and has always acted 
 with a simple desire to find according to the law and the 
 evidence, insisting that questions of right to hold seats 
 should never be allowed to be made political. 
 
 Mr. Pitts is a firm adlierent to the Republican party ; 
 he has never had any afiiliation with frauds and corrupt 
 measures, and his great aim has been to fight down 
 schemes for plunder, and to maintain principles of right, 
 irrespective of men. If he has personal ambitions, as it is 
 natural he should have, he makes them subservient to the 
 general welfare. 
 
 In stature, Mr. Pitts is five feet and four inches. He 
 sometimes facetiously remarks that his friends call him five 
 feet only, but he is determined to have the benefit of the 
 fraction over. He has a pleasant face, which is full of 
 animation and character, and a voice whicli is decisive in 
 tone when he is in earnest, but sweeping when he is denun- 
 ciatory. 
 
JOHN A. PLACE. 
 
 The First Assembly District of Oswego county is repre- 
 sented by John A. Place. It is composed of the city of 
 Oswego, together with three of the adjoining towns. 
 
 Ml'. Place was born in the town of Foster, Providence 
 county, Rhode Island, in 1823. His parents were of Welsh 
 descent, but his ancestors were among the earliest settlers 
 of New England, and he comes of as nearly pure " Yankee 
 stock " as is often traced in this country. Very early in 
 his life his parents removed to Hartford county, Connecti- 
 cut, where his schooldays commenced. In 1832, his family 
 removed to Oswego, in this State, then comparatively a 
 small village, in which, and in its vicinity, his home has 
 since continued. 
 
 Mr. Place enjoyed only the advantages of such schools 
 as his locality afforded, and most of his education was 
 acquired by solitary study. Before his majority, he spent 
 four years in the office of the Oswego Palladium, then a 
 thorough-going Democratic sheet of the Silas "Wright 
 school, in which he thoroughly imbibed Democratic ideas, 
 as they were then maintained by the leaders of that party. 
 
 After Mr. Place reached his majority, he was engaged 
 for several years in the business of teaching. He very 
 early took to the pen, and contributed many articles on 
 local and political topics, which were published, sometimes 
 anonymously and sometimes as editorial, in the press of 
 his locality. In 1848, he purchased the Fulton Patriot, 
 then the only Cass paper in Oswego county. Mr. Place 
 had always held strong anti-slavery sentiments, and 
 obtainins: unlimited control of the columns of a news- 
 
318 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 paper, gave him a long coveted ojDportunity to advocate 
 those sentiments with the people. He quietly took pos- 
 session of liis office, and it having become current 
 through the village that a transfer had been made, the 
 issue of the first number was looked for with much soli- 
 citude by the people. In the meantime he was waited 
 upon by the leading " Hunkers," as the pro-slavery Demo- 
 crats were then called, and the most flattering promises 
 were made in case the paper continued in the old faith. 
 On the other hand he was assured of loss of patronage 
 and ruin should he not comply. The "free soilers" 
 waited and hoped. The young editor was immovable. 
 Hatred of slavery had taken too strongly hold of his 
 principles to permit him to hesitate, and in his first 
 number he unfurled the banner, for " Free Speech, Free 
 Soil, and Free Men." He advocated the jDrinciples of 
 the " Buffalo Platform," and supported Van Buren and 
 Adams on the national ticket, throughout that memorable 
 canvass. Subsequently, when a " union " was patched up 
 between the " soft " and " hard sliell " Democrats, the 
 Patriot, under Mi\ Place's control, nominally supported 
 the Democratic cause ; but he was in every sense of the 
 word " independent," and unhesitatingly repudiated the 
 principles of the party and its candidates, whenever they 
 did not conform to his ideas on the slavery and other lead- 
 ing question of tlie day. He has always been outspoken 
 upon the temperance question, and has writen and pub- 
 lished many articles urging the temperance reform. 
 
 The organization of the Republican party, in 1855, 
 found Mr. Place ready and waiting for the movement. 
 He had long foreseen that the anti-slavery element in the 
 two leading parties of the country, must sometime come 
 together, and he welcomed the movement which resulted in 
 the formation of the Republican party. He was a member 
 
JOHNS' A. PLACE. 319 
 
 of the first convention of that party in his OAvn county ; 
 was an ardent supporter of Fremoxt and Dayton, and 
 subsequently of Lincoln and Hamlin, and has always 
 been active in the support of the principles of his party. 
 
 In 1857, Mr. Place was elected School Commissioner 
 of the First District of Oswego county. He Avas subse- 
 quently twice re-elected, each time with increasing majori- 
 ties. While in office, he addressed himself to the elevation 
 of the standard of qualification of teachers, and to the 
 general improvement of schools. During his term of 
 service, a larger number of school houses was erected in 
 his district than ever before in the same period ; the aver- 
 age of teachers wages was nearly doubled, and the general 
 interest in schools was greatly increased. 
 
 In 1854, Mr. T. S. Brigham, of Little Falls, having 
 accepted an invitation of the leading commercial men of 
 Oswego to commence the publication of the Daily Com- 
 mercial Advertiser in that city, invited Mr. Place to 
 take charge of its editorial columns ; Avhich position he 
 accepted, and has since continued to fill. The leading 
 political, commercial and business articles which have 
 appeared in the columns of that sheet, have been written 
 by him. The Commercial Advertiser has ever been an 
 outspoken and earnest advocate of Republican principles, 
 while it has also diligently discussed and maintained the 
 great commercial interests of the State, and especially of 
 its own locality. The best measure of his ability is the 
 fact that the Advertiser has attained a larger circulation, 
 and is more extensively read than any other paper which 
 has been published in his city. 
 
 3Ir. Place is in the vigor of his manhood. This is his 
 first term upon the floor, and being in the minority politi- 
 cally, he contents himself with looking diligently after 
 the interests of his constituents. 
 
ALEMBERT POND. 
 
 Mr. Pond belongs to tiie class of independent thinkers 
 — that is, the class of men who do not ask what Mr. A. 
 believes, or what Mr. B. says, before giving an opinion of 
 their own. Their opinions are their own, and are founded 
 upon a careful examination of questions to be decided, and 
 are not shaped by the mere i2>se dixit of some other man. 
 He was born August 3d, 1821, at Elizabethtown, Essex 
 county, New York. His father was a native of this State, 
 and his mother of Vermont. When he was five years old, 
 his father died, and he was taken to Schroon, Essex county, 
 and there he remained with an uncle until he attained the 
 age of seventeen. The following nine years of his life 
 were spent at Rutland, Vermont, at the commencement of 
 which time he entered the office of Reubex R. Thrall, 
 of that place, as a student-at-law. He was admitted 
 to the bar, and practiced there some four years, until 
 1848, when he returned to the place of his birth, and 
 continued to practice law. After a five years' residence 
 in that place, he removed to Saratoga Springs in 1853, 
 where he has resided ever since, continuing the practice 
 of his profession. 
 
 Mr. Pond was originally a Democrat, and when the 
 question of slavery began to divide that party, he sided 
 with the Free Soil wing. His strong antipathies to 
 slavery led him to join the Republican party at the very 
 earliest period after its organization. 
 
 Mr. Pond is not a politician in the partisan sense of the 
 term. He takes no pains to seek political preferment, and 
 is very frank in the expression of his opinions, too much 
 
ALEMBERT POND. 321 
 
 SO, indeed, to be a successful politician in this ago of 
 the world. Some years since he consented to accept the 
 nomination for County Judge, but was defeated, partly 
 because of his outspoken manner of treating men and 
 public questions, and by the union of the Democrats and 
 Know Nothings against him. But he stands high among 
 those who know him for integrity and honesty, and hence 
 he was with groat unanijiity selected as the candidate of 
 the Republican party of the Fifteenth Senatorial District 
 for Delegate to the Constitutional Convention, a position 
 for which his excellent knowledge of fundamental prin- 
 ciples of law and political economy, his independence of 
 views, and his sincere desire to labor for the good of his 
 race, peculiarly fitted him. He was elected, and in the 
 Convention took a high rank as a reasoner and debater. 
 Last fall he was selected as the Republican candidate for 
 member of Assembly for the Second District of Saratoga 
 county. As he supposed the Constitutional Convention 
 would close its labors before the expiration of the year, he 
 consented to take this nomination, and was elected by 457 
 majority. 
 
 As a lawyer, Mr. Pond has taken high rank for an inti- 
 mate knowledge of cases and precedents, and for great 
 familiarity with all the technicalities of the law, not less 
 than for large acquaintance with its great principles. He 
 is fond of fun, enjoys a practical joke highly, and deliglits 
 in witticisms and cutting repartees. He is a member of 
 the Committee on Banks, and deservedly ranks as one of 
 the ablest members of the House, both in committee and 
 on the floor. 
 
 41 
 
ALPHEUS PRINCE. 
 
 Mr. Prince is a prominent member of the Assembly, 
 both from personal appearance and political position. He 
 occui^ies a seat by the middle aisle, full in view of the 
 Speaker and the House, so that when he rises to make 
 a remark or propose a motion, he never fails to obtain 
 recognition. He has always been a close observer of 
 political affairs, and early became a leading man among 
 the Democrats of Erie county. He has earned his place 
 on the floor of the Assembly, and fills it with ability and 
 dignity. 
 
 Alpheus Peixce was born in the town of Verona, 
 Oneida county, in the " Tilden Hill School District," on 
 the 13th of December, 1824. He was sent to school from 
 an early age, and made rapid progress. The school in 
 that neighborhood bore a superior reputation for the 
 proficiency of its pupils, having but one rival among 
 the district schools of the county. His father, Mr. David 
 Prince was an estimable citizen, public- spirited, indus- 
 trious, and a most excellent neighbor, who took pleasure 
 both in the pursuits of his own family and in rendering 
 good offices to others. In 1836 he removed to Newstead, 
 in Erie county, whete he still resides. Young Prince 
 attended the district school in that town, and afterward 
 took an academic course in Clinton, Oneida county, in 
 1842-3. Owing to his genial disposition he was always 
 popular with his schoolmates, as with his associates in 
 subsequent years. He became a farmer, and was suc- 
 cessful in the prosecution of business, but being of an 
 active tempei'ament, engaged early in politics. He was 
 
ALPHEUS PRINCE. 323 
 
 always a Democrat, at first a "Barn-burner" or "Soft- 
 shell," and afterward a thorough-going party-man. He 
 was a delegate to the ISTational Democratic Convention, 
 at Charleston in 1860, and has repeatedly been a member of 
 the State and local Conventions. As a politician, he 
 always possessed the confidence of the late Dean Rich- 
 mond, whom he greatly resembles, both in personal 
 appearance and in the strong common sense which he 
 displays regarding political topics. He has always stood 
 well with his party, and is respected by his fellow- 
 citizens, as he never unpleasantly obtrudes his opin- 
 ions upon those who happen to differ with him. He is 
 "six feet high, and well-proportioned," weighing about 
 two hundred and fifty pounds. He is rivaled in physical 
 proportions only by Mr. Ray, of Ontario, and Mr. Cady, 
 of Oneida. His complexion is clear, and his eye brilliant, 
 so that he is one of the good-looking, as well as leading 
 members of the Assembly. , 
 
 The only important oflices held by Mr. Peince before 
 his election to the Legislature, were Deputy United States 
 Marshal and Deputy Collector of the Port of Buffalo. In 
 1866 he was elected to the Assembly from the Fourth 
 District of Erie county, receiving 2,609 votes, a majority 
 of 207. Last fall he was again nominated and received 
 2,546 votes, a majority of 508. His political friends 
 having carried the House, he was at once recognized as 
 one of their leaders. His career this winter will be 
 important both to his own reputation and to the best 
 interest of the State. He occupies the responsible position 
 of Chairman of the Railroad Committee. 
 
SAMUEL M. PURDY. 
 
 West Farms, a town in Westchester county, New 
 York, is situated along the Sound, and the Harlem River. 
 Its scenery is picturesque ; Bronx River hounding it on 
 the east, and Harlem River on the west, and Mill-Brook 
 winding its Avay through the central portion ; undulating 
 plains, broken, hero and there, by ridges and productive 
 and well-tilled farms, all consf)ire to combine within its 
 limits a great deal of beauty and utility. Mr. Puedy has 
 long been a resident of this town, and ever since he settled 
 among its people, has held an honorable rank among his 
 townsmen. He was born, August 28th, 1824, in East 
 Chester, Westchester county. New York. In youth, he 
 received an ordinary English education, and then studied 
 law in the office of Samuel E. Lyon, Esq., of White 
 Plains. At the age of twenty-five, his law studies having 
 been completed, Mr. Purdy passed the usual examination, 
 and was admitted to practice, settling in the town of West 
 Farms. The people elected him Justice of the Peace, in 
 1850, and they have conferred that office upon him, each 
 successive term ever since. He was a member of the 
 Board of Supervisors, in the years 1855, '56, '61, '64, '65 
 and '66, being four times elected without opposition. At 
 his election, in 1866, to the office of SujDervisor, out of the 
 521 votes cast, Mr. Purdy received 513 ; at the same time 
 he was chosen Justice of the Peace by a vote of 518 to 4. 
 Evidently the electors of West Farms are very well satis- 
 fied with Mr. Purdy. Such local popularity is rarely 
 possessed by any man. He enjoys the confidence of the 
 inhabitants in his town and vicinity, who often consult 
 
SAMUEL M. PURDY. 325 
 
 him in business matters, intrust large sums of money to 
 him for investment, and act upon his sagacious suggestions. 
 He is not a public reformer, but he entertains and practices 
 the strictest principles of temperance ; and his personal 
 example in this direction, is a potent, silent influence, 
 which wins the regard of the community, and places him 
 on a high plane of morality. 
 
 In politics, Mr. Purdt was a Whig, until the election 
 of James Buchaxaj^^ to the Presidency ; since that time, 
 he has most scrupulously indorsed the Democratic plat- 
 forms and nominees. While the conflict with the South 
 was trc.nspi.-lng, his influence, both in an official capacity, 
 and as a private citizen, was used in filling the quotas 
 required, each time when there was a call for troops, thus 
 saving the town from a draft. He was elected to the 
 Assembly of 1867 by a majority of 820, and served on 
 the Committee on Internal Aflairs, and has the same posi- 
 tion this session. His record in the last Legislature was so 
 satisfactory to the people of his district, that he was 
 re-elected to the present Assembly without opposition, 
 and no doubt will sustain the excellent reputation he has 
 acquired as a faithful and successful member. 
 
WILLIAM B. QUINN. 
 
 Mr. QuiNJf was born on the 18th day of July, 1839, in 
 the Eleventh Wai-d of the city of New York, of Irish 
 parentage. He received the rudiments of his education in 
 the public schools, entered the New York Free Academy 
 (now the College of the city of New York) at the age of 
 fourteen years, and graduated therefrom with honor in 
 1859. Having pursued the classical course, he received 
 the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and in 1862 the degree of 
 Master of Arts was conferred upon him. While attend- 
 ing the Free Academy, he commenced teaching school in 
 the public evening schools at the early age of sixteen 
 years, and was engaged in other occupations during his 
 leisure hours, for the purpose of obtaining the means to 
 finish his education. After graduating, he commenced the 
 study of law in New York city, was admitted to the bar 
 in 1861, and immediately entered upon the practice of his 
 profession, and is now engaged in a very lucrative business, 
 especially in matters pertaining to real estate. His office 
 is at 169 Broadway, and he is a member of the firm of 
 "Buckingham, Hayes & Quinn." He commenced his 
 political career in the year 1860. He never held any 
 public oftice before being elected a member of the present 
 Legislature. He was nominated by the Tammany Hall 
 and other Democratic organizations to represent the 
 Twelfth Assembly District. He was opposed by an 
 influential German, and although the German element is 
 greatly predominant in his district, was elected by a large 
 majority. He is a member of the Committee on Judiciary, 
 a position for which his fine talents, legal ability and criti- 
 cal judgment appropriately fit him. He is an agreeable, 
 affable and industrious member, possessing qualities fitting 
 him for both popularity and success. 
 
JOHN RABER. 
 
 Mr, Raber, Representative of the Sixth District of 
 Kings county, is a native of Prussia ; he was born March 
 2tl, 1 823. He came to this country when he Avas ten years 
 of age; and, until 1841, his home was in the city of New 
 York. Though he received but the advantages of an 
 ordinary business education, yet he entered upon the active 
 pursuits of life, determined to battle successfully. His first 
 employment was as a clerk in the agricultural business ; 
 in 1850, he was engaged in wire cloth and sieve manufac- 
 turing ; in 1857, he was interested in the flour and feed 
 trade ; and, some time after, was largely engaged in the 
 grocery business. In all of these various undertakings, 
 Mr. Raber has met with the success which follows energy, 
 enterprise and practical knowledge. 
 
 Mr. Raber has always been an active and unchanging 
 Democrat. Not being in any sense an office seeker, 
 he was only once before his election to the preceding 
 Assembly a candidate for the indorsement of the people. 
 He ran for Supervisor of the Sixteenth Ward of Brooklyn 
 in 1865, and was defeated through party divisions. But, 
 in 1866, he received the unanimous support of the Democ- 
 racy, and was elected to the Assembly. He was renomi- 
 nated in 1867. The certificate of election was awarded to 
 his competitor, Hon. Jacob Worth, but the Gommittee on 
 Privileges and Elections awarded the seat to Mr. Rabee, 
 and he was admitted by the House March 13. 
 
 Mr. Raber is a quiet man, speaking seldom and then 
 briefly; and, as a representative, is attentive and devoted 
 to the interests of the public. 
 
LUKE RANNEY. 
 
 Mr. Ranney is of the most unimiseachable Puritan 
 blood of New England. His mother was a lineal descend- 
 ant of John Alden, of Plymouth, and the fair Peiscilla, 
 who bade the generous youth, when pleading the suit of 
 Captain Miles Standish, " speak for himself." Alden 
 did speak for himself, and having married her, conducted 
 her to his home, seated upon the back of a bull. It was 
 a noted couple • two presidents of the United States were 
 of that lineage. 
 
 Mr. Ranney is an example of what are usually denomi- 
 nated " self-made men." He was born at Ashfield, Frank- 
 lin county, Massachusetts, on the 8th day of November, 
 1815. He was sent to school early. In 1824, his father 
 removed from Massachusetts to Mentz, in Cayuga county. 
 Young Ranney had an insatiable desire for books, and 
 whatever facii'ties he lacked for instruction, he sought 
 eagerly to make up by home study in the chimney corner. 
 At the age of eighteen he succeeded in attending a term 
 at the academy in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. His 
 father removed to Elbridge, in Onondaga county, and 
 Mr. Ranney obtained another season of academical 
 instruction, finally qualifying himself as a surveyor. 
 
 Having low arrived at his majority, he went to Van 
 Buren county, in Michigan, in company with a brother. 
 Here he remained one year, many miles away from the 
 " borders of civilization." He returned the next year to 
 Elbridge, and in 1839 engaged in teaching in the winter 
 school in Throopsville, Cayuga county. He i;aught the 
 ensuing winter at Port Byron, and in Throopsville again, 
 
LUKE EANNEY. 329 
 
 a year later. He then went to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, 
 where he spent a year in teaching. He now matured 
 tliose decided anti-slavery convictions which characterized 
 all his subsequent life. He came in contact with slavery 
 only to hate it. In 1843 he returned to this State, mar- 
 ried and settled in the town of Brutus. Five years later, 
 he again made his home at Elbridge, his present residence. 
 While living in the former town, he held the office of 
 Town Superintendent of Common Schools ; and upon set- 
 tling in Elbridge he showed a taste for politics and public 
 business. Upon the formation of the Republican party in 
 1854, he took the field in support of its measures, and 
 displayed an eloquence which was at once fervid and con- 
 vincing. He has ever since that been one of the best 
 political speakers in the county. In the year 1857 he was 
 elected Supervisor, and the year after was chosen for the 
 first time to the Assembly. Major-General Slocum was 
 his colleague. Both made their mai-k in the Legislature 
 of 1859. Mr. Ranjs-et's speech on the Personal Liberty 
 bill, was justly regarded as one of the most able oratorical 
 efforts of the session. He was also an active member of 
 the Select Committee which reported the first "joro rata 
 freight bill," requiring railroad companies to charge for 
 carrying freight according to the expense incurred and 
 distance transported. That session the famous " Clinton 
 League " was organized, for the purpose of securing the 
 enactment of the same proposition. He was also a mem- 
 ber of the Select Committee that drafted and procured the 
 passage of the bill establishing a Board of State Assessors. 
 Mr. Raxney was again elected in 1865. The old issues 
 had been almost forgotten, and he was less conspicuous. 
 His colleagues, Hon. Daniel P. Wood and L. Harris 
 HiscocK, may have outshone him, but at the latter part of 
 the session the bill was reported at the instance of Hon. 
 42 
 
330 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Hexry R. Selden, to authorize the New York Central 
 RaUroad Company to charge an increased rate of fare for 
 passengers. Mr. Ranjstey, almost single-handed, encoun- 
 tered the ex-judge, meeting argument by argument, and 
 endeavored to show by the statistics of the company that 
 no such increase was necessary. He was defeated by the 
 vote, but had the gratification of beholding his arguments 
 and statistics reproduced in Governor Fentojst's admirable 
 message vetoing the measure. 
 
 In 1867, Mr. Ranney was again elected by a majority 
 of 586. He is in a House politically hostile to him, and 
 having little of the work of legislation to perform, he has 
 not been heard from as in former years. But the fire is 
 tinquenched, and at a proper opportunity he will not be 
 silent or inactive. Few men appreciate more highly the 
 duties of the representative. 
 
HENRY RAY, 
 
 Mr. Rat was born at Feniier, Madison county, New 
 York, on the 19th of September, 1827. His family were 
 from New EngLind, and sustained an excellent reputation. 
 His education Avas obtained at the district school, and he 
 was a proficient scholar, except so fi\r as his inextinguish- 
 able love of fun interfered between him and his books. 
 But he had the wit to make his way. 
 
 After marrying, Mr. Ray fixed his home in the town of 
 Phelps, Ontario county. Being ambitious, and of a restless 
 temper, he could not content himself with a commonplace 
 life, but engaged in speculations, which generally proved 
 remunerative. In this way he has amassed a handsome 
 fortune, which he knows well how to enjoy. 
 
 In 1860, he Avas elected Supervisor of the town, receiv- 
 ing a majority of twenty-seven, and was re-elected in 1867. 
 His popularity had become general in the county, and in 
 the fall he was made the Republican candidate for Member 
 of Assembly for the first district. He Avas again success- 
 ful, and it is more than likely that he Avill appear again in 
 J 869, among the other men that do law-making for the 
 State. He is genial, full to the brim of sport, but Avide 
 awake when the occasion demands serious exertion. His 
 personal reputation is one of Avhich lie may well be 
 proud. He is a member of the Committee on the Affairs 
 of Villafres. 
 
JAMES REED, 
 
 James Reed was born on the 19th of August, 1818, in 
 New Brunswick, New Jersey. His paternal ancestors 
 were Irish, and the maternal ones were German. While 
 yet an infant, Mr. Reed was taken to the city of New 
 York, by his jjarents, where he resided until fourteen 
 years of age, having enjoyed the benefits of a select 
 school education. Then going to Yonkers, he engaged to 
 a butcher, and thoroughly learned the trade, after five 
 years' service. Returning to New York, he went to work 
 in the Clinton Market, remained there a short time, and 
 then went to Peekskill, where he hired out as a journey- 
 man at his occupation. But New York city had too many 
 attractions for him, and he soon returned to it, opening a 
 market on Avenue B, and then in Broadway. 
 
 Mr. Reed early took an active interest in politics, and 
 was a general favorite among the young Democracy of 
 1840 and 1844. The first public position ever filled by 
 him, was that of Deputy Clerk of Washington Market, 
 being appointed in 1852, which position he filled with 
 credit to himself and advantage to the city. In 1860, he 
 was elected one of the Aldermen of New York, but was 
 defeated in his efforts for re-election. He was elected to 
 the Assembly of 1867 by a lai'ge majority, and though 
 often sick, was very attentive to his duties. A short time 
 after the convening of the present House, to which he had 
 been re-elected, Mr. Reed died very suddenly in New 
 York city. The Assembly passed resolutions appropriate 
 to his memory. 
 
JOHN H. REEVE. 
 
 Mr. Reeve is one of the steady, steadfost kind of men, 
 possessing strong attachments and a leaning to things as 
 they are, rather than a desire for change ; who entertain 
 conservative views and are not easily seduced into new 
 beliefs or betrayed into new experiments, and who have a 
 hio-her resrard for the wisdom of the founders of our 
 republic than for the vagaries of our latter day philos- 
 ophers. He represents the Second Assembly District of 
 Orange county, and was born in the town of Waway- 
 anda, in that county, April 25, 1818. He has resided 
 in the same place ever since, and now occupies the same 
 farm owned by his father and grandfather before him. 
 His grandfather was a native of Suffolk county, Long 
 Island, and a soldier in the American army during our 
 struggle for National Independence. He took part in, and 
 was wounded at, the battle of Minisink, fought on the 2 2d 
 day of July, 1779. His flither was a soldier in the war 
 of 1812. 
 
 Mr. Reeve received such education as could be gained 
 from the common schools of the district in which he 
 resided during the days of his boyhood. Arriving at an 
 age when the choice of an avocation was presented to 
 him, he chose to follow the example of his ancestors and 
 be a farmer. 
 
 When old enough to vote, Mr. Reeve sided with the 
 Democratic party, and has ever since maintained his con- 
 nection with that party. He is not a political manager or 
 office-seeker, and yet he has often been honored with pub- 
 lic positions. In 1858, he was elected Justice of the Peace 
 
334 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 for his tOAvn ; which office he held for four years. In 
 1861, he was elected Supervisor, and has been re-elected 
 every year since. In all his official career he has dis- 
 played strong common sense and firmness of purpose, 
 allied Avith great modesty and simplicity- of manner. His 
 nomination to the office he now holds was a great surprise 
 to him. He not only had not asked such an honor, but 
 more than this, had not thought of such a thing ; and the 
 first intimation he had of it was the announcement of 
 the fact, made to him by a committee sent from the nomi- 
 nating convention for that purpose. He was elected by a 
 majority of seven hundred and two, over George Wig- 
 gins — the largest majority ever given in the district. 
 His majority in his own town was one hundred and ten ; 
 the usual Democratic majority being about forty. He is 
 a member of the Committee on the Afl:airs of Villages, 
 and also of the Committee on Expenditures of the Execu- 
 tive Department. 
 
ALVIN RICHARDSON. 
 
 The Third or Eastern District of Oswego county is 
 represented by Alvix Richardson. He was born in 
 Whitestown, Oneida county, New York, in 1802. His 
 family removed to Mexico, Oswego county, N. Y., in 
 1806, his present residence, that section of the State being 
 at that early day little else than a Avilderness. Conse* 
 quently the changes which liave taken place in the con- 
 dition of the society by which he has been surrounded 
 during his life time, have been very great, as his town 
 at the present time is one of the most flourishing agri- 
 cultural districts in that part of the State, and is 
 inhabited by as intelligent a class of people as can be 
 found anywhere. 
 
 The advent of Mr. Richardson's flimily into his early 
 home was in advance of the schoolmaster in that locality. 
 Consequently, his early scholastic advantages were very 
 limited. He was nearly of age before regular schools 
 were introduced. Self-instruction, natural intelligence and 
 a sound mind, have been made to compensate so far as 
 possible for the advantages now everywhere found, but 
 which, during his minority, his locality did not aiford. 
 He was early apprenticed to the blacksmith's trade, a call- 
 ing which he pursued for several years, but which he has 
 finally abandoned for the more congenial pursuits of 
 agriculture. 
 
 Mr. RiCHARDSOX has many times been entrusted by h:S 
 townsmen with places of responsibility and trust. He 
 was elected to the office of Overseer of the Poor in 1839, 
 which place he filled several years. For a long series of 
 
336 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 years he has held the office of Justice of the Peace. He 
 has the reputation of being a good and upright magistrate, 
 and his legal decisions have always been characterized by 
 soundness. He was Postmaster at Colosse, a post A'illage 
 in his own town, for five years, commencing in 1844, and 
 at one time held the office of Deputy United States Mar- 
 shal, under Hon. P. V. Kellogg, as Marshal. He has at 
 different times held other positions not necessary to detail 
 in this connection. 
 
 Although long past the age at which military services 
 cease to be due from the citizen, by the laws of the land, 
 Mr. Richardson's patriotism was such that in 1861 he 
 enlisted, and offered his services as a soldier in putting 
 down the rebellion. Xothing but the interposition of the 
 regimental surgeon prevented him from going to " the 
 front." 
 
 Mr. RicHARDsox was formerly a Wliig, but at once 
 enlisted under the Republican banner Avhen that party 
 was organized. Although among the oldest members of 
 the lower house of the Legislature, his intellect is still at 
 its full vigor. As a legislator, he is intelligent, discern- 
 ing, and carefully attentive to his duties. 
 
SILAS RICHARDSON. 
 
 A very important and peculiar element of the Republi- 
 can party, comprising too some of its ablest leaders and 
 members, is made up of those who, at one period of our 
 political history, were known as Free Soil Democrats. 
 Driven by their antagonism to slavery, they separated 
 from their former political associates, and, seeing no pros- 
 pects of success in the endeavor to act as a faction of the 
 Democratic party, they coalesced with such of the mem- 
 bers of the Whig party as agreed with them in their 
 opposition to slavery, and thus added vitality, and gave 
 force and power to the Republican party. Of this class 
 of Republicans, Mr. Richardson is one. He was born in 
 Kennebec county, in the State of Maine. On arriving to 
 a proper age to choose for himself, he determined to follow 
 the mercantile business. In this he was successful, and 
 gained the confidence of his acquaintances, and was made 
 the candidate of the Democratic party of his native county 
 for Member of Assembly. The Whigs largely prepon- 
 derated but he was defeated by only a small majority. In 
 common with many other natives of New England, his 
 attention was attracted to the fine business opportunities 
 oifered by portions of Northern and Central New York, 
 and, in 1847, he came to Elmira, and engaged in the 
 lumber business. In 1851, he transferred his business to 
 Belmont, Allegany county, his present place of residence. 
 He acted with the Democratic party until 1852, when he 
 joined the Republican party. For five successive years, 
 namely, from 1860 to 18G5 inclusive, he represented his 
 town in the Board of Supervisors, the two last years 
 
 serving as Chairman of the Board. 
 43 
 
338 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Much against his wishes, he was made tlie candiclate 
 of the Republican party of Allegany county for member 
 of Assembly, and was elected by a majority of 2,852 over 
 Samuel Swain, the candidate of the Democratic party. 
 
 Mr. Rkjhardsox is a shrewd business man, and as such 
 has been successful. He has had good educational advan- 
 tages, and has learned much from experience and the study 
 of current events. He does not make set speeches, but in 
 committees and through conversation with his fellow mem- 
 bers, exercises a large influence. He is a member of the 
 Committee on Public Education. 
 
 JAMES RIDER. 
 
 An old adage says, " Blood will tell." It is no wonder, 
 then, that the sons of Revolutionary sires, who took part 
 in the great struggle by which this country was fi'ced 
 from a foreign bondage, should bear towards the land of 
 their birth the deepest and strongest feelings of patriot- 
 ism. It is not alone the stories of the trials their ances- 
 tors endured in taking part in this struggle, told to the 
 children at the fireside, instilling lessons of patriotism, 
 that make such children strong lovers of their country. 
 There is that in their verj" blood and constitution which 
 makes every fiber of their nature throb with patriotic 
 impulses. Of this character is the inherited nature of 
 Mr. Rider. He was born in the town of Sardinia, Erie 
 county, April, 30th, 1828. His father was a soldier in the 
 war of 1812, and his grandfather a soldier of the Revolu- 
 tion, who served through the whole of that war. His 
 
JAMES RIDER. 339 
 
 childhood days were spent in laboring upon a farm, and 
 in attending a common school. His first ballot was cast 
 for the Wliig ticket. He acted with the Whig party until 
 the rise of the American party, Avhen he became identified 
 with the latter. On the decline of the American party 
 be joined the Republican party, with which he has acted 
 ever since. 
 
 Mr. RiDEK was elected Supervisor of his town in the 
 year 1861, and again in the year 1S62, by an increased 
 majority. He was very active in patriotic services in 
 behalf of the country during the rebellion. He was 
 elected to his present position by the Republican party 
 of the Fifth Assembly Disti'ict of Erie county, obtaining 
 126 majority over his competitor, Mr. Philip Riley. 
 
 Mr. Rider takes no part in the discussions on the floor 
 of the House. He contents himself Avith a quiet discharge 
 of his duties, and bringing to bear upon all questions that 
 strong common sense and an integrity of purpose which, 
 after all, arc of more value to the State than that "gift of 
 gab," which makes up in sound and fury what it lacks of 
 lo<Tical aro-ument. He is a member of the Committee on 
 Ao-riculture. 
 
JAMES RILEY. 
 
 Mr. Riley, the member from the Seventh District of 
 New York, was born in that city October ]7, 1835, 
 of Irish parents. He was educated in the public schools 
 of New York city. By occupation he is a machinist. In 
 the year 1856, he was engaged in the Walker expedition 
 to Nicaragua. In the year 18.59, he enlisted in the United 
 States Navy, and sailed in the sloop-of-war Brooklyn, 
 under the command of the renowned Captain (nowVice- 
 Admiral) Farragut, during which time he visited nearly 
 all the ports of Mexico and Central America on the 
 Atlantic coast, and was also engaged in the surveying 
 expedition to Chiriqui. Being in the service at the break- 
 ing out of the rebellion, he was very actively engaged in 
 hard service during the early part of it, and was at Fort 
 Sumter immediately after the firing on the steamer " Star 
 of the West" by the rebels. Afterward he was at Fort 
 Pickens, in Florida, during the siege of that place ; then 
 on blockading service at New Orleans, at the time the 
 well known privateer Sumter escaped from the Mississippi 
 River, and committed such ravages among our shipping. 
 He was discharged from the service in October, 1861. 
 
 Mr. Riley was elected to the Assembly in 1867, from 
 the Seventh District of 'New York, on the regular Demo- 
 cratic ticket, contending against two other candidates — 
 one Republican and one Independent Democrat — receiving 
 a plurality of 380 votes. 
 
 Mr. Riley is one of the best looking and agreeable 
 members of the House, and is a great favorite among men 
 of all pai'ties. He is a member of the Committees on 
 Militia and Public Defense, and Roads and Bridges. 
 
HARPER W. ROGERS. 
 
 Mr. Rogers, who represents the First District of Col- 
 umbia county, is, in the strictest sense, a "self-made man." 
 By his natural talents, business capacity, indomitable per- 
 severance, and high integrity, he has not only won public 
 distinction and confidence, but acquired a liberal fortune. 
 
 He was born in Queensboro', Warren county, in this 
 State, on the 28th day of September, 1819, and is conse- 
 quently in the forty-ninth year of his age. He is possessed 
 of a high order of intellect ; is cautious, but firm and 
 reliable in his judgment; a sound counsellor; social and 
 urbane in manners; and of a noble, generous nature. 
 Physically, he is a gentleman of commanding presence, 
 and "will Avin respect and confidence in any position to 
 which he is called. 
 
 His ancestors were natives of Rhode Island, and 
 ranked among the most prominent of the first settlers. 
 His grandfather, Samuel Rogers, Avas a Revolutionary 
 soldier, and distinguished himself for bravery and patriot- 
 ism through that struggle. His father, also named Samuel, 
 Avas in his early life an extensive lumber dealer, but after- 
 wards engaged in agricultural pursuits. He removed from 
 Warren county to Saratoga in 1821 ; and in 1829 changed 
 his residence to Stockport, Columbia county. 
 
 Harper followed the business of farming until the year 
 1845, when he removed to the city of Hudson and engaged 
 in mercantile business to a small extent. At about the 
 same time he purchased an interest in a paper mill in the 
 town of Claverack. His educational advantages in early 
 life had been limited to a country district school, which 
 
842 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 in those clays Aveve far more restricted than at the present 
 time. But he possessed a natural capacity for business, 
 and had been imbued with the strictest principles of honor, 
 integrity and industry. With these as his sole capital, 
 judiciously invested and actively employed, both branches 
 of his business prospered under his management, and 
 gradually increased in extent and profit until he found it 
 necessary to relinquish the mercantile branch, from which 
 he retired the present year. Mr. Rogers now devotes 
 himself exclusively to his paper manufactory, which has 
 grown to be one of the most extensive in the State. 
 
 Mr. Rogers has always been a Democrat of the old 
 school, and although never seeking political honors, he has 
 ever been a prominent man in his party. In 1864 he was 
 elected Mayor of the city of Hudson by a very large 
 majority, although the political preponderance of the city 
 had previously been on the other side. As Mayor he was 
 very popular, and his administration was marked with 
 ability, impartiality and a deep solicitude for the muni- 
 ci])al prosperity. He was urged to accept a re-nomination 
 under the assurance that no opposing candidate would bo 
 run against him, but, from business considerations he felt 
 constrained to reject the flattering honor. Much against 
 his inclination, he gave way to the urgent solicitations of 
 his party and accepted the nomination for Member of 
 Assembly in the last campaign, alter it had been given him 
 by acclamation without his knowledge. His great popu- 
 larity in the District is shown by the almost unprecedented 
 majority (419) by which he was elected. 
 
 Mr. RoGEES has for many years been prominent in some 
 of the most important public enterprises, and liberally 
 contributes to all projects calculated to elevate, improve 
 and add to the religious, moral, and business progress of 
 his adopted city. 
 
SAMUEL ROOT. 
 
 AsAHEL Root, the father of the subject of tliis article, 
 emlgi-ated from Farmiiigton, Connecticut, in 1809, to 
 Essex county, New York, Those were primitive times, 
 in the history of tliat section of the State, and he was 
 among the early settlers of that locality, doing- the pioneer 
 work of that period. During the memorable contest 
 between this country and Great Britain, in 1812-14, he 
 entered the service, and at the battle of Plattsburgh, served 
 as Lieutenant. Samuel Root, his son, was born March 
 7, 1817, at Elizabethtowii, Essex county, New York. His 
 educational advantages were good. Besides attending 
 the common schools of his native town, he pursued his 
 studies at the Westport, New York, and Farmington, 
 Connecticut, Academies. Nor did he relax his hold upon 
 knowledge after schooldays were over; for, linking thought 
 with labor, he arose to the true dignity of toil. Having 
 chosen flirming for his occupation, he so far gained the 
 respect of his fellow-townsmen as to be deemed both 
 worthy and competent, besides holding various town offices, 
 to represent them in the Board of Supervisors, which he 
 has done for the past six years, being twice elected without 
 any opposition. He Avas Chairman of the Board for two 
 years, and evinced i'air abilities in the discharge of parlia- 
 mentary duties in county legislation. As Supervisor, he 
 was very active in raising men to fill the quotas called for 
 by the government; and one full company, recruited in 
 his vicinity, was attached to the 77th Regiment. 
 
 Mr. Root is a Republican. He was elected to the 
 Assembly by 893 majority. The Speaker appointed him 
 
344 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 on the Committee on Federal Relations. He is possessed 
 of riouud judgment, and is esteemed for his integrity and 
 honesty of purpose. As a legislator, he is prudent and 
 reliable. He is keen in discernment, and affable in personal 
 intercourse. 
 
 EDMUND F. SARGENT, 
 
 Mr. Sargent was born in Brattleboro, Vermont, on the 
 18th of April, 1816. He is descended from an English 
 ancestry, of Puritan proclivities, and inherits largely those 
 qualities of his race which, for many generations, have dis- 
 tinguished it for sterling integrity and uprightness. His 
 father died when he was but six years of age, and he was 
 early cast upon the world, without patrimony or wealthy 
 and influential friends to aid him. As was the case with 
 most boys in his circumstances at that day, his education 
 was limited, being confined to the branches taught in the 
 common schools ; and the advantages thus aflbrded were 
 enjoyed by him only for the winter months during the 
 period of his early boyhood. But these opportunities were 
 not wasted. The lessons of the country school-room were, 
 by his native good sense, applied to the purposes of his 
 life, and what he learned from books, under the discipline 
 of the master, he learned also under the discipline of a 
 sterner teaclier — necessity — to apply to business. Res- 
 pected for his application, for his integrity and manly 
 qualities in his younger days, he came to the full years of 
 manhood in the confidence of all who knew him. At the 
 ao'c of twelve years, he i-emoved from Brattleboro to the 
 
EDMUND F. SARGENT. 345 
 
 town of Bangor, in Franklin county, wliere he has ever 
 since resided. 
 
 Mr. Sargent has always avoided rather than sought 
 public life. He has held, at different times, most of the 
 important town offices, including that of Supervisor for 
 several terms, the duties of which he discharged with 
 fidelity and to the entire satisfaction of his townsmen. 
 His nomination to the office which he now fills was made 
 without his knowledge, and it was with great difficulty 
 that he was finally prevailed upon to accept the position. 
 He received a vote of 2,770 against 2,037 cast for his com- 
 petitor, B. S. W. Clark, Democrat, thus electing him by 
 a majority of 733 — a majority larger, by nearly forty 
 votes, than was obtained by any other candidate in his 
 county at that election. 
 
 Mr. Sargent has, until within a few years past, followed 
 the business of farming, at which he accumulated a mod- 
 erate competence. About three years ago he abandoned 
 the farm, and engaged in the manufacture of starch and 
 flour. In this, as in farming, he has been successful, and 
 is widely known as a thorough, upright and intelligent 
 business man. 
 
 44 
 
JOHN H. SELKREG. 
 
 Mr. SelkreCx has been a practical printer, and, con- 
 sequently, has had all the varieties of experience and 
 change appertaining to that occupation. He is editor 
 and proprietor of the Ithaca Journal, a paper which has 
 effectively aided in the achievement of many a hard 
 fought battle, and which still survives, as Mr. Selkreg, 
 by his firm Scotch tenacity, has fully proven. 
 
 His parents died when he was a mere boy (the youngest 
 of a family of five children), and left him to the care of 
 the older members of the family. He never attended 
 school after he was eleven years old, and what little 
 education he had gained up to that time, had been 
 acquired in the district school at Staatsburgh, New York, 
 his native place. His disposition, at the age of thirteen, 
 rather inclined to printing, as an occupation; therefore, 
 having left his brother-in-law, with whom he had been 
 living, he began an apprenticeship in the printmg office 
 of the Poughkeepsie Telegraph, then published by Messrs. 
 KiLLEY & Low, and which was, at that time, as it now is, 
 the Democratic organ of Dutchess county. He continued 
 there, until the year 1838. Having arrived at that point 
 where he thought himself sufficiently proficient to com- 
 mence life on his own responsibility, he became a resident 
 of Brooklyn, and, for a few months, entered into a partner- 
 ship with the firm of Messrs. Arnold, Van Anden & Co., 
 publishers of the Brooklyn Eagle. Not being entirely 
 satisfied with his business relations, he returned to Pough- 
 keepsie in 1839, and published the Poughkeepsie Casket, a 
 literary paper. Two years subsequently, he purchased an 
 interest in the Ithaca Joui*nal, and, in connection with Hon. 
 
JOHN H. SELIvEEG. 347 
 
 A. Wells, continued its iMiblication for several years. He 
 afterward became sole proprietor of the establishment. 
 
 The Ithaca Journal was once a Democratic organ of 
 Tompkins county. In 1848, Mr. Selkreg refused to sup- 
 port Mr. Cass, and ran up Mr. Vax Buren's name. The 
 Hunkers established the Flag of the Union, to break down 
 the Journal ; but they not succeeding in the attempt, the 
 " Flag" was lowered, and the Journal still continued to be 
 the exponent of the Democracy. From the year 1850 to 
 1856, Mr. Selkreg saw that a great change was being 
 wrought in the Democratic party. The repeal of the Mis- 
 souri Compromise seemed to him an outrage upon political 
 honor. Such was the drift of affairs, he refused to support 
 BucHANAx, and advocated the claims of Fremont, thus 
 undoubtedly carrying over the county to the " Path- 
 Finder," inasmuch as the Republican vote ran up in a 
 single yeai*, from 1,460 to 4,030. 
 
 From 1857 to 1861, he discharged the duties of Com- 
 missioner of Loans. President Lixcolx made him Post- 
 master of Ithaca, in 1861. He was re-appointed, in 1865, 
 by Andrew Johnson, who, in the most nonchalant man- 
 ner, subjected him to the guillotine, on the 25th of August, 
 1866, for refusing to adopt Mr. Johnson's peculiar views. 
 Mr. Selkreg survived the shock; and, under the warm 
 pi'essure of his friends, accepted the nomination for 
 member of Assembly, being elected by a majority of 1,472. 
 He was i-e-elected to the present Assembly by a flattering 
 majority. 
 
 He has held several offices of business interest. At one 
 time he was President of the Ithaca and Binghamton 
 Telegraph Company, and he is now President of the Ithaca 
 Calendar Clock Company. 
 
 Mr. Selkreg during the session of 1867 was a member 
 of the Committees on Ways and Means, and on Banks, 
 
348 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 two of the most important Committees of the House. 
 The present Assembly he serves on the former Committee. 
 Mr. Selkreg possesses a sound, discriminating judg- 
 ment ; has a good deal of dry humor, and is as keen as 
 steel. His vigilance is unremitting. In debate he is 
 forcible, concise and convincing, and always " hits the nail 
 on the head." Short but decisive is his motto. He is a 
 very worthy and influential member, and of unquestioned 
 integrity. 
 
 WILLIAM C. H. SHERMAN. 
 
 Major Sherman was born in Norwich, Connecticut, 
 and is thirty-eight years old. His ancestors were natives 
 of Rhode Island. His parents were wealthy, and gave 
 him a liberal education. In early life he embarked in 
 mercantile pursuits. Before the war he was living in the 
 city of New York, Avhere he was engaged as a commission 
 merchant in the dry goods trade. At the outbreak of the 
 rebellion, he resolved to give his energies to the defense of 
 the flag, and when the Seventy-first Regiment went out to 
 serve the Government, he, being a member of the organ- 
 ization, went with it to the seat of war. Displaying 
 business qualities of a high order, as well as soldierly 
 gallantry and courage, he was soon called to the Pay 
 Department, and being promoted to the rank of Major and 
 assigned to duty as Paymaster, accompanied General 
 Sherman in his " march from Atlanta to the sea," and 
 served in that capacity until the return of peace. It is 
 said of him in ofiicial circles that he was entrusted with 
 
WILLIAM C. H. SHEBMAN, 349 
 
 immense sums of money by his superiors in the aforesaid 
 Department, and otherwise given large and important 
 responsibilities, and that in no instance did he fail to justify 
 the confidence in him so placed. His war record is, alto- 
 gether, high, clean and pure. 
 
 After the Avar, he removed to the vicinage of Newbnrgh, 
 Orange county. His residence is in the town of New 
 Windsor, about two miles from that city. He has engaged 
 in no business there, and he is known to his neighbors 
 and acquaintances only as a gentleman of leisure, and a 
 prominent member of the best society of the section. 
 
 Last fall he was nominated for the Assembly by the 
 Democratic Convention of his Assembly District, because 
 of his availability as a candidate in a closely contested 
 canvass, and of his acknowledged fitness for the office. 
 He was largely supported by the soldiers of his district, 
 in many cases without distinction of party, and by the 
 people of Newbnrgh in the expectation that, if elected, 
 he would be to them peculiarly useful in the promotion of 
 their local interests. 
 
 His career in the Assembly has fully justified these 
 expectations, as he has been very active in furthering the 
 fortunes of bills in which his constituents have especial 
 concern, and has shown himself to be an effective and 
 intelligent legislator. He was awarded the seat by the 
 county canvassers, but his right to it is contested by 
 George K. Smith, the Republican candidate. At the 
 time this article goes to press, no action has been had 
 upon the case by the Assembly. 
 
 Major Sherman's private character is unexceptionable ; 
 his manners are open, frank and agreeable, and he pos- 
 sesses more than ordinary strength of body and mind. 
 
RANSOM M. SKEELS, 
 
 The name Skeels or Scheele indicates Swedish ori- 
 gin. The immediate ancestors of the subject of this 
 sketch were descendants of that small but noble State, 
 whose soil first resounded with the footsteps of Roger 
 Williams, that early pilgrim of liberty. Mr. Skeels was 
 born in Hartland, Niagara county, on the 29th of August, 
 1825. He is, therefore, now in his forty-third year. His 
 higher education was obtained in the Wilson Collegiate 
 Institute, of Niagara county. Until the year 1851, after 
 leaving school, Mr. Skeels was a farmer. In that year 
 and until 1853, he was a Clerk in the Post-office Depart- 
 ment at Washington, under Judge N. K. Hall, then 
 Postmaster-General. Returning in 1853, at the end of 
 President Fillmore's administration, to Lockport, and 
 having a penchant for the quill, he embraced the profes- 
 sion of journalism, joining his brother in conducting the 
 Lockport Courier. In this he continued, to use his own 
 language, "until the Whig party was destroyed by 
 Seward and Greeley." The next year we find him in 
 the West, and connected with the Lafayette (Indiana) 
 American, a newspaper independent in politics. Remain- 
 ing there a year or so, he again turns his face eastward, 
 and once more he is found in the editor's sanctum of the 
 Lockport Courier, wielding quill and scissors with his 
 usual energ}^ 
 
 In 1 860 he turns up in business in Philadelphia. Whether 
 on account of the business depression occasioned by the 
 breaking out of the Rebellion, or because of the staid char- 
 acter of the city of brotherly love, the year 1861 finds this 
 
RAXSOM M. SKEELS. 351 
 
 restless spirit again in the village of canal locks in his 
 native county. In the years 1864 and 1865 we find him 
 publishing the Ogdensburgh Democrat, a paper of staunch 
 Democratic principles. Again returning to Lockport in 
 1867, he purchased the Lockport Daily Union, which he 
 now conducts with signal ability. Although returning to 
 their midst only in June last, his Democratic friends 
 nominated him to the Assembly in the fall, and in a 
 District that gave 150 Republican majority the year pre- 
 vious, Mr. Skeels was elected by a majority of 246, thus 
 showing a gain of nearly 400 votes. This fact speaks 
 significantly for Mr. Skeels' " home strength." 
 
 Mr. Skeels, though in his first term, takes a leading 
 position in the Assembly. He is Chairman of the Com- 
 mittee on the Manufacture of Salt and second on the 
 Committee on Raih-oads — two very important committees. 
 He is also on the Sub-Committee of the Whole. 
 
 Mr. Skeels has been in politics more or less since he 
 was of the age of twenty-one. He was a national Whig, 
 and an ardent admirer of Henry Clay. He never believed 
 it was within the province of Congress to legislate for or 
 against slavery, believing with Mr. Clay that, if Con- 
 gress assumed to prohibit slavery north of a certain line, 
 justice demanded equal legislation to protect slavery so?<^A 
 of a certain line. He held that federal legislation on the 
 subject would engender hatred and end in war, and. the 
 endangering of the liberties of the country ; that local 
 self-government was the safer principle. Mr. Skeels, 
 holding to such a creed, on the expiration of the Whig 
 party, allied himself with the Democracy, and is now in 
 full sympathy with the aims and purposes of the Demo- 
 cratic party. 
 
 In physique, Mr. Skeels is massively built, weighing 
 something over two hundred, and is six feet, lacking a 
 
352 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 single inch, in height. He has " knocked about " the world 
 sufficiently to have gained an intelligent knowledge on a 
 great variety of subjects, all of which renders him more 
 valuable as an enlightened legislator. To his experience 
 and mental accomplishments, is added a geniality of man- 
 ner, Avhich, together, render him a power in the Assembly, 
 
 FRANCIS SKILLMAN. 
 
 This gentleman is a descendant, on the paternal side, 
 of Thomas Skillman, and on the maternal side, of 
 Adrian Onderdonk, both of whom were Committee- 
 Men, during the Revolutionary war, and were confined 
 in the notorious "Jersey" prison-ship, at New York, 
 Mr. Skillman is thus a relative of the Bishops Onder- 
 DONK, of New York and Pennsylvania. He was born 
 in Brooklyn, New York, but was reared by his grand- 
 father, in the town of North Hempstead, Long Island, 
 where he has ever since resided, following the avoca- 
 tion of farming. His landed estate is both extensive and 
 valuable, and he is one of the best agriculturists in his 
 town. He has served his full time in the militia of this 
 State as Cornet, Lieutenant and Captain in the Horse 
 Artillery. But, in the midst of his labors, Mr. Skill- 
 man found time to devote to the reading of law, to 
 which his attention was turned by his election as Jus- 
 tice of the Peace, nearly twenty years ago, which office 
 he has continuously held to the jaresent time. He dis- 
 charged the duties of Justice of Sessions for three years ; 
 and, ever since he was twenty-one, he has repeatedly 
 held town office of some kind. Mr. Skillman never solici- 
 
CALEB L. SMITH. 353 
 
 ted either a nomination or a vote, and, therefore, when 
 the Democratic party of the First District of Queens 
 connty nominated him for the Assembly of 1867, he was 
 taken somewliat by surprise. He was elected by a majority 
 of four hundred and forty-seven, and served as a member 
 of the Committee on Trade and Manufactures. He was 
 re-elected to the present House by a majority of seven 
 hundred and ninety-nine, and is a member of the Com- 
 mittees on Aftairs of Villages, and Public Printing. 
 
 In his manners, he is a pleasant, unassuming gentleman; 
 and as a legislator, is watchful and industrious. 
 
 CALEB L, SMITH. 
 
 Mr. Smith is one of the attentive and unobtrusive, but 
 diligent and serviceable members of the House, and is a 
 member of the Committees on Insurance and on State 
 Prisons. He was born in New York city November 21st, 
 1829. His father and mother were both Americans. They 
 removed into the country when he was quite young, and ho 
 was brought up on a farm, after the manner of those days, 
 working in the summer and going to school in the winter. 
 He learned the carpenter's trade, being apprenticed to it in 
 Brooklyn, in which city he has since resided ; and is now 
 living at No. 138 South Second street, in the Eastern 
 District. He has acted with the Democratic party since 
 1857. He was elected to the Assembly for the Seventh 
 Assembly district of Kings county, comprising the Thir- 
 teenth and Fourteenth Wards, the former of which is 
 largely Republican, but he carried both wards, and was 
 elected by a majority of fourteen hundred and seventy. 
 He has lived in th3 wards of which the district is com- 
 posed, for the last twenty-five years. 
 45 
 
LEWIS E. SMITH, 
 
 Mr. L. E. Smith was born in Livonia, Livingston county, 
 November 25, 1812, and is now the representative of that 
 county in the Assembly. His j^aternal ancestors origi- 
 nally came to this country from Northumberland, Eng- 
 land. His grandfather, Oziel Smith, was a native of 
 Rhode Island, and his father, Geokge Smith, of Vermont. 
 The latter is still living in Livonia, and is 89 years of 
 age. He removed to Livingston county when he was 
 eighteen years of age. He held a major's commission in 
 the war of 1812, and had command of the boats that were 
 used in crossing the river at the battle of Queenstown, 
 and was taken prisoner there. In 1821, he was elected 
 the first Member of Assembly from Livingston county. 
 One of L. E. Smith's female ancestors was a Quaker, and 
 in the days when it was thought to be a service to God 
 to persecute those inoffensive but stubborn dissenters, 
 she was driven through the streets of Boston and pub- 
 licly whipped for her principles. Mr. Smith's maternal 
 ancestors were from Litchfield county, Connecticut. His 
 mother removed from that State to Western New York 
 with her father, in 1803, riding all the way on horseback. 
 
 Mr, Smith was educated principally in common schools, 
 with some little training in academic schools, where he 
 studied mathematics, surveying, Latin and French, before 
 studying law. He attended the Law Department of Har- 
 vard University for a half-year term, while Judge Story 
 and Mr. Greenleaf were law professors there. He was 
 admitted to the Courts of Law and Equity of the State in 
 1842, and also to the District and Circuit Courts of the 
 
LEWIS E. SMITH. 355 
 
 United States, He practiced law at Livonia until 1850. 
 In that year, on account of ill health, and a serious injury- 
 received by being thrown from a carriage, he retired to a 
 farm, in Livonia, and has since continued to operate it. 
 He was a radical Democrat, prior to 1848, and once run as 
 a Democratic candidate for the Assembly. He was a dele- 
 gate to the Free Soil Convention which met in Buffalo in 
 1848. He took a prominent part in the organization of 
 the Republican party, having been Chairman of the first 
 Republican County Convention of Livingston county, and a 
 delegate to the first Republican State Convention, which 
 nominated Clark and Raymond. Mr. Smith Avas a Deputy 
 Census Marshal in 1840; has been Town Superintendent 
 of Schools, and was Supervisor 1857-GO, and Chairman of 
 the Board two years. Mr, Smith's unbending integrity of 
 purpose, good judgment and strong sympathy with what 
 he deemed righteous causes, have won for him the highest 
 esteem. He is quiet and dignified in the discharge of his 
 duties, and is a faithful representative. 
 
ELISHA W. STANNAED 
 
 In the person of Mr. Stax:n'aed we have one of those 
 plain but intelligent farmers that form so large a portion 
 of the Republican party of Central and Western New 
 York, and who do not follow politics for the loaves and 
 fishes, but who fully believe in the principles of their 
 party, and share in its labors because they hope, by so 
 doing, to advance the best interests of their country. 
 They do not " lay pipe" to get office, but consent to take 
 official position simj^ly in deference to the wishes of their 
 neighbors. 
 
 Mr. Stanxard was born at Warren, Herkimer county, 
 New York, October 27, 1819. He has been no "rolling 
 stone," but, with true love for his native place, and with 
 rare contentment for the sphere in which his lot was cast 
 by the circumstances of his birth, he has remained a resi- 
 dent of the same town during his whole life, and passed 
 his days in the quiet and steady performance of the labors 
 of a farmer. He has had no educational advantages 
 beyond that furnished by the common schools of his town. 
 
 Mr. Staxnard was formerly a Whig, and went with the 
 Whigs into the Republican party. Before the organiza- 
 tion of the Republican party, however, he was a strong 
 opponent of slavery, so much so, indeed, that, in 1848, 
 he voted the Free Soil or Van Burex ticket. 
 
 The only political office he has previously held, has been 
 that of Supervisor. The town in which he resides is 
 nearly evenly balanced politically, the Democratic party 
 having a slight preponderance of strength, but Mr. Stax- 
 NARD was elected to the office of Supervisor, on the 
 
DAVID G, STAER. 35 Y 
 
 Republican ticket, in the years 18G1, 1862, 1866 and 186T, 
 always running ahead of the average vote of his party. 
 He represents Herkimer county in the Assembly, and is a 
 member of the Committee on Insurance Companies. He 
 is no public speaker, but he is faithful and conscientious 
 in examining questions and giving his vote. 
 
 DAVID G. STARR. 
 
 Mr. Starr is a native of Fallsburgh, Sullivan county, 
 New York, where he was born, on the twenty-first of 
 January, 1837. His youth was spent on a farm, where, by 
 vigorous toil, his physical powers were developed in such 
 a way as to enable him to bear the tax which an after 
 sedentary life Avould impose upon him. The rudimental 
 studies which formed the basis of his education, were fol- 
 lowed by higher academic branches, which he pursued, for 
 a year, at the Charlotteville Seminary, Schoharie county, 
 an institution which, at that time, was at the height of 
 prosperity. Before entering upon his professional studies, 
 Mr. Starr went to Hampton, a small village in Madison 
 county, Illinois, situated on the Terre Haute, Alton and 
 St. Louis Railroad, where he taught the village school for 
 some months. Whether or not his object may have been 
 to increase the amount of his finances, it is certain that 
 the practical application of what he had learned, more ful- 
 ly prepared him for after life. At the end of a year he 
 returned home, and, during the following year entered into 
 business speculations. In November, 1857, he began the 
 
358 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 study of law, in the office of Hon. A. C. ISTiven, at Monti- 
 cello, New York. Subsequently spending a term at the 
 Albany Law School, he was admitted to practice, in April, 
 1801, and thereupon settled in Monticello, where he has a 
 lucrative business, and is looked upon as a laAvyer of prom- 
 ise. Being a comparatively young man, and unambitious 
 for public notice, his life has been unmarked by thrilling 
 episodes. He has been Clerk of the Board of Supervisors 
 of Sullivan county, four years; and, in 1866, was elected 
 Justice of the Peace. He was a member of the Assembly 
 of 1867, serving on the Committee on Claims, and Sub- 
 Committee of the whole. In the present house he is Chair- 
 man of the Committee on Affairs of Villages, and member 
 of the Committee on Public Education. 
 
 Mr. Starr has always been a Democrat, and has scrupu- 
 lously indorsed the platforms and candidates of his party. 
 He is a shrewd politician, popular at home and in the 
 House, and has made a good record as a legislator. 
 
JAMES STEVENS. 
 
 Among the many rising young men of the central por- 
 tion of New York, is the subject of this sketch, who was 
 born in the village of Rome, Oneida county, May 9th, 
 1836, at which place he now resides. Mr. Stevens rep- 
 resents the Third Assembly district of his native county, 
 and proves a very serviceable member. 
 
 Quite early in life Mr. Stevexs went to California, where 
 he remained several years. He subsequently traveled 
 through Central America, and still later made a tour of 
 the Western States, and then settled in his native place, 
 where he has secured a moderate competence and has been 
 repeatedly honored by his fellow-citizens. He was for 
 years a prominent officer of the Fire Department ; is Bri- 
 gade Engineer, with rank of Major, on the staff of Brigadier- 
 General Dering, and is now President of the village of 
 Rome, having been elected by the largest majority ever 
 given for that office. 
 
 Mr. Stevens is possessed of a fine presence, a good con- 
 stitution and more than a usual amount of energy. As a 
 business man he has been uniformly successful, a result 
 consequent on good judgment rather than what is some- 
 times termed " good luck." Possessing a strong and clear 
 mind, a good knowledge of public affiiirs, and with 
 extended experience in railroad and canal forwarding, Mr. 
 Stevens, at the age of thirty-one, is prominently before the 
 people of Central New York as a promising business man, a 
 warm supporter of Democratic sentiments, and a politician 
 who has a record of which no one need be ashamed. Pie is 
 in full health, regular in his habits, and looks forward to a 
 long and useful life. He is Chairman of the Committee on 
 Joint Library, and member of the Committee on Federal 
 Relations, and the Canal Fraud Impeachment Committee. 
 
ROBERT STEWART. 
 
 The parents of Mr. Steavart were both natives of Scot- 
 land, and came, while young, to this country, in the latter 
 part of the last century. After marriage, they settled in 
 Johnstown, Montgomery count}^, of this State, and subse- 
 quently removed to Fenner, Madison county. In Fenner, 
 in the year 1815, Mr. Robert Stewart was born. He 
 received what was regarded in those days as a good 
 education, spending some time after leaving the common 
 schools, at the Oneida Academy, at Oneida Castle. Though 
 reared on a farm, Mr. Stewart early developed a specula- 
 tive tiirn of mind. After a few years of dealing in farm 
 produce, he associated himself with his brother, in the 
 mercantile business, in the village of Chittenango, where 
 he has ever since resided. He also engaged largely in the 
 manufacture of woolen goods and of high wines, having 
 branch establishments in Buftalo. The firm of Stewart, 
 Graves & Co., of which he was the head, was at one 
 time the most extensive distillers in the State. Mr, 
 Stewart's life has therefore been one of active business, 
 and as such has been very successful. For some years he 
 has been President of the First National Bank of Chit- 
 tenango. 
 
 In politics, Mr. Stewart has ever taken a deep interest. 
 He was always a Whig until that parly met its death, and 
 has since been an earnest member of the Republican 
 party. He has held various important town offices, and 
 was a member of the Assembly in 1858. He has been 
 frequently a delegate to the State Conventions of his 
 party, and in 1860 Avas a delegate to the National Conven- 
 
ALBERT E. SULLARD. 361 
 
 tion at Chicago, which put in nomination Abraham 
 Lincol:n. 
 
 Mr. Stewart, as a legislator, attends to his duties as a 
 man of business rather than as a politician. Above the temp- 
 tations which too often beset legislation, and bringing to the 
 discharge of his duties high intelligence, broad experience 
 and earnest zeal, he ranks with the very best men in the 
 Assembly. 
 
 ALBERT E. SULLARD. 
 
 Dr. SuLLARD is a native of Connecticut, having been 
 born in Columbia, Tolland county, in that State, on the 
 30th of September, 1819. His father was of French 
 descent, and his mother's ancestors were English. When 
 five years of age his father removed to Franklin, Dela- 
 ware county, New York, and engaged in farming. He 
 assisted his father in firm labor, attending common school 
 at intervals until sixteen years of age, when he com- 
 menced a thorough course of study at the Delaware 
 Literary Institute, in Franklin, which he pursued for four 
 years. At the close of his Academic term, he chose the 
 profession of medicine, and commenced studying with Dr. 
 HiNE, of Franklin. He attended lectures at the Albany 
 Medical College, and graduated in 1844. He immediately 
 commenced the practice of his profession, in Franklin, 
 where he has pursued it successfully ever since. 
 
 The Doctor formerly acted with the Democratic party ; 
 was a " Free-soiler," but united with the Republican party 
 on its organization. He has held several town offices ; was 
 46 
 
362 UFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Superintendent of schools for eight years, and Supervisor 
 in 1861, '62, He was elected to the Assembly from the 
 First District of Delaware county, by six hvmdred and 
 forty-three majority. He is a .member of the Committee 
 on Public Health and Medical Colleges and Societies. 
 
 At home, Dr, Sullard is highly esteemed for his many 
 excellent qualities. He is classed as a skillful and suc- 
 cessful practitioner. As a citizen he is progressive and 
 energetic. The Academy in his village has found in him 
 a steadfast friend ; and its present prosperity and sound 
 basis are due in a large degree to his energy and liberality. 
 Mainly through his exertions it has become one of the 
 best educational institutions in the State. 
 
 During the session, Dr, Sullakd has made many 
 friends. Retiring and unassuming in manners but always 
 kind and pleasant, he quietly attends to his duties; 
 always giving his vote intelligently, and for what he 
 believes to be the best interests of his constituents and 
 the public at large. 
 
JACKSON A. SUMNEU. 
 
 Mr. SintxER is a member of a fomily that has occupied 
 a prominent phice in the history of New EngLand ever 
 since its settleiuent. Difterent members of the fixmily 
 have occujiied high places among its merchants, lawyers, 
 ministers and public officers. John Su:mxer, the great 
 grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a ca^itain in 
 the Patriot Army during the Revolution, Robekt Sum- 
 nek, a son of John, enlisted in the same army at fourteen 
 years of age. Increase Sumner, wlio was Governor of 
 Massachusetts soon after the Revolution, was a near rela- 
 tive of Robert Sumner. 
 
 In 1*792 John Sumner and Robert Sujmner emigrated 
 from Ashford, Connecticut, to tlie town of Edinburgli, Sara- 
 toga county, in this State, nnd in that place Jackson A. 
 Sumner was born, October olst, 1831. 
 
 Having obtained a fair common school education, ]\[r. 
 Sumner came to Albany, and attended first a private 
 academy, and then the State Normal School. In 1852 he 
 accepted an appointment as Chief Distributing Clerk in 
 the Troy Post Office, which position he held until 1857. 
 In 1858 he entered into copartnership with Mr. Oscar L. 
 Hascy, and engaged in the lumber trade in the city of 
 Albany, which business he still imrsues. 
 
 Mr. Sumner has never been much of a jjartisau, and up 
 to the time he was elected a Member of Assembly by the 
 Democratic party in the Tliird District of Albany county, 
 liad not held any elective political office. 
 
 Mr. Su:mner is not given to public speaking, but he is a 
 man of strong common sense, excellent judgment and 
 
364 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 superior business habits. He is a member of the Commit- 
 tee of Ways and Means, and among his associates on 
 that committee, and indeed among all who have business 
 relations with him, his judgment commands the highest 
 respect. If party managers would be more guided by 
 the advice of such men, legislative enactments would be 
 more in accordance with the needs of the people. 
 
 HENRY F. TARBOX. 
 
 Henry Fisk Tarbox has a soldier's record — a record 
 which places him on a nation's roll of honor ; and it is 
 with pleasure that we take this opportunity of alluding to 
 his participation in the grand work which, through blood, 
 and tears, and agonies, has come to a glorious consumma- 
 tion — the redemption of the Republic. The Spartan 
 mothers were accustomed to take their sons, about to go 
 into battle, and, placing their shields in their hands, say : 
 " Either this, or xipon this." And American mothers, and 
 wives and sisters, for four awful years, responded "Amen !" 
 to the heroic sentiment. The people will remember, from 
 generation to generation, the military bravery of the 
 living and the dead. The latter have given their highest 
 treasures for the salvation of our institutions ; and, though 
 they may lie in graves far away from home, their deeds of 
 valor are undecaying monuments. We make this refer- 
 ence because Mr. Tarbox's brother, a member of the same 
 regiment, was killed while leading his men in a charge 
 upon the enemy. 
 
HENRY F. TAEBOI. 365 
 
 Mr. Takbox is the son of Henry and Julia Tarbox, 
 and is twenty-eight years of age. His fother, a man of 
 intelligence, was a bitter opposer of slavery. His mother 
 was a descendant of David Brainard, and all her rela- 
 tives are Radical Republicans. He spent two years at the 
 Genesee College, at Lima, New York, diligently i^ursuing 
 classical studies, and then commenced reading law. He 
 was admitted to practice in November, 1864, since which 
 time he has followed liis profession, at Batavia, New 
 York. Prior to his admission to the Bar, he assisted, in 
 1862, in raising and organizing the lOSth Regiment, New 
 York Volunteers ; personally enlisting over forty men for 
 that regiment. He received a commission as Second 
 Lieutenant of Company C ; and his brother, D. B. Tar- 
 box, was also commissioned to the same rank in Company 
 B. Each led his company in the battle of Antietam, 
 which transpired within less than a month after the reo-i- 
 ment was mustered into service. His brother fell in that 
 fight. Mr. Tarbox remained with his regiment until he 
 was so far disabled by disease, that he was discharged by 
 an order from the War Department. By virtue of a good 
 constitution, he afterward so flir recovered from his disa- 
 bility, as to be able to accept the position of Assistant 
 Paymaster. A year and a half subsequently he resigned, 
 and, after completing his studies, entered upon his profes- 
 sion, as previously stated. He was a member of Assembly 
 in 1867. After his nomination Mr. Tarbox took the 
 stump, and rendered essential service to his party in his 
 county. The Republicans gave him a majority of 1,400 
 over his competitor, who was a Conservative Republican. 
 He served that year as a member of the Committees on 
 Internal Affairs of Towns and Counties, and Colleges, 
 Academies and Common Schools. He was breveted 
 Major, during the year 1867, by Governor Fenton, and 
 
366 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 the degree of A. M. was conferred on liini by Genesee 
 College in the same year. Mr. Tarbox is an active young 
 man; is an influential member of the House; effective in 
 debate when he takes the floor ; vigorous, but thoughtful 
 in action, and wide awake to the interests of the people. 
 
 E. CURTIS TOPLIFF. 
 
 Mr. ToPLiFF, of Cattaraugus county, is a man whom it 
 will pay to know well. He is descended from a Vermont 
 family. His parents Avere among the first settlers of 
 Chautauqua county. He was born in 1830, and owing to 
 the poverty of his family his opportunities for education 
 were very limited. But he was ambitious, and at an early 
 age entered the office of Judge Cook, of Jamestown, N. 
 Y., to engage in the study of the law. But gold was dis- 
 covered in California. Mr. Topijp^p" shut up Blackstone 
 and Kent, and in 1851, that he might get and make his 
 fortune, Avent to California. Three years were spent 
 there. He made a voyage to South America, and visited 
 the silver mhies of Chili. Returning home, he engaged 
 in the lumber b\isiness, finding it impossible to engage in 
 a sedentary life. His operations were both extensive 
 and successful, and he had a reputation for enterprise, 
 shrewdness and fidelity. Few men are stronger in their 
 friendships, Avilling to sacrifice almost anything for his 
 friends, political or otherwise, and we Avould rather have 
 some one else for an enemy. At this time he was a Demo- 
 crat in politics, but forsook the party when it adopted the 
 
E. CURTIS TOPLIFF. 30*; 
 
 territorial i)olicy of 1854. Since that time he has hccn a 
 zealous IJepuhliean, and one of the most efficient members 
 of the })arty. In 1S61, he was appointed Mail Agent 
 through tlie good ofhces of Representative Fextox, his 
 personal and political friend, and retained the position two 
 years. lie was elected Supervisor of Salamanca in 1863, 
 and was twice re-elected. In 18G5, he became for the first 
 time a member of the Assembly. He soon displayed rare 
 capacity as a working member. President Lincoln had 
 made his last call for recruits, and the cpiota assigned to this 
 State was considered to be too large. .\ committee of the 
 Legislature was sent to AYashington, Mr. Toplifp being 
 one of the members on the part of the Assembly. He 
 readily comprehended the situation, had a personal con- 
 versation with the President, told his story, and the 
 mission was successful. Mr. Topliff was re-elected in 
 1866, and became one of the most influential members. 
 Forgetting every personal slight, he devoted himself to 
 the vigorous prosecution of every measure which he con- 
 sidered beneficial. 
 
 Uepresenting his District several times in State Con- 
 ventions, he Avas always a leading spirit. In the present 
 House, being in the minority, his activity has been 
 circumscribed, but he is wary, and ready to detect every 
 Mse move which his adversaries may make. He is neither 
 easy to out-manage nor to beat. His record has always 
 been good, and he is foithful to the interests of his con- 
 stituents. 
 
SAMUEL H. TORREY. 
 
 Mr. Torre Y, the father of the subject of this brief sketch 
 was born in Connecticut, and when quite young emigrated 
 to Western New York. He located at the town of Italy, 
 Yates county. It was then an unbroken wilderness. His 
 integrity and practical sense gave him a position of influ- 
 ence. He was one of those who participated in and shaped 
 the destinies of Wesrei-n New York. 
 
 His son, Samuel H. Torrey, was born on the 4th day 
 of July, 1816. As was quite common at that period he 
 left the parental roof at the age of fourteen years, as an 
 adventurer. Resolute, persevering and indomitable, he 
 surmounted every hindrance and acquired a liberal educa- 
 tion. In 1837 he entered the law oflice of Wilson & 
 Lester of Canandaigua, and completed his legal course 
 in the oflice of John L. Talcott, of Bufialo. In the year 
 1841 he was admitted to the Bar and entered upon his 
 professional career at Rushville, Yates county. By indus- 
 try, honesty and an aptitude in his profession, he gained 
 the confidence and respect of the community and also a 
 lucrative practice. This confidence and respect he still 
 retains. He married a very estimable lady, a resident of 
 Naples, Ontario county, at which place he then located. 
 Circumstances as well as inclination now led him into 
 agricultural pursuits. In this new vocation his self reliance 
 and force of character enabled him to succeed. He became 
 a successful husbandman, and an extensive landholder, and 
 his opinions and counsel in business matters as well as in 
 his profession, are held in high estimation. 
 
SAMUEL n. TORREY. 369 
 
 His history is an illustration of tlie omnipotence of 
 resolution, and the workings of Anierioin life and Ameri- 
 can entei-prise. Mr. Torrey is emphatically a self-made 
 man. lie has always taken a deep interest in the develop- 
 ment and advancement of his town, his county, State and 
 the Nation. His earnestness, candor and patriotism have 
 given him a deservedly high rank. He has been forced to 
 accept various positions of trust in his own town, and 
 frequently, when grave questions have been involved, he 
 has represented his district at our State Conventions. In 
 all of these positions he has met the expectations of a 
 confiding constituency. He was a delegate to the National 
 Convention which nominated Abrahasi Lincoln for Pres- 
 ident. He was elected to the Assembly from the Second 
 District of Ontario county, in 1866, serving on the Com- 
 mittees on Claims and Aifairs of Villages; and was 
 re-elected in 1867. In the present session he is a member 
 of the Sub-Committee of the Whole, and the Committee 
 on Charitable Institutions. Few men in Ontario county 
 enjoy a greater share of the confidence of the masses than 
 does Mr. Torrey. Genial in temper, truthful in utterance, 
 approachable from inclination, he is a particular favoi-ite. 
 As a speaker, he is forcible and earnest, although seldom 
 taking part in debate, and gives utterance to his con- 
 victions without circumlocution. He has faith in what he 
 says, and he manifests this faith by corresponding works. 
 He has acquired an honorable record in the Legislature 
 for his integrity and ability, and wields a creditable influ- 
 ence. The impression is generally obtaining that Mr. 
 Torrey is a rising man. 
 
 47 
 
DEWITT CLINTON TOWER. 
 
 Mr. Tower is one of the Kings connty delegation. He 
 was born in Waterville, Oneida county, January 20, 1821. 
 His father, Reubex Tower, was one of the most enter- 
 prising and liberal men in Oneida county, and represented 
 it in the Assembly in 1828. His son received a liberal 
 education, and graduated at Harvard College in the class 
 of 1842. Mr. Tower was extensively engaged in the dis- 
 tilling business in Sangerfield, Oneida county, and was 
 Supervisor of the town in 1848 and 1849. He M'as one of 
 the most popular men in the town, and although he 
 always had a mind of his own, he had the warm friend- 
 ship of every one, and not a single enemy. He removed 
 to Brooklyn in 1850, continuing as distiller for some time, 
 when he engaged in banking, and is now President of the 
 Mechanics' and Traders' Bank, at Greenpoint, Mr, 
 Tower is a genial and warm friend, good business mana- 
 ger, and successful financier. He is Chairman of the 
 Committee on Banks. 
 
PETER TRAINER 
 
 Peteu Traixek was born in the city of Hartford, Con- 
 necticnt, May 27, 1833. His early education received care- 
 ful attention. Besides the usual instruction in the public 
 schools, he also took an academical course at SufReld Insti- 
 tute. Coming to New York he engaged in mercantile 
 business. The war breaking out, he accompanied the New 
 York Volunteers to the field, and rendered valuable service 
 to them in various ways, accepting for himself no rank or 
 position, but acting as an assistant to the quartermaster. 
 Returning home he resumed business as a merchant at No. 
 1203 Broadway, and has prosecuted it ever since with suc- 
 cess. He has not been known as an office holder, except 
 as Trustee of Schools, until his election to the Assembly, 
 for which he received 2,644 votes, or a majority of 514 
 over Mr. Johx V. GracLEY, Republican. Mr. Trainer is 
 a gentleman of fine personal appearance, obliging dispo- 
 sition and agreeable manner, and makes a popular repre- 
 sentative. He is a good school officer in New York, and 
 makes a good Assemblyman. There are few duties which 
 he will not discharcre well. 
 
DAVID UNDERWOOD. 
 
 Mr. Underavood has never, liitherto, mingled much m 
 politics. He belongs to that class of men whose minds 
 dwell more particularly upon business affairs, and who 
 thereby gain a vast fund of good, practical knowledge, 
 which is doubly valuable because it has been gathered 
 fiom experience. Mr. Uxderwood claims no more than 
 he deserves in this direction. His English ancestors came 
 to this country before the Kevolutionary war, and settled 
 ia Massachusetts. Thence, Mr. Underwood's father 
 removed to Marlboro, Vermont, which is the birth place 
 of the gentleman of whom we are writing. At the age of 
 eleven, the boy, David, came to this State; and, as soon 
 as he became old enough, he interested himself in the 
 manufacture and sale of lumber. This was more than 
 thirty years ago. The growing demand for timber, in 
 consequence of increasing enterprise in our cities and vil- 
 lages, presented fine opportunities for a sagacious man 
 like Mr. Underwood, to extend his business, until he 
 arose from a position of comparative Aveakness to one of 
 worth and strength. While engaged in his business, he 
 forwarded a great deal of lumber to distant markets, and 
 thereby had abundant opportunities for learning the wants 
 of the Champlain canal, which has been so much neglected 
 of late, and the claims of which, the men of Northern 
 New York are pressing Avith an earnestness and a vigor 
 commensurate with the object in view. And there are 
 cogent reasons why their voices should be heard, for the 
 vast resources of that region are not yet properly tinder- 
 stood by the public at large. But men of Avealth and 
 
DAVID rXDEKM'OOD. 3*73 
 
 foresight, ■who reside in that section of the State, kno-w 
 fall well that ampler facilities ought to be afforded for the 
 transportation of the products ^which come from that 
 quarter. It was with the object to remedy this state of 
 things, that Mr. Uxdeuwood consented to ran for the 
 olfice which he now holds in the Assembly. He was 
 elected by a majority of 1,403, having run 500 ahead of 
 the rest of his ticket. In politics, he has belonged to the 
 Republican party evei- since it was formed. As a citizen, 
 he is public spirited, and is respected for his many excel- 
 Lmt qualities. He is one of the most energetic and influ- 
 ential men in the village of Fort Edward, where lie 
 resides, and probably to no one, more than Mr. Under- 
 wood, is it indebted for its present prosperity and business 
 activity. He is a member of the Committee on Canals, 
 one of the most important in the House. He is also a 
 member of the Committee which impeached Canal Com- 
 missioner DoRX, and made an able minority report in the 
 matter, in which, while he agreed with the Committee in 
 recommending the impeachment of Mr. Doen, he took the 
 position tliat the Committee should extend their investiga- 
 tions rigidly to all oflicers of the canals who have proved 
 recreant to their trusts. 
 
GEORGE B. VAN BRUNT. 
 
 Colonel George B. Van Brunt was born at Sylvan 
 Brook, Staten Island, on the 30tli day of May, 1829. 
 Both of his grandfathers were soldiers in the war of the 
 Revolution. He was educated in the public schools of 
 New York ; and upon the breaking out of the rebellion, 
 enlisted in the 47th Regiment of New York Volunteers, 
 June 3d, 1861. He was not long in achieving rank, 
 being in turn First Lieutenant, Captain, Major, and 
 Lieutenant-Colonel. His regiment was attached to the 
 Department of the South, consisting of the States of 
 South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. His record is that 
 of an industrious, courageous and efficient officer — and 
 he took part in every engagement in which the regiment 
 participated. 
 
 After his discharge, he received the appointment of 
 Deputy Surveyor of the port of New York, in December, 
 1864. Being in early manhood a Whig, and afterward a 
 zealous Republican, he was dismissed from office in April, 
 1867. He opened an office immediately as a Real Estate 
 Broker, at No. 146 East Fiftieth street; and in the fall 
 Avas nominated for the Assembly in the Twentieth Dis- 
 trict, receiving a plurality of 106 votes over Henry 
 Clausen, Mozart Hall Democrat. He is a staunch 
 Republican, preferring principle to position, and doing 
 yeoman's service in whatever he undertakes. He is an 
 effective member of the Assembly. 
 
THEODORE VAN VO LKENB URGH. 
 
 Mr. Vax Volkenburgu, when twelve years old, was 
 deprived of his flxthor, by death, and was thns left, with 
 his mother, in quite straitened, circumstances. Pie was 
 born in the city of Albany, April 1st, 1835, and attended 
 public and private schools until he was sixteen years of 
 age. He then, though so young, began to teach school ; 
 anjd succeeded so well that he continued in the same place 
 for three years in succession. At the end of that time, 
 anxious to become more proficient as a student, he entered 
 the Albany Academy. Not long afterwards he left that 
 institution, and attended the State Normal School. Hav- 
 ing passed through the ditfercnt grades of study to the 
 senior year, he was obliged to leave his studies, in order 
 to begin the business of life. 
 
 Mr. Ya:s Volkexburgh married when he was twenty- 
 one, and immediately thereafter engaged in farming, an 
 occupation which he still follows. He is a Democrat. His 
 party elected him as Assessor for the town of Watervliet, 
 in 1863, and he held that office for three years. Last fall 
 he was nominated, by acclamation, for candidate for Mem- 
 ber of the Assembly for the Fourth Assembly District in 
 Albany county. He was elected by a majority of 328. 
 He is on the Committees on Insurance and Petitions of 
 Aliens. 
 
 Whatever Mr. Van Volkenbuegh has attained, has 
 been accomplished by his own perseverance and foresight. 
 Being left without any influential relatives to advise and 
 advance him, he was, fortunately perhaps, obliged to work 
 out his own course. 
 
CHARLES H. WEED. 
 
 Mv. Weed is of genuine Yankee blood, tind has had 
 some of the roving Yankee's experience. His parents 
 were natives of Plymouth, Litchfield county, Connecticut, 
 who emigrated to Cazenovia, Madison county, in the year 
 1803, at wliich place he was born December 2d, 1810. 
 H3 obtained a very good common school education, and 
 then became one of tlie seven pupils with which the Oneida 
 Conference Seminary was opened, forty-five years ago. 
 He has lived to see it one of the most flourisliing institu- 
 tions of learning in the State. From the age of eighteen 
 to twenty-two he spent the summers in labor upon his 
 father's farm, and the winters in teaching school. Li 1832, 
 he went into the State of Ohio, and spent some time in 
 teaching school, and tlien accepted the position of clerk in 
 a store. He remained in the State of Ohio three years, 
 and then returned to this State and engaged in the mer- 
 cantile business in Onondaga county. In 1854, he was 
 appointed Superintendent of one of the divisions of the 
 Erie Canal, which office he held for two years, discharging 
 its duties to the entire satisfaction of the Canal Board. 
 
 Li 1856, Mr, Weed removed to Weedsport, Cayi;ga 
 county, N. Y., and engaged in the distillery business. In 
 1862, his distillery buihling was destroyed by fire, involv- 
 ing a loss of $50,000. In 1836, he purchased tlie "Putnam 
 Mill" site and erected a large flouring mill, and had just 
 commenced running it when it was set on fire by an 
 incendiary, subjecting him to a loss of $15,000. 
 
 During the rebellion, Mr. Weed was very active and 
 efficient in raising recruits for the L^nion army and in 
 filling the quotas of his town. 
 
D. GERRY WELLINGTON, 377 
 
 He was elected a member of Assembly from the First 
 District of Cayuga county by the Republican party, 
 obtaining 796 majority over Oliver Wood. He is a 
 member of the Committee on State Prisons. In com- 
 mittee and on the floor of the house he is active and 
 vigilant, and though not a great talker, what he says is to 
 the point, for he is a man of sound judgment. Socially, 
 he is genial and affable, and possesses the qualities which 
 secure and retain valuable friendships. 
 
 D. GERRY WELLINGTON, 
 
 Mr. Wellington was born in Cazenovia, Madison 
 county, January 8, 1838. He was educated in the Oneida 
 Conference Seminary, from which he graduated in 1859, 
 and entered Union College, where he passed the Sopho- 
 more year, and then entered the Albany Law School, 
 from which he graduated in 1801. Being a laborious and 
 apt scholar, he was of course thoroughly proficient in his 
 studies. In the fall of 1861, he opened an oflice in the 
 village of Hamilton, Madison county, and is now engaged 
 in the successful practice of law in that village. In the 
 fall of 1862, his patriotic impulses led him to abandon his 
 growing practice, and he enlisted as a private in the 176th 
 Regiment New York State Volunteers, and was immedi- 
 ately elected Captain of Company E. His modest distrust 
 of his qualifications for the position, led him to decline it, 
 but he yielded to the earnest desire of the company that 
 he should hold a leading position in their ranks, and 
 48 
 
378 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 acceptecl the position of First-Lieutenant. The regiment 
 went into camp at Jamaica, Long Island, and remained 
 there until January, 1863, when it embarked in the Banks 
 expedition for New Orleans. He Avas taken jjrisoner at 
 Lafourche Crossing, Louisiana, January 23, 1863, and was 
 taken to Camp Ford Tyler, Texas, where he remained 
 a prisoner until July 24, 1864 (thirteen months), when he 
 was exchanged. He was honorably discharged from the 
 service in the following August. He immediately resumed 
 the practice of his profession. He was nominated for 
 Justice of the Peace of the town of Hamilton in 1 865, 
 and was indorsed by the Democratic party, thu^ receiving 
 the unanimous support of both parties. He held the office 
 thus flatteringly bestowed imtil elected to the present 
 Assembly. If any other evidence was needed of his per- 
 sonal popularity than was shown in his election as Justice, 
 it is found in the vote he received in his native town 
 during the canvass for member. The Democratic State 
 ticket received 126 votes in the town, and of that vote he 
 received 65, leaving his Democratic opponent but 61, thus 
 beating him in his own party alone by a majority of four. 
 Mr. Wellin-gton is a quiet but active member of the 
 House, and is a member of the Railroad Committee. 
 When he has anything to say, he presents his points 
 clearly and forcibly, and hence, very efiectively. He is 
 strong in the regards and esteem of all who have formed 
 his acquaintance. 
 
JARED A. WELLS. 
 
 Mr. Wells' place of nativity is New York city ; but 
 owing" to the death of his mother, which occurred in 
 1834 — when he was about a year ohl — he was adopted 
 by an uncle residing at Rockland Lake, N. Y., Avith 
 whom he remained until he was eighteen. During this 
 time, he had acquired a common school education. He 
 was then sent to a boai'ding school, at Pennington, N. J., 
 and subsequently to a like institution at East Greenwich, 
 R. L About the time of his return home from the 
 latter place, his uncle and aunt died. They had filled 
 the places of parents to him, and he felt keenly their 
 sudden decease. Mr. Wells soon left the place of his 
 adoption, and returned to the city of New York, where 
 he remained in the mercantile business until the sum- 
 mer of 1861. In that year, he closed up his affairs in 
 New York, and removed to Petersburgh, a quiet, rural 
 town in Rensselaer county, New York. He was imme- 
 diately recognized as a gentleman of worth. In the 
 Spring of 1863, the citizens of that town elected him 
 to the office of Justice of the Peace ; in the Fall of 1865, 
 he was elected Justice of the Sessions, and re-elected 
 the next year. He was nominated for Member of the 
 Assembly, in the present Legislature, against Albert S. 
 Pease, and was elected by 673 majority, being the only 
 successful Republican candidate for the Assembly in his 
 county. 
 
 Mr. Wells has always been an advocate of Republican 
 tenets. His convictions of the true mission of his party 
 were firm before the war : and while the Rebellion was in 
 
380 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 progress he gave substantial aid in putting it clown by- 
 furnishing a substitute, though he himself was not drafted. 
 Mr. Wells served nine years in the 12th Kew York 
 Regiment State Militia, and also for three years held the 
 position of Captain of Company "A," 9Vth Regiment, 
 New York State National Guard, Colonel Schuyler 
 Geeenman' commanding. He resigned, however, and was 
 honorably discharged from the service. He is an agreea- 
 ble acquaintance and an upright man, and is the possessor 
 of good mental powers and a kindly heart. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Committee on Agriculture. 
 
 STEPHEN H. WENDOVER 
 
 Mr. Wendover Avas, until recently, interested in the 
 forwarding business ; he represents the third generation 
 of his family continuously engaged therein. His grand- 
 fi^ther, Avho was a native and resident of New York city 
 at the outbreak of the Revolution, was related to Peter 
 Wendover, one of the framers of the first State Constitu- 
 tion of New York, and primarily suggested the idea of 
 the National Flag as it now is. 
 
 Mr, Wexdover was born in the town of Stuyvesant, 
 Columbia county. New York, on the 28th day of July, 
 1831. His boyhood was unbroken by any stern neces- 
 sities, or pinching privations; his father, a gentleman of 
 competence, educated him Avith a view to business, and 
 gave him all the facilities necessary to prepare him for 
 commercial pursuits. Placing his son in the Kinderhook 
 Academy, an institution situated at Kinderhook, Columbia 
 
STEPHEN H. WENDOVEK. 381 
 
 county, New York, he gave him all of the benefits which 
 that school afforded. In 1848, Mr. Wendgter, then 
 seventeen years of age, left the Academy, aud became a 
 clerk in his father's business, to which he succeeded in 
 1855, and Avhich he conducted with fine business skill. 
 
 Mr. Wendover never, until the autumn of 1866, allowed 
 his name to be used for the candidacy for office ; but at 
 that time, his Republican friends, in vicAV of the political 
 strength of the probable competitor, urged liim to run for 
 the Assembly, and he was elected by seventy-two majority. 
 His strength before tlie people, and which is eminently 
 deserved, is shown by his re-election last fall, in a very 
 close district. He served in the last Assembly on the 
 Committee on Commerce and Navigation, and the present 
 session on Trade and Manufactures. Mr. Wexdover, on 
 first acquaintance, is somewhat reserved ; but among his 
 friends he is genial, and is uniformly polite to everybody. 
 He is emphatically a discerning, large-hearted man. He 
 is safe as a counsellor, and reliable in action. His integ- 
 rity is spotless, and his services invaluable. He is a tower 
 of strensrth in the risfht. 
 
WILLIAM L. WILEY 
 
 Me. "Wiley, member from the 19th District of New 
 York, was born in the First Ward of that city on the 
 18th of March, 1825. His ancestors, several of wliom 
 were soldiers in the Revolntionary war, came to this 
 country from Scotland, in 173.5, and became residents of 
 that ward, where they continued to reside for nearly a 
 century. 
 
 At the outbreak of the Rebellion, Mr. Wiley took 
 strong ground in favor of the Government, and Avas asso- 
 ciated with General Sickles in raising the Excelsior Bri- 
 gade. He acted as Quartermaster, and to his great 
 energy, knowledge of the men of New York, and execu- 
 tive ability, may be attributed, in a large degree, the 
 rapid and successful organization of that brigade. After 
 having aided in placing it in the field, and at about the 
 time it left New York, Mr. Wiley's presence became 
 necessary in the celebrated Hopper will case, he being 
 one of the heirs, a case that was severely contested in the 
 courts for four years, from the Surrogate's Court to the 
 Court of Api^eals, and by the latter decided in his favor. 
 Throughout life Mr. Wiley has been an active uncom- 
 promising Democrat. He has been conspicuous in the 
 organizations of that party, and by his energy, sagacity 
 and labors has contributed his full share to its success. 
 He is one of the city surveyors of New York. 
 
 Mr. Wiley is a gentleman of commanding presence, 
 great power of conversation, quick, keen eye, honest pur- 
 pose, which he pui-sues with an unyielding determination, 
 and is fully acquainted with city affiairs. He has been for 
 
OLIVER S. WILLIAMS. 383 
 
 many yenrs a very intiTnatc and familiar friend of James 
 GoRDOX BisXXETT, cuitor and proprietor of the Xew York 
 Herald, and it is said tliere are few men in New York on 
 whose jndgmcnt Mr. Bexxett relies with more confidence 
 than upon Mi-. Wiley's. 
 
 OLIVER S. WILLIAMS. 
 
 The fiither of Mr. Williams was in the war of 1812. 
 Having been drafted in 1813, he served his time; and, in 
 1814, he volunteered into the service. He was engaged 
 in the battle of Fort P^rie, and was taken prisoner by the 
 British forces ; being held until the declaration of peace, 
 
 Mr. Williams was born in Middlesex, Yates county, 
 New York, May 11, 1823. In connection with farming, he 
 has also pursued mercantile business for a number of years, 
 and dealt considerably in cattle, sheep and wool. From 
 comparative indigence, he has acquired a good competence. 
 
 He has held the various oflfices of Justice of the Peace, 
 Commissioner of Highways, and Supervisor. He has 
 always been elected by the Democrats, with whom he has 
 heartily acted. Mr. Williams, last Fall, was first nomi- 
 nated on what was termed " The People's Ticket," which 
 was made up by a portion of the Republicans, dissatisfied 
 with the action of the Republican Convention, Avhich had 
 placed in nomination for the Assembly, Hon. Charles S. 
 HoYT. This "People's Ticket" was duly indorsed by the 
 Democrats, though it was formed of men from both par- 
 ties. The result of this coalition was the election of Mr. 
 Williams by a majority of 162. He is on the Commit- 
 tees on Internal Aftairs, and Manufiicture of Salt, and is an 
 attentive member. 
 
ABNER I. WOOD. 
 
 Mr. Wood was born, February 4th, 1813, and is, there- 
 fore, one of the oldest men in the Assembly. At the time 
 of his birth, his parents resided in Clifton Park, Saratoga 
 county, New York, where his father carried on the business 
 of shoemaking and tanning, until the winter of 1835, 
 when he removed to Clarkson, Monroe county. He is of 
 Irish descent — three generations in his lineage dating back 
 to birth under the skies of Erin. His grandfather, in the 
 paternal line, when but fifteen years old, enlisted in the ser- 
 vice of his country, and served three years in fighting the 
 French and Indians, in the old border Avars. When this 
 period of strife had passed, he settled in the town of 
 Amenia, Dutchess county, became a Baptist preacher, and 
 preached to the same congregation until his death, which 
 occurred in 1810. 
 
 His facilities for education were very meagre. Even 
 such advantages as a common school could give were his, 
 only until he attained the age of twelve years. At fifteen 
 years of age, he commenced learning the trade of shoe- 
 making, wath his father, and continued in that occupation 
 until 1844, since which time he has been a farmer. He 
 removed from Clarkson to Brockport, Monroe county, in 
 January, 1841, and after residing there four years, again 
 changed his residence to Parma, in the same county, where 
 he has since continued to reside. 
 
 In 1850, Mr. Wood was elected Assessor of his town, 
 by the Whig i^arty, which oftice he held three years. He 
 had voted with that party since attaining his majority, 
 and maintained the same party relations, until the forma- 
 
ABXEK I. MOOD. 385 
 
 tion of the R. 'publican party. He served his town as 
 Supervisor, during- the years 1858, '59, '60 and ^65, liis 
 faitlifnhiess as such officer being fully attested by these 
 repeated elections. In the fall of 1865, he was elected 
 Member of Assembly, by a majority of seven hundred and 
 fifty-one over the Democratic candidate. He Avas re-elected 
 the following- year by a majority of eight hundi-ed and 
 fifty-eight, his OAvn town speaking his popularity at home, 
 by giving three hundred and ten of the very flattering 
 vote. He served on the Committees on Canals, Charitable 
 and Religious Societies, and Expenditures of the Executive 
 Department ; of the latter he was Chairman. Last fall he 
 -was re-elected for the third time. 
 
 Mr. Wood is an efficient representative. He possesses 
 a cordial social temperament, and is at all times courteous 
 and obliging. A man of good personal presence, his 
 impretending manner readily wins respect and confidence; 
 and he blends always with his action, the convictions of 
 an earnest. Christian gentleman. 
 
 49 
 
FRANK H. WOODS 
 
 " A man with noble ancestry," says Paulino, in Bulwei-'s 
 Laciy of Lyons, " is like a representative of the past ;" 
 but like the supposed prince to whom this eulogy was 
 applied, the gentleman whose name stands at the head of 
 this sketch is by no means " a pensioner upon the dead." 
 Without the favor of wealth or the advantages of paren- 
 tal distinction, he began life a poor boy, almost wholly 
 dependent, from the very beginning, upon himself for a 
 livelihood ; yet, by dint of hard labor and the diligent 
 exercise of a will which "never surrenders," he has 
 gradiially ascended in the scale of usefulness and honor, 
 until he has attained a position second, perhaps, to but 
 few men in either branch of the present Legislature. 
 
 Mr. Woods is a native of the First Ward, in the city 
 of Albany, where he has always resided. He is only 
 about twenty-five years of age, and was educated in the 
 English department of the Albany Academy, from which 
 he graduated with considerable distinction. Since the 
 ao"e of twenty-one, he has devoted himself exclusively to 
 the practice of the law, for which he was regularly edu- 
 cated, and has already established a reputation for legal 
 tact and ability of which much older heads might well 
 feel proud. He is now President of the incorporated Fire 
 Department of Albany, and was recently one of the Vice 
 Presidents of the Young Men's Association, and in both 
 of these positions has exhibited a degree of popularity 
 which has rendered him almost invincible as a candidate 
 before the people. This is especially shown by the mag- 
 nificent canvass which he made for the position he now 
 
FRANK H. WOODS. 387 
 
 holds in the Assembly. At the election the year previous 
 the Republican candidate carried the district by about 
 seven hundred majority, while Mr. Woods defeated the 
 then successful candidate in the same district, at the last 
 contest, by a majority nearly as large. The brilliancy 
 of his future career is therefore promising, and unless 
 some unforeseen misfortune should yet befoll him, he will 
 have acquired a reputation at the close of his legislative 
 labors which will scarcely be excelled by that of any 
 other young man in the State. 
 
 Mr. Woods is, by instinct, a Democrat. From his ear- 
 liest youth he has battled manfully in the cause of his 
 country as a humble representative of the Democratic 
 party. But few men excel him, especially upon the stump, 
 and it is seldom, indeed, that a State or Presidential can- 
 vass passes in which his voice is not heard. As a member 
 of the House he speaks only occasionally, but always to 
 the point, and logically. His sound judgment and good 
 business qualifications will doubtless render him a safe 
 legislator, and he will always be found cautious, deliberate 
 and intelligent, committing himself to no rash measures, 
 but acting solely in reference to the best interests of his 
 constituents and the benefits of the people of tlie whole 
 State. 
 
 In social life Mr. Woods is equally popular and well- 
 liked — a prince of good fellows, with an open hand and 
 generous heart for all his friends. He is very easily 
 approached, being utterly devoid of that awkward stifl"- 
 ness which spoils the personal demeanor of most public 
 men ; and is always sure to make friends of all with whom 
 he comes in contact. In his personal appearance he is 
 equally attractive ; with his fine, glossy black hair, his 
 black, piercing eyes and black mustache, and his ruddy, 
 good-natured face. His countenance is always expressive 
 
388 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 and intelligent, and altogether be is sncli an one as the 
 fair delight to entangle in their meshes and compel to 
 worship at their shrine. 
 
 Mr. Woods is Chairman of the Committee on Privil- 
 esres and Elections, and a member of the Committee on 
 the Jndiciary. 
 
 TRUMAN G. YOUNGLOVE. 
 
 Mr. Tounglove's ancestors were of English extraction ; 
 his paternal and maternal grandfather were both soldiers 
 during the Revolutionary war, and both drew pensions 
 to the time of their death. His paternal grandfather was 
 a native of Connecticut, but- early in life emigrated to 
 Vermont, in which State he reared his family. His 
 parents, about the year 1800, removed from Vermont to 
 Edinburgh, Saratoga county. New York, where the subject 
 of this sketch was born October Slst, 1815. The family 
 subsequently removed to Onondaga county, where Mr. 
 Younglove's youth was spent, obtaining such an educa- 
 tion as were afibrded by the common schools of the day, 
 and the best select schools in Fabius and Salina, and 
 assisting his father in his business, Avhich was tanning and 
 shoemaking. 
 
 After working at his trade for some years, Mr. Young- 
 LOTE resolved to devote himself to professional life, and 
 commenced a course of preparatory study at the Galway 
 Academy, then under the charge of Professor Alexaxdeb 
 Watson, a teacher of remarkable aptitude and success. 
 While prosecuting his studies, he taught a disti-ict school 
 
TRUMAN G, YOUNGLOVE. 389 
 
 one winter in Fabius and two in Galway. As a student, 
 he was noted for his diligence and proficiency, and the 
 thorough manner in which he mastered the various 
 branches of study assigned to him. He Avas always 
 among the first in his classes, not because he strove to 
 excel, but because he loved knowledge for its own sake; 
 and, in his eagerness for its acquisition, often outstripped 
 even the ambitious, seldom failing to win the honors 
 accorded to fine scholarship. He early cultivated a taste 
 for historical reading, and the lessons of the past have 
 still for him a freshness of interest unsurpassed by current 
 events of the day. 
 
 With mental habits well formed, and intellectual powers 
 adequately trained, professional life ottered to him its dis- 
 tinctions; and with a view to such life, he studied law 
 with the late Hon. Daiviel Cady, and Hon. Teuxis Van 
 Veciitex, in Albany, where he removed in December, 
 1846. After completing his studies with these distin- 
 o-uished iurists, he was admitted to the bar in 1847, and at 
 once commenced practice. Patient to investigate all the 
 bearings of a question, persevering in accomplishing his 
 undertakings, deeply versed in the science of law, Mr. 
 YouxGLOVE had a promising future before him, and would 
 doubtless have attained great eminence in his profession ; 
 bat soon after commencing practice, he engaged in busi- 
 ness enterprises at Cohoes, and has ever since been con- 
 spicuously identified with all the interests of that busy 
 and thriving town. He went to Cohoes in May, 1850, and 
 resided there until 1861, when he removed to Crescent, 
 Saratoga county, where he now has an elegant residence. 
 
 At Cohoes, Mr. Younglove began to display the great 
 executive talent which has made for him a remarkable 
 record. While engaged in a great variety of extensive 
 operations, he is perhaps best known as Secretary and 
 
390 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Agent of the Cohoes Company, an organization that 
 entirely controls the magnificent water-power of the place. 
 The bnsiness of the Company consists in leasing the water- 
 power and real estate to the varions mannfacturing estab- 
 lishments, and the charge of it devolves almost exclnsively 
 upon Mr. Youxglove. Of this company he is, and has 
 been for several yeai-s, a Director. The dam and gate- 
 house of the com2>any, recently constructed mainly imder 
 his supervision, are among the finest in the United 
 States, and the water-power thus made available is 
 scarcely equaled by any other in this country. Under 
 Mr. Younglove's skillful and efiicient management, the 
 development of this water-power has resulted in mak- 
 ing Cohoes one of the most important manufacturing 
 towns in the country. For several years, he had the entire 
 management of the company's large foundery and machine 
 shop, both of which were built under his supervision. In 
 company with another party, he has been for several 
 years engaged in manufacturing straw board, and has had 
 the entire direction of the business. In the meantime, one 
 of the finest and largest mills in the United States for 
 such manufacture, has been erected under his superin- 
 tendency. He was a Trustee and also the Secretary of 
 the Mohawk River Mills corporation (a company engaged 
 in manufacturing knit goods), during the existence of the 
 company, and for a considerable time had the entire man- 
 agement of its business. Subsequently, at the organiza- 
 tion of the Clifton Company, also manufacturing knit 
 goods, he became Trustee and President of it, and so 
 remains. The same is true as respects his relations 
 to the Cohoes Gas Light Company. He has been 
 Trustee, Secretary and Treasurer of the Cohoes Sav- 
 ings Institution, ever since its incorporation by the 
 Legislature in 1851. He is a director in the National 
 
TRUMAN G. YOUXGLOVE. 391 
 
 Bank of Cohoes, and has been sucli from the organization 
 of the Bank as a State institution, in 1859. He is a Direc- 
 tor in the Albany City Insurance Company, also a Director 
 in the Troy and Cohoes Railroad Company. He was 
 Water Commissioner of the Cohoes Water Works, and 
 Treasurer of the Water Fund, for six years, and, as such, 
 had the principal management in tlie construction of the 
 works. His engagements requiring constant professional 
 skill, he has kept up his law library and law reading, and, 
 on all legal points, he is his own best counsellor. 
 
 Such eminent success in business is remarkable, when 
 we consider that the man whose native capacities have 
 secured it, had his early boyhood experiences in an 
 entirely different direction, as tanner, currier and shoe- 
 maker, and who prepared for a professional life exclusively. 
 
 The political career of Mr. Younglove dates from his 
 twenty-first year, in which, as a Whig, he was elected 
 Inspector of Common Schools, in Fabius, an office to 
 which he was chosen a second time. In 1845, he was 
 elected justice of the Peace, on the Whig ticket, in the 
 town of Gal way, by a majority of twenty-five, when the 
 town was Democratic by eighty. At Cohoes, he was 
 elected trustee of the village, and held the position of 
 President of the Board of Education, for five years in 
 succession, previous to his removal to Crescent. In 1864, 
 he was the Republican candidate for member of Assembly 
 from the First District of Saratoga county, but was 
 defeated by thirty-eight majority, a result caused by the 
 errors of the soldiers' vote, in the field ; a number of bal- 
 lots, evidently intended for him, being cast for the candi- 
 date in the Second Assembly District. In 1865, he was 
 put in nomination for the Assembly again, and, although 
 the district was largely Democratic, was elected by three 
 hundred and forty-seven majority. He was Chairman of 
 
392 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 the Committee on Trade and Manufactures. In 1866, lie 
 was returned to his seat by five hundred and fifty-nine 
 majority. He was a member of the Raih-oad Committee, 
 and Chairman of the Insurance Committee, He was 
 re-elected in 1867, and was placed on the Committee on 
 Internal Affairs of Towns and Counties. 
 
 Mr, YouxGLOVE, in his Legislative career has achieved 
 an enviable reputation ; his career has been marked by 
 that earnest and honest attention to duty that has charac- 
 terized him in all his business operations. Faithful, 
 conscientious, incorruptible, he has always stood up as the 
 champion of right ; and no measure ever gained his 
 approval that did not commend itself to his convictions. 
 No breath of suspicion ever tainted his integrity, and the 
 lobby was powerless to influence him against liis sense of 
 duty. Clear in his reasonings and correct in his conclu- 
 sions, his opinions have great weight; and his uniform 
 courtesy has won him many friends. His business talent 
 and experience have peculiarly qualified him to arrive at 
 safe judgments ; and his career has been such as to 
 encourage every commercial interest of the State, and 
 foster every sound enterprise. 
 
 As a politician, he is keen and sagacious ; his conclus- 
 ions are not so much the result of quick intuition as of a 
 logical method of reasoning from given premises. They 
 are neither hurriedly reached nor hastily expressed. 
 
 As a patriot, earnestly supporting the Government in 
 the hour of its greatest need and peril, few men, whose 
 engagements kept them from field duty, have more 
 unsparingly devoted their time and money to a sacred 
 cause, which could only triumph by the offerings v.'illingly 
 laid upon the altar of sacrifice. Soon after hostilities 
 began, Mr. Youjs^glove hired and equipped a man to 
 represent him during the whole war. He also contributed 
 
TRUMAl^f G. YOUXGLOTE. 393 
 
 largely toward fitting out a company from his county ; 
 and by every means in his power encouraged and sus- 
 tained his country's cause. 
 
 In all the relations of life he is most exemplary, and his 
 character is adorned with many virtues. For a long 
 period he has been an active Sunday-school man ; being 
 a teacher in Albany ; and, both at Galway and Cohoes, 
 was Superintendent of the Sunday school for several years. 
 His personal appearance is commanding, and his counten- 
 ance reveals a gentle disposition and a benevolent heart. 
 He is one of those self made men who, forgetful of self, 
 does what he can for the welfare of all around him. 
 
 50 
 
CORNELIUS W. ARMSTRONG, 
 
 CLEEK OF THE ASSEMBLY. 
 
 Mr. Armstrong is of Scotch and English descent. 
 He was born in Hoosick, Rensselaer county, December 18, 
 1827. He received a first rate common school education, 
 and at the age of sixteen became a clerk, in Penn Yan, 
 Yates county, where he remained about four years, and 
 then removed to Wayne county. He subsequently located 
 in the city of Albany, where he has been engaged in the 
 produce commission business for twenty years. He is one 
 of the most successful merchants of the^city, driving his 
 business with energy, and exercising careful judgment in 
 its direction. He is a gentleman of [sterling probity of 
 character, respected for his many public virtues by all. 
 He is a public spirited citizen, and Albany is deeply 
 indebted to him for its prosperity. He received the honor 
 of an election to the Presidency of the Board of Trade, in 
 1867, an organization noted for the sterling character of 
 the men it entrusts Avith responsibilities, as well as for the 
 thrift, liberality and enterprise of its members. 
 
 Politically, Mr, Armstrong has always been an uncom- 
 promising Democrat of the hard shell school, so that there 
 was never any difficulty in placing him. He was a mem- 
 ber of the Assembly in ]858, in which body he was recog- 
 nized as one of its most able and influential members, and 
 was an acknowledged leader of his party. He was nomi- 
 nated for Canal Commissioner in 1865, on the Democratic 
 ticket, but failed of an election. His systematic business 
 habits keep the Clerk's desk and room in the utmost order, 
 
CORNELIUS W. ARMSTRONG. 395 
 
 and enable him to discharge the immense amount of labor 
 which devolves upon him with ready despatch and entire 
 satisfoction. His executive talents are of a high order. 
 His voice is penetrating, though not so heavy as some of 
 his predecessors in office. He is prepossessing in appear- 
 ance, tall and w^ell proportioned. 
 
MEMBERS OF THE SEJSTATE. 
 
 NUMBER OF THEIR RESPECTIVE DISTRICTS, AKD THE COUNTIES AND 
 WARDS COMPOSING THE SAME. 
 
 Lieut.-Governor Stewaiit L. Woodford, Brooklyn, Kings Co. 
 
 Dist. Counties and Wards. Senators. 
 
 1. Counties of Suffolk, Queens and Kichmond, Lewis A. Edwards. 
 
 2. First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Elev- 
 
 enth, Thirteenth, Fifteenth, Nineteenth and Twen- 
 tieth wards of the city of Brooklyn, in the county 
 of Kings, James F. Pierce. 
 
 3. Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Twelfth, Fourteenth, 
 
 Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Eighteenth wards of 
 the city of BrookljTi, and the tovras of Flathush, 
 Flatlands, Gravesend, New Lots and New Utrecht, 
 of the county of Kings, Henry C. Murpht. 
 
 4. First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, 
 
 Thirteenth and Fourteenth wards of the city and 
 
 county of New York, William M. Tweed. 
 
 5. Eighth, Ninth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth wards of 
 
 the city and county of New York, Michael Norton. 
 
 6. Eleventh, Tenth and Seventeenth wards of the city 
 
 and county of New York, Thomas J. Creamer. 
 
 7. Eighteenth, Twentieth and Twenty-first wards of 
 
 the city and county of New York, John J. Bradley. 
 
 8. Twelfth, Nineteenth and Twenty-second wards of 
 
 the city and county of New York, Henry W. Genet. 
 
 9. Counties of Westchester, Putnam and Rockland, . . . William Cauldwell. 
 lO. Counties of Orange and Sullivan, William M. Graham. 
 
MEMBERS OF THE SENATE. 397 
 
 Dlst. Counties and Wards. Senators. 
 
 11. Counties of Dutchess and Columbia, Akiah W. Palmer. 
 
 12. Counties of Rensselaer and Washington, Francis S. Thater. 
 
 13. County of Albany, A. Bleecker Banks. 
 
 14. Counties of Greene and Ulster, George Beach. 
 
 15. Counties of Saratoga, Montgomery, Fulton, Ham- 
 
 ilton and Schenectady, Charles Stanford. 
 
 16. Counties of Warren, Esses and Clinton, Matthew Hale. 
 
 IT. Counties of St. Lawrence and Franklin, Abraham X. Parker. 
 
 18. Counties of Jefferson and Lewis, John O'Donnell. 
 
 19. County of Oneida, Samuel Campbell. 
 
 20. Counties of Herkimer and Otsego, John B. Van Petten. 
 
 21. Counties of Oswego and Madison, Abner C. Mattoon. 
 
 32. Counties of Onondaga and Cortland, George N. Kennedy. 
 
 23. Counties of Chenango, Delaware and Schoharie, . . . John F. Hubbard, Jr. 
 
 24. Counties of Broome, Tioga and Tompkins, Orlow W. Chapman. 
 
 23. Counties of Cayuga and Wayne, Stephen K. Williams. 
 
 28. Counties of Ontario, Yates and Seneca, Charles J. Folger. 
 
 27. Counties of Chemung, Schuyler and Steuben, John L Nicks. 
 
 28. County of Monroe, Lewis H. Morgan. 
 
 29. Counties of Niagara, Orleans and Genesee, Eichard Crowlet. 
 
 30. Counties of Wyoming, Livingston and Allegany, . . Wolcott J. Humphrey. 
 
 31. County of Erie, Asher P. Nichols. 
 
 32. Counties of Chautauqua and Cattaraugus, Lorenzo Morris. 
 
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF SENATORS, 
 
 The Counties in wMcli they Keside, Post-Office Address and Politics. 
 
 Name of Senators. 
 
 County. 
 
 Post-otfice Address. 
 
 Politics. 
 
 Banks, A. Bleecker, 
 
 Alban}', 
 
 
 
 Beach, George, 
 
 Greene, 
 
 Catskill, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Bradley, John J., 
 
 
 
 Campbell, Samuel, 
 
 
 New York Mills 
 
 Republican. 
 Democrat. 
 
 Cauldwell, William, 
 
 Westchester, . . . 
 
 Morrisania, 
 
 Chapman, Orlow W., 
 
 Broome, 
 
 BinghamtoD, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Creamer, Thomas J„ 
 
 New York, 
 
 New York, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Crowley, Richard 
 
 Niagara, 
 
 Lockport, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Edwards, Lewis A., 
 
 Suffolk 
 
 Ontario, 
 
 Orient, ... .... 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Folger, Charles J., 
 
 Geneva, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Genet, Henry W., 
 
 New York, 
 
 New York, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Graham, William M., 
 
 Orange, 
 
 Middletown, 
 
 Elizabethtown, . . . 
 Norwich, . . 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Hale, Matthew . . 
 
 Essex 
 
 Republican. 
 Democrat. 
 
 Hubbard, John F., Jr., 
 
 Chenango, 
 
 Humphrej', Wolcott J., 
 
 Wyoming, 
 
 Onondaga, 
 
 Warsaw, 
 
 Republican. 
 Republican. 
 
 Kennedy, George N., 
 
 Syracuse 
 
 Mattoon, Abner C, 
 
 Oswego, 
 
 Monroe, 
 
 Chautauqua, . . . 
 
 Kings, 
 
 Erie, 
 
 Oswego, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Mor;:an, Lewis H., 
 
 Rochester, 
 
 Fredonia, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Morris, Lewis, 
 
 Murphy, Henry C, 
 
 Brooklj'n, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Nichols, AsherP., 
 
 Buffalo, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Nicks, John I., 
 
 Chemung, 
 
 Elmira, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Norton, Michael, 
 
 New York, 
 
 Lewis, 
 
 Dutchess, 
 
 St. Lawrence, . . . 
 Kings, 
 
 New York, 
 
 Lowville, 
 
 D( mocrat. 
 
 O'Donnell, John, 
 
 Republican. 
 Republican. 
 Republican. 
 
 Palmer, Abiah W 
 
 Amenia, 
 
 Parker, Abraham X., 
 
 Potsdam, 
 
 Pierce, James F., 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Stanford, Charles, ... 
 
 Schenectady, . . . 
 Troy 
 
 Schenectady, 
 
 Troy, 
 
 Republican. 
 Republ'can. 
 
 Thayer, Francis S., 
 
 Tweed, William 
 
 New York 
 
 Herkimer, 
 
 Wayne, . 
 
 New York, 
 
 Fairfield, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Van Petten, John B., 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Williams, Stephen K., 
 
 Newark, 
 
 Republican. 
 
ALPHABETICAL LIST 
 
 MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY, 
 
 "WITH THE DISTRICTS AND COUNTIES THEY REPRESENT, POST-OFFICE 
 ADDRESS AND POLITICS. 
 
 Hon. WILLIAM HITCHMAN, Speaker, New York. 
 
 Die. 
 
 Assemblymen. 
 
 County. 
 
 Post-ofllce Address. 
 
 Politics. 
 
 2 
 
 Ackert, Alfred T., 
 
 Dutchess, 
 
 Khincbeck, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 1 
 
 AUis, Augustus G. S.,. 
 
 Onondaga, 
 
 Salina,... 
 
 Republican. 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 Republican. 
 Democrat. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 
 Babcock, Raj-moud P., 
 
 Cortland, 
 
 Scott, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 2 
 
 Balcom, Lyman, 
 
 Steuben, 
 
 Painted Post, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 1 
 
 Bamler, George J., 
 
 Erie, 
 
 Buffalo, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 1 
 
 Chautauqua, . . . 
 Broome, 
 
 
 Republican. 
 Republican. 
 
 
 Bennett, Chauncey C, 
 
 Whitney's Point, . 
 
 f 
 
 Bentlcy, William C, . . 
 Bergen, William G., .. 
 
 Otsego, 
 
 Butternuts, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 9 
 
 New York, 
 
 New York City, . . . 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 1 
 
 Blgelow, Lafayette J., 
 
 Jefferson, 
 
 Watertown, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 2 
 
 Bradstreet, N. C, 
 
 Monroe, 
 
 Rochester, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 
 
 Wyoming, 
 
 Dutchess 
 
 
 Republican. 
 
 1 
 
 Brush, Augustus A., . . 
 
 Fishkill Plains,... 
 
 Republican. 
 
 
 Buel, Samuel W...... 
 
 Fulton & Hami'n 
 
 Northville, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 2 
 
 Burhans, Edward I.,.. 
 
 Delaware 
 
 Roxbury, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 2 
 
 Burns, Dennis, 
 
 New York, 
 
 New York City, . . . 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 1 
 
 Button, Jonas K., 
 
 Cattaraugus, 
 
 Franklinville, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 f 
 
 Cady, AlansonB., 
 
 Cameron, WiuBeld S., 
 
 Oneida, 
 
 Waterville, 
 
 Jamestown, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 2 
 
 Chautauqua, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 6 
 
 Campbell, Timothy J., 
 
 New York, 
 
 New York City,... 
 
 Democrat. 
 
400 
 
 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Dis. 
 
 Assemblymen. 
 
 County. 
 
 Post-office Address. 
 
 Politics. 
 
 1 
 
 Chapman, William H., 
 Chism, John C, 
 
 Oneida, ■. 
 
 Washington Mills, . 
 Guilderland, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 1 
 
 Albany, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 
 Clark, George, 
 
 Schuyler, 
 
 Altay, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 
 Clark, William S., .... 
 
 Schoharie, 
 
 Sloansville, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 
 Cook William F , 
 
 
 Champlaiu, 
 
 Alexandria Bay, . . 
 
 Republican. 
 
 2 
 
 Cornwall, Andrew, 
 
 Jefferson, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 
 
 Daily, Nathaniel, 
 
 Davis, John M., 
 
 Washington, .... 
 
 Hampton, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 1 
 
 Monroe, 
 
 Honeoye Falls, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 S 
 
 Dayton, Lewis P., 
 
 Erie, 
 
 North Buffalo, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 
 
 Richmond, 
 
 Onondaga, 
 
 Port Richmond, . . . 
 Fayetteville, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 3 
 
 Eaton, Hiram, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 9 
 
 Farley, Benjamin, 
 
 Flach, Kichard, 
 
 Flagg, John L., 
 
 Niagara, 
 
 Erie, 
 
 Coomer, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 9 
 
 Buffalo, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 1 
 
 Eensselaer, 
 
 Troy, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 17 
 
 Flagge, Frederick H., . 
 
 New York, 
 
 New York City, . . . 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 15 
 
 Frear, Alexander, — 
 
 New York, 
 
 New York City, . . . 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 
 Furman, Kobert, 
 
 Schenectady, — 
 
 Schenectady, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 4 
 
 Galvin, John,.. , 
 
 New York, 
 
 New York City, . . . 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 o 
 
 Gilford, Sauford, 
 
 
 Sherwood's, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 1 
 
 Gleason, George M., . . 
 
 St. Lawrence, . . . 
 
 E. Pitcairn, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 
 
 Glenn, Elijah M. K., . . 
 
 Guigou, Theodore, 
 
 Halsey, James M., 
 
 Hartman, Anthony, . . . 
 
 Wayne, 
 
 Macedon, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 ^ 
 
 Ulster, 
 
 Pine Hill, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 
 Suffolk, 
 
 Bridgehampton, . . . 
 New York City, . . 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 10 
 
 New York, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 9 
 
 Hasbrouck, Abra'm E., 
 Howard, Harris B., 
 
 Ulster, 
 
 Highland, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 3 
 
 Rensselaer, 
 
 East Schodack, ... 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 1 
 
 Hubbard, Myron J., .. 
 Humphrey, Samuel D., 
 Irving, James, 
 
 Otsego, 
 
 Westford, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 
 
 Patterson, 
 
 New York City, . . . 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 16 
 
 New York, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 q 
 
 Jacobs, John C, 
 
 
 Brookl}Ti, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 5 
 
 Johnson, Christopher, 
 
 New York, 
 
 New York City, . . . 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 5 
 
 Jones, William C, 
 
 Kings,.... 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 
 Juliand, Frederick, . . . 
 
 Chenango, 
 
 Greene, 
 
 Republican 
 
 3 
 
 Keady, Patrick, 
 
 Kiernan, Lawrence D., 
 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 18 
 
 New York, 
 
 New York City, . . . 
 
 Democrat. 
 
MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY. 
 
 401 
 
 Dis. 
 
 Asspuiblymcii. 
 
 County. 
 
 Post-office Acldress. 
 
 Politics. 
 
 
 Kinnoy, Oliver II. T.,. 
 
 Tiopa, 
 
 Waverly ... 
 
 Republican. 
 
 
 La Ban, Nicholas B., . . 
 
 Lasher, James D., 
 
 Lawrence. Thomas". . . 
 
 Warreu, 
 
 Oswego, 
 
 
 Republican. 
 
 3 
 
 Fulton, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 
 Roc';land, 
 
 Nyaek 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 
 Lefler, David D., 
 
 Little, John F., 
 
 Seneca, 
 
 Farmer Village, . . 
 Bath 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 1 
 
 Steuben, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 
 Loughran, James 
 
 Greene, 
 
 Windliam Centre, . 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 1 
 
 Louiisbery, William, . . 
 Madden, John B., 
 
 Ulster, 
 
 Queens, 
 
 Kingston, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 2 
 
 Long Island City. . . 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 4 
 
 Mallison, Francis A., . . 
 Mann, John F., 
 
 Kings, 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 New Bremen 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 
 Lt'wis, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 
 Matthcwson, Angell,.. 
 McKiever. James. . ... 
 
 Montgomery,. . . 
 New York, 
 
 Fort Plain, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 14 
 
 Nev York City, . 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 
 Miller, Edmund, 
 
 Chemung, 
 
 Elmira 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 13 
 
 Moran. James C 
 
 New Yi irk 
 
 New York City, . . 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 1 
 
 Murphy, Michael C.,.. 
 
 New York, 
 
 New York City, . .. 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 3 
 
 Nelson Henry C 
 
 Westchester, — 
 
 Sing Sing, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 4 
 
 Nicholson, Ambrose, . . 
 0"Reilley, Daniel, 
 
 Oneida, 
 
 New York 
 
 Oriskany, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 3 
 
 New York City, . . 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 2 
 
 Palmer, Julius M., 
 
 St. Lawrence, . . . 
 
 Russell 
 
 Republican. 
 
 1 
 
 Parshall, DeW tt, 
 
 Penfleld, George J.,... 
 
 
 Lyons 
 
 Rcpu Mean. 
 
 2 
 
 Westchester, . . . 
 
 New Rochelle, ... 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 
 Pitts, Edmund L., ... 
 Place, John A., 
 
 Orleans, 
 
 Oswego, 
 
 ^ledina 
 
 Republican. 
 Republican. 
 
 1 
 
 Oswego 
 
 o 
 
 Pond, Alembert 
 
 Saratoga, 
 
 Saratoga Springs, . 
 
 Republican. 
 
 4 
 
 Prince. Alpheuf^, 
 
 Purd}', Samuel M.,. .. 
 
 Erie, 
 
 Clarence, 
 
 De.nocrat. 
 
 1 
 
 Westchester. ... 
 
 We t Farms, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 12 
 
 Quinn, William B., . . . 
 
 New York, 
 
 New York City, . . . 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 6 
 
 Raber, John, 
 
 Kings, 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 2 
 
 Rannev, Luke, 
 
 Onondaga, 
 
 Ontario, 
 
 Elbridge, 
 
 Phelps, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 1 
 
 Ray, Henry, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 S 
 
 Reed, James, .. 
 
 New York, 
 
 New York City, . . . 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 s 
 
 Reeve, John H., 
 
 Richardson, Alvin, 
 
 Richardson, Silas, 
 
 
 Wells' Corners,... 
 Colosse 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 3 
 
 Oswet^o, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 
 Allegany, 
 
 Belmont, 
 
 Republican, 
 
402 
 
 LIFE SKETCHES. 
 
 Assemblymen. 
 
 County. 
 
 Post-office Address. 
 
 Politics. 
 
 Eider, James, 
 
 Riley, James, 
 
 Eogers, Harper W., . . 
 
 Root, Samuel, 
 
 Sargent, Edmund F., . 
 Selkreg, John H.,. .. 
 Sherman, Wm. C. H., 
 Skeels, Ransom M.,. 
 Skillman, Francis, . . . 
 
 Smith, Caleb L., 
 
 Smith, Lewis E., 
 
 Stannard, Elisha W., . 
 
 Starr, David G., 
 
 Stevens, James, 
 
 Stewart, Robert, 
 
 SuUard, Albert E., . . . 
 Sumner, Jackson A., . . 
 Tarbox, Henry F., ... 
 
 Topliff, E. Curtis,.... 
 
 Torrey, Samuel H., .. 
 
 Tower, De Witt C, . . 
 
 Trainer, Peter, 
 
 Underwood, David, . . 
 
 Van Brunt, GeorgeB., 
 
 Van Volkenbnrgh, T., 
 
 Weed, Charles H., . 
 
 Wellington, D. Gerry, 
 
 Wells, Jared A., 
 
 Wendover, Stephen H 
 
 Wiley, William L...... 
 
 Williams, Oliver S., . . 
 
 Wood, Abner I., 
 
 Woods, Francis H., . . . 
 
 Toungove, Truman G. 
 
 Erie, 
 
 New York, . . 
 Columbia, . . . . 
 
 Essex, 
 
 Franklin, 
 
 Tompkins, . . , 
 
 Orange, 
 
 Niagara, 
 
 Queens, 
 
 Kings, 
 
 Livingston, . 
 Herkimer, .. 
 
 Sullivan, . . . 
 
 Oneida, . .. 
 
 Madison, .. .. 
 
 Delaware, . . 
 
 Albany, 
 
 Genesee, 
 
 Cattaraugus, 
 
 Ontario, 
 
 Kings, 
 
 New York, . . 
 
 Washington, 
 
 New York, . . 
 
 Albany, 
 
 Cayuga, 
 
 Madison, . . . , 
 
 Rensselaer, . 
 
 Columbia, . . 
 
 New York, . 
 
 Yates, 
 
 Monroe, . . . 
 
 Albany, 
 
 Saratoga, . . . 
 
 Sardinia, 
 
 New York City, . . 
 
 Hudson, 
 
 Westport, 
 
 Bangor, 
 
 Ithaca, 
 
 Newburgh, 
 
 Lockport, 
 
 Roslyn, 
 
 Williamsbnrgh, . . 
 Livonia Station,.. 
 Springfield Centre, 
 
 Monticello, 
 
 Rome, 
 
 Chittenango, 
 
 Franklin, 
 
 Albany, 
 
 Batavia, 
 
 Randolph, 
 
 Naples, 
 
 Green Point, 
 
 New York City, . . . 
 
 Fort Edward, 
 
 New York City, . . . 
 
 Watervliet, 
 
 Weedsport, 
 
 Hamilton, 
 
 Petersburgh, 
 
 Stuyvesant, 
 
 New York City, . . . 
 
 Middlesex Centre, . 
 
 Parma, 
 
 Albany, 
 
 Cohoes, 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Democrat. 
 
 Republican. 
 
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