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NEBRASKA SLATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
ADDRESSES
DELIVERED BEFORE THE
CALIFORNIA SOCIETY
OF THE
Sons of the American Revolution
SONS OF
REVOLUTION
STHE AMERICAN
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES BY THOMAS ALLEN PERKINS Historian
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA Published by the Society June, 1913
PRESS OF SHANNON-CONMY CO., 509 SANSOME STREET SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 1913
Plates by S. F. Photo Engraving Co.
8161 0010 1881 666
ons of evolutionary Kires
ITS ORIGIN,
NAMES OF OFFICERS,
CONSTITUTION, BY-LAWS, ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION,
NAMES OF MEMBERS,; AND
RULES AND REGULATIONS OF AUXILIARIES
ORGANIZED IN SAN FRANCISCO, STATE OF CALIFORNIA,
JULY 4, 1876.
All honor to the brave, ' Who in the cause of freedom fought. .Who would not be a tory knave, Or by the British bought.
SAN FRANCISCO: ALTA . PRINT, 529 CALIFORNIA STREET; 1876.
Cover Constitution S. R. S.
1965
(i)
AUG 1
ADOLPHUS S. HUBBARD President 1890-1892 Registrar 1892-1913 Honorary President General 1890
ADMIRAL JOHN W. MOORE, U. S. N. President 1892-1893
COL. J. ESTCOURT SAWYER, U. S. A. President 1893-1894
(iii)
CHAS. J. KING President 1894-1895 Treasurer 1892-1893 Assistant Secretary General 1889
COL. EDWARD HUNTER, U. S. A. President 1895-1896
ELISHA W. MCKINSTRY, LL. D. President 1896-1897
SIDNEY M. SMITH President 1897-1898
(v)
COL. JOHN C. CURRIER President 1898-1899 Treasurer 1913-
HORACE DAVIS, LL. D. President 1899-1900 Vice-President General 1901
WILLIAM M. BUNKER President 1900-1901
WILLIAM H. JORDAN President 1901-1902
(vii)
WILLIAM J. DUTTON President 1902-1903
GILES H. GRAY, A. M. President 1903-1904
COL. ALFRED D. CUTLER President 1904-1905 Treasurer 1909-1911 Vice-President General 1904
ALEXANDER G. EELLS, PH. B. President 1905-1906
(ix)
EDWARD M. ADAMS President 1906-1907 Marshal 1908-1910
HON. JOHN A. HOSMER President 1907
PELHAM W. AMES, A. B. President 1907-1908 Vice-President General 1907
GEORGE C. SARGENT President 1908-1909 Vice-President General 1909
(xi)
1
RICHARD M. SIMS President 1909-1910 Vice-President General 1910
(xiii)
THOMAS A. PERKINS, A. M. President 1910-1911 Secretary 1912- Registrar 1913- Marshal 1898-1899, 1911-1912 Historian 1908-1913
(xv.)
ORVILLE D. BALDWIN President 1911-1912 Vice-President General 1912
(xvii)
ANDREW J. VINING President 1912-1913
(xix)
H. C. CAPWELL President 1913-
(xxi)
J. MORA MOSS, M. D. Senior Vice-President Secretary 1905-1909
CHAS. H. BLINN Junior Vice-President
R. CADWALLADER, M. D.
ERNEST J. MOTT, LL. B. Historian
OFFICERS 1913
(xxiii )
WILLIAM P. HUBBARD
FRANK A. LEACH, JR.
HORACE B. DAY
F. BLAIR TURPIN
J. R. MUNSELL, B. L.
OFFICERS 1913
(xxV)
.
PREFACE
In 1909 the Society published a book of Addresses delivered before the Society and Memorial Sketches, edited by the Historian.
Prior to that time only circulars, pamphlets, constitutions and rolls of members had been published, except a Register in 1901. In 1910 the constitution and by-laws and roll of members were published.
The Board of Managers authorized the Historian to procure a photo- graph of each past president. A request for a photograph was sent to all past presidents and families of deceased past presidents, except Winn, Fay, Taylor and Pickering, whose addresses are unknown.
THOMAS A. PERKINS.
(xxix)
1
CONTENTS
PAGE
Frontispieces, Officers. I-XXV
Preface XXIX
Officers, National XXXIII
State
XXXIV
Chapter XXXVII
Alexander Hamilton Geo. W. Merrill 1
Anglo-Saxons in California. Joseph D. Redding 87
Biographical Sketches Thos. A. Perkins 91
John B. Babcock. 91
James D. Bailey 91
William H. Bailey 92
Timothy L. Barker 92
Geo. C. Boardman 93
Edwin Bonnell 94
John L. Bromley 95
Geo. H. Buckingham 96
Walter N. Bush
96
Samuel W. Carpenter 97
George Childs
98
Thomas Cogswell 98
Henry Daggett 99
Franklin H. Day
99
Robert K. Dunn 100
Alex. G. Eells.
100
Henry H. Ellis 101
William J. Fife 102
David Gage 103
Giles H. Gray 103
Edwin F. Harris 104
Adolphus S. Hubbard 105
(xxxi)
CONTENTS
PAGE
Clinton C. Hull
105
Charles L. Kimball 106
Charles J. King 106
Azro N. Lewis. 107
John W. Moore 108
William S. Moses 109
Horace G. Platt. 110
Hall B. Rand. 111
William I. Reed 111
Frank S. Rice.
112
William S. Robinson 113
Chester S. Smith 113
Roy O. Sommer 113
Samuel B. Sumner 114
Roberts Vandercook
115
Clarence E. Washburn 115
Jubal Weston
116
Last Battle of the American Revolution
Geo. C. Pardee 31
Mary, the Mother of Washington Hulda H. B. Brown 23
Mission of the United States.
Harris Weinstock 60
Perpetuity of the American Nation Edward R. Taylor 16 Present Status of Reform in Criminal Procedure .... B. L. Hodghead 74 Sioux Campaign of 1876, and Last Battle of Custer
Chas. A. Woodruff 44
Sons of Revolutionary Sires.
Thos. A. Perkins 117
The Flag and What It Stands For E. H. Hart 66
The Spirit of the West. J. F. Tuttle, Jr. 27
Treaty of Paris. W. F. Nichols 9
What Time Is It, and Where Are We ?
Thos. A. Boyer 33
(xxxii)
THE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF THE SONS OF THE 'AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Organized April 30, 1889
Incorporated by Act of Congress June 9, 1906 Officers elected at Chicago, May 20, 1913
President General
ROGERS CLARK BALLARD THRUSTON. ....---- Louisville, Ky.
Vice Presidents General
LA VERNE NOYES Chicago, Ill.
WILLSON WHIPPLE KIRBY Denver, Colo.
JAMES PHINNEY BAXTER Portland, Maine
WALLACE MCCAMANT Portland, Oregon
REAR ADM. GEORGE W. BAIRD, U. S. N. Washington, D. C.
Secretary General and Registrar General
A. HOWARD CLARK Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.
Treasurer General
JOHN H. BURROUGHS. 15 William St., New York City
Historian General
DAVID L. PIERSON East Orange, N. J.
Chaplain General
REV. WILLIAM FORCE WHITAKER, D. D. Elizabeth, N. J.
(xxxiii)
SONS OF REVOLUTIONARY SIRES
Organized July 4, 1876.
OFFICERS
PRESIDENTS
* Albert M. Winn, 1876-1881. *Augustus C. Taylor, 1882-1884.
*Caleb T. Fay, 1881-1882. *Loring Pickering, 1884-1886. *A. S. Hubbard, 1886-1890.
SECRETARIES
W. B. Eastin, 1876-1877.
Emory L. Willard, 1886-1889.
*A. S. Hubbard, 1877-1886. W. B. Eastin, 1889-1890.
TREASURER *James P. Dameron, 1876-1890.
MARSHAL *William S. Moses, 1876-1890.
*Deceased.
(xxxiv)
CALIFORNIA SOCIETY SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION Organized March 22, 1890.
OFFICERS
PRESIDENTS
*A. S. Hubbard, 1890-1892.
*Admiral John W. Moore, U. S. N., 1892-1893.
Brig .- Gen. J. Estcourt Sawyer, U. S. A., retired, 1893-1894.
*Charles J. King, 1894-1895. Col. Edward Hunter, U. S. A., 1895-1896.
*Hon. Elisha W. Mckinstry, LL.D., 1896-1897.
*Sidney Mason Smith, 1897-1898. Col. John C. Currier, 1898-1899.
Hon. Horace Davis, LL.D., 1899-1900.
Wm. Mitchell Bunker, 1900-1901.
Hon. Wm. H. Jordan, 1901-1902. Wm. J. Dutton, 1902-1903.
*Giles H. Gray, A.M., 1903-1904. Col. Alfred D. Cutler, 1904-1905.
* Alexander G. Eells, Ph.B., 1905-1906. Edward Mills Adams, 1906-1907.
¡Hon. John A. Hosmer, 1907. Pelham W. Ames, A.B., 1907-1908.
Geo. C. Sargent, 1908-1909. R. M. Sims, 1909-1910. Thomas A. Perkins, A.M., 1910-1911.
Orville D. Baldwin, 1911-1912. A. J. Vining, 1912-1913.
SECRETARIES
W. B. Eastin, 1890-1892. Roscoe S. Gray, 1892-1894. E. Burke Holladay, 1894-1895. Frank K. Upham, 1895 (resigned). Edwin Bonnell, 1895-1905.
J. Mora Moss, 1905-1909 (resigned).
*Edwin Bonnell, 1909-1912. Thomas A. Perkins, 1912 (unexpired term).
*Deceased.
¡Died in office.
(XXXV)
TREASURERS
*James P. Dameron, 1890-1891. Henry M. Martin, 1891-1892.
*Charles J. King, 1892-1893.
Charles H. Warner, 1893-1904. Clarence S. Scott, 1904-1906.
*Edwin Bonnell, 1906-1909 (resigned). A. D. Cutler, 1909-1911. Clarence S. Scott, 1911-1913.
REGISTRARS
¡A. S. Hubbard, 1892-1913.
Thomas A. Perkins, 1913 (unexpired term).
HISTORIANS
Thomas A. Perkins, 1908-1913 (resigned).
Geo. W. Merrill, 1913 (unexpired termi).
(The office was appointive until 1912, when it was made elective by constitutional amendment.)
MARSHALS
*William S. Moses, 1890-1898.
Thomas A. Perkins, 1898-1899.
Sheldon I. Kellogg, Jr., 1899-1900.
Frank W. Sumner, 1900-1901.
Byron Mauzy, 1901-1906.
J. R. Munsell, 1906-1907. *James S. Manley, 1907-1908. Edward M. Adams, 1908-1910.
Frank W. Cushing, 1910-1911.
Thomas A. Perkins, 1911-1912. . (The office was abolished by constitutional amendment, 1912.)
*Deceased.
¡Died in office.
(xxxvi)
OFFICERS AND BOARD OF MANAGERS OF THE CALIFORNIA SOCIETY
Elected April 18, 1913.
President-H. C. Capwell, Oakland.
Senior Vice President-J. Mora Moss, M. D., San Francisco.
Junior Vice President-Chas. H. Blinn, San Francisco.
Secretary and Registrar-Thomas A. Perkins, A. M., LL. B., Mills Bldg., San Francisco.
Treasurer-Col. J. C. Currier, San Francisco.
Historian-Ernest J. Mott, LL.B., San Francisco.
R. Cadwallader, M. D., San Francisco; Horace B. Day, San Diego; W. P. Hubbard, San Francisco; Frank A. Leach, Jr., Oakland; J. R. Munsell, B.L., Oakland; F. Blair Turpin, San Francisco.
CHAPTER OFFICERS-1913
LOS ANGELES CHAPTER
President-H. R. Warren.
Vice-President-Chas. L. Allen, M. D.
Secretary and Treasurer-N. J. Cordary, Hollingsworth Bldg.
SAN DIEGO CHAPTER NO. 2
President-Horace B. Day. First Vice President-F. P. Reed.
Second Vice President-John H. Elseffer. Secretary-Allen H. Wright, City Hall. Treasurer-John P. Burt.
Registrar-Putnam Field. Historian-F. Baker.
(xxxvii)
ADDRESSES
Delivered before the
California Society
of the-
Sons of the American Revolution
ALEXANDER HAMILTON
By GEORGE W. MERRILL, A. B.
SAN FRANCISCO, August 7, 1909.
Born on a foreign, sea-girt isle, his infantile cradle rocked by nature's violent convulsions, his lullabies being the tempestuous winds of a tropical clime, transported to American soil, reared in the en- vironments of a Revolutionary epoch, there appeared on the horizon of the dawning day of civil liberty in America, a boy saturated with brains, brave, cool and indefatigable, subsequently developing into a soldier and statesman, the founder of an enduring financial system, one of the builders of a Nation, one of the architects of a constitu- tional Government, which has been tested and not found wanting for more than a century, the basic principles of which will remain an ever- lasting monument of civil liberty, co-existent with the rights and free- dom of mankind.
It is not my purpose to enter into details, and trace his ancestry, or endeavor to settle the controversy concerning the legitimacy of the birth, or excuse the social foibles, if any such there were, of Alexander Hamilton.
Whether a legitimate or illegitimate child was an affair beyond his control, but his life work proves to me the indisputable fact that through some source, by some one, at some time, he was impregnated with extraordinary mentality, a tenacity of purpose, a prophetic vision, and an unswerving devotion to the development of the heavenly implanted rights of man.
2
CALIFORNIA SOCIETY
Left an orphan while yet in his swaddling clothes, the manager of a mercantile establishment before attaining his thirteenth year, migrating to America, and mingling the duties of a student with an active interest in the rights of the people, he never participated in the sports of youth or knew any childhood.
Perhaps his providential advent in America may be attributed to a West Indian hurricane, hurling a giant brain to these shores and dropping it into a whirlpool of British soldiers, New York Tories and Colonial patriots.
It was in New York that an unknown boy, facing a mixed popula- tion assembled to consider the attitude of England toward her Colonial subjects, was among the first to prognosticate the future as he cried out, "It is the battlefield or slavery."
It was then that he pledged himself to the most sacred cause of the American Colonies, to fight for it, and when the enemy was driven out, to give all that his brain was capable of learning and conceiving to aid in reconstructing the tattered colonies and unifying them into one great State or group of allied States.
Whether as a soldier or statesman, in private life or in public office, he is accorded the honor of being ever faithful to this youthful pledge.
As to his career as a soldier, whether commander of the rear guard, protecting the retreat of the American forces from Long Island, rescu- ing the munitions of war in New York harbor from under the guns of the British ship "Asia," disemboweling the British soldiers with his artillery at White Plains, enduring the rigors of winter at Valley Forge, a staff officer with Washington, or successfully storming the redoubts at Yorktown, we recognize a cool, brave, unyielding spirit, which never surrenders when enlisted in a righteous cause.
But it was in civil life that he achieved his greatest triumphs, and established a fame akin to immortality.
For many years there existed among the people the prevailing opinion created by politicians for party purposes, that in the forma- tive period of this Government, Hamilton favored and struggled for the establishment of a monarchy. But an inquisitorial searchlight thrown upon the history of those times fails to reveal any such senti- ments.
The absurdity of such a charge is best refuted by his own argument against it, when he says, "The idea of introducing a monarchy into this country is one of those visionary things that none but mad men could meditate. The fabric of the American Empire ought to rest on the solid basis of the consent of the people and the streams of national power ought to flow immediately from that pure, original fountain of all legitimate authority."
3
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
That he favored a strong, firm and enduring government, based on a constitution which could be impregnated with life, vigor and power as the antithesis of the powerless, lifeless articles of confedera- tion, cannot be denied.
His observation and experience in that heroic Revolutionary struggle made manifest the fact that there was no dominant authority to en- force laws passed by Congress, that the States were extremely jealous of their rights, and would comply or not with the laws of Congress as their local interests were favorably or unfavorably affected.
In fact, it seemed to have all the characteristics of a go-as-you-please government, without power to enforce treaties which it had essayed to make, regulate commerce or levy taxes.
It was a nation on paper, ridiculed by foreign powers, while the results of the war for independence were being jeopardized.
It was then that Hamilton became the leading spirit to establish a more permanent union among the states, to weld them together and thereby build a responsible, active, vitalized nation, capable of com- manding influence and respect from the civilized world.
It was his constant aim to harmonize the various interests and weld together the discordant states into one harmonious whole, reserving to each its proper rights, and avoid, if possible, that contest of three- fourths of a century later, which he so much feared, which cost so many lives and saturated American soil with the blood of numberless heroes.
The fundamental principles which actuated Hamilton in the struggle for the establishment of a more perfect union was the same spirit which fought for a perfect union in the convention at Phila- delphia, and immersed a newborn child of freedom in the baptismal blood of millions.
Washington and Lincoln stand apart in the history of this Republic as isolated monuments, majestic and grand, the one marking the foundation, the other the completion and establishment of a stable national entity.
But in a class by themselves, different and distinct from either Washington or Lincoln, there stands apart in our history a monu- mental group of constructive statesmen, the framers of a constitution, the conceivers of a fundamental law, not only remarkable as applicable to a newborn republic, but a marvelous structure which has with- stood the gigantic evolutions of a century and today is the basic model for future liberty-aspiring nations.
Not only was Alexander Hamilton among that group of statesmen, but as a maker of this government the light of history illumines his name with a brilliant halo, unequaled by any of his contemporaries.
4
CALIFORNIA SOCIETY
Paradoxical as it may seem, the doctrine of the extreme States' Rights advocates, coupled with commercialism, became the cornerstone on which is constructed the constitutional fabric of the United States. With Spain still dominant on the Southern coast; refusing to permit the waters of the Mississippi bearing the rapidly increasing commerce of the Western frontier to go unvexed to the sea; with obstinate England still refusing to comply with its treaty obligations to vacate the forts along the lakes and the Northern boundary; amid the tur- bulence of warring and jealous states; amid the antagonism predom- inating in commercial circles; with the different states entering into treaties of commerce with each other; amidst threats of secession ; with anarchy impending, and the insistence of the paramount rights and independence of the states, a convention was called to meet at Annapolis, to which representatives of all the states were invited, to harmonize, if possible, the various interests and to consider the establishment of a uniform commercial system.
But the public indifference was so great that only five states were represented, but Hamilton was there, a chief among the number. As nothing could be accomplished by such a limited representation, with delegated powers limited to the regulation of commerce, Hamilton conceived and drafted an address to the different states, which the convention adopted, forcibly setting forth the alarming condition of the country, the inadequacy of the confederate government to meet the demands of the times, and calling another convention composed of delegates with more general powers.
Thus was conceived and born that famous Philadelphia convention which, in turn, gave birth to a constitution, unparalleled in history, and is today the guiding rudder of the greatest nation on earth.
In that convention, as is well known, there were presented three plans for the construction of a constitution, known as the Virginia, New Jersey and Hamilton plans.
Obedient to his convictions that the imbecility of the confederation had been fully demonstrated, that it contained no cohesive force such as ought to exist as the basis of a nation capable of enforcing its rights and redressing its wrongs, the plan of Hamilton was the most radical of all, providing for an indissoluble union and bordering on aristocracy, in that he proposed that the President and Members of the Senate should be elected for life, or during good behavior, by an electorate having a property qualification, while the Members of the House of Representatives should be elected triennially.
Although fully aware that his plans would not be acceptable in all its parts, to the convention and could not be adopted by the people,
5
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
yet it furnished him the opportunity of presenting his ideals of a powerful national government, based on the lasting unity of the states.
It was his able, logical and convincing arguments showing the neces- sity of a radical change that stimulated the members of that august body to take more advanced ground in framing the organic law than they had at first entertained, and largely influenced the members of that convention in strengthening the Constitution and effecting compromises tending to greater national power.
But it was after the completion of the labors of that convention that the brilliancy of his genius illumined the character of the man, un- folded the underlying principles which actuated him, and proved his fidelity to the cause of Constitutional Liberty.
With his colleagues from New York opposed, he alone as its repre- sentative signed the proposed Constitution and entered at once upon a vigorous campaign with pen and tongue in favor of its adoption.
In the State Convention of New York, then, for many reasons, con- sidered the pivotal state, his heroic struggle and marvelous power changed a determined majority of 46 against to a majority of three in favor of its adoption. It was an alarming and critical period in our history, with an evident majority of the people seemingly de- termined to yield no further rights than existed under the confedera- tion.
Hamilton did not sulk because his ideals of a constitution were not fully approved by that convention, but with patriotic instinct he real- ized that in the proposed constitution the States had yielded many rights, the preservation of our independence had been gained, and the safety of the nation and the liberties of the people demanded a govern- ment more powerful than that afforded by the powerless articles of con- federation. With the full force of his majestic power, he leaped into the arena, determined to rescue it from defeat, then threatening, and by his unequaled, clear, logical, vivid and convincing oral and written arguments superadded to those of Madison and others, swept the hesi- tating, doubting Thomases and luke-warm adherents of States' Rights into the ranks of those favoring its adoption.
He did not appeal to the passions of the people, but it was his plain arguments, clear reasoning and logical conclusions which carried conviction to the minds of the people and established Hamilton as the great leader in those critical times, and procured the adoption of our great charter of liberty then hanging in the balance.
Having full knowledge of his patriotism, untiring energy and de- votion to the interests of the new nation, Washington invited him
6
CALIFORNIA SOCIETY
to become a member of his political family to assist in organizing and vitalizing the infant Republic.
At no period in our history has there existed a greater necessity for a clear promulgation and adoption of a solid financial system that at that time, when our domestic, foreign and state obligations were in a chaotic condition. A system was needed which would be able not only to resist the tidal waves of external and internal war then threatening, but one which would withstand the buffeting storms of the future and adapt itself to the expansion of a progressive nation.
To Alexander Hamilton must be accredited the honor of laying the foundation of such a system, and constructing thereon a financial edifice which has withstood the buffetings of over a century and will remain a monument to his memory as long as the Constitutional Government of the United States shall endure.
Whatever he proposed, his great object and aim "to cement more closely the union of the States" constantly permeated his every thought and act, and any scheme which would mold public opinion favorable to a strong, central head was never allowed to escape his consideration.
Not that he aimed at the abrogation of the identity of the States, or attempted to deprive them of certain distinct and proper rights, but his great aim and object was that they should form a nation, the component parts of which, under the Constitution, would become so solidified as to command obedience at home and respect abroad.
His reports to Congress embracing schemes to establish public credit ; to assume the debts of the States; provide for the full payment of domestic and foreign obligations; the establishment of a national bank, urging impost duties and excise tax, and his report on manu- factures, embracing the foundation of the present protective policy of the United States, were bold, courageous and daring propositions at the time, conceived not only for the upbuilding and permanent wel- fare of the nation, but as measures designed to enlist the sympathies, the financial interests and co-operation of all the people of all the States in an endeavor to unite them in aiding the general government to rehabilitate the internal commerce of the country, restore confidence at home, and influence abroad, to stimulate a diversity of pursuits, silence the bickerings of discordant States, and clarify the political atmosphere already surcharged with threats of secession.
To him the United States owes its funding system, its revenue sys- tem, national banking system, currency, and the first enunciation of its protective policy.
7
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
He fully realized and acted on the belief that a successful financial policy meant the firm establishment of the new government.
By these means, he imparted vigorous national life and strength into the new government, and drew to his aid a powerful class, whose pecuniary interests, the strongest of all ties, for a time caused them to forget State lines.
It was the work of a mastermind, acting for the present and penetrat- ing a far-distant future, even beyond this day and our generation.
In the language of Webster, "he smote the rock of the national resources and abundant streams of revenue gushed forth. He touched the dead corpse of public credit, and it sprang upon its feet."
In an argument before a divided cabinet council on the Constitu- tionality of the National Bank Act, with President Washington in doubt, Hamilton first called into vigorous life the doctrine of the im- plied powers of the Constitution, a doctrine subsequently enunciated and affirmed by Chief Justice Marshall in the celebrated case of Mccullough vs. Maryland, which has so largely aided in safely piloting the country through the vicissitudes of a century and assisted in the successful building of a powerful nation.
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