USA > New York > Ontario County > A history of Ontario County, New York and its people, Volume I > Part 15
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Then followed swiftly the closing events of the war. The battles of the Wilderness, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, the capture of Savannah and Charleston, Sherman's march to the sea, Farragut's victory at Mobile, and then (April 9, 1865), Appomattox and the end !
Those last exciting, strenuous, joyous days at the front had their reflex at home. In Ontario county the people relaxed no effort in support of their beloved Father Abraham and his great military lieutenants. Money and supplies were provided without stint. Recruiting was hastened to fill the quotas of the several towns under the President's last call. Hardly a day passed without its news of
tri
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victories gained for the Union arms, though each day also brought its list of dead and wounded-casualties, the newspapers called them.
And, finally, on the 3d of April, the fall of Richmond, and six days later, the surrender of Lee, electrified the people. On Saturday the old gun was brought down from the arsenal, and, at imminent risk to those who manned it, made to do service once again in the firing of a salute of thirty-six guns, in celebration of the event first mentioned, and there were fireworks, illuminations, and a bonfire ; but on Monday, when the news of Lee's surrender came, there was "a spontaneous out- burst of popular jollification of a most extraordinary and uproar- ious character," as one of the vil- lage papers reported. Business was suspended, stores, shops, and offices all being closed by common consent, while old and young, male and female (to quote again) thronged the sidewalks, extend- ing mutual congratulations upon GEORGE N. WILLIAMS. the glorious news. The enthu- George N. Williams was born in Canan- laigua, March 11, 1837; served as Lieuten- ant and Captain of Co. K., 98th Regt., N. Y. Inf., 1861-63; admitted to the bar, 1864: practiced law for four years. then engaged in the banking business ; Treasurer of siasm grew until it found vent in the blowing of horns, ringing of bells, sounding of gongs, raising Ontario county, 1871-76 ; married Abigail Stanley Clark, daughter of ex-Governor Myron H. Clark, in 1866. of flags, and firing of guns. An Died in Canan- daigna, January 13, 1907. impromptu procession, in which marched some of the most prominent and usually the most staid citizens, paraded the streets; and, finally, the people assembled in front of the court house, where after a beautiful and impressive prayer by Rev. Dr. Daggett, the venerable Francis Granger stepped forward and voiced in eloquent phrase his joy in the victory and his thankfulness that the cause of Union and Freedom was at last triumphant. As his commanding and striking figure stood forth upon the portico, and, his hat being removed, the glory of his famous crown of silver-gray hair was revealed, not a few in the throng, recalling the events of his distinguished career, realized that
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here was a man who, although precluded by reason of advanced age from active participation in the political movements of war time, had played a heroic part in the controversies out of which the struggle grew. They must have recalled, too, that Mr. Granger had suffered not a little in the pursuit of his laudable ambition for public service, on account of convictions fearlessly expressed as to the iniquity of human bondage, for they could remember that the apologists for the institution had gone so far as to attempt to defeat in the Senate the confirmation of his appointment to a place in Presi- dent Harrison's cabinet. though happily without success. Now living in the retirement of his home, he was the first and most beloved citizen of the community. Other speakers at this impromptu meeting were Elbridge G. Lapham and James C. Smith. The occasion was fittingly celebrated, also, by the nailing of a flag to the statue of Justice on the court house dome, and in the evening there was a torch light procession and a general illumination.
On Saturday came the awful news that the night before President Lincoln had been assassinated. From the height of joy the community was plunged into the profoundest depths of sorrow. The flags were run up again, but only to half mast; the beils that rang so recently in happy discord, now solemnly tolled. Business was again at a standstill. It seemed as if death had entered every home. On Sunday a memorial service was held in the Congregational church, Canandaigua, at which Dr. Daggett preached a characteristically timely sermon and paid a touching tribute to the dead statesman, whose greatness all now gladly recognized. And on Wednesday, at the hour of the funeral, the people united in another solemn service in the same church, and, forgetting the rancorous political differences that had distracted the community in the years before and during the war, expressed their common sorrow at the Nation's loss.
War time was at last over, and out of its passions, from its fadeless griefs, had come the compensation of a quickened patriotism, the consciousness of a real brotherhood. Then, after only a few days, was raised the memorial tablet in the court house for which the young women raised the funds. Then was realized, through the efforts of Mrs. Caroline B. Cook and her earnest associates, the beautiful thought that had had its birth in the stressful war time and was now crystalized in the Ontario Orphan Asylum. There was a new, a higher, a better life in the community.
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XVIII
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Ontario County's Influence in State and National Politics Perpetu- ated-The State Statutes Known as the Blanket Ballot Law and Liquor Tax Law, and the National Tariff Act Known as the Payne Law, the Work of Its Representatives-The Later County Officers.
In the years which have elapsed since the suppression of the Rebellion and the assassination of President Lincoln, no war alarm has disturbed the people of Ontario county. The rumors of war which reached its contented and prosperous vales from the Fenian raid on Canada in 1867 and from the sinking of the Maine in Havana harbor in 1898 hardly ruffled the even tenor of their lives.
A number of the over zealous Irish patriots were brought to the Ontario county jail for safe keeping and were indicted at a session of the United States Court held here in June, 1868, and there was an inspiring rallying about the colors and a few enlistments as the armies of the Nation were recruited and marched away to the rescue of Cuba. And as these martial events were but a whisper as compared with those which had aroused and excited the people of the county in 1812 and again in 1861, the succeeding political events have been marked by little of the bitterness that involved the people at the time of the anti-Masonic excitement, or in the Tippecanoe and Tyler Too campaign of 1840, or through the controversies between the North and South that preceded the Civil war. The succeeding elections have come and gone, arousing enthusiasm and eliciting each its own measure of discord, but in each campaign the excitement has been of a temporary character and as the years have passed has failed in intensity and somewhat in interest. The appeals of the campaigners have been directed more and more to the reason and less and less to the passion of voters.
In the main the Republican party has maintained its control
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of the local offices, and through its policy of continuing in service representatives of ability and experience, the county, and the Sen- ate and Congressional districts of which it has been a constituent part, have continued to exercise an influence in the affairs of State and Nation hardly equalled by any other rural community in the commonwealth.
For a number of years following the close of the Civil war the honors of office were distributed generously among veterans of that conflict. Among these was Frederick W. Prince, of Geneva, elected county clerk in 1867; Washington L. Hicks, of Bristol, elected to the same office in 1873, and Deroy J. Harkness, of Gorham, elected county clerk in 1891. Major Charles A. Rich- ardson was elected county treas- urer in 1864, and surrogate of the county in 1873. Sheriff William W. Clarke, of Naples, elected in 1867, and Sheriff Avery Ingra- ham, of South Bristol, elected in 1891, had served in the Union army, while County Treasurers George N. Williams, elected in 1870, and Harrison B. Ferguson, in 1876, had similar claims to HARLOW L. COMSTOCK. public consideration. The county elected and reelected John Raines, a veteran, to represent it in the Assembly, and accorded the same honor to Captain Hiram Schutt and Major Frank O. Chamberlain.
Harlow L. Comstock was born in Groton, Tompkins county, in 1821. Settled in War- saw, Wyoming county ; practiced law and was elected District Attorney and County Judge of Wyoming county. In 1868, became a resident of Canandaigua, where he con- tinued the practice of his profession in partnership with his brother-in-law, Thomas H. Bennett, until his death, September 24, 1883.
The growing division between the followers of United States Senator Roscoe Conkling and the leaders of the independent ele- ments of the Republican party found its most significant local expression in 1874, in the election of Elbridge G. Lapham, who was a most effective campaigner and a trial lawyer of great ability, to the position of Representative in Congress from the Twenty-sev- enth, or Ontario-Livingston-Yates, district, and in his reelection in
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1876 and again in 1878 to the same office. Mr. Lapham was identi- fied with the Conkling wing of the party and his nomination was strongly opposed in the first two campaigns mentioned. The Hon. William H. Lamport, while serving his second term in Congress, had earned popular disfavor by voting for a salary increase bill, and it was expected that his successor would come from one of the other counties in the district. Mr. Lapham's friends, however, forestalled such a result by a well-planned coup, anticipating action in the primaries by means of a petition urging his candidacy, which was circulated simultaneously, without previous announcement, in the several towns. A large proportion of Republican voters were thus committed to his support and his nomination assured. In the first campaign, Mr. Lapham had for his Democratic opponent, David (). Pierpont, of Richmond, Ontario county, and in the second, the Hon. Harlow L. Comstock, of Canandaigua.
Mr. Lapham was destined to rise to yet higher honors through another turn of the political wheel. Following the inauguration of President Garfield in 1881, Ontario county was represented in the Assembly, which was called upon to elect successors to Roscoe Conkling and Thomas C. Platt, resigned, by John Raines, then in his first year of Legislative service. Assemblyman Raines was identified with the Conkling or Stalwart wing of the party, and in the preliminary skirmishes of that year memorable in politics had stood with that element in voting against resolutions congratulat- ing the Hon. William H. Robertson on his nomination to the office of Collector of the Port of New York.
The feeling among Republicans in Ontario county ran high and was almost unanimous in support of President Garfield. It finally found expression in a public meeting held in the town hall in Canandaigua, on the afternoon of May 21. This was attended by representative Republicans from every town of the county. Hon. Cyrillo S. Lincoln, of Naples, who had himself served the then unprecedented term of four years (1872-75) in the Assembly. and had gained wide reputation as an able debater and parliamen- tarian, acted as chairman of the meeting and made the opening speech. Other speakers were the Hon. George B. Dusenberre, of Geneva, Frank H. Hamlin, William H. Adams, William H. Smith and Edwin Hicks, of Canandaigua. Assemblyman Raines was present and heard his course sharply criticized. With the fearless- ness characteristic of his public career, he took the floor to answer his critics, defending his course in regard to the Robertson resolu-
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tions. When interrupted by questions, he declared that the New York Senators were but exercising their rightful prerogative in voting against Robertson's confirmation, and declared himself to be "a stalwart Republican" and ready to "stand by the decisions of the Republican party caucuses and vote uniformly for Republican candidates." He then stated that it was his intention to vote for Congressman Lapham as the suc- cessor of one of the retiring Sena- tors. Resolutions expressing con- fidence in the ability, integrity, and patriotism of President Gar- field, denouncing the course of Conkling and Platt, and calling upon the representatives of the county in the Legislature to vote for the election as their success- ors of men who would cordially cooperate with the National ad- ministration, were unanimously adopted.
CHARLES J. FOLGER.
Charles J. Folger was born in Nantucket, Mass., April 16, 1818; became a resident of Geneva, 1830; County Judge, 1844-55; mem- ber of the State Senate, 1862-69; delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1867; elected Judge of the Court of Appeals in 1870 and Chief Judge of that Court in 1880; appointed Secretary of the Treasury by Pres- ident Arthur in October, 1881; unsuccessful Republican candidate for Governor in 1882. Died in Geneva, September 4, 1884.
Assemblyman Raines was as good as his word. He voted on the first ballot for Congressman Lapham for one of the vacancies and continued to so vote through- out the prolonged contest which followed and which resulted finally, late in July, in the election of Mr. Lapham to succeed Sena- tor Conkling and in the election of Warner Miller to succeed Sen-
ator Platt. In the meantime, on July 2, President Garfield had been shot.
The election of the Ontario Congressman to the United States Senate gave Assemblyman Raines, through whose efforts largely it had been accomplished, immediate prominence, but the personal representatives of the new Senator, by whose clever aid he had first been brought into public life and had been assured of renominations and reelections in the face of much popular opposition, had no dis-
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position to permit the ambitious young Assemblyman to carry off any undue honor. At least, in the arrangements for the public reception held in the Senator's honor in Bemis hall, they gave him scant courtesy and ignored him in their succeeding counsels. This led to another shifting of forces in the local political field and to the early assertion by Captain Raines of the leadership for which his genius for political organization soon gained recognition and which he held undisputed to the day of his death.
A great reversal of political control in the county occurred in the campaign of the following year, 1882, when Grover Cleveland was elected Governor of the State over Charles J. Folger, long an honored resident of Geneva, Ontario county. Mr. Folger was a man of great ability, had filled the offices of county judge, State senator and that of Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals with distinction, was then filling the office of Secretary of the Treasury in President Arthur's cabinet, and was well equipped for the duties of the chief executive of the State. But his nomination was effected at a time when feeling ran high between the so-called "Stalwart" and "Half Breed" factions of the party, and under circumstances that raised doubt as to the fairness of those who by the narrow margin of eight votes controlled the State convention. The friends of the Hon. Alonzo B. Cornell, who had filled the office with ability the preceding term. controlled the Ontario county convention held in Canandaigua, September 16, 1882, which was presided over by Dr. W. Scott Hicks, of Bristol. United States Senator Lapham appeared in this convention to urge the endorsement of Mr. Folger, and appeals were made by others to the same effect, but the conven- tion was firm in its stand for the renomination of Cornell, and a delegation, headed by Edwin Hicks and instructed to vote for the renomination of the Governor, was elected by a vote of 50 to 28.
At the succeeding election, Ontario county gave the Democratic nominee for Governor 596 majority and elected every candidate on the Democratic ticket for county offices, including the Hon. Frank Rice as member of Assembly.
Mr. Rice, who had been elected district attorney in 1875 and again in 1878, held the office of Assemblyman for two years and then was nominated and elected to the office of county judge, in which he was succeeded in 1891 by another prominent member of the Democratic organization, J. Henry Metcalf. Judge Rice him- self was given a place at the head of the State ticket of his party in
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1889, as a candidate for Secretary of State, and was elected to that office and was reelected in 1891. He carried Ontario county by 759 plurality in 1889, and in 1891 only lacked 102 votes of accomplishing the feat again. Involved in the controversies growing out of the effort of Governor Hill to seize control of the State Senate for the Democratic party, Mr. Rice re- tired from active politics and returned to the practice of his profession in Canandaigua, soon gaining and holding recognition as the leading trial lawyer at the county bar.
Captain John Raines, who had been elected to the Assembly in 1880 and again in 1881 was in- duced to accept the Republican nomination for the office again in 1883, when Mr. Rice was a candi- date for a second term, and as a consequence suffered defeat at the polls, but this campaign, gallantly though unsuccessfully fought, proved the stepping stone to a career of great public useful- ness and distinction. Taking the JOHN RAINES. John Raines, the third John Raines in line of descent, his father and grandfather, both Methodist clergymen, having been so bap- tized, was born in Canandaigua, May 6, 1840 ; educated in the common schools, and the Albany Law School ; practiced law in Geneva ; captain of Company G., 85th N. Y. Inf., 1861-63; settled in Canandaigua, 1867 ; Member of Assembly, 1881-82, and 1885; State Senator, 1887-90; Member of Congress, 1891-94; State Senator, 1895 to the date of his death; President Canandaigua Board of Education, 1887-1909 ; died in Canandaigua, December 16, 1909. nomination for the Assembly again in 1884, Captain Raines was elected over the Democratic can- didate, Hon. Nathan Oaks, and in the following year was nominated and elected to represent the Ontario - Schuyler - Wayne - Yates district in the State Senate. He was reelected to this office in 1887 and with the exception of a service of two terms in Congress, from 1890 to 1894, he continued a member of the upper house of the Legislature until his death, in December, 1909. Mr. Raines not only surpassed all records for length of service in that body and also in his election for three successive terms as the president of the Senate, but his name is identified as author with some of the most valuable constructive
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legislation of the State, including the blanket ballot law and the liquor tax law. He was for eight years the floor leader of the Repub- lican majority in the Senate.
The factional division in the ranks of the Republican party between the so-called Stalwarts, as the followers of Senator Conkling styled themselves, and the independent element, more commonly known as the Half Breeds, who were for the most part supporters of James G. Blaine, had had its reflex in Ontario county politics, as we have seen, as early as 1874. It reached its climax in 1880, when after a bitter contest, carried through county, dis- trict and State conventions over the odious "unit rule," James A. Garfield was nominated for the Presidency. Senator Conkling and his friends had urged the nomination of ex-President Grant for a third term, and of the "Immortal 306" who voted for him in the National convention to the end, two were from the Twenty-seventh Congressional district of this State, ex-County Judge Francis O. Mason, of Geneva, Ontario county, and George N. Hicks, of Yates county.
The effect of the struggle between the factions was seen in 1884, when James G. Blaine was nominated for the Presidency in opposi- tion to the Democratic candidate, Grover Cleveland. The office holders and others interested in securing a nomination for President Arthur made a quiet but well-nigh successful canvass for delegates, and it was only by a combination between the Blaine and Edmunds forces in the county convention that an opposition delegation, headed by Mr. Frank H. Hamlin, an ardent advocate of Mr. Edmunds's nomination, was elected to the State convention. There were bitter contests in the ensuing district conventions, and, Mr. Blaine having been nominated, there was undisguised indifference on the part of the Stalwart leaders in the ensuing canvass. Although it was known that many voters before affiliated with the Democratic party supported the Republican nominee, the county gave him a majority of only 739. Had Ontario county given its normal Repub- lican majority, Mr. Blaine might have been elected, the adverse plurality in the State being only 1149 and the election finally depending upon the vote of New York State. The Republican nominees for local offices were elected, except the Hon. William H. Smith, the candidate for county judge, who was defeated by his Democratic opponent, the Hon. Frank Rice.
The career of another Ontario county representative that
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promised the attainment of the highest usefulness and the highest honor was that of the Hon. Jean L. Burnett, which was suddenly cut off by death. Mr. Burnett was elected member of Assembly from Ontario county in November, 1898, when he was only 27 years of age, and he continued a member of that body until his death, having been accorded eight successive unanimous renominations, and he was as often reelected by large majorities. He held posi- tions at different times during this long term of service on the Rail- road, Excise, General Laws, Ways and Means, and other im- portant committees, and for a number of years he held the posi- tion of chairman of the Cities committee of that body.
Other Ontario county citi- zens who have risen to promi- nence as public officials are the Hon. Thomas Hillhouse, of Ge- neva, who represented the Twenty-sixth (Ontario - Seneca- Yates) district in the State Senate of 1860 and 1861, was appointed Adjutant General on the staff of JEAN L. BURNETT. Jean LaRue Burnett was born in Canandai- gua in 1871; studied law with Hon. Walter H. Knapp; admitted to the bar in 1892; Member of Assembly from Ontario county, from Janu- ary 1, 1899, to the time of his death, which occurred in Albany, February 26, 1907. Governor Morgan in August, 1861, was elected to the office of State Comptroller in November, 1865, and held the highly respon- sible office of Assistant Treasurer of the United States at New York, from 1870 to 1881; James C. Smith, of Canandaigua, who was a State Commissioner to the Peace Congress in 1861, was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court in 1862, and held that office by suc- cessive elections until 1887, when he retired from the bench by reason of the age limitation ; William H. Adams, of Canandaigua, who was elected a Justice of the Supreme Court for the Seventh Judicial district in 1887, was elevated to the bench of the Appellate Division of the Fourth Department in January, 1896, and at the time of his death, October 12, 1903, was the presiding justice of that department ; Henry S. Pierce, who held the office of United States
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Internal Revenue Collector for the Western district of New York, from 1882 to 1886; Major Charles A. Richardson, who has been a member of the United States Gettysburg Battlefield Commission since 1886. Among those who have held responsible State office in recent years are the Hon. James A. Robson, of Gorham, appointed Supreme Court Justice for the Seventh judicial district by Governor Odell in 1903, and elected to serve a full term of fourteen years in that position on November 8, 1904; Maynard N. Clement, appointed Deputy State Commissioner of Excise immediately after the passage of the liquor tax law in 1896, and appointed State Commissioner of 'Excise by Governor Higgins in 1906, serving in that office until May 1, 1911 ; Hon. William L. Parkhurst, appointed a member of the State Commission in Lunacy by Governor Black in February, 1897, holding that office until February, 1910; Charles F. Milliken. appointed by Governor Odell a member of the State Civil Service Commission in May, 1903. and elected president of that body in january, 1905, serving as such until January. 1911: Albert B. Sackett, stenographer of the State Senate from 1900 to 1905.
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