USA > New York > Franklin County > A history of St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, New York : from the earliest period to the present time > Part 71
USA > New York > St Lawrence County > A history of St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, New York : from the earliest period to the present time > Part 71
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fined for political offences, but upon being assured of the contrary, they were mostly rearrested, and given up to Mr. York, who met the British authorities at the national boundary on the ice, in the middle of the St. Lawrence, and received them. Among these was one who had fled to Montreal upon his receiving his liberty, and was there captured. He had been confined on a charge of murder. During three successive years, Mr. York represented the county in the legislature. The town of York, in Livingston county, N. Y., derives its name from him. He died on the 6th of May, 1827, at the age of 46, after a lingering illness of seve- ral months.
Mr. York was a very public spirited man, and especially in times of danger or alarm, he was one of those who placed himself in front, and by his word and example encouraged others more timid or less qualified to think for themselves at moments of excitement. This was particu- larly the case in fires, on which occasion he never failed to take the lead in directing the means to be taken for suppressing the consuming ele- ment, and in rescuing property.
SILAS WRIGHT. This illustrous citizen was born in Amherst, Mass., May 24, 1795, and in infancy removed with his parents to Weybridge, Vt., where he formed his earliest associations. After an academic course, he entered Middlebury college, and graduated in 1815, and while still a student he entered warmly into the political discussions of the day, and became a republican in politics. Having studied law with Henry C. Mar- tindale, at Sandy Hill, N. Y., he was in 1819, licensed to practice as an attorney in the supreme court, and in that year, being led to Canton on a visit to a friend, he was induced to settle in that new and thinly settled village. Here he commenced the practice of law, and soon acquired the esteem of his fellow citizens, and the confidence of the public gen- erally, for his sound judgment and good sense. He was soon appointed surrogate, justice, commissioner of deeds, and post master; held several town offices, and passed through the several grades of military promo- tion to the office of brigadier general. As a magistrate he discouraged litigation, and as a lawyer he was especially eminent in the happy man- ner in which he drew from witnesses the statements bearing upon the case, without ever touching the feelings by rudeness or satire. His argu- ments were always lucid and logical, and carried with them a conviction not only of their truth and justice, but also of the genius and talents of their author.
In the various improvements of the town and county, he took an active part, and especially in the erection of county buildings, after the selec- tion of the site, was he noted for his zeal and activity in collecting mate- rials, and assisting the work.
The influence which the upright character and evident talents of Mr. Wright had acquired, led his friends to wish to try his abilities on a wider field, and his name was presented in the fall of 1823, without his previous knowledge, to the republican convention of the fourth senate district, then embracing the counties of Saratoga, Montgomery and Ham- ilton, Washington, Warren, Clinton, Essex, Franklin, and St. Lawrence. The opposition of De Witt Clinton and his friends to the convention of 1821, and other causes, had led to a new organization of parties, styled Clintonians and buck tails, anti-Clintonians or republicans. Mr. Wright was known to be friendly to the latter, but his known candor and libe- rality rendered him more acceptable to the Clintonians than any other candidate that could be offered, and he was unanimously nominated.
During the legislative session preceding the nomination of Mr. Wright
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to the office of senator, the republican members of both houses from the 4th district, met to decide by ballot which county in the senatorial district should be entitled to senator. The county designated was to be entitled to the privilege of selecting their candidate, thus dispensing with the formality of a convention of the whole district. After seven ballotings, and some feeling being created in the minds of some members, the choice fell upon St. Lawrence county. Mr. Wright was thus enabled to enter a field in which he was eminently qualified to excel, and his fu- ture career might have been quite different had the choice of a different county been the result of the balloting. The electors for president and vice president had, since 1789, been selected by the legislature in the same manner as senators of the United States are now chosen, which gave great additional importance to the members of the legislature, and from the relative prospects of the five prominent candidates for the presidential term to commence in 1825, (Crawford, Adams, Jackson, Clay, and Calhoun), the friends of Mr. Crawford believed that their in- terests would be promoted by retaining the existing law for the appoint- ment of electors. Other parties proposed to restore the right of naming the electors, to the people, and most of the candidates of 1823 were questioned in relation to their views, and Mr. Wright among others. He freely declared himself in favor of giving directly to the people the choice of electors. No pledge was given or required beyond the faith reposed in the frank and unreserved declarations made by him in con- versation. His vote in the county was 1,419, that of his opponent 20. In Canton it was 199 to 1. The one vote was doubtless given by Mr. Wright himself.
The session of 1824 was memorable for the spirit with which the pas- sage of the electoral law, as the proposed change in the mode of elect- ing presidential electors was called, and this became the engrossing sub- ject of the session from the time of its opening till the final passage of the bill. Mr. Wright's course in this contest was such as to draw from his political opponents the admission that he was governed by upright and consistent principles, although at variance with their plans, and sub- versive of their cherished schemes. While in the senate, early in the session of 1825, a great number of applications for bank charters were presented in both houses, and such were the restrictions then in force, that banks that held charters virtually possessed great privileges for transacting pecuniary business, and hence charters were eagerly sought after. Mr. Wright opposed these applications to the extent of his ability, and was to a considerable degree successful. His influence constantly increased in the senate, and in 1826 he was elected to congress. The tariff question was then a subject that was agitated by the parties, and Mr. Wright became a member of a committee which had an important. bearing upon this subject. At the next election for congress, Mr. Wright was defeated from the omission of the word junior in his name on some of the ballots, and from an irregularity in returns. Early in 1829, he was appointed comptroller, which office he filled with distinguished ability, until in 1833, he was chosen U. S. senator, and took his seat in this august body at the age of 38, and at the time when the nullification measures of South Carolina, the removal of the deposits from banks, the rechartering of the national bank, and other exciting topics distracted the national councils. Mr. Wright opposed the continuance of the bank in a speech of great ability. At the end of the short term to which he was chosen, he was, in 1837, reelected, notwithstanding the powerful bank influences brought against him. At the national convention of
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1844, the nomination of vice president was tendered to him, but declined. In 1842, his friends had solicited from him the privilege of nominating him for governor, but he declined, as he had also done that of the office of judge in the supreme court of the United States. In 1844, he was nominated for governor, and elected. During his official term, the con- stitution of the state was revised, and several subjects requiring in espe- cial manner the exercise of promptness and discretion, arose.
In 1846 he was again nominated for governor, but Mr. John Young, his opponent, was elected. At the close of his official term, Mr. Wright returned to his residence in Canton, and engaged in that pursuit for which during a long period he had evinced a decided fondness,-that of practical agriculture. He was appointed in 1847, to deliver the address at the State Agricultural Fair, at Saratoga Springs, and accepted the ap- pointment, but was suddenly attacked by a severe illness of which he died in two hours. He had for several months devoted his days to hard labor on his farm, and his nights to correspondence, which were believed to have been the proximate causes of his death. This sudden bereave- ment cast a gloom over the community, and the heavy tidings were re- ceived with sadness by his numerous friends, and the public generally. The democratic party were at this time looking about for a man upon whom they might unite at the next presidential canvass, and from every quarter there came expressions that indicated the preference they felt for Mr. Wright, and it is highly probable that had he lived he would have been selected as their candidate.
During his lifetime, his mercantile friends had procured a testimonial of their esteem which after his death was forwarded to Mrs. Wright. It consisted of 125 pieces of silver plate manufactured by Gerandus Boyce, of New York, each article bearing a suitable inscription, commemorating the occasion of the gift. The articles were two pitchers holding four quarts and one pint each; a silver tea kettle holding three quarts; a coffe pot, tea pot, sugar dish, cream pot, slop bowl, soup ladle, fish knife, crumb knife, ice cream slicer, pair of sugar tongs, four butter knives, and nine dozen table and dessert spoons and forks. The total value was about $1,900.
Soon after the death of Mr. Wright, his widow and family yielding to the solicitation of his neighbors and friends, accepted the offer which they tendered, of erecting a plain and simple monument over his grave, as a testimonial of personal esteem and private friendship. An ostenta- tious display of architecture was deemed inconsistent with the modest and unassuming character of the man whose name it bore, and unneces- sary to perpetuate the memory of one who had become endeared in the hearts of the people. A subscription was drawn up in October, 1847, the amount of each contribution limited to $1, and its circulation to citi- zens of St. Lawrence county. With the avails of this, a simple shaft of pure white marble from the Dorset quarry, 15 feet in height, resting on a base of Canton granite 14 feet high, was erected and inclosed in a neat iron paling. This unassuming monument is shown at the end of the present chapter.
The shaft bears on one side his name and date of birth and death. On the other the inscription "erected by the citizens of the county of St. Lawrence."
The citizens of Weybridge and vicinity, in Vermont, (which town Mr. Wright always regarded with the feelings of a natal place), in the March following his decease, united in testifying their respect for his character, by erecting a monument to his memory. A series of resolutions highly expressive of regard, were drawn up, and a committee appointed to pro-
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cure the means for erecting it and a steel plate engraving of it. Solo- mon W. Jewett and Samuel O. Wright, of Weybridge, and Samuel S. Phelps, of Middlebury, were appointed the committee, who, at a cost of about $4,400, erected in their village near the school house, and over the same ground where the Congregational church stood, at which Wright and his parents had worshipped, a shaft of white marble about thirty eight feet in height. The main shaft is twenty-eight feet high, three feet square at the base, and seventeen inches at the top. It stands upon a mound, and is supported by three bases; the first 8, the second 6}, and the third 5 feet square. Above this is a die four feet square, which is surmounted by the shaft. Inserted in the monument is a beautiful and accurate medalion bust, executed by E. D. Palmer, of Albany. The only inscription which it has upon it is, Silas Wright. It is surrounded by a circular iron railing six rods in diameter.
His biography has been ably written by the Hon. Jabez D. Hammond, and forms the third volume of the Political History of New York. The well known character and abilities of this talented writer, are a sufficient guaranty of its value.
We are indebted to Hammond's Life of Silas Wright, published at Syracuse, by Hall and Dickinson, for the portrait which faces our title. The reader will find in that work a very minute and correct account of the life and public services of this truly illustrious man. His memoirs have also been written by J. S. Jenkins.
Wright's Monument, Canton.
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CHAPTER IX.
EVENTS OF THE WAR OF 1812-1815.
N the 5th of April, 1805, a regiment was formed in St. Law- rence county with Alex. J. Turner, lt. col. commandant ; Jo- seph Edsall, 1st major, and David Ford, 2d major ; and on the 11th a brigade, embracing Lewis, Jefferson, and St. Lawrence counties was formed, having Walter Martin, its brigadier general, He had previously been lieut. col., and his place was supplied by Jonathan Collins, of Turin. 'On the 3d of April, 1806, the follow- ing appointments were made in Turner's regiment. Isaac Beach, adjutant ; John King, paymaster ; D. W. Church, quarter master ; Joseph W. Smith, surgeon; Powell Davis, surgeon's mate; Louis Hasbrouck, Timothy Pope, Timothy Crosset, Nathan Stone, Wm. Perry, Thomas B. Benedict, Solomon Linsley, Jr., Isaac Bartholomew, Richard Flack, Elisha Deniston, and Benjamin Stewart, captains; Jehiel Dimmock, Kelsey Thurber, Samuel Armstrong, Martin Philips, Medad Moody, Pot- ter Goff, Seth Gates, John Hawley, John W. Lyttle, Calvin Hubbard, and Benjamin Bailey, lieutenants ; and Jacob Arnold, Jr., Thomas Lee, John A. Armstrong, Abner Wright, James Parkil, Jr., Joel Woodhouse, Daniel Greene, Nicholas Reynolds, Robert Jackson, Seth Matthews and David French, ensigns. An artillery company was formed April 6, 1807, with Alex' Richard, capt. ; Amos Wells, Ist lt ; Joseph Freeman, 2nd lt. A. battallion of four companies, under Alric Man, major commandant, was formed in Franklin co., June 4, 1808, and belonged to Gen. Benj. Moore's brigade. Our space forbids the use of the details collected in relation to subsequent organizations. 'The location of our counties upon the front- ier, made them the theatre of events that will be briefly enumerated, and checked their growth and settlement to a most lamentable degree; not so much by the actual as the dreaded evils of war, and the entire ces- sation of trade, which had mainly found an outlet by the St. Lawrence. With business stopped, the industry of the country palsied, and the brightest prospects of the future blighted, it is not surprising that the war was to a considerable degree unpopular, especially with those classes whose business was interrupted by the measure, and whose property was depreciated and in some instances rendered valueless by its occur- rence. The measures which preceded and led to hostilities belong to our national history. Grievances had existed for several years, and ef - forts had been made to settle the difficulties between the two nations by diplomatic arrangements, but these failing, a resort to arins became the only means effectual in attaining these ends which could not be accom- plished peaceably.
On the 22d of Dec. 1807, congress laid an embargo upon all ships and vessels in the ports of the United States, and directed that no clearance should be furnished to any ship bound to any foreign port or place, ex- cept under the immediate direction of the president. In the event of
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the suspension of hostilities between the belligerent powers of Europe, or of such changes in their measures, as would render the commerce of the country safe, the president was authorized, by an act passed on the 8th of April following, to suspend in whole or in part, the operations of the embargo. This applied to the lakes as well as the sea board. Early in 1809, Captains Samuel Cherry and Thomas Anderson, were stationed at Ogdensburgh, to enforce non intercourse and occupied temporary barracks erected for their use. These two companies of troops are represented as the worst set of men that ever lived, and were charged with being needlessly officious in searching persons crossing the river, which led to jealousies that almost ripened into hostility with the citizens. The latter, for their own protection, organized a nightly patroll to protect their gardens and hen roosts, and thus between the preservation of national and personal rights, the village bore the disci- pline of a camp, until, to the great joy of the citizens, the news arrived that the soldiers were to be withdrawn. This was too desirable an event to pass unnoticed, and preparations were made to celebrate it, "which coming to the knowledge of the other party, an attempt was made in the night time, to seize an old French cannon, belonging in the village, which was to be fired on their departure, and to throw it from the bridge into the river. The plot was discovered, and the party sent was arrested by the citizen guard, and in the morning marched back to their quarters, and released at the solicitation of their officers. As they were leaving, a citizen who went down to their boats to recover some stolen property, was seized and thrown overboard, which instantly raised an excitement, and as they left, they were followed by the hootings and cries of the irritated crowd. The old iron cannon, and the discordant music of a hundred tin horns with as many cowbells, assisted in expressing the general satisfaction. The books of a mercantile firm show an unsettled balance of $300 against one of these worthies. Congress, April 10, 1812, required 100,000 men to be raised in anticipation of the war, which were to be officered with present militia officers, paid at the same rates as the regular army, and were not compelled to serve longer than six months after arriving at the place of rendezvous. It was stipulated, that no non- commissioned officer musician or private, should be subject to corporal punishment by whipping, but stoppage of pay, confinement, and de- privation of rations, should be substituted. $1,000,000 was appro- priated for this purpose. Gen. Jacob Brown, whose brigade included the county, wrote May 2, 1812, to Col. Benedict, to raise 43 men, in- cluding noncommissioned officers, to be held ready at a minutes warn- ing, and two competent men as lieutenant and ensign. These he re- quired to be embodied and stationed in the village of Williamstown, [De Kalb.] as soon as possible. Col. Stone, of Herkimer county, was also instructed to raise 37 men, and 1 lieutenant, to join the above. A company was accordingly raised of about 80 men, with Darius Hawkins, of Herkimer county, captain; John Polley, of Mas- sena, and Elisha Griffin, of De Kalb, lieutenants. These were sent on to Ogdensburgh, and Col Benedict wrote, May 25, 1812, to D. W. Church, adjutant, in charge of the barracks, as follows : They appear to have laid in for a stock of military supplies. "You will probably re- ceive this letter by the hand of Lt. Polley, who has the command of a detachment of men from this encampment. I have ordered him to Og- densburgh with the detachment. Lt. Griffin, as commanded, will fol- low in three or four days. They are to go to the public barracks. Lt. Polley is to be obeyed as commander, until the arrival of Lt. Griffin. You will receive by Whipple, four bbls. of pork, four axes, and one fry-
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ing pan, which belong to the troops, together with one bbl. of whiskey, for their use. I expect to be at Ogdensburgh on or by Monday next, and until my arrival I have to request the favor of you to furnish flour, bread and other camp necessaries; in fine to be an assistant to the Lt., and lend him all the assistance in your power. On my arrival I shall make the necessary arrangements until the arrival of the proper officers."
These troops arrived on the last of May, and for a few days were quartered in the court house. The citizens, from their former expe- rience, disliked the idea of having troops among them, and it is said that difficulty was experienced in getting their bread baked from this cause. The declaration of war, in June 1812, was made known by the arrival of Major Darby Noon, to erect barracks, which were temporary and located a short distance below the village. No sooner was the news of the declaration of war received, than the greatest alarm was immediately created on both sides of the lines, from mutual fears of hostile incursion from the other side of the boundary.
In St. Lawrence county especially, this fear was greatly increased by rumors that parties of Indians were about to fall upon the settlements, then young and feeble, and lay waste the country with fire and tomahawk. On the slighest alarm, often from trivial or accidental causes, a rumor would originate and spread through an entire settlement; the timid would flee to the woods, and not unfrequently the most grotesque and ludicrous scenes were enacted. Families hastening off and leaving their houses open and the table spread with provisions, and fleeing on horseback and on foot, in carts, and in wagons, laden with such articles of value as they were able to snatch in their haste; some driving their flocks and herds before them, which others left behind, and each fugi- tive from the danger they apprehended, augmented the fears of the others, which they met by relating their own. Many of these did not return till peace and some never. By degrees it was remarked that no real danger from these sources existed, and confidence became reëstab- lished, so that before the close of the war, the former feeling of friend- ship had in some degree been renewed between the settlers along oppo- site the St. Lawrence. The first news of the war in June 1812, was the signal for general alarm, but before the close of the season, the minds of the settlers had become accustomed to these rumors and they were but little regarded. The sight of an Indian, however innocent and peaceable, his business, or of an Indian or squaw's track in the sand, was an especial subject of alarm, and this operated greatly to the dis- tresses of the St. Regis tribe, who were thus cut off from their custom- ary pursuits and compelled to remain at home, for fear of exciting alarms.
To say that this alarm was general, would be doing injustice to a large class of citizens who awaited whatever events the war might entail, with a constancy and steadiness which reflected great credit upon their charac- ter. In every town on the St. Lawrence, however most ludicrous scenes . were enacted, originating in accidental alarms or the wanton reports set on foot by those who adopted this method of testing the personal courage of their neighbors. The settlers in De Peyster were on one occasion, driven to the woods by a report brought by a young man who rode through on horseback at great speed, and spread an alarm of Indians. This proved to be entirely groundless, and its author just a year after- wards, got severely flogged for this indulgence of his humor. A ludicrous incident occurred in Louisville, in June. An early settler who lived upon one of the points that project into the St. Lawrence, and who to a f on
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1
ness for a practical joke, added much personal courage, became disgusted at the timid conduct of his neighbors, and feared that the Canadians would cross over for plunder, supposing the country deserted. He ac- cordingly resolved one still beautiful evening, to try the effect of a strata- gem which was to convince the people opposite within sight of his resi- dence, that although some had fled, yet others were left, and that his government was not unmindful of the interests of its citizens on her northern frontier.
He accordingly, with the aid of two or three accomplices, built a great number of fires in a conspicuous point on the bank, and then passing up and down, he announced in a loud voice which resounded for miles across the placid waters of the St. Lawrence, the orders which it is cus- tomary to issue to the different companies and battallions of an army when taking their positions in a camp. These orders were duly responded to by his aids who were posted- at suitable distances. The fires had at- tracted notice on the Canada shore, and the orders of the commander-in- chief were conclusive evidence that an army of Americans had arrived, and were about to precipitate themselves upon the British dominions. Immediately the cries of alarm, the barking of dogs, which their masters vainly tried to suppress, and the rattling of wagons announced that the settlers were on their way to the woods, where as it subsequently ap- peared, they spent the night in the greatest terror and confusion. One old Dutchman alone remained, declaring that the voice that came across the waters, was too much like that of an old fellow with whom he was acquainted.
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