USA > New York > Steuben County > A history of Steuben County, New York, and its people, Vol. I > Part 37
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65
Colonel Thomson was a man of large and extensive acquaint- ance, not only in his own state of New York, but of the whole Union. It is doubtful if the name of any man of prominence could
211
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY
be mentioned to him, but what he had an acquaintance with him and could relate some incident or personal peculiarity connected with that acquaintance. Mr. Thomson was a well-known fre- quenter of the legislative halls at Washington, Albany and other state capitals.
During the stormy days of President Andrew Johnson's ad- ministration, and the reconstruction period, when Union conven- tions were frequently held for the purpose of preserving the nat- ural unity, and some think for more selfish purposes, "Charley" Thomson was always in attendance as a delegate from some one of the reconstructed states. These delegations were generally made up of carpet-baggers, negroes and re-instated rebels. Colonel Thom- son was of dark complexion, with heavy black hair, black eyes and white teeth and of medium size. At one of these conventions Henry Sherwood, an imported "Jay Hawker" from the north, represented the state of Texas. Colonel Thomson represented the black belt of the state of Mississippi. The convention was held in a large hall in the third story of a building in Washington, and fully five hundred alleged delegates were present. Towards the close of a dark fall day, Mr. Sherwood offered a motion and asked for its adoption, claiming it was of great importance to the south and proceeded to support it by a vociferous speech, for he was an eloquent man. Colonel Thomson, who sat in a distant part of the hall near a window that illumined his complexion and contour, arose; gave his name as a delegate from the state of Mississippi, and, prefacing his motion with a statement that the delegates from his state "wanted time to examine that woodpile," moved that the convention adjourn until 10. o'elock the following day. It was duly seconded and Mr. Sherwood, well knowing what the adjournment meant, objected that the motion to adjourn was not in order. The presiding officer, Governor Bullock ( the carpet- bag governor of Georgia), said he would entertain the motion. Then Sherwood, addressing the mover of the resolution, eloquently begged of him to withdraw his motion, saying, "My friend, if you knew what I have suffered, and how I have toiled for your race, you would not strangle my resolution by your motion to adjourn." But the gentleman from Mississippi was obdurate, and the motion to adjourn was carried. Sherwood then declared he wanted to find that "d-d nigger." Bert, Chet and .Charley are gone; their lives, like their bank, are closed with credit and honor, leaving, for assets, a flood of pleasant memories.
The Banking House of Q. W. Wellington and Company, of Corning, was organized as an individual bank on September 1, 1862. The original members of the eopartnership were Quincy W. Well- ington and Samuel Russell, Jr., and its capital was $100,000. It issued bills until the arbitrary restriction and prohibition of the enactments of the national banking law compelled the redemp- tion and retirement of the bills of all state banks of which this was one. Four years after its organiaztion Mr. Russell withdrew from the copartnership and retired from the bank. Mr. Welling- ton operated this bank until 1884, when his son, Mr. Benjamin W. Wellington, acquired an interest in this bank and became a mem- ber of the firm of Q. W. Wellington and Company. This has ever been the designation of this institution which is known throughout
212
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY
the states of New York and Pennsylvania as an entirely safe and reliable bank. Its place of business has long been the southeast corner of the Dickinson House bloek.
Quincy W. Wellington, the founder of the bank, was born in the town of Monah, Essex county, New York, December 27, 1832. In 1849 he came with his father's family to Tioga, Penn- sylvania, and was engaged in the mercantile business at that place until March, 1854. Then for four years he was employed in the office of the New York and Erie Railroad Company, and during the three succeeding years was in the service of the George Washington Bank at Corning, as chief bookkeeper. In 1866, after Mr. Russell's retirement and with Samuel Russell, Jr., he formed the Q. W. Wellington and Company's Bank, and thereafter Mr. Wellington alone continued the management until 1884, when his son, Benjamin, became an active partner, performing the du- ties of cashier. The resources of this bank now amount to over $1,000,000, and the deposits aggregate nearly that sum. Mr. Wellington has also found time to give his substantial co-operation and aid to every enterprise devised to promote the interests of the city and county.
The First National Bank of Corning was organized under the national banking law, in May, 1882, principally by Franklin N. Drake, with the valued and spirited assistance of Hon. George B. Bradley and Hon. Charles C. B. Walker. Mr. Drake was the leading promoter of the undertaking, and held the office of presi- dent from its organization until his death, ten years later. The capital of the bank has always been $50,000, and its accumulated surplus is now about $160,000. At the death of its president, Franklin N. Drake, James A. Drake, his son, succeeded to the office, and Hon. George B. Bradley was elected vice-president, of which offices they are still the incumbents. This bank is the youngest of the Corning institutions, and is among the more re- cent in the state; yet it is rated in financial cireles as an entirely reliable, successful and well-managed institution, and enjoys the confidence of all classes of people. The personnel of its officers and their reputation for integrity, honesty, fair dealing, right living and financial ability places it in a position of first rank with everybody.
Franklin N. Drake, the founder, principal stockholder and first president of the First National Bank of Corning, was born at the town of Milton, Chittenden county, Vermont, on December 1, 1817. His father, Elijah Drake, was a farmer; hard working, honest and in moderate circumstances. He died in 1829. His mother, Polly Tambling, was a native of Lee, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and after her second marriage the family removed to LeRoy, Genesee county, New York. Here Franklin had the advantages of a good school and the place is still noted for its excellent facilities in that line. At the age of fifteen years, he be- gan business as a clerk in a drug store; five years later he opened a grocery and hardware store in the same village, and after four- teen years of fair success in this business he disposed of it, and, with H. D. Graves and Harrison Harvey, formed a copartnership under the firm name of H. D. Graves and Company. They pur- chased a large tract of timber land in the town of Cohocton,
.
273
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY
Steuben county, and soon began operations as large manufac- turers and dealers in lumber and shingles, shipping their output to northern and eastern markets, and finding for it a ready sale. Graves and Harvey soon sold their interests in the business to Mr. Drake. Up to this time the business had been fairly suc- cessful, but was by no means as extensive as Mr. Drake desired it to be. In the early part of 1861 the copartnership of F. N. Drake and Company was formed, composed of Franklin N. Drake, George W. Drake and Thomas Warner. The operations of this organi- zation were most far-reaching and eclipsed all previous under- takings in the Conhocton valley. The senior partner was the active manager of the enterprise, but he was earnestly assisted by his associates, neither of whom was at all timid in making large in- vestments and extending the operations of the firm. At one time it kept six mills at work, the annual product of which aggre- gated 15,000,000 feet of merchantable lumber. This business con- tinued during the entire period of the Civil war, when prices were high in every market. The result was a substantial fortune for each of the partners. In 1866 the copartnership was dissolved by the retirement of both of the Messrs. Drake and Mr. Warner continued in the business; but the decline in the demand for this large product shrunk, resulting disastrously to Mr. Warner and his confidants.
In 1867 Mr. Drake became a resident of the village of Corning, where he afterwards joined a company for the purchase of a large tract of lumber and coal lands, near Blossburg, Pennsylvania. The building of a railroad became necessary, and when the Bloss Coal Mining and Railroad Company was organized, Mr. Drake became its general superintendent and active manager. In 1867 he bought the Tioga Railroad and was elected president of the re-organized company. Through his efforts this road was extended to the city of Elmira. In 1871 the Bloss Coal Mining and Rail- road Company was sold to the Blossburg Coal Company, and Mr. Drake, being the largest stockholder in the company, was, in 1871, made its president. In 1881 the various associated railroads and properties were sold to the Erie Railway Company, and were now known as the Tioga division of the Erie Railroad. After becom- ing a resident of Corning, Mr. Drake was ever awake to its in- terests, and every effort tending to the general good found his active support. His connection with the First National Bank of Corning has been detailed. Except for the united efforts of Mr. Drake and Amory Houghton, Jr., it is reasonably doubtful if the beautiful Opera House that now is such a credit to the city would have been founded. He also contributed to the building of the City Clubhouse, and the appointments and conveniences of the re- juvenated First National Bank building, on the east side of the Public Square, are his work. The mind of Franklin N. Drake was remarkable; it had the capacity both to grasp and successfully direct the details of large enterprises. He could divine the pos- sibilities of an investment in a new and untried situation, ex- amining the ground and forming his own judgment with rapidity and almost certainty. When a proposition of any nature was submitted to him, his large fund of general experience and ex- cellent knowledge and judgment of affairs were an assurance Vol. I-18
274
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY
that his conclusions would be usually right; and he had no hesi- tation in acting in accordance with them. He was a close reader and observer of all that took place; never active in politics, yet firmly in sympathy with the principles of the Democratic party. He was jealous of his rights, never submitting to any discourtesy or neglect of attention. An incident will suffice: A number of prominent Democrats from the "southern tier" of New York- namely, Chemung, Steuben and Allegany counties-made arrange- ments for chartering a Pullman car and tender for supplies and transportation over the Erie Railroad to the Democratic National Convention, at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1880, when that superb soldier, General Winfield Scott Hancock, was nominated for president. Some thirty gentlemen composed the party. The national dele- gate, who was a resident of Steuben county-there were two from each congressional district-promised to provide the entire party with admission tickets. Mr. Drake and a fellow visitor were sit- ting together in the lobby of the Grand Hotel, after arriving at the convention city, when this national delegate came in, and addressing the two visitors, said: "Boys, I can't get the tickets to the convention I expected, but (handing them his personal cards) give these to 'Billy Whitney' with my compliments, and he will get tickets for you. He is at the Burnett House." The man "Billy," to whom this delegate referred, was Hon. William C. Whitney. There were then and there two disgusted, insulted and chagrined visitors, and just as the delegate turned away, Hon. C. C. B. Walker, "Our Charley," came up. "What's the matter with you fellows? You look sick," he said, his face ruddy, friendly and smiling. "Come with me," he said, and going to the apartment of Hon. Samuel J. Randall, of Pennsylvania, he introduced the shabbily-treated visitors and told their dilemma and the author of it. Mr. Randall supplied the tickets and asked the number of visitors. He was told about thirty. "Come here," he said. "Tickets shall be supplied to all wanting to get in to the convention hall.". Mr. Drake afterwards referred to this hap- pening with wrath. Charley Walker was a member of the Forty- fifth congress from the Twenty-ninth district of New York in 1875-7, and made a national reputation by his impulsive reply to the charge of an ex-Confederate congressman, in a discussion of the horrors of Andersonville experienced by northern prisoners of war, who retorted by saying that Confederate prisoners had been as badly treated in the Federal prison at Elmira. Major Walker could not stand the base slander, and, standing up in his place, he shouted : "That's a damned lie. I was the commandant of that prison at Elmira and know how you fellows were treated." Major Walker had been, by the war department, assigned to the command at Elmira with the rank of major, upon the recommen- dation, of the governor of New York. James G. Blaine declared that that episode, coming from a northern Democratic member, was the most thrilling and effective of the session. Franklin N. Drake was a good citizen; a model husband and father and the idol of a happy home. He died December 28, 1892, regretted by every person who knew him.
215
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY;
BANKS AND BANKERS OF HORNELLSVILLE.
At Hornellsville, in March, 1856, Samuel Hallett, who had carried on the banking business in a small way, by selling do- mestic and foreign bills of exchange, receiving deposits, selling drafts on New York, dealing in ocean passage tickets, and acting for insurance companies, organized and opened the Bank of Hornellsville. It was chartered under the laws of the state, with $100,000 capital, and authorized to issue currency, secured by state stocks and real estate, the latter afterwards found to be of an inflated value. This bank did an active business for several years. It had a large line of deposits, and an extensive circula- tion. It erected and equipped the building for a first class bank of that period, the structure now occupied by Waldorf's jewelry store. It was under the management of Samuel Hallett as presi -: dent and Francis M. McDowell as cashier. Mr. Hallett had a keen and almost prophetic insight into the future financial conditions of the nation, and in the midst of the trying financial conditions at the opening epoch of the war vigorously participated in the discussion of a national currency-a subject which deeply agitated the best minds of the country. In the summer of 1861 Mr. Hal- lett wrote to Hon. E. G. Spaulding, member of congress from the- Thirty-second district of New York, in support of a national bank- ing system, urging "a currency of uniform security and value; protection from losses in discounts and exchanges; increased facili- ties to the government in obtaining loans; a diminution in the rate of interest, or a participation by the people in the profits of circulation; an avoidance of the perils of a great money monop- oly, and a distribution of the bonds of the nation to the leading monetary associations of the country, thus identifying their in- terests with those of the government." A bill in accordance with these views was prepared by the secretary of the treasury and submitted to the committee of ways and means, by whom it was reported adversely. The next session the bill became a law. It was the product of the fertile mind of Mr. Samuel Hallett, presi- dent of the Bank of Hornellsville. Hallett was an omnivorous reader, and may have derived the idea from the noted essay of Albert Gallatin, in 1831.
Hallett delighted in great undertakings and readily compre- hended gigantic affairs while others were thinking and wonder- ing. Says a writer of that day: "He owned Greeley in ten minutes; Fremont was his at the end of the half hour. He ap- proached them with different tones and actions. He saw a man's weak point at a glance. When capitalists called on Mr. Chase, then secretary of the treasury, about the first five million, for the Union Pacific Railroad-W. H. Aspinwall, Samuel Hooper and Samuel Hallett-they found affairs prevented Cheever from organizing a great bank. Jay Cook, Livermore and Clews got the job instead. The Atlantic and Great Western Railway, in 1857, placed the enterprise in Hallett's hands in London. Then came contracts and strange situations. Hallett, through Ken- nard, managed to squeeze half a million of pounds out of the road .. His power was in starting game, but it never fell-into his hands. His energy was terrific; his application was marvelous. Hallett's
276
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY
ambition was to build the Pacific Railroad, from Sacramento, California, to Omaha, Nebraska; thence to Chicago and on to New York,, by the great broad-gauge route to the east. Hallett was imperious and tyrranical to his employes; never sparing their sensibilities, whether he was right or wrong. A crippled engineer named Talcott, whom he had punished for writing a libelous letter to the president of the United States about his railroad, assassi- nated him by shooting him dead on the streets of Wyandotte, Kan- sas, and his remains were buried in the town of Wayne, Steuben county. He was born in the town of Canisteo, the same county, in 1832. After the death of Mr. Hallett this bank went into liqui- dation and ceased to exist. He built and occupied the brick dwelling house on the west side of Center street in the city of Hornell, now occupied by Mrs. W. S. Newman. He also erected a large mansion in the town of Wayne, overlooking Lakes Keuka and Waneta, and affording one of the most attractive locations of the lake country in the state of New York. Since the death of Mrs. Hallett, several years since, the place has become neglected, and is now in a decaying condition, occupied by tenants and crops.
After the death of Samuel Hallett, and the liquidation and winding up of the affairs of the Bank of Hornellsville, Nirom M. Crane and N. M. Crane and Company continued to operate a banking business in the same building occupied by Hallett's bank. This bank of Crane's did not commence business until after the close of the Civil war. It never enjoyed the prestige of large capital, yet by reason of the popularity, and courteous and fair dealing of its managers, it had a large amount of deposits, and a good business generally. General Crane had the entire and un- limited confidence of his neighbors and friends. He advanced funds for the development and construction of the Hornellsville water works and his bank was active in the construction of the city sewer system. The stringency of the money market, and the unexpected panic of 1893 resulting therefrom, caused this bank, in common with many others, to close its doors. It made an as- signment of all of its property for the benefit of its creditors, so that all shared alike in its assets, and the bank building was sold and converted into stores and offices. It is now chiefly oc- cupied as a jewelry store.
General Nirom M. Crane was born in the town of Benton, Yates county, New York, December 13, 1828. His family is of English descent-an ancestor, Henry Crane, coming to America in the year 1635. He was a son of John Crane, of Norfolk, Eng- land, and a more recent ancestor was Capt. John Crane, a son of the foregoing Henry, who was born in 1664 and commanded a company in an expedition against Canada in 1711. He died in New York, as the result of hardship and exposure in that cam- paign. Daniel Crane, his grandfather, born in 1756, was a soldier during the Revolutionary war, and was, with others, attending church when news arrived of the battles of Concord bridge and Lexington green. He at once enlisted, marched north, joined the forces under General Putnam, and was in the battle of Bunker Hill. He was a private in the second company, third regiment, of the Connecticut line, and in Captain Pond's company of its
217
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY
sixth regiment. He served throughout the war, and .participated in many of its great battles; was with General Anthony Wayne at the storming of Stony Point, and was there made deaf by the bursting of a shell. He was present at the execution of Major Andre, and about 1806, with his family, moved to Yates county, New York, in what is now the town of Benton. This locality was then a dense forest, and Mr. Crane was a pioneer in that country, where he spent the remainder of his days as a farmer, dying at about the age of seventy years.
General Crane's father, Nirom Crane, was one of nine chil- dren. He was a volunteer soldier and ranked as second lieutenant of a rifle company in the War of 1812, serving on the Niagara frontier, and being engaged at the battle of Queenstown Heights, Canada. After the war he lived the quiet life of a farmer, dying in 1845 at the age of sixty-one years and leaving seven children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the youngest. At the age of fifteen years Nirom M. Crane was a clerk in a general country store, and continued in this line of employment at Wayne and at Penn Yan until he was twenty-one. In the year 1849 he be- gan business for himself as a country merchant at Wayne, which he carried on successfully for three years, when he became a resi- dent of Hornellsville, where he carried on mercantile business un- til 1856. Then at the invitation of Mr. Samuel Hallett (the- hus- band of Anna Eliza (McDowell) Hallett, a sister of Mary Louise (McDowell) Crane, both accomplished and highly educated daugh- ters of Mr. Mathew McDowell of Wayne, New York). he became the president of the Bank of Hornellsville, the pioneer institution of the kind in that place, and of which Mr. Hallett was the largest stockholder. He thus continued until this bank was closed by the assassination of Mr. Hallett, in 1864.
In April, 1861, Nirom M. Crane, inspired by the patriotism and loyalty of his ancestors, could not resist the call to arms, and raised a company of volunteers, many of whom had been asso- ciated with him in the militia organizations of the county, join- ing the twenty-third regiment of New York volunteers, called the "Southern Tier Rifles," of which he was commissioned lieutenant- colonel. The regiment was ordered to hasten to Washington. It was mustered in the last of May and reached Arlington Heights early the next morning after the first battle of Bull Run. As lieutenant-colonel, he commanded the regiment through Pope's campaign, and led it successfully in the more important battles of Rappahannock, Groveton, Second Bull Run, Chantilly, South Mountain and Antietam. Barney Hoffman, the idol of the regi- ment, was during all this time absent, by reason of sickness or detached service.
Antietam was a bloody, though not a decisive battle; the men and officers participating, not dead or wounded, were tired out. Colonel Crane received a leave of absence of one week to visit Washington to meet Mrs. Crane, who had lovingly come from her northern home to learn of his condition. As railroad travel was uncertain, he mounted his horse and started for the object of his visit. Two days before his leave expired Mrs. Crane persuaded him to go with her, on her return to Baltimore, and there hastily visit an old and mutual friend. He most reluctantly consented,
278
HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY
and the woman won. Returning to Washington early on the last day of his leave, he mounted his horse and hastened on his re- turn journey, but found the roads obstructed by the usual impedi- ments of retreating and pursuing armies. Bridges were de- stroyed, streams swollen, and, to his great disappointment, on arriving at the place where he had left his regiment he found that brigade headquarters had been moved twenty miles further on. He remained at the place over night. The next morning with the early dawn, after partaking of a cup of coffee and part of a cold ration from the pieket's knapsack, he pursued his jour- ney. His heart was in his boots, for the severe penalty of delay and disobedience was before him like an ugly phantom, and he reached his regiment and headquarters, a hungry, discouraged, tired, travel-stained soldier. He had searcely delivered his horse to his orderly when a sergeant presented himself, inquired for Colonel Crane and, with the compliments of the brigade adjutant, delivered a paper. This paper, which he read with much fear and foreboding, required him to forthwith appear at the head- quarters of Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds of the first army corps, Army of the Potomac. He obeyed without delay, and announced his arrival to the officer on duty. He was conducted to the chief of staff, whom he well knew, and who at once asked: "Colonel Crane, are you sick? What is the matter?" Summoning an or- derly, the regulation jug and tin cup were produced. "Take a double dose of this commissary." After obeying, the colonel told him his dilemma and the cause. "Oh!" said the chief, "you are excused. You were obeying the orders of a superior. Now," remarked the chief, "here is a ration. Take this and another of commissary." Having obeyed and enjoyed a good cigar from the same stores, the chief produced a paper and handed it to Colonel Crane. It read: "Lieutenant-Colonel Nirom M. Crane of the Twenty-third New York Regiment of Infantry is hereby detailed as aeting inspector general on the staff of the First Army Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Major General John F. Reynolds, commanding." Folding the paper, with tears running down his cheeks, he said in an undertone, "I wish Louise could see it." The chief, in a similar lacrimal condition, extended his hand and said: "Colonel, my congratulations and good wishes. Let's have another round of commissary." In detailing the ineident, Colonel Crane said to his listener: "I have got that paper yet. I will show it to you." Continuing, he said: "Since then, when gloom, disaster, bad luek, desertion, betrayal of friendship, have over- taken me, I revert to that event; and take fresh courage, knowing that the righteous are never forsaken."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.