A history of the state of New York, from the first discovery of the country to the present time: with a geographical account of the country, and a view of its original inhabitants, Part 31

Author: Eastman, Francis Smith, 1803-1846 or 7
Publication date: 1832
Publisher: New York, A. K. White
Number of Pages: 930


USA > New York > A history of the state of New York, from the first discovery of the country to the present time: with a geographical account of the country, and a view of its original inhabitants > Part 31


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


Previous to his attendance in congress, Mr. Floyd had been appointed to the command of the militia of the county of Suffolk, and, upon his return, he found Long Island menaccd with an invasion from a naval force assembled in Gardiner's ' bay, with the avowed object of gathering supplies. When the landing of the enemy was reported to him, he promptly as- sembled the force under his command, and marched to the point of attack. It was, perhaps, fortunate for his little army, composed of raw and undisciplined militia, that the terror of their approach left nothing for their arms to accomplish. The activity displayed, however, had an important effect in induc- ing the enemy to abandon their design.


In April, 1775, having been again chosen, by the provincial assembly of New York, a delegate to the general congress of the colonies, he took his seat in the second continental con- gress, which met at Philadelphia on the 10th of May following. and continued a constant attendant for more than two years. As a member of this congress, general Floyd united with his illustrious associates in boldly dissolving the political bonds which connected the colonies to the British crown, and co-op crated in the arduous and responsible task of arraying them


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in hostility to the British empire. Under circumstances of danger and distress, with difficulties almost insurmountable, and embarrassments the most complicated, they were raised from the posture of supplication, and clothed in the armor of war.


During this interesting and protracted session, general Floyd was constantly and actively employed in the discharge of his public duties, to which he bestowed the most unremit- ting attention. He was chosen on numerous and important committees, the details of which were complicated, difficult, and, in many cases, extremely laborious. In procuring sup- plies for the army, in forwarding the expedition ordered against Canada, and particularly in introducing an efficient organiza- tion of the militia, (which may be said to have been the mother of the regular army,) as well as in many other matters, to which his attention was particularly directed by congress, he was enabled, by his experience and habits of business, to render essential service.


During his attendance in congress, Long Island was evacu- ated by the American troops, and occupied by those of Great Britain. His family, in consequence of this event, were driven from their home in great haste and confusion, and were removed by his friends into Connecticut. "The produce and stock of his estate were seized by the enemy, and the man- sion house selected as the rendezvous for a party of horse, by whom it was occupied during the remainder of the war. This event was the source of serious inconvenience to him, as it precluded him from deriving any benefit from his landed prop- erty for nearly seven years, and left him without a house for himself and his family.


On the 8th of May, 1777, general Floyd was appointed a senator of the state of New York, under the constitution of the state, which had then recently been adopted. On the 13th of May, the provincial convention passed a resolution that the thanks of the convention be given to him and his colleagues, " delegates of the state of New York in the honorable the continental congress, for their long and faithful services ren- dered the colony of New York and to the said state."


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On the 9th of September, 1777, he took his seat in the senate of New York, at their first session under the new com. stitution. This being the first constitutional legislature sice the colonial assembly was dissolved, it devolved upon them to organize the government, and adopt a code of laws, suited to existing circumstances. Of this body he became a leading and influential member, and attended in his place, with solar short intervals, until the 6th of November, 1778, when thy ; adjourned.


On the 15th of October, 1778, he was unanimously re-elect- ed a delegate to the continental congress, by a joint ballot of the senate and assembly, and on the 2d of January follow in:, resumed his seat in that body, where he soon became actively employed on numerous committees, and continued in attend- ance until the 9th of June, when he obtained leave of absence.


General Floyd was, by subsequent appointments, continued in high public stations during the greater part of his life. During his long attendance in the councils of the general and state governments, he maintained a high and enviable rank. 'The frequent and constant proofs of popular favor, which he received for more than 50 years, afford the most flattering commentary upon his public character.


Having, in the year 1784, purchased a tract of land, then uninhabited, upon the Mohawk river, and finding himself more at leisure, he undertook the improvement of it, and. although he was now at an advanced period of life, succeeded. after devoting several successive summers to that object, in transforming it into a number of well cultivated farms. The western portion of the state of New York was at this time emerging from the wilderness of nature, and, attracted by the extraordinary fertility of the soil, he determined, in the year 1803, to transfer his residence to his new estate.


In the year 1800, he was chosen one of the electors of president and vice-president of the United States. ITis feel- ings had been excited by the conduct of the previous admin- istration, endangering, as he thought, the permanency of our institutions ; and neither the precarious state of his health, the


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remonstrances of his friends, nor a journey of 200 miles in the month of December, could prevent him from attending to support his early political friend and associate, Mr. Jefferson.


In 1801, he was elected a member of the convention to revise the constitution of the state of New York, and, at a subsequent period, served twice as presidential elector. At the earnest solicitation of his friends, he was once more elected a senator from the senatorial district into which he had removed, but, from the advanced period of his life, he was unable to bestow much attention to his public duties. In 1820, although he was unable, from the infirmities of age, to leave his home, he was again complimented with being named upon the electoral college.


After having enjoyed, for 87 years, a life of almost uninter- rupted health, he expired on the 4th of August, 1821.


In private life he was fond of society, but always observed a measured decorum, which repressed familiarity, and chilled every approach of intimacy. He was highly respected in the society in which he lived, and has left to his descendants a name of which they will long be proud .*


ROBERT FULTON.


Robert Fulton, eminent as the inventor of steam-boats, was ' born in the town of Little Britain, Lancaster county, Penn- sylvania, 1765. His parents, who were Irish, were respecta- ble, and gave him a common English education at Lancaster. He early exhibited a superior talent for mechanism and paint- ing, and in his 18th year established himself in the latter employment in Philadelphia, and obtained much credit and emolument by his portraits and landscapes. On entering his 22d year, he went to England, for the purpose of improving his knowledge of that art, and was received into the family of Mr. West, with whom he spent several years, and cultivated a warm friendship. After leaving that family, he employed two. years in Devonshire as a painter, and there became acquainted


* Sanderson.


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with the duke of Bridgewater, and lord Stanhope, the former famous for his canals, and the latter for his love of the me- chanic arts. He soon turned his attention to mechanics, particularly to the improvement of inland navigation by canals, and the use of steam for the propelling of boats, and, in 1794, obtained patents for a double inclined plane, to be used for transportation, and an instrument to be employed in excavating canals. He at this time professed himself a civil engineer, and published a treatise on canal navigation. Ile soon after went to France, and obtained a patent from the government for the improvements he had invented. He spent the succeeding seven years in Paris, in the family of Mr. Joel Barlow, during which period he made himself acquainted with the French, Italian and German languages, and soon . acquired a knowledge of the high mathematics, physics, chemistry and perspective. He soon turned his attention to submarine navigation and explosion, and, in 1801, under the patronage of the first consul, constructed a plunging boat, and torpedoes, (differing materially from Bushnel's invention, with which he was acquainted,) with which he performed many experiments in the harbor of Brest, demonstrating the practi- cability of employing subaquatic explosion and navigation for the destruction of vessels. These inventions attracted the attention of the British government, and overtures were made to him by the ministry, which induced him to go to London, with the hope that they would avail themselves of his machines ; but a demonstration of their efficacy which he gave the min- istry, by blowing up a vessel in' their presence, led them to wish to suppress the invention rather than encourage it; and accordingly they declined patronising him. During this peri- od, he also made many efforts to discover a method of suc- cessfully using the steam-engine for the propelling of boats, and, as early as 1793, made such experiments as inspired him with great confidence in its practicability. Robert R. Living- ston, esq., chancellor of New York, and minister of the United States to the French court, on his arrival in France, induced him to renew his attention to this subject, and em- barked with him in making experiments for the purpose of satisfying themselves of the possibility of employing steam in


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navigation. Mr. Fulton engaged with intense interest in the trial, and, in 1803, constructed a boat on the river Seine, at their joint expense, by which he fully evinced the practicabili- ty of propelling boats by that agent. He immediately resolved to enrich his country with this invaluable discovery, and, on returning to New York, in 1806, commenced, in conjunction with Mr. Livingston, the construction of the first Fulton boat, which was launched in the spring of 1807 from the ship-yard of Charles Browne, New York, and completed in August. This boat, which was called the Clermont, demonstrated, on the first experiment, to a host of at first incredulous, but at length astonished spectators, the correctness of his expectations, and the value of his invention. Between this period and his death, he superintended the erection of 14 other steam-vessels, and made great improvements in their construction. He ob- tained a patent for his inventions in navigation by steam in February, 1809, and another for some improvements in 1811. In the latter year, he was appointed, by the legislature of New York, one of the commissioners to explore a route for a canal from the great lakes to the Hudson, and engaged with zeal in the promotion of that great work. On the commencement of hostilities between the United States and Great Britain in IS12, he renewed his attention to submarine warfare, and con- trived a method of discharging guns under water, for which he obtained a patent. In 1814, he contrived an armed steam- ship for the defence of the harbor of New York, and also a submarine vessel, or plunging boat, of such dimensions as to car- ry 100 men, the plans of which being approved by government, he was authorized to construct them at the public expense. But before completing either of those works, he died suddenly, February 24th, 1815. His person was tall, slender and well formed, his manners graceful and dignified, and his disposition generous. Ifis attainments and inventions bespeak the high superiority of his talents. He was an accomplished painter, was profoundly versed in mechanics, and possessed an inven- tion of great fertility, and which was always directed by an eminent share of good sense. His style, as a writer, was perspicuous and energetic. To him is to be ascribed the honor of inventing a method of successfully employing the


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steam-engine in navigation, an invention justly considered one of 'the most important which has been made in modern ages, and by which he rendered himself both a perpetual and one of the greatest benefactors of mankind. He was not, indeed, the first who conceived it to be possible; others had believed its practicability, and made many attempts to propel boats by : steam, but, having neither his genius, his knowledge, nor his perseverance, they were totally unsuccessful. Mr. Fulton was familiarly acquainted with many of the most distinguished lit- erary and political characters both of the United States and of Europe, was a director of the American academy of fine arts, and a member of several literary and philosophical soci- eties .*


ALEXANDER HAMILTON.


General Alexander Hamilton was a native of the island of St. Croix, and was born in 1757. His father was the youngest son of an English family, and his mother was an American. At the age of 16, he accompanied his mother to New York, and entered a student of Columbia college, in which he con- tinued about three years. While a member of this institution, the first buddings of his intellect gave presages of his future eminence.


The contest with Great Britain called forth the first talents on each side, and his juvenile pen asserted the claims of the colonies against very respectable writers. His papers exhibit- ed such evidence of intellect and wisdom, that they were ascribed to Mr. Jay ; and when the truth was discovered, America saw, with astonishment, a lad of 17 in the list of her able advocates.


At the age of 18, he entered the American army, as an officer of artillery. It was not long before he attracted the notice of Washington, who, in 1777, selected him as an aid, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. His sound understanding, comprehensive views, application, and promptitude, soon gain- ed him the entire confidence of his patron.


* Lord.


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Hamilton served as first aid-de-camp to the commander- in-chief in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown and Mon- mouth. At the siege of Yorktown, he led, at his own request, the American detachment that carried by assault one of the ene- my's outworks, on the 14th of October, 1781. On these occasions, his valor was daring and chivalrous. In the latter affair, which, though small, was brilliant and masterly, he displayed, in a very signal degree, the higher and more heroic quality of mercy towards the vanquished. In addition to the sanction of usage and precedent, he had a strong temptation to put to the sword the defenders of the redoubt, in retaliation of the murderous atrocities which had been recently committed by the enemy at fort Griswold. But, to magnanimity like his, the works of mercy were more congenial than those of ven- geance : he, therefore, regardless of the past, and listening only to the voice of humanity, sheathed the sword when resist- ance had ceased.


Soon after the capture of Cornwallis, Hamilton, at the age of 25, applied to the study of law. In this profession, he soon rose to distinction. A few years after, more important concerns demanded his talents. He was appointed, in 1787, a member of the federal convention for New York, and assisted in forming the constitution of our country. By his pen, in the papers signed Publius, and by his voice in the convention of New York, he contributed much to its adoption.


On the organization of the federal government, in the sum- mer of 1789, he was appointed to the office of secretary of the treasury. The duties of that department, intrinsically arduous, and essentially connected with high responsibilities, were con- fessedly, at the time, increased in difficulty by the co-operation of temporary but powerful causes. As no statistical account of the country had ever been attempted, its fiscal resources were wholly unknown. Add to this, that the habits and feel- ings of the people were far from being favorable to the organ- ization of an efficient and permanent system of finance. But the mind of Hamilton was not formed to be intimidated or · vanquished. It rose in greatness in proportion to the difficul- tics it had to encounter. During his continuance at the head of the treasury, a terin of between five and six years, his man-


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ifestations of genius and talent were vast and varied-far beyond even the exalted promise of his former achievements. He proved himself capable not only of arranging, combining and maturing, but of creating, the means necessary for the attainment of the weightiest purposes. He perceived, as by 'intuition, the true character and resources of the country, and devised, with equal facility, the best plan of converting them into a basis of national revenue.


In his system of finance, there was nothing unnatural, and, therefore, nothing forced. So perfect were the correspondence and adjustment between the means, the subject and the end, that all things he aimed at sprang up under his touch, as if nature herself had called them into existence. They rose and flourished like the productions of a fertile soil, when awakened by the influence of the vernal sun. From the most humble and depressed condition, he raised the public credit to an ele- vation altogether unprecedented in the history of the country, and acquired for himself, both at home and abroad, the repu- tation of the greatest financier of the age.


When a provisional army was raised, in 1798, in conse- quence of the injuries and demands of France, Washington , suspended his acceptance of the command of it, on the con- dition that Hamilton should be his associate, and the second in command. This arrangement was accordingly made. After the adjustment of our dispute with the French republic, and the discharge of the army, he returned to the bar, and never again appeared in any official capacity. He was too much attached, however, to the welfare of his country not to feel, during such portentous times, a deep interest in public affairs. While he viewed, with all the solicitude of a patriot. the course of events both in Europe and America, he scruti- nized them with the knowledge and discernment of a great statesman, and drew from them the lessons of an experienced sage.


In the mean time, his fame as an advocate and a counsellor continued to brighten, the last exertion of his genius and talents being still considered by those who heard him the greatest and best. He had now before him a flattering pros- pect of acquiring for his family the independence of wealth ---


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a consideration which, in his devotion to his country, he had heretofore neglected.


In this flourishing state of his fortune and renown, a po- litical opposition which had long subsisted between him and colonel Burr, then vice-president of the United States, ripen- ed, at length, into a personal misunderstanding. Between characters of a keen and chivalrous sense of honor, to whom an affront or a slight is more painful than a wound, and who are prone to take counsel of their feelings rather than their judgment, an event of the kind is replete with danger. A reputed stain on the reputation of either can be washed away by nothing but blood.


In June, 1804, general Hamilton received from colonel Burr a note, requiring, in language that was deemed offensive, an acknowledgment or a disavowal, touching certain expres- sions, which he was unable to make. This led to a corre- spondence, which, after every honorable effort by the former to prevent extremities, terminated in a challenge on the part of the latter. By a man conspicuous in the eyes of Europe and America, and looking forward to certain contingencies which might call him again into military life, an acceptance was coll- sidered unavoidable.


As well from a reluctance to shed the blood of an individu- al in single combat, as from an apprehension that he might, in some unguarded moment, have spoken of colonel Burr in terms of unmerited severity, general Hamilton determined to receive the fire of his antagonist, and to reserve his own. This determination he communicated to his second, who, after a friendly remonstrance, acquiesced in the measure.


On the morning of the 11th of July, 1804, the parties met at Hoboken, on the New Jersey shore, the very spot where, a short time previously, general Hamilton's eldest son had fallen in a duel.


The tragical issue is known to the world. The challenger was an adept in the use of the pistol; the party challenged much less so, had he even come to the ground with a fatal' intention. The terms of the combat were, therefore, un. equal.


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On the first fire, Hamilton received the ball of his antagonist, and immediately fell. For a time, the wound threatened to prove speedily mortal ; he was even thought, by those present, to be already dead. He recovered, however, from the first shock, and survived until 2 o'clock P. M. of the following - day, when he expired, in the 47th year of his age.


During the short period that intervened between the fatal accident and his death, he exhibited to all who approached him a most sublime and interesting spectacle. In a body almost lifeless, yet suffering, at times, extreme agony, his great mind retained its usual serenity and strength. Towards his family and friends the warmth and tenderness of his affec- tions were increased. He uttered, in strong terms, his deep abhorrence of the practice of duelling, declared that, in prin- ciple, he had been always opposed to it, and left against it his dying testimony. He expressed, moreover, his sincere sorrow and penitence at having been engaged in it himself, declared his resolution, should he recover from his wound, never again to be guilty of a similar act, professed his belief in the Christian religion, and participated largely of the comforts which it offered.


Throughout the United States, his premature fall excited emotions of sorrow that were inferior only to those that had resulted from the death of Washington. For a time, political distinctions were swallowed up in his loss; and, with a mag- nanimity in a high degree honorable to them, those who had been hitherto opposed to him in public measures, united with his friends in doing homage to his memory, and lamenting his death as a national calamity.


Such honors Ilium to her hero paid,


And peaceful slept the mighty Hector's shade.


Although in person below the middle stature, and some- what deficient in elegance of figure, general Hamilton pos sessed a very striking and manly appearance. By the most superficial observer he could never be regarded as a common individual.' His head, which was large, was formed on' the finest model, resembling somewhat the Grecian antique. His forehead was spacious and elevated, his nose projecting, but


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inclining to the aquiline, his eyes gray, keen at all times, and, when animated by debate, intolerably piercing, and his mouth and chin well proportioned and handsome. These two latter, although not his strongest, were his most pleasing features ; yet the form of his mouth was expressive of eloquence, more especially of persuasion. He was remarkable for a deep de- pression between his nose and forehead, and a contraction of his' brows, which gave to the upper part of his countenance an air of sternness. The lower part was the emblem of mildness and benignity.


In his dress he was plain, in his disposition social, in his manners easy and affable, in his affections warm, in his friend- ships steady, in his feelings ardent, and in his general deport- ment a well-bred gentleman.


General Hamilton possessed very uncommon powers of mind. To whatever subject he directed his attention, he was able to grasp it, and in whatever he engaged, in that he ex- celled. So stupendous were his talents, and so patient was his industry, that no investigation presented difficulties which he could not conquer. In the class of men of intellect, he held the first rank. His eloquence was of the most interesting kind, and when new exertions were required, he rose in new strength, and, touching at his pleasure every string of pity or terror, of indignation or grief, he bent the passions of others to his purpose. At the bar, he gained the first eminence.


He undoubtedly discovered the predominance of a soldier's feelings ; and all that is honor in the character of a soldier, was at home in his heart. His early education was in the camp; there the first fervors of his genius were poured forth, and his earliest and most cordial friendships formed; there he became enamored of Glory, and was admitted to her embrace."




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