Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 85

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452

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more and more, with the enfeebling heat of each successive summer, that some measure of respite was absolutely essential. For a number of years prior to his death, he had been forced from con- stant application, by absolute inability to continue it, and a large part of his last summer he spent in freedom from care at various resorts. But as soon as he was at home, he was only contented with a certain measure of the office work; and it may be truly said of him, if the saying is anywhere strictly correct, that "he died in the harness." In the wandering of his mind, after fever had set in, he urged that manuscripts should be sent him for scrutiny before publication, specifying some that he remembered as coming in before he left the office; and, recollecting that the State Agricultural Soci- ety was about to hold its annual meeting, he was full of anxiety lest his illness might prevent his son's attendance, and eager to be up and at his desk for work. But his work was over. He died Sunday, January 26, 1873. He had been at the office on the 14th for several hours, although not very well or strong, and on the morning of the 15th found himself too ill to leave his bed. Inflammation of the lungs followed, attended at the last by defective and irregular action of the heart, and when the fever left him his strength gradually failed, until he en- tered into the rest of the unending Sabbath beyond the grave. With his native predisposition for agri- cultural pursuits, it had been his task for many long years to weigh the merits of discussion after discussion and question after question, endeavor- ing to give due prominence to each in turn accord- ing to its deserts. Without prejudice or partiality, he admitted to publication what was counter to his own views, that it might stand upon its merits, and provoke thought among his readers. Clear, point- ed and accurate in the use of language, what he wrote always came with weight. During his lat- ter years, with manual difficulties of penmanship rendering any prolonged exertion irksome, he wrote but little; but the guidance of his judgment and advice was ever present. Whatever he wrote was in all respects as he intended it to appear, and if he had been content to leave for printers the task of deciphering illegibilities and correcting sen- tences-in other words, to abridge his own labor at the expense of others-he would probably have written more and at greater length. But to the last he was equal to the work of editing and correcting the manuscript of others, however much it wore upon him; for the great aim of his labor was to give voice to experience that might other- wise be unknown, and he would rather take in hand a few pages from some unlettered correspondent embodying the actual results of his experience, than deal with folios of correctly written and diffuse ramblings from writers whose syntax and etymol- ogy were above their actual knowledge of their subjects. For over forty years at the head of the Country Gentleman, and constantly in communica- tion with those who acted under his supervision, as with many correspondents at a distance personally unknown, Mr. Tucker seemed to possess an un- usual power of attracting friendship and affection,

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of which evidences have often come from quite un- expected sources.

The publication of the paper has been continued successfully since Mr. Tucker's death by his sons, Luther H. Tucker and Gilbert M. Tucker, under the firm name of Luther Tucker & Son, and, as in the past, it ranks among the leading agricultural journals of the United States.

In his personal relations, Mr. Tucker was for many years a man of sorrow. Fairly under way at Rochester, with the promise of his new experiment with a daily paper just budding into fruition, the cholera season of 1832 that swept like a pestilence over the country, visited that place with unusual severity. His young wife and a boy of special promise, in his fifth year, after but a few days' strug- gle, were carried to the unending repose of the cem- etery at Mt. Hope; but they lingered for forty years longer in a recollection that, until the last, was never revived without the deepest emotion. The surviv- ing husband and father fell into a decline from which it was long thought that he could scarcely recover. Marrying the sister of his former wife, she suc- cumbed, in 1844, to consumption, the scourge of her native New England climate, preceded by one daughter and soon after followed by another. Smitten by repeated blows, though assuaged by all that could tend, in social and business relations, to mitigate their severity, he became constantly less inclined to mingle in public occasions, and more bound up in the welfare of those who were left to him.

Since his third marriage, over a quarter of a century had elapsed at the time of his death-a period of exemption from afflictions, and gradually closing over the scars of former wounds-but he seldom, if ever, accepted invitations likely to bring him into prominent notice. During the hot months of summer, which were especially trying to his constitution, he was often so greatly enfeebled as to excite the serious apprehensions of his family. Of unvarying sweetness of disposition in the home circle to which he was so much devoted, the char- ity that speaketh no evil was equally prominent in his judgment of other men and their motives. The memory of an injury was far less permanent in his mind than the recollection of favors received, kindly words when the business horizon was clouded, and warm sympathies at times of trial. That the struggle of life had wearied him there can be no doubt; but his faith and gratitude, and un- selfish efforts for the happiness of others, never wavered ; and when his task on earth was over, it may be truly said that he fell asleep with a con- science void of offense toward God and toward man, and a heart unspotted from the world.

In May, 1782, CHARLES R. WEBSTER made his appearance in Albany. His long and conspicuous career forms an interesting chapter in the history of the City and County of Albany.

On his arrival he at once began with Solomon Balentine the publication of the New York Gaz- etteer or Northern Intelligencer. The only existing copies of this paper are in the Albany Institute.

In 1783, Mr. Webster withdrew from the Gazette and removed to New York. The paper was en- larged, and continued by Mr. Balentine down to May, 1784, when it was discontinued.

The first pocket almanac ever published in Al- bany was printed by Mr. Balentine. It is a cu- rious and antique specimen of that kind of pub- lication.

In the latter part of May, 1784, Charles R. Webster returned to Albany and began the pub- lication of the Albany Gazette. A regular file of this paper, from the sixteenth number down to the time of its discontinuance in 1845, is preserved in the State Library. At that time it was seventy- two years old-the oldest newspaper in the State. It was conducted with marked ability, and is an excellent record of the proceedings of the Legislature of the State, the Courts of Justice, of the Common Council of Albany, and of the gen- eral events of the time in which it existed.

On November 17, 1793, the Gazette printing-of- fice was consumed by a terrible conflagration, which broke out on Sunday evening in an out-house be- longing to Leonard Gansevoort.

Mr. Webster is justly called the "Father of printing " in Albany. He was born at Hartford, Conn., September 30, 1762. His father was Matthew Webster, and his mother's maiden name was Mabel Pratt.

When Charles was seven years of age, his father, by an unfortunate turn in his affairs, was reduced to poverty, and young Webster was apprenticed to Hudson & Goodwin, publishers of the Connecticut Courant, to learn the printer's trade.

The opportunities afforded the boy for school- ing were limited to two quarters in a select school. His subsequent education was pursued in silent study in hours which most other boys devoted to play.

At the age of nineteen he was one of the com- pany who marched to New Haven to repel the threatened attack of the British upon that town. In 1781 or 1782, when about twenty years of age, he came to Albany and entered into partnership with Solomon Balentine, the only printer in the city at the time. About the first production be- side their paper, was a work entitled " Plain Rea- sons," a dissuasive from the use of Watts' version of the Psalms, executed with neatness and accuracy. Balentine & Webster began the Gazette in 1782. In 1783 the latter left partnership with Balentine and went to New York. Immediately after the evacuation of the city by the British, in company with John Lang he commenced the publication of the New York Gazette.

In 1784, he returned to Albany, and commenced the Albany Gazette. Mr. Balentine had removed, and Webster was the only printer in the city.

In 1787, he was married to Miss Rachel Steele, of Hartford, who died March 31, 1794. Two children survived her, a son and a daughter. The former was the Rev. Charles Webster, long a pastor of the Presbyterian Church, Monmouth County, N. J. The daughter married Mr. Brown, of Albion,

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April 2, 1796, Mr. Webster was married to Miss Cynthia Steele, a sister of his first wife.

Though the columns of the Gazette were open to both Federalists and Republicans, it was regarded as a Federal organ. This led to the establishment of a rival paper and printing-office. But the rapid settlement of Western New York furnished abun- dant patronage for both papers, and largely in- creased the book-selling and printing business. About this time Mr. Webster associated with him- self his brother, George, and some time after, his nephews, Elisha W., Hezekiah and Daniel Skinner, became partners. He was active in the establish- ment of the Mechanics' Academy, and when that school was abandoned, he became interested in the Lancasterian School and the Apprentices' Library.

He never held any public office, except that of Acting Deputy to the County Clerk of Albany County for a brief period.

Amid all the exciting events that attended the war of 1812, he, though a warm Federalist, main- tained a dignity in the tone of his paper, a freedom from ribaldry and personal invective, never com- promising his character for fidelity and devotion to the cause he served. No indictments for slander, no suits for libel, were brought against him. He abhorred defamation. Morgan Lewis, when a can- didate for Governor, thanked him for his gener- osity in repelling an unjust attack made on him as soon as it met his eye, although he was busily en- gaged in using all honorable means to defeat Mr. Lewis' election.

On approaching sixty years, he made a settle- ment of all his affairs. A division of the prop- erty was amicably made, and the firm of Websters & Skinners was dissolved by the withdrawal of the three younger partners. The book-selling, printing and binding was carried on at the old stand by C. R. & G. Webster. This firm was dissolved in 1821, by the death of Mr. George Webster. The surviving brother purchased his half in the property at the Elm-tree corner, for $13,000, and the firm, E. W. Skinner & Co., pur- chased one-half the stock for $10,000. The new firm of Webster & Skinners continued till his death, July 18, 1834. His failing health induced him to visit Saratoga Springs. He made his will and left his home, never to return. His last letter was written July 14, 1834, and, in view of the near ap- proach of death, contained these words: "The aim of my life has been to have my heart right with God and my trust in the merits of the Re- deemer." He expired almost instantly, without the slightest appearance of pain, July 18, 1834, and was buried from his residence in Albany, on the 20th. He was about six feet in height, well made in person, erect and easy in motion. His manner was dignified, full of courtesy and sweet- ness. His conversation was interesting, pure, in- structive, entertaining and edifying. The great aim of his life seemed to be the elevation of the masses, especially of all classes of mechanics, in mind and morals. Albany County never possessed a nobler class of toiling men than during his day.

THURLOW WEED had no superior as a political journalist in his day. He was born at the small village of Acra, in the town of Cairo, Green County, November 15, 1797. His parents were natives of Connecticut. His father was Joel Weed. His paternal grandfather was Nathan Weed, a soldier of the revolution, who, with a large family, removed from Connecticut at the close of the war, and settled in the place of Thurlow's birth. Mr. Weed's mother was Mary Ellis, a native of New Haven. He was the eldest of three brothers and two sisters, all of whom he survived, except his brother Osborn.

Mr. Weed's father was an honest, amiable man, "doomed," as Mr. Weed says, "to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, in the most literal sense. He was bred a farmer; but in 1799 removed to Catskill to become a carman." He continued poor, "sometimes very poor," through life. It is easy to see that, under these circumstances, Thur- low had no advantages for attaining an education.

His first occupation in life was blowing a black- smith's bellows, for which he received six cents per day, which he expended towards the support of his father's family. When nine years old he obtained a situation as cabin boy on board a North River sloop. This brought him to the City of New York.

The occupation of cabin boy was very much to his taste, and he indulged in the ambition of be- coming a sailor. As he says, " but for an infirm- ity, which incapacitated him for the most essential part of a sailor's duty, his occupation would have been that of a seaman instead of a printer."

After serving on different vessels on the Hudson, he removed, in 1808, with his father, to the town of Cincinnatus, Cortland County, then almost a wil- derness. His father attempted to bring a piece of land, covered with woods, to the condition of a farm; but, like all his other adventures, it proved a failure. The boy did what he could to aid his father in erecting a log-house, and to make a clear- ing in which to plant corn, potatoes, etc. One of his occupations was aiding in making "Black Salts," by leaching ashes gathered from burned log-heaps.

He relates that at this time his parents were so poor, that in winter he was compelled to tie pieces of rag-carpet around his feet instead of shoes, and thus equipped he chopped wood and, in spring, gathered sap. In this wilderness he evinced a strong desire for information. But there were few books, and the pleasure of reading was denied him. Having heard that a family living several miles distant owned a history of the French Revo- lution, he set out bare-footed through the snow, and obtained the book after considerable entreaty. Candles in his father's house were unknown, and he read the book evenings, after the day's work was done, by the light of pine-knots. In 1809 his father removed from Cincinnatus to Onondaga Hollow, where Thurlow obtained work in an ash- ery, and in doing such odd jobs of labor as offered themselves.

After abandoning the idea of becoming a sailor, his ambition turned to the life of a printer, which, at last, became irrepressible, After several attempts

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to get a place, he became an apprentice in a print- ing-office in Onondaga Hollow. The work pleased him, and he soon became very useful in the office. Every leisure moment he employed in reading the office newspapers and such books as the village afforded. Here he remained until the war of 1812 broke out.

The printing-office in Onondaga was closed, and he secured a place in the old town of Scipio, where was published a paper called the Tocsin. Soon after, he entered the printing-office of Messrs. Seward & Williams, in Utica. The war was then waging, and Mr. Williams, one of his employers, enlisted in the army, and young Weed went with him. After serving in the lines a part of the cam- paign of 1813, he obtained his discharge, went to Albany, and obtained employment in the office of Webster & Skinner, publishers of the Albany Gazette. After working a while at Albany, he went to Her- kimer and obtained employment in the office of the American, published by Wm. L. Stone, after- wards distinguished as editor of the Northern Whig, in Hudson; the Mirror, of Hartford; the Daily Advertiser, in Albany; and the Commercial Adver- tiser, in New York. Here he made the acquaint- ance of Michael Hoffman, and Alvan Stewart, the anti-slavery lawyer. At this early day, Mr. Weed made the acquaintance of very many men who became distinguished actors with him in the polit- ical arena.

After working in several places as a journeyman printer, he again, in 1815, became a resident of Albany. During the Sessions of the Legislature he listened to its debates, conducted by such men as Martin Van Buren, Erastus Root, and Nathan Sandford in the Senate, and Elisha Williams, Will- iam A. Duer, and Samuel Young in the Assem- bly. Here he took his first lessons in politics. Early in 1816, he began work in the office of the Albany Argus, of which Jesse Buel was editor. In 1817. Israel W. Clark, editor and proprietor of the Albany Register, invited Mr. Weed to become foreman of the office. It was while here that he first tried his "'prentice hand" on editorials. Of these first efforts, he says: "I first wrote brief paragraphs upon common subjects, taking great liberties with the King's English, for I was ignorant of the first principles of grammar; but Mr. Clark, the editor, would good-naturedly point to these blunders and say encouragingly, 'I would improve with time.'" He did; and he became one of the most trenchant and powerful political writers in the State. In the split which occurred in the Repub- lican party in 1818, one faction was headed by Governor De Witt Clinton, the other by Martin Van Buren, leading to a political and personal warfare of great bitterness, in which the pen of Mr. Weed became a somewhat powerful instrument. In the fall of 1818, Mr. Weed purchased the print- ing establishment of John F. Hubbard, of Nor- wich, Chenango County, and established the Agri- culturist, a paper favorable to Mr. Clinton. After conducting this some fourteen months, he disposed of the establishment, returned to Albany, and be- came foreman in the office of the Albany Argus.

In April, 1818, Mr. Weed was married to Miss Catherine Ostrander, of Cooperstown. In his auto- biography, he says: "To this marriage I am in- debted for as much happiness as usually falls to the lot of man. She more than divided our labors, cares and responsibilities. But for her industry, frugality and good management, I must have been shipwrecked during the first fifteen years of trial. Economy and a well-regulated system in household affairs were virtues I did not possess, and their presence in her saved us from disaster." Mrs. Weed died, deeply mourned, on the fortieth anni- versary of their marriage.

Mr. Weed became foreman in the Argus office in 1821. In 1822, after a brief residence in Man- lius, he became a resident of Rochester, then a new, straggling village, containing but a few hun- dred inhabitants. Here he found occupation as a journeyman printer in the office of the Telegraph, a Clintonian paper published by Everard Peck. Mr. Weed's residence at Rochester in a measure laid the foundation of his future political life. Here he made the acquaintance of Frederick Whitlesey, Derrick Libley and Colonel Nathaniel Rochester. Mr. Whitlesey, afterwards a Vice-Chancellor of the State, with Wm. H. Seward, Bates Cook and Thur- low Weed, became the founders of the Anti-Ma- sonic party.

In 1823, the Rochester Telegraph placed the name of John Q. Adams for President under its editorial head. This was the first paper nominat- ing Mr. Adams. As Mr. Weed was soon known throughout the State as one of the chief supporters of Mr. Adams, he was fairly launched on the sea of politics.

In the singular campaign of 1824, in which Jackson, John Q. Adams, William H. Crawford, Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun were candidates, Mr. Weed and the Telegraph were the energetic and efficient friends of the successful candidate, Adams.

In September of that year, an accident to a stage- coach in Rochester, containing William H. Seward and Judge Miller, of Auburn, his father-in-law, led to Mr. Weed's acquaintance with the former. "This acquaintance grew rapidly," says Mr. Weed, "on subsequent occasions, when Mr. Seward was called to Rochester on professional business. Our views on general politics were not dissimilar, and in regard to anti-masonry he soon became imbued with my opinions."

Political anti-masonry, which had lurked in pri- vate dwellings, affecting town politics and creating neighborhood feuds, was at this time gathering strength from pamphlets and newspapers, under the leadership of Messrs. Seward, Weed and John C. Spencer, and soon began to exhibit the strength and influence of a new and powerful party. Though the Anti-Masonic party was short-lived, it developed many distinguished men, who are now ranked among the statesmen of the nation. Space will not permit us to follow all the windings of the partisan conflicts in which Mr. Weed was an ac- knowledged leader.

His singular abilities for molding and control- ling public opinion, was first and most admirably

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exhibited in the manner in which he manipulated the excitement growing out of the alleged murder of William Morgan by the Masons-molding it into a powerful party.

Mr. Weed was elected Member of Assembly from Monroe County to the session of 1825, and re- elected to the session of 1830.

After retiring from the Legislature, he left Rochester, and again became a resident of Al- bany. At this time Edwin Croswell was editor of the Albany Argus.

While Mr. Weed was in the Assembly in 1830, a project began to be discussed, which in time was carried into effect, and exerted a powerful influence in shaping the future events of his life. This project had in view the establishment of a new jour- nal in Albany, devoted to the interests of the Anti- Masonic party. The first number appeared March 22, 1830, and was called the Evening Journal. Political anti-masonry soon passed away. The Whig party coming into existence; the Evening Journal became a leading organ. Years passed, and the Whig party also passed into history.

As it is our purpose to speak of Mr. Weed as a journalist and not as a politician, this sketch will be confined mostly to his journalistic career. It is

proper, however, to say that, as a journalist, he was one of the founders and supporters of the Whig party, and, as such, he was equally influential in forming and sustaining the Republican party through all its triumphs, down to the time when he retired from the editorial duties of the Evening Journal.

Next to the New York Tribune, through all the history of the Whig and Republican parties, the Evening Journal has been a leading organ of the former, as it now is of the latter party. A contem- porary, writing of Mr. Weed when in the zenith of his influence, says : "Everything written by him affords evidence of a powerful mind. His sar- casms are keen, his wit pungent. He knows how to touch the most sensitive part of his adversary. Every blow he strikes is felt. Few editors in Amer- ica possess more of party tact than Thurlow Weed. He affords decisive evidence of being by nature a great man. He has risen from an obscure situa- tion in life to eminence, and in all the positions which he has occupied he has discovered new re- sources of mind fully adequate to those powers requisite to meet the exigency."

In contact with all classes of men, he gained a wonderful knowledge of human nature-the abil- ity to read men, to understand their motives, to scan the true spirit of the times-which gave him superiority and influence as a politician. A strong, vigorous and graceful writer, his pen was a source of strength and a defense to his party, to his friends and to himself. Allegiance and fidelity to his friends was a cardinal principle of Thurlow Weed. He was a politician in every sense of the word, excepting in low devices and platitudes. Mag- nanimous and generous toward rivals ; severe, de- termined and untiring in his opposition to polit- ical enemies; his contests were honorable and high- minded.

In 1840, he was appointed State printer, by the removal of his great rival, Edwin Croswell. Mr. Weed always took commendable pride in his call- ing as a printer and in his connection with the Typographical Society. In January, 1851, writing to the New York Typographical Society, he said :

"It is now forty years since I was apprenticed to the ' Art preservative of all arts.' * * * Accord- ing to all accounts I was then a very verdant youth. My master not unfrequently proposed to get ideas into my head with the 'mallet,' and on one occa- sion I evaded a well-aimed experiment in the same direction with the ' sheep's-foot' only by an 'artful * dodge.' * * But now only one branch of our trade is taught to apprentices. A printer is no longer connected with the 'press-room.' The printer of the present day is a stranger to its health- ful toil, its rich humors, its merry laugh, its habit- ual jests, and, I am constrained to remember, its too frequent revelries. The customs of the press- * room, along with its labors, are all obsolete. * Upon the years of my life which glided away as a journeyman printer in New York, I look back with exceeding gratification. It was a period of high, healthy, buoyant spirits and fresh enjoyment. I was never for a day out of work, and with a hardy frame and willing hand was enabled from my wages to gratify every rational wish. Few journey- men made a larger figure in the 'bill-book ' of a Saturday night than myself."

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Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 85

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co. Number of Pages: 1452

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452