USA > New York > Biographical sketches of the state officers and members of the legislature of the state of New York in 1862 and '63 > Part 10
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progressive rather than conservative proclivities, and has always, from the outstart of his life, rendered him the staunch advocate of the principles and policy of that party. Still, he is no politician in the modern acceptation of the term, but belongs to that purer class of men upon whom the country must now rely for safety in this hour of her greatest peril. He sustained a prominent and influential part in the great Union demonstration, at Union Square, after the fall of Fort Sumter, and has been heard, through his addresses to the people, on several other great public occasions.
Mr. Coddington belongs to one of the oldest and most respectable families in the city of New York. He is a son of the late Jonathan J. Coddington, a gentleman of high standing and influence wherever he was known, and is about thirty-six years of age. His education is liberal and finished. He was bred a lawyer, but although always taking a very deep interest in public affairs, has been induced, by his independence of means and the delicacy of his constitution, to live, thus far, an easy, luxurious, and literary life.
As a Speaker, Mr. Coddington is pleasant and ele- gant, rounding his periods with a degree of beauty and grace rarely excelled, and is always choice, clas- sical, and not unfrequently humorous in his style of thought and expression. He speaks only occasion- ally, but always to the point, and his logic seldom lacks the reach of the rifled cannon, which annihilates while it silences the batteries of his opponents. His maiden speech in the House, exposing the folly and madness of the "on to Richmond" cry, created a greater sensation, perhaps, than any delivered in the
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Capitol for years, and will forever remain an enduring monument to his fame, and an example, worthy of all imitation, of the sacrifice of pride to principle, of self to country, and of party to patriotism. He was again rendered conspicuous near the close of the session by his efforts to reform the corrupt and bogus primary election system of the city of New York, and through boxes established at the polls give all the citizens a chance to choose their own nominating conventions. He fought, unaided and alone, upon the floor of the House, the entire delegation from New York, save two, on this measure, and so strong was he in his influence over members, that, although the enacting clause of the bill was stricken out, on one occasion, during his absence, he poured forth upon the whole phalanx of its opponents such vigorous and effective blows that it was restored, and the bill ordered to a third reading by a vote of fifty-seven to twenty-six.
WILLIAM J. COEY.
MR. COEY was born in the city of New York, in 1827, and was one of the youngest men in the House. He is descended from pure Irish stock, his parents who came to this country in 1821, having both been natives of Ireland. His father, whose name was also William J. Coey, died in 1860, at the age of sixty-two, and his mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Jane
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Carlisle, is still living. After coming to this country, his parents were always residents of the city of New York.
Mr. Coey was educated in the ordinary day-schools of his native city, and has always been chiefly engaged as an accountant or book-keeper. He has always been a staunch, live Democrat, of the National Conservative school, with an unrelenting aversion to the nigger question in any form, and never held a political office before coming to the Assembly. He was one of the quiet men of the House, but showed himself a kind, clever and agreeable gentleman.
ISAAC COLES.
MR. COLES is a native of Glencove, Long Island. He was born on the 7th of January, 1817, and was forty- five years of age the day on which the Legislature was organized. His father, Thomas Coles, who died in 1858, at the age of seventy-seven, was of Welch and Turkish descent, and his mother, whose maiden name was Amelia Hewlett, is of English descent. His mater- nal ancestors left England at the restoration of Charles II., and arriving in America settled on Long Island.
Mr. Coles received a common English education, but never attended school after he was sixteen years of age. He was clerk in a store in the city of New York from 1834 till 1841, when he returned to Long Island. Shortly afterwards he went into the mercantile trade
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for himself in his native place, and continued so en- gaged till about two years ago, when he retired from business. He was formerly a Henry Clay Whig and was elected to the Assembly as a Union Republican, although having since, generally, acted with the Demo- cratic party. He made a good representative, and in- troduced into the Legislature the resolutions awarding Captain John D. Worden a magnificent sword for his gallant conduct as commander of the Monitor at the time of her celebrated engagement with the Merrimac, in Hampton Roads.
Mr. Coles was married in 1845 to Miss Mary Willets, and belongs to the Society of Friends, in which he and his wife were brought up.
ALMERIN J. CORNELL.
MR. CORNELL was born in the town of Berne, Albany county, N. Y., on the 24th of November, 1811. His ancestors were of English origin, and some of them were distinguished as American soldiers during the struggle for our National Independence, his paternal grand- father serving as an officer under General Sullivan. His father, Abraham Cornell, died in Schoharie county, in November, 1851, at the age of sixty-four, and his mother, whose maiden name was Lydia Mott, is still living at the age of seventy-three.
Mr. Cornell was brought up on a farm, and early ac- customed himself to its labors. Having received a com-
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mon English education he quietly settled down to the life of a farmer, and has successfully pursued that occu- pation ever since. In politics, he was formerly a Whig, but since the disorganization of that party, has been a strenuous Republican. He held several town offices be- fore coming to the Assembly, and has always been faith- ful and conscientious in the discharge of his public duties.
Mr. Cornell was married on the 12th of December, 1832, to Miss Nancy Almy, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
JONATHAN B. COWLES.
DR. COWLES is a native of Durham, Greene county, N. Y., and is of English and Welch descent. He was born on the 29th of May, 1799, and is next to the oldest man in the House. His father, David Cowles, who was a Revolutionary sire, and a native of Farmington, Con- necticut, died in Greene county, at the age of sixty- eight, and his mother, whose maiden name was Eunice Payne, died at the same place, at the age of sixty-two.
Dr. Cowles received an academical education, and has been engaged in the practice of medicine, without any intermission, during the past forty-four years. He re- sided in Delaware county from 1818 until 1842, when he returned to Durham, where he has always since lived. He has held various town offices, the duties of which he always discharged in a creditable and satisfactory
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manner ; and although among the most quiet men in the House, has shown himself a good representative and a safe legislator. In politics, he has always been an un- yielding and consistent Democrat, of the old-fashioned Jackson school, and longs to see the country brought back to the ancient landmarks of the days when the great leaders of that party held the supremacy in the Administration of the Government.
Dr. Cowles was married in 1822 to Miss Harriet, daughter of Judge Beers, formerly one of the Judges in Delaware county. He usually attends the Presbyte- rian and Dutch Reformed Churches, to the latter of which he belongs.
NICHOLAS E. DARROW.
MR. DARROW was born in the town of Chatham, Colum- bia county, N. Y., in 1808. His parentage is of English and Irish origin. His grandfather, on his mother's side, was a soldier of the Revolution. His father, John Darrow, also served in the struggle for our independence. He helped make the chain that was stretched across the Hudson River in the year 1778, in order to stop British vessels from ascending above that point. He died in Chatham, Columbia county, in 1813, with the prevailing epidemic of that year, at the age of fifty-eight. Mr. Darrow's mother, whose maiden name was Eunice Eggleston, died at Claren- don, Orleans county, in 1860, at the age of eighty-two.
In 1813, Mr. Darrow, with his mother and the other mem-
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bers of the family, removed to what was then a part of Genesee county, in this State. The part to which they removed was almost a wilderness. From the age of five years up till near his majority, he helped to clear the dense forest around his home. Most of his education was obtained in a log school house near his mother's residence. Desiring to become a merchant, he attended an Academy for the space of one year. He began life as a country merchant. He failed in business, however, in 1833, since which time he has been engaged in agricultural pursuits:
Mr. Darrow has always been a Democrat in politics. He supported the Union movement in 1861, and was elected on a Union ticket to the Assembly. He has been Supervisor of the town in which he resides several times, and has held several other town offices. He was Superintendent of Canal repairs during the years 1846 and '47. He has also held the office of Colonel of the 25th Regiment, N. Y. S. M.
Mr. Darrow was married in the year 1830, to Miss Sarah A. Sweet, and attends the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches.
EMRY DAVIS.
This gentleman, in his own estimation, was one of the most brilliant stars in 1862, in the legislative galaxy of the State. It is folly, however, to attempt to disguise the fact, that he is as verdant as a child who believes that the fairies in a pantomime are fairies forever and
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ever, and that the harlequin is born in patches and masks. Indeed, he impressed most of his legislative associates during last winter as nothing more nor less than a blun- dering countrified ignoramus. He labored zealously to distinguish himself as an independent man, but in his simple efforts to do so, exhibited nothing more than downright mulishness. Independence of character without wisdom enough to be consistent is simply stubbornness. This has been his case as well in legisla- tion as in politics and the activities of private life. Originally a Whig, he soon became an American, then a Republican, and now a modern Unionist. At the out- set of his private career he aspired to be a lawyer, but he has since been dividing his time in equal proportions between pettifogging, merchandising, lumbering, farm- ing, and speculating.
The legislative career of Mr. Davis has been equally vascillating and undecided. He has been on all sides of all questions, and has been wafted about like a feather in the breeze by the various influences peculiar to the capitol of the State. Sometimes it has been so difficult for him to determine which side of a question he was really on that he dodged it entirely by absenting himself. This was the embarrassing position in which he found himself on the Susquehanna Railroad bill and the Metro- politan Health bill-two of the most important mea- sures of the session. His only excuse is his unconscious simplicity, for he is as open to flattery as a school girl who distributes the contents of her hamper among a circle of toadies.
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JOHN C. DAVIS.
MR. DAVIS was born at Riverhead, Suffolk county, N. Y., on the 29th of July, 1813. His family is of English origin. His paternal grandfather was a soldier in the American army, during the Revolution, and was present at the surrender of Burgoyne, and also at that of Cornwallis. His father, Chapman Davis, died at the age of fifty-nine. His mother, whose maiden name was Polly Wells, died two days after her husband, at the age of fifty-seven. Both were natives of Suffolk county.
Mr. Davis, in his early days, attended no other insti- tutions of learning save the common school of his native place. He chose the vocation of a merchant, which he still pursues. Heis not an office-seeker, and it was with great reluctance that he accepted the nomination for member of Assembly. It was the first nomination for office that he ever consented to take. He was formerly a Henry Clay Whig; supported Fillmore in 1856, and since then has voted with the Republican party. He was elected on a Union ticket, supported by Republi-
cans. As a member of the House he evinced much honesty, reliability and conscientiousness. He took no part in debate, but contented himself with the expres- sion of his views in private circles, and a quiet vote upon questions before the House.
Mr. Davis was married on the 10th of December, 1835, to Miss Mary Ann Ferry, and attends the Sweden- borgian Church, of which his wife is a member.
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WILLIAM DOYLE.
MR. DOYLE was one of the quiet men of the House. His honesty, industry, and uprightness of character rendered him influential among his legislative associates, but he never indulged in speech-making, possessing a supreme dislike for all that class of men who seem to think that the weight of their brains is properly judged by the length of their tongues, and who are constantly thrusting that sometimes useful member of their body corporate out of their mouths to its fullest extent.
Mr. Doyle is a native of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and is now thirty-eight-years of age. He is of pure Irish extraction. His education was obtained chiefly in the common schools of his native State, and he early deve- loped rather a remarkable degree of mechanical skill and ingenuity. A few years ago he located in Albany, where he has since been industriously engaged in manu- facturing and mechanical pursuits. His political views and feelings have always been strongly Democratic, and he was elected to the Assembly over a strong Re- publican opponent. He stands high as a private citizen wherever he is known, and enjoys a high degree of personal, as well as political popularity. His district has been well and faithfully represented.
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JOHN B. DUTCHER.
This is MR. DUTCHER's second term in the Assembly. He was a prominent member of that body in 1861, and then, as in 1862, he was one of the most active and suc- cessful business men in the Legislature. As a member of the Standing Committee on Railroads, he was always found at his post, faithfully discharging his duties, and, save when thus engaged, was seldom, if ever, absent from his seat on the floor of the House. He possesses a degree of personal and political influence that is almost irresistible, and is remarkable for the untiring industry and tenacity with which he pursues whatever he under- takes. This is attested by the fact that he triumphantly carried the bill regulating the price of milk-freight on the Harlem railroad, through the Assembly after it had been defeated in the House-a circumstance almost un- paralleled in point of fact as well as in parliamentary practice.
Mr. Dutcher is a native of the Harlem valley, and is descended from pure English stock. He was born on the 13th of February, 1830, in Dover, Dutchess county, where he resided on the same farm on which he was born until April, 1861, since which time he has been living in the adjoining town of Pawling. His father, David Dutcher, died on the 9th of June, 1853, at the age of fifty-six, and his mother, whose maiden name was Amy Bowdish, is still living at the age of sixty-two.
Mr. Dutcher passed one term at a select school in Litch- field county, Connecticut, but was educated chiefly in the common schools of his native place. He was reared a
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farmer, and has always been actively engaged in the culti- vation of the soil. He held the office of Supervisor in his native place in 1857, and in the following year was chosen a Justice of the Peace, which position, contrary to his wishes, he occupied until his removal from the town. Poli- tically, he was formerly a Whig, and is now a staunch Republican, although among the foremost in the Union movement created by the breaking out of the rebellion. He is one of the most practical and unpretending men in the House. There is no vain show or ostentation whatever in his composition. He is just as nature made him-plain, unassuming, straight-forward and energetic in everything he says or does ; and amid all the cry of corruption his in- tegrity was never impeached or questioned. Dutchess county has sent but few such men to the Legislature, and her good people owe him some more prominent position as a mark of their appreciation of the services he rendered them in that which he here held at their hands.
Mr. Dutcher was married on the 22d of May, 1860, to Miss Christina, daughter of Daniel Dodge, of Pawling, Dutchess county.
SMITH ELY.
MR. ELY was one of the most gentlemanly members of the Assembly in 1862. He was modest, retiring and diffident to a fault, yet always quite self-possessed. In the House he never took a prominent part, except in
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matters affecting his own district. He labored hard to secure the passage of the bill authorizing the state to sell the Quarantine grounds in Richmond county, and through his advocacy of it required him to encounter all kinds of opposition, he preserved at all times his dignity and self-respect.
Mr. Ely was born in the State of New Jersey, and is now about sixty years of age. His family is of English origin. His father, Moses Ely, died at the age of eighty-two, and his mother, Rebecca Cook, at the age of eighty-nine. He is the uncle of the Hon. Smith Ely, Jr., who represented the Fifth Senatorial District of this state in 1858 and '59.
Mr. Ely removed to this state in 1822. He was edu- cated at common schools, with the idea of becoming a farmer. He is now, however, engaged in mercantile and manufacturing pursuits. He was formerly a Whig; is now a Democrat, but is very independent in political matters. He has strong and conservative sentiments, and thinks this war could have been avoided. He has heretofore held the office of Supervisor.
The maiden name of the wife of Mr. Ely was Abby B. Bartlett. Mr. Ely is a member of the Unitarian Church.
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JOHN FULTON.
MR. FULTON was one of the most prominent and influ- ential members of the House in 1861. He served during that session on the Committees on Canals and Public Ex- penditures of the House, and although quiet and unpre- tending in the discharge of his duties, was always found faithful to the trust with which his constituents had clothed him. He was, also, an active member of the Assembly in 1860, when he was likewise a leading mem- ber of the Committee on Canals. His good, sound, practical common sense, together with a capacity for business rarely excelled, always gave his counsels great weight among his legislative associates, and never failed to render him powerful for the success or defeat of any measure that might come before the House for its action.
Mr. Fulton was born in the city of Albany, and is forty-eight years of age. He is of pure Irish extraction. He received a good business education, and possesses the knowledge of the experience of a successful career in business. He has long been extensively engaged in the milling business at Waterford, Saratoga county, where he resides, and has been the owner for some time of a line of freight barges on the Canal and Hudson River. He was for many years extensively connected in the manufacture of flour with the late Hon. John House, who was a member of the Assembly in 1821. Although having filled many important town offices, he was always strictly a business man, and until he became a member of the Legislature, was never prominently
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known in an official capacity. In politics, he was always a staunch Democrat of the olden school, until the fall of Fort Sumter, when he took ground in support of the late Union movement, and came to the Legislature as one of its representatives.
Mr. Fulton's present wife was Miss Ann E., daughter of Captain Samuel Goodspeed, one of the first settlers of Troy, and attends the Episcopal church.
R. NELSON GERE.
MR. GERE is one of the most enterprising and suc- cessful business men of central New York. Financial operations are his delight, and he seems to find his highest enjoyment in opening up new avenues to labor and wealth.
Mr. Gere is a descendant of a family of the Puritan stock, which emigrated from New London county, Conn., to the Mohawk Valley in this state. He was born in the year 1822 at Amsterdam, Montgomery county, N. Y. His father, Robert Gere, was quite a pro- minent politician, and for some years was Superintendent of the Onondaga Salt Springs. His mother was Miss Sophia Stanton. Both were living at the time he was a member. When he was five years of age he removed with his parents to Geddes, Onondaga county.
Mr. Gere received a thorough academical training at Syracuse under the instruction of Mr. Owen Root, now a Professor in Hamilton College. The choice of studies
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he pursued was made in view of his becoming a farmer. This vocation he commenced at the age of twenty-one, and pursued for five years. He then relinquished agricultural pursuits and commenced operations as a Canal and Railroad Contractor. In one or more contracts to build or repair a section of canal, or railroad, he has been interested until the present time. He has also been extensively engaged, for eight years past, in the manu- facture of salt, both by solar evaporation and artificial heat, and also in the manufacture of that kind of iron known as " Merchant Bar Iron." He is President of the "Syracuse Iron Works." Politically he was a Whig from the time he began to take part in politics until the decease of that organization, when he became a Repub- lican. He has held several minor political offices ; has been President and Trustee of the village in which he resides, and was Supervisor of his town during the years 1856 and '57. He was for three years Chairman of the Board of Inspectors of the Onondaga Peni- tentiary.
Mr. Gere loves, and is a great favorite of, society. He is very popular in the circle in which he moves. In the House he was very influential, though his influence was exerted in a quiet way. He has a watchful eye over the salt interests of his county, and when it was pro- posed, during the session of 1862, to increase the duties on salt, and abolish the office of Inspector of Salt, he met the proposition with an opposition so able and energetic, as most effectually to prevent its adoption.
Mr. Gere was married in 1843 to Miss -- Ward, of Madison county, by whom he has had six children.
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They are all members of the Presbyterian Church in Syracuse, of which Rev. Dr. Canfield is Pastor.
EZRA P. GOSLIN.
MR. GOSLIN is a native of Cooperstown, Otsego county, N. Y., and is fifty-two years of age. He is of English and Scotch descent. Both his parents are dead, his father, Joseph Goslin, having died in Erie county, in 1824, at the advanced age of eighty-two, and his mother, at the same place, in 1847, at the age of fifty-two.
Mr. Goslin removed, when quite young, with his parents, into Erie county, where he still resides. He received a common school education, and has devoted his life chiefly to agricultural pursuits. He has held the office of Justice of the Peace and Loan Commissioner, and brought with him to the discharge of his public duties, the experience and self-reliance of an active busi- ness career. In politics, he was formerly a Whig, and after the repeal of the Missouri Compromise in 1854, became an active member of the Republican party. He has been a strong Union man since the breaking out of the rebellion -in favor of a vigorous prosecution of the war, and was chosen to his present position as a Union Republican.
Mr. Goslin was married in 1832 to Miss Betsy Lewis, and attends the Presbyterian church, to the support of which he is a generous contributor. He is a gentleman of fine social qualities; has a countenance which reminds
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one of having weathered rugged winters, and an eye that is constantly playing as though he were always concocting a practical joke.
THOMAS S. GRAY.
MR. GRAY was born in Durham, Greene county, N. Y., in 1814, and is of Scotch descent. At the age of nine years he was left an orphan and thrown upon his own resources, to a very great extent. From that time, until he reached the age of twenty-one, he served as clerk in the mercantile business, when he removed to the town of Warrensburgh, Warren county, and com- menced the tanning of sole leather, which grew in his hands to be a very large and extensive business. He still continues it, and with such success that he has amassed a very large property, and is now considered one of the wealthiest men in the northern section of the State. He is a man of great personal popularity and influence, and has represented his county in the Assem- bly in 1856 and in 1862. In politics, he has been uni- formly a Democrat, from principle, and acted with that party until the present calamitous civil war broke out, when his patriotism overrode his partisan feelings, and he avowed his readiness to support the Government of his country at all hazards. In the summer of 1861, when the people demanded a cessation of party strife, and the formation of a Union organization, he entered cordially into the movement; and in the fall of the same
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