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 13
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matters, and has been several times elected to the office of Supervisor of his town. He has also held the office of Postmaster for several years. He has been a Repub- lican since the existence of that party. He was, how- ever, elected on a " Democratic and People's" Ticket, against an opponent who ran on a " Republican and Union Ticket."
Mr. Parce is still a comparatively young man, being now about thirty-five years of age. In the discharge of his duties as a member of the House, he evinced much clearness of mental vision and executive ability, and gave promise of becoming a person of much influence and weight of character.
Mr. Parce was married on the 22d of December, 1861, to Miss Arma Huddleton. He attends the Baptist Church.
LUCIUS PECK.
DR. PECK was born on the 29th of December, 1821, in the town of New Berlin, Chenango county, N. Y. His parents were natives of New England, and were of the genuine Puritan stock. His father, James Peck, died on the 28th of February, 1845, at the age of fifty- seven. His mother, Sally Landon, died on the 17th of February, 1839, at the age of fifty-one.
Having received a good common school education, Dr. Peck devoted some time to teaching, occupying his
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spare time in the study of medicine, the practice of which he had determined should be the vocation he would pursue through life. He studied under the super- vision of Dr. A. B. Case of Steuben county, and took his degree at Geneva in 1847. He took up his residence in Wyoming county, where he still resides and follows his profession.
Dr. Peck formerly belonged to that wing of the old Whig party known as Silver Gray. About the time the Radical portion of that party were merged into the Republican organization, he joined the Democratic party. He supported the Union movement of 1861, and was nominated for the Assembly by a Union Con- vention, the Republicans of his district, without holding a convention, readily giving him their support. He had a straight Democratic opponent, whom he defeated by about twelve hundred majority.
Dr. Peck has no great taste for the excitements of political life, and has taken but little part in the schemes of politicians. He was one of the quiet members of the House, seldom engaging in debate.
He was married in the year 1842 to Miss Mary C. Day, of Steuben county, N. Y. He is an attendant of the Congregational Church.
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THOMAS D. PENFIELD.
MR. PENFIELD was born in the town of Camden, Oneida county, N. Y., and is forty-nine years of age. His ancestry in this country is traceable through a long series of years, and he is supposed to be of pure Anglo-Saxon origin. After receiving a good English education he engaged in active business pursuits-chiefly agricultural and mercantile -and for many years has been one of the most extensive and successful millers in Oneida county.
Although unaccustomed to public life, Mr. Penfield brought with him to the discharge of his legislative duties all the essential qualities of a successful practical business man-qualities which, notwithstanding a foolish popular idea to the contrary, usually make better and safer legisla- tors of men than the pedantry and egotism of those who have nothing to commend them to public attention but the worthless parchment, in the suggestive language of Mrs. Partington, of some "female cemetary." Always promptly at his post, he never proved faithless in the discharge of the trust confided to him by his constituents, and was generally considered by his associates in the House as one of the best and most useful men in that body. Politically, he has always been a Democrat, but at the breaking out of the rebellion took part in the late Union movement, by which his election to the Assembly was secured.
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ROYAL PHELPS.
One of the most remarkable signs of the times is the disposition shown by men of wealth and social position, who have heretofore abjured politics and public life, to set aside these advantages, and take part in the great civil struggle that now convulses the country. The distinctions of wealth had long since ceased to satisfy honorable ambition ; for, in the unpre- cedented prosperity of the country which recent years have developed, so many had achieved fortune, and by such sudden and easy steps, that success in this depart- ment of life had ceased to be regarded as a test of merit or a claim to position. Mere social rank-what little there is in this country founded upon hereditary fame or estate- was also found to afford but a negative and sterile gratification. When the outbreak of civil war aroused the country to the sense of unexpected danger, gentlemen of this class seized with avidity the opportu- nity to enter upon the serious duties the struggle imposed. Thus we see the Astors, Van Rensselaers, and Hamiltons taking place on the staffs of our Gene- rals; Wadsworth, one of our largest landholders, a Brigadier-General; and Sprague, the most extensive manufacturer in the Union, with a princely revenue, first in the field, at the head of the Rhode Island con- tingent, as a Major-General. In the contest which is to show whether Cotton or Corn or Commerce is King, it is well that each of the contending dynasties should appear on the field in the person of representative men.
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It is not upon the battle-field alone that this contest finds its representatives, in the class we have indicated ; but in the legislative chamber as well. In Congress and in the State Legislatures, the struggle, which has now culminated in battle, commenced; and the indifference of the classes most interested in the results allowed issues merely political, and which should have been kept within the domain of politics, to take this fatal turn.
Royal Phelps was born at Sempronius, Cayuga county, N. Y., on the 30th March, 1809, and is the only son of the Rev. Royal Phelps, of Hannah Spafford his wife. He descends on the paternal side from the Phelps of Westfield, Massachusetts, who came from England and settled at that place about the year 1670. His grand- father, the Hon. John Phelps, was a distinguished lawyer of that place, graduated at Yale College in the class of 1759, and was for several years the Representative of Hampden county, in the Legislature of Massachusetts.
His father, the Rev. Royal Phelps, second son of the former, was born at Westfield in 1780, graduated at Yale College in the class of 1801, was installed Pastor of Sempronius in 1806, and died at Watertown in 1831.
Mr. Phelps' mother was a daughter of Col. John Spafford of Tinmouth, Rutland county, Vermont, and died at Lowville in 1831. She was a sister of the late Horatio Gates Spafford, LL. D., author of "Spafford's Gazetteer of the State of New York."
Col. Spafford was an officer in the Revolutionary army, and was commissioned as First Lieutenant of a company
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in the regiment of "Green Mountain Boys," on the 8th of July, 1776.
Young Phelps was kept at school and his education carefully watched over by his father, until he was some thirteen or fourteen years old, about which time great misfortunes befell his parents, and he was sent to his grandfather, Col. Spafford, then residing at Lowville, Lewis county, in this State; and on his death it was found necessary to place him in some situation where he would not be a burden to his relatives. He was consequently placed in the family of a friend of his father, Gen. Northrup, at Lowville, with the intention of making him a tanner; but this not being exactly to his liking, he, one fine morning - the day he was fifteen years old - took it into his head to run away, and like all country boys directed his course to New York. Fortunately, on his arrival there he recollected the name of an old friend of his father, and on finding him out was most kindly taken in charge by him. This friend aided him in attending a commercial school for a few months, and finally got him a situation as clerk in a highly respectable house on an island of St. Croix, in the West Indies, for which place he sailed in the autumn of 1824. Here he remained for a year or two; and then following in the path of all young adventurers of that day, started for the Spanish Main, where the Liberator Bolivar had but recently driven out the Spanish authorities and established the Republic of Colombia.
Here, at Puerto Cabello, young Phelps served a long apprenticeship as clerk, and finally commenced business
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on his own account; and by the year 1840 built up a house, with extensive connections in his own country as well as in Europe, and in credit second to none on the Spanish Main. About this time he became a part- ner in, and took the management of, an old established house at La Guayra, the largest American house by far on that coast ; and there he remained till he was invited by his correspondents in New York to come home and take charge of their establishment, they being desirous of retiring from business. This was in 1847, since which time Mr. Phelps has resided in New York, and been actively engaged in business.
The career of Mr. Phelps, from its adventurous outset, in his first youthful escapade, until his return to his native land, was marked by many incidents of romantic interest. The Spanish Main was the scene of revolutions and of civil wars, which, following each other in quick succession, not only involved the citizens of the country, but the commer- cial residents. In the battles and sieges which attended the wars of the rival factions, life and property were, at times, equally in peril, and it required great courage, firmness, and a cool judgment, to steer clear of these dangers. The pros- perous young American was much sought for by the Re- publican leaders, and secured the friendship of some of the distinguished patriots. Not a few of the Europeans and Americans, who had settled in the country, tempted by the brilliant prospect of prosperity and freedom, which the young Republics appeared to present, and by which the protection that the condition of citizenship offered to person and property, renounced their original allegiance, and ac- cepted a naturalization. Mr. Phelps resisted every overture
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of this kind. The recollection of his revolutionary ances- try, and the pride of country, kept him firm in his allegiance. Circumstances had made him, to a great extent, the repre- sentative man of the interests of his country and his countrymen, and he maintained the position with liberality and courage.
Mr. Phelps was married to a Spanish lady during his residence in South America, and has one child, a daughter.
Mr. Phelps has always adhered to the religion of his fathers- Old School Presbyterian - and in politics has always been a firm National Democrat, of the Conservative school.
We have spoken of Mr. Phelps as the Representative of Commerce. His position, the circumstances under which he was elected, and his extensive business connections, on this Continent and Europe, and consequent practical know- ledge of the laws of trade, eminently qualify him for such a position. But, as a legislator, he is tied down to no special interest, but discharges his duties with a conscientious sense of his responsibility to all classes of citizens, and to the diversified interests of a great State.
Mr. Phelps has been one of the favorites of fortune. No commercial failure has ever, for a moment, discredited his name, which we find inscribed high on the list, in the roll of the rich men of New York.
His brief legislative career was equally honorable, and exerted an influence upon the proceedings of the House, second to no other man in that body.
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DAVID PICKETT.
MR. PICKETT was one of the old-fashioned landmarks of the House. He possessed a strong aversion to all manner of spread-eagle blowing, and ranked well among the most quiet and industrious men of that body. He is a native of Litchfield county, Conn., where he was born on the 15th of March, 1805. His parents were both natives of that state, and were living in the town of Danbury when the British burnt that place during the Revolution. They removed to the State of New York in 1810, and, after consuming some three weeks in making the journey, settled in Oneida county. They performed the entire trip in an ox-team, and crossed the Hudson at Catskill in an old scow. Some ten years afterwards they removed into the town of Gorham, Ontario county. His father, Ebenezer Pickett, died in May, 1850, at the age of eighty, and his mother, in March, 1861, at the age of ninety.
Mr. Pickett received a common English education, and was reared a farmer, which has always since been his occupation. He has always taken a very deep interest in agriculture, and has been President of the Town Agricultural Society and Vice-President of the County Agricultural Society where he resides. He has held various town offices, including that of Supervisor, which he occupied in 1855 and '56. Politically, he was formerly a Whig, and was chosen to the Assembly as a straight-haired Republican. His position in the commu- nity where he resides is prominent and influential, and
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he has always taken a deep interest in whatever per- tains to the welfare of his constituents.
Mr. Pickett was married in 1828 to Maria A. Doug- lass, of Whitesboro', Oneida county, and belongs to the Baptist Church.
GEORGE T. PIERCE.
The boldest and most fearless member of the Legis- lature of 1862 was the gentleman whose name stands at the head of this sketch. But few of his legislative peers equaled-certainly none excelled-him in his qualifications as a representative. In the onslaught of debate he was ever foremost; his crest high and his falchion keen. Whether his antagonists numbered two or ten-whether the whole of the Assembly were against him, he could "take a raking fire at the whole group." Like the shrouded Junius, he dared Commons, Lords, and King to the encounter, but unlike that terrible Shadow he never sought any craven covert, but fought in the open lists, with a muscular and mental weight that defied the unreasoning cries of the mob, and rolled back the thunders of the Executive anathema.
Mr. Pierce is a native of Dutchess county, N. Y., and is about forty years of age. He was brought up on his father's farm, and in 1840 entered Yale College, from which he graduated in 1843. He did not, how- ever, follow very closely the collegiate course of instruc-
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tion while at college, and spent most of his time in the investigation of mooted questions, and in the discus- sions of the societies connected with the institution. After leaving college he passed a season at the Cam- bridge Law School, under the charge of the late Judge Story and Senator Sumner, of Massachusetts.
In 1844 Mr. Pierce returned to his native county, and during the autumn of that year stumped, with consider- able success, that and the adjoining counties for the Democracy. The next fall he was chosen a member of the Assembly from Dutchess county, by a majority of one vote, in a poll of over ten thousand, and even this was so doubtful that his seat was fiercely contested. After six weeks of controversy, however, he was sus- tained in the House by one vote, also, and as a member of that body was associated with such men as the late Gov. Young, Ira Harris, now United States Senator ; Alva Warden, of Cayuga; Judge Hall, of the Northern District of New York; Judge Chatfield, late of the United States Court of Minnesota; Judge Wells, of California; Colonel Crain, of Herkimer, and Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, who were then members of the Legislature.
If, among so many distinguished men, Mr Pierce gained prominence, it may be inferred that his talents are of a high order, and such is the fact. As a legis- lator, he is ever on the alert, and nothing escapes his observation. No measure of doubtful import could pass without his knowledge; and any attempt to mys- tify the provisions of a bill, so as to allow some favored project of the lobbyists to be smuggled into a law,
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was sure to be detected by his searching scrutiny. To his activity, energy and indomitable perseverance, the State has gained signal advantage, as his scathing exposure of bad measures, got up for base purposes, has "nipped in the bud" some of the vilest schemes.
In 1850 and '51, Mr. Pierce was a member of the Senate, and in that grave and dignified body, also, he was one of the leading members. In 1862 he was again a Member of the Assembly; and, in a House containing an unusual amount of talent, as was the case that year, he stood confessedly one of the leading men, and second to none as a debater. He well sustained the high char- acter that he had earned in previous years, and may well be set down as among the prominent men of the State.
It is understood that Mr. Pierce contemplates remov- ing to one of the Western States, and a long time will not elapse ere we hear from him as a star of the first magnitude in the Western horizon.
PETER A. PORTER.
MR. PORTER was one of the most talented young men in the House in 1862. His speeches always exhibited a large fund of general knowledge, a thorough understanding of the subject in hand, a rare combination of representative ability, and a deep solicitude for the best interests of his constituents and the State. The most marked peculiarity of his mind was its strong metaphysical turn, which not unfrequently rendered him theoretical, rather than practical,
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but with the aid of the practical experience of older mem- bers, he was justly regarded by men of all parties in the House, as among the most useful men in that body.
Mr. Porter is a native of Black Rock, Erie county, N. Y., and is thirty-five years of age. His paternal family lives in Connecticut, and his mother's family were from Virginia. He received a good, practical, business education, and during most of his life has been successfully engaged in agricultu- ral pursuits. He possesses the qualities of a good business man, and has the advantage of a large capital. In politics, he has been a Republican, and was elected to the Assembly as a representative of the late Union movement. He joined the army, shortly after the adjournment of the Legislature, as Colonel of the - Regiment of N. Y. S. V., and is now serving his country by active services in the field. His future is before him, with everything in his favor, and his star is in the ascendant.
BENJAMIN PRINGLE.
MR. PRINGLE was born in 1807, at Richfield, Otsego county, N. Y., and resided there till 1829, when he re- moved to Batavia, his present home. He is descended from the Pringles of Scotland, a numerous, distin- guished and ancient race, of which Sir John Pringle is at present, the representative chief.
Mr. Pringle's father was one of the pioneers of Ot- sego county, and has left the reputation of a man of
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extensive and accurate knowledge and sound reasoning powers, besides a monument to his memory in the fact, that he rendered efficient aid in organizing the present school system of the State.
Mr. Pringle received a common school education, on which were engrafted the instructions of a private tutor, and several years' study in an academy. Then fol- lowed the study of law, and his legal copartnership with the Hon. Albert Smith and the Hon. Heman J. Red- field, at Batavia -- the practice of his profession with such success that he never lost a suit which he com- menced-his elevation to the bench-his agency of the Holland Land Company - the presidency of the Bank of Genesee-his election to Congress for two terms -- and finally his appearance as a member of the present House. He has, also, been a leading layman of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
These are the salient points in a life of usefulness and labor-earnest, persistent, and well-directed-in public and private circles. No undue ambition or wild aspira- ,tions have disturbed the serenity of a life, loyal to duty and faithful to trust, any more than passion has marred the calm outlines and repose of that face and form of quiet dignity which attracts the curiosity and respect of the stranger, who is told, on inquiry, " that is Judge Pringle." He rarely addresses the House, but a few words of information, advice, or exposition, spoken by him at the fitting time, and in a low placid tone, never fail to produce a far greater effect than the sten- torian platitudes and interminable declamation of less infrequent orators.
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ANDREW J. PROVOST.
MR. PROVOST was born in the city of New York, on the second day of April, 1834, and is now twenty-eight years old. He is of French extraction-his ancestors emigrating to this country about the year 1635. His father, David Provost, is still living, at the age of fifty-nine ; his mother died in April, 1855, at the age of fifty-five.
Mr. Provost was educated at Williston Seminary, East Hampton, Mass., and although fully prepared to enter col- lege, he determined to engage in mercantile pursuits, a project which he subsequently abandoned in favor of the law. In 1851 he entered the law office of Messrs. Crane & Cornell, in the city of New York, as a student, where he remained until 1855, when he was admitted to the bar. Soon afterwards he removed to Williamsburgh, and engaged in the duties of his profession with much success. He is now the senior member of the firm of Provost, Fisher & Daily, in that flourishing village.
Mr. Provost was a Member of the Assembly in 1861, as was also one of his partners, Mr. Fisher, who was a strong Re- publican, and a very valuable member. Mr. Provost was a Democrat of the old Jeffersonian school-a kind that knows no turning. His course in the Assembly gave great satisfaction to his constituents, and they again returned him as a member for 1862, as a Union Democrat. He sustains a high social position wherever he is known; and both years that he served in the Assembly he was one of the most popular and deserving members.
He was married on the 4th of June, 1856, to Miss
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Harriet, daughter of Judge Obadiah Titus, of Dutchess county, who was a member of Congress in 1832. He attends the Reformed Dutch Church, of which his wife is a member.
ABRAM PRYNE.
This gentleman was educated for the ministry, and for several years was an acceptable preacher of the Gospel; but being very much of an enthusiast he was wafted away by " every wind of doctrine ;" " tossed to and fro" on the billows of radicalism, and was finally wrecked in the sea of abolitionism. In exchange for the Gospel of Christ he took up the vagaries of Garri- son ; battled the demon of slavery at a safe distance from its den ; entered upon the political arena and be- came the champion of Republicanism, and finally became a monomaniac on the subject of human bondage. He was the victim of his own ungovernable passions, which unsettled his reason and, in the end, sent him " to his account with all his imperfections on his head."
Mr. Pryne was born in Lysander, Onondaga county, N. Y., in 1824, and lived to the age of thirty-eight years. Having received a fair academic education, and his mind being imbued with deep religious feelings, he had a strong desire to become a preacher of righteous- ness. With this view he prepared himself, and at the suitable time entered upon this important calling.
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For some time he was impressed with the vast impor- tance of his mission, but being of an enthusiastic tem- perament, he adopted ultra notions on all the exciting topics of the day, such as slavery, temperance and politics, and soon began to wander from the legitimate duties of a minister, until he found himself engulfed in the miry pool of party politics. He soon afterwards engaged as an assistant editor with Fred. Douglass ; and when that gentleman (of color) fled the country, through fear of a criminal prosecution, as an accomplice of John Brown in his raid on the " sacred soil " of Vir- ginia, he became chief editor. Thus his political long- ings were encouraged, and he soon threw off all restraint and became altogether a political partisan. Being thus prepared, he entered the field as a candidate for office, and was elected a Member of the Assembly in the fall of 1861, by the Republicans of Wayne county, where he resided. In the month of January following, he made his debut in the Assembly Chamber, as a legislator and politician. Being a man of considerable ability and great fluency, as a speaker, he entered readily into the debates incident to legislation, and often became in- volved in personal controversies, on political questions, in which he exhibited a good deal of ingenuity and tact. From his peculiar temperament he was not a man who could legislate wisely, but was carried away by his prejudices and passions into labyrinths of controversial discussions, which precluded such attention to legisla- tive duties, as is requisite for the consideration of grave and important matters.
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