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 2
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of the subject of this sketch, on his mother's side, was for eighty years a prominent member of the legislature of this state, and died only a few years since at an ad- vanced age. IIe was highly esteemed during his life- time, and left behind him a name of which his surviving children and grandchildren are justly proud.
Mr. Jones received a preparatory course of schooling at Christ's Church Academy, Manhasset, Long Island, and in 1829, entered Union College, Schenectady, where he graduated in 1832. He then studied law, and in 1836 began the practice of his profession in the city of New York as a partner of the late James P. Howard. He devoted himself closely to the practice until 1840, when he was chosen a member of the Assembly from the city of New York. He was re-elected in 1841 and '42, and in 1843 was chosen a member of the Senate from the First District, then comprising the counties of New York, Kings, and. Richmond, In 1846, he was a member of the Constitutional Convention, and after the expiration of his senatorial term of office on the 31st of December, 1847, he was appointed Clerk of the Superior Court of the city of New York. He successfully oc- cupied this position until the spring of 1852, when he resigned, and retired to his native place where he now resides. He has always taken a deep interest in agri- cultural pursuits, and for several years was honored with the position of President of the Queens County Agricultural Society.
In 1856 Mr. Jones reluctantly consented to represent his native county once more in the lower branch of the Legislature, where he was then the Democratic
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Candidate for Speaker, and has since then been Super- visor of his town several years. During most of this time, however, he devoted himself exclusively to the quiet pursuits of his farm, until the fall of 1859 when he was unanimously nominated by the Democratic State Convention for Secretary of State, and by the aid of the indorsement of the American State Convention at Utica, was triumphantly elected. At the expiration of his term of office in this position he again retired to his farm on Long Island, where he quietly remained until last fall, when the people of the State once more sum- moned him to duty by placing him in his present distinguished position.
Mr. Jones is a gentleman of superior ability and sterling integrity, and the successful industry and dis- interested patriotism with which he has discharged the duties of the various official stations to which he has been called, has not only reflected credit upon him, but it has redounded to the promotion of every interest entrusted to his care. He is a politician of the purer class, and throughout his entire political career, has been a staunch, unwavering Democrat, of the old- fashioned Hard-shell school. In social life, he is genial. and attractive. Open, frank, and generous almost to a fault, he never fails to exercise a large influence over all with whom he comes in contact, and but few men have more numerous and devoted personal friends.
STATE OFFICERS.
HORATIO BALLARD,
SECRETARY OF STATE.
MR. BALLARD was elected to his present position in the fall of 1861, on the Union ticket, composed of, and sup- ported by, men of all political parties, who were disposed to lay aside political differences, for the purpose of up- holding the Union, and affording more effective "aid and comfort" to the Government in this momentous period of its history. The attack of the rebels of South Carolina on Fort Sumter, and its consequent reduction, had fired the public mind, and aroused the people of the loyal states to such a degree, that party lines were apparently obliterated, and the one great object of subduing the rebellion, and rescuing the Union from destruction, seemed to pervade every heart. Other re- verses, too, had contributed to this feeling, and at such a time, it was deemed unwise and injurious to the public good to revive party strife, lest, in the heat and din of political warfare, the great end and hope of the Nation should be forgotten, and a fresh impulse given to the
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efforts of those at the South, who were striving to over- throw the Government. Influenced by such feelings and considerations, many distinguished citizens of our great state proposed the merging of political parties, and the nomination of a state ticket, on the principle of Union and fidelity to the Government, irrespective of partisan politics. Mr. Ballard was one of the first to engage in this movement, and a very large portion of his political friends upheld him in his views. A State Convention was accordingly called, and a ticket nomi- nated on this basis, on which he was placed as a candi- date for Secretary of State. This ticket was elected by an immense majority-exceeding one hundred thou- sand; and since January 1st, 1862, he has exercised the functions of the office, to which he was thus called by the spontaneous outbreak of the popular will, to the entire satisfaction of the public.
Mr. Ballard was born in the town of Homer, Cort- land county, N. Y., on the 21st of August, 1803, and is therefore in his sixtieth year. He is of English de- scent. His parents emigrated from the town of Hol- land, Massachusetts, where his father, Joshua Ballard, was born on the 21st of July, 1774, and lived until the year 1797, when, at the age of twenty-three, he left the place of his birth and selected a location in the town of Homer. Here he purchased about one hundred acres of land, but subsequently made several valuable addi- tions, and grew with the town, in wealth and popularity. He taught the first school in the old town of Homer, and was one of the founders of the Cortland Academy. In 1810, he was appointed Sheriff of the County ; and in
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1816, was a member of the Legislature. Subsequently he was appointed County Clerk, and removed to Cort- landville, where he spent the remainder of his days, honored and respected by his townsman, and died on the 10th of January, 1855, at the ripe age of eighty-one. His wife, the mother of the subject of this sketch, whose maiden name was Parthenia Polley, lived to the age of seventy-two, and died on the 5th day of July, 1849.
Mr. Ballard was educated at the Pomfrey and Cort- land Academies, with reference to the study of the law. He commenced reading law in the office of Henry Ste- phens, Esq., in 1822, and completed his studies with Judge Jewett at Skaneateles. He was admitted as an Attorney to the Supreme Court in August, 1828; as Counselor, in May, 1831; and soon afterwards as So- licitor and Counselor in Chancery. He became a part- ner of Mr. Stephens, and on the elevation of that gen- tleman to the bench, he succeeded him, to the leadership at the bar, for which he was eminently fitted as one of the most energetic, industrious and able lawyers in his Judicial District. In 1841, he was appointed District Attorney of Cortland County, and held the office seven years. In 1848, he was the Democratic Candidate for Congress, in the District composed of the Counties of Cayuga and Cortland; and in 1859 he was the Demo- cratic nominee for the office of Judge in the Sixth Ju- dicial District.
As a politician, Mr. Ballard has always stood high with the Democratic party, of which he has been an active and influential member, ever since he was a voter, as may be inferred by the expressions of confidence he
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has received in the way of nominations for important positions. He had the misfortune, however, to reside in a district, both as Congressional and Judicial, the majority of whose voters did not accord with him in sentiment ; hence his defect was in no wise to be attri- buted to any want of capacity, or character, but solely to the fact that the opposing party chose to vote for its own nominees. He always ran, however, with his ticket and shared its fate. Nevertheless, he is no politician in the more modern acceptation of the term, and wears his political harness only so far as it enables him to subserve the public welfare. He is always found promptly at his post in the discharge of his official duties, and is sin- gularly efficient in the dispatch of public business. He never puts on any airs of assumed dignity, but is sociable, pleasant, and communicative, setting all who approach him at the most perfect ease.
In the campaign of 1862, parties seemed to have re- sumed their former antagonistic position, to a very great extent, and the Democratic State ticket prevailed in the State. Deeming the object for which the Union party was organized to have been frustrated by the National Administration, in adopting a scheme of Emancipation as part of its policy, thereby endangering the great object for which the loyal States are contending -that of restoring the Union as it was-Mr. Ballard has cho- sen to resume his position as a Democrat ; and in the ap- pointments recently made by the Canal Board, of which he is a member, he has acted with the Democratic mem- bers, and voted only for Conservative men. This has
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given rise to some comment, but none question his politi- cal consistency or the purity of his motives.
Mr. Ballard has been twice married. His first wife, to whom he was united on the 27th of June, 1832, was Miss Ursula Webb, daughter of Major Adrie Webb, a patriot of the Revolution. She died in Cortland on the 18th of December, 1845. In June, 1847, he was again married to Miss Sarah A. Fairchild, daughter of Isaac Fairchild, Esq., of Cortland.
In May, 1832, Mr. Ballard united with the Presbyte- rian Church at Cortland, and maintains the character of a consistent and devoted Christian.
LUCIUS ROBINSON,
COMPTROLLER.
MR. ROBINSON was a member of the Assembly in 1860, from the county of Chemung, to which body he was elected by a large majority, and was one of the strongest and most influential men in the House. As Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, and a leading member of the Judiciary Committee, he was always prompt in the discharge of his duties; and his course upon the floor of the House was highly credit- able to himself and satisfactory to his constituents. He was consequently returned again to the Legislature of 1861 by an increased majority. His familiarity with
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legislation, and his popularity, ability, and fitness for the position, induced a general desire among his political friends, that he should be elevated to the Speakership, and his name was therefore presented to the Republican caucus. On the informal ballot he took a very respect- able vote, and it was universally thought that, after a few ballots-there being several candidates- he would receive the nomination ; but, unexpectedly to all, when the hopes of his friends were at the highest pitch, he withdrew his name from the canvass, and his principal competitor was consequently selected. It was conceded that Mr. Robinson was, intellectually at least, the strongest man in the House, and therefore it was that the public mind had settled upon him as the most suit- able man for Speaker. As a debater he ranks high ; and his speeches are always able and eloquent, display- ing much research, and evincing thorough preparation.
During the session of 1861, Mr. Robinson introduced a series of resolutions, as a compromise measure, into the House, in reference to our National difficulties, and urged them with great zeal and power. This proposi- tion for compromise was based on the idea, that, after the admission of Kansas as a State, all the remaining territories should be formed into two separate states, and forthwith be admitted into the Union, leaving the question of slavery to be settled by the people thereof, and thus removing the prolific cause of all our trouble from National politics. These resolutions were re- ferred to a select committee, of which he was appoint- ed Chairman, who reported favorably. The report prepared by him, was a very able production, but a 3
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majority of the Republican members were opposed to it, and it was defeated by the substitution of a project of sending Commissioners to Washington, to attend a Peace Convention of the several States, at the suggestion of the state of Virginia. The speech of Mr. Robinson in favor of the report and resolutions, was a masterly effort, in which he predicted, as the result of a rejection of his pro- position, just what has since taken place. This was after some of the Cotton States had gone out of the Union, though in time, as many thought here, in Congress and elsewhere, to check the progress of the rebellion, and exert a salutary influence which would prevent the spread of disunion sentiment, and bring back, to the protection of our honored flag, the seceded States. But the desire of the Republicans to chastise the Southern rebels, which they supposed could be easily done, and extirpate the institution of slavery, determined them to turn a deaf ear to any proposition tending to reconcile existing differences, and restore the Union, as it was. They therefore refused to co-operate with their distin- guished leader; and civil war, with all its horrors and calamities, is sweeping over the land, devastating the fair fields of the South, sacrificing the lives of the best men of all sections of the country, and producing wide- spread ruin by means of heavy taxation, a deranged and depreciated currency, and consequent exorbitant prices of every article necessary to sustain life, and promote the comfort and welfare of the people.
Mr. Robinson was elected Comptroller, in the fall of 1861, by a majority exceeding one hundred thousand. His great personal popularity, and his strong Union
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feeling, which impelled him to throw partyism "to the winds," when danger to our common country called upon all good citizens to rally to the rescue, induced the use of his name as a leader of the Union sentiment. His success was a tribute to his patriotism and worth; and the ability with which he has discharged the arduous duties of his office, has elicited marked approbation from all classes and parties.
Mr. Robinson is a native of Windham, Greene county, N. Y., and was born on the 4th of November, 1810. His father, Eli P. Robinson, was a farmer in the town of Windham, and was among its first settlers, having emigrated from Connecticut early in life. He was a lineal descendant of the Rev. John Robinson, from whose church the Plymouth Colony sprang. He was also a Captain of militia during the whole of the war of 1812, and served at Sackett's Harbor and on Long Island.
Mr. Robinson was educated at the Delaware Aca- demy, Delhi, Delaware county. He commenced the study of law with Hon. Erastus Root, and subsequently entered the office of Hon. Amasa J. Parker, with whom he finished his course, and was admitted to the bar in 1832. He commenced the practice of law at Catskill, Greene County, N. Y., in 1833, and was three years District Attorney of that county. In 1839 he removed to New York. In 1843 he was appointed Master in Chancery by Governor Bouck, and was re-appointed by Governer Wright in 1846, holding the position until the Court of Chancery was abolished. He continued in the successful practice of his profession in New York until
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1855, when, his health being impaired in consequence of excessive labor, he removed to the County of Che- mung and settled in the village of Elmira, where he has since remained a resident, occupying a deservedly high position. In politics he was a Democrat of the Silas Wright and Free Soil school, until the formation of the Republican party, of which he has since been an un- yielding and strenuous supporter, of the National, Con- servative stamp.
Mr. Robinson was married, in 1833, to Miss Eunice Osborn of Windham, who died on the 12th of March, 1861; and wherever has been his residence he has sus- tained a high character for integrity and worth, both in his private life and political associations.
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DANIEL S. DICKINSON,
ATTORNEY-GENERAL.
This gentleman is one of the ancient political land- marks of the Nation, connecting the present with those palmy days when he served with distinction in the Federal Senate alongside of such men as Clay, Web- ster and Calhoun, and is one of the most experienced living statesmen in the country. According to the po- litical nomenclature of New York he was, at that period a Democrat of the " Old Hunker " school, " thoroughly dyed in the wool," and was one of the most terrible of the "terrified "-a Northern man with Southern prin-
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ciples - a Virginian born by mistake in Connecticut. There are those who assert that no man in the North crawled longer and crouched lower than he did to serve the South at the expense of the country; but at the breaking out of the rebellion, " a new change came o'er the spirit of his dream," and his political opponents now, who were his political friends then, contend that he is just as extreme now as his political opponents then, who are his peculiar friends now, assert that he was then. He may, therefore, perhaps, be considered an extreme man, and whether on the one side or the other, he is always pretty sure to occupy an extreme and not unfrequently an erratic position.
Mr. Dickinson is a native of Goshen, Litchfield county, Connecticut, where he was born on the 11th of Septem- ber, 1800. His father was a plain, substantial farmer, who was proud of the soil from which he sprung, and which he cultivated. The circumstances of his parents being only moderate, his childhood was not luxurious nor surrounded by many advantages. He removed with his father, in 1806, to the beautiful valley of the Che- nango, and settled in what is now known as the town of Guilford. Here he attended a common district school occasionally, and became inured to the laborious duties of a struggling farmer's son. He also spent some time at a mechanical trade, but feeling the promptings of a higher destiny, he was soon found devoting most of his time to higher branches of study and the accumulation of general knowledge. He subsequently studied law, and, in 1826, was admitted to the bar, almost immedi- ately taking a prominent rank in his profession. His *3
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professional business increased rapidly, and in 1831 he removed to the thriving village of Binghamton, where he has always since resided.
Mr. Dickinson early became actively engaged in politics, and in 1836 was elected to the State Senate. During his term of service in that body he participated prominently in the discussions growing out of the General Banking Law, the Small Bill Law, the Bank Suspension Law, the Extension of the Erie Canal, and many other important questions, and gained the reputation of an industrious and capable representative. He was subse- quently nominated by the Democrats for Lieutenant- Governor, but hard-cider, log-cabins, and coon skins which were political Meccas in those days, and General Harrison the Mohammed of them all, successfully wrought his defeat. He was again nominated, however, for the same position in 1842, and was elected. In 1844 he was chosen a member of the Senate of the United States, by Governor Bouck, to fill the vacancy created in that body by the appointment of Hon. N. P. Tallmadge to the Gover- norship of the territory of Wisconsin, and on the meeting of the Legislature was elected for the succeed- ing term. On the Texas Annexation, the Oregon Question, the Mexican War, the Admission of California the Wilmot Proviso, and the Compromise Measures of 1850, which were among the important topics discussed during his career in that distinguished body, he took a leading part and acquired a National reputation. His term of office expired on the 4th of March, 1851, and he was the last Democratic Senator from the State of New York.
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In 1852, Mr. Dickinson was a prominent candidate for the Presidency before the Democratic National Con- vention at Baltimore, but was defeated by the nomina- tion of Mr. Pierce. From that time forward he remained a private citizen, engaged in professional pursuits, until the fall of 1861, when he was nominated and elected to the position he now occupies. That he is a man of ability no one will deny, but he is generally much over- rated, and possesses but little real genius. He is a good speaker, and a debater of rare ability-a well-read statesman and an industrious and successful politician. His speeches are rather dry - unadorned with gems of poetry and eloquence, but are usually practical and well considered. He is, also, a shrewd, skillful tactician, up to all the arts and tricks of wire-pulling, and had he kept pace with the progress of the progressives in his party, he would doubtless have been a man the Demo- crats would have delighted to honor.
Mr. Dickinson was married in 1822 to Miss Lydia Knapp, and attends the Episcopal church. In private life he is a most estimable man, a faithful husband, an affectionate husband, a law-abiding citizen, and an oblig- ing neighbor. He is medium in height, with rather a square figure; his face strongly marked, with years and thoughtful experience completing the original out- lines of nature, and making a pleasant and picturesque. contrast with the long white hair that decorates his head.
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WILLIAM B. LEWIS.
TREASURER.
MR. LEWIS was born in Brooklyn, Kings county, N. Y., on the 4th of May, 1818, and is, therefore, about forty- five years old. His ancestors were from Holland. His father, Sheppard Lewis, now lives in Brooklyn, at the advanced age of seventy-eight. His mother, Abigail Lewis, died in 1830. He was schooled in the city of his birth, and acquired a good English education.
Mr. Lewis was early apprenticed to, and learned the trade of, a Mason, which business he has pursued ener- getically and successfully. By his genius and taste he has elevated himself to the highest rank, as a Master builder, and has done much to adorn and beautify his native city. The many costly and elegant structures that he has erected in Brooklyn, are enduring monu- ments of his skill and enterprise. Nor has his reputa- tion, as a Builder, been confined to his own city. New York and other places in the vicinity, are also indebted to him for the erection of many of their "palaces," and other substantial buildings.
Mr. Lewis was married, on the 22d of February, 1841, to Miss Mary A. Fernald. In his religious opin- ions he is a Universalist, and belongs to a church of that denomination. In politics he was a Whig until that party ceased to exist, when he attached himself to the Americans, which organization was eventually merged in the Constitutional Union and Republican
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parties, the latter of which he joined. When the rebel- lion broke out, inaugurated by the bombardment and capture of Fort Sumter by the rebels of South Caro- lina, a universal feeling of indignation swept over the Northern and Western States, breaking down the bar- riers of party distinction, and eliciting a burst of patri- otic feeling that told how near to the hearts of the people was the Union of these States. As new aggressions were made, the scale of patriotism ascended ; until the danger to the Capitol of the Nation, rendered apparent by the terrible disaster at Bull's Run, electrified the public mind, and aroused the masses to a sense of our great danger, by the magnitude of the rebellion, the resources of the rebels, and the alarming condition of our Government, which was wholly unprepared for such a formidable display of power by the insurgents. In such a day of gloom, almost despair, but one sentiment pervaded the community ; and all hearts seemed to be united in the common cause of saving the country. Under the inspiration of such an hour, party lines were partially obliterated ; and in the summer of 1861 the project of a Union ticket for State officers, to be sup- ported at the fall election, was conceived, and measures taken to effect the object. A " People's State Conven- tion " was summoned to convene at Syracuse in Sep- tember, for the purpose of nominating such a ticket, to be composed of gentlemen from all parties, who sus- tained the Government and the integrity of the Union in this momentous crisis. Mr. Lewis cordially co-oper- ated in this measure, and on the assembling of the Con- vention he was placed in nomination for State Treasurer.
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The whole ticket thus nominated was elected by a ma- jority of more than 100,000 ; and since January, 1862, Mr. Lewis has occupied the position to which he was elected, to the entire satisfaction of the people. He continued to act with the new Union party until it be- came apparent that the purpose of the National Admin. istration in conducting the war, was changed, and there was reason to believe that it designed to use its power for the destruction of slavery, rather than for the resto- ration of the Union on its original basis. To this " change of front" by the Government at Washington, Mr. Lewis, it is understood, is utterly opposed ; and on the occasion of making the Canal appointments recently by the Canal Board, of which he is a member, he acted in conjunction with the Democrats in selecting conser- vative men only for the various places.
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