USA > New York > Encyclopedia of biography of New York, a life record of men and women whose sterling character and energy and industry have made them preeminent in their own and many other states, Vol. 2 > Part 41
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and Federal, judge of the highest court of his State, cabinet minister, framer of mu- nicipal charters, political advisor, and also rendered most arduous and faithful mili- tary service. In summing up his career, "Bench and Bar" for January, 1915, thus fitly speaks of him :
To-day, General Tracy in the ripeness of years, is still continuing his experienced service in the profession; though, perhaps, not as eager as in younger days for the contests of jury trial, his advice has lost none of its readiness, nor his mind any of its openness, nor his listening any of its patience. He early conquered the high esteem of the community; it has been given to him to enjoy it unimpaired for great length of days, and to-day he lives surrounded by "All that should accompany old age ;- honor, love, obedience, troops of friends,"-an encouraging example of the goal to which the younger mem- bers of the Bar may hopefully look forward.
Another authority says:
The diversity of public services in which he has been engaged and the degree of success which he has reached, stamp General Tracy as a man preëminent among his contemporaries. As a lawyer, his long experience in an exceptionally varied practice has given him a broad grasp of fundamental principles, while as an advocate, his clear and skillful methods of presentation and his powers of persuasive speech have made him successful alike before judges and juries. Both as a civil and criminal lawyer he ranks second to none in the State, and is one of the few members of his profession in America who enjoy inter- national fame. Not only as a lawyer and impar- tial and conscientious judge has he attained dis- tinction, but also as an independent and large- minded statesman, who has long stood in the foremost rank of the great leaders of the Repub- lican party in the United States. He has done much to bring Brooklyn into prominence in con- nection with national affairs, and for many years, when he, General James Jourdan, and Silas B. Dutcher, were the local party leaders, his influ- ence in the Republican organization of that city was well nigh supreme. For twenty years of his life he has been in public service, and it is be- lieved that no American has ever held a greater number of diversified public positions, or achieved a greater success in all than has General Tracy.
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General Tracy was always fond of agri- cultural pursuits, and in the intervals of professional and official duty spent much time in the cultivation of his farm at Owego. At one time he was a noted breeder of trotting horses, and proprietor of the famous Marshland stud. In his busy career he devoted little attention to club and social life, but was a member of the Union League and Metropolitan clubs of New York City, a companion of the first class of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, and a comrade of the Grand Army of the Republic.
He married, at Owego, New York, Jan- uary 21, 1851, Delinda E., daughter of Nathaniel and Jane (Brodhead) Catlin, of that place, and sister of General Isaac S. Catlin. She died in Washington, Dis- trict of Columbia, March 2, 1890. Chil- dren : 1. Emma Louise, married in Brook- lyn, New York, Ferdinand Suydam Wil- merding. 2. Mary Farrington, born at Owego, May, 1876, died at Washington, March 3, 1890. 3. Frank Brodhead, mar- ried Elizabeth Cornell, of Owego, New York, and had three sons-Benjamin, Thomas Brodhead and James Burt. On March 3, 1890, he was visited by an afflic- tion that made him an object of world- wide sympathy, when his house in Wash- ington was burned and his wife and youngest daughter, Mary F., together with a female servant, perished. He himself was rescued while unconscious, and re- mained for some days in a critical condi- tion. General Tracy's only granddaugh- ter, Alice Tracy Wilmerding, married Frederic R. Coudert, and they have four sons-Frederic R., Jr., Benjamin Tracy, Ferdinand Wilmerding and Alexis Car- rell.
General Tracy died in New York City on August 6, 1915.
POTTER, Robert Brown, Soldier, Statesman.
Robert Potter, the founder of the family in America here dealt with, came from Coventry, England, in 1634. There is no record of the exact date of his coming to this country or the ship in which he came, excepting that he was a passenger with the Rev. Nathan Ward, afterwards a min- ister of Ipswich, Massachusetts. John, son of Robert Potter, was born at Ports- mouth, Rhode Island, and in 1660 was en- rolled a freeman. John (2), son of John (1) Potter, was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, and was killed by the fall of a tree. The jury of inquest on his death judged him "to be axedentolly excesery to his own death occasioned by the fall of a tree." John (3), son of John (2) Potter, was born at Cranston, Rhode Island, and lived on the Rivulet farm, one mile from the Quaker meeting house at Cranston. Thomas, son of John (3) Potter, was born at Cranston, and married Esther Sheldon. Their son, Joseph Potter, removed with his family in 1792 to Beekman (now La Grange), Dutchess county, New York.
Rt. Rev. Alonzo Potter, D. D., LL. D., bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, son of Joseph and Anne (Knight) Potter, was born July 10, 1800, at Beekman, New York, and died July 4, 1865, on board the steamship "Colorado," in the harbor of San Francisco, California. He was first sent to the district schools of his native hamlet, and was there favored with the instruction of a Mr. Thompson, a man capable of appreciating him. At the age of twelve he entered the academy at Poughkeepsie, and having secured a scholarship later went to Union College. He was confirmed at Christ Church, Phil- adelphia, by the venerable Bishop White, and began his theological studies at the
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General Theological Seminary. He was called to be a tutor at the Union College at twenty, and within a year was ad- vanced to the professorship of mathe- matics. He was made a priest by Bishop Bonnell, and after a period as rector at Boston was made Bishop of Pennsylva- nia. His biographer says of him: "He lived more in his three-score years than most of those who stretch to the utmost limit of earthly continuance do in their larger span." He married (first) Sarah Maria Knott; (second) Sarah Benedict; (third) Frances Seton.
General Robert Brown Potter, son of the Rt. Rev. Alonzo and Sarah Maria (Knott) Potter, was born July 16, 1829, died at Newport, Rhode Island, February 19, 1887. His military career began in New York City, and he was intimately connected in Civil War times with the Ninth Army Corps, whose chief was Gen- eral Ambrose E. Burnside, of Rhode Island, and therefore it can be said, as of Homer in ancient days, that three cities can claim the honor of his well-earned fame. After his college course at Union College, under the care of his grandfather, young Potter established himself in New York as a lawyer, and at the beginning of the Civil War was in successful prac- tice in New York City.
After the war broke out, having no immediate ties, his wife having died in 1858, a year after their marriage, he deter- mined to go to the front, and immediately prepared himself by study and drill to take the position to which his ambition called him. On the organization of the Fifty-first Regiment in New York he re- ceived the commission of lieutenant-colo- nel. His superior was Colonel Ferrero, and Charles W. Le Gendre was major. The regiment was moved to Annapolis, and soon after was attached to Burnside's little army at Annapolis, and brigaded
under General Reno. They had their bap- tism of fire at Roanoke Island, where Potter led three companies of his regi- ment to the assault of the batteries, and was the first to enter the works. At New- bern the Fifty-first had again the post of honor, and stormed the entrenchments on the left of the rebel lines. Here Major Le Gendre was shot through the mouth, and Lieutenant-Colonel Potter received a ball in the groin, which passed through his body. Here Potter showed that cool courage in which he was not excelled, not even by Grant. He remained on the field, in spite of his wound, until the close of the memorable day, and his judgment in pointing the line of attack decided the victory in favor of the Union troops. From Newbern the Fifty-first was moved to support General McClellan, and soon after General Pope, in what is known as the second Bull Run campaign. Here they held the left of the Federal lines, covering Pope's retreat, and here again, at the critical point of the day, the Union lines broken, Reno's brigade was called to retrieve the disaster, and Colonel Pot- ter led the gallant Fifty-first in full view of the remainder of the army, and broke the rebel lines. At South Mountain, where the lamented Reno fell, the Fifty-first was again in the post of honor, and, at Antie- tam, Potter achieved for himself an al- most romantic fame. The Union troops were disordered, and the bridge over An- tietam creek, the key to the Federal posi- tion, lay in front of the enemy's line, and under the full fire of their artillery. Pot- ter, seizing the flag of his regiment, crossed the bridge, calling on his men to follow him, and thus secured the position, and in the words of Mcclellan at the time, "he saved the day." Some day, it has been said, this action will be as noted in history as is the similar dash of Na- poleon over the bridge at Arcolo or over
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the bridge at Lodi. At Antietam, again, Potter was slightly wounded. The Fifty- first, of which, after the promotion of Ferrero to be brigadier-general, Potter had sole command, was sent with General Burnside, his old commander and life- long personal friend, to take part in the western campaign ; Potter took a place on Burnside's staff, and by General Grant's special order received an independent command. During the siege of Knox- ville, Potter commanded the division in front of the lines, and with a greatly in- ferior force so manoeuvred for seven try- ing days as to check the advance of Gen- eral Longstreet (detached to the cap- ture of the beleagured city from General Hood's army) and to admit of the relief and reenforcement of that port. It will be remembered that the final assaults of the rebels were defeated on the entrench- ments in an almost hand-to-hand fight. Potter had now reached his true position as a commander of large bodies. In the Wilderness campaign he was constantly under fire, and unusually active in his division. Here Major Le Gendre, now colonel of his old regiment, the Fifty- first, was finally disabled, losing an eye. The assault, after the explosion of the memorable mine at Petersburg, fell to General Burnside's command. Unfortu- nately this officer (General Burnside), of but too facile a nature, left to lot the choice of the officer who should lead the assault, and that fell to an incompetent officer. General Grant in his memoir says: "In fact, Potter and Wilcox were the only division commanders General Burnside had who were equal to the occa- sion." Neither of them was chosen. The eventful history of the mine explosion needs no further reference. An intimate friend of General Potter states that he had matured a plan for destroying the bridge over the Appomattox, which would have
confined General Lee's army and saved further fighting. A touching incident is related by a friend of General Potter. He had mounted his horse in front of Fort Sedgwick, called "Fort Hell" by his men, to lead his regiment to battle, when he was struck by a ball and wounded in the groin, as stated above. While he lay des- perately wounded on the field, he was visited by President Lincoln, who spoke tenderly to him, and cheered him with some of his characteristic words.
After the war, General Potter was as- signed by the Secretary of State to the command of Rhode Island and the Con- necticut district of the Military Depart- ment of the East, with headquarters in Newport, and in the autumn of the same year he married his second wife. A grace- ful compliment was paid to Mrs. Potter, who was in receipt of a novel but accept- able wedding present in the form of a full major-general's commission for her hus- band, sent under the seal of the War De- partment by Secretary Stanton, the Gen- eral's brevet having already been re- ceived. In 1866 he was appointed colonel of the Forty-first United States Infantry (colored), but never assumed command. This closed his brilliant military career. General Hancock said of him that he was one of the twelve best officers (West Point graduates not excepted) in the army, and with his well-known modesty he (General Potter) was wont to say that he might have made a first-rate officer with the advantages of an early education at West Point.
After the gigantic failure of the At- lantic & Great Western Railroad Com- pany he was appointed receiver, a posi- tion of labor and trust, and for three years he lived in a car on the line of the railroad. Later, in the hope of improving his somewhat shattered health, he went to England, residing in Warwick county,
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following the hounds, and maintaining by his generous hospitality the credit of his native land and a true American gentle- man. On his return he purchased "The Rocks," which he made his residence, and during the summer season he entertained in a liberal manner. He spent his winters in Washington, making common house- hold with his brother, Congressman Pot- ter. General Potter had a good deal to bear in his latter days in the way of bodily pain, and not a little of it may have been occasioned, it may be presumed, by the rigors of the Civil War, endured by him with immense patience and courage. A memorial was erected to his memory at the place of his burial, referring to his services to his country, and testifying to the sincere admiration in which he was held by his country men.
He married (first) April 14, 1857, Frances Tileston ; (second) Abby Austin Stevens, daughter of John A. Stevens, a distinguished financier, and president of the Bank of Commerce. Children : Robert Burnside, born January 29, 1869, archi- tect, New York City; Warwick, born October 31, 1871, died October 11, 1893; Austin, born in New York, January 16, 1873; Frances Tileston, married James L. Breese.
CRONK, Hiram,
Last Survivor of War of 1812.
The last survivor of the war with Great Britain (1812-14) was Hiram Cronk, a resident of Oneida county. He was born at Frankfort, Herkimer county, New York, April 19, 1800.
He enlisted at North Western, Oneida county, August 2, 1814, in the company commanded by Captain Edmund Fuller, and served until the close of the war, when he received his honorable discharge. He then returned to his father's home in North Western, and remained with him
until he was married, which occurred when he was twenty-five years of age. His wife's name was Mary Thornton, a resident of North Western. He had six children who lived to mature age, and four of whom survived him, as follows: The eldest, Philander, who was still liv- ing in 1912, at Ava at the time, and in his ninety-second year; Hiram, who died at the age of twenty-one ; Van Rensselaer, who was killed at the battle of Pitts- burgh Landing (Shiloh), Tennessee ; Sarah, widow of Jeremiah Rowley, who in 1912 was still living in Rome at the age of eight-three, and the person from whom the writer obtained the informa- tion in regard to Mr. Cronk; William, who in 1912 was living at Rome, aged eighty-one years; John, who died April 6, 1911, at Rome, at the age of seventy ; Wayne, who died at Lee, aged thirty- four years ; and George, in 1912 was resid- ing in Oklahoma, sixty-four years of age.
Mr. Cronk was a farmer, and lived on his farm in the town of Ava from the time of his marriage until his death. Much attention was paid to him in his later years, after it became well establised that he was the last survivor of the War of 1812. He died at Dunbrook, Oneida county, May 13, 1905, at the remarkable age of one hundred and five years. Funer- al services at his home were largely at- tended. The remains were taken to Brooklyn, New York, for interment in the soldiers' and sailors' plot at Cypress Hill Cemetery, and the final obsequies were conducted with much military pomp. Under the direction of the authorities of New York City, the body lay in state in the City Hall for twenty-four hours, and the military procession comprised large detachments of United States soldiers and New York National Guard troops. U. S. Grant Post of the Grand Army of the Re- public, of Brooklyn, was in immediate charge, acting as a guard of honor.
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SHERWOOD, Lyman Hinsdale, Talented Musician.
Of ancient and honorable English an- cestry, Lyman Hinsdale Sherwood, de- ceased, a talented musician and teacher ; his father, Lyman Sherwood, deceased, an eminent lawyer, judge; and his son, William Hall Sherwood, have made the name an honored one in Wayne county, and in the artistic world of two conti- nents.
Judge Lyman Sherwood, who died in Lyons, September 2, 1865, at the age of sixty-three, was a prominent member of the bar and judiciary of Wayne county. For many years he was head of the law firm of Sherwood & Smith, a firm occupy- ing a place in the front rank in Western New York. Originally a Democrat, he went over to the Republican party and ever remained true to that party. In 1833 he was elected surrogate, and in 1842 he was appointed State Senator to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Sen- ator Mark H. Sibley. He was elected county judge in 1859, serving until 1863. Judge Sherwood is remembered as a law- yer of fine ability, extremely conscien- tious in the discharge of every public or private duty, and was highly esteemed, not only in his profession but by the pub- lic at large.
Lyman Hinsdale Sherwood, son of Judge Lyman and Rhoda (Hinsdale) Sherwood, was born at Hoosick, New York, March 28, 1828, died in Lyons, New York, April 25, 1901. He was a born stu- dent, and, although educated at Hobart College, his home study was very exten- sive, and his fluent knowledge of French, Latin, Greek and Spanish was almost wholly acquired through home study. He was ambitious to obtain holy orders, and was ordained a deacon of the Protestant Episcopal church, and performed a great
deal of ministerial and missionary work without other compensation than the sat- isfaction which doing good gives. His great talent was music, and again, through self-teaching, he became a fine musician and musical instructor. He founded Lyons Musical Academy in 1854, and through self-developed systems of teaching gave it more than a State-wide reputation. His was the second musical academy in the country, and drew its stu- dents from every section of the country and from Canada. He taught his pupils to analyze the written score, and ground- ed them in the fundamental principles of harmony and rhythm, and the essentials of his teaching of elementary theory have not been greatly improved upon; stu- dents who were instructed by him have, in many instances, gone out to win fame for themselves as artists and teachers, and never have failed to ascribe their suc- cess to the teaching of Mr. Sherwood. Music was the great joy of his life, and the success of his pupils, particularly of his children, was most pleasing and grati- fying, and no greater reward could be conferred. He was, as stated, an ordained deacon of the Protestant Episcopal church, and affiliated with the Republican party, but nothing lay so near his heart as the institution he founded and long conducted, the Lyons Musical Academy.
Mr. Sherwood married, December 21, 1852, Mary, daughter of Edmund and Harriet Balis. They were the parents of five children: 1. William Hall, of whom further. 2. Grace, born in 1859; became the wife of Dr. G. H. Watson, of Berlin, Germany. 3. Eleanor P., born in 1860; directly associated with her brother, Wil- liam H., for many years in teaching in the Sherwood Music School, Chicago. 4. Clement R., born in 1867; first associated with William T. Tinsley in the publishing of the "Lyons Republican," the partner-
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ship formed January 1, 1891, continuing until Mr. Tinsley's death, April 28, 1893, when Mr. Sherwood became sole owner of the paper ; he died in Rockland, Maine. 5. Mary Clare, born in 1868; her artistic taste led her to the study of art, and pic- tures from her brush have been exhibited in the Paris Salon and in many of the large cities of the United States and Europe, winning favorable mention.
William Hall Sherwood was born in Lyons, New York, January 31, 1854. His first musical lessons were received from his father, and later he studied in this country with the late William Mason and other teachers. Thoroughly grounded in the principles of a sound musical educa- tion, he went to Europe, where he studied for a term of years with masters of inter- national renown. In Berlin his profes- sors were Theodore Kullak, Weitzmann, Wuerst and Deppe. In Leipsic he studied with Richter and Karl Doppler ; in Stutt- gart with Scotson Clark; and lastly in Weimar with Franz Liszt. These mas- ters were all impressed by the extra- ordinary talents of Mr. Sherwood, whose gifts as a pianist were very marked, and who won the highest approval of the critical fraternity after his first appear- ances as a concert artist. As a student he went far beneath the surface in the study of musical literature ; his mind was ana- lytical, and he could give a reason for everythere he did, whether from a tech- nical or interpretative standpoint. Al- though he was a great classical player, he was also acknowledged as one of the greatest interpreters of Schumann and Liszt. But he did not stop here, for he kept abreast of the times and played from memory a large part of the important publications of the present-day writers. He championed the cause of the American composer, and had more compositions dedicated to him than any other musician.
Mr. Sherwood returned to the United States in 1876. Playing at the Centennial in Philadelphia with the Thomas Orches- tra, he was hailed as a player of the first rank. He began a tour of concerts in the principal cities, which were events in those days, and meant much for the ad- vancement of music in this country. His programs were tremendous, including the best known literature, and were regarded as models by pianists all over the coun- try. His knowledge of chamber music was no less remarkable. He delved into works of technical and pedagogic inter- est, using the most recent and valuable contributions for his own teaching; and, for this reason, he was enabled to build up and systematize a method of his own which was concrete in form and which brought forth enthusiastic praise from Paderewski and many other eminent pianists.
After this tour of concerts, Mr. Sher- wood accepted a position as teacher in the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Later he came to New York, and finally went to Chicago. In addition to teaching many advanced students, he made yearly tours in the south and west, and thus was heard in all parts of his own country, and his art, always animated by the highest and severest ideals, became the inspiration for thousands of ambitious young students. It is safe to say that, of the young native pianists now rising to prominence in Chicago and other Amer- ican centers, two out of three owe the kindling of their ambition to his playing. He appeared as soloist with the Thomas Orchestra in the second season, 1892-93, and again in the eighth season, 1898-99.
Other honors came to Mr. Sherwood early. His European career was brilliant. Invitations to play with the leading sym- phony orchestras of Germany were ex- tended to him before he attained his
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twenty-fifth year, for as a pupil of Deppe and Liszt he made a sensation in the Ger- man musical world. The indifference with which he regarded the verdict of Europe as compared with the approval of his countrymen is indicated by the fol- lowing incident: As he was preparing to return to America, after his five years' course of European training, he received from Dr. Carl Reinecke, then conductor of the Leipsic Gewandhaus Orchestra, an invitation to appear as soloist with that great organization. The Gewandhaus Orchestra was then the most prominent in Germany, and Leipsic the center of the musical life of the country. But Mr. Sherwood had made his plans for an American tour, and was looking forward eagerly to the continuance of the work to which he had even then dedicated his life, the development of the art in America by native musicians. So he turned his back upon the fame that lay within his grasp and came back to his own people. Mr. Sherwood began an energetic campaign for himself and for native art, and such was the force of his personality that he was able to overcome the handicap im- posed by his nationality to an extent that has been equaled by no other native pian- ist.
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