USA > New York > Famous families of New York; historical and biographical sketches of families which in successive generations have been identified with the development of the nation, Vol. II > Part 4
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In 1774, the indomitable Captain and Dr. Joseph, his cousin, were members of the Committee of Safety. Of their record in the Revolution, naught can be said but praise. They did not manifest high military talent, but made up for
Dr. Joseph this by a patience, discipline, endurance, and stoical courage which are of equal value in the field of Mars. At least thirty served in the great struggle, one and all of whom made model soldiers.
In this group of distinguished patriots was Samuel [1748], the statesman, the founder of the branch in New York City. He was graduated from Harvard in 1770, and took up the study Colonel
Samuel the of theology. His health breaking down, he relinquished Statesman the pulpit for public life. In 1774, he was elected to the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts. When the British sent their expeditions to Lexington and Concord in 1775, he organized a company of minute-men, and fought the redcoats at both places. The same year he was made major, and in the fall aide-de-camp to General Ward, with the rank of colonel. His popularity was so great that a colonelcy of a regiment was offered to him, but he declined on the ground that there were many better soldiers than himself who could take the command, and that he could do more good for his fellow-countrymen as a mem- ber of the Provincial Congress.
Upon entering that body, he was made a member of the Board of War, on which he served with signal success for four years. He then became a Senator and a member of the Continental Congress, where he remained until 1784. He was again elected, and in 1785 was made a Judge. A few months afterwards, the Federal Govern- ment appointed him First Commissioner of the United States Treasury, which he remained until 1789. He was then appointed Postmaster-General, which post he held until 1791, when he re- signed because he preferred remaining a private citizen in New
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York City to being a Cabinet officer in Philadelphia, to which city the national capital was then removed. The people of New York must have appreciated the compliment thus paid, because they elected him to the State Legislature (1800-1801-1802), and during the first two years of that period he was made the Speaker of the Assembly. From 1801 to 1803, he was State Supervisor, and from the last-named year to his death in 1813 he was the Naval Officer of the Port of New York.
During the thirty years in which he resided in the metropolis he was one of its most distinguished citizens. No man had more at heart the welfare of the community. When the present public- school system was devised, on the list of the incorporators the first two names were those of De Witt Clinton and Samuel Osgood. It may be interesting to know the names of the public- spirited men to whom the present City of New York is under so many obligations. In addition to the two mentioned, were Brock- holst Livingston, John Murray, Jr., Jacob Morton, Thomas Eddy, Daniel D. Tompkins, John Pintard, Thomas Pearsall, the Rev. Dr. Samuel Miller, Joseph Constant, Robert Bowne, Matthew Clarkson, Archibald Gracie, John McVickar, Charles Wilkes, Henry Ten Broeck, Gilbert Aspinwall, Valentine Seaman, William Johnson, William Coit, Matthew Franklin, Adrian Hegeman, Leonard Bleecker, Benjamin G. Minturn, Thomas Franklin, Samuel Russell, Samuel Doughty, Alexander Robertson, Samuel Torbert, John Withington, William Edgar, George Turnbull, William Boyd, Jacob Mott, Benjamin Egbert, Thomas Farmer, and Dr. Samuel Latham Mitchell.
When the New York City Dispensary was founded, he was one of the first trustees, and in nearly all of the public movements in the last part of the eighteenth century he was a conspicuous fig- ure. Beneath the man of affairs was the thinker and the scholar. Late at night and early in the morning he devoted his time to studying topics utterly disconnected with the routine of his life. Among the works which he published were a monograph on Chronology, a curious study upon Daniel and Revelation, Theology and Metaphysics, Letters on Episcopacy, and other philosophic,
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Biblical, historical, and ecclesiastical topics. He was twice mar- ried, his first wife being Martha Brandon, who had no issue, and his second, Maria Bowne Franklin, widow of Walter Franklin, after whom Franklin Square, New York City, was named, by whom he had three daughters. Of these, Martha Brandon married the French Minister, Edmond C. Genet, from whom comes the Genet family of New York; Julia married her cousin, Samuel Osgood, and Susan Maria married Moses Field, and was the mother of Judge Maunsell B. Field.
Samuel [1812], of the sixth generation, a famous divine, was graduated from Harvard College (1832), and from the Harvard Divinity School (1835). After a brief career as an Rev. Dr. editor, he took a pulpit in Nashua, N. H., and in 1849 Samuel accepted the pastorate of the Church of the Messiah in New York City, in which place he died in 1880. His life may be divided into two epochs: twenty years in active clerical labor and eleven in hard literary work.
His contributions to American literature were numerous and valuable. Among his chief productions were Studies in Christian Biography, God with Men, The Hearthstone, Milestones in Our Life's Journey, Student Life, American Leaves, and an address before the New York Historical Society upon "Thomas Craw- ford on Art in America." He translated from the German Her- man Olshausen's History of the Passion, and De Wette's Human Life. For four years he was editor of the Christian Inquirer, while his magazine articles, lectures, college addresses, and crit- ical studies were more than two hundred in number.
In the seventh generation were several conspicuous members. Walter Franklin [1791] was educated at Columbia College (1809), from which he also received the degree of A.M. He inherited a handsome fortune, of which he took good care. He was promi- nent in church and social circles, and was connected with several moneyed institutions. The Rev. Alfred [1807] was a Rev. Alfred, scholarly and enthusiastic home missionary. Ordained Missionary in 1835, he took up the onerous life of an evangelist in newly opened or sparsely peopled districts. For ten years he labored in
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Ulster County and adjacent districts in the Catskills, and then, at the request of the Missionary Board, he went to La Salle, Ill., where he worked with remarkable success. Besides founding several churches, he mapped out and planned a settlement upon the open prairie which grew into the present community of Hope- town. He married Paulia C. Pelt, by whom he had three children. Of these, Alfred T., the only son [1844], was prominent in finan- cial matters. He married Clara Kenyon, by whom he had issue.
The Rev. David [1813] was notable in the Methodist Epis- copal Church. His eloquence and scholarship have given him an Reverend enviable celebrity. He was twice married : first, to
David Harriet K. Ladd, and, second, to Maria Carle. His children were three in number : David L. [1843], Mary M. [1851], and Harriet K. [1854].
Samuel Stillman, the artist [1808], was for many years prom- inent in the world of painting. His specialty was portrait-mak- Samuel S., ing, and many of his canvases are treasured in the Artist great public collections of the country. He married twice-first, Frances Sargent Locke of Boston, and, second, Sarah R. Howland of New York. The first wife, Frances, was the author known by the pen name of "Fanny Forrester." Her literary talent was developed at an early age, and she wrote sev- eral fine poems when a mere child. Her contributions to period- icals were many and attractive. Most of them were collected and published in book form. Among her works were The Casket of Fate, A Wreath of Wild Flowers from New England, The Poetry of Flowers and the Flowers of Poetry, Poems, The Floral Offering, and Poems. From 1840 to her death the Osgoods resided in New York, during which time their home was a literary and artistic centre.
In the eighth generation, the Rev. Howard [1831] was the most distinguished. He took sacred orders and settled finally in Reverend Rochester, where he conducted a very successful pas-
Howard torate. He was a contributor to the religious press. He married Caroline Townsend Lawrence of New York, by whom he had issue.
Mrs. Samuel Osgood From the painting by J. Trumbull
Rev. Dr. Samuel Osgood From a steel engraving
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In the ninth generation, a conspicuous member is Professor Herbert Levi. He was graduated from Amherst (1877), where he took the degree of A.M. in 1880. He entered the Post- Professor Graduate School of Political Science at Columbia Uni- Herbert Levi versity, where in 1889 he received the degree of Ph.D. He is an educator by profession, and is now professor of history at Columbia.
Howard Lawrence [1855], son of the Rev. Howard, was a lawyer at Rochester, and was identified with the affairs of that city. He married Catharine Rochester Montgomery, by whom he has had issue.
The characteristic of the Osgood race has been a strong religious nature. At the beginning of their career they were stern, and it may be narrow, Puritans. The pioneers of Massa- chusetts were tolerant only of themselves and denied to others the liberty of worship for which they themselves were ready to die. With the increase of wealth and culture, their natures broadened, and their religious conceptions grew more generous. In the eighteenth century, the leading representatives had departed from the iron creed of the seventeenth, while in the nineteenth, many of them belonged to the most liberal faiths.
No family has given a larger number of sons to the pulpit. There have been so many that the name has a distinctly religious sound. The tendencies which are involved in this field of spirit- ual endeavor have shaped the destinies of those who did not enter the sacred calling. Many Osgoods have been famous in charities, institutional work, the Red Cross Society, prison reform, and the management of asylums and hospitals. The wealth and culture of the race have been expressed by the contingent who have entered other learned professions. Among them are editors, poets, playwrights, historians, lawyers, physicians, archæologists, pedagogues, and artists. Few seem to have cared for commer- cial life, and while intensely patriotic, they have not enjoyed the perpetual clash and struggle which prevail in political life.
Their career in the Empire State has been paralleled by that in the Bay State. Those who have gone into other commonwealths
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have carried with them their simple modes of living, their culture and love of learning, and their intense civic and patriotic spirit. While the family has never been marked by great wealth, high military genius, or political skill, it has impressed itself upon the State and nation by its indomitable moral and religious force. It has been a power for good, from the first pioneer, who wor- shipped God with his loaded musket in hand, down to the score of clergymen who are trying to raise the moral standards of to-day.
Potter
VOL. II .- 4.
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rottoq ognoJA godzi8 prstuing & mort
Bishop Alonzo Potter From a painting
XXV
POTTER
HERE is something heroic about a re- ligious zealot. The sacrifice of self upon the altar of an ideal appeals to the heart, no matter whether the sacrifice consists of an anchoritic life of abnegation and suffering, of an evangelist's career in the dark com- munities of the world, or of the turbu- lent existence of the reformer, trying to arouse his generation to a loftier manhood. In the early settlement of New England, these types of men were numerous and noticeable. What could be more picturesque than Miles Standish praying with extreme unction for God's bless- ing upon the heathen redskins, and then sallying forth with the sword and gun to send as many as he possibly could into the presence of their Creator ? What dramatic possibilities are bound up in the experience of Lion Gardiner at Fort Saybrook, where his day was divided into fragments which were applied to study, engineering, manual labor, prayer, praise, and taking arms against "the hellish Indians." No less memorable was the Robert fierce enthusiasm of Robert Potter, of Warwick, R. I., the Founder who founded a race which added lustre to American annals.
He came from Coventry, England, which seems to have been a hotbed of religious zeal, and in his early manhood had evolved a
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stern and heroic belief which made him a thorn in the flesh to his neighbors. It is hard for us who enjoy the liberal spirit of the twentieth century to understand the exact position of the man's mind concerning affairs spiritual. He has been called a Quaker, but he certainly had little in common with that meek and long- suffering sect. Other critics have called him an Antinomian, both of the Lutheran and Calvinistic varieties, and yet his opinions can- not be interpreted according to either of those schools of religious thought. As a matter of fact, he probably was a law unto him- self. Intensely devout, full of enthusiasm and energy, he tried to live according to his own canons and resented all attempts to circumscribe his liberty by well-meaning but officious third parties.
He came to the Massachusetts Plantations in 1634, and the same year was made a freeman under the ancient law. This indicates that he was a man of education, high intelligence, and some means. He settled first at Lynn, and thence removed to Rox- bury. Here he had a violent altercation with the church, in which he was haled before the courts and compelled to give bonds for his appearance unless "hee bee with his family removed out of the plantation before." This decorous way of exiling a citizen resulted in his migrating to Rhode Island, where, with a group of associ- ates, he bought the tract of land called the Shawomet purchase, which was christened Warwick, in honor of the Earl of that name who had espoused their cause during their quarrels with Massa- chusetts. Although Rhode Island was exceedingly liberal com- pared with Massachusetts, it was not long before the fearless agitator found himself in hot water with his new neighbors, and was imprisoned and otherwise punished for his "blasphemies." In 1643, he had the honor of being excommunicated by his bigoted neighbors.
During the next four generations the family prospered and waxed numerous. Its stern fanaticism changed to intellectual and civic activity, and its members rose to become prominent actors in the drama of colonial life. The records of Rhode Island show them to have held many offices, and to have been marked by probity, intellectuality, and sound sense. One branch settled
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in Massachusetts, and gave many distinguished sons to the service of the colony, and afterwards to the State; a second became prominent in the development of New Hampshire, while a third settled in New York, and in the course of time came to rival the main branch in the distinction and public service of its members.
The line of descent of the New York branch is clear and simple. Robert's son, John [1639], married Ruth Fisher; their son John [1669] married Jane Burlingame; their son John [1695] mar- ried Mrs. Phoebe Arnold Greene, widow, a daughter Joseph the
of Stephen and Mary (Sheldon) Arnold; and their son New York
Head
Thomas [1735] married Esther Sheldon. Of their off- spring, Joseph [1757], who married Anna Knight, was the founder of the New York family. John [1695], Thomas [1735], and Joseph [1757] were Quakers.
Joseph, of New York, was a well-educated and industrious character, who on arrival in New York State settled in Beekman, now La Grange, Dutchess County. He became prominent in his new home, and enjoyed the affection of his fellow-citizens. They elected him to many positions of honor, of which the most important was the Assemblymanship, he being sent to Albany as a representative in 1798 and 1814. Here he proved an intelligent legislator and an incorruptible politician.
The great characters of the seventh generation were his two sons, Bishops Alonzo and Horatio. Alonzo [1800] was graduated from Union College (1818), where he was the honor Bishop
Alonzo man of his class. Shortly after his graduation, he took up theological studies with a view of entering the pulpit. In the meantime, he served as a tutor at his Alma Mater, and on coming of age was made professor of mathematics and physics at that institution.
In 1824, he took orders and married, his wife being Sarah Maria Nott, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Eliphalet Nott, President of Union College. In 1832, he was appointed to fill the chair of moral and intellectual philosophy and political economy. Six years later, he became Vice-President of Union, which position he administered with great ability up to the time of his election as
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Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Pennsylvania. This new honor was the opportunity of his lifetime. Too often the position is viewed as a reward for past services and as a vacation after years of earnest effort. In the case of Bishop Alonzo, it was the opening of a field for greater energy and efficiency.
He had no more than taken the cathedral chair, when he began a campaign of work which attracted the attention of the country and made him immortal in the annals of the Protestant Episcopal Church. He advocated human liberty, and though he incurred the displeasure of many rabid pro-slavery enthusiasts, he won the respect and affection of the great masses of the North. He lectured with marked success, proving himself one of the brilliant orators of his time. He contributed largely to American literature, his writings displaying an almost phenomenal versa- tility. These writings include a treatise on logarithms and a course of lectures on the evidences of Christianity, a treatise on descrip- tive geometry, a noble volume on "Religious Philosophy," a sound text-book on " Political Economy," and a critical edition of a volume of poems. His most notable achievement was the organization of the forces of his Church into instrumentalities for practical work. His eloquence and goodness, coupled with extra- ordinary executive ability, made easy for him what to others would have been insuperable, and resulted in an advance of his Church in every direction.
Among other things that were accomplished during this time were the building and endowment of the Protestant Episcopal hospital of his diocese, the establishment of the Protestant Episco- pal Academy, the foundation of the Protestant Episcopal Divinity School of Philadelphia, and the erection of no less than thirty-five new churches in the city of Philadelphia. So great was the amount of labor involved that his health broke down under the strain and he was compelled to seek the relief of an assistant. The conse- quences of his work were a growth of his diocese in wealth, numbers, and activity, which necessitated its division into two separate organizations. He married three times. By his first wife, Sarah Maria Nott, he had the Hon. Clarkson N. [1825],
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who married Virginia Mitchell; Howard [1826], who married Mary L. Brown; General Robert B. [1829], who married, first, Francis Tileston, and second, Abigail Stevens; Edward Tuckerman [1831], who married Julia Blatchford; the Right Rev. Henry Codman [1835], who married Eliza Rogers; Eliphalet N. [1837], who married Helen Fuller; and Maria [1839], who married Launt Thompson. By his second wife, Sarah Porter, he had James Neilson [1841], who married Harriet Duer Jones; William A. [1842]; and Frank Hunter [1851], who married Alice Key. His third wife was Frances Seton.
Bishop Horatio [1802] was graduated from Union in 1826, and admitted to the priesthood two years later. The same year he was made professor of mathematics and Bishop
physics in Washington, now Trinity, College. Five Horatio years later, he became rector of St. Peter's Church, Albany, where he labored with great power and success twenty-one years. In 1845, he was made Provisional Bishop of the Diocese of New York, and in 1861, Bishop.
His work in New York may be compared with that of his brother in Philadelphia, being marked by the same great adminis- trative talent, contagious enthusiasm, and deep belief in the efficacy of organized effort. The Church grew rapidly, and in 1868 the diocese had become so unwieldy that it was divided into three parts, Albany and Long Island being erected into separate jurisdictions. Marked by ripe scholarship and literary skill, his addresses, sermons, and occasional contributions to Church litera- ture exerted a strong and wholesome influence wherever read. During the war his patriotism was marked, and at all times his labors for the ignorant, poor, and sick were continuous and effi- cient. He married, first, Mary Jane Tomlinson, and, second, Margaret Pollock. Among his children were Charles Henry [1828], Mary Jane [1830], Anna [1831], David T. [1836], Phoebe [1838], Horatio [1840], Robert Minturn [1843], Professor William Bleecker [1846], and Mary J. [1848].
The eighth generation was marked by many men of emi- nence. The Hon. Clarkson Nott [1825] was graduated from
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Union (1842), studied civil engineering at the Rensselaer Poly- technic, and thereafter law, and was admitted to the bar. This
Clarkson thorough education made him a valued member of the
Nott, community, and in 1868 he was elected to Congress,
Statesman
where he served three terms until 1875, and thereafter served two terms, from 1877 to 1881. From the first he was a prominent character in the House of Representatives. His greatest achievement was his exposure of the frauds in the Presidential election of 1876, being chairman of the committee which investi- gated the matter, and doing the lion's share of the work. For many years he was one of the great leaders of the New York Democracy, and was at one time President of the American Bar Association.
Howard, the banker [1826], was born at Union College, and graduated therefrom in 1846. He came into great prominence Howard during the Civil War, when he organized many relief the Banker associations and other patriotic societies, and may be justly called one of the fathers of the famous United States Sani- tary Commission. He was an incorporator of the American Mu- seum of Natural History and of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and an organizer of the New York State Charities Aid Association. In 1873, he was elected President of the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor. He has played an import- ant part in the various societies which have been established for the preservation of scenery and historical monuments, the estab- lishment of state and local parks, and the reservation of Niagara Falls as a public pleasure-ground.
The soldier of this generation was General Robert B. [1829]. He studied at Union College, and afterwards took up law, and Major-General Was admitted to the bar. At the breaking out of the Robert B. Civil War he gave up a lucrative practice to aid in the defence of the Union. He fought like a hero, and rose rapidly, becoming a brigadier-general in 1863. The following year he was brevetted major-general, and on his wedding day Secretary-of- War Stanton presented the wife with his commission as full major-general. At the close of the war he gave up army life and
Maria Nott Wife of Bishop Alonzo Potter
Hon. Clarkson N. Potter From a photograph
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became interested in railway corporations. According to General Hancock, General Potter was one of the twelve best officers in the American Army.
Edward Tuckerman [1831], architect and musician, was grad- uated from Union (1853), and devoted his life to study, architecture, and music. He was as well known in Europe, where he resided for a long time, as in his native country.
Edward Tuckerman, Architect
For forty years he made a special study of the problem of housing the masses, during which time he personally investigated every type of model tenement in the great cities of the world and compiled an immense mass of valuable facts bearing upon every phase of the subject. He embodied these studies in a model tenement, which was exhibited at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, for which he received a medal from the Exposi- tion authorities, and which has been widely approved by stu- dents of the tenement-house question. In 1897, he was made an honorary member of the New York Chapter of the Amer- ican Institute of Architects. The position of Supervising Archi- tect of the Treasury Department was offered to him by President Grant, and, on his declining it, was given to his brother, William Appleton.
The Right Rev. Henry Codman [1835], Bishop of the Pro- testant Episcopal Church of New York, was a worthy successor of both his distinguished father and uncle. He was Bishop educated at the Episcopal Academy, Philadelphia, and Henry C. the Virginia Theological Seminary, where he was graduated in 1857. He served with marked success at Greensburg, Pa., St. John's, Troy, and Trinity, Boston. In 1868, he became rector of Grace Church, New York, where he remained sixteen years. During this time, he declined the Presidency of Kenyon College (1863), and the Bishopric of lowa (1875). In 1883, he was elected Assistant Bishop to his uncle, the Right Rev. Horatio. Four years later, on the death of the latter, he became his successor.
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