Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 11

Author: Haddock, John A. 1823-
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Sherman
Number of Pages: 1094

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AS A VILLAGE SCHOOLMASTER.

After he was graduated from the High School he found an opportunity to teach in a little school a mile from town. The scholars in those days must first have a bout with their master before they would become tractable. Mr. Flower taught out the balance of the term in the red school house below the village and "boarded around" among the parents of his scholars a week or less in a place, in the regular old New England fashion, which still obtains in the way-back dis- tricts of New England.

His first day in school, during the noon intermission, the biggest boy came to liim for a "square-hold" wrestle. Mr. Flower accepted the challenge and easily threw the lad. After he had thrown all the larger boys he found them all, with one exception, ready to recognize his authority. One day in the spelling class this boy, who was about 21 years old, declined to pro- nounce his syllables, but after a tussle Roswell succeeded in making him pro- nounce them correctly. He then gave notice that he would hold a spelling school that evening, and stated that he desired only those of the scholars to come who would be willing to do their best. During the intermission this young man said he was coming to school that evening, but that he would not spell. Roswell was boarding at the time with the family of Edward Cooper, with whom lived a young man of 22 named James Casey. The young teacher talked over the expected trouble and arranged that Casey should choose for one side of the school and if this obstreperous young fellow 'should make his appear- ance Casey should elect him to his side, and if he made any fuss in spelling, the two should join forces and put him out. The evening school had not been opened more than 10 minutes before this young man came in and sat down behind one of the old-fashioned desks. He was immediately chosen, but said he would not spell. Then young Flower told him that he must spell or leave the school. He replied that he would be - if he would spell, and that he would be - if he would leave the school. Mr. Flower insisted, which only called forth a repetition of the offensive remark. The schoolmaster then called upon any- body present who desired to resent tlie insult to the school and the teacher to assist him in putting the offender out of doors; whereupon young Casey rose up, and Roswell, grabbing the young man by his shoulder and his as- sistant by his feet, he was speedily ejected. But he was not conquered. He went over to the hotel a few rods distant and' persuaded one of the trus- tees and a big chap by the name of William Wafful to come over and whip the teacher. Nothing daunted Roswell stated the case to his belligerent visi- tors and then said to the young man: "Now, sir, you must either spell or leave

THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

this school again." This conquered the youthful Samson and he spelled without further trouble. After school was out the colossal Mr. Wafful remarked that if this young man had not spelled then he would have whipped him himself.

When he was in his eighteenth year Mr. Flower had an offer to go to Phila- delphia (Jefferson Co.) as a clerk in a general merchandise store. His em- ployer was a Mr. Woodward, who failed two months afterward, and the young man, thrown out of employment, was forced to return to Theresa. That spring and summer he did work on his mother's farm. and earned a ton of hay by work- ing nine days and a half in the field, mowing grass and "keeping up his end" with 11 men in mowing.

During his boyhood he always went barefoot in the summer months, and he once remarked in a speech, while run- ning against William Waldorf Astor for Congress, that until he was 15 years old he did not feel at home in the summer time unless he had a stone bruise or two on his feet, and that he had warmed his feet many a morning in the crisp autumn weather on a spot where a cow had lain the night before.

SIX YEARS OF EARLY MANHOOD.

In August, 1853, Mr. Flower had an offer to go into the hardware store of Howell Cooper & Co., at Watertown. After remaining there about a month he had another offer which was more to his liking and which he accepted. It was to become deputy postmaster at Watertown at $50 a month, and board. He occu- pied this position under Postmaster Wil- liam H. Sigourney for 6 years. The first $50 he saved he invested in a gold watch, which he sold a few months later to a young physician for $53, and took his note for it. Mr. Flower still has that note. Mr. Flower managed to save some money out of his wages, and at the end of his term in office had ac- cumulated about $1000, with which he purchased the interest of Mr. Sigourney in a jewelry business, the firm name be- ing Hitchcock & Flower, at 1 Court street, Watertown. His aptitude for bus- iness enabled him to advance the inter- ests of the firm. and in a couple of years he bought out his partner and continued alone in the business until 1869.

Mr. Flower was married on Decem- ber 26, 1859, to Sarah M. Woodruff, a daughter of Norris M. Woodruff, of Watertown. Three children were born to them, of whom only one is living, Emma Gertrude. She was married to John B. Taylor, of Watertown, January 2. 1890. While in the Watertown post office Mr. Flower's spare time was taken up, not in social entertainments, because he had no money to enter such society, but in reading whatever he thought might be useful to him in the future. He made himself thoroughly familiar with the "Federalist" and kindred works, and having an idea of some day becoming a lawyer, he got a little knowledge of Blackstone and Kent; but his natural bent was for business, and he never attempted the law.

BUSINESS IN NEW YORK.

In 1869 Henry Keep, the well-known capitalist, who had married Miss Emma Woodruff, a sister of Mrs. Flower, was on his deathbed. Two or three weeks before he died he sent for Mr. Flower to come to New York, and during his sickness gave him a pretty good idea of the character of the men with whom he had been surrounded in the business world. Mr. Keep had been president of the New York Central and treasurer of the Michigan Central and Lake Shore, and was president at the time of tlie Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. He knew it would take a man of good com- mon sense and quick perception to aid his wife in the management of his large property after his death, and in Mr. Flower he thought he recognized those qualities. In answer. to a question by Mr. Flower, in order to get his opinion of Daniel Drew, as to whether Drew was an honest man, Mr. Keep, who was very reticent, did not reply for some tell minutes, and then said: "He is as hon- est a man as there is in the State of New York, but for fear that somebody else will cheat, he will always begin first." Immediately after Mr. Keep's death Mr. Flower removed to New York and took charge of his late brother-in- law's estate, the value of which has more than doubled under his manage- ment. It was then worth $1,000,000, and now under Mr. Flower's manage- ment it has expanded to $4,000,000. The properties in which the estate was invested cause Mr. Flower to be a fre- quent visitor to the West, and since 1870 he has made extended trips all over the United States, and has a per- sonal knowledge of the possibilities and natural resources of almost every sec- tion of the country. Governor Flower's fortune, which is estimated in the mil- lions, has not been made by specula- tion in Wall street, but by the shrewd purchasing of properties, which, by care- ful and prudent management, have de- veloped and proved valuable invest- ments.

HIS CAREER ON WALL STREET.

In 1872 Mr. Flower was at death's door for several weeks, but after four or five months' sickness he finally recov- ered. Flis physicians then advised him to take all the outdoor exercise possible. At this time the brokerage and banking firm of Benedict, Fowler & Co. was dis- solved. and Mr. Flower gave his entire attention to the management of his sis- ter-in-law's estate and other estates which had been placed in his care. He found a New York office necessary, and so established himself at 84 Broadway. His younger brother, Anson R. Flower, was brought to New York from Water- town in order to become acquainted with the business, that he might take charge of it in Mr. Flower's absence; but, strange to say, the more the latter tried to get out of business the more he got into it, and the firm of R. P. Flower. & Co. found itself doing a large commis- sion trade without any attempt having

THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

been made to push it-so large, in fact, that another brother, John D. Flower, and a nephew, Frederick S. Flower, were taken into the firm, and not until 1890 did Mr. Flower relinquish his in- terest in the concern and become a special partner. But in the meantime he had managed to get the "out-of-door" exercise which the doctors had suggest- ed through the State sportsman's clubs. In 1877 Mr. Flower attended the con- vention of these clubs at Syracuse and won a prize, consisting of a corduroy hunting suit, over a field of 113 entries. Thirty-two of them had tied at 21 yards' rise, and they had to go back to the 25 yard score. Then all that were left had to go back to 31 yards and shoot until somebody dropped out. Mr. Flower and ex-Attorney-General Tabor were the last competitors in the contest, and Mr. Flower finally won the clothes and still wears them on the hunting expedi- tions which he frequently takes after woodcock, duck and partridge.

ALWAYS ACTIVE IN POLITICS.

In politics Mr. Flower has always been a Democrat. He cast his first vote for Buchanan, and has been a constant and active worker for his party. He was chairman of the country commit- tee for several years and helped to start the nucleus of an organization which has been known throughout the State as one of the best equipped political or- ganizations within its borders. Mr. Flower was an active Mason in his younger days, being at one time high priest of the Watertown chapter. One day, going down to the grand chapter, at Albany, he met on the cars Samuel J. Tilden and his secretary, John D. Van Buren. Mr. Tilden asked him what he thought about the State, and Flower replied that he did not believe Mr. Til- den would the next year be chairman of the State Committee for the reason that he did not seem to recognize the fact that a man under 50 years of age has any influence in politics. He told Mr. Tilden that it was the young men who would control the party, and that he must extend his acquaintance among them or be prepared to step out. Mr. Tilden replied that he would like to have the young men with him, but that he had no opportunity of coming in touch with them; that his friends didn't seem to think it was worth while. Mr. Flower then told Tilden that Jefferson County had sent to Colonel Van Buren the year before the best scheme for or- ganization of a party that had up to that time made its appearance, and that if he would organize the party throughi- out the State on the basis of recognizing the merit of young and active workers, instead of the "has beens," he would be sure to carry the State at all times, and might continue at the head of the organization as long as he saw fit. Van Buren confirmed this opinion. About a month later Hon. Allen C. Beach, of Watertown, received a telegram from Mr. Tilden, asking him to come to his home and spend two or three weeks, as he wanted to extend the suggested organization throughout the State. It

was thus that the famous "Tilden ma- chine" was started. It was Flower's suggestion to organize it and Tilden's perseverance which extended it. In 1877 Flower was Chairman of the Dem- ocratic Executive Committee when the party won the campaign, though there was a bolt against the ticket.

A TERM IN CONGRESS.

After his son's death, in 1881, Mr. Flower was induced to run for Congress in the Eleventh Congressional district against William Waldorf Astor. The representative of this district had been Levi P. Morton until he resigned to take the position of Minister to France. Mr. Morton had been elected by over 4000 majority. In that campaign, after Or- lando B. Potter had declined the Demo- cratic nomination, Mr. Flower accepted it on the platform that he would not purchase a vote to secure the election, and on that he made the issue and was elected by 3100 majority. In the Forty- seventh Congress he was appointed a member of the Committee on Bank- ing, and almost immediately took a prominent part in the discussion of fi. nancial questions. Mr. Flower recently said to the writer: "When I was elected to Congress, although I was pretty thoroughly conversant with practical banking methods, I knew nothing of the theories of finance, but I soon learned that if I was to be of any use in Con- gress, I must do a little reading, and with the aid of books from the Congress- ional Library, I soon pretty thoroughly mastered the subject. I found it much the most interesting that I had ever studied. It is better reading than the best novel that ever was written." Dur- ing his first term in Congress he also made speeches on the Chinese question, on the River and Harbor bill, and a notable one on the reduction of taxes.

A UNIQUE POCKET COMPANION.

Mr. Flower would hardly be called a good speaker, but he was called on fre- quently in his county to talk from the platform, particularly during the Sey- mour and Blair campaign of 1868. Endeavoring to fill that want of many public speakers-the possession of the copy of the Constitution of the United States in convenient size to carry in his pocket-he searched the book stores of Watertown, but was unable to find one. Happening into a little corner shoe store he saw tacked to the bench of a grizzled old' cobbler a little primer containing inside the Constitution and outside the advertisement of a fire insurance com- pany. James Muldcon, the shoemaker, gave Mr. Flower the book, and he has it yet, always carrying it in his pocket for easy reference. In 1876, when visiting Chicago, Mr. Flower had his memoran- dum book stolen, which contained the present of the cobbler. While in Europe some months later he received a note from the proprietor of the Grand Pacific Hotel, saying that his book had been found in a lumber yard, and would' be returned to him. The Constitution turn- ed up inside in perfect order, and in 1883, when making a speech in Con- gress on giving power to the President

THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

to veto separate items in the Appro- priation bill, Mr. Flower produced the cobbler's copy of the Constitution, and, considering its adventures and the value a pamphlet copy would be to many persons, as it had been to him, he asked that it, together with the substantial amendments, be printed in the Record to accompany his remarks, that with them, it might be distributed to the peo- ple. Over 500,000 copies of this some- what unique document were circulated by himself and other members of Con- gress.

A GUBERNATORIAL POSSIBILITY AND AL- READY A NATIONL LEADER.

In 1882 there was a general demand throughout the State for his nomination to the office of Governor. In the Demo- cratic convention, Mr. Flower received 134 votes against the same number for General Slocum, and 61 for Grover Cleveland, of Buffalo. The strife be- tween Tammany and the County Democ- racy was so great at that time that it was thought better politics to nominate a man outside of the city of New York. Consequently Mr. Flower made way for Cleveland, who was declared the choice of the convention. In this same year, 1882, Mr. Flower refused a renomination for Congress, having stated in his first canvass that he would not accept a sec- ond nomination and that he would leave the district in such a condition after one term that any good Democrat, no matter how shallow his pocket, might be nom- inated and elected in it. He was at this time offered the unanimous nomination of both factions of his party, and was assured that the Republicans would make no nomination if he would consent to run, but he preferred to carry out his pledge to the people when he ran against Mr. Astor. Orlando B. Potter was nom- inated and elected in his place, Mr. Flower taking the stump for him. Mr. Flower has been a member of the State Executive Committee every year since that time, and has given valuable aid to the Democratic party managers. In 1885 he attended the Democratic State Convention as a looker-on; not as a candidate for office. The convention nominated David B. Hill for Governor. Several delegates had asked Mr. Flower to accept the nomination for Lieutenant Governor, but he refused. He left Sara- toga the morning before the convention adjourned, but when he arrived at his country home in Watertown, he found that he had been unanimously nomi- nated for Lieutenant Governor. He im- mediately declined the honor, stating his reasons for doing so. The State Com- mittee was called together, and nomi- nated in his place Colonel Jones, of Binghamton, he "who pays the freight."

Mr. Flower, in 1882, was made chair- man of the Democratic Congressional Committee, and ran the campaign that year that resulted in a majority in the House of 50 for his party. In the Presi- dential campaign of 1888, Mr. Flower was selected as one of the four delegates- at-large to the National Democratic Con- vention, at St. Louis, which nominated Mr. Cleveland for President, and was chosen chairman of the delegation. In

the same year, when it seemed probable that the two Democratic factions in the Twelfth district might each run a candi- date for Congress, they united on Mr. Flower, and asked him to accept the nomination. This he did, with some hesitation, and only in order to help the election of the Presidential and Guberna- torial nominees.

AGAIN IN CONGRESS.

In the Fifty-first Congress Flower was appointed a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, and also a member of the Committee on the World's Fair. His efforts toward secur- ing the location of the Fair in New York have been recognized by the city and State, and his speech on that subject contained about all the points in favor of New York that could be put into 30 minutes.

Mr. Flower once remarked the writer that his success in Congress was chiefly due to the fact that on whatever committee he was placed he tried to learn as much about his work if not more than any other member of the com- mittee. On the Ways and Means Com- mittee in the Fifty-first Congress, by the questions he asked at the hearing held before that committee, he showed his familiarity with many subjects, and with distant sections of the country and their industries. There was no just claim before Congress for the pension of a Union soldier that he did not cham- pion, believing that if a soldier received a pension to which he was not entitled the Government was to blame and not the soldier, for there are in each Con- gressional district three surgeons by whom the soldier is examined before he is allowed a pension. Mr. Flower also made a strong speech in the Fifty-first Congress in favor of the election of postmasters by the people, and offered an amendment to the Constitution to that effect. Because of his thorough knowledge of the West and its needs he was enabled to make in Congress a speech on the irrigation question, which attracted a great deal of attention, and which was made the basis of the Sen- ate Committee's report on that subject.

THE CANVAS OF 1890.

Mr. Flower was chairman of the Dem- ocratic Congressional Campaign Com- mittee in 1890. The committee had very small means, but his organizing powers were brought into play with great success. The campaign was quietly but systematically conducted. Cam- paign documents were circulated in large numbers, and the result was the largest Democratic Congressional majority ever obtained in an election in the United States. Mr. Flower created the impres- sion that he was doing nothing, even counseling some of the leading news- papers of his party to pitch into him and accuse him of inaction, in order to arouse the Democratic rank and file to the necessity for active effort on their part. He believed that a full vote of his party meant a great Democratic triumph, and the outcome justified his belief.

THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

Mr. Flower was nominated for Gov- ernor at the Democratic State Conven- tion of 1891, and was elected by a plu- rality of 47,937 over Jacob Sioat Fassett,

HOW HE SPENDS HIS MONEY.

Mr. Flower has never turned his back on any charitable institution that he could consistently befriend, as the people of the northern portion of the State can testify. He has always made it a rule to give away in charity a certain portion of his income-for many years all that he did not need for his own living ex- penses-believing that when a man had wealth he should distribute it while he is alive in order that there be no con- test over it when he dies.

Mr. Flower's parents were Presbyter- ians, and on a visit to Theresa a num- ber of years ago he found that the church which he had attended as a small boy had run down and that the building itself was in a dilapidated condition. At considerable expense he had the church rebuilt, and it is now a beautiful little structure-a fitting memorial to Mr. Flower's parents. On the death of his son, Henry Keep Flower, in 1881, Mr. and Mrs. Flower gave St. Thomas' Church, in New York city, of which Mr. Flower is a vestryman, $50,000 to erect on Fifty-ninth and Sixtieth streets and Second avenue a four-story building, to be known as St. Thomas' house, to be used for parish work. The structure has rooms occupied by an American Sunday school of 500 children, a Ger- man Sunday school, and a Chinese Sun- day school. On the lower floor is a diet kitchen and on the second floor an insti- tution to teach young girls how to sew and mend. The next floor is a club room where the boys play checkers and back- gammon, and on the upper floor is found a library for a club of young men. All these institutions are carried on by the charitably disposed in St. Thomas' Church. On the inside of the building on the wall is a marble slab, upon which is inscribed: "Erected to God by Ros- well P. Flower and Sarah M. Flower, in memory of their son, Henry Keep Flower."

Mr. Flower's brother, Anson, is a vestryman in Trinity Church in Water- town, and Mr. Flower joined him in building a $100,000 home for that par- ish. The homoeopathic school of physi- cians in New York city were erecting, a few years ago, a college, but had no hospital in which to teach young stu- dents anatomy and the use of the knife in practical surgery. Mr. Flower erect- ed for them, at the corner of Avenue A and Sixty-third street, the Flower Hos- pital, which supplies this need. But this by no means completes the list of ben- eficiaries of the family. Henry Keep's widow has erected at a cost of $100,000, in the suburbs of Watertown, a home for old men and women called "the Henry Keep Home." As Mr. Flower truly says: "What better use could be made of the money of Henry Keep, whose father died in the poor house, than to erect, with some of it, a home for aged men and women? Henry Keep's widow has also given $100,000 for the

Ophthalmic Hospital at Twenty-third street and Fourth avenue, New York.

The writer has known Governor Flower from his earliest infancy, having at one time been a law student in the office of the Governor's father, and upon terms of daily intimacy with that esti. mable family of children, all of whom have grown up into useful and honored members of society. The Governor's most pronounced trait of character is his ability to level up to the demands of every situation in which he has been placed. When a boy, he could do more work than any other boy of his age in his native town, and Theresa was full of smart, athletic young fellows. Roswell was in "dead earnest" all the time, thorough in whatever he under- took, of a pushing, vigorous manner, ever on the alert, and putting the best foot forward every time. He was al- ways hard at work, but when he had made half-a-dollar by industry he was liberal with it-ready to divide with his brothers or with the neighbors' boys. He was always a "trusty" boy-his word would go as far when 15 years of age as any full-grown man in Theresa. He had a self-possessed and honest way that gave him standing. It is not re- markable that a boy with such traits has made a successful, trusty, honest man. I have read his speeches in Con- gress and his State papers since he be- came Governor. Their erudition and ability, and their matter-of-fact way of dealing with public affairs have not surprised me, for I knew the boy and the quality of the stock from which he sprang. His father was a nobleman if ever there was one in Northern New York, and his mother was one of the most faithful, industrious and home- making women of her day.

It is easy to say, and easier yet, perhaps, to suspect, that what we print here. may be largely due to the desire men usually feel to compliment and, perhaps, flatter men who have reached high positions or acquired great wealth. Governor Flower is too well known in his native country to need aught but honest praise from any source. Though a tire- less partisan and an uncompromising Democrat, he has never lost a friend from any political divergence of view. Honest in his own opinions, he does not hesitate to accord those who differ with him the same honesty of purpose. Springing from the middle walks of life, neither poor nor rich, nor yet a college graduate, but graduated from that wonderful developer of practical common sense, every-day, human ex- perience, he possesses the robustness and mental health which an origin might be expected to transmit. His face is all expression, showing an exquisitely penetrating and mobile intellect easly stirred to noble emotions and brimmed over with goodness. He is a delightful companion, welcome in every circle, but shines brightest and most hopefully to those who share his daily life and "know him best of all." His life has been a blessing to so many, here and elsewhere, that his personal popularity is not so remarkable when we consider the foundation upon which it is built- an unselfish desire to do good.

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Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 11

Author: Haddock, John A. 1823- Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Sherman Number of Pages: 1094

Author: Haddock, John A. 1823-
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Sherman
Number of Pages: 1094