USA > New York > Franklin County > Historical sketches of Franklin county and its several towns > Part 65
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An act of Congress passed July 14, 1832, anthorized the secretary of the treasury to " pay, out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of three hundred dollars to Gates Hoit, in full of
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
all claims of said Gates Hoit for secret services rendered by him during the late war."
Captain David Erwin had seen service during the war of the revolu- tion, and in his later years was commonly given the complimentary title of general. He was elected to the State Senate in 1822, but in 1824, as the candidate of the Republican party (afterward known as the Demo- cratic party) for member of Assembly, was defeated by Asa Haseall.
General Wilkinson was relieved of command on the northern frontier in the spring of 1814, and in 1815 was tried by court martial for his conduct of the campaign of 1813. He was acquitted.
Mr. Sellars's account of General Hampton's engagement with de Sala- berry omits some of the dramatie and farcical features attributed to it by Christie, Kingsford and others, and gives a more orderly character to the retreat of the American army, which he does not assign to defeat, but to the fact that General Hampton received on the field a dispatch from General Wilkinson to the effect that he had not yet sailed from Sacket Harbor, which, of course, made it useless for General Hamp- ton to press forward at that time to the St. Lawrence, because he would have been without boats, separated by a wilderness from his base of supply, and in a country itself incapable of supporting an army. Mr. Sellars gives a strength of four thousand men to General Hampton's army of invasion, with fifteen hundred militia, who, under no obligation to leave their own country, remained south of the border to guard his base and protect his lines of communication. A week's time was required to complete the retreat to Chateaugay, which Mr. Sellars says was not disturbed by the regular British troops, though the Indians did hang upon the rear of the column and took an occasional scalp.
Mr. Sellars states that while General Hampton's army was encamped at Chateaugay food had to be drawn for it from Plattsburgh, keeping four hundred wagons and one thousand oxen constantly on the road ; and that even then the supply was often short.
Concerning the army of General Wilkinson, Mr. Sellars says that while the flotilla that transported it required eight days to make eighty miles, a log set adrift in the channel would have made the distance of itself in a quarter of the time. Mr. Sellars condemns the conduct of many of the captains after arrival at French Mills as shameful, saying that as deaths and desertions occurred they did not revise their rolls, and thus managed to draw pay and rations for the dead and absent - pocketing the pay. and by sale converting the rations into cash. He says, further, that after the fight at Chrystler's not all of the American
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FRANKLIN COUNTY AND THE WAR OF 1812
boats "found moorings in the Salmon river. A few openly rowed to the Canadian shore, the soldiers preferring desertion to the hardships before them. Worse still was the conduct of many officers, who sold the stores on the boats and pocketed the money."
Mr. Sellars is of the opinion that General Wilkinson might easily have taken Montreal, even after the defeat at Chrystler's, the city being defended only by a "paltry garrison of two hundred sailors and four hundred marines, drawn from the fleet at Quebec, and a mob of militia- men dragged from their homes by compulsion to shoulder a gun."
In August, 1812, the Franklin county committee of safety reported to General Mooers that the military supplies received here were damaged. One hundred muskets got wet in transit, and had rusted; the cartridges were for another make of arms, and would not fit the muskets that had been sent; and a good deal of the powder had lost its granulated form and caked into a solid mass ; half of the guns were unfit for use because out of repair or because the barrels were crooked, or the stocks broken or split. It was recommended that David Erwin be employed to repair the muskets. General Mooers so ordered, and promised that more guns and supplies would be sent here.
General Mooers reported to Governor Tompkins in July, 1812, that of the men sent here from Essex county under Major Noble, a number had no blankets, some not a second shirt, and some were without shoes.
Copies of private letters written from Chateaugay and French Mills by Lieutenant Charles McNeil, of Essex, and loaned to me by a relative, are racy and interesting. I make random quotations from them : " When we first received information that no one of us could leave our post one mile, the captain and ensign both concluded to die : but the ensign has got quite well, and we really have hopes of our captain; he begins to sip a little whiskey occasionally." Three weeks later, October 1st: "With much reluctance I mention to you the loss of our worthy and highly ,esteemed captain. His health is such that our commanding general is about to discharge him. It spreads a cloud of darkness over Chateaugay. I have the pleasure to inform you that a small regiment of detached militia is now on the march from Plattsburgh to our assistance in this county. Captain (Pliny) Miller has passed on to the militia. Ifis company consists of fifty-four good men. * * * In the morning I shall form the company, together with some respectable neighbors, and march to the spring, half a mile, and fire once by company. The soldiers are willing to pay for their cartridges : the captain is to give them a gallon and take his leave." Two weeks later, from French Mills: "I will just
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
mention to you how the men followed the damnedest woods, and three times through the Chateangay river, up to their arms in water. Not a man flinched; we did not compel them to go; they volunteered for a scout. We board at the Widow Wires with officers of the Troy Invin- cibles and Fusileers; we have our board at $2.25 per week. * * We received orders at eight o'clock in the evening to march at seven in the morning of the next day, from Chateaugay to this place. Our men and their clothes were scattered from Dan to Beersheba. Before six in the morning every man was paraded, ready to march, with their bag- gage loaded. We came through the same day. The snow is plenty in this place about our tents. O! my God! how the poor boys grumble about their rag houses; only twenty-three blankets for fifty-four men. Who would not be a soldier? My tent, or, rather, marquee, is most damned cold. I am obliged to stop every few lines and whip my hands."
Writing October 31st from French Mills, Lieutenant McNeil tells of the expedition to St. Regis, and exalts the courage of his command upon that occasion, adding that "five thousand such boys would sink the whole province of Canada." He adds: "The inhabitants of Canada are much displeased with our going into Canada ; they expect they will soon have their heads skinned in consequence of it. But one good effect I know it had. The St. Regis Indians were all going to the British, and within three days after that time they all moved to this place. They dare not go back."
Under date of November 8th Lieutenant McNeil tells of "a wild goose chase " on the 3d inst., when Major Young ordered out the battalion upon representation that there was a party of Indians within eight or ten miles, stealing and driving off cattle, hogs and sheep. A force of about one hundred and twenty soldiers took up the march, expecting to find a hundred plunderers. After proceeding four miles a swamp was struck and crossed, and then another longer one, in crossing which the men could not see two rods from each other, and in which many got mired. This second swamp was seven miles through. Then, having advanced another mile or two, and having learned from the inhabitants that there were no plunderers in the vicinity, and also that the major had sent the pack horses to the very place where he had represented that the Indians were operating, the other officers became convinced that the major was in fact leading them to Baker's, near Montreal, with the purpose of taking a fort there, nothwithstanding it was garrisoned by two hundred men, with five hundred more within easy eall, and Captain Rufus Tilden, Captain Pliny Miller and Lieutenant McNeil, with their
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FRANKLIN COUNTY AND THE WAR OF 1812
ensigns, held a council, and determined to proceed no farther. Being militia, these troops could not be ordered to service beyond the frontiers of the country. They accordingly went into camp for the night, with-' out shelter of any kind, except a very few blankets, and with no food save a little pork and bread. The next morning they started on their return to French Mills without apprising the other companies. These latter followed some six hours later, and Major Young was furious at. having been deserted. Lieutenant. McNeil gives no further explanation of the affair. Soon afterward his company was transferred to Cham- plain, where he died December. 10, 1812.
PAY-ROLLS OF FRANKLIN COUNTY MILITIA COMPANIES IN THIE WAR OF 1812
The records in the adjutant-general's office at Albany include pay- rolls of companies of Franklin county militia that served during the war of 1812 under the command of Captain Rufus Tilden of Moira, Captain David Erwin of Constable, Captain Moses Eggleston of Chateangay, and Captain Stephen D. Hickok of Malone. Opposite the name of one man in Captain Tilden's company stands the word. " deserted." I think that the man so marked has no descendants now living in this county. His name is omitted in the list that follows.
While it is surprising and pathetic how in some cases formerly large families have become reduced to only one or two representatives, or even have become utterly extinct, we still know among us many descend- ants of the Franklin county militiamen of 1812-14, and the rosters of commands in which they served must be of interest to many of our people. It is gratifying to be able to note that, unlike so much of the material which composed in part the American army in the war in question, Franklin county gave from its very best, so that its rolls are generally to be admired and respected. The men thus serving were in the main of the rugged New England type. and, if it be the fact that the chronicles of this struggle carry few instances of brilliant and valor- ous service, the omission is not due to any lack of spirit or of compe- tence on the part of individuals, but only to the circumstance that opportunity was not presented here for making such records.
The pay-rolls follow :
CAPTAIN RUFUS TILDEN'S COMPANY.
In service at French Mills and as Prisoners from July 8, 1812, to January 8, 1813; Strength of Command, 64 men, but not all present at any one Time; Pay of Privates up to $41.01 for Continuous Service.
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
Captain - Rufus Tilden (discharged December 13, 1812). Lieutenant - Moses Eggleston. Ensign - Adin Wood.
Sergeants - James Campbell, Alexander Erwin, David Sayles, Jno. Beaman. Corporals - Thomas Burgess, Samuel Heath, Thomas Spencer, Matthew Briggs. Fifer - Calvin Chipman.
Drummer - Ansel Durphy.
PRIVATES.
Abraham Atwater
Richard Kidder
Nathaniel Ayers Samuel Bell
Bethel Martin
Jno. Billings
Samuel Otis
Josiah Butterfield
Stephen Otis
Asa Battles
David Percy
Luther Chipman
Levi Potter
Alpheus Chapman
Waterman Reynolds
Robert Chase
Charles Rowley
Elijah B. Dennis
David Sanborn
Franklin Spencer
Elijah Durphey John M. Donald
Bostick Squires
John Garra Dennison
Jno. Stone
Jonathan R. Esterbrooks
Herman Sperry
Lemuel Fox
Mainard Shirman
Jno. Farnsworth, Jr.
Ashbel N. Sanford
Ardel Gates
Gordon Taylor
Stephen Gibbs Dave Gibbs
Daniel Vosburgh Elias Watkins
Robert Huston
Porter Wallis
Harmon Harwood
Reuben Wood
Jeremiah Hubbard
Nath'l Whipple
Joseph Ives
Merrill White
David Kelly
Jas. Westlake
CAPTAIN RUFUS TILDEN'S COMPANY.
Place of Service not Stated, but doubtless on March to Plattsburgh; Term of Service September 11, 1814, to September 21, 1814; Pay of Privates from $1.33 to $2.93 each.
Captain - Rufus Tilden.
Sergeants - Oliver Conger, Charles Stickney, Samuel Wilson, Thomas Spencer, Jr. Corporals - John A. Buckland, Isaac Bigelow, Gardiner Dickinson, Ira Potter.
PRIVATES.
George Adams John Banes Liba Barden Elisha Bidwell Barnabas Barnum
Enoch Irish
Orin Lawrence
Prince Merick
Jesse Pierce, Jr.
Thomas Pierce
Jason Pierce
Joseph Barnes Isaac Conger Silas Cornish
Jesse D. Rice
William Carpenter
William Saunders Jesse Smith
James Taylor
Reuben Cady Cyrus Dyke Jamison Dyke Reuben Davis
James Willson
Omer Wood
John Walter
A
William Thompson
Jeremiah Hobart
Ebenezer Stinson
Jonathan Curtis
Asa R. Loveland
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FRANKLIN COUNTY AND THE WAR OF 1812
CAPTAIN DAVID ERWIN'S COMPANY.
Place of Service French Mills; Terms of Service Various; Longest from Novem- ber 23. 1812, to December S, 1812; Pay of Privates from 90 cents to $3.56 each.
Captain - David Erwin.
Lieutenants - William Perry, Inther Winslow, Chester Fuller.
Ensign - Aaron Parks.
Sergeants - Abon Man, Seth Blanchard, Silas Johnson, Ebenezer Brownson. Leonard Conant, Oliver Conger.
Corporals - Nathan Stowers, Reeve Peck, Daniel B. Kingsley.
Drummer - Ashley Stowers.
PRIVATES.
Wolcott Botchford
Benjamin Lawrence
Charles Barnes
Orin Lawrence
Liba Barden
Arthur McMillan
Jehiel Barnum
William Mason
John Barnes
Sylvester Potter
Jehiel Berry
John Potter
Robert Canada
Gerardus Richmond
Nath'l Chase
Jonathan J. Rich
Moses Chamberlain
Samuel Russell
Silas Cushman
Silas Cornish
William Shipman Royal Shipman
Nathaniel Curtis
John Sanders
John Dearborn
John Sanders, Jr.
Lemuel Davis
Benjamin Smith
Daniel Drain
Brazilla Spears
David Doty
Seymour Saxton
Joel Dow Daniel Fish
Lyman Sperry
Ebenezer Grover
Joseph Stafford
Charles Warner
Oramel Griffin
Enos Wood
David Gates
Ebenezer Wood
Archibald Harwood
Addison Willson
Jno. Bryant, Jr. Joseph Jones
CAVALRY
Lieutenant - Cone Andrews
Sergeant - Zerubabel Curtis
PRIVATES.
Jno. P. Andrews, Benjamin Lovel,
John Lewis Jno. S. Payne
CAPTAIN DAVID ERWIN'S COMPANY *
Place of Service French Mills; Terms of Service Covering Three Separate Enlist- ments, March 4, 1813, to May 8, 1813, May 9, 1813 to July 31, 1813, and August 1, 1813, to November 15, 1813; Pay of Privates for Entire Period $68.31. Captain - David Erwin.
Lieutenants - Enos Wood, Thomas Wright, Philip Briant.
Ensigns - James Campbell, Amaziah Smith.
* NOTE .- A number of names on this roll are repeated because of changes in rank, due to promotions.
Zenas Heath David Livingston
Alanson Saxton
Samuel Gott
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
Sergeants - James Campbell, Jno. Thompson, Richmond Kidder, Jno. Saunders, Josiah Butterfield, Amos Chipman, Matthew Briggs.
Corporals - Josiah Butterfield, Amos Chipman, Jno. Davis, Jno. Spring, Jeremiah. Hubbard, Asa R. Loveland, Arthur McMillan, William Shipman, William Pease, Arthur McMillan.
Drummers - Joseph Briggs, Averill Dunphey.
Fifers - Calvin Chipman, Allen Danforth.
PRIVATES.
Bazillar Ames
Ebenezer Moon
Samuel Baker
Renben Martin
Thomas Burgess
Arthur McMillen
Jno. Bryant
Jas. McMillen
Jno. Billings
Allen Mclaughlin
Benj. Bashaw
John Mclaughlin
James Batthe
Jno. Mclaughlin, Jr.
Ephraim Butler
Thomas Miltmore
John L. Brown
Samuel Moore
Joseph Bodroe
Peter Osborn
John Bodrow
William Pease
Geo. H. W. Bryant
Henry Pierce
Francis Bashaw
William Patterson
Anthony Bodroe
Sam'l H. Payne
Simon Baker
Battice Pero
Fred Berry Calvin Butler Jacob Chase Aaron A. Crippen John Cirkey
Ebenezer Plant
Jonathan Rich
Sam'l Riclı
Sylvester Chase
Jonathan Rich, Jr.
Caleb Douglass
William Ryan
Polite Emlot
Samuel Rogers
Pruden A. Erwin
Gerardus Richmond
Jonathan R. Esterbrooks Jacob Fleming Asaph Fuller
Gilbert Rouse
Daniel Fuller Ezra Fuller Jno. Fuller
Benj. Shepard
Joseph Gray
Seymour Saxton
Theodore Gray
Herman Sperry
Jno. Gott Stephen Gibbs
Noble Saxton
Lewis Greeney
Alanson Saxton
Marcus Harriman
Ebenezer Saxton
Robert Hamilton
William Shipman
Phineas Jones
Joseph Spencer
John Kork John Kelley
Reuben D. Tucker
Wm. Turner Jno. Taylor
David Livingston Loran Lewis Joel Leonard Asa R. Loveland
Silas Ware
Silas Weaver
John Wheeler
Sam'l Wheaton
Francis Lemore Jno. Miltmore Jno. Miltmore, Jr.
Seth F. Richardson
Ezra Russell
William Shepard
Chas. Gray
Joseph Switzer
James Dunphey
John Perow
Roger Blann
Periker Polite
David Rich
William Rich
Jas. B. Spencer Zelah Sinclair
Thomas Sutten
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FRANKLIN COUNTY AND THE WAR OF 1812
CAVALRY
Equipped and employed as guides, videttes and express; allowed 40 cents per day each for horses, arms, etc.
Sergeant - Jno. P. Andrews.
Privates - Seeley Wheeler, Ezekiel Blanchard.
CAPTAIN DAVID ERWIN'S COMPANY.
Place of Service not Stated, but Doubtless on March to Plattsburgh; Term of Service September 11, 1814, to September 21, 1814; Pay to Privates $2.93 Each.
Captain - David Erwin
Lieutenant - Joel Amsden.
Sergeants - Jehiel Barnum, Alex B. Erwin.
Corporals - Noble Saxton, Seth Blanehard.
PRIVATES.
Elias Wibber Allen MeLaughlin Jonathan Atwater Gates Hoyt Nathan Stowers Joseph Ervin
Jonathan Bawin Elish Allen William Thompson Nathan Beaman John Vernal
CAVALRY
Seeley Wheeler Richard Gates
Alpheus Exworth
CAPTAIN MOSES EGGLESTON'S COMPANY.
Place of Service not Stated, but doubtless on March to Plattsburgh; Term of Service September 11, 1814, to September 20; 1814; Pay of Privates $2.66 Each.
Captain - Moses Eggleston. Lieutenant - Israel Thayer.
Ensign - Soloman Smith.
Sergeants - Augustus Douglass, Ephraim Perry, Jr., Simon Hawks, Orra Day. Corporals - Lincoln Witherall, Justin Day, Jr.
Fifer - Samuel Hollembeck.
PRIVATES.
Alvin Allen Abraham Atwater Charles Blake Zebulon Baxter Samuel Beeman
Warren Bottsford Jehiel Barnum, Jr. Nathaniel Crain
Nathan G. Douglass Rudolphus Douglass Nathaniel Day John Day Ira W. Doud Squire M. Hosmer Ottis G. Hosmer.
Jacob Phillips Robert Peircy Samuel Peircy Garret Peircy
David Peircy
Levi F. Pond Obed Rust Samnel Stoughton James B. Shepard Judathan Sherman Harden H. Soal Daniel Vosburglı
Rodney Wing Peter Wright
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
CAPTAIN STEPHEN D. HICKOK'S COMPANY
Place of Service not Stated. but Doubtless on March to Plattsburgh; Term of Service September 11, 1814. to September 20, 1814; Pay of Privates $2.66 Each.
Captain - Stephen D. Hickok.
Lieutenant - Luther Winslow.
Ensign - Noah Smith.
Sergeants - Reeve Peck, David Ransom, Porter Moody.
Corporals - Cyrus Wilden. Eric Wood, Samuel Hyde.
Drummer - Jeremiah Conant.
Fifers - Ira Foote. Martin Rice.
PRIVATES.
James Brown
Seymour Saxton
Timothy Bemis
Moses Stratton
Ezra Dunning
Lyman Sperry
Joseph Dow
Bostwick Squire
Samuel Dunning
Joseph Spencer John Simms
David Gates
Jonathan Thompson
Elisha Haskins
Benjamin Wheat
Elisha W. Lincoln
Nathan White
William Mason
John Wheeler
Lemuel Parlin
Alvin Wilden
Isaac Parker
Samuel Webb
Chester Russell
Reuben Wood
Waterman Reynolds
Asaph Watkins
Benjamin Smith
Ebenezer Wood
Benjamin Griffin
Jared Watkins
Oliver Noes
Alanson Saxton
Alanson Dimick
CHAPTER XXV
SCANDALS OF AN EARLY PERIOD
The embargo and non-intercourse acts preceding the war of 181? were both unpopular and ineffectual. Ill judged, they injured our own country far more than its enemies. The product of cowardice, because conceived in the belief that we were unequal to coping with either France or Great Britain on the sea, and that it was cheaper to sacrifice commerce than to protect it and compel respect for our rights by force of arms, the first of the embargo acts, recommended by Thomas Jeffer- son, was passed in December, 1807. Intended to prevent American vessels absolutely from engaging in foreign commerce, New England shipping interests seemed at first to be the only ones prejudiced by it, though it was not long until the farmers were made to feel that it hit them hard also. A little more than a year later a supplementary embargo was laid, extending the operation of the policy to bays, rivers and lakes as well as to the ocean, and a few weeks subsequently the non- intercourse act was passed, with imposition of enormous penalties, fines and forfeitures for smuggling either out of or into the United States. Designed of course solely to injure France and Great Britain, our own country was really the only serious sufferer through the operation of the acts. Internal revenue officers were given extraordinary and drastic powers for enforcing their provisions, which intensified their unpopu- larity, until nullification was not only openly threatened, but actually practiced in many localities, and even secession and co-operation with Canada and Great Britain was contemplated and advocated. particularly in New England.
Records for Franklin county are not available for establishing how extensively, or in what manner, if at all, the embargo was evaded or disregarded here. Over in St. Lawrence and Jefferson, however, official evidence is extant to prove that operations in defiance of the measure were general, systematic and flagrant - proceeding almost to the point of open, armed resistance to the internal revenue and militia authorities, and at one time involving even officers and privates alike of a detach- ment of the regular army that was stationed on the frontier. An official communication by an internal revenue officer, dealing with these con- ditions, declared that if an armed force were to be sent to Ogdensburg
[627]
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
to suppress illegal exportations it must be strong enough to overcome both the inhabitants of the locality and the military in garrison there, or it would be resisted and itself overwhelmed.
That astounding condition was due not alone to mercenary motives, but to political rancor as well, since sentiment in the northern part of the State was antagonistic in considerable measure to our government's policies preceding the war, and also to the war itself.
As we have seen in preceding pages, the manufacture of potash and pearlash was the principal industry on this frontier during the early years of settlement, with Montreal our only accessible market, and these were almost the only commodities then exchangeable for cash, hardly anything else except grain at the distilleries being salable except "in trade." The normal price for potash preceding the embargo had been sixty to eighty dollars per ton, but the embargo had sent it up to three hundred dollars and more per ton in Europe, while prices for grain had been greatly lessened through enforcement of the same measure. Vast tracts of forest were cut solely for the purpose of making potash, and highways were broken through the wilderness in Jefferson county over which to haul the stuff to the St. Lawrence, and thence across the river on the ice to Canada. Returning, the teams smuggled contraband of various sorts, and the routes traversed became thoroughfares. One of them was known then and for long afterward as the " embargo road."
How much Franklin county residents engaged in enterprises of this character, no records remain to disclose, nor does local tradition explain or suggest ; but as the frontier here was less guarded than elsewhere, and human nature is very much the same everywhere, it must be assumed that our ancestors did not overlook this opportunity of an unexampled price for bettering their financial fortunes, and the prohibited traffic was doubtless prosecuted in Franklin as well as in Jefferson and St. Lawrence.
Be that as it may, the further charge is of record, but without specification of names, that when the war actually began, after years of friction and dread apprehension, not a few of Franklin county's resi- dents were pronouncedly in sympathy with the Canadians and British, and gave them secret and traitorous information of military plans and movements of importance. Those who remember the civil war and the division of opinion and sympathy that obtained in that trying time, though incomprehensible in the anxiety and passion of the day, but now better understood and more charitably judged, will not find it difficult to understand that such conduct does not need to be believed
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to have been intended generally as unpatriotic and treasonable. If per- haps actuated in part and in some cases by unscrupulous readiness to commercialize opportunities, it is more agreeable to regard it as having developed in greater measure from intense convictions which our own government's policies contravened, and which later judgment pro- nounces to have been mistaken and unwise. The war of 1812 is not a page in our history particularly honorable, nor even glorious except on the sea. The subject should not be left, however, without minuting the fact that whatever of seeming disloyalty existed here, there was mani- festation of loyalty, too. General Mooers, then commandant of the brigade of militia composed of Essex, Clinton and Franklin county con- tingents, was able to report to Governor Tompkins in July, 1812, that the inhabitants of Franklin county, of all parties, had held a meeting, passed patriotic resolutions, and were determined to remain on the frontier, and to go shoulder to shoulder to defend themselves. If their words were braver than some of their acts when emergencies presented themselves, it is not the first time in history that that has occurred.
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