History of Chautauqua County, New York : from its first settlement to the present time : with numerous biographical and family sketches, Part 24

Author: Young, Andrew W. (Andrew White), 1802-1877; Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. fmo; Huntington Free Library. fmo
Publication date: 1875
Publisher: Buffalo, N.Y. : Printing House of Matthews & Warren
Number of Pages: 948

USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York : from its first settlement to the present time : with numerous biographical and family sketches > Part 24

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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meeting in an earnest and patriotic manner, and was greeted with enthusiastic applause. The resolutions reported by the committee, approved the action of the president in calling out troops to aid in executing the laws and repos- sessing the forts and other places and property seized by the insurgents ; invited all true patriots able to bear arms to volunteer their services ; and pledged the means necessary for the support of the families of those who were absent in the service of their country. The resolutions were adopted.

Rev. Jeremiah C. Drake, pastor of the Baptist church, was called ont, and made a thrilling speech. He excited the wildest enthusiasm, and was often interrupted with loud applause. He was followed by Messrs. H. C. Kings- bury, John C. Long, - Adams, Geo. W. Palmer, and Capt. Thomas Baker, of company C, who expressed a readiness to lead his company wherever duty should call. They all spoke with great ardor, and took decided ground in favor of sustaining the government at all hazards. The chair, on motion, appointed M. C. Rice, E. W. Dennison, and Wm. Hynes, a committee to solicit subscriptions to procure a complete officer's outfit for Capt. Baker, as an expression of the appreciation of the citizens of Westfield of his patriot- ism in proffering his services for the defense of the government. A call for volunteers was favorably responded to by a large number of young men. A subscription for the benefit of the families of volunteers was circulated, and upwards of $1,000 signed on the spot; and many agreed to furnish military suits for those who volunteered.

The circumscribed limits of our history forbid a particular account of war movements throughout the country. The foregoing sketch of the proceedings of the meetings in this county, is a fair specimen of the feeling that pervaded the free states. Never, in any country, was the spirit of patriotism more clearly displayed or more highly intensified. Its genuineness was evinced throughout the North, by the immense sacrifices of the people for the defense and preservation of the Union. Party lines seemed, for a time, at least, to be obliterated, and all classes manifested a determination to suppress the rebellion at all hazards.

FURTHER ACTION OF THE GOVERNMENT.

On the 29th of April, the president called out more troops, as follows : vol- unteers for three years' service, 40,000 ; regulars for five years' service, 25,000 ; seamen for five years' service, 18,000.

Although Maryland was not among the seceding states, the rebel element prevailed in it extensively. The Massachusetts volunteers, passing through Baltimore, were assaulted by a mob in that city. They occupied eleven cars. Nine cars succeeded, with some difficulty, in reaching the dépôt on the other side of the city, amidst the hooting, yelling, and loud threats of the mob. The crowd, unable to exasperate the volunteers, hurled stones, brickbats, and other missiles, in showers against the cars, smashing the windows and wound- ing some of the troops The remaining two cars of the train, containing about 100 men, cut @ m the main body, were soon encompassed by a

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mob of several thousand, and attacked ; and some of the soldiers had their muskets snatched from them. The Massachusetts men, finding the cars untenable, alighted, and formed a hollow square, advancing with fixed bay- onets, upon all sides in double quick time, all the while surrounded by the mob-swelled by the addition of thousands-yelling and hooting. The military still abstained from firing upon their assailants. The mob then commenced throwing missiles, and occasionally gave a fire with a revolver or a musket. Two soldiers were killed and several wounded. The troops, at last, exasperated by the treatment they had received, commenced returning the fire singly, killing several, and wounding many of the rioters. The volunteers, at last, succeeded in reaching the dépôt with their killed and wounded, and embarked. The calm courage and heroic bearing of the troops gained them much honor. Effecting their passage through crowded streets, and opposed by overwhelming odds, was a feat not easily accom- plished by a body of less than 100 men.

Patriotism was not confined to the masses of our citizens ; it found unequiv- ocal expression in those who were intrusted with the administration of the government. Of this we have an admirable specimen in the instructions of Secretary Seward to Wm. H. Dayton, the new minister to France. A few of the concluding paragraphs are given below. In regard to the answer of Mr. Faulkner, Mr. Dayton's predecessor, to M. Thouvenal, the French home minister, relative to the adoption of coercive measures, in which Mr. Faulk- ner expressed his opinion that a modification of the constitutional compact would settle the difficulty, or a peaceable acquiescence made to a separate sovereignty, the secretary says :

" The time when these questions had any pertinency or plausibility has passed away. The United States waited patiently while their authority was defied in turbulent assembly and insidious preparations, willing to hope that mediation on all sides would conciliate and induce the disaffected parties to return to a better mind ; but the case has now altogether changed. The insurgents have now instituted revolution with open, flagrant and deadly war, to compel the United States to acquiesce in the dismemberment of the ' Union.

" The United States have accepted this civil war as an inevitable necessity. Constitutional remedies for all complaints of the insurgents are still open, and will remain so ; but on the other hand, the land and naval forces of the Union have been put into activity to restore federal authority, and save the Union from danger. You can not be too decided or explicit in making known to the French government that there is not now, nor has there been, nor will there be, any or the least idea existing in the government of suffer- ing a dissolution of this Union to take place in any way whatever. There will be only one nation and one government, and there will be the same republic and the same constitutional Union that has already survived a dozen national changes of government in almost every other country. These will stand hereafter as they are now, objects of human wonder and human affection.

"You have seen, on the eve of your departure elasticity of the national spirit, the vigor of the national government, an lavish devotion of the

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national treasures to this great cause. Tell M. Thouvenal, with the highest consideration, that the thought of the dissolution of this Union, peaceably or by force, has never entered the mind of any candid statesman here, and it is high time that it be dismissed by statesmen in Europe. I am, etc.,

"WM. H. SEWARD."

SUSPENSION OF THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS.

For some time after the commencement of the war, the rebel authorities seemed to anticipate the plans of our government and the movements of our armies. It was presumed that information of the same was secretly com- municated from Washington by persons sympathizing with the enemy. A man having been arrested as a traitor by Gen. Keim, and put into the custody of Gen. Cadwallader in Fort McHenry, a writ of habeas corpus was obtained from Chief Justice Taney to procure the release of the prisoner. Gen. C. refused to produce the prisoner, responding that he was acting under the orders of the president, who was authorized by the constitution to suspend the writ in case of rebellion or invasion. The power of the president to suspend this writ without the consent of Congress was questioned by many, among whom were some of the friends of the administration, who, however, justified the exercise of the power by the executive, on the ground of neces- sity. The safety of the Union would be in jeopardy if spies were released on bail, and permitted to renew and continue their traitorous employment. Hence it was deemed right and just to exercise a doubtful power, rather than that traitors should triumph through the action of federal judges in sympathy with the rebellion ; and the case of Jackson at New Orleans was cited in justification. The views of the president on this subject were subsequently given by himself, in the following extracts from his message to Congress at its special session in July :

"Soon after the first call for militia, it was considered a duty to authorize the commanding general, in proper cases, according to his discretion, to sus- pend the privilege of the habeas corpus, or, in other words, to arrest and de- tain, without resort to ordinary processes and forms of law, such individuals as he might consider dangerous to the public safety. This authority has pur- posely been exercised but very sparingly. Nevertheless, the legality and pro- priety of what has been done under it are questioned, and the attention of the country has been called to the proposition, that one who is sworn to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, should not himself violate them.

" Before this matter was acted upon, the whole of the laws which were re- quired to be faithfully executed, were being resisted and failing of execution, in nearly one-third of the states. Must they be allowed to finally fail of exe- cution, even had it been perfectly clear that, by the use of the means neces- sary to their execution, some single law, made in such extreme tenderness of the citizens' liberty, that practically it relieves more of the guilty than the innocent, should, to a very limited extent, be violated ?

"To state the question more directly : Are all the laws but one to go un- executed, and the government itself to go to pieces, lest that one be violated? Even in such a case, would not the official oath be broken if the govern- ment should be overthem when it was believed that, disregarding the single

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one would tend to preserve it? But it was not believed that this question had been presented. It was not believed that any law was violated. The provision of the constitution is, the writ of habeas corpus shall not be sus- pended except when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it. It was decided that we have a case of rebellion, and the public safety does require the qualified suspension of the privilege of the writ which was authorized to be made.

"Now it is insisted that Congress, and not the executive, is vested with the power. But the constitution itself is silent as to which or who is to exercise the power ; and as the provision was plainly made for a dangerous emergency, it can not be believed that the framers of the instrument intended that, in every case, the danger should run its course until Congress should be called together, the very assembling of which might be prevented, as was intended in this case by the rebellion."

Enlistments were proceeding rapidly. In our own county, company after company was announced as ready to leave for their destination. About the middle of June, 1861, there had been about 225,000 men mustered into service, and were under pay-about 30,000 of them from this state.

It was a cause of regret as well as discouragement to the friends of the Union, that so many of their fellow-citizens not only manifested great indif- ference in regard to the result of the war for its preservation, but were actually engaged in efforts to prevent the successful prosecution of the war. In June, 1861, a petition was circulated in the city of New York which many had been led to sign under false pretenses, and from which they wished to erase their names. A search for the petition was made by the police, who found and seized it in the office of a Wall street broker. The following is a copy of it :

" To his Excellency Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States :

"The undersigned, citizens of New York, beg leave to present to you, most respectfully and earnestly, the following considerations :-

" While they hold themselves ready to sustain and defend their govern- ment, and you as its legal head, they respectfully suggest that the only remaining position for you to prevent the horrors of civil war and preserve the Union, is to adopt the policy of an immediate general convention of all the states, as suggested in your Inaugural. This course would secure a peaceful solution of all our national difficulties; and if any state should refuse to join said convention to amend the constitution, or adjust a peaceable separation, it would stand unanimously condemned before the civilized world.

" Earnestly deprecating civil war among brethren, we implore and beseech you to adopt this course, which, you may rest assured, is the real voice of the people."

About five hundred names had been appended when the police took pos- session of it. It was carried to the chief's office, where it was left to allow all whose names had been obtained by fraud to erase them. The petition, it will be seen, not only proposes a dissolution of the Union, but condemns every state which refuses to sanction this design.

In his message to Congress, at its special meeting in July, the president recommended, that there be placed at the control de government, at least

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400,000 men and $400,000,000, with the view of "making this contest a short and decisive one." And there appeared throughout the North, a dis- position to comply with every requisition for all the men and money neces- sary to subdne the confederates. The session lasted but nine days. Among the bills passed, were the following: To legalize the past action of the president ; to authorize the president to call out 500,000 volunteers ; a bill appropriating about $266,000,000, principally for the prosecution of the war; an act to confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes. The confiscation act provided that-

" In case of any insurrection against the government that can not be sup- pressed in the ordinary course of law, and property used or given by per- mission of its owner to aid and abet the insurrection, shall be lawful subject of prize and capture wherever found ; and that it shall be the duty of the president to cause it to be seized, confiscated, and condemned; and that when any slaveholder shall employ or permit the employment of his slave in aiding or promoting an insurrection, the master shall forfeit all right to such slave ; and the slave shall be free."

This bill was opposed as contrary to the provision of the constitution, which declares, that "no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted." It is believed no case involving the principle assumed in this bill, has ever been decided in the court of the United States.

The preceding pages are but an introduction to the history of the war of the rebellion. Nor will the reader expect to find, in the few pages which can be devoted to this subject, more than a mere outline of the history of a war which furnishes material for a number of volumes of the capacity of this, which embraces a hundred different topics which claim a notice in this work.

When the war broke out, many of our wisest men anticipated a short struggle of sixty or ninety days. Some imagined that the first call for 75,000 men would not need to be supplemented by more than one or two calls for an equal number. Few supposed that several calls for hundreds of thousands would be found necessary to quell the insurrection. Meeting after meeting was held in nearly every town for raising men and providing for the support of their families. Nor were our male citizens alone active in labor in pro- moting the war for the Union ; equal zeal and activity were manifested by the women. Societies of various names were seen springing up in all parts of the North, through which material aid was rendered. Sanitary committees were appointed ; relief circles, aid societies, and other associations were formed, and in great ·part conducted by ladies ; and through them contri- butions were made of money, clothing, hospital supplies, and whatever was required for the comfort of soldiers and their families. Fairs also were held, the proceeds of which were appropriated to this grand object of benevolence and humanity. Not a small portion of the labor of females was the pre- paring of bandages, lint, and savory food, for the wounded and the sick in the hospitals.

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Instead of a war of only two or three months, as some expected, the coun- try was destined to a sanguinary contest of four years, which was maintained at an expense of life and treasure scarcely equaled, in the same space of time, in any country during the present century. Our armies, during those years, experienced alternations of success and reverse, until the resources of the enemy had been nearly exhausted. The successes of Grant, Sheridan and others, and the triumphal, resistless march of Sherman through the South to the seaboard, gave signs of the rapid approach of peace. The object of the labors and the prayers of the friends of the Union was at length attained. But although the Union has been preserved, the sad results of the war have not entirely disappeared. Let every friend of a united republic contribute his influence to hasten the time when a perfect reconciliation between the parties lately at variance shall have been effected, and when they shall be not merely members of the same great political family, but in heart and feeling brethren.

The number of men furnished for the war by Chautauqua, as nearly as can be ascertained, is about 2,300. The enlistments from the several towns were nearly as follows :

Arkwright, 33. . Busti, 81. Carroll, 42. Charlotte, 42. Chautauqua, 115. Cherry Creek, 62. Clymer, 61. Dunkirk, 233. Ellery, 31. Ellicott, 299. Ellington, 52. French Creek, 51. Gerry, 37. Hanover, 169. Harmony, 163. Kiantone, 17. Mina, 41. Poland, 71. Pomfret, 161. Portland, 66. Ripley, 42. Sheridan, 46. Sherman, 70. Stockton, 61. Villenova, 84. Westfield, 93. Total, 2,293.

COUNTY NEWSPAPERS.

The Chautauqua Gazette, the first paper published in the county, was started at Fredonia, in Jan., 1817, by James Percival. It was afterwards issued by Carpenter & Hull, and by James Hull, until 1822, when it was suspended. In 1823, it was revived by James Hull, and continued until 1826, when it was united with the People's Gazette, from Forestville; and its name was changed to Fredonia Gazette. It was published a short time by Hull & Snow, and removed by Mr. Hull to Dunkirk, and in a few months to Westfield, and united with the Chautauqua Phoenix.

The Fredonia Censor was commenced in 1821 by Henry C. Frisbee, who continued its publication 17 years. In 1838, it passed into the hands of E. Winchester, and was published by him 2 years, and by R. Cunningham I year. In 1841, it was bought by Willard Mckinstry, and published by W. Mckinstry & Brother, [A. Mckinstry ; ] and at present by W. Mckinstry & Son, [Louis Mckinstry.]

The Western Democrat and Literary Inquirer was started at Fredonia in 1835, by Wm. Verrinder. It was issued successively by Randall, Crosby &

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Co., and Arba K. Maynard ; and by the latter it was removed to Van Buren Harbor in 1837, and issued as The Van Buren Times. It soon passed into the hands of W. H. Cutler, and was continued about 2 years. The Settler was issued a short time in 1840, from the Censor office, by E. Winchester. The Frontier Express was started in June, 1846, by Cutler, Cottle & Perham. In 1849, it was changed to The Fredonia Express, and published by J. P. Cobb & Co., and afterwards by Thomas A. Osborne & Co. In 1850, it was changed to The Chautauqua Union, and was published a short time by E. F. Foster. The Fredonia Advertiser was started July 14, 1851, by Tyler & Shepard. It was afterward published by Levi L. Pratt and J. C. Frisbee, and later by L. L. Pratt. It is now published by Benton & Cushing, at Fre- donia and Dunkirk. The Botanic Medical Journal was published a short time at Fredonia. The Pantheon was published at Fredonia a short time.

The Jamestown Journal was commenced in June, 1826, by Adolphus Fletcher, and continued by him until 1846. It was then issued by his son, John W. Fletcher, for two years, when it passed into the hands of F. W. Palmer, who continued at the head of the establishment until 1858, having been associated, in the meantime, with Francis P. Bailey, Ebenezer P. Upham, and C. D. Sackett. From 1858 to 1862, it was published by Sackett & Bishop ; and after the death of Mr. Sackett in 1862, it was published by Bishop Brothers. After the death of Prentice E. Bishop, in 1865, by Cole- man E. Bishop until 1866; then by Bishop and Alex. M. Clark, until June I, 1868, when Clark became sole proprietor. Jan. 1, 1870, he started the Daily Journal, C. E. Bishop, editor ; and in Aug., 1871, sold a half interest to Davis H. Waite ; and in March, 1875, his remaining interest to Mr. Waite, who, in April, 1875, started the Weekly Grange, an agricultural paper. All still continue. The Chautauqua Republican was started in Jamestown in 1828, by Morgan Bates. Richard K. Kellogg, Lewis C. Todd, Charles McLean, Alfred Smith, and Wm. H. Cutler, were successively interested in its publication until 1833, when it passed into the hands of S. S. C. Hamil- ton ; and its name was changed to the Republican Banner. It was soon after removed to Mayville, and in a few months discontinued. The Genius of Liberty was started at Jamestown in 1829, by Lewis C. Todd, and continued about two years. The Liberty Star was started at Jamestown in 1847, by Harvey A. Smith. In 1849, it passed into the hands of Adolphus Fletcher, and was changed to the Northern Citizen. In 1853, John W. Fletcher became proprietor ; and in 1855, it was changed to the Chautauqua Demo- crat, under which name it was issued by Adolphus Fletcher, James Parker, editor ; from 1860, by Fletcher & Co., A. B. Fletcher having been a partner ; from 1862, by Davis H. Waite and A. B. Fletcher, until 1866; from 1866 to 1872, by A. B. Fletcher, when E. Anderson became a part- ner of Fletcher. A daily Democrat was soon published, and the firm was dissolved in 1873. The Daily and Weekly Democrat are both continued by Mr. Fletcher. The Undercurrent was published at Jamestown a short time in 1851-52, by Harvey A. Smith. The Jamestown Herald was

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started in August, 1852, by Dr. Asaph Rhodes. In 1853, Joseph B. Nessel became proprietor, removed it to Ellington Center, and changed its name to the Ellington Luminary. A Swede paper was started in 1874.

The Chautauqua Eagle was commenced at Mayville in 1819 by Robert J. Curtis and continued about one year. The Mayville Sentinel was started in 1834, by Timothy Kibbe, and the next year passed into the hands of Beman Brockway, who continued it ten years. In 1845, it was sold to John F. Phelps, by whom it is still published. The Republican Banner, formerly Chautauqua Republican, published at Jamestown, was removed to Mayville, and published there a few months. The Tocsin, a temperance paper, was published at Mayville, by Lloyd Mills, a short time, about 1845. In Octo- ber, 1868, Wright L. Patterson commenced the Chautauqua Republican, and issued 18 weekly numbers. In September or October, 1870, Byron W. Southworth moved the Sherman News to Mayville, changed its name to Chautauqua News, which was continued until March, 1874. The Chautau- qua Whig was started at Dunkirk in August, 1834, by Thompson & Car- penter. About 1844, its name was changed to the Dunkirk Beacon ; and it was discontinued a short time afterward. The Chautauqua Journal was started at Dunkirk in May, 1850, by W. L. Carpenter. In a short time its name was changed to the Dunkirk Journal, and was issued by him until 18-, when it passed into the hands of Isaac George, who published it for a time. It has for several years been published by W. Mckinstry & Son, of Fredonia, its present proprietors. The Dunkirk Press and Argus, a continua- tion of the Western Argus, removed from Westfield in 1858, was published several years. The Panama Herald was commenced in August, 1846, by Dean & Hurlbut, and continued by Stewart & Pray until 1848.

The Western Star was started in Westfield, 1826, by Harvey Newcomb, and published two years. It was soon after revived, as the Chautauqua Phoenix, by Hull & Newcomb. In 1831, its name was changed to the American Eagle; and it was issued by G. W. Newcomb. In 1838, it was changed to the Westfield Courier, and was issued a short time by G. W. Bliss. The Westfield Lyceum, started in 1835, was published a short time by Sheldon & Palmer. The Western Farmer was started at Westfield in 1835, by Bliss & Knight, and was continued about two years. The Westfield Advocate was commenced in May, 1841, and in a few months was discon- tinued. The Westfield Messenger was started in August, 1841, by C. J. J. & T. Ingersoll. In 1851, it passed to Edgar W. Dennison, and was changed to the Westfield Transcript, which, in 185-, passed to Buck & Wilson, who continued it one year. The Westfield Republican was commenced April 25, 1855, by M. C. Rice, by whom it was continued until 1873, when it passed to Joseph A. & C. Frank Hall ; and in a few months C. Frank Hall, its pres- ent publisher, became its sole proprietor. The Western Argus was started at Westfield in 1857, by John F. Young. In about one year it was removed to Dunkirk, and changed to the Dunkirk Express and Argus, edited by James S. Sherwood, and continued about a year.

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