USA > New York > Oneida County > History of Oneida County, New York : from 1700 to the present time, Volume I > Part 15
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1851-In 1851 there was no governor to be elected and the campaign was a quiet one. Seymour dominated the Democratic party, and nominated a state ticket of his own liking. Charles A. Mann, a senator from this district, with other Democrats resigned their seats in the senate in order to prevent legisla- tion favorable to canals. This act was resented by the people of the county, and a Whig convention held at Rome, May 8th, denounced his conduct by reso- lution, and nominated Benjamin N. Huntington to fill the vacancy; Mr. Hunt- ington was elected by nearly three thousand majority. The Democratic county convention was held at Rome and nominated P. Sheldon Root for county judge; Othneil S. Williams for surrogate; DeWitt C. Grove for treasurer; and Jesse Armstrong for senator; for members of assembly, first district, George Gra- ham; second district, James M. Tower; third district, Henry Sanford; fourth district, John J. Castle. The Whig convention nominated Benjamin N. Hunt-
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ington for senator; for county judge, Benjamin F. Cooper; for surrogate, Amos O. Osborne; for treasurer, Edmund H. Shelley; for members of assem- bly, first district, George D. Williams; second district, Chauncey S. Butler ; third district, Robert H. Jones; fourth, George Brayton.
Mr. Huntington was elected senator by 749 majority; and the members of assembly, first district, Williams, Whig, 583; second district, Butler, Whig, 93; third district, Sanford, Dem., 265; fourth district, Castle, Dem., 98.
1852-The campaign of 1852 was an interesting one in the state, as the Whig national convention had nominated General Scott, the great hero of the Mexican war, for president, and William A. Graham for vice president. These nominations did not give satisfaction throughout the state of New York, as Henry Clay, at this time, was the idol of the Whig party, and great disap- pointment was manifested everywhere because he was not nominated for the presidency. The Democratic national convention assembled at Baltimore, and, notwithstanding the fact that the state of New York pressed the candidacy of Marcy, its delegates were divided; Seymour was the prominent figure in the Democratic party, and controlled the delegates to such an extent as to cast the majority of the vote for Marcy. Twenty-three supported Marcy and 13 sup- ported General Cass. The result was that Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire was nominated for president, and William R. King of Alabama, for vice presi- dent. The Whig state convention met at Syracuse and renominated Governor Hunt, and William Kent, son of Chancellor Kent, for lieutenant governor. The Democratic state convention met in Syracuse and was entirely dominated by Seymour, who succeeded again in obtaining the nomination for governor, with Sanford E. Church as lieutenant governor. The division in the Whig party over the nomination of General Scott was the overthrow of the party, and Pierce was elected president and Seymour governor, carrying the state by 22,596 plurality, and the county by 1,632 plurality. The presidential elector for this district was Daniel Babcock. The Democratic county convention was held at Rome September 30th, and nominated for sheriff, Hugh Crocker, and for county clerk, Richard Hurlburt. The Whig county convention was held Octo- ber 1st, and nominated for sheriff, John Bradt; for county clerk, Alexander Rae; for members of assembly, first district, Ephraim Palmer; second district, S. H. Addington; third district, John O'Neil; fourth district, W. D. Rowley. Dissatisfaction had been manifested in regard to the representative in Congress, Orsamus B. Matteson, and a very generally signed petition by very prominent men was presented to Hon. William J. Bacon, asking him to become a candi- date for the nomination, who consented, but was not nominated in the con- vention. The fight against the nomination of Mr. Matteson for representative in Congress was led by Roscoe Conkling. The champion of Mr. Matteson in the convention was James McQuade, and it was finally determined that an informal ballot should be taken which resulted in Matteson 63, Huntington 9, Bacon 11, and one blank. Although this ballot was called informal, Mr. Conkling, after it was announced, arose and withdrew the name of Mr. Bacon. Mr. Conkling made a speech advocating harmony, and after speeches by others a formal ballot was taken which resulted in Matteson, 69, Huntington 16, whereupon Mr. Conkling moved the unanimous nomination of Mr. Matteson. As a protest
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against this Joshua A, Spencer was put in nomination as an Independent can- didate for representative in Congress. The Daily Gazette, a Whig paper, re- fused to support Mr. Matteson, but placed the name of Joshua A. Spencer in large type as its candidate for representative in Congress. The same paper, commenting upon the result of the election on the morning after, says: "We acknowledge beat,-whipped throughout. Some of the Whigs had a little con- solation, amid the general overthrow of the Whig party, in the election of Oneida's favorite son to Congress." Mr. Matteson carried the county by 306, Rae by 365, while the rest of the Democratic ticket was elected. The assembly- men elected were Dexter Gilmore, Amos O. Osborne, Julius C. Thorn and Amos C. Hall.
1853-The Democratic state convention was held September 13, 1853, at Syra- cuse, and resulted in another split, and this time the Hunkers seceded from the convention and the Barnburners controlled the situation. The Whig convention assembled October 5th, and Roscoe Conkling was a prominent candidate for attorney general, but was defeated for the nomination by Ogden Hoffman. The state officers nominated by the Whigs were elected, with the exception of Hiram Denio of Oneida county and Charles H. Ruggles, who were elected to the Court of Appeals bench, because they were placed upon the tickets of both wings of the Democratic party. In this year William J. Bacon was nominated by the Whigs for justice of the Supreme Court in the fifth judicial district; they also nominated for senator, Daniel G. Dorrance; for district attorney, Eaton J. Richardson. The Democrats nominated for senator, John E. Hinman; for district attorney, Henry T. Utley. Mr. Dorrance, Rep., for senator, had 1,298 majority; Utley, Dem., for district attorney, 232 majority; and Joseph Bene- dict, A. P. Case, D. L. Boardman and James Mitchell were elected members of assembly.
1854-When the respective conventions assembled in 1854 the country was again extremely agitated over the slavery question. Mr. Seward had stirred the country by his discussion of the subject, and the Democratic party in the south was pressing its views with great vigor and great ability. This subject was paramount all through the land. The Democratic party, still rent in twain, held two conventions. The Hards nominated Greene C. Bronson for governor, and Elijah Ford for lieutenant governor. The Softs nominated Horatio Sey- mour for governor, and William H. Ludlow for lieutenant governor. This was a singular circumstance because, up to this time, Seymour was classed as a leader among the Hard Shells, but he had abandoned them and joined the Soft Shells. The Whig state convention held September 20th nominated Myron H. Clark for governor, and Henry J. Raymond for lieutenant governor. The great news- paper king, Horace Greeley, advocated the dropping of the name "Whig," and substituting for it the name "Republican," as a proper name for the party that opposed the extension of slavery. This had been done in some of the western states, and at Jackson, Michigan, it is claimed that the Republican party was formed. The platform that nominated Clark declared "for justice, temper- ance and freedom." Clark was supported by the Prohibitionists, and Roscoe Conkling, in referring to the idea of the new name for the party, said "this county belongs to the Republican party." In this year a new element entered
REPAIRING THE GREAT BREAK IN THIE BLACK RIVER CANAL AT FORESTPORT
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into politics-the American party, then known as the Know Nothings, which nominated Daniel Ullman for governor, and Gustavus A. Scroggs for lieutenant governor. The term "Know Nothing" grew out of the fact that it was charged of the American party that they had certain secrets, and that it was in reality a secret organization, the acts of which were mysterious, and when any of the party were interrogated in regard to it they made no answer, and it was then said of them that they were Know Nothings. For weeks after the election it was supposed Seymour had been elected, but the complete returns showed that Clark was elected governor by 309 plurality. Seymour carried Oneida county by 349 plurality. The Democrats nominated for county treasurer Henry Arm- strong; for members of assembly, Henry R. Hart, Noah E. King, Spencer H. Stafford and Jesse Talcott. The Whigs nominated for members of assembly, G. D. Williams, Levi Blakeslee, H. H. Baker and Daniel Walker, who were all elected. For representative in Congress the candidates were Orsamus B. Matteson, William C. Johnson, Naaman W. Moore and Benjamin N. Hunting- ton. Mr. Matteson had a plurality of votes for representative in Congress of 1,320.
1855-An important event in political affairs in 1855 was the election of a United States senator. The term of William H. Seward expired, and his posi- tion on the slavery question had drawn to him certain support, and alienated from him many of his former followers. The north was intensely excited over the Kansas question. About five thousand Missourians had invaded Kansas and had fraudulently carried the election. This outrage was resented in the North, and it became a political issue. After a bitter fight in the legislature Seward was re-elected. The Hards of the Democratic party met in convention at Syracuse August 23rd, approved the compromise measures, and did nothing to satisfy the people of the North upon the slavery question. The Softs met in convention August 29th, condemned the Kansas outrages, and opposed the further extension of slavery. The Whig convention, and a mass convention, made up largely of the Softs, was held at Syracuse, September 26th. One of the objects of these two conventions was to get together upon some basis under the name of the Republican party, and committees were appointed to agree upon a ticket. This was successful; the Whigs marched in a body to the Republican convention, were received with great rejoicing, cheers and shouts, and the coalition was effective. The American party and the Free Democracy and Liberty party met in Utica, September 12th, and nominated Frederick Douglass for secretary of state, and Lewis Tappen for comptroller. The result of this election was that although the new party did not have a plurality in the state, it cast 135,962 votes. The Democratic county convention was held at Rome October 4th, and nominated for senator Naaman W. Moore; for sheriff, Marcus L. Kenyon; for county clerk, Henry R. Hart; for county judge, P. Sheldon Root; for surrogate, John G. Crocker; for members of assembly, first district, Peter Brewer; second district, James J. Hanchett; third district, Thomas D. Penfield; fourth district, Caleb Goodrich. The Republican county convention was held at Rome, October 10th, approved the action of the Republican state convention and the Whigs held at Syracuse, and appointed a committee to confer with what was known as the Matteson Whig convention in session at Rome. Vol. I-8
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The same proceedings were had in the Matteson convention, and in the even- ing the committee of the Matteson convention reported that they had con- ferred with the committee of the other convention, and had agreed upon the following ticket: for senator, E. J. Richardson; for sheriff, Calvin Hall; for clerk, Israel S. Parker; for county judge, J. Wyman Jones; for surrogate, H. M. Burchard; for members of assembly, first district, Benjamin Allen; second dis- trict, Horace H. Eastman; third district, John B. Elwood; fourth district, George W. Smith. The result in the county upon the local ticket was as fol- lows : Richardson, Whig, for senator, 1,001 plurality; Hall, Whig, for sheriff, 1,950 plurality ; Howes, Dem., for county clerk, 490 plurality ; Root, Dem., for county judge, 908 plurality; Burchard, Whig, for surrogate, 55 plurality; members of assembly, first district, Fowler, Dem., 436 plurality ; second district, Hanchett, Dem., 643 plurality; third district, Penfield, Dem., 191 plurality ; fourth district, Goodrich, Dem., 154 plurality.
1856-Again a presidential canvass was upon the people. The Kansas con- troversy was still the excitement of the hour, and when the national conven- tions met in 1856 the country was in a ferment over this great question. The Democratic national convention was held at Cincinnati, and one of the most prominent men in this convention was Horatio Seymour. In reality, he was the great moving spirit in shaping the work of the convention. The candidates for president were Franklin Pierce, Stephen A. Douglass and James Buchanan. The conservative spirit controlled the convention, refused to renominate Pierce, would not accept Douglass, as too advanced in his ideas upon the slavery ques- tion, and nominated James Buchanan for the presidency, and John C. Brecken- ridge for vice president. The Republican national convention met in Phila- delphia June 17th, and contained a vast majority of northern Whigs, Soft Shell Democrats, Abolitionists, and men of almost all shades of opinion, pro- vided their sympathies were against the extension of slavery. John C. Fre- mont, known as the Pathfinder, was nominated for president, and two promi- nent candidates appeared for the nomination for vice president-William L. Dayton and Abraham Lincoln, and Mr. Dayton was nominated. The Repub- lican state convention met in Syracuse, September 17th, and nominated John A. King for governor, and Henry R. Selden for lieutenant governor. The two wings of the Democratic party met in separate conventions, combined, and nominated Amasa J. Parker for governor, and John Vanderbilt for lieutenant governor. The American party nominated Erastus Brooks for governor, and Lyman Odel for lieutenant governor. This party had also nominated Millard Fillmore for president. Theodore S. Faxton of this county was the candidate for presidential elector on the American ticket; James Lynch on the Republican ticket, and John Stryker on the Democratic ticket. The Republican candidate for member of Congress was Orsamus B. Matteson, and the Democratic candi- date, William C. Johnson; for district attorney the Democrats renominated Henry T. Utley, and the Republicans nominated Jairus H. Munger; the Repub- licans nominated for members of assembly, first district, Richard U. Sherman; second district, Peleg B. Babcock; third district, John Halstead; fourth dis- trict, Ingham Townsend. The Democrats nominated for members of assem- bly, first district, Henry R. Hart; second district, George H. Cleveland; third
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district, William S. Parkhurst; fourth district, John T. Thomas. Fremont carried the state of New York by a plurality of 80,000, but Buchanan, being a resident of the state of Pennsylvania carried that state, and that made him president. King, for governor, carried the state by 65,784 plurality, and Oneida county by the unprecedented plurality of 4,279. Matteson was re-elected to Congress, Munger was elected district attorney, and Messrs. Sherman, Babcock, Halstead and Townsend were elected members of assembly by substantial majorities.
1857-In the legislature of 1857 Ward Hunt, of Utica, was a prominent candidate for United States senator. There were several other candidates, but the great wizard of politics, Thurlow Weed, had decided upon Preston King, and with his usual adroitness, when it became necessary to exercise his power, gave the nomination to Mr. King by a vote of 65 to 17 for Hunt. No governor was elected in this year. There were three tickets in the field-Democrat, Re- publican and American, or Know Nothing ticket. It is a fact that many of the American party supported the Democratic ticket, and it was elected, as fol- lows: Gideon J. Tucker, secretary of state; Sanford E. Church, comptroller ; Lyman Tremain, attorney general; Hiram Denio, of Oneida county, judge of the Court of Appeals. The Republican county convention nominated Richard U. Sherman for state senator, but he declined, and Aldrich Hubbell was substi- tuted in his place; John J. Parry for county treasurer, and the. assembly ticket was made up as follows: first district, George F. Weaver; second district, Will- iam J. Mckown; third district, Thomas G. Halley; fourth district, Reuben Knight. The Democrats nominated Othniel S. Williams for state senator; Adam VanPatten for county treasurer; for members of assembly, first dis- trict, Henry R. Hart; second district, Charles D. Jones; third district, Will- iam S. Parkhurst; fourth district, Obadiah J. Owens. The result was that Hubbell, Rep., was elected senator by 107; Parry, Rep., county treasurer by 157; for members of assembly, Hart, Dem., 359; second district, Mckown, Rep., 627; third district, Halley, Rep., 27; fourth district, Knight, Rep., 296.
1858-The Republican state convention was held in Syracuse, and the prominent candidates for governor were Timothy Jenkins of Oneida county, and Edward D. Morgan, of New York. This convention was manipulated by Mr. Weed, and he was able to nominate Morgan by a vote of 162 to 52 for Mr. Jenkins. Robert Campbell was nominated for lieutenant governor. A large ratification meeting was held in Utica during this campaign, and Mr. Jenkins made one of the principal speeches in support of the ticket. The Demo- cratic state convention would have nominated Horatio Seymour for governor, but he declined, and Amasa J. Parker received the nomination, and John J. Taylor for lieutenant governor. The American party held its convention at Syracuse, and after two days of negotiations failed to unite with the Repub- licans, and nominated for governor Lorenzo Burrows. At the Republican county convention Roscoe Conkling was nominated for representative in Con- gress; William J. Mckown for sheriff; J. Earl Hulbert for county clerk; for members of assembly, first district, Charles M. Scholefield; second district, Ed- ward Loomis; third district, Patrick C. Costello; fourth district, Didymus Thomas. The Democrats nominated for representative in Congress P. Sheldon
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Root; sheriff, Thomas D. Penfield; county clerk, Zenas M. Howes; for mem- bers of assembly, first district, William C. Churchill; second district, Pomroy Jones; third district, Enoch B. Armstrong; fourth district, Thomas B. Allanson.
Here entered into national politics a man who was destined to rank among the foremost in the country-Roscoe Conkling. The congressman from this district, Orsamus B. Matteson, had become unpopular in his own party, and a consultation of prominent Republicans was had at the house of Richard U. Sherman, which then stood on the corner of Eagle and Kemble streets, which house has since been removed from the lot. The persons who took part in this consultation were Ward Hunt, Richard U. Sherman, William Ferry, Palmer V. Kellogg, Roscoe Conkling, Joseph A. Sherman and several others. The question was, who should be nominated to redeem the district from Matteson's domination. Several different persons were considered, but finally it was agreed that Mr. Conkling should be the candidate. He had made a reputation as dis- trict attorney, was a young man of whom there could be no fault found, and it was supposed that he would unite the party better than any other candidate that could be nominated. The Matteson element of the party, when the an- nouncement was made that Conkling was to be a candidate, were tremendously excited, and strained every effort to defeat him. Charles H. Doolittle was the opposing candidate, was one of the foremost lawyers of his age in central New York, and a man of very high character. The contest was bitter, as might be expected, but Mr. Conkling was nominated by a small majority in the conven- tion, went into the canvass with his great ability, and manifested his wonder- ful faculty for organization. The disappointment of Matteson, because of the defeat of his candidate in the county convention, caused him to support the nominee on the Democratic ticket for representative in Congress. The result was that Morgan was elected governor by a plurality of 17,440, and carried Oneida county by 2,735; Conkling was elected representative in Congress by 2,833; Mckown, sheriff, by 2,124; Hulbert, for county clerk, 824; all Republi- cans; members of assembly, first district, Scholefield, Rep., 84; second district, Loomis, 1,314; third district, Costello, Rep., 308; fourth district, Thomas, Rep., by 596.
1859-As no governor was to be elected this year the campaign was not exciting, as the highest officer to be elected was secretary of state. In this year delegates were elected to the national conventions to nominate a president. The great question before the people was that of slavery, and it entered largely into the canvass, for it was understood that the delegates to the national con- vention would have the shaping of the position of the parties upon this great question. The Democratic state convention met at Syracuse, September 14th, to elect delegates to the national convention to be held at Charleston, S. C. A fierce fight occurred in this convention. A body of prize fighters had been brought there by Fernando Wood of New York, to control the convention by force, if it could not be controlled otherwise. Resolutions endorsing the admin- istration of President Buchanan were adopted. The Republican state conven- tion assembled at Syracuse September 7th, and nominated a ticket made up of candidates of Democratic and Whig antecedents. Its candidate for secretary of state was Elias W. Leavenworth. The American party met September 22d,
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and endorsed five of the candidates of the Democratic party. Leavenworth was defeated by about 1,500, showing that this was accomplished by the vote of the Know Nothings. The Republicans nominated William H. Ferry for state senator; George W. Smith for county judge; for members of assembly, first district, James McQuade; second district, Benjamin A. Allen; third district, Thomas Evans; fourth district, George Williams. The Democrats nominated Lewis Rider for state senator; N. Curtis White for county judge; for members of assembly, first district, Dan P. Cadwell; second district, Charles B. Wilkin- son ; third district, Charles Graham; fourth district, Alfred Buck. The result of the election was that Ferry, Rep., was elected senator by 3,407; Smith, Rep., for county judge, 2,616; members of assembly, first district, McQuade, Rep., 601; second district, Allen, Rep., 920; third district, Evans, Rep., 293; fourth district, Williams, Rep., 683.
It was during this year that the famous John Brown episode occurred in Virginia, and intensified the feeling on the subject of slavery to an extent abso- lutely unparalleled. This was as much of an issue in this county as elsewhere. Brown was eulogized as a patriot and martyr, and condemned as a murderer, and his real position in history is problematical.
CHAPTER XIV
1860-1869
1860- The eventful year of 1860 opened with the public mind greatly ex- cited over the approaching national conventions. The Democratic national convention was held at Charleston, S. C., where a bitter controversy arose, and it was found impossible to harmonize the views of the Democrats of the North and the South upon the slavery question. It has been frequently charged that this was intentional on the part of the South, to give them an excuse for with- drawing from the Union, which, it was thought, was in the minds of the lead- ers of the South at this time. The Northern wing of the party adjourned the convention to assemble in Baltimore, and Stephen A. Douglass and Andrew Fitzpatrick were nominated for president and vice president; they declared in favor of what was known as Squatter Sovereignty, the meaning of which was that each territory should decide for itself on the question of slavery. The southern wing of the party met at Richmond, and nominated John C. Breck- enridge for president and Joseph Lane for vice president. Still another party was in the field with its candidates; it was known as the Constitutional Union and Old Line Whig party, the candidates of which were John Bell for president and Edward Everett for vice president. The Republican national convention met in Chicago May 16th. The foremost candidate for president was William H. Seward of New York, and there was but little question when the convention assembled as to his nomination. Horace Greeley had disagreed with Seward, and opposed his nomination, claiming that he was not the strong- est candidate. He appeared in the convention as the delegate of a western ter- ritory, and his influence was great in favor of the nomination of Abraham Lin- coln. Although Seward had led on the vote for two ballots, on the third ballot Lincoln was nominated by a vote of 2311/2 against 180, and Hannibal Hamlin was nominated for vice president. Although it was claimed that Lincoln was not well known throughout the country, his nomination gave general satisfac- tion except to the supporters of Seward. The Republican state convention re- nominated Governor Morgan and Robert Campbell for lieutenant governor. The Democratic state convention nominated William Kelley for governor and William C. Crain for lieutenant governor. James T. Brady was also the Inde- pendents' candidate for governor. The Republican county convention nomi- nated for representative in Congress Roscoe Conkling; for county treasurer, John J. Parry ; for members of assembly, first district, James McQuade; second district, Levi T. Marshall; third district, George H. Champlin; fourth district, William Lewis. The Democrats nominated for representative in Congress, De- Witt C. Grove; for county treasurer, Griffith M. Jones; for members of assem-
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