History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 79

Author: Durant, Samuel W
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss
Number of Pages: 920

USA > New York > Oneida County > History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 79

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employ of Mr. Samuel Stocking, of Utica, a well-known and prominent business man.

After working as a journeyman for several years, Mr. Ben- ton began business for himself as a contractor and builder, and the many monuments of his handiwork in Utica are not only an honor to their builder but a source of pride to the citizens. Among these may be mentioned a fine residence for Hon. Ward Hunt, many dwellings on Genesee Street, the new Opera House, Grove & Bailey's printing-house, Faxton Hall, Faxton Hospital, Old Ladies' Home, the Gardner, Empire, and Hackett blocks, the Mather and Buchanan Banks, in Utica, and many fine buildings erected in the suburban towns. In his advancing years he still carries on an extensive business, and is known of all men as emphatically a working man.

Mr. Benton has never been an office-seeker or taken any special interest in political affairs ; but in the spring of 1878 the Workingmen's party, in looking about for a fitting candidate to represent their interests as mayor of the city, solicited the privilege of using his name, and he was elected by a very complimentary majority over his competitors.

He brings to the helm of administrative affairs in his adopted city an unswerving integrity and honesty of purpose which are a guaranty that during his administration the public ex- penditures shall be conducted according to the strictest econ- omy, and with due regard to the wishes and necessities of his constituents. His life is an excellent exemplification of what may be accomplished by honest industry when directed by the sound principles of common sense. He has been for many years prominently connected with the Protestant Episcopal Church as a communicant of St. Stephen's Church, of New Hartford.

Mr. Benton married Miss Susan Bradley, a native of Gid- dington, Northamptonshire, England, about 1833. They have had five children,-three sons and two daughters,-all living, and four of them respectably married and comfortably located on excellent farms in the vicinity of Utica.

rain by kiedy

. SABATO SEYMOUR

299

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Buell, P. J. McQuade, John Quinn, Lawrence Bailey, Ezra P. Hodges.

Commissioners of Schools .- David P. White, John N. EarlI, Charles K. Grannis, Charles S. Symonds, William Kernan, J. C. P. Kincaid.

Superintendent of Schools .- Andrew MeMillan.

Commissioners of Excise-George Ralph, Henry Ehres- man, A. H. Sheldon ; Paul Keiser, Clerk.

Commissioners of Charities .- Homer Townsend, Joseph Faas, William L. Baldwin, David Donaldson, James Mer- riman, Wm. Blakie ; Clerk, Martin Neejer.

Justices of the Peace .- Ww. H. Phillips, Morven M. Jones, James F. Hurley, Dexter Gilmore.

POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENTS.

Commissioners .- L. W. Rogers, Thomas M. Davies, Henry Lux, Miles C. Comstock.

Chief of Police .- James Dwyer.

Assistant .- Robert McElwaine.

Chief Engineer .- Wesley Dimbleby.

Clerk .- Thomas F. Clarke.

The active police force comprises two roundsmen and sixteen patrolmen.

The official papers of the city are the Utica Daily Ob- server, Utiea Daily Republican, and Queida Demokrat.

POPULATION.

The population of Utica at different periods is shown by the following figures, taken from official sourees :

In 1800. ..... about 300 inhabitants. ; In 1835

.10,183 inhabitants.

" 1813. .1700

# 1840

12,782

" 1816

2861

# 1850

17,556

" ]820

2972

" 1860 .22,524

" 1823

.4017

" 1870

.28,804

" 1825

.. 5040

# 1875

... 32,496

" 1828

7466

" 1878 estima-

" 1830,

8335

ted ...... 35,000

HON. HIRAM DENIO.

The following obituary notice of Judge Denio was pre- pared for the Utica Morning Herald by Hon. Ellis H. Roberts, and published Nov. 6, 1871. It should have appeared in the artiele on the " Early Bar of Oneida," but was accidentally omitted :

"Oneida County has produced few jurists whe in broad views, in sound judgment, in legal learning, stand above Hiram Denie. With a cast of mind eminently judicial, with studious habits that never wearied, with conversanee with the principles as well as the letter of the law seldom surpassed, and with integrity never questioned, he deserves to rank with the magnates of the bar, of the county, and the State, and as a judge of the Court of Appeals his decisions are accepted as standards and as models. He was not a man to startle observers hy brilliance and eccentricity. His prudence, his commen sense, his thorough conscientiousness, were his marked characteris- tics. He was trained in the best school of the law, for he studied with Henry R. Storrs, whom IIenry Clay pronounced the most elo- quent man he cver listened to. Young Denio learned carly the need of thorengh preparation of his cases, and this was always a rule with him. He was a student throughout his life, and his culture was broad and varied, reaching beyond his profession into the rich fields of literature and of history. Conspicuous for his discretion and bis integrity, he was burdened with trusts as executor and trustee, and at his death was president of the Savings Bank of Utica. As a citi- zen, he was above reproach. His religieus connection had heen for years with Grace Church. In polities he was a Democrat, but he was still more a patriot. He gave all his sympathies to the Republic during the war, and voted for Lincoln for President, and sustained

the mensures necessary for the nation's life. His fame will rest apen the services which he rendered as judge of the Court of Appeals. His decision en the metropolitan police law offended extreme Demo- crats at the time, but it illustrated his independent and non-partisan character, and the party was compelled to recognize his fairness and his integrity hy a renomination. The ermine was honered by him. As he was without degmatism, he could admit and correct errors. In every sense he wasa good judge, and in some respeets his associates have pronounced him among the best and foremost that ever sat upon the bench of our highest tribunal.

"Judge Denie died at his residence on Broad Street, Sunday, Nov. 5, 1871, aged seventy-two years. He was born at Rome, on the 21st of May, 1799. He was two years a student in the academy at Fairfield, Herkimer County, with Albert Barnes for his classmate. He came to the bar in the light of some of the greatest names which have adorned our local history, and he did no discredit to their tutel- age. After commencing the study of the law with Judge Hathaway, at Rome, in 1816, he came to Whitesboro' and entered the office of Storrs & White, where he remained until 1821. In that year he be- came a partner of Wheeler Barnes, a lawyer in established practice at Reme. Oet. 30, 1825. he was appointed by the Court of General Ses- sions district attorney, to succeed Samuel Beardsley, and he served worthily in that capacity for nine years. In the mean time, in July, 1826, he became a resident of Utica, and a partner with his life-long friend, E. A. Wetmore, Esq., in the law firm of Wetmore & Denie. May 7, 1834, Mr. Denio was appointed a circuit judge for the fifth circuit, and then began the judicial career in which he won emi- nence, serving about four years. About 1836, Judge Denio formed a partnership with Hen. Ward IIunt, and for some time the firm of Denie & Hunt stood in the force-front of the profession here. On the 23d of June, 1853, he was appointed te fill a vacancy on the bench ef the Court of Appeals, and twice afterwards elected to the same posi- tion, closing his career in 1866 .. Other honorable positions he also held, such as bank commissioner, and clerk of the Supreme Court, and he was from 1835 a useful and efficient trustee of Hamilton College.

"Judge Denio married, in May, 1829, Miss Ann H. Pitkio, ef Farmington, Conn., whe survives him. Three children were born to them : one died an infant; the eldest daughter died in Madeira, where she had gone in search of health; the third is the wife of Dr. L. A. Tourtellot, of this city.

" A paralytie stroke befell Judge Denie on the 17th of October, 1868. He partially recovered from the effects of it, but was never again fully himself. For some time he had been failing. For a fort- night his friends knew that death was nigh. He has passed away, a high type of the Christian jurist, of whose memory eulogy may speak without reservation. His life proves that eminence involves no sacrifee of worth, that purity of personal character is consonant with personal, professional, and political success."

HON. HORATIO SEYMOUR .*

Horatio Seymour was born in the town of Pompey, Onondaga Co., N. Y., May 31, 1810. His ancestors were among the first settlers of Hartford, Conn., and the family has been prominent for several generations in the States of Connecticut, Vermont, and New York.

The father of Governor Seymour, Hon. Henry Seymour, removed, when a young man, to Onondaga Connty, which was then mostly an unsettled wilderness.

When Horatio was nine years of age his parents removed to Utica. He received his education at the academies of Oxford and Geneva, N. Y., and Captain Alden Partridge's military school, in Middletown, Conn. He read law in Utiea with Greene C. Bronson and Samuel Beardsley, and was admitted to practice in 1831. He served on the mili- tary staff of Governor Marey from 1833 to 1839. The death of his father, in 1837, devolved upon him the settle-

# Chiefly from Appleton's American Encyclopedia.

300

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

ment of a large estate, and virtually withdrew him from the practice of his profession.

In 1841 he was elected to the State Assembly and re- elected for three successive terms upon the Democratic ticket, and in 1845 was chosen speaker of that body. In 1842, while a member of the Assembly, he was elected Mayor of the city of Utica, which office he filled for one term. In 1848 he supported Hon. Lewis Cass for the presidency.

In 1850 he was nominated by the Democrats for Gov- ernor, and was defeated by the remarkably small majority of 262 votes, in a poll of about 430,000, by Hon. Wash- ington Hunt, his opponent ; but in 1852 he was chosen Governor by a plurality of 22,596 votes over the same com- petitor. A prohibitory liquor bill, passed in March, 1854, was vetocd by Governor Seymour, on the ground of its unconstitutionality. He was re-nominated in 1854, and in a close canvass, with four candidates in the field, and the Prohibition, Know-Nothing, and Anti-Slavery issues in the contest, was defeated by Hon. Myron H. Clark, the Whig and Prohibition candidate, by a plurality of 309 votes in a total poll of 470,000.

In 1862, Mr. Seymour was again elected Governor over General James S. Wadsworth, by a majority of 10,752 votes. In his inaugural address, Jan. 1, 1863, he said, " Under no circumstances can the division of the Union be conceded. We will put forth every exertion in our power ; we will use every policy of conciliation ; we will guarantec them every right, every consideration, demanded by the constitution, and by that fraternal regard which most prevail in a common country ; but we can never voluntarily consent to the breaking up of the union of these States or the destruction of the constitution."

On the 15th of June, Secretary Stanton, by direction of President Lincoln, telegraphed to Governor Seymour, asking if he could raise and forward twenty thousand militia to aid in repelling the threatened invasion of Mary- land and Pennsylvania by Lce's army ; and within three days twelve thousand soldiers were on their way from New York to Harrisburg.

While these troops were absent from the State the draft was ordered to be enforced in the city of New York on the 11th of July. On the 9th, General John E. Wool, com- manding the Department of the East, addressed a letter to Governor Seymour, setting forth that the city of New York was in a defenseless condition, and asked that he might be furnished with four companies of infantry. These compa- nies were on their way thither from the interior of the State when General Wool telegraphed, July 13, " Please countermand any militia that is ordered to this place." On the same day the draft riots began.

The Governor immediately went to New York, where on the 14th he issued two proclamations, one calling on the rioters to disperse, and the other declaring the city in a state of insurrection. He divided it into districts, which were placed under the control of military men, who were di- rected to organize the citizens, and three thousand stand of arms were issued to these and other organizations. Boats were chartered to convey policemen and soldiers to any point on the shores of the island where disturbances were

threatened. The Governor visited all the riotous districts in person, and, by persuasion as well as by the use of the force at his command, greatly aided in quelling the disturb- ance. During his term of office Governor Seymour com- missioned upwards of thirteen thousand officers in the vol- unteer service of the United States.

In 1864 he addressed a message to the Legislature ad- voeating the payment of the interest on the State bonds in gold; and the refusal of that body to adopt this policy greatly depreciated their valne. In August he presided over the Democratie National Convention at Chicago which put in nomination General Mcclellan for the presidency. He also presided over the convention of 1868, held in New York. The leading candidates for the nomination were George H. Pendleton, Andrew Johnson, Thomas A. Hen- dricks, and General W. S. Hancock.

Governor Seymour had positively declined to permit the use of his name, but on the twenty-second ballot the Ohio delegation, to forestall a threatened movement in favor of Salmon P. Chase, cast their united vote for Horatio Sey- mour. When Wisconsin was reached in the call of States its delegation secended his nomination, and every State changed its vote to Mr. Seymour, who was declared the unanimous choice of the convention. General Francis P. Blair, Jr., was nominated for Vice-President. At the elec- tion Seymour and Blair received 2,703,600 votes, against 3,013,188 cast for Grant and Colfax. Governor Seymour lives on an extensive and well-cultivated farm in Deerfield, three miles from the city of Utica. He is president of the American Dairymen's Association, and has delivered many addresses before agricultural societies, colleges, centennial assemblages, etc. He is also president of the Prison Asso- ciation of the United States.

UTICA POST-OFFICE.

The first citizen who had the honor of being postmaster in Utica (then Old Fort Schuyler) was undoubtedly John Post, who was also the first general merchant in the village, though Peter Smith had preceded him as an Indian-trader. A post-office was established here, as near as can be ascer- tained, in 1793, during the administration of President Washington, and Mr. Post was appointed postmaster, prob- ably on account of his business ability, and perhaps also because he could best accommodate the villagers and ad- jacent inhabitants. He appears to have held the position until 1799, when Dr. Samuel Carrington succeeded him, and continued until about 1803, when he mysteriously dis- appeared, and Dr. Marcus Hitchcock was appointed, and contioned to fill the position for about twenty-four years, being the longest term in the history of the office.

On the 21st of January, 1828, James Platt was ap- pointed, and held it until the 22d of May, 1829, when he was removed, under President Jackson's administration, and Augustine G. Dauby appointed to succeed him. Mr. Dauby held the office until the 17th of May, 1849, a period of twenty years lacking a few days.

Succeeding Mr. Danby, in May, 1849, came Mr. Joseph H. Shearman, who probably continned until the spring of 1853, when he was followed by Isaiah Tiffany, who filled the position until the spring of 1857, when Mr. Joseph

HON. ELLIS H. ROBERTS.

Ellis H. Roberts was born in Utica, N. Y., Sept. 30, 1827. He comes of respectable Welsh parentage, and is a ready scholar in the tongue of his ancestors, speaking and writing it with the fluency and aptitude of "a native to the manor born."

At the early age of nine years young Roberts learned to depend upon his own labors for a liveli- hood. He served an apprenticeship to the printer's trade in the office of his older brother, R. W. Roberts, and, by dint of persevering industry and excellent judgment, succeeded in acquiring a sound academic and collegiate education; graduating at

taining to agricultural interests it is recognized as authority.

Mr. Roberts was originally a Whig, and when that party gave place to the Republican organization he naturally gravitated to its ranks. During the dark years of the rebellion he nobly proved his loyalty in standing by the imperiled government with tongue and pen. He is a close student, a ready writer, and a sound reasoner, and has made himself a power in Central New York. Fearless and aggressive, he gives his powerful pen to the cause of what he deems the right, regardless of popular clamor, and intent only on the triumph of the eternal principles of justice.

3711177

Ellis N. Roberts.

Yale College, in 1850, with the second highest honors of his class. Shortly following this event he became one of the editors of the Utica Morning Herald, and continued in that capacity until the autumn of 1854, when he retired for a brief inter- val, but soon after became its proprietor and chief editor, in which capacity he has continued to the present time. His abilities are best illustrated by the steady progress which his journal has made in literary excellence and general influence under his careful and efficient management. Its regular corres- pondence is of a high order, and in all matters per-

Mr. Roberts was a member of the National Re- publican Conventions of 1864 and 1868, and a mem- ber of the Legislature in 1867. He was elected to the Forty-second Congress, and re-elected to the Forty-third by a handsome majority over his Demo- cratic competitor. He was also a candidate for the Forty-fourth Congress, and was candidate for mayor of his native city in 1862.

He married, in 1851, the eldest daughter of David E. Morris, of Utica, a well-known and polished Christian gentleman. Rev. Edward D. Morris, D.D., is a brother of Mrs. Roberts.

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

301

Lyon was appointed, and continued until 1861, when he was succeeded by Charles H. Hopkins, who has continued to the present time. It is somewhat remarkable that from 1793 to 1878, a period of eighty-five years, there have been only nine occupants of the position, though it includes the administrations of eighteen Presidents of the United States, counting Tyler and Fillmore.

Locations .- The first location was undoubtedly in John Post's store, on Gencsee Street, near Whitesboro'. Dr. Carrington removed it to the east side of Genesee, below Broad, Street. Dr. Hitchcock removed it again to the west side of Genesee Street, above Whitesboro', in 1805. Mr. Platt changed it to Catherine Street, near Genesee, and Mr. Dauby removed it from thence to the northwest corner of Jolin and Broad Streets, in 1829, and a few years later to its present location, on Hotel Street, in Mechanics' Hall building.

Business of the Ofice .- It is recorded by Dr. Bagg, that in one of the early years, when it was reported that the Albany mail had brought the enormous quantity of six letters for inhabitants of the village, there was a great commotion among the gossips, and it was considered an unheard-of thing. Eighty years have made a wonderful change from the horseback mail, bringing a half-dozen letters once per week, to the thundering railway trains, dropping thirty-seven mails daily, counting their letters and papers by the thousand.

By the courtesy of Mr. L. W. Hopkins, assistant post- master, we are enabled to lay a few facts and statistics before our readers, which may be of interest. We have compiled a statement showing the amount of business transacted for one quarter, or three months, which is prob- ably a fair general average for the year :

No. of letters delivered ...

258,408

dispatched.

206,601

drop letters.

35,919

pounds daily papers

10,998

weekly

22,491

postal eards delivered

69,042

dispatched.

69,201

drop postal cards ..

13,035

newspapers handled ..

160,881

Value stamps sold.

$33,415.80

The business in Utica gives employment to thirteen letter-carriers, and there are 173 street-boxes in the city. The number of mails handled is 38,-37 daily and 1 tri- weekly.

The following is a list of officers employed : Postmaster, Charles H. Hopkins ; Assistant Postmaster, L. W. Hop- kins ; Money-Order Clerk, W. C. Stevens ; Registry Clerk, J. A. Jennison ; Delivery Clerk, A. B. Downer ; Head Dis- tributing Clerk, L. A. Jones ; Mailing Clerks, G. W. Pear- son and H. D. Thompson.

UNITED STATES COURT-HOUSE AND POST-OFFICE.

This building, which is in process of erection, will, upon its completion, be one of the most commodious and well- appointed public buildings in Central New York. The total appropriations for its completion have at the present writing been $300,000. Of this the following sums, amounting to a total of $266,759.96, have been expended : For the site,

$161,192.25 ; for construction, 62,746.17; due on con- tracts, $42,821.34; leaving a balance of $33,240.24 un- used. It is estimated that $50,000 in addition will com- plete the work. The building has now reached its first story. The basement is of Trenton limestone, while the superstructure is of pressed brick. It will be occupied by the United States courts, the post-office, and internal revenue officials.

THE PRESS.

THE UTICA MORNING HERALD .*

The Utica Morning Herald and Daily Gazette is built upon the broad foundations of nearly all the newspapers of Federal, Whig, and Republican tendencies, together with some others, twelve in all, that have been published in the village and city of Utica since the first settlement of that place. The various changes and transmutations it has undergone from its infancy afford a striking commentary on the trials, the vicissitudes, and the triumph of American journalism.

The Utica Herald has a direct and unbroken lineal de- scent from the Whitestown Gazette, a little weekly sheet that was started in New Hartford, then a part of the town of Whitestown, by William McLean, in the year 1796. This was the second paper published in the county, then Herkimer County, and west of Albany, the first having been the Western Centinel, first printed in Whitesboro' two years earlier by Oliver P. Eaton, and only surviving a few months. Tracing its origin to this Whitestown Gazette, the Utica Herald becomes one of the fourteen oldest living newspapers in the United States. The list of these papers, as given in Lanman's Biographical Annals, page 568, contains but seven papers which have been pub- lished one hundred years and over, and thirty-three which have been published fifty years and over. The New York Commercial Advertiser, founded in 1793, is the only news- paper now in existence in the State which has an older origin than the Utica Herald. It is now eighty-two years since William McLean issued his first unambitious journal from the crude hand-press which had been poled up the Mohawk River in a bateau.

In 1798, two years after the publication of the Whites- town Gazette began, and the same year in which the county of Oneida was erected from Herkimer County, William McLean moved his establishment to Utica, finding New Hartford not a lucrative location even for his modest pub- lication. He continued its publication under the sounding title of the Whitestown Gazette and Cato's Patrol, in an office " near the post-office." This was the first paper of any description published in the village of Utica, and the designation of Cuto's Patrol was evidently adopted because of the imaginary relation of the name of the village in the wilderness to the ancient city which found its defender in the younger Cato.

Five years later, in 1803, Mr. McLean, being in poor health, sold out his paper to John H. Lothrop, a graduate of Yale College, who had come to Oneida County in 1795 or 1796. Mr. Lothrop's publishers were Merrill & Seward,

# Prepared by S. N. Dexter North.

302

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

and his office was at 60 Genesee Street, where the Utica Herald is still published, and within fifty feet of the iden- tical spot. Mr. Lothrop dropped the long and pretentious title, and called his paper at first The Patriot, and after- wards The Utica Patriot. Dr. Bagg records that the ed- itorship filling neither his time nor his pockets, Mr. Lothrop served also as deputy in the office of the Supreme Court clerk. He continued to be connected with The Patriot and its successor, much of the time merely as a contributor, nearly to the time of his death, which occurred in 1829.

In 1811, William H. Maynard purchased of Mr. Lothrop his proprietary interest in The Patriot, and at once assumed its editorship, with Ira Merrill as his publisher. Mr. May- nard, like Mr. Lothrop, was a lawyer, and continued to practice his profession while he edited his newspaper. He subsequently became one of the most distinguished members of the early bar of Oneida County, his journal in the mean time giving every evidence of his legal acumen and his intense political convictions. In 1816, The Patriot was united with The Patrol, a paper which had been established in January of the previous year by the printing house of Seward & Williams. The consolidated newspaper was pub- lished as the Patriot and Patrol, with William H. Maynard as editor, and Seward & Williams as publishers.

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History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 79

Author: Durant, Samuel W Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss Number of Pages: 920

Author: Durant, Samuel W
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss
Number of Pages: 920