USA > New York > Saratoga County > History of Saratoga County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers. > Part 88
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THE REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH OF MID- DLETOWN
was incorporated November 14, 1791. The elders and dea- cons mentioned in the certificate were John C. Connell, William Ash, Abraham I. Ouderkirk, and Franeis Still, and the paper was acknowledged before Jeremiah Lansing, and witnessed by John Bassett. We have no other record of this society, and it has no existence at the present time.
CRESCENT METIIODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH .*
At a meeting held at Crescent in 1852, by the members and friends of the Methodist Episcopal church, it was re- solved to elect a board of trustees for the purpose of pro- curing subseriptions and ereeting a house of worship for said church, and the following-named persons were so elected : William Carey, John B. Schermerhorn, Silas H. Sweetland, Seymour Birch, and Nathan F. Philo. S. H. Sweetland was chosen secretary and treasurer. A committee was also appointed to select a site on which to ereet the house, and Hiram Morse, Alfred Noxon, K. R. Kennedy, S. H. Sweet- land, and J. B. Schermerhorn were so appointed.
At the next meeting, July 20, the work of the com- mittee last named was approved, and proposals from builders being received, the contract for the carpenter work was given to James Schouton, and the mason work to Hiram Mosher.
# By. Rev. B. M. Hall.
352
HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
The building was erected in due time and accepted. It is a brick edifice forty by sixty feet, of good height, and standing firm until now. The house was dedicated to the worship of God in the winter of 1853, by Rev. Bishop Janes, who preached an able sermon, and Rev. Stephen D. Brown preached in the evening of the same day. The fol- lowing-named persons composed the first board of stewards : John Dunsback, Nathan F. Philo, Isaac Hicks, S. H. Sweetland, and J. B. Schermerhorn. The house of worship has been kept in good repair and well and finely frescoed a few years since, and is now held to be worth $6000.
From 1852 to 1859 Crescent stood alone as a pastoral charge, and the ministers who served the church in turn were Tobias Spicer, John Bannard, Daniel Marvin, W. W. Pierce, Ira G. Bidwell, and John Newman. The first of these was a retired clergyman, and served only from the or- ganization of the church in the winter to the session of the conference in June, when Mr. Bannard served the church well, but at nearly the end of the year he was prostrated by sickness, and died while the annual conference was in session, in May, 1854, aged thirty-four years. He was greatly beloved, and gave promise of great usefulness to the church. Rev. W. W. Pierce remained but part of a year, when he chose to remove to the west, and Mr. Marvin served during the remainder of the year. Revs. Bidwell and Newman were connected with Union College, and gave bnt a part of each week to the pastoral work.
In 1858 Crescent was united to Half-Moon circuit, and Rev. S. W. Brown became the pastor. He was followed by S. W. Clemans, A. C. Rose, R. Fox, H. W. Slocum, J. B. Wood, B. M. Hall, G. C. Thomas, Bennett Eaton, R. Patterson, J. B. Searles, and D. Starks, who has just ยท begun his service.
In the spring of 1865 Crescent was disconnected, and became once more a distinct pastoral charge in connection with an appointment two miles farther west, since which time the last six persons named above have been its pas- tors. Mr. Eaton closed his very useful life near the close of his first year in this place, aged sixty-four years. 1Ie left two sons in connection with the Troy conference, who are walking in his footsteps and doing good work for the Master.
The time of the organization of the Sunday-school can- not be given, but it was, at least, as early as the erection of the house of worship. It has been in operation ever since, and doing a good work, summer and winter. The offici- ary and statistics are as follows : officers and teachers, 16; scholars, 104; volumes in library, 150; music books, 150; Bibles and Testaments, 95 ; value of books, $125.
Names of Officers .- James HI. Clark, superintendent ; Warren Caswell, assistant superintendent ; Mrs. Rachel Potts, lady superintendent ; E. L. Haight, secretary ; J. H. Clark, treasurer; Jas. A. Knight, librarian ; Miss Carrie Lansing, organist.
The present officers of the church are H. Cady, H. Dummer, F. Taylor, Charles Dutcher, J. H. Clark, P. Potts, A. Clute, and W. Caswell, trustees; H. Cady, F. Taylor, L. K. Harvey, J. II. Clark, Philip Potts, and W. Caswell, stewards.
There is a small brick church two miles west of Cres-
cent, in which there is service every Sabbath afternoon, and a Sunday-school, except in winter. This place constitutes a part of the one pastoral charge, and for the whole field there is one pastor, Rev. Dr. Starks, and five class-leaders, N. F. Philo, J. B. Morrill, John I. Craver, II. Scouton, and S. M. Devoe. In these classes there are one hundred and fifty members, some of whom were the founders of the church in this place. One of these veterans is the venera- ble John Dansback, ninety-one years old. He was long a member of the Methodist Episcopal church before coming to this place. N. F. Philo, another of the founders, is yet here, and is a veteran class-leader.
Crescent is situated in the town of Half-Moon, ou the Mohawk river and Erie canal,-this last-named highway of commerce crosses the river at this place; and while we remember that it has never been a Sabbath-keeper, and that many of the citizens spend a large portion of each year upon it, and that many groceries on its borders are open seven days in the week, it is to the credit of the church that it can make so good a report.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT SMITHTOWN.
This society is one of modern growth, occupying some- what the ground formerly held by the ancient Baptist church. They have a neat chapel, standing some distance south of the Corners, formerly known as Newtown. The church is comparatively of recent origin.
SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH OF HALF-MOON.
This society is located at Clifton village ; the one at Mid- dletown and this are successors of the old Newtown church that was dissolved some years ago. That old church had its house of worship at the four corners by the cemetery, near the present residence of John Baker. Clifton Park village was an out-station, at which preaching was established for some time before the formation of a society by the pastors of the First Baptist church of Clifton Park, and under the labors of Elder F. S. Parke, assisted by Elder Parmalee, the movement developed into a new society in 1841. The early members of this congregation have been Elders Parke, Parmalee, Grant, Green, Capron, Stockwell, Keach, Greene.
A FRIENDS' MEETING
was established very early about three miles southwest of Mechanicville,-in the neighborhood of Smith, Dillingham, and Badgely. The society probably reached back towards the Revolution. The meeting-house itself was a venerable building.
Meetings were discontinued about 1850. The few Friends left in that neighborhood after that went to meet- ing at Quaker Springs and elsewhere. The building stood some years later. Among the old families of Friends were the Kirbys, Dillinghams, and Careys.
A METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
is located at Coon's Crossing, in the northwest part of the town. Their house of worship has been located there about twenty years. Earlier than that it was farther west, near Usher's mills, and was known as the Mckean church, being the home of that pioneer Methodist, Rev. Samuel Mckean,
PETER WOODIN .
MRS. PETER WOODIN
PHOTOS BY LLOYD, WATERFORD, NY
1875
RESIDENCE OF PETER WOODIN. HALF MOON, SARATOGA CO.,N.Y.
353
HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
and the place of his labor for many years. Methodist work there perhaps dates back to nearly 1800.
The church is understood to be a distinct society, but preaching is supplied by pastors from Mechanicville.
VIII .- BURIAL-PLACES.
The cemetery at Mechanicville is on a bluff command- ing extensive views of the valley and the river. There is placed the monument to Colonel Ellsworth, whose name and heroic deeds are forever associated with the capture of the first rebel flag in the great civil war. Indeed, Meehan- icville itself is better known throughout the Union as the burial-place of the brave young colonel than for any other reason. His parents reside there, and the horse the colonel rode, tenderly cared for, is still occasionally driven upon the streets of the village.
Southwest of Mechanicville, near the residence of A. D. llart, is the old burial-ground connected with the origi- nal Newtown church. Many of the pioneer families are buried there.
The cemeteries at Clifton Park village are within the town of Half-Moon, and are also very old. In the north- west part of the town, near the place of A. R. Lindsley, there is a burying-ground. For the south part of the town the cemetery at Middletown is the principal one. In sev- eral other places in the town are small family burial-places.
IX .- SOCIETIES.
A lodge of the Independent Order of Odd-Fellows, known as Mechanicville North Star Lodge, No. 174, was organ- ized Sept. 4, 1845 ; James Lee, N. G. ; John W. Cornell, V. G. The lodge continued to work about ten years. Their rooms were in the triangular building of Mr. Eher, in the north part of the village.
A division of the Sons of Temperance existed at Mechan- icville about thirty years ago. It had a flourishing exist- ence for some years. Its hall was the present room occupied by the Temperance Reform Club. In later times, 1866, a division was organized with E. O. Howland, W. P .; Dr. F. K. Lee, W. A .; George R. Moore, Secretary ; and J. F. Terry, Conduetor. It continued until Feb. 25, 1869, when the charter was surrendered, and a Good Templars' lodge organized the same evening,-Union Lodge, No. 836. The first officers were J. F. Terry, W. C. T .; Miss Satie Shonts, W. V. T .; E. W. Simmons, W. R. S .; J. D. Terry, W. A. R. S. ; James McBurney, W. F. S .; Miss Ruth Hobbs, W. T .; John Rice, W. M .; Miss E. Wheeler, W. G .; Joseph Layland, W. S .; E. C. Chase, P. W. C. T .; F. K. Lee, W. C .; Miss Nannie Lockwood, R. H. S .; Miss Rosalie Doty, L. H. S. This society only continued about a year.
X .- PLACES OF HISTORIC INTEREST.
Under this head there is nothing special to be mentioned except certain items that are embodied in the notices of early settlement. The ancient ferries, the old roads de- scribed in the county history, and the stone house above Crescent, constitute about all there is of importance. The American army, of course, crossed and recrossed this terri- tory in its movements during the Burgoyne campaign of
1777 ; but there are no traditions of skirmishes or encamp- ments during that year, though there must have been many such in the earlier colonial period. This town is in the lower portion of the triangle, where Indian trails and the routes of early French provincial armies must have con- verged and crossed either the Mohawk or the IIudson, or both.
Ou the Leland farm it is said that there was a family massacred by the Canadians and Indians in 1748. The next year a house was built on the same farm, and is still standing. The boards for the inside work were split and hewn from the bodies of pine-trees. The farm is better known, perhaps, as the old Ten Broeck place. A short distance south of this is a barn built in 1737. A Scotch- man, who bought the farm in 1820, writes of it: " I am in- formed that there was once a good well a little southwest of the house, but that it was filled up by a Dutch family, on account of its being inhabited by the ghost of a woman without a head."
XI .-- INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS.
The general occupation of the people is agriculture. The town has some very valuable productive farms, not only on the alluvial flats along the river, but on the uplands. Only a small portion of the town can be called sandy and poor. Brick-making has been carried on to some extent south of Mechanicville, a good quality of clay being found there. Industrial enterprises at Mechanicville have already been mentioned. Considerable moulding-sand is shipped from the southwest part of the town.
XII .- MILITARY.
For the correction of the soldiers' list for the war of 1861-65 we are under obligations to James H. Clark, of Middletown, whose own brave record, as well as his ac- quaintance with the men from this town, eminently fit him to prepare the roll.
WAR OF 1812.
The following are known to have been in that war from Half-Moon : Lieutenant-Colonel Shubael Taylor, Gilbert Williams, Samuel Coon, Oliver Waite, Genung A. Robin- son, Elijah Brown, Peter Van Santford, Isaac M. Devoe, William Smith, James Houghtaling, Ezra Crittenden, John Potts, Jeremiah Francisco, German Van Voorhees, Henry Soper, Esau Wilson, Thomas Follett.
WAR OF 1861-65.
Oscar L. Ackley, enl. July 22, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. 1I; killed at Olnstee, Fla., Feb. 20, 1864.
Judson B. Andrews, enl. Oct. 12, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F; capt .; not mustered ; resigned July 16, 1862.
John M. Brewer, enl. July 31, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. Il.
Joseph Il. Bullock, enl. Aug. 6, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. II.
Charles 11. Betts, enl. Ang. 5, 18:2, 115th Regt., Co. II.
Ebenezer (. Broughton, enl. Ang. 5, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. 11.
Augustus W. Bayard, enl. Ang. 5, 1862, 115th Regt, Co. HI; served ont time ; died at home.
George E. Brockway, enl. Ang. 5, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. Il.
George W. Bortle, enl. Oct. 21, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F.
Charles Buruham, ent. Sept. 21, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. C; pro. corp., March 3, 1863; killed in battle, May 6, Is61.
Rev. Fred. N. Barlow, cul. Aug. 26, 1862, Co. 11, 115th N. Y. Vols .; Pastor Bap- tist church, Half-Moon; com. Ist lieut .; resigned.
James 1]. Clark, enl. July 26, 1862, 113th Regt, Co. H; Ist sergt .; pro. 24 lient., Feb, 6, 1863; pro. Ist lient., April 22, 1864; disch. Nov. 30, 1861; wounded in right side at Olustee, Fl.t., Feb. 20, 1864; pro. brevet capt. Dec. 11, 1865.
45
354
IIISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
George D. Cole, en1. Aug. 9, 1862, 115th Ragt., Co. HI ; five desperate wounds and legs shattered at Oloster, Fla., Feb. 20, 1864; captured and sent to Andersonville, and lived to get home-a wonder to nll.
Sylvester W. Clemens, enl. Aug. 18, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. H; pro. to chaplain ; served through ; the only chaplain the regiment ever had; was pastor of M. E. church. Crescent circuit, when enlisted.
Wm. S. Clemens, enl. July 25, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. HI ; wounded once.
George Carr, enl. Aug. 5, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. II.
Henry G. Craig, en1. Feb. 16, 1862, 77th Regt., Co. F; trans. to Vet. Battalion, 77th.
Simeon W. Crosby, enl. Oct. 8, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. H.
Hlenry Clark, enl. Ang. 1862; musician, Co. Il, 115th Reg., N. Y. Vols .; served time.
Aaron Dillingham, enl. Ang. 6, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. II ; died of chronic diar- Tluma at U. S. Gen. Ho-pital, Fortress Monroe, Va., Feb. 18, 1865.
Thomas Donahue, enl. July 23, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. H ; served time.
Charles W. Dusten, enl. Jan. 15, 1864, 13th Art., Co. F.
Henry B. Dummer, enl. Ang. 5, 1862, 115th N. Y. Vols., Co. Il ; wounded ; served time.
Thomas Empterns, enl. Oct. 7, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F.
William 11 Evartts, Co. H, 115th N Y. Vols .; died at home, fall of 1862, from sickness contracted in the army.
Johu W. Filkins, enl. July 23, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. II ; sergt. ; pro. 2d lient., April 22, 1864; wounded at Petersburg ; discharged latter part of 1864. Ambrose Fowler, enl. Ang. 11, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. II ; sergt.
Peter Filmsbee, enl. July 31, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. H.
E. Raymond Fonda, enl July 21, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. H1 ; pro. to sergt .- major ; mortally wounded at Chesterfield Heights, Va., May 7, 1864; died in hos- pital, New York city.
Abram Filkins, enl. Aug. 11. 1862, 115th Regt., Co. HI.
Losee Filkins, enl. Ang. 11, 1862, 115t : Regt., Co. H; wounded in battle.
George Freeroan, enl. July 14, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. H.
Isaac L. Fonda, enl. in some cavalry regiment early in the war; re-enl. twice alterwards.
Alfred Gould, enl. July 21. 1862, 115th Regt., Co. II ; sergt .; serveil twice.
Fred. S. Goodrich, enl. July 31, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. HI ; pro. to 2d lieut. in 33d U. S. Cav. Regt., June 7, 1865.
Wm. Il. Gorham, enl. July 21, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. H ; served out time. Edward Greene, enl. Feb. 4, 1864, 25th Cav., Co. C.
Henry Haylock, enl. Ang. 13, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. H ; corporal.
George T. Hoag, enl. Aug. 8, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. Il ; corporal ; pro. to 2d lient., April 29, 1865.
George A. Iloughtaling, enl. July 24, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. Il.
James K. P. Hines, enl. July 22, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. Il .; killed in battle at Deep Bottom, Va., Ang. 16.
James Il. Hicks, enl. Aug. 14, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. H ; died in New York city, Jan. 1864, dis, con. in army.
John Hoover, eul. Feb. 4, 1864, 25th Cav., Co. C.
Henry Honeyer, en1. Feb. 2, 1864, 13th Art., Co. E.
Edward Holland, enl. Sept. 27, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F; wounded, May 10, 1864. Isaac V. Irish, enl. Aug. 13, 1862, 115th Regt .; lost one eye ; served time.
John hish, U. S. Regulars.
Patrick Kelly, enl. Aug. 9, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. Il.
James T. Kennedy, enl. Feb. 4, 1864, 25th Cav., Co. C.
George Killmer, enl. Jan. 7, 1864, 13th Art., Co. F.
John Kelly, enl. 1861, in 67th N. Y .; re-enl., and killed June 4, 1864, in front of Petersburg, Va., by a sharpshooter of the enemy.
Aaron Lewis, enl. Nov 6, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F; disch. for disability, Feb. 4, 1863.
William B Look, enl. July 23, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. H.
Philip Link, enl. Ang. 7, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. II ; killed in battle at Olustee, Fla., Feb. 20, 1864.
Abbott (. Musgrave, enl. Aug. 21, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. HI; corporal; killed in battle at Deep Bottom, Va., Aug. 16, 1864, while bearing regimental battle-flag.
John Mulligan, enl. Aug. 14, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. II.
Charles II. Millikeo, enl. Aug. 4, 1862, 115th Itegt., Co. II ; killed in battle at Olnstee, Fla., Feb. 20, 1864.
Leander Milliken, enl. Oct. 21, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F.
John McGuire, enl. Dec. 11, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F.
Alfred G. Noxon, Co. 11, 115th liegt., N. Y. Vols .; 2d lieut .; pro, to Ist lient. ; resigned 1863.
S. Mitchell Noxon, commissioned a lientenant in a western regiment.
Alfred Phoenix, en1. Aug. 5, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. Il; wounded in battle at Olustee, Fla.
George W. l'ettit, cul. Oct. 12, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F; disch. Oct 21, 1862.
Hiram Richardson, enl. Ang. 5, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. II ; died at Camp Doug- las, Chicago, Ill., Nov. 8, 1862.
Win. Ryan, enl. Feb. 13, 1864, 25th Cav., Co. B.
Frank Short, en1. Ang. II, 1862, 77th Hegt., Co. K, trans, to Vet. Bat., 77th Regt. Wm. Smith, enl. Ang. 6, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. II; killed in battle at Olustee, Fla., Feb. 20, 1864.
Ilenry Sampson, enl. Aug. 7, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. II.
Marvin Steenburgh, enl. Ang. 5, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. H ; served time.
Henry Shouts, eul. July 23, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. Il.
Andrew 11. Smith, enl. July 22, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. II; served time. John P. Silvernail, cut. Aug. 11, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. II.
Duane Shepherd, enl. Ang. 4, 18G2, 115th Regt., Co. H; died in Waterford, N. Y., summer of 1863.
Almon E. Stone, enl. Ang. 4, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. H ; wounded in battles at Petersburg and Fort Fisher, N. C.
Jacob Sever, enl. Ang. 14, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. HI.
Dewitt Sickler, enl. July 18, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. Il.
Samuel W. Seymour, enl. Aug. 9, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. II; trans. to Battery B, Ist U. S. Artillery.
Sammel D. Stevenson, enl. Feb. 3, 1864, 2d Rifles ; captain ; mustered out with regiment, Ang. 10, 1865.
John Smith, enl. Oct. 12, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F.
Solomon P. Smith, Capt. Co. II, 115th Regt .; breveted lieut .- colonel for gallant service in the field; lost an arm at Deep Bottom, Virgini.t.
Chalsey W. Simmons, 77th Regt .; instantly killed while sleeping in front of a tree, at Petersburg, in sumoier of 1864.
Frank Smith.
Benjamin Thackrah, enl. Aug. 5, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. H ; wounded at Cemetery Ilill, Va., July 30, 1864.
Elias D. Tuttle, enl. Feb. 4, 1804, 25th Cav., Co. C.
Thomas Thackeray, enl. Sept. 24, 1861, 77th Regt., Co. F.
George Vandercook, enl. Ang. 5. 1862, 115th Regt., Co. H; corporal; lost an arm in battle at Deep Bottom, Va., Ang 16, 1864.
Warren Van Olinda, enl. Ang. 6, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. H ; musician.
George T. Van Hloesen, enl. Ang. I1, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. II; wounded in two engagements; served time.
Van Dervort, capt. U. S. Colored Regt.
James Wilson, enl. July 30, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. HI ; killed in battle at Olustee, Fla., Feb. 20, 1864.
John R. Watt, enl. Aug. 14, 1862, 115th Regt., Co. H ; pro. sergeant ; wounded at Fort Fisher, N. C.
Samuel A. Winslow, enl. Feb. 4, 1862, 25th Cav., Co. C.
James Wade, enl. Feb. 8, 1864, 13th Art., Co. E.
Albert Wooden, enl. Jan. 3, 1561, 13th Art., Co. F.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
COLONEL E. E. ELLSWORTH.
It is difficult in the brief space allotted to this sketch to write the life of one whose every deed and word has been treasured by a sorrowing nation as a sacred memento. His life was short, but full of grand meaning and significance ; his death was tragic and untimely.
Ephraim Elmer Ellsworth was born in the town of Malta, Saratoga County, eight miles west of the little village of Mechanicville, on the left bank of the Hudson, April 11, 1837. ITis boyhood days were spent amidst scenes ren- dered classical in American annals by reminiscences of the Revolution, the decisive battle of Saratoga, and the sur- render of Burgoyne,-scenes often related to him at the fireside, the spirit and import of which he had a peculiar genius for receiving, and which, no doubt, exerted a power- ful influence upon his after-life. We find young Ellsworth, as a school-boy, receiving his first lessons at the district school. He loves books ; but, most of all, those which tell the story of wars, and the lives and deeds of men great in arms. He has a genius for drawing and sketching, but military figures, generals, and armies appear upon his can- vas or start from his crayon or brush. As an illustration of this proclivity for military matters, even in early child- hood, it may be stated that his mother has preserved an old fragment of a window-shade which he painted when only nine years old with common wagon-paint,-General Washington and staff is portrayed on one side, and General Jackson and staff on the other. Ile became, afterwards, a rapid and accurate sketcher.
Passing over his experience as a clerk at Mechanicville and in the city of Troy, we find him, in 1853, with " a purpose high and strong" to seek his fortune in the
IIISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
355
metropolis of the nation. He writes, asking his father's consent, " I believe that faithful, honest clerks are wanted there, and that one who knows his duty and will do it can- not fail to succeed,"-a statement showing that, young as he was, he had remarkably mature and just ideas of the principles which should govern a young man seeking suc- cess in life. These principles became as strong and ruling
Photo. by Brady, New York City.
&.&. Ellswalk
in him as his military ardor. During the year which he spent in New York he attended every drill of the Seventh Regiment which it was possible for him to attend, read books of tacties, and first felt the breaking light of those ideas of his regarding military organization which after- wards came to sueh splendid fruition. Through all his struggles for place and position in the mercantile world, which followed for several years, this ruling idea was uppermost. Under the tuition of an accomplished swords- man-De Villiers-he became master of the several systems of tactics and of the use of the sword and bayonet.
He was quite young when he went to Chicago, and asso- ciated himself in business with Arthur F. Devereaux, of Massachusetts. Through the treachery of one in whom they reposed great confidence, they suffered severe loss, and were obliged to close their business. Ellsworth then sought the law. ITis first application, written to one of the lead- ing attorneys, for some cause was rejected ; but he perse- vered, and finally completed his studies with Mr. Lincoln, at Springfield, Illinois, and was admitted to the bar, about three weeks before he became the eseort of the President- elect to Washington, in the spring of 1861.
On the 4th of May, 1859, he had organized the United States Zouave Cadets, at Chicago,-the organization which
first gave his name to the world. The march of this cele- brated regiment through the principal cities of the Union, in 1860, and the military enthusiasm it awakened, are well known. During the presidential campaign of 1860 he made many eloquent and earnest speeches for his party, reminding all who heard him of the early and palmy days of Stephen A. Douglas. To the Legislature of Illinois, that winter, he submitted a bill embodying his idea of militia reform, but no progress was made with it before that body.
The life-long friendship between him and Mr. Lincoln sprang up during the days when Ellsworth was a law student in the office at Springfield. Mr. Lincoln intended that he should be chief clerk of the war department, to which place he was recommended by letters from many leading men.
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