History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I, Part 127

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898, ed
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1354

USA > New York > Westchester County > History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I > Part 127

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486

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

tured on the hopcless task of convertiug them to Clintonism. Accordingly, having singled out one who appeared to be the decentest man among them, he led him into a long argument, by which to con- vince him that Tompkins was a defaulter, and conse- quently unfit to be entrusted with the highly respon- sible office of chief magistrate of this great State. That the Bucktail, in his attempt to prove the im- maculate purity of the man of his party, was foiled by the superior address and ingenuity of his antago- nist, is not saying that he was convinced." We give this other extract from the journal-" 'Who is this?' whispered I. 'Dr. C-k, the sheriff of the county,' replied my companion, 'and a warm Clintonian.' 'And you, doctor, I am glad to see you, too; how goes the clection ?' Here a dialogue commeuced on the topic next to the heart of these two men, who alike forgetful of the rain, which now began to fall, . these two mad politicians kept up their jab- ber a full half-hour, cold, wind and rain notwith- standing." Another extract-" A few minutes suf- ficed to bring us to the ancient seat of the Van Cort- landts. I had not another opportunity of drawing Hannibal into the recital of his campaigns till the hour of retiring; his attention was wholly occupied by Cooper and his plans for bringing in De Witt Clinton."

Notwithstanding the fact that Governor Clinton was re-elected in 1820, a deadly blow was the actual result, for both to the Senate and Assembly pro- nounced majorities against him were returned.

Mr. Tompkins, who had been brought out to oppose Mr. Clinton, had a majority of three thousand two hundred and thirty-one in the Southern Senatorial District, which included Westchester County. The address at this election of a body of Federalists, which, it is asserted, had very little influence with the main force, is here recalled, because on the list of signatures to it the first is that of a greatly respected citizen of Mamaroneck, Peter Jay Munro, a lawyer of much eminence in this county, aud because the list includes also that of James A. Hamilton, son of General Hamilton, long a resident of Tarrytown, on tlie Hudson.

The significance of this paper was not only its open assault on the friends of Governor Clinton for their devotion to him, but in this galvanic display of the dcatlı scene of the distinguished party to which they had belonged, the signers sought their own future political advancement.

It is proper here to say that for two successive terms the Third Congressional District of the State, which cousisted of Rockland and Westchester, was ably and faithfully represented by Mr. Caleb Tomp- kins, of White Plains, and that for three years, from 1820 to 1823, the position of County Judge was held by William Jay, son of the Chief Justice.

The great political event which now falls under notice is the assembling of the convention ordered for

the revision of the State Constitution, and the pres- ence in it of three distinguished citizens of tlic county, all members of its bar -- Peter A. Jay, Peter J. Munro and Jonathan Ward. It would seem that whatever the motive elsewhere, the political did not enter in the selections thus made in Westchester County.

Governor Tompkins was called to preside over the convention, and in the appointment of committees it is a matter of no little honor to Westchester that Mr. Monroe was made chairman of the committee on the judiciary department and Mr. Ward a member of that on the council of revision. One of the marked periods in the debates of this body was that in which the right of the colored population to vote at elec- tions was discussed. The question was handled very dispassionately, but Mr. Jay's speech appears to have been one of the very ablest on the subject. By far the severest work of the convention was the consideration of the report of the Judiciary committee, when strong political feeling was aroused. The question really was the deposition of the old Judges. Mr. Munro, although assisted by Mr. Van Buren, struggled un- successfully to prevent the sweeping change.

At the session of the Legislature following the con- vention, Senator John Townsend, of East Chester, was made a member of the Council of Appointment, the sessions of which were the last held iu the State, its powers passing by the new Constitution to the Governor and the Senate. Mr. Townsend, at the next election in the county, was made its Sheriff and Mr. Joliu Hunter, of Pelham, was returned under the new apportionment one of the four Senators of the Second Senatorial District. In 1824, in the list of Presidential electors, the last sclected by the Legis- lature, are the names of the two brothers John and James Drake, both natives of Westchester County, the first residing in New York, but the latter on his cstate at East Chester.

As well-known, the election for President was thrown into the House of Representatives, where Mr. John Quincy Adams, after several ballotings, was elected, Mr. Joel Frost, of Putnam County, the mem- ber from the Fourth Congressional District, giving liis vote to William H. Crawford, of Georgia, then Secre- tary of the Treasury.

· The following detailed statement of the Electoral vote of Westchester County, beginning with the year 1828, will give a fair idea of the political opinions of the citizens of Westchester County from that date to the present time :

ELECTORAL VOTE OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

Year. Name of political

Name of candidate. Number

party.

of votes.

1828

. Andrew Jackson 3788

John Quincy Adams. 3153

1832 Democratic

Andrew Jackson 3133

Whig.

. Henry Clay.

2293

1836 Democratic.

. Martin Van Buren 3009

Whig.

Wm. H. t arrison 1749

Scattering

287

487

GENERAL HISTORY FROM 1783 TO 1860.

1840 Democratic

Martin Van Buren 4354

Whig. .

Win. 11. llarrison. 4083

1844 Democratic.

. James K. Polk . 4412

Whig. .

Henry Clay 4258

1848 Democratic

Lewis Cass 2146

Whig.

Zachary Taylor. 4312

Free Soil

Martin Van Buren

1312

1852 Democratic

Franklin Pierco 5283

Whig.

Winfield Scott 4033

Scattering

1856 Democratic.

. James Buchanan

4600

Whig

Miliard Fillmoro 4450

Republican.

John C. Fremont

3641

1860 Union

Stophen A. Douglas

. John Bell.

8100

John C. Breckenridge

Republican .

. Abraham Lincoln. 6771

1864 Democratic.

Geo. B. Mcclellan 9353

Republican.

Abraham Lincoln. 7593

1868 Democratic.

lloratio Seymour. 11,667

Republican

Ulysses S. Grant 9641

1872 Dowocratic.

Horace Greeley

11,112

Republican

Ulysses S. Grant

10,223

1876 Democratic.

Samuel Tilden.

12,050

Republican

. Rutherford B. Hayes

9574

1880 Democratic.

Winfield S. Hancock

11,858

Republican.

. James A. Garfield

. 11,367

1884 Democratic.

Grovor Cleveland. 12,524

Republican

James G. Blaine . . 11,286

Prohibition

435

In referring to the thirty years before Mr. Lincoln's election, some of the facts and events are important and interesting enough for record and consideratiou. General Aaron Ward of Sing Sing was, six times clected a member of Congress fulfilling his duties to the eminent satisfaction of his constituents and the pride of his neighbors. General Ward was an officer of the War of 1812, and for some years Brigadier General of the Fifteenth Brigade and Fourth Division of the Militia of the State. In the convention in 1846, for amending the constitution, General Ward represented the county and was made chairman of the committee on the militia and military officers. Mr. John Hunter of Huuter's Island, Pelham, in 1823, for one year, and from 1836, for eight years Senator from Westchester, was a man of large Wealth and high social position and an affable and a considerate gen- tleman. He was a very strong supporter of Mr. Van Buren, during whose administration Mr. Philip Schuyler, a brother-in-law of Mr. Hunter and a resi- dent of this county for many years held the con- sulship at London. Mr. Hunter was also a member of the constitutional convention of 1846.

Mr. Allen McDonald of White Plains held a seat in the Senate for two terms and is said to have been exceedingly popular. In 1836, he was appointed Adjutant General of the State. Mr. William Nelson, of Peekskill, who commenced his political career by two terms in the Assembly, in 1819 and 1820, had already in 1815 been district attorney of the Eleventh District and was again in 1822 of the county. From 1824 to 1828, Mr. Nelson was State Senator and from 1847 to 1851 the member of Congress from this District. In all these positions Mr. Nelson merits the approbation due for faithful service. He died in 1866 or 1867.

The Anti-Masonic excitements at such a high pitch in the western part of the State much less either politically or socially affected this county The brethren of the order quietly abandoned their local organization and bided the passing away of the storm. The effect, however, of this ephemeral political move- ment was to make the Democratic party as a party more compact and consequently stronger and better prepared for its mission. This was illustrated no where more thoroughly than among the "once sct not casily moved " farmers of Westchester County.

But the business disasters of 1837 made much more of an impression upon them. The impulsive trifling of President Jackson with the finances of the coun- try, which at that time was supposed to throw a halo around his inflexible will and courage, brought upon his successor, through the troubles which iu his ad- ministratiou the people were made to suffer, an ob- loquy and blame which Mr. Van Buren did not indi- vidually deserve.

The fact that the Democratic majority in the coun- ty was reduced frou over one thousand two hundred in 1836 to two hundred and seventy in 1840 shows, making all allowances for the humors of the "log- cabin and hard cider " campaigu, that a deliberate, sober, first and second thought of the people was making Mr. Van Buren and his great party eat the bread of affliction. From this time for some years the two parties were more closely matched. In fact the lines of both were much disturbed. The ques- tions of the Tariff and Internal improvement were those which divided the professed politicians, but personal preferences and antipathies in certain divi- sions and localities were confounding plans and calcu- lations. The advent, too, of a secret political organi- zation, styled Native American, which had in the several towns a large following, was very unsettling as to the county and town nominations and elections. To be added to all this was the dissensions which sprang up as the question of the extension of slavery was discussed. As a consequence, the majority of Mr. Polk in the county over Mr. Clay was still less than that of his party four years before.

The admissiou of Texas into the Union, which in- creased the Southern strength and the war with Mexico, which necessarily followed it, added new subjects for difference of opinion and debate. At thic Gubernatorial election, in 1846, the defection in the Democratic party, which ensured the defeat of Silas Wright, brought on confusion and revolt. The feel- ing was intensified when the death of Mr. Wright in the succeeding August was announced. During that summer, at the primary meetings and conventions of the Democracy, bitter struggles were taking place. In September the State convention met at Syracuse, and the Radicals, being deprived, as thicy alleged, of their proper representation assembled in October, at Ilerkimer. Mr. Hunter's name appears in thic call. In this internal di-sension the question involved was

488

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

the extension of slavery into the territories. The Herkimer convention demanded that the principle of non-extension, called also the Wilmot Proviso, be in- troduced into the party platform. The Whigs in the canvass of 1847 were signally victorious, but the seat of Mr. James E. Beers in the Assembly was con- tested by Colonel J. R. Hayward, who had held it the previous year. Mr Hayward was unsuccessful. In 1848 the breach between the two factions was made still wider at the meeting of the two conventions styled the " Old Hunker " and the "Barnburner," in both of which Westchester Democrats were repre- sented. Among the names best remembered in the ranks of these two divisions are in the first, Dr. Benjamin Brandreth, Jesse Lyon, Andrew Findlay, Warren Tompkins, Abraham Strong, and in the sec- ond Joseph H. Anderson, Colonel Hayward, Judge Schrngam, Honeywell Watson, Robt. H. Coles, Will- iam Fisher, Dr. Finch, and Samuel Ferris.

Upon the nomination of General Lewis Cass for the Presidency a complete division took place, and sepa- rate National and State tickets were selected. Mr. Van Buren was named as the Free Soil candidate for the high position which he formerly held. In the election which followed the Whig candidate General Zachary Taylor, who was elected, received in this county a majority over the entire opposing vote. General Cass fell bchind Mr. Van Buren six thousand votes in the State but largely exceeded him in Westchester County. Some of the most ardent leaders of the Democracy of earlier days had by this time become the stanchest friends of the policies advocated by the Whigs. The old Senator and Sheriff, John Townsend, is mentioned in this connection.

The history of the next four years is of the weak- ening of the hold thus obtained by the Whigs. The death of General Taylor, the accession of Mr. Fill- more, whose views were materially different from Gen. Taylor's, and the exactions of the "Southern Oli- garchy," as Mr. Sumner used to style the Southern leaders of both sides, brought in serious dissensions among the friends of the party in power. The Com- promise measures of Mr. Clay, however, served both the great partics as a cement for the divisions in their ranks and within the old liues was carried on the Presidential contest of 1852. The county of West- chester gave Franklin Pierce, who was elected, twelve hundred clear majority. The number of votes cast had increased, it would seem, over sixteen hundred. Little is remembered of an exciting or important na- turc during this national administration, so far as this neighborhood is concerned, save the hardly-sup- pressed indignation (first) at the quite unnecessary strain which the abettors of the Fugitive Slave Law were putting upon the feeling of loyalty and obedi- ence among the people and (second) at the intervention for conscience or for effect, of the small body of Abolitionists, who really had no following in this county.

But the Presidential election of 1856 developed the fact of great impatience, and of great unwillingness to be made uncomfortable, by extremists. Althoughi the free soil vote, less than one-fourth in 1848, was, in 1856, more than one-third, it meant not for a moment interference with slavery in the Southern States. The sentiment of abhorrence for the institution never took form beyond its non-extension, and the rights of the States were as fully cherished, as devotion to the Union was afterward the absorbing principle. State sovereignty had free and open statemeut, and the charge of intermeddling, whenever alleged, was laughed down as an absurd insinuation.

The course of Mr. Buchanan in his Lecompton policy, which was believed to be in dircct contradic- tion to the principle of popular sovereignty, upon which he was elected, brought out the indignant op- position of a portion of his northern and western supporters, and their representatives in Congress, prominent among whom was Mr. John B. Haskin, the member from the Ninth District of New York, in which was Westchester County. In the Congressional election of 1858, in this District, the course of the ad- ministration was made the issue, and Mr. Gouverneur Kemble, having been nominated by the Democratic party, Mr. Haskin was placed by his friends in the political field. He was supported by the Republicans, and elected, by a small majority, over his opponent. To this election, and that in the sixth district of Peunsylvania, where Mr. Hickman, an associate of Mr. Haskin, was in like manner opposed by the whole strength of the administration, the eyes of the whole country were turned. Said a gentleman from Morrisania, "Should Mr. Haskin be defeated, and an administration candidate be elected, every post-office and every office of the Government would be illumin- ated." Au incident in Congress, of a startling na- turc, in the early part of 1860, brings to notice the continued, determincd and ardent part taken, after his re-clection, by the representative of Westchester County in the fulfilment of his duties. While ad- dressing the House Mr. Haskin accidentally let fall from the breast pocket of his coat a loaded revolver. On the question of the propriety of carrying this wea- pon into the House, not only in Congress, but among his constituents and throughout the country, warmest discussions followed. The explanation given was preparation for self-defense in the unprotected ueigh- borhood in Washington, in which Mr. Haskin re- sided, in which much lawlessness prevailed.

Many years have passed since this incident, but, taken in connection with the Rebellion which soon fol- lowed and the tragic and dastardly scenes in it, it il- lustrates the dangers in public life at the time and the unflinching determination of those called to mingle in the discussions introductory to the strife.

We come now to the stirring canvass and clection in which Mr. Lincoln was carried into the Presiden- | tial chair, and when the party which had so long,

489

GENERAL HISTORY FROM 1783 TO 1860.

almost continnonsly, conducted the government, passed into that long exile which has just been ter- minated. At the State Convention of the Demo- cratic party, in which Thomas Smith, Gilbert S. Lyon and Abraham Hyatt represented this county, the Hon. Edwin Crosswell, of Greenburgh, was named as one of the two delegates from the Ninth District to the National Convention of the Democratic party, to be lield at Charleston in the next April, to nominate its candidate for President. At a convention of Demno- crats of the Ninth District, dissatisfied with the ac- tion of the State Convention, William Radford, of Yonkers, afterward member of Congress, was chosen delegate to Charleston.

The State Convention of the Republicans was held in April, 1860, at Syracuse, and E. F. Shonnard, of Yonkers, and Harvey Kidd, of Westchester, from the First Assembly District, Edmund J. Porter, of New Rochelle, and John J. Clapp, from the Second As- sembly District, Odle Close, of North Salem, and J. H. Platt, of Ossining, from the Third Assembly Dis- triet, represented this county. The Hon. Edmund J. Porter, formerly Corporation Connsel of the City of New York, was chosen as the delegate to the Na- tional Republican Convention at Chicago, at which Abraham Lincoln was nominated.

On the ticket voted for Presidential Electors, on the Republican side, the Ninth Congressional District candidate was the Hon. William H. Robertson, then Connty Judge; and on the other ticket, whose motto was said to be "Union for the sake of the Union," was placed the name of the Hon. Abraham B. Con- ger, of Rockland, formerly State Senator. Amid the heated discussions in the county, at the public gath- erings preparatory to the election, peace and order were everywhere preserved ; and when the result was reached, although the majority in Westchester County was decidedly against Mr. Lincoln, the ver- dict was, as readily as after any previous contest, ac- cepted and snstained.

Among those chosen for office at this time was Edward Haight, who, although in the opposition, proved to be a valnable and useful member in the Lower House at Washington, during the first two years of Mr. Lincoln's administration.

With a statement of the patriotic movement, be- fore the inangnration of Mr. Lincoln, to save the Union, in which this connty participated, we com- plete this bird's eye view of its political history. To the convention to be assembled at Albany, delegates from the three Assembly Districts were chosen, and the following well-known citizens attended its sessions : W. W. Woodworth and Thomas Smith, of Yonkers, Darius Lyon, of East Chester, Dr. W. J. McDermott, of Westchester, from the First District ; Alexander M. Bruen, the Hon. James E. Beers, of Port Chester, the Hon. John W. Mills and the Hon. E. G. Sutherland, both of White Plains, from the Second District ; Jndge Robert S. Hart, Uriah Hill,

William S. Tompkins and James M. Baird (afterward Register of the county), from the Third District.

The following gentlemen had been selected as al- ternates : William Radford, James Parker, P. L. Mc- Clellan, Abraham Hatfield, William L. Bard, Henry E. Bird, Frost Horton, Colnimbus W. Seeley, Drs. Ben- jamin Brandreth and William P. Woodcock, and the Hon. Jacob Odell. The assemblage proved to be one of the most angnst in the history of the State. The call and the resolutions passed had in view the nrging npon the government of a conciliatory conrse, the non-en- forcement of its authority unless attacked, and the adoption of measures of compromise.

Perhaps the effect of this action in New York and of others at the time, was the longer restraining the arm of the government nntil some overt act against its constituted authority should be committed which would unite the whole people in rebuking seces- sion and disnnion. A resolution offered by Judge Hart, of this county, and passed by this convention, looking to the possible necessity for further delibera- tion and action by this body, makes the more clear how, by the precipitancy of the Sonth, these well- meaning and persistent efforts for conciliation were rendered ineffectnal.

We present now, from the several censnses of the State and General Government, a view of the growth of the County in the number of its inhabitants from the beginning of the Colonial period to the year 1880.

THE TEN COLONIAL CENSUSES OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

1698.«

1703.b

1712.€

1723.4

1731.e

1737.f

1746.«

1749.1

1756.

1771. j

Men

316

1050

Women

951

Children

Negroes

146

White Males under 10 ...

1054, 930

2135

2511

3153

3813

16 and under 60

472 560

2090

2312

2908

5201

.. above 60.

303

228

1039

549

children ..

White Females under lu

under 16

577

1701 1890

1640

2233

2379

5266

.4 above 60.

469

912

Black Males.

176

153

303

296

793

above 10

16 and under 60

over 16.

above 6/1 ..

151

140

138

238

267

760

above 16.

140

279

280

887

All above 60.

TOTAL ...

1063 1946 2818 4409 6033

:745 9235 10703 13257

21745

· N. Y. Col. MSS., vol. iv. p. 20.

৳ N. Y. Col. MISS., vol. v. p. 339.

e N. Y. Census, 1855, Introd. p. v.

d Doc. Hist. N. Y., vol. i. p. 693, N. Y. Col. MSS., vol. v. p. 702.

e N. Y. Col. M$S., vol. v. p. 929. Doct. list. N. Y., vol. i. p. 694.

[ N. Y. Col. MISS., vol. vi. p. 133.

Doc. list. N. Y., vol. I. p. 694.

N. Y. Census, 1885, Introd. p. vi.

b N. Y. Col. MISS., vol. vi. p. 550.

Doc. llist. N. Y., vol. i. p. 636.

j N. Y. Col. MISS., vol. viii. p. 457. N. Y. Doc. Hist., Vol. i. p. 697-

Black Females under 10

.. under 16

above 10.

254

11×

944

2095

2263

2440

3483

above 10.

16 and upwards

.. 16 to 60.

539

386

.. children

under 10

269

180

270

418

916

127

1879 2110

above 10 ...

.. under 16.

672

707

155

children

.. under 16

children ...

& N Y. Col. MISS., vol. vi. p. 392.

490

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

THE POPULATION OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY EROM 1782 TO 1880.

Year.

Population.

Year.

Population.

1782.

8,524

1840.

48,686

1786.

20,554

1845.

47,394

1790.

24,003

1850.

58,263

1800.

27,373

1855.

80,678

1810.

30,272

1860.

99,497

1814.

26,367

1865.

101,197

1820.

32,638

1870.

131,348

1825.

33,131

1875.

103,5641

1830.

36,456

1880.

108,9881

1835. .

38,789

Payant Coffey

CHAPTER IX. THE CIVIL WAR, 1860-65.2

BY FREDERICK WHITTAKER.

Late second lieutenant and brevet captain Sixth New York Veteran Volunteer Cavalry.

From Lincoln's Election to the Taking of Sumter-The Two Years' Volun- unteers -- The Three Years' Volunteers-Home Affairs to the Election of Governor Seymour-The Draft Riots-From the Riots to the Close of the War-The Aid Societies-The Bounty Bonds-The Return of the Volunteers-The Roll of the Dead-The Drafted Men-The Grand Army Posts.

FROM LINCOLN'S ELECTION TO THE TAKING OF SUMTER .- From the day when the votes were counted, after the famous election of 1860, the question of Civil War was reduced to one of time. The party that then came into power affected to believe that it would not

1 If to these last two enumerations he added the population of West Farms, King's Bridge and Morrisania, which, in 1874, were annexed to the city of New York, the number of the inhabitants within the hounds of the old Westchester County was, in 1875, 139.758, and, in 1860, 150,614. 2 The information contained in this chapter, as to the towns of Cort- laudt and Yorktown, is from material gathered by the editor-in-chief. The records of Cortlandt were carefully kept by Mr. Coffin S. Brown, who was supervisor at the time of the war, and took a pride in the matter. The items couceruing the men enlisted come from the reports of the State Adjutant-General, in the form of the original muster-rolls of all the regiments that left the State. Of recruits that joined, after first muster, it was impossible to obtain a full and au- theutic list ; therefore I have not attempted a partial one. The informa- tion as to bounty bonds is obtained from the records. The particulars as to relief societies are credited as follows : Port Chester, Mr. John E. Mar- shall, treasurer, who kindly loaned me bis hook of accounts; Ossining, Mrs. Catharine E. Vau Cortlandt, secretary and treasurer of the society, who sent me the final report of its work, having hunted up the same with much trouble ; Cortlandt, Mr. Andrew R. Martin, from Mr. Coffin S. Brown. I have further to acknowledge use of the files of the Eastern State Journal, from Mr. Hendrickson, tbe present proprietor ; of the Yonkers Gazette, in the year 1864, from the gentlemen in charge of the office. The sources of other information are mentioned in the body of the chapter. A history of the county during the war might easily he expanded iuto a volume of a hundred pages or more .- F. WHITTAKER.

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History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I, Part 127

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898, ed Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co. Number of Pages: 1354

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898, ed
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1354