USA > New York > History of the state of New York, for the use of common schools, academies, normal and high schools, and other seminaries of instruction > Part 27
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7. At the November elections, ELIAS W. LEAVENWORTH, of Onondaga, was elected Secretary of State and Superintendent of Common Schools ; JAMES M. COOK, of Saratoga, Comptrol- ler; and OGDEN HOFFMAN, of New York, Attorney-General. The Republicans obtained a majority in both branches of the Legis- lature.
8. Governor SEYMOUR, in his message to the Legislature
1854. of the succeeding year, reviewed the history of the State from its early origin, the character and condition of its inhabi- tants, and its rapid advancement in all the elements of wealth and political greatness. The first steamboat had been launched on its waters, - the first canal, at a cost of $ 7,000,000, traversed its breadth, - the earliest and most efficient system of public education originated with its founders, and its patriotismn and loyalty to the Union had never swerved.
9. He renewed his recommendation for the vigorous prosecu- tion of the several unfinished public works of internal improve- ment, and the indorsement of the proposed constitutional
Public schools of the city of New York. - Consolidation of the system. - State officers. - Governor's message. - Review of the history and condition of the State.
286
EIGHTH PERIOD.
amendment ; suggested various improvements and modifications of the criminal code, and recommended the reorganization of the State militia, and the organization of a Department of Pub- lic Instruction separate from that of the office of Secretary of Statc.
10. An amendment to the State Constitution, proposed by the Legislature of the preceding year, was at this session ratified by the requisite vote of both Houses, and by the people at a special election held on the 14th of February, requiring an appropria- tion of an annual sum, not exceeding $ 2,250,000, during the ensuing four years, for the enlargement of the Erie, the Os- wego, Cayuga, and Seneca, and the completion of the Black River and Genesee Valley Canals. An act was accordingly passed for the vigorous prosecution and early completion of these works.
11. During the month of March, a bill was passed creating the office of SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, the duties of which had heretofore been devolved on the Secretary of State ; and on the 4th of April, VICTOR M. RICE, of Erie, was elected by joint ballot of the two Houses to fill that position for the ensuing term of three years. By the provisions of the act, the incumbent of the office was also declared ex officio a Regent of the University and chairman of the Executive Com- mittee of the State Normal School.
12. Since the failure of the free-school law of 1849, and the adoption in 1851 of a modified system, retaining the rate-bill feature, special provisions had been enacted by the Legislature for the establishment of free and union schools in all the cities and principal towns and villages of the State. Departments for the special instruction and preparation of teachers had been organized in most of the academies, and annual county insti- tutes authorized for that purpose throughout the State. The State Normal School at Albany had also been placed on a per- manent basis .. Boards of Education, with local superintendents,
Prosecution of public works. - Reorganization of the militia. - Criminal code. - Department of Public Instruction. - Constitutional amendment .- Superintendent of public instruction. - Special legislative provisions for free and union schools. - Teachers' departments in academies. - Teachers' institutes. - State Normal School.
287
CLARK AND RAYMOND.
were organized under these provisions in the chief cities and towns of the State.
13. At the November election, MYRON H. CLARK, of Ontario, was elected Governor, and HENRY J. RAYMOND, of New York, Lieutenant-Governor, by a small majority over Governor Sey- mour, the Democratic, and Daniel Ullman, the Native-American candidates for the former and William H. Ludlow and Gusta- vus A. Scroggs for the latter office, with a Whig majority in both branches of the Legislature.
CHAPTER V.
ADMINISTRATIONS OF MYRON H. CLARK AND JOHN A. KING. - EXCISE
LAW. - COMMON SCHOOLS. - CONTROVERSY WITH VIRGINIA. - THE LEMMON CASE. - COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. - SCHOOLS. - STATE TAX.
1. GOVERNOR CLARK, in his first message, took strong 1833. ground in favor of an entire free-school system, the res- toration of the office of County Superintendent, the revision of the excise laws, the prohibition of licenses for the sale of intoxi- cating liquors, and the active prosecution of the unfinished pub- lic works.
2. He also invited the attention of the Legislature to the pro- gress of a controversy with the Executive and Legislature of Virginia respecting a claim of Jonathan Lemmon, a citizen of that Commonwealth, for damages for the abduction or loss of eight slaves, brought by him to the city of New York in 1852, on his way to Texas, and who were discharged from his custody by one of the judges of the Supreme Court of New York, on a writ of habeas corpus, and had escaped to Canada. Proceedings having been instituted before the Supreme Court of the United States for restitution, the Governor recommended the appoint- ment of special counsel to assist the Attorney-General in the defence.
State elections. - Governor's message. - Free schools. - County super- vision. - Excise laws. - Prohibitory restriction of the sale of liquor. - Con- troversy with Virginia. - The Lemmon case.
288
EIGHTH PERIOD.
3. The Legislature made the requisite provision for the on ployment of counsel ; and the case was subsequently argued an dismissed upon the ground of the right of the persons claimd to freedom on being voluntarily brought within the jurisdictid of a free State. An act was also passed for the suppression intemperance, pauperism, and crime, prohibiting the grantin of licenses for the sale of intoxicating liquors, and restricting th traffic in ardent spirits. WILLIAM H. SEWARD was re-elected United States Senator for the ensuing term of six years. act was passed making cities and counties liable for property destroyed by mobs within their borders, and strong resolution adopted adverse to the aggressions and further extension of slavery.
4. The Native-American party succeeded in carrying the November elections by a triumphant majority. JOHN T. HEADLY, of Orange, was elected Secretary of State ; LORENZO BURROWS, of Orleans, Comptroller ; and DANIEL ULLMAN, of New ' York, Attorney-General.
1856. 5. On the assembling of the Legislature in the ensu- ing year, Governor CLARK informed the Legislature that upwards of three thousand miles of railroads had been con- structed in different sections of the State, at an aggregate cost of $ 125,000,000, and recommended the appointment of State Commissioners for their supervision and control. He renewed his recommendation for free schools and academics throughout the several towns of the State, and the entire abolition of rate-bills.
6. During the session, acts were passed for the election, in each Assembly district of the State, of a commissioner charged with the local supervision of the public schools, where special provision for that purpose had not been made. A tax of three fourths of one mill upon cach dollar of the assessed valuation of real and personal property in the State, for the support of common schools, was substituted for the existing State tax of eight hundred thousand dollars.
Prohibitory liquor law. - Re-election of William H. Seward as United States Senator. - Destruction of property by mobs. - Resolutions adverse to slavery. - State elections. - Triumph of the Native-American party. - Legi- lature of 1856. - Governor's message. - Railroads. - Free schools and academies. - State tax for support of schools. - Assembly district commis- sioners.
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289
KING AND SELDEN.
7. At the annual election in November, JOHN A. KING, of Queens, was elected Governor, and HENRY R. SELDEN, of Mon- roe, Lieutenant-Governor, over Amasa J. Parker, of Delaware, the Democratic, and Erastus Brooks, of New York, the Native- American candidates, with a Republican majority in both branches of the Legislature. CHARLES H. SHERRILL, of Monroe, was chosen Canal Commissioner. JAMES BUCHANAN, of Penn- sylvania, was elected President, and JOHN C. BRECKENRIDGE, of Kentucky, Vice-President of the United States, over John C. Fremont of California and William L. Dayton of New Jersey. MILLARD FILLMORE, of New York, was supported for President by the Native-American organization.
8. At the meeting of the Legislature in January, 1857, 1857. Governor KING in his message estimated the entire cost of the canals of the State, extending over about nine hundred miles, at fifty millions of dollars. The value of the real and personal property in the State was stated at $ 2,208,010,609, - the num- ber of acres of improved land at 13,574,479, with about an equal area unimproved - and the population, according to the census of 1855, at about three and a half millions.
9. He recommended a judicious revision and modification of the excise law of the previous session, deeming its provisions unnecessarily stringent and obnoxious to a large portion of the citizens of the State ; the submission of a proposed constitu- tional amendment extending the right of suffrage to colored voters without a property qualification ; the speedy completion of the unfinished public works ; and a strenuous resistance on the part of the Legislature to the further extension of slavery in the territories.
10. On the second Tuesday in February, PRESTON KING, of St. Lawrence, was elected United States Senator in place of Hamilton Fish, whose term of office had expired. Acts were
Election of John A. King as Governor and Henry R. Selden as Lienten- ant-Governor. - Election of President Buchanan and Vice-President Brock. enridge. - Governor's message. - Cost of canals. - Assessed valuation of the State. - Number of acres of improved and unimproved land. - Popu- lation of the State. - Modification of the excise law. - Extension of suf- frage to colored voters. - Slavery in the territories. - United States Sen- ator.
19
290
EIGHTH PERIOD.
passed for the suppression of intemperance, and the regulation of the sale of intoxicating liquors, and providing a tax for the speedy completion of the enlarged Erie and other canals. Joint resolutions were adopted, declaring that this State will not allow slavery in her borders in any form or under any pretence, or for any time, however short ; and that the Supreme Court of the United States, in pronouncing the decision in the Dred Scott case, had forfeited the confidence and respect of the State.
11. On the 4th of July of this year, Ex-Governor WILLIAM L. MARCY expired suddenly, of disease of the heart, while on a visit to Saratoga Springs. Governor MARCY had successively filled with distinguished ability many of the most important offices in the State and national government. As Adjutant- General, Judge of the Supreme Court, Comptroller, Governor, United States Senator, Secretary of War under President Polk and of State under President Pierce, he had exhibited great ad- ministrative talent and marked statesmanship. Appropriate honors were paid throughout the State to his memory.
12. At the November election, GIDEON J. TUCKER, of Albany, was elected Secretary of State, SANFORD E. CHURCH, of Orleans, Comptroller, and LYMAN TREMAIN, Attorney-General, with Dem- ocratic majorities in both branches of the Legislature.
13. Governor KING, in his message to the Legislature 1858. of 1858, renewed his recommendations of the preceding year ; and after giving a detailed account of the condition of the State in its various departments, concluded by an energetic re- monstrance against the continued aggressions of the slave-power as manifested by its determination to force slavery into the ter- ritories of Kansas and Nebraska at the point of the bayonet.
14. At the November election, EDWIN D. MORGAN, of New York, was elected Governor, and ROBERT CAMPBELL, of Steuben, Lieutenant-Governor, by a majority of about seventeen thousand votes over Amasa J. Parker of Delaware and William H. Ludlow of New York, the Democratic candidates. Both Houses of the Legislature were strongly Republican.
License law. - Tax for speedy completion of the public works. - Death and character of Ex-Governor Marcy. - State officers. - Legislature of 1858. - Governor's message. - State elections. - Election of Governor Mor- gan and Lieutenant-Governor Campbell.
Seventh Regiment marching down Broadway.
CHAPTER VI.
ADMINISTRATION OF EDWIN D. MORGAN. - PEOPLE'S COLLEGE AT HIA. VANA. - VISIT OF THE PRINCE OF WALES. -- THE SOUTHERN REBEL- LION. - ATTITUDE OF NEW YORK. - PATRIOTIC PROCEEDINGS OF THE LEGISLATURE. - ENLISTMENT OF VOLUNTEERS. - PUBLIC MEETINGS.
1. THE first message of Governor MORGAN consisted 1939. substantially in a renewal of the recommendations of his predecessor in reference to the vigorous prosecution of the canal enlargements and extensions, the modification of the ex- cise laws, and the full extension of the right of suffrage to colored voters. His views on national affairs were eminently patriotic and conservative in their tendency. While desirous of fulfilling, in their letter and spirit, all the obligations of the Constitution, the citizens of New York could never consent to the further extension of slavery.
Governor's message. - Modification of the excise laws. - Colored suffrage.
292
EIGHTH PERIOD.
2. In reviewing the events of the past few years, - the repeal of the Missouri Compromise Act, the flagitious attempts to in- troduce slavery into the territories acquired by the Mexican War, the rigid enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law, and the systematic aggressions of the slave-power, - it was apparent that the forbearance of the free States had been taxed to their utmost endurance, and that a spirit of conciliation, and the prevalence of more moderate counsels, were absolutely necessary to the con- tinued integrity and harmony of the Union.
3. The recent invasion of Virginia by John Brown and his associates, its prompt suppression, and the condign punishment of its authors, were reviewed, and regarded as undoubted evi- dence that no designs were entertained on the part of the North to interfere with the institutions of the South, or to sanction in any way any infringement of its territory, or any attempt, by violence or otherwise, to disturb its government.
4. At the November election, DAVID R. FLOYD JONES, of Suffolk, was elected Secretary of State ; ROBERT DENNISTON, of Orange, Comptroller ; and CHARLES G. MYERS, of St. Lawrence, Attorney-General. The proposed constitutional amendment in reference to colored suffrage was rejected by a large majority.
1860. 5. On the reassembling of the Legislature, Governor MORGAN again invited the attention of the Legislature to the necessity of a speedy completion of the public works for the advancement and extension of the commerce of the State, and suggested various modifications of the civil and criminal code. He renewed the recommendation of his predecessor for the es- . tablishment of an Agricultural and Scientific College.
6. Acts were passed, during the session, changing the mode of inflicting capital punishment, providing for the extension of the rights of married women and enabling them to hold and convey real and personal estate, and amending and modifying the in- solvent laws. Provision was made for the energetic prosecution of the public works and for the endowment of the People's Col- lege at Havana. During the summer and autumn of this year,
National affairs. - John Brown's invasion of Virginia. - State officers. - Rejection of colored-suffrage amendment. - Governor's message. - Capi- tal punishment. - Rights of married women.
A ..
293
ABRAHAM LINCOLN ELECTED PRESIDENT.
the Prince of Wales, ALBERT EDWARD, visited the State under the title of Baron RENFREW, in company with the Duke of New- castle and several members of the British Government, and met with a cordial and enthusiastic reception from the Legislature and municipal bodies.
7. The contest for the Presidency during the summer and fall of this year was one of unusual interest and excitement. The struggle on the part of the Southern States for the extension of slavery into the territories recently acquired and organized, and for the definitive settlement of their claims to an equal partici- pation in these territories with the citizens of the Northern por- tions of the Union, was waged with a desperate and unyielding pertinacity, and met with an equally determined resistance on the part of their opponents.
8. The Republican party, representing the views of all those who desired to restrict slavery to its present limits under the compromises of the Constitution, and to resist its farther exten- sion upon any pretext, placed in nomination, as their candidate for President, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, of Illinois, with HANNIBAL HAM- LIN, of Maine, as Vice-President. The candidates of the South were JOHN C. BRECKINRIDGE, of Kentucky, for President, and General JOSEPH LANE, of Oregon, for Vice-President ; while the Democracy of the Northern, Middle, and Western States sup- ported STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS, of Illinois, for the first, and HER- SCHEL V. JOHNSON, of Georgia, for the second office. LINCOLN and HAMLIN were elected by a majority of fifty-seven electoral votes over all the candidates in opposition. Governor MORGAN and Lieutenant-Governor CAMPBELL were re-elected by an im- mense majority, and SAMUEL H. BARNES, of Chenango, elected Canal Commissioner.
9. During the whole of the administration of President PIERCE, and the early portion of that of his successor, Presi- dent BUCHANAN, a vigorous effort had been made on the part of the Southern States to introduce slavery into the new territories of Kansas and Nebraska. After a prolonged and bloody strug-
Visit of the Prince of Wales. - Presidential and State election. - Abra- ham Lincoln elected President and Hannibal Hamlin Vice-President. - Re-election of Governor Morgan and Lieutenant-Governor Campbell. - The Kansas and Nebraska struggle.
294
EIGHTH PERIOD.
gle between the settlers and parties from Missouri on the bor- ders of the territories, the attempt was finally abandoned, and the election of President LINCOLN accepted by the South as a distinct intimation of the future policy of the government ad- verse to the extension of the institution beyond its existing limits, and a secession from the Union resolved upon as the only remaining alternative.
10. At the ensuing session of Congress, several futile efforts were made on the part of Southern Senators and Representa- tives, and those who had hitherto politically acted in conjunc- tion with them, to effect some compromise by which slavery should be recognized and tolerated in territories lying south of the Missouri line. The failure of all these propositions deter- mined the course of the Southern States, and, on the 20th of December, South Carolina formally seceded from the Union, and was speedily followed by Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Missis- sippi, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. A provisional govern- ment of the Confederate States was organized at Montgomery, Alabama, on the 4th of February, 1861, and JEFFERSON DAVIS, of Mississippi, elected President, and ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS, of Georgia, Vice-President.
1861. 11. The Legislature of New York assembled on the 2d of January. Governor MORGAN's message was tem- perate and conciliatory, recommending a just and honorable settlement of the great national questions at issue, and the repeal, by the State, of all laws coming in conflict with the requisitions of previous congressional legislation on the subject of slavery. These moderate views were soon, however, dis- covered to be not in accordance with the prevailing temper and spirit of the Legislature.
12. On the 11th of January, joint resolutions were, with almost entire unanimity, adopted by both Houses, declaring that the insurgent State of South Carolina, after seizing the public offices and fortifications of the Federal Government, had, by firing upon a government vessel sent to the relief of Fort
Attempts at compromise. - Secession of the Southern States. - Organi- zation of the Southern Confederacy. - Proceedings of the Legislature. -- Joint resolutions for the preservation of the Union.
295
PATRIOTIC ACTION OF THE STATE.
Sumter, virtually declared war against the United States, and announcing their determination to sustain the war for the preservation of the Union ; tendering at the same time to the President whatever aid in men and money might be required to enable him to enforce the laws and uphold the authority of the Federal Government. These resolutions were directed to be transmitted by the Governor to the President, and the executives of each of the States in the Union.
13. Notwithstanding the bold and patriotic stand thus as- sumed by the Legislature, numerous public meetings of mer- chants and others were held in the large cities and towns of the State, and memorials forwarded to Congress expressive of a strong desire for a conciliatory adjustment, by that body, of the questions at issue. On the 24th of January the Governor transmitted to both Houses resolutions of the Virginia Legis- lature, recommending the assembling of a convention of dele- gates from the several States at Washington, on the 4th of February, with the view of effecting a satisfactory basis of com- promise between the conflicting parties.
14. On the recommendation of the Governor, the Legislature, on the Ist of February, after full discussion, appointed David Dudley Field, William Curtis Noyes, James S. Wadsworth, James C. Smith, Amaziah B. James, Erastus Corning, Francis Granger, Greene C. Bronson, William E. Dodge, John A. King, and John E. Wool as such Commissioners. The "Peace Con- gress," as it was termed, accordingly assembled at Washington, with Ex-President JOHN TYLER in the chair, and on the Ist of March agreed to a plan of compromise, based upon such an amendment of the National Constitution as should permit the existence of slavery south of the parallel of 36° 30' north latitude, while prohibiting it north of that line. Nine States voted in favor of this proposition, and eight against it, - the delegation from New York being equally divided in consequence of the absence of one of their number.
15. On the 3d of February, IRA HARRIS, of Albany, was elected United States Senator, in place of WILLIAM H. SEWARD, who had been invited by President LINCOLN to occupy a seat
Efforts at compromise. - Proceedings of the Peace Congress. - United States Senator.
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296
EIGHTH PERIOD.
in his cabinet as Secretary of State. A monster petition from the merchants and others of New York, with forty thousand! signatures, was forwarded to Congress, accompanied by a delegat- tion from the Chamber of Commerce of the city of New York. urging a peaceful settlement of the national difficulties.
16. The bombardment and reduction of FORT SUMTER, on the 12th and 13th of April, by the military authorities of the Confederacy, put an end to all further negotiations for adjust- ment of the controversy, which had now culminated in open re- bellion and civil war. On the 15th of April, President LINCOLN issued his proclamation calling for a military force of seventy- five thousand men, of which the quota of New York was thirteen thousand, or thirteen regiments, for the suppression of the insurrection. The Legislature promptly authorized the enrolment, by the Governor, of thirty thousand men, and ap- propriated the sum of three millions of dollars for the necessary expenses.
17. Governor MORGAN immediately issued his proclamation for the rendezvous of the State troops at Elmira and New York City ; and on the 16th of April orders were forwarded to the regiments in that city to proceed immediately to Washington. On the 24th an agent of the State was despatched to Europe, with a letter of credit for five hundred thousand dollars, for the purchase of arms. Within the ensuing month thirty thousand men were raised, and by the 12th of July were organized into thirty-eight regiments, properly officered, and furnished with all the necessary arms and equipments for the field. JOHN A. Dix and JAMES S. WADSWORTH were commissioned as major- generals.
18. On the 19th of April the Seventh Regiment of New York, with the Eighth Massachusetts Regiment, left the city for Washington, amid the enthusiastic cheers of a vast crowd of citizens congregated to witness their departure. An immense public meeting, without distinction of party, was held at Union Square on the succeeding day, presided over by Major-General
Secretary of State. - Petition of merchants for compromise. - Fall of Fort Sumter. - Proclamation of the President. - Response of New York. - Thirty thousand troops in the field. - Major-generals. - Raising and march of troops.
297
BATTLE OF BULL RUN.
Dix, and the most unbounded enthusiasm prevailed. On Sun- day, the 21st, the Sixth, Twelfth, and Seventy-First city regi- ments, comprising three thousand men, departed for Washing- ton, accompanied to the wharves by almost the entire population of the city ; followed, on the 23d, by the Eighth, Thirteenth, and Sixty-Ninth regiments.
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