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 28
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19. Before the Ist of July the banking and other institu- tions and capitalists of the city of New York had advanced to the government upwards of five and a half millions of dollars for the support of the troops, and individuals had contributed another million. One hundred and twelve regiments, with one hundred and twenty thousand men, had been raised in the State, of which New York City contributed forty-seven thousand. During the year the State had been enabled, through the patri- otic liberality of its wealthy citizens and numerous moneyed in- stitutions, to advance to the United States Government a loan of upwards of two hundred millions of dollars, one hundred and fifty millions of which was contributed by the bankers, capi- talists, and citizens of New York City.
20. In the mean time the Confederacy had been augmented by the accession of the States of North and South Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee ; its capital removed to Richmond, Vir- ginia ; its government completely organized ; its Constitution adopted, and its Congress in session. The preliminary battle of the campaign, at Bull Run, near Fairfax, Virginia, had resulted most disastrously to the national forces ; but the depression consequent upon this unexpected defeat was speedily surmount- ed, a new levy of twenty-five thousand troops for three years ordered by Governor MORGAN, and volunteers flocked in thou- sands to the camp of General Mcclellan at Washington.
21. In the vigorous prosecution of the war, no division of sentiment at this period existed. All parties united in the most determined efforts to crush a wanton and causeless rebellion ; and all previous political differences were forgotten in the patri- otic duties of the hour. The November elections passed over without excitement. HORATIO BALLARD, of Cortland, was elected
City of New York. - General enthusiasm. - Advance of funds. - Pa- triotism of the people. - Progress of the Confederacy. - Removal of the capital to Richmond. - Battle of Bull Run. - New levy of troops.
298
EIGHTH PERIOD.
Secretary of State; LUCIUs ROBINSON, of Chemung, Comptrol- ler ; DANIEL S. DICKINSON, of Broome, Attorney-General ; WIL- LIAM B. LEWIS, of Kings, Treasurer ; WILLIAM B. TAYLOR, of Oneida, State Engineer and Surveyor ; WILLIAM B. WRIGHT, of Sullivan, Judge of the Court of Appeals ; and FRANKLIN 1. ALBERGER, of Erie, and BENJAMIN F. BRUCE, of Madison, Canal Commissioners.
CHAPTER VII.
ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR MORGAN (continued). - PROGRESS AND TERMINATION OF THE REBELLION. - RE-ELECTION AND ADMINISTRA- TION OF GOVERNOR SEYMOUR. - COMPLETION OF THE ENLARGED ERIE CANAL. - DRAFT RIOTS IN NEW YORK. - CONSPIRACY TO BURN THE CITY. - ELECTION OF GOVERNOR FENTON. - ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN.
1. THE Legislature again assembled on the first Tuesday in January, 1862. Governor MORGAN, after a general exposi-
1862. tion of the condition of the State, recapitulated the events of the preceding year, and congratulated the Legislature on the spirited and patriotic response of the State to the call of the government for the defence and preservation of the Union. He pledged his own continued exertions and those of his fellow- citizens in the prosecution of the war, and the devotion of the lives, fortunes, and sacred honor of their constituents to the common cause.
2. During this year the State continued its gigantic exertions in support of the war for the suppression of the rebellion. Under the successive calls of the President for six hundred thousand men, one hundred and twenty regiments were sent into the field, and upwards of three and a half millions of dol- lars were paid for bounties to volunteers, carrying the State war expenditure, including town and county subscriptions, to twenty millions of dollars.
3. The entire number of regiments sent to the field during the preceding year was one hundred and fifteen, with 120,578
State officers. - Governor's message. - Prosecution of the war. - Con- tinued support of the government. - Raising of additional troops and money.
299
GOVERNOR SEYMOUR'S MESSAGE.
men, increased during the present year by recruits for the regu- lar army, volunteers, and enlistments for regiments of other States, to a grand total of two hundred and twenty-five thousand men. The losses of these regiments at the battle of Bull Run, and in other skirmishes during the year, amounted to about twenty thousand, killed, wounded, and prisoners. The entire force in the field was scattered over nine States in forty-three different brigades, and under the command of twelve generals of division, and bore an active part in every engagement with the rebels.
4. At the opening of navigation in this year, the enlarged canal was completed throughout its whole extent. The total cost of this great work, including the interest on loans made for its construction, amounted to nearly fifty millions of dollars. The foreign exports from the State amounted to $ 111,000,000, and its imports to $ 191,500,000.
5. At the fall election, HORATIO SEYMOUR, of Oneida, the Democratic candidate, was re-elected Governor, and DAVID R. FLOYD JONES, of Suffolk, Lieutenant-Governor, by a majority of about ten thousand votes over Major-General JAMES S. WADS- WORTH, and LYMAN TREMAIN, the Republican candidates.
6. Governor SEYMOUR, in his message to the Legisla- ture of 1863, dwelt at great length upon the violation, by 1863. Congress and the government, of the rights of the States and the security of persons and property ; traced the origin of the war to a pervading disregard of the obligations of the laws and of the Constitution, a disrespect for constituted authority, and local and sectional prejudices. A spirit of insubordination, he observed, had sapped the foundations of municipal, State, and national authority.
7. The war, in his judgment, might and should have been averted ; but when its floodgates were opened, the administra- tion was inadequate to grasp its dimensions or to control its sweep. The government was borne along with the current, and struggled as it best could with the resistless tide. Extravagance and corruption pervaded all its departments, followed by arbi- trary arrests in violation of the Constitution and the laws, dis-
Completion of the Eric Canal enlargement. - Exports and imports. - State election, - Message of Governor Seymour.
300
EIGHTH PERIOD.
regard of the rights and authority of the State, suppression of public journals, proclamation of martial law, and the at- tempted emancipation of the slaves.
8. The Union must be restored in its integrity as it existed before the war. The situation as it stood must be accepted : our armies in the field must be supported, and all the constitu- tional requirements of the government promptly responded to. Under no circumstances could a division of the Union be con- ceded. Every policy of conciliation should be exhausted, every inducement to peace offered, every right of the South guaranteed, but the nation must remain one and indivisible. Ex-Governor EDWIN D. MORGAN, early in February, was elected United States Senator in place of Preston King, whose term of office had expired.
9. The aspect of the national conflict with the forces of the rebellion, at the commencement of the month of July of this year, was gloomy and discouraging in the extreme. The Army of the Potomac, under the command successively of Burnside and Hooker, after repeated and disastrous defeats at Fredericks- burg and Chancellorsville, had been compelled to fall back to the north to cover Baltimore and Washington, upon which the troops of General Lee were marching ; Grant was held at bay before Vicksburg, and Banks at Port Hudson ; Rosecrans inactive in Tennessee ; and Hooker, on the eve of a general and decisive engagement in the heart of Pennsylvania, displaced by Meade.
10. At this momentous crisis, when the salvation and future destiny of the nation hung upon the triumph of our arms, and another defeat would have been irretrievable ruin, the voice of faction was heard over our land from many of its most trusted public men, proclaiming the inevitable failure of the war for the suppression of the rebellion, casting reproach upon the President and his counsellors, depreciating the characters and conduct of the commanders in the field, denouncing the civil and military authorities for their efforts to sustain and defend the country, and exciting the reckless population of our large cities and towns to open resistance to the execution of the laws of Congress and the orders of the President providing for additional recruits to our depleted army.
Condition of public affairs. - National reverses. - Factious proceedings.
301
DRAFT RIOTS IN THE CITY.
11. On the 4th of July, the day succeeding the great victory of our arms at Gettysburg, and before intelligence of the result was known, Governor SEYMOUR, in an address delivered before a large audience at the Academy of Music in the city of New York, spoke in most desponding terms of the condition of pub- lic affairs, commenting freely upon the folly of persisting in a fratricidal war, entered upon without necessity, and which might easily have been avoided; and solemnly warning its sup- porters of the peril and wickedness of pursuing a course which might bring the evil of civil war into our own homes.
12. On the 13th of July, pending the draft in the city, or- dered by the President under the Enrolment Act of Congress, a tremendous and formidable riot was commenced at the opening of the drawing at the corner of Third Avenue and Forty-Sixth Street, which convulsed and devastated the city for three days and nights without intermission. The military anthorities were driven from their station, and compelled to close their books ; the police were overpowered or held at bay ; dwellings, stores, the Colored-Orphan Asylum, and several other public buildings, were burnt and plundered ; numerous brutal and barbarous mur- ders were committed ; and it was only by the final interposition of a body of United States troops, under the command of Major- Generals CANBY and Dix and General HARVEY BROWN, that the riot was, on the fourth day, finally suppressed.
13. On the second day of its continuance, and while it was in full activity, Governor SEYMOUR reached the city, and after issu- ing his proclamation declaring the city in a state of insurrection, and commanding the restoration of order, immediately repaired to the City Hall, where he addressed an immense crowd of the rioters, informing them that he had sent the Adjutant-General to Washington to confer with the authorities there for the sus- pension of the draft, requiring them to cease their outrages upon persons and property, and quietly to disperse, awaiting the re- sults of his interference in their behalf, upon which they might confidently rely. This appeal, however, was utterly unheeded ; and the Governor found himself compelled to invoke the inter- ference of the military authorities.
Governor Seymour's Fourth-of-July address. - The draft riots in New York City. - Continuance of the riots. - Iuterposition of Governor Seymour.
.
302
EIGHTH PERIOD.
14. The amount of property destroyed by the rioters on this occasion, for which the city was subsequently held responsible to the owners, was valued at about two million dollars, and not far from a thousand lives were estimated to have been lost. Its fury was not confined to the city, but extended into the suburbs on every side, and to the principal towns and cities on the Hud- son. Through the energetic action of the Recorder, JOHN T. HOFFMAN, the chief leaders in the riots were promptly tried, convicted, and sentenced in accordance with law.
15. President LINCOLN having declined to suspend the draft, on the application of Governor SEYMOUR, Major-General DIx, on the 30th of July, addressed a communication to the latter, re- questing his aid, as commander-in-chief of the militia of the State of New York, in the enforcement of that measure. This having been declined, forty-four regiments and batteries of ar- tillery were placed by the United States Government at the dis- posal of General Dix for that purpose ; and a proclamation was, on the 18th of August, issued by Governor SEYMOUR, prohibiting all riotous demonstrations on the part of those opposed to the draft, and denouncing the severest penalties against all persons concerned in such unlawful proceedings. The draft was accord- ingly resumed and completed without further resistance.
16. The number of volunteers obtained under State author- ity during the year was twenty-five thousand, and upwards of thirty thousand additional recruits were enlisted and drafted under the authority of the United States Government. The whole number of troops raised in the State up to the end of the year was two hundred and ninety-three thousand, of which number two hundred and thirty thousand were enlistments for the period of three years.
17. On the same day with the termination of the great bat- tle of Gettysburg, Vicksburg was surrendered to General Grant. Port Hudson was soon afterwards evacuated ; and the splendid victories of Chattanooga, Chickamauga, and Lookout Mountain. achieved during the autumn by Grant, Sherman, Hooker, and
Amount of property destroyed and lives lost. - Renewal and enforcement of the draft. - Enlistments and volunteers. - Number of New York troops in the field. - Surrender of Vicksburg and Port Hudson. - Battles of Chat- tanooga, Chickamauga, and Lookout Mountain.
303
GOVERNOR SEYMOUR'S MESSAGE.
their gallant associates, diffused a universal feeling of joy throughout the country.
18. At the annual election in November, CHAUNCEY M. DE- PEW, of Westchester, was elected Secretary of State, LUCIUs ROBINSON, Comptroller, and JOHN COCHRANE, of New York, At- torney-General, by majorities averaging about thirty thousand, together with large Republican majorities in both branches of the Legislature.
19. The Legislature reassembled on the first Tuesday 1864. in January of the succeeding year. Governor SEYMOUR, in his annual message, estimated the aggregate revenue of the State canals for the past three years at $ 17,722,284, leaving a balance of about fourteen and a half millions of dollars, after defraying all expenses of superintendence and repairs. He re- ported the agricultural and educational interests of the State as in a flourishing condition, notwithstanding the burdens im- posed by the war,.
20. The Prest ,ont and Congress, he observed, had, by the continued exercise of arbitrary power, supported by the army and navy, and acquiesced in by the people, effected a complete revolution in the government. National bankruptcy and ruin were imminent. The government in its persistent attempts to subjugate the South, in violation of its solemn pledges at the commencement of the war, had failed in the attainment of its ends ; and it remained for a wiser statesmanship to restore peace on a constitutional and conciliatory basis.
21. A State tax of five and a quarter mills on each dollar of the assessed valuation of real and personal property was im- posed by the Legislature during its session, three fourths of a mill to be applied to the support of common schools, one and a quarter for general purposes, about two for bounties, and the residue for canal expenditures and works of internal improve- ment.
22. On the 22d of April the Governor communicated a mes- sage to the Legislature, disapproving in strong terms of the joint resolution adopted by the two Houses providing that no distinction should be made in the currency in which the domes-
Governor's message. - Revenue of the canals. - National affairs. - State tax.
304
EIGHTH PERIOD.
tic and foreign holders of State stocks should be paid ; insist- ing that, whatever arrangements might be made for the payment of the former, the faith of the State was irrevocably pledged to redeem its obligations to the latter in specie. These views of the Governor were assented to by the financial authorities of the State, and carried into effect.
23. During the year, 161,604 men were sent into the field by the State authorities, under calls of the President ; making, in all, an aggregate of 437,700 contributed by the State since the commencement of the war. Apprehensions having been enter- tained of a recurrence of riotous proceedings in the city of New York at the annual November election, Major-General BUTLER was ordered to the city, and a military force of about seven thousand men placed at his disposal for the preservation of public order.
24. President LINCOLN was re-elected by an overwhelming majority of the popular and electoral vote over Major-General GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN the Democratic candid? e; and ANDREW JOHNSON, of Tennessee, elected Vice-President by a similar vote over GEORGE H. PENDLETON, of Ohio. REUBEN E. FENTON, of Chautauque, was elected Governor, and THOMAS G. ALVORD, of Onondaga, Lieutenant-Governor, by a majority of about ten thousand votes over Governor SEYMOUR and Lieutenant-Governor JONES. Both branches of the Legislature were strongly Repub- lican.
25. On the night of the 25th of November, a daring attempt was made by incendiaries to set fire to the principal hotels and public buildings of the city of New York. Robert Kennedy, one of the culprits, was arrested, tried, and convicted by a court-martial convened by Major-General Dix, and subsequently executed, after making a full confession of the conspiracy, on the part of a number of confederates, to destroy the city.
26. During the year a succession of brilliant victories were achieved, under the command of Lieutenant-General GRANT, on his march from the Potomac to the Confederate capital ; At-
Payment of foreign creditors. - Increase of enlistments. - Presidential election. - Re-election of President Lincoln, and election of Governor Fen- ton. - Conspiracy to burn the city of New York. - Execution of Robert Kennedy. - Events of 1863 - 64. - Succession of brilliant victories.
305
CLOSE OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
lanta was captured by the irrepressible SHERMAN ; Tennessee was freed from invasion; and SHERMAN, co-operating with GRANT, commenced his famous march to the sea, terminating in the capture of Columbia and Charleston.
27. Governor FENTON, in his annual message in January, 1865. 1865, congratulated the Legislature on the prosperous con- dition of the State in all its departments, and on the brilliant prospects of a victorious termination of the war through the patriotic energy of the government and the signal ability of our commanders in the field. He transmitted the amendment to the National Constitution proposed by Congress for the abolition of slavery, with an earnest recommendation for its prompt adop- tion.
28. The spring opened with the defeat of the Confederate Army at Petersburg, Virginia, early in April, followed by the evacuation of Richmond, the dissolution of the Confederate government, the surrender of Lee at Appomattox Court-House on the 9th, that of Johnston at Raleigh on the 14th, the dis- persion of the rebel army, and the flight and capture of the rebel President and his associates.
29. In the midst of the universal rejoicings over these great events, the nation was astounded by the intelligence of the ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN by John Wilkes Booth, at Ford's Theatre in Washington, on the evening of the 14th of April. A heavy pall of mourning settled over the entire Union ; and while a fearful and speedy vengeance overtook the guilty perpetrators of this great crime, and a nation was following its martyred chief to his last resting-place, a new administration was inaugurated by the succession of Vice-President ANDREW JOHNSON to the vacant presidential chair.
30. At the fall election, Major-General FRANCIS C. BARLOW, of New York, was elected Secretary of State, THOMAS HILL- HOUSE, of Ontario, Comptroller, and JOHN H. MARTINDALE, of Monroe, Attorney-General, with Republican majorities in both branches of the Legislature.
Governor Fenton's message. - Defeat of the Confederate Army at Peters- burg. - Surrender of Generals Lee and Johnston. - Termination of the war. - Capture of Jefferson Davis. - Assassination of President Lincoln. - Succession of President Johnson. - State officers.
20
306
EIGHTH PERIOD.
CHAPTER VIII.
ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR FENTON. - VISIT OF PRESIDENT JOHN- SON AND CABINET, GENERAL GRANT, AND ADMIRAL FARRAGUT. - ADOPTION OF THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION. - CONDITION AND FINANCES OF THE STATE. - CON- STITUTIONAL CONVENTION. - FREE SCHOOLS. - NORMAL SCHOOLS. - CORNELL UNIVERSITY. - ELECTION OF GOVERNOR HOFFMAN. - FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT.
I. AT the assembling of the Legislature of 1866, Governor FENTON, after recapitulating the great events of the preced-
1866. ing year and tendering his congratulations on the termi- nation of the war, submitted a general exhibit of the condition of the State, and recommended various measures of internal improvement to the consideration of the Legislature. He paid a high tribute to the exertions, during the war, of the Trustees and managers of the Soldiers' Depot in the city of New York, the members of the Sanitary Commission, Union League, and Ladies' Soldiers' Relief Association, and concluded by a few per- tinent remarks on the reconstruction of the Union.
2. The proceedings of the Legislature were not marked by any incidents of general interest or importance.
3. During the session, President JOHNSON, with Secretary SEWARD and other members of the Cabinet, General GRANT, and Admiral FARRAGUT, visited the capital and city of New York, on their way to the dedication of a monument to the memory of the late Senator DOUGLAS, of Illinois. Their reception by the State and municipal authorities was characterized by the usual formalities and honors.
4. At the November election, Governor FENTON was re-elected Governor, and STEWART L. WOODFORD, of New York City, Lieu- tenant-Governor, by a majority of about fourteen thousand over John T. Hoffman of New York and Robert H. Pruyn of Albany. A majority of Republican members were elected to both branches of the Legislature.
5. Governor FENTON, in his message in January, 1867, called the attention of the Legislature to the necessity
1867.
Governor's message. - Re-election of Governor Fenton, and election of Stewart L. Woodford as Lieutenant-Governor. - Governor's message.
307
CANALS AND SCHOOLS.
of providing additional canal facilities by the construction of an enlarged tier of locks on the line of the Oswego and Erie Canals, from tide-water to the Lakes, admitting the passage of steam- vessels of from five to six hundred tons' burden. This proposi- tion was favorably received by the Legislature, and the neces- sary steps were taken for its adoption.
6. The Governor also recommended the adoption of the pro- posed Fourteenth Amendment to the National Constitution, providing for the reconstruction of the government of the States recently in rebellion, the abolition of slavery, and equality of rights to every citizen of the Republic. The surplus canal receipts up to the present time were stated at upwards of twenty millions of dollars, applicable chiefly to the payment of the canal debt, the reduction of which was steadily progressing. There were, in the State, 24,527 manufacturing establishments, with an aggregate capital of $ 227,674,187, and a productive return of $ 463,603,877. A bill providing for the call of a Convention for the amendment of the State Constitution was passed, providing for an election of delegates in April and the assembling of the Convention early in the succeeding June. On the first Tuesday in February, ROSCOE CONKLING, of Oneida, was appointed United States Senator in place of Ira Harris, whose term had expired.
7. During the session of the Legislature of this year, an act was passed on the recommendation, and chiefly through the exertions, of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Mr. RICE, increasing the State tax for the support of common schools from three quarters of a mill to one mill and a quarter on each dollar of the valuation of real and personal estate, and declaring all the common schools of the State, including the various academical departments devoted to the instruction and preparation of teachers, and the State Normal Schools, FREE to all pupils availing themselves of their benefits.
8. Additional Normal Schools were now authorized to be es- tablished in Fredonia, Chautauque County; Geneseo, Livingston County ; Brockport, Monroe County ; Cortlandville, Cortland County ; Potsdam, St. Lawrence County ; and Buffalo, Erie
Enlarged locks on the Eric and Oswego Canals. - United States Senator. - Free and Normal Schools throughout the State.
308
ยท EIGHTH PERIOD.
County ; in addition to the State Normal School at the capital, and the Primary Normal and Training School at Oswego, which had been organized in 1863.
9. On the 4th of June the Constitutional Convention as- sembled at the Capitol in Albany, and organized by the election of WILLIAM A. WHEELER, of Franklin, as President, and LUTHER CALDWELL, of Chemung, as Secretary. The usual committees having been appointed for the preparation of business, the Con- vention addressed itself to the performance of the duties de- volving upon it.
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