USA > New York > Onondaga County > Syracuse > Memorial history of Syracuse, N.Y. : from its settlement to the present time > Part 38
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Mr. Goodelle is a Republican in politics, though not an ardent partisan, and had he chosen to accept the political prospects that have been held up before him to induce him to divide his energies between public work and his profession, he might have filled some of the higher offices in the State ; but he has adhered to the principle that there is sufficient fame, as well as material return, for those who can and will advance to the foremost rank at the Bar. Mr. Goodelle was recently chosen Pres- ident of the Onondaga County Bar Association, an honor conferred which shows the esteem in which he is held by his fellow members of the Bar. Some time after his retirement from the District At- torney's office, Mr. Goodelle associated with himself William Nottingham (firm of Goodelle & Not- tingham ) which firm still continues. Mr. Goodelle is one of the incorporators of the Commercial Bank recently established in this city.
Mr. Goodelle was married September 8, 1869, to Miss Marion H. Averill, of Baldwinsville, N. Y., and they have one child, Una Mae, who was born October 26, 1877. In social circles in Syracuse Mr. and Mrs. Goodelle are always welcomed, and at their beautiful home on James street hospitality reigns with open hand.
PEN. ELIAS WARNER LEWENWORTH was born at Canan, Columbia county, N. Y . December 20, 1203. His father removed from Canaan to Great Barrington, Mass., when F! ... was three years old, where his early years were spent among the beautiful hills and valleys of less shire. He developed in his youth an eager thirst for knowledge, and was placed in the year 1.14 in the Hudson Academy, then under the charge of Kev. Daniel Parker, father of Judge Amas-
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Parker. He also pursued his preparatory studies in part under Erastus C. Bennett, at Great Bar- rington, who was in 1873 State Senator from New York city. In the fall of 1820 he entered Wil- liams College as a Sophomore well prepared and remained there one year, and then entered Yale as a Sophomore; was elected a member of the I'hi Beta Kappa society in 1823; was graduated in 1824 and took a second degree in 1827.
On the 20th of September, 1824, he began the study of law with William Cullen Bryant, then practicing at Great Barrington, and on the 16th of May, 1825, entered the law school at Litchfield, Conn. In January, 1827, he was admitted to practice in all the courts of Connecticut.
On Monday, the 12th of November, 1827, he left Great Barrington for Syracuse, arriving at sunset on the following Saturday. He was admitted in the Common Pleas as an Attorney and Counselor at the February term, 1828, on the motion of Gen. James R. Lawrence; and in the Supreme Court nearly two years later at Albany, at the October term, 1829, as an Attorney, and as Counselor in 1833.
On reaching Syracuse he studied and practiced with Alfred Northam until February, 1829, when he formed a partnership with the late B. Davis Noxon, which continued with various members of the family until 1850, when he abandoned his profession entirely on account of ill health. In the great political campaign of 1840 he had contracted bronchitis by constant public speaking to large audiences. In 1850 his condition became somewhat critical, and although then enjoying the largest and most lucrative practice in the central part of the State, he felt constrained to retire from his pro- fession and turn his attention to other pursuits.
Rest and care for two or three years and abstaining from public speaking fully restored his health, and other pursuits having in the meantime engaged his attention, he never returned to the practice of law.
In January. 1832, he was appointed a Lieutenant of Artillery in the 147th regiment of infantry, and in the same year was appointed Captain of Artillery in the same regiment. In 1834 he was ap- pointed Lieut .- Colonel of the 29th regiment of Artillery, and the following year was appointed Colonel of the same regiment. In the fall of 1835 he was nominated at the Whig county convention as one of four Members of Assembly from Onondaga county. But the county was hopelessly Democratic, or he would have declined the candidacy. In 1836 he was appointed Brigadier-General of the 7th Brigade of Artillery. In 1837 he was elected a Trustee of the village of Syracuse and during the years 1838, 1839, and 1840 was President of the village. In 1839 he was elected Supervisor of the old town of Salina. This was the first election at which the Democrats had been beaten in more than ten years, and General Leavenworth was re-elected in 1840. In 1846 and 1847 he was again chosen President of the village. During the period in which he was at the head of the village government, Gen. Leavenworth carried out many improvements the benefits of which are still, and always will be, felt by every resident of the place. Among these were the measures which gave to the city Vander- bilt Square, Fayette Park, the rows of trees along both sides of Washington street, and he pushed the opening of streets and other general improvements with his accustomed vigor and foresight.
In the spring of 1849 Mr. Leavenworth was elected Mayor of the city, and his administration was characterized by the same advanced and beneficent methods and plans that always occupied his attention in connection with city affairs. In that year Armory Park was laid out and became city property. In the fall of the same year (1849) he was elected a Member of the Legislature, where he was on several important committees, notably on the Manufacture of Salt and on Railroads. In 1849-50, General Leavenworth was one of a building committee of the First Presbyterian society, and it was largely due to his action that the site of the church was covered with the beautiful brown stone gothic edifice, instead of a plainer brick church. In the fall of 1851 he lacked only six or eight votes of the nomination for Secretary of State, at the Whig State convention. In the fall of 1853 he was nominated for Secretary of State, almost without opposition, and was elected. During his term in this office he was awake to public interests throughout the State, and by his efforts the State Asylum for Idiots was removed from near Albany to Syracuse. In 1855 he was elected a Corresponding Member of the American Historical and Geographical Society of the city of New York, and also, in the same year, of the New England Historical and Genealogical Society of Boston.
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF SYRACUSE.
In the fall of 1856 General Leavenworth was again elected to the I.egislature ; he was Chairman of the Committee on Canals, of the Committee on Banks, and of the Select Committee of one from each Judicial District on the Equalization of the State Tax. As chairman of the latter committee he drew the bill which established the Board of State Assessors, and other acts of importance in State legislation.
One of the wisest and most beneficent services ever rendered to the city of Syracuse was Gen- eral Leavenworth's labors in connection with the organization of the Oakwood Cemetery Associa- tion in IS58-9, in which work he was intimately associated with Hamilton White. As long as the eity stands that beautiful burial ground will exist as a monument to the memory of those nien.
In the spring of 1859 General Leavenworth was again elected Mayor of the city, the govern- ment of which was then beginning to demand business capacity, prudence and judgment of a high order. In the fall of the same year he was again nominated for Secretary of State, but was defeat- ed by between 1,000 and 1.500 votes in a total of 600,000, mainly through the efforts of the Know Nothing party. In the winter of 1860 he was appointed by the Legislature as one of the Board of Quarantine Commissioners, and was chosen president at its organization ; and in the summer of the same year he was president of the Republican State Convention which assembled in Syracuse to select delegates to the National Convention at Chicago.
On the 5th of February, 1861, General Leavenworth was chosen one of the Regents of the University, and in 1872 was appointed by the Governor and the Senate, one of the Commissioners to amend the State Constitution. In the fall of 1874 he was elected a member of the 44th Congress, in which body he attained a high position ; he declined a re-election.
Besides these numerous publie stations which General Leavenworth was called to fill, in every one of which he distinguished himself for his broad and intelligent grasp of important subjects, huts wisdom in dealing with them, and his ability to impress his views upon others, he held a long list of positions of a more private character, but involving responsibility and the entire confidence of his fellow citizens. Among these was president of the Syracuse Savings Bank, which he resigned in 1883 ; president of the Syracuse Water Works Company, which he hekl from 1864 until his death ; president of the Syracuse Gaslight Company, which he held from 1872 ; president of Oakwood Ceme- tery Association ; president of the Historical Society of Central New York ; and trustee or director in half a score of other institutions, companies or societies.
From the foregoing brief sketch it will be seen that General Leavenworth's life was a busy one, and that his eminent qualities of mind and heart brought to him numerous rewards and honors from his fellow citizens. As a citizen of Syracuse he was always foremost in the advocacy and labor attending all improvements, and his judgment of how and when to carry such improvements to con. summation was seldom at fault. In the fall of ISS7 his powers felt the natural failure attendant upon old age and on the 25th of November he passed from earth.
General Leavenworth married first Mary Elizabeth Forman, daughter of Judge Joshua Forman, the founder of Syracuse ; she died on the 18th of April, ISSO. Ile married for his second wife Mrs. Harriet Townley Ball, of Elizabeth, N. J., who still survives him.
DR. JOHN M. WIETING was identified with the growth of Syracuse from the year 1$37 to the time of his death. In that early year he came as a youth to make his home in what was then the village of Syracuse. He was born in the town of Springheld, Otsego county, N. Y., on the Sth of February, 1817. ITis grandfather, John C. Wieting, was a native of Stendal, Prussia, and came to America in his youth and was actively engaged in the Revolutionary war. Ile was an accomplished linguist and was a teacher during the early part of his career. Afterwards he became the pastor of the First Lutheran church established in this country, continuing in the pastorate twenty - two years. He died in 1817. The father of John M. was Peter Wieting, who was born October 30th, 1790, in Montgomery county, N. Y. During the latter part of his life he resided in Syracuse, where he died in 1856. The mother of John MI. was Mary Elizabeth Manchester and was a descend-
Dr. Y. m. Puting
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
ant of a family of that name wh> came from Manchester, England, and settled in Rhode Island. She was born in April, 1792, in Washington county, N. Y., and died in May, 1872.
At the early age of fourteen years John M. Wieting started to make his own way in life, engag- ing as teacher in the public school at Deerfield, Oneida county. He continued in this capacity very successfully for four years, teaching in winters and attending school at the Clinton Liberal Institute in summers, where he had a free scholarship, but boarded himself.
At the age of eighteen he assisted in the survey of the New York and Erie railroad, and at the age of twenty he engaged as civil engineer in the construction of the Syracuse and Utica railroad, which position he held for about six years. He also surveyed Rose Hill Cemetery and graded many of the streets of the village of Syracuse. During all of this time he was the chief support of his father's family, his father, (who was at one time a successful merchant and possessed of a handsome competency) having become through financial disaster and ill health, dependent on him. Nobly did he fulfill these duties ; and during the latter years of his parents' lives when success had crowned his efforts, they were surrounded by all the comforts and luxuries that wealth could give. He was a de- voted and tireless student and his thirst for knowledge seemed boundless. Mathematics and the natural sciences seemed to possess a wonderful charm for him. All his leisure hours were devoted to study ; and many hours of the night, when his fellow workmen were buried in sleep, by the dim light of a candle, this young man pored over his books : alone and unaided solved many knotty problems and made himself familiar with the natural laws governing the world and man.
Gradually the idea of himself becoming an expounder of these laws dawned upon him and he began the study of medicine with Dr. Hiram Iloyt, of Syracuse. While still a student, Dr. Austin Flint, late of New York city, delivered a course of lectures in Syracuse on Physiology, illustrated with a manikin. John M. Wieting became deeply interested in the subject and made him an offer for the lecturing apparatus, which was accepted, borrowing the money with which to purchase the outfit. Ile resolved to enter the lecture field himself, commencing work in the spring of 1843, by giving lectures in the smaller towns and villages in his own State. ITis lectures were confined to physiology and the laws of life and health. About this time he received a diploma as a physician, and for over twenty years his career as a public lecturer was one continued scene of unparalleled success.
From the smaller towns he pushed his way into larger ones, adding occasionally, as his means allowed, to his apparatus by purchases until he possessed the largest and most complete outfit for lecturing on these subjects ever owned in this country Ile may properly be called the pioncer lec- turer in this country on physiology and the laws of life and health, as he was the first to present the subject in a way to render it attractive and agreeable to the masses.
In the interesting book entitled, " From a Forest to a City," by M. C. Hand, we find the follow- ing relating to Dr. Wieting : " It is to such men as Dr. Wieting that Syracuse is indebted for much of its thrift. He made his money to build his first block by lecturing in other cities. I think I heard the last lecture he ever delivered in his own hall, in which he gave a short history of the strug- gles and trials of his early life ; how he overcame them all and continued to lecture until he had earned one hundred thousand dollars, and as he was speaking he stepped forward upon the platform of Wieting Hall, and raising his voice, with much feeling said, 'and I have spent the hundred thousand right here.'"
The hall alluded to above was the old historic Wieting Hall, famous as the scene of many im- portant political gatherings of State and nation. This hall constituted the upper portion of the Wieting Block, on the corner of Salina and Water streets, which was purchased by Dr. Wieting in 1850. This block was twice destroyed by fire and twice rebuilt. The first fire occurred Janu- uary 7, 1856, at which time the Doctor was lecturing in Boston. The dispatch containing the news of the destruction of his block was handed him just before the time for opening his lecture. He walked calmly upon the platform and delivered his lecture, showing thus his admirable self-control, and it was his boast that in twenty years of his public life he never disappointed an audience or kept one waiting. Ilis block was rebuilt in one hundred days, on an enlarged and improved scale, con- taining another publie hall which was known by the more pretentious name of Wieting Opera
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF SYRACUSE.
House. This building was destroyed by fire on the night of July 19, 1881, and though now with impaired health and staggering under the weight of this second blow, his indomitable courage and energy enabled him once more to rear a splendid structure in his beloved city. The block and opera house, as rebuilt, are now separate structures, the opera house ranking among the finest in this country.
In the year 1875, accompanied by his wife, he left home for a tour around the world. They sailed from San Francisco across the Pacific to Japan ; thence visiting China, the islands of Singa- pore and Ceylon, India, Egypt, the principal countries of Europe, and returned to this country by way of the Atlantic ocean, thus completing the circle around the globe. During his lengthy absence he acquired a vast fund of practical knowledge, as he was a close and intelligent observer. Subse. quently, in the summer of 1887, with the hope of benefitting his now failing health, Dr. Wieting and his wife made another European tour, from which they returned in the following November. From that time up to the date of his death (about three months); Dr. Wieting was a great sufferer from asthmatic and bronchial difficulties. An apparently slight cold which he had contracted devel- oped almost immediately into pneumonia, and in the short space of one week the struggle for life, which had been so bravely borne, was ended. He was buried in the massive mausoleum which he had caused to be erected in Oakwood cemetery. His death occurred February 13, 1888.
Dr. Wieting was a man of great force of character. His industry, energy and perseverance were unbounded, and his brain power was exceptional. While not tolerant of the opinions and theorie> of others, his good common sense generally placed him right on important issues, and to his settled beliefs he adhered unflinchingly. He was a clear reader of human nature, and himself related an incident which shows in vivid colors this characteristic. Briefly, it is as follows : One evening at the Tremont Temple, Boston, the Doctor noticed in one of the front seats a tall, lank, awkward looking young man with a pair of earnest eyes, intently listening to the lecture. The Doctor went thence to Philadelphia, and on the first night of his lecture in that eity, in a front seat, sat the same awkward, earnest-looking youth ; and so, night after night, the Doctor noticed him, and his interest was awakened. At last, one night after the lecture was over, the young man presented himself, say- ing, " I am a stranger to you, but I have listened to you many nights with much interest. Now I have mustered up courage to ask a great favor of you. I want to go to California. I have no money. I have not a relative in the world who can help me, and I wish you would let me have one thousand dollars, and I solemnly promise not only to return it to you, but also to give you an equal! share in whatever I may have the fortune to make. I feel that I can accomplish something, if I can only reach the country and make a beginning." The gold fever then was at its height, which to some extent accounted for his unwonted enthusiasm and assurance. The Doctor looked at him as he made this strange request, and finally said to him, " I am very tired to-night and cannot talk on the subject ; but you come around to my rooms to-morrow and we will talk it over."
When the young man appeared next day something seemed to tell the Doctor to grant his re- quest. The Doctor was a practical man, and that he himself should be impressed to do so unvorr. mon and apparently risky a thing, scemed all the more strange ; but he did. He drew his check for the amount and handing it to the young man, said : " This money represents so much mental toll on my part. I began poor, but I have achieved success. I can spare this money now. You are a stran- ger to me, and I leave the matter between you and your Maker. I can lose it, but I should regre: to lose my faith in you." The young man, with tears in his eyes, took the check and said, " Voi. shall never regret this act, if God spares my life." The two parted.
Not many months afterwards Dr. Wieting received a letter from the young man, stating that he was making progress, and that he would shortly hear from him again. A few months later the Ich received a check for one thousand dollars. At various times after that he received other amounts until the sum grew to ten thousand dollars. He then wrote to the young man that he was unwiller; to accept more, as the obligation had been trebly discharged. But he received in reply a letter sta :. ing that the writer considered it his duty to discharge this obligation according to the terms of 1 . contract between them, and felt that the blessing of God would be withdrawn if he violated ? word. He then wrote the Doctor asking the further loan of twenty thousand dollars, as he wishe !
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
to engage in a larger field of operation. Dr. Wieting's mother said to him, "that is a scheme to get back all he has given you," and his brothers also tried to dissuade him from granting the request ; but there seemed a bond between the two men that could not be appreciated by others, and the doctor determined to advance the large sum, and did so. No tidings came for some months and he began to get anxious ; but at last news came and money began to pour in on the Doctor until he was the recipient of at least fifty thousand dollars. Later on another letter came stating that the Doctor would hear from the writer again, but no tidings were ever after received of that faithful soul.
It is doubtful if a parallel case, or one even approaching it, in dramatic and human interest ever occurred.
Upon Dr. Wieting's dccease the press of the State and far beyond its boundaries, paid high tribute to his character and career. The following brief extracts are from local papers :
" It may be safely said that Dr. J. M. Wieting, whose death occurred in this city yesterday, has been one of the most conspicuous figures in the life of Syracuse for the past twenty-five years. He was known of all men, at least by sight, and when he walked abroad was everywhere pointed out as one of the residents of the city, the mention of whose name would suggest to a stranger an interest in his personality." * *
"Dr. Wieting certainly took a wholesome pride in the city of Syracuse. The buildings which have borne his name have always been monuments to this sentiment, and the activity of his interest in all questions of public import, left no doubt that he was watching the growth of the city with vigilant care. It was at his hands that Syracuse had its first theater and later its first opera house.
"Dr. Wieting's keen intellect, his unique individuality, his sturdy physique made him a force in this community, a noted character wherever he traveled and seemed to insure length of days and continued active participation in public affairs. ** All that he achieved he owed to his own tire- less energy, wisely exerted to useful and successful ends."
EWIS HAMILTON REDFIELD, the pioneer printer and publisher of Onondaga Valley, and L later of Syracuse, was born at Farmington, Conn., November 26, 1792. He died at his resi- dence in Syracuse July 14, 1882. His father was Peleg Redfield, a soldier in Washington's revolu- tionary army. From Farmington he removed to Suffield, in the infancy of his son Lewis, and lived there about six years, when, in 1799 he joined the tide of emigration westward and settled near Clif- ton Springs, Ontario county, N. Y. . At that time there was only a solitary log cabin at that point. During the period necessary for clearing up the farm the Redfields suffered all the vicissitudes incident to pioneer life. Their first tenement was without a floor and the door was a blanket. In his youth Lewis shared in the labors on the farm, and attended such transient schools as were opened in the neighborhood, but he was his own chief instructor and read every book within his reach. The arduous farm labor proved too much for the slender frame of the lad and in gratification of his own inclination his parents apprenticed him as a printer to James D. Bemis, publisher of the Ontario Re- pository, at Canandaigua. At the end of six years young Redfield had thoroughly mastered the trade and gained a large fund of general information. Ilis quest of a place for a business opening ended in his selection of Onondaga Valley, (or Hollow, as it was then called.) Among the residents of the little villages in the Valley and on the Hill were at that time many eminent men who gave the young printer the utmost encouragement and, with the aid of his former employer, Mr. Bemis, he be- gan the publication of the Onondaga Register on the 17th of September, 1814. The printing office was purchased of, or through, Mr. Bemis, at a cost of $1400, and such was the industry, persever- ance under difficulties, and rigid economy practiced by Mr. Redfield and his faithful apprentice, that at the end of the first year the office was free from debt. The Register was an exponent of Jef- fersonian Democracy and being ably edited and successful in supplying news of the war, it reached what was then a large circulation.
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