USA > New York > Onondaga County > Syracuse > Memorial history of Syracuse, N.Y. : from its settlement to the present time > Part 51
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The presence of Dr. Duncan upon the platform is magnetic, and combined with excellent oratory, a graceful use of English, and a great abundance of material for thought to draw upon, it is no wonder that he stands in the first rank of popular speakers. Firmness of purpose mingles in the expression of his countenance with gentleness when he speaks, and his clearness, earnestness, sincerity, and cheerfulness help in giving his finely toned words peculiar power. His characteristics are inherited from the very best of Scottish traits and education, without any of the narrowness that sometimes is attributed to the more conservative representatives of the best thought of the land of the thistle. His works will go on and on long after he shall have finished his part of it. He has already made for himself a well-deserved place in the religious and secular history of this country, for no man has striven harder or more successfully to confer benefits of inestimable value upon the youth
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in particular and mankind generally. In this connection it is not inapt to quote, with slight changes. the following from an Albany, Ga., newspaper, where the new Chautanqua is located : " He 1. undoubtedly a wonderful man, gifted in repartee, never at a Inss in any emergency, and possessing a heart full of the most generous and unselfish patriotism and philanthropy. No man less generously endowed could have accomplished what he has done, and his work is not only a monument to hi- energy and sagacity, but to his unselfish nature to do good wherever gond can be accomplished! Every moment of his life spent in Southwestern Georgia testifies to the purity of his motives and philanthropy." Mount Union College, of Ohio, never more worthily conferred a degree than when it recognized William A. Duncan as a Doctor of Philosophy.
Dr. Duncan married Miss Julia B. Coleman. daughter of J. M Coleman, esq., of Senec .. Falls, N. Y. Two daughters, liberally educated and now traveling with Mrs. Duncan in Europe for educational benefits. bless the union.
G EORGE C. SAWYER, for twenty-five years the New York State agent of the Travelers Insur- surance Company, of Hartford, Conn., was born in Malone, Franklin county, N. Y., March I. 1839, the second son of Rev. George and Mary A. Sawyer Ilis only brother, A. II. Sawyer, esq . who resides in Watertown, N. Y., is an eminent lawyer of extensive practice, and for a number of years was County Judge of Jefferson county, The father was a Methodist clergyman, and the sub- ject of this sketch "itinerated" with him until twelve years of age.
Upon the removal of the family to Fulton, Oswego county, George C. entered Failey Seminary. pursuing for four years studies preparatory for college under such eminent instructors as the Rev. E. E. Bragdon, D. D., then principal and professor of Greek literature ; John R. French, LL. D., professor of mathematics (and now of Syracuse University) ; Charles R. Egglestoh, A. M., profes- sor of Latin and modern languages ; and many others. Falley Seminary, then at the zenith of its fame, presented such favorable conditions for advanced study that Mr. Sawyer decided to remain and enter Union College in the Senior year. But when about to leave for the latter institution he was stricken with typhoid fever, from which he did not recover for a year, and the delay caused him to abandon the idea of a college degree. Of a resolute nature, and determined not to be thwarted in his purpose by ill health, he pursued his studies under efficient private tutors for two years longer. and then entered the law office of S. N. Dada, esq., of Fulton. Here he studied faithfully and dili- gently, and was admitted to the bar April 4th, 1861. He immediately formed a partnership with Mr. Dada, for the practice of his profession, under the firm name of Dada & Sawyer, which contin- ned till November 29, ISO5, when failing health compelled Mr. Sawyer to retire. He then entered upon an engagement with the Travelers Insurance Company, of Hartford, Conn , as its State agent for the State of New York. a position which he has ever since occupied with great credit to himself and profit to the organization. In 1866 he came to Syracuse to reside, and immediately opened a State office for his company. This corporation began its celebrated career on April 1, 1864, as the only and original accident company of the United States introducing that business in this country There was afterwards organized and connected with it a life department, which to-day makes the company one of the strongest and best in the United States. Starting with a cash capital of only $250,000, it has by judicious management steadily increased its assets to about $13,000,000, and the name " Travelers" has become virtually a household word During these twenty-seven years of the company's remarkable devolopment Mr. Sawyer has honorably and efficiently retained the same rela- tion to it, and it is safe to say that under his personal supervision New York State has contributed her full share to the corporation's growth and prosperity. No litt e credit is due our subject for the careful and sagacions direction of his portion of the company's affairs.
During the twenty-five years of Mr. Sawyer's residence in Syracuse he has, although absent much, found time to interest himself in the city's religious, social, and business activities, but he has had no political aspirations. A Methodist by faith, as might be expected from his parentage, he i-
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prominently connected with the First Methodist Episcopal church, in which he has held and still holds responsible offices. He is President of the Syracuse Methodist Episcopal Union, a federation of all the Methodist churches of the city for local mission work. While sufficiently denominational in his views he is nevertheless liberal in spirit and broad-minded toward other church organizations, as is evidenced by his connection with the New York State Sunday-School Association (in which he has twice been honored with its presidency), and particularly by his long and valuable service with the Young Men's Christian . Association of the city and State. He has held nearly every office in the local association, and was three successive terms elected its President, serving in all with honor and distinction. For many years he has been a member of the New York State Committee of the Y. MI. C. A., and was twice elected President of the New York State Association.
Outside of his insurance connections Mr. Sawyer is President of the Syracuse Land and Improve- ment Company, one of the largest and most rapidly developing organizations of its character in the State. Ile is Vice-I'resident of the Thousand Island Park Association, and is prominently identi- fied with several other institutions and associations in Syracuse.
November 12. 1802. Mr. Sawyer married Miss Julia A. Sabin, of Fulton, N. Y. Three dangh- ters have been born to them, all of whom are living, as follows : Carrie E., Bertha S., and Grace J. The first two named are graduates of Syracuse University, which fact of itself indicates the literary tastes of the family.
WIGHT HALL BRUCE, born at Lenox, Madison county, N. Y., June 21, 1834. is the elder D son of the late Benjamin Franklin Bruce, born at the same place, May 5, 1812. He was the eldest son of Joseph Bruce, born at Roxbury, Mass., January 6, 1739, who was the second son of Thaddeus Bruce, born at Edinburgh, Scotland, November 14, 1765. He was of Norman ancestry and a direct descendant of Robert Bruce. The motto of the coat of arms of his house is " Do well and doubt not."
Reared upon a farm, the subject of this sketch was not in his earlier years surrounded by unus- ual advantages for securing an education ; nevertheless, it was his good fortune to obtain the best of continuous common school instruction, and later a full academic course, which was both broad and comprehensive in its curriculum. He was titted for an advanced college entrance by special prepar- ation, but circumstances arose which made it necessary to indefinitely defer making application for admission. He had been engaged in various pursuits, when in 1858 he became connected with the Oswego Commercial Times in the capacity of associate editor, which he resigned in January 1861, that he might come to Syracuse, where he has since resided, to become assistant to his father who had been appointed Canal Commissioner in charge of the middle division of the canals of the State. His connection with the canals was continued during several years. In 1866, and again in 1867, he was elected Supervisor of the Seventh ward. It was on his motion that the Board of Supervisors ap- pointed a committee, of which he was a member, to draft a bill to be passed by the Legislature for the better collection of county taxes. The work of the committee was so well done that the act which it prepared has been in effect from that time until the present, and has been adopted by many other counties in the State. The act was also adapted at a later period for the collection of city taxes. Hle also prepared an apportionment of Assembly Districts under the census of 1865, which has not since been changed. In October, 1869, he resigned his connection with the canals to accept an ap- pointment, by the secretary of the Treasury, of Assistant Assessor of Internal Revenue, to make as- sessments throughout the Twenty-third Congressional District, composed of the counties of Onon- daga and Cortland, for all taxes imposed on the manufacture and sale of tobacco, snuff, and cigars. Ile resigned this position in January, 1870, to become one of the editors and owners of the Syracuse Daily Journal under the firm name of Truair. Smith & Co. . At a later date, and by a change of in- terests, the firm name became Truair, Smith & Bruce, and January 1, 1884, Mr. Truair retired, when the name of the firm was changed to Smith & Bruce, with equal interests. This partnership was continued until August 15. 1885 when Mr. Bruce withdrew.
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. March 25, 1871, he was appointed by President Grant and confirmed by the United States Sen- ate l'ostmaster at Syracuse, continuing in the position until January 1, 1375. nine months beyond the term of his appointment. He inaugurated the " night service," more than doubled the number of incoming and outgoing mails, and made various other important changes to increase the efficiency of the office. It is a matter of record that though the office handled several millions of dollars of money during his term-it was a sub-treasury for deposit by several hundred other officers, and a pay- ing agency for railroad clerks-there was not the slightest vari: tion of his accounts with those of the Postoffice Department when he made his final settlement with the Department.
In May, 1885, he was elected President and later General Manager of the Syracuse Water Company, and has retained those positions until the present time. For many years he has been connected with various business enterprises and undertakings, and has held numerous offices of trust and responsi- bility. He has from time to time been President of charitable and benevolent organizations, and effected the first organization in this city for the protection of animals. In 1888 he was appointed Police Commissioner by Mayor Burns, and was elected President of the Board of Commissioners. He accepted the office only after much persuasion, and resigned it a few months after his appoint- ment.
For many years, particularly during those of the war, he was active in politics and in support of the war. His first vote was given for John C. Fremont for l'resident, and since that time he has been a strong adherent of Republican principles. There was a field for work in " war times" at home as well as at the front, and unquestionably a vast number of those who gave their earnest ef- forts to the cause at the rear were of more aid to the government than they possibly could have been at the front, in whatever favorable circumstances they might have been placed. The political cam- paigns of those years were of unquestionable importance. The Presidential campaign of 1864, when Lincoln was re elected, was the most interesting and exciting as well as important election ever held in the United States. Upon the success of Lincoln depended the success of the Union army, The election of Grant in 1868 was only second in importance and awakened scarcely less interest. Both of these campaigns were locally mainly managed by Mr. Bruce as Secretary of the Republican Cen- tral Committee, a position he filled tor ten successive years and until he would no longer accept it. His efforts were not for his party above country, but, on the contrary, for his country above party, and for which his party stood. He was no less active as a member of War Committees in aid of the Union army, declining a commission to the front to work as a private at home.
He was continuously connected with the military organization of the State during a period of thirty-five years. He enlisted when he was sixteen years old, and rose to division staff grades of Major and Paymaster, and Colonel and Engineer. In 1878, at the request of Colonel J. W. Yale, he became Inspector of Rifle Practice of the late 51st Regiment, holding the position until he was elected Brigadier-General in command of the 10th Brigade, the number of which was, by a reduc- tion of brigades, later changed to the 7th. He resigned and retired from the National Guard in 188.4.
He was married, October 13, 1559, to Emilie Northrup, sister of Judge A. J. Northrup and Milton H. Northrup. of Syracuse.
RS. I. H. REDFIELD .- The seigniory of L'Orignal, Upper Canada, fifty-four square miles M of territory, stretching nine miles along the Ottawa River, was opened to emigrants by its owner, Nathaniel Hazard Tredwell, in 1794. His daughter, Ann Maria, the subject of this sketch, was born at the village of I.'Orignal, situated on the banks of the beautiful Ottawa, on January 17, 1800.
When the War of t812 broke out Mr. Tredwell, owing to his American proclivities, became a suspected person ; his property was confiscated, and it was under many difficulties that he succeeded in returning, with his family, to Plattsburgh, N. V., where Mrs. Redfield's girlhood was passed.
ann m J. Redfield
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She was educated at the school of Mrs. Emma Willard, at Middlebury, \'t., and took a post-graduate course of study at Clinton, N. Y., "reciting : hetorie to Dr. Davis, President of Hamilton College, botany to l'rofessor Noyes, and mathematics to Mr. Bassett." She was Preceptress at the academy at Onondaga Hollow in this county, which place became her home upon her marriage, February 7. 1820, to I ewis H. Redfield. In 1829 Mr. Redfield and family removed to Syracuse, in which city Mrs. Redfield died June 15, 1688, aged eighty-eight years.
Twenty-five years before Mrs. Kedtiekl's death Mrs. Ellet wrote in " The Queens of American Society " as follows :
" Mrs. Redfield is not only noted for position, but is known as the author of a popular work, 'Zoological Science, or Nature in Living Forms,' a book commended by Professor Agassiz as one that 'would do credit to a majority of college professors.' Her intellectual culture was softened by natural refinement, and a sympathy that went forth spontaneously towards all who needed it, or claimed her tenderness. The mother of a numerous family, she took pains with the education of her family."
June 16, 1858, the New York World contained the following obituary notice :
"Mrs. Ann M. Tredwell Redfield died yesterday. * * In 1820 she married Lewis II. Redfield, who was identified with every stage of the growth of Syracuse. lle died in ISS2. Mrs. Redfield was the author of a text-book on zoology. She was one of the best known women in C'entral New York."
Letters received by Mr. and Mrs. William II. II. Smith on the occasion of Mrs. Redfield's death were tributes to her worth and character. Dr. Alexander Winchell, of Ann Arbor, Mich., on June 20, ISSS, wrote as follows : "Mirs. Redfield was a capable and useful woman-learned in a department of science represented by far too few women."
Dr. Anson J. Upson : "I feel grateful to a kind Providence who has permitted me to enjoy the friendship and be inspired by the noble enthusiasm of such a woman as Mrs. Redfield."
Henry C. Platt, esq., New York city : " It is a source of great gratification to have been con- nected by a common ancestry with such a noble and useful woman, whose work on earth was so well done. I feel that her good deeds and her good fame are part of our family heritage "
Rev. Dr. Norman Seaver, of St. Paul, Minn., in memory of Mrs. Redfield, wrote as follows :
" We cannot but regard the friendship of your mother as a great honor and pore pleasure in our lives. We are touched to the very heart that she remembered us, and sent to us such appropriate memorials of her own self, imbued and inspired, as that self was, with the love of God's truth shin- ing forth from His word and works. Would that with her gifts might come to us her spirit of sub- lime loyalty to the right and beautiful charity to all. # # * We are with you in your sorrow for the departure of this blessed teacher of good things, and with you in the hope which maketh not ashamed of seeing her once more in that better world for which she has been ripening with a spiritual bloom that made old age a prophecy of the radiant youth of immortality."
Ancestry .- Mrs. Redfield's forefathers were of English descent, and their sterling qualities were proven in colonial times, during the Revolutionary period, and in the councils of the nation, during what has been termed the " formative epoch," from 1776 to 1820, when the United States were " slowly and in the face of physical and moral obstacles establishing their independence among nations." Mrs. Redfield's paternal grandfather, Thomas Tredwell, lived in an age of extraordinary activities and forces, and the record of a life devoted to the public service associates his name en- duringly with grand, arduous, and historic events.
Thomas Trelwell's Public Record .- He was a Representative in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1772-76 ; in 1775 he was elected to the Provincial Congress, sitting in the city of New York. In 1776 he was, with others, elected to represent Suffolk county, I .. I. This Provincial Congress met at the Court-House in Westchester county, but sat in Fishkill, November 8th. In 1778 he was delegated to the convention at Poughkeepsie to deliberate on the adoption of the Con- stitution of the United States. He was also appointed during the same year Judge of l'robate in the city of New York, which office he held until surrogates were appointed for each county. In 1791 he was elected to represent Suffolk, Kings, and Queens counties in the Continental Congress then sitting in Philadelphia (to hill a vacancy caused by the death of Dr. Townsend). In 1793 he wa's again elected to represent these counties, which he continued to do until he removed to Plattsburgh,
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N. Y. In ISo4 he was elected Senator for the Northern District, and in 1307 he was appointed Surrogate for Clinton county, which office he filled until his death, which took place at l'lattsburgh, December 25, IS31. Thompson, in his " History of Long Isiand," says :
" Thomas Tredwell was one of the most useful men of his day, and was almost constantly en- gaged in public business ; vas distinguished for firmness and prudence, was a member of the l'ro- vincial Convention in 1775, and was elected afterward to the Provincial Congress from Long Island (with power to establish a new form of government). He was a member of the first Senate of this State under the Constitution, and seems in all respects to have been fitted for the perilous times in which he lived."
Governor Seward, in his " Introduction to the Natural History of the State of New York, " says :
" Thomas Tredwell was one of three constituting the Committee of Safety while the Constitu- tion of this State was being formed, in 1777, and was for many years the only surviving member of that body." (See " Sprague's Annals," Palmer's " Ilist. of Lake Champlain," and the histories of Long Island by Prime, Thompson, Onderdonk, etc.)
Mrs. Redfield's maternal ancestor, Sir Hugh Platt, lived in the days of Shakespeare and Bacon. Her grandfather, Judge Charles Platt, was one of the original proprietors of Plattsburgh, N. Y .. its first actual and permanent settler, and with two brothers founded the place and gave its name. He was the first Judge of Clinton county, and held the first court in 1780. He had studied medi- cine in Paris, France ; he visited London, England, in 1761, and there copied from the records of the Herald's College the family Coat of Arms. It was granted to the " Ancient and Honourable Family of PLATT, who were in great Repute in Norfolk, Anno Domini, 1327," etc.
Mrs. Reddeld was a close observer of national history throughout her life, which began with the opening of this century. She was intellectually alert to receive new ideas upon all subjects, and kept abreast of the advanced views of the times in which she lived. Before her death the phonograph and the telephone were assured scientific facts, and Dr. Winchell's writing's were illuminating the fields of scientific inquiry Through all the years of a busy life her love of study was enthusiastic ; she loved knowledge for its own sake, and, pricing intellectual distinction, she was herself attractive, possessing the niagnetism of a noble and inspiring presence and a sympathetic nature. She was on terms of friendly intimacy and was pre-eminently the friend of teachers and clergymen: ller friendships were enduring ; with Dr. Malcolm McClaren it dated from 1818, at Onondaga Academy ; for more than half a century she held delightful correspondence with Mrs. Emma Willard, till her death ; the same may be said of Dr. and Mrs Samuel B. Woolworth, the llon. A. II. Redfield. and others, beside relations. Fond of the study of the natural sciences Mrs. Redfield made collec- tions of shells, minerals, and botanical specimens and prepared and published a work on zoology. illustrated by a chatt of the "Animal Kingdom " Beautifully illustrated with pencilings were a botanical chart and an atlas prepared by her for publication. Interested in family tradition and history she collected genealogical data and arranged a " Tree" of the family of " Platt," which was photographed for distribution. Among her last literary works was a valuable genealogical history of the families of " Tredwell" and " Platt." published as a " Rescript." She contributed papers of historical value to llamilton College and to the historical societies of Long Island and Chicago.
In domestic life Mrs. Redfield was eminently practical, and there was scarcely anything useful or ornamental that she could not or did not do from spinning and dipping candles to painting , n satin ; from whipping linen cambric shirt-ruffles to writing an essay on zoology; which goes to prove that a woman with an intelligent purpose can do almost anything that she sets herself to do. In the panorama of local history, of which Mrs. Reshield was an eye-witness, were the scenes of rejoicing attending the completion of the Erie Canal. in (825, when Lafayette, " the guest of the nation." passed through Onondaga Hollow, and in whose honor evergreen arches were erected in the mi.in street of the village. The completion of the canal and the expansion of the salt industry gave promise of growth and prosperity to the then lesser village, which Mrs. Redheld lived to see the city of Syracuse with more than eighty thousand inhabitants She remembered when " Jacksonism" was "dominant and rampant " throughout the land ; when anti-Masonry and Masonry made ard unmade political parties and friendships so absorbing were those issues in their day. When the Court- House was removed from Onondaga Hill to a location midway between the rival villages of Syracuse and Salina (now the First ward of this city), Mrs. Redfield, in speaking of it, said : " The location
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suited no one-the lawyers least of all ; the distance was long, and in the spring and fall of the year the road was almost imp.issable." At the time of the "great fire" there were no engines or fire apparatus of any sort, and leather fire-buckets were in use ; double rows of men were formed, who passed and repassed them along the lines to the canal or private cisterns. Events of great importance and interest to Syracuse were the first visitation of the cholera, in 1832, when a panic prevailed here as elsewhere ; " the explosion " and loss of life ; the building of the first railroad ; the first telegraph; the development of the public school system ; the formation of libraries and literary societies ; the agricultural fairs ; the organization of benevolent institutions ; the advent of public lectures ; the aholition movements ; the rise and fall of animal magnetism, and of the Millerite delusion ; the singing of Jenny Lind ; Daniel Webster's speech on the fugitive slave law ; the speech of the first Mayor of Syracuse, Harvey Ballwin ; the " Tippecanoe and Tyler too" campaign with its log-cabin and hard-cider arguments. The "Central City " became the "City of Conventions." When the war of the Rebellion broke out the women of the North were united in effort in the work for the relief of soldiers in hospital and on the field. To this work Mrs. Redfield came with characteristic energy and efficiency.
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