USA > New York > New York : the planting and the growth of the Empire state, Vol. II > Part 8
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23
1801-1813.
THE material prosperity of New York was di- versified and rapid, and, although suffering from the threats of foreign complications, when those ceased it rose to its full current. The exten- sion of agriculture on its soil was never equaled in the older States of the Union, and its devel- opment of manufactures surpassed at that pe- riod that of any neighbor. With wealth, social graces, especially in the cities and on the man- ors, became more general, although they could hardly be more conspicuous than they were among a few when the state and national capi- tals were in New York city. The people were full of energy and enterprise, and immigrants from New England as well as from Europe added to industry and production and thrift. The diversified elements in the population were observed by travelers and visitors. The Dutch retained their hold in their original seats. The Palatines in the Mohawk Valley stood aloof, in
486
NEW YORK.
manners and tastes, from the Scotch and Irish who surrounded them. The Huguenots did not lose their ground in Westchester. Towns in Oneida county became as distinctively Welsh as any in the principality. Parts of Otsego were what they were made by the original Scotch preemption. Pennsylvania furnished emigrants to Tioga, and by way of Pittsburgh to Allegany and Chautauqua. Connecticut and Massachusetts contributed families and influ- ences to the western counties and along the route to them, as Vermont and New Hamp- shire did to the Valley of the St. Lawrence. The French crossed the river and the lake from Canada ; and later, companies came into northi- ern New York direct from France.
All religious sects were represented. The Shakers, who settled in the borders of Albany county in 1776, were prospering. President Timothy Dwight, in his visit "to the Whites- town country," at the close of the last century, was shocked by the prevalence of horse-racing in the Mohawk Valley, and found the people " destitute both of knowledge and morals." His observation was scanty and his generaliza- tion very broad. The Presbyterians and Con- gregationalists of New England before 1800 sent into central New York at least thirty-seven ministers, either for missionary exploration, or
487
A TRAGEDY. - THE PRESIDENCY.
for clerical labors more or less prolonged, and they were welcomed by the inhabitants. Rev. John Taylor, who traveled by stage in 1802 along the valley, and passed into the Black River country, met with little difficulty in se- curing congregations to hear his sermons on week days as well as Sundays, and he reports Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Congrega- tionalists, and Universalists, with their socie- ties. He " seldom found a family without a Bible," and was everywhere encouraged in his labors. Of Western, still a small town, he wrote : " It is incredible how thick this part of the world is settled."
The mingling of peoples was, however, the striking feature. In Utica, with only ninety houses, " ten or twelve different nations were represented at this time." While between the various settlements a certain division prevailed in manners and tastes and sympathies, and to some extent also between families of different origin on the same soil, gradually the lines of demarcation grew more faint, and crossed cach other. The intermingling proceeded with suc- cessive generations, but more or less various locations retain to this day the impress of their original settlement. The Empire State, from before the Revolution, had this distinction, and the waters of the growing river, although they
488
NEW YORK.
spread more widely and rose to flood, were col- ored with the soil and vegetation of their sources. This was the explanation of that growth which in its volume, and still more in its varied phases, is wellnigh The story of that growth in its curious details, in farms laid out, in factories built, in roads ex- tended, in the broadening culture of the people, will repay examination and can never lose its novelty. The aggregate results remain, for monument to the generations passed, for ex- ample to their descendants.
In the midst of this development, political problems occupied a large share of attention. Governor Jay had been invited, December, 1800, to return to the position of chief justice of the United States, but declined, as he declined also to be a candidate for governor for a third term at the election of 1801, when George Clinton was again chosen to that position. Governor Jay, near the close of his administration, when the republicans were mounting to power, found the inconvenience of the system which the coun- cil of appointment enforced. Three members, constituting a majority, claimed the right of nomination over the head of the governor, who insisted on his own right to nominate without submission of the names to the council. The controversy culminated in the refusal of the
489
A TRAGEDY. - THE PRESIDENCY.
members to vote on nominations presented by the governor ; and thereupon he called them to- gether no more, and appealed to the assembly, as did the majority of the council. That body asked the opinion of the chancellor and the supreme court, who declined to enter into the matter as extra-judicial. In order to settle the question, a convention was recommended, to consider the constitution in this provision and in the number of senators and assemblymen. The convention, which met October 13, chose Aaron Burr president; and on its rolls were De Witt Clinton and Daniel D. Tompkins, both
to become governors. Yet, by a vote reported to be unanimous, although Governor Tomp- kins subsequently claimed that he opposed it, the declaration was recorded that the council possessed equal powers of nomination with the governor. This limitation of executive author- ity, after full discussion by a convention chosen especially to consider the subject, is one of the striking features in the constitutional history of New York. The same body fixed the num- ber of state senators at thirty-two, at which it has always remained, notwithstanding the mul- tiplication of the population nearly sixfold. The members of the assembly were to be one hundred, to be increased at each census at the rate of two yearly, until the total should reach one hundred and fifty.
490
NEW YORK.
De Witt Clinton had been chosen United States senator in 1802, and was already over- shadowing his uncle, George Clinton, the gov- ernor, and was credited with the highest aspi- rations. Between DeWitt Clinton and Aaron Burr, who was not only vice-president, but re- garded as a candidate for succession to the pres- idency, a personal rivalry arose, which was car- ried to great lengths, and affected seriously the fortunes of both. The charge was urged that the federal offices in the State were given by President Jefferson to Burr's enemies, while the representatives, who were during the choice for president suspected of favoring the New York candidate, received consideration which it was alleged showed that promises had been made to secure their votes for Jefferson. The designa- tion of Chancellor Livingston as minister to France, and of his brother Edward to be United States attorney for New York, was cited on the first charge, with a full list of specifications under the second charge. At Albany the Clin- ton influence was supreme, and taking the Liv- ingstons into alliance it completely ostracized the friends of the vice-president. The rela- tions of Burr with the presidential election of 1800 were the theme of repeated and detailed attacks in the "Citizen," published in New York. The "Chronicle " carried on an. ag -.
-
1
491
A TRAGEDY. - THE PRESIDENCY.
gressive warfare against the Clintons and Liv- ingstons. The " Evening Post " was just started as the organ of Hamilton. The strife was car- ried into private life. Burr and his friend Swartwout were turned out of the direction of the Manhattan Bank, and the latter was called by De Witt Clinton " a liar, a scoundrel, and a villain." A duel was the consequence, but for- tunately, after five shots were exchanged and Swartwout was twice wounded, Clinton re- fused to fire again, and a political murder was averted.
The legislature in 1803 gave another illus- tration of the extension of politics into busi- ness by chartering the State Bank at Albany, and distributing the stock among the friends of Clinton in the two houses; while at the same time a charter was refused to the Merchants' Bank, controlled by Burr's supporters. The defense was that federalists owned the only three banks then existing outside of New York city, -at Hudson, at Albany, and near Troy re- spectively. In New York city, the first bank in the State established by charter from the legis- lature was the Bank of New York, organized under the auspices of Alexander Hamilton, and it was for years a power in politics. All bank franchises were then monopolies, and they were awarded notoriously to political favorites, and
492
NEW YORK.
the step was not very great to give profit, as in the case of the State Bank, directly, in large part, to those who voted for the charter. Gross as the practice seems to modern morality, both parties acted upon it, and only when charges of direct purchase were made did the scandal arouse pronounced opposition. In 1805 two senators accepted stock in the Merchants' Bank, with the promise that it should be taken off their hands at twenty-five per cent. advance, and the agent in this transaction was also a senator. A committee of investigation was ordered, where- upon one senator resigned to avoid expulsion ; but the charter, although for the benefit of fed-
eralists, was granted. Governor Lewis and his friends favored the measure, while the sup- porters of DeWitt Clinton, led by Ambrose Spencer, opposed it. The difference was to fester, and the issue was to attain importance.
In 1812, at the closing up of the United States Bank, a proposal was strongly advocated to establish the Bank of America in New York, with a capital of $6.000,000. and for the charter of which the stockholders of the institution that had been closed might subscribe for $5,000,000, while as a bonus 8600.000 was to be paid to the State, with privileges as to public loans. Governor Tompkins took strong grounds against the project in a message, reciting charges of cor-
ยท
493
A TRAGEDY. - THE PRESIDENCY.
ruption that should be sifted, and enlarging on the dangers of the growing powers of corpora- tions and the extension of bank credits ; he went so far as to prorogue the legislature from March 27 to May 21, under authority then granted by the constitution, but used only in this case. A lobby agent was convicted, bribery was brought close home to some legislators, and although in the senate Erastus Root, of Delaware, fought with dilatory measures, in the end a charter was granted. For this result De Witt Clinton was in large degree responsi- ble, for he was to have and did get the support of the bank ring in his candidacy then pend- ing for president. These graspings for bank charters as political prizes, or as conditions of bargains in politics, continued until the free banking law was enacted, allowing equal priv- ileges to all under statutory regulations.
The scandal relative to both these banks, or certainly the form which it took, was due to the practical disappearance of the federal party. After the flurry of a possible war with France, Hamilton contented himself with his profes- sion, in which his splendid abilities lifted him above rivalry ; and in the course of a suit for libel brought against Harry Croswell, for words spoken of Jefferson in the " Balance," a news- paper published at Hudson, he delivered an ar-
494
NEW YORK.
gument for allowing the truth to be presented in evidence, and permitting the jury to judge of the law and the facts. The impression was so strong that the statutes were amended ac- cording to his views, and new security was given to the liberty of the press.
The successful lawyer did not forget his hos- tility to Burr, of whom he spoke with intense hatred and with utter condemnation of his per- sonal and political character. In 1804, George Clinton was nominated for vice-president on the ticket with Jefferson, and was in due time elected. Burr felt keenly his own rejection, and resolved to become a candidate for gover- nor, and to that end secured a nomination from a few friends in the legislature, and from public meetings here and there. The democrats nomi- nated Morgan Lewis, the chief justice, who was connected with the Livingstons by marriage. An attempt to induce the federalists to support Burr was opposed and in large measure checked by Hamilton. Burr carried New York city, but in the State, in a poll of 52,698 votes, the ma- jority against him was 8.690. Even his auda- city accepted the defeat as crushing and final, and it stirred his rage for vengeance. Hamil- ton had been during his entire career his oppo- nent, had thwarted his ambitions, had in the State and the nation thrust from him the grand-
-
495
A TRAGEDY. - THE PRESIDENCY.
est prizes. They belonged to opposite parties, it is true, and Hamilton was always frank and open in his action. The Clintons and the Liv- ingstons in his own party had overcome him and driven him out. But Hamilton was the foremost of his adversaries, and at him he was determined to strike.
The fashion of the times prompted resort to the duel. Hamilton's son had been killed in a semi-political affair, and in society and poli- tics a challenge was a recognized device for getting satisfaction. Burr adopted it, in the passion following his defeat. . The correspond- ence is matter of record. The rivals, each so gifted and each so commanding in his own way, met at Weehawken, July 11, and the single shot which proved fatal to Hamilton, who refused to fire at his adversary, set an im- perishable brand on the brow of Burr. The killing was justifiable under the code, but was murder under the law. Hiding, fleeing to es- cape arrest, as soon as he was outside of the State, Burr's audacity returned. Gay in Phila- delphia, in Washington he resumed his chair as vice-president, and invited the storm of ob- loquy and execration which he defied. The popular mind tolerated no apology. The of- fenses of years were emblazoned by the blood of his victim. Hamilton was the theme of
496
NEW YORK.
eulogy in press and pulpit and forum. The practice of dueling, tolerated up to that time, was proclaimed to be murder ; and he who so lately was honored as vice-president, and only a little while before barely escaped election to the presidency, was in church and society, on the streets and in public assemblies, denounced as a murderer. Our annals are not stained with another tragedy so dramatic. The fate of the victim has added pathos and zeal to many a eulogy on his political principles and his ser- vices to the republic.
Burr passed out of the politics of New York. An invitation was extended to him to enter politics at the South, where the duel would not condemn him. He chose to pursue a romantic adventure in the Southwest, as a result of which he was put on trial for treason against the United States. Ruined in fortune he sought refuge in Europe, but returned to New York, where he resumed the practice of the law; but he was soured and disgraced and died, with few friends and little consideration, September 14, 1836.
Morgan Lewis as governor bridged over the interval for the new men who were rising to favor. De Witt Clinton in 1802 took a strange step by resigning his seat in the national senate to become mayor of New York, and Theodorus
F
497
A TRAGEDY. - THE PRESIDENCY.
Bailey followed his example to accept the post- mastership of that city. . The local offices af- forded the larger emoluments, and Clinton doubtless regarded the mayoralty as a surer lever for political promotion. His future was to justify his ambitions, for even the highest prize was to be proffered by devoted friends. Other men were rising into prominence. James Kent, now forty-one years of age, was appointed chief justice in 1804 to succeed Governor Lewis, and, after ten years of service on that bench, was made chancellor. His pure character and his eminent learning, and brilliant as well as solid ability, commanded admiration in his own day; and as the author of "Commentaries on American Law" he was the pioneer and the master of our jurisprudence. A younger man, only thirty years of age, who took Judge Kent's place on the bench of the supreme court when the latter became chief justice, was destined to occupy a broad and commanding position. This was Daniel D. Tompkins, who had already served in the assembly and the constitutional convention, and was chosen to congress in this same year.
Mr. Clinton in his political zeal soon came into collision with Governor Lewis, and the warfare between them grew virulent. Clinton was charged with intriguing with those who
498
NEW YORK.
still elung to the name of Burr ; the federalists generally adhered to Lewis, as was alleged, in return for his favors in chartering the Mer- chants' Bank. It is not necessary to attribute base motives to either for an alliance that was natural. Lewis was the candidate of the Liv- ingstons, while Clinton was already organizing a party that was to be in many respects per- sonal, and which he drilled and disciplined to follow him.
It is difficult to discover grounds of princi- ple to explain the divisions of this period. All parties accepted the federal constitution, and in New York there was little or no organized opposition to Jefferson's administration. The questions which led to the second war with Great Britain were arising, but parties and factions were not yet arrayed upon them. The controversy was one very largely of men and offices merely. The Clintons and Livingstons, once allies, were the leaders of the hostile forces. The former controlled at this time the federal patronage, while the Livingstons, who had enjoyed their full share, were no longer in- fluential at Washington. although personally honored. At Albany, however, they had the ear of the governor and inspired the administra- tion. They showed their temper by removing Clinton from the mayoralty of New York, and
499
A TRAGEDY. - THE PRESIDENCY.
his friends from such state offices as they held. Clinton and Livingston nominally agreed on the matter of bank charters, but the former as- sented to grants for which some of his friends voted, as the Albany " Register " pleaded, and out of which scandals grew. De Witt Clinton was already an aspirant for the presidency, and was anxious to win favor and popularity in his own State. The Livingstons had ambitions, but they did not soar so high, and their efforts were directed primarily to the crippling of their chief rival.
George Clinton was still serving his first term as vice-president when his nephew was busy in seeking the nomination for the chief magistracy. The uncle was in the natural line of promotion, and less hostility was felt towards him. On the change of president, up to this time, the vice-president had been promoted to the executive chair. To continue that policy. as well as to promote the more remote aspira- tions of DeWitt Clinton, it was of the first importance to carry New York. The first step in the movement was the election of governor. If De Witt Clinton could have been chosen to that place in 1807, since his uncle was not to follow Jefferson as president, he might rea- sonably hope, as he did hope without that elec- tion, to sit in the seat of Washington. He did
500
NEW YORK.
not deem it wise, however, to enter the can- vass. He recognized the bitterness of the Liv- ingstons towards himself, and fully reciprocated it. He deemed it necessary, in order to secure . the show of strength for his own party, to flank this difficulty, and to present a candidate with whom he could appeal to the prejudices against the Livingston family represented by Governor Lewis, while, by keeping himself in the back- ground and holding his brother-in-law, Ambrose Spencer, also in reserve, he could avoid arous- ing the hostility against his own family. He hit upon Daniel D. Tompkins for the candidate, and after a sharp contest. in which Governor Lewis used all the State patronage in his own behalf, Tompkins was elected, and De Witt Clinton's plans were thus far successful. The new State administration was prompt to change Governor Lewis' recent appointments, and to restore De Witt Clinton to the mayoralty of New York, although he was at the same time State senator and member of the council of appointment, as he was assuredly the most im- portant factor in the politics of the common- wealth. At home the Clintons were for the moment supreme.
The congressional caneus of 1808, which then nominated the national candidates, was under different influences. George Clinton complained
501
A TRAGEDY. - THE PRESIDENCY.
that he was not consulted about the nomina- tions, and did not even know of the caucus until the day on which it was held, but he con- sented to continue as vice-president, with Mr. Madison as chief magistrate. The Albany " Register " pointed out the grasping policy of Virginia, and the " New York Post " quoted from Virginia papers denunciations of the enor- mous power wielded by De Witt Clinton in New York. When the electoral college met, six votes were cast for Clinton for president, and his opponents tried on that ground to put the vice- president and his party in his own State in an- tagonism to the national administration. The attacks on DeWitt Clinton were so personal and direct that he met them by resolutions in the senate, and an elaborate speech eulogizing Mr. Madison, and sustaining the embargo and non - intercourse laws. Governor Tompkins joined with Clinton in this policy, while the opposition to the war now plainly threatened fell into the hands of the federalists, who re- vived their organization, and in the election of 1810 nominated Jonas Platt for governor. The republicans, however, carried everything before them, and Governor Tompkins was supported by ex-Governor Lewis, and by a large part of the Livingston following.
By the death of John Broome, elected lieu-
502
NEW YORK.
tenant governor, DeWitt Clinton found occa- sion for another of the strange steps which marked his career. He accepted the nomina- tion for the vacancy, and amid a storm of as- sault and denunciation was elected, and went to Albany, not so much to preside over the senate as to conduct his canvass for the pres- idency. President Madison was using the fed- eral patronage to cripple Clinton. The vice- president, George Clinton, having died in Wash- ington April 20, 1812, his nephew inherited whatever strength he had to bequeath, and needed all of it; for he met with obstacles in an unexpected quarter. Governor Tompkins was aspiring to the presidency in the early fu- ture, and was charged with delaying action by the legislative caucus until Madison could be renominated at Washington. In spite of all complications. Clinton secured a nomination for president from the republican members of the legislature, although two absented them- selves, and others gave only formal assent. Ambrose Spencer and John W. Taylor, after- wards to be speaker of the lower house of con- gress, wrote that " no event would exalt Mr. Clinton higher than a surrender of his preten- sions to the presidential chair ; " and other friends pointed more directly to an arrange- ment for conceding a second term to Mr. Mad-
1
503
A TRAGEDY. - THE PRESIDENCY.
ison, with the succession, in 1816, to the can- didate from New York. The proposition was declined, and by a combination with the fed- eralists, Clintonian electors were secured from the State. The federalists in other States adopted Clinton as their candidate, not because he accepted their position relative to the war, but as a protest against Madison's policy. In the national college, all the States south and west of the Potomac voted for Madison, with Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and six electors from Maryland - 128 in all. For Clinton were recorded five electors from Maryland, and all from New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and New England except Vermont - a total of 89. The vice-presidency was taken from New York and given to Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts.
The presidency was lost to New York not only for 1812, but until the reconstruction of parties. The self-seeking of De Witt Clinton, the personal virulence of the canvass, the am- bitions of rivals and especially of Governor Tompkins, and the readiness to enter into un- natural alliances, were unfortunately to be pro- phetic of the politics of the commonwealth in subsequent years. The haste to reach the su- preme goal, the failure to recognize the difficul- ties of concentrating the opposition to Madison upon himself, are now obvious in the canvass
504
NEW YORK.
of Clinton. But his supporters were not un- reasonable in hoping to secure Vermont and North Carolina, with some single elector else- where, in addition to the electoral votes actually cast for him. If they had done so, who shall say what effects would have been wrought in the affairs of the commonwealth as well as of the nation ?
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.