USA > New York > Noted living Albanians and state officials. A series of biographical sketches > Part 11
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In 1885 Mr. Hammond was chosen superintendent of the entire Northern department of the district, including the division previously under his care. This highly responsible post he has filled for five years with great acceptableness to the company and much credit to himself. While Albany is his official residence he has a pleasant private home at Slingerlands.
Mr. Hammond has always made excellent use of all the opportunities afforded him in the course of a life now in its very prime. From a youthful telegraph operator he has gradually risen to his present ample field of labors by the cultivation and exhibition of those qualities which distinguish our most useful and successful citizens -" justice, truth and
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probity of mind," untiring perseverance, rare executive ability, and a careful watch over public trusts.
Mr. Hammond has also shown a sincere regard for all matters of a religious, moral and benevolent nature, his in- fluence being especially felt in the affairs of the large religi- ous denomination of which - like his venerable father - he is a working, honored, benevolent member, contributing largely of his own means toward its success. He is deservedly held in high estimation by his church and has been frequently chosen as a representative in its public deliberations. In 1884 he was a delegate to the general M. E. conference in Philadelphia, and again in 1888, to the general conference in New York city.
He is a trustee and second vice-president of the Round Lake association, and a trustee of Poultney academy. With a tall, well-proportioned, impressive figure, a face beaming with intelligence and benevolence, manners quiet and un- assuming, a somewhat ministerial bearing -inherited from his father - he is one who, in all the activities of his life, rejoices to enlarge the sphere of his benevolence - to elevate and purify the standards of business, religion and morality.
In 1866, Mr. Hammond married Miss Eleonora Babcock, of Friendship, N. Y., daughter of Dr. Brayton Babcock, one of the most eminent physicians in that part of the state, a young lady whosc acquaintance he made while pursuing his academical studies at that place. They have no children.
Hamilton Harris
HAMILTON HARRIS.
DISTINGUISHED citizen of Albany, whose fame as a lawyer, a scholar and a statesman extends far beyond the limits of his residence, is the Hon. Hamilton Harris. Born at Preble, Cortland county, N. Y., on the Ist of May, 1820, he passed his boyhood amidst the beautiful natural scenery of his native place, engaging in the health- ful exercises, sports and pastimes of a life in the country. His father, Frederick Waterman Harris, a native of the state of New York, but of English origin, was one of the sterling pioneers of Cortland county. His mother, whose maiden name was Lucy Hamilton, was of Scottish ancestry and possessed many of the noble qualities of that race.
The parents of Hamilton Harris had removed from Charleston, Montgomery county, N. Y., in the year 1808 to Preble, and setttled on a farm of several hundred acres. This large farm presented a rich and varied surface of hill and valley and plain, and was carefully cultivated and im- proved by the elder Harris. Near the old house yearly bloomed gardens of flowers, while orchards rich with autumnal fruits formed a leading attraction of the delightful spot. Here the happy days of the youth of Hamilton Harris were spent in laying the foundation of a strong con- stitution, and in receiving his first lessons in a literary
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cases, both far and near Ten years after the formation of this partnership Mr. Cochrane died, but Mr. Harris and Mr. Reynolds continued their association during a period of eight years, when the grave closed over the remains of Mr. Reynolds, a man eminent in his profession and fascinating in his social qualities. Since Mr. Reynolds' death, Mr. Harris has continued the practice of his profession in asso- ciation with his son Frederick, and with William P. Rudd, which firm has as extensive a practice as any in the country, being largely engaged for corporations. Mr. Harris has for a number of years been employed in the defense of most of the suits brought against railroad corporations in this county.
In 1853 Mr. Harris was elected district attorney of Albany county, serving in this capacity till January 1, 1857. Here his legal talents shown forth in great lustre. He was, indeed, one of the ablest and most fearless district attorneys the county ever had. He conducted several noted cases with great learning, adroitness and success, among which was the argument in the case of People v. Hendrickson, indicted for the murder of his wife by poison in 1853. He conducted on the part of the people the several trials of McCann for the murder of his wife in 1856; the murder cases of People v. Phelps, People v. McCrossen, People v. Dunnigan, People v. Cummings, and defended in the murder case of People v. Reiman. In many memorable and important civil cases Mr. Harris has won great distinction throughout the state by the able manner in which he conducted them, and the deep legal research and the profound general learning which he displayed.
In 1884 Mr. Harris argued the case of William McDonald arraigned at the bar of the senate for refusing to answer questions before a legislative body ; and he successfully con-
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ducted the case of Judge Westbrook before the senate com- mittee in 1882.
While carrying on an extensive law practice he early turned his attention to the field of politics. In the autumn of 1850 he was elected member of assembly from the county of Albany. He became on the formation of the republican party one of its strongest champions. As a member of the republican state committee from 1862 to 1864, and chair- man of the republican state committee from 1864 to 1870, he displayed fine executive abilities in the management of political affairs, taking a prominent part in often successfully guiding the republican ship of state over boisterous seas into the haven of peace and triumph. In a political sense he is a grand master-builder, whose skill is remarkable, whose plans are perfect, whose resources are prolific, and whose finished work commands the admiration of his party.
When the erection of the new capitol, greatly through the persistent labors of Mr. Harris, was decided upon by the legislature of 1865, he was elected president of a new board of capitol commissioners, and served with marked ability and untiring diligence until 1875, when he resigned. In the autumn of 1875 he was elected to the state senate, and at once took a leading part in the deliberations of that body. Re-elected by a large majority in 1877, he won still higher senatorial honors during his second term, indicating the possession of true legislative qualities, as a close thinker, a bold leader, a skillful organizer, and a ready debater. His championship in the senate of popular and higher education was appreciated by the friends of education throughout the state and recognized by the legislature by his election, in March, 1885, to the office of a regent of the university of the state of New York.
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Amidst all his arduous and varied efforts as a lawyer and a politician, Mr. Harris has found time to exhibit his literary tastes and fine culture on the platform before large and ap- preciative audiences. Among the most noted of his pub- lished literary addresses were his admirable lectures on " Politics and Literature," delivered before the Young Men's association of Albany in 1880, and on "The Tower of Lon- don," delivered before the same association in 1878. His tribute to the memory of John Morrissey in the senate, his eulogy on Lyman Tremain and his tribute to James A. Garfield were all expressed in the most appropriate, touch- ing and beautiful language.
A man of handsome and commanding presence, of sound physical constitution, and of capacious intellect, he has the power to sway an audience with his strong, persuasive elo- quence. As a forensic and political orator, Mr. Harris oc- cupies a high position in the history of our city, our state and country. His popularity is well merited. Logical in argument, brilliant in speech, exhaustive in research, when stirred to the depths of his heart by the greatness of his theme, there is a magnetism about his whole manner which it is difficult to resist. His clear, concise, vigorous sentences fall like the hammer and chisel of a skilled sculptor on the rude stone, removing obstructions, smoothing down its rough surface, and shaping the whole block into a perfect, admirable statue.
Mr. Harris has a great knowledge of human nature, a keen perception of character, discernment of motive, and is sure and rapid in his judgment of individuals, which enables him in dealing with men to address himself to their feelings, interests, biases and prepossessions. He is a fluent speaker, with an easy colloquial manner, and the art of his advocacy
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is exhibited in clear and simple appeals to the understand- ing; in sinking the professional character of the advocate, elevating the merits of his case, adapting his suggestions and inferences to the opinions or prejudices of the audience and speaking very earnestly on points useful to his case with- out any apparent sophistry, and passing easily over others that are hurtful to it in a way the best calculated to draw observation from the difficulties he has to deal with. While he is really eloquent, he abstains from all attempts at ora- torical display, and concerns himself little about gesture or declamation.
Since his comparative retirement from the political field, Mr. Harris has established one of the largest and most re- munerative law practices in this city or state. He is now the leading counsel for the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company, and the Boston and Albany Rail- road Company, for which companies he has won a large number of important cases. The uniform success which has marked his efforts in the conduct of such suits has also caused his professional services to be sought after by other railroad companies, so that his legal practice has become far more attractive to him than the warfare of politics. He has the reputation in his profession of being cool, wary and adroit in the trial of cases, and is distinguished by his skill in cross-examination, and his ability as an advocate.
Mr. Harris' love of general literature is shown by his choice private library, which contains all the principal works of eminent English and American statesmen, orators, poets, jurists, and scholars, as well as the best writings in almost every department of human learning. It is one of the most valuable collections in Albany, an extensive description of which the author gave some years ago in the New York
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Evening Post, and which will form an appropriate conclu- sion of this memoir.
The Hon. Hamilton Harris has spent many years in bringing together one of the most useful general collections of books that any professional or literary man could desire, numbering about 3,500 volumes. His shelves are not crowded with a great many exceedingly rare or curious works in costly binding, but they display a remarkable rich- ness in contributions to general literature in all its depart- ments. It is a miscellaneous library particularly suitable to the tastes and requirements of a man of broad culture and refined taste in universal learning, who is thoroughly familar with the knowledge of jurisprudence and the impor- tant events daily occurring in the arena of political life. These cherished volumes, full of entertaining and valuable information, and reflecting the thoughts of the best writers on subjects not directly connected with the legal profession, are admirably adapted to enlarge the views and add to the accomplishment of any strictly professional man.
There are three departments of literature in the library of Mr. Harris which are worthy of special notice on account of their completeness and excellence - those of history, bi- ography, and statesmanship. In the historical department stand in graceful and appropriate order the complete works of the great masters and students of history from the earliest periods to the present day, embracing among hundreds of other names those of Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Livy, Tacitus, Niehbur, Grote, Arnold, Hume, Gibbon, Macaulay, Carlyle, Clarendon, Lamartine, Lieber, Schlegel, Schiller, Neander, Sir James Mackintosh, Hallam, Guizot, Thiers, Sir James Stephen, Alison, Jesse, Froissart, Hazlitt, Green, Bancroft, Prescott, Motley and Irving.
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In biographical literature the library is the most ample and complete one in Albany. More than five hundred au- thors of memoirs of eminent persons here display the fer- tility of their genius in enriching and illustrating, often with the charms of graceful and graphic pens, this useful and at- tractive branch of human learning. Biography has a pecu- liar charm for Mr. Harris, and he has accordingly made a specialty in collecting volumes of this nature, embracing the lives of kings, emperors, presidents, orators, statesmen, his- torians, poets, novelists, politicians and men of letters, written by those who have been received as standard au- thorities on the subjects of which they treat. To mention a few whose personal, political or literary career has been thus illustrated we have here the names of Sir Thomas Moore, Sir Walter Raleigh, Lord Bacon, John Milton, Algernon Sidney, Oliver Cromwell, John Hampden, Sir John Eliot, Earl of Clarendon, Lord Bolingbroke, Sir Robert Walpole, the Earl of Chatham, Edmund Burke, Horace Walpole, Charles James Fox, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, William Pitt, George Canning, Dr. Samuel Parr, Richard Porson, John Howard, Duke of Buckingham, Lord North, Granville Sharp, Sir William Jones, Dr. Johnson, Sir James Mackin- tosh, Oliver Goldsmith, Cardinal Richelieu, Talleyrand, Metternich, Montaigne, the Napoleons, De Stael, Edward Gibbon, Goethe, Addison, the Georges, Chateaubriand, Erasmus, Wilberforce, Sir Isaac Newton, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Lord Hardwicke, Lord Eldon, Lord Brougham, Lord Lyndhurst, Lord Denman, Lord Campbell, Sir Samuel Romilly, Wellington, Frederick the Great, Bismarck, Lord Melbourne, Sir Robert Peel, Lord Palmerston, Lord Rus- sell, Lord Jeffery, the Earl of Beaconsfield, Lord Lytton, Richard Cobden, Garrick, Siddons, Kemble, Kean, Walter
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Savage Landor, Charles Townshend, Voltaire, Cardinal Wolsey, Francis Xavier, Fouché, Cavour, John Adams, John Q. Adams, Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Aaron Burr, Washington, the Clintons, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, William Wirt, William Pinckney, Gouverneur Morris, Edward Livingston, William Livingston, Philip Schuyler, John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, John Randolph, Joseph Story, Rufus Choate and Daniel Webster, with hosts of others of rank and world-wide renown.
Here may also be found the works of eminent foreign and American statesmen, orators, jurists and scholars from Lord Bacon to Edward Everett. These are always pre- sented in the best editions in excellent bindings, and form a very important part of the collection. For want of space we can only mention the following authors, whose complete works adorn the shelves of this notable library : Lord Bacon, Burke, Grattan, Bolingbroke, Erskine, Chesterfield, Hallam, Humboldt, Landor, De Tocqueville, De Quincy, De Staël, De Lamartine, Darwin, Fielding, John Forster, Scott, Andrew Fuller, Froissart, Fenelon, Robert Hall, Victor Hugo, Lamb, Montagu, Massillon, Montaigne, Machiavelli, Rousseau, Rochefoucauld, Rabelais, Coleridge, Pascal, Mira- beau, Schlegel, Schiller, Smollett, Sterne, Talfourd, Talley- rand, Jeremy Taylor, Benjamin Franklin, the Adams, Jef- ferson, Madison, Fisher, Ames, the Clintons, Webster, Clay, Sumner, Story, Woodbury, Seward, Emerson, Hawthorne, Irving and Everett. Mr. Harris, it is well known, is a great admirer of the writings of Alexander Hamilton, and has obtained the earliest as well as the latest editions of his works, the various memoirs of his life, and all the smaller publications regarding the history and genius of that con- summate orator, statesman and financier.
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Of illustrated volumes Mr. Harris has a very choice col- lection, embracing principally those on architecture, the towers, castles, abbeys, and famous public buildings of Europe. Of this class he has splendid copies of Roberts' " Holy Land," from drawings made on the spot by David Roberts, R. A., with historical descriptions by William Bro- chedon, F. R. S., illustrated by Louis Haghe, two volumes imperial folio, full morocco, gilt edges, London, 1842; " Egypt and Nubia," by the same author, in the same size and style, two volumes, London, 1846. Also, Racinet's " Les Costumes Historiques," published by Firmin, Didot & Cie .; in four volumes folio.
The law library of Mr. Harris contains about 3,000 vol- umes selected with particular regard to the every-day wants of the lawyer. He has many books illustrative of the litera- ture of the law; and his collection of books and pamphlets on celebrated trials, both in England and America, is one of the most remarkable and complete that can be found in the state. In fact, it may truly be said, there is scarcely a trial of any note that has taken place in this country or in Europe but what a report of it may be found in this library.
Mr. Harris has prepared a complete alphabetical cata- logue of his volumes, which appear to have been selected with a view to practical utility, without special regard to the costliness of the binding.
Mr. Harris must heartily indorse the sentiments of the celebrated John Mitchell Mason, D. D., of New York - a great lover of books -- in his defining what a library is - " It is an army - the books are my soldiers. I am the centu- rion. I call them down and make them fight for me."
DAVID BENNETT HILL.
PROMINENT figure in our political annals is David B. Hill, governor of the state of New York. His ancestors were of New England origin, and he was born in the beautiful and romantic village of Havana, Schuyler, then Chemung county, N. Y., on the 29th of August, 1843. His father, Caleb Hill, was a native of Windham county, Conn., but while a young man, removed to Havana, where he car- ried on the business of a carpenter and joiner. His mother's maiden name was Eunice Durfey. She was a woman richly endowed with the gifts and graces of a true life. Both parents were strongly devoted to the welfare of their chil- dren and strove hard, with their very limited pecuniary means, to give them a good common-school education. These intelligent, industrious and affectionate parents, so pleasant in their lives, were not long divided in their death - Mrs. Hill died in Elmira, August, 1882, and Mr. Hill _ after living to see his son elected lieutenant-governor of the empire state - followed her to the grave in December of the same year.
David, the youngest son, and the subject of this sketch, was naturally fond of books and made an excellent use of the limited educational advantages afforded him by his par. ents. At the Havana academy, beautifully located in the
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open fields a short distance from the village, the young student spent several years deeply interested in his studies and laying the foundation of a good education. On leav- ing the academy at the age of seventeen, he cheerfully un- dertook the task, on a small scale, of earning his own living. He was first employed as a clerk in a leading law office in Havana, where his youthful genius, his ambition to rise higher in mental attainments and his faithfulness and fidelity attracted the notice of several prominent persons who saw in him evidences of a bright future. One of these friendly observers was Colonel John I. Lawrence, a cousin of Judge Abraham Lawrence of New York city, who earnestly advised him to continue the study of the law. It was a wise coun- sel, and was speedily followed by young Hill, whose natural inclinations and ambitions were wholly in this direction, and to whom the legal profession was invested with peculiar charms. He accordingly went to Elmira early in 1863, and entered the law office of Erastus P. Hart, an accom- plished lawyer of that city. And there Mr. Hill prosecuted his legal studies with such unremitting diligence and success that he was admitted to the bar in the autumn of 1864. With his characteristic energy, enterprise and self-reliance he lost no time in opening a law office in the city of Elmira, his newly-adopted home. His success was soon assured ; he was appointed city attorney of Elmira ; and during the first year of his residence there, his legal practice was crowned with several brilliant triumphs, and he won for himself a leading position in the bar of the southern tier. His popu- larity continuing to increase, he speedily acquired an exten- sive legal practice, not only in Elmira, but also in the sur- rounding country. His fine legal talents, cultivated by close application to study, were admirably displayed in
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many an interesting and important case. His legal efforts on such occasions were powerful - in language terse, in logic incisive, and in argument convincing.
But the activities of Mr. Hill's legal profession were soon, in a large measure, to be exchanged for those of politics. For him the stirring arena of political life presented still stronger attractions ; and entering this field of conflict as an ardent young democrat, he found a most congenial occupa- tion for his active nature. In 1871, and again in 1872, he was elected a member of the assembly from Chemung county. In the deliberations of that body his versatile genius and forcible declamation were fully displayed, and he stepped to the front rank as a parliamentarian. True to his party organization he always advocated with great force and earnestness democracy. As a member of the democratic party he even then had few equals as a tactician in effecting its success.
In the legislature of 1872-3 he was frequently chairman of the committee of the whole. He strongly opposed the system which made penal labor a victor over the interests of honest industry in the empire state ; and he also suc- ceeded in having a bill passed by the assembly forbidding the system, but the bill was defeated in the senate. In 1877 and in 1881 he was president of the democratic state con- vention, the duties of which he performed with marked ability and success. In 1881, as an evidence of his growing popularity at home, he was elected alderman in the strongest republican ward in Elmira. And in the spring of 1882 he was chosen mayor of the city by a large majority. In 1882, Mr. Hill was nominated for lieutenant-governor of the state on the ticket headed by Grover Cleveland. The majority by which this ticket was elected was unprecedented in the
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annals of politics, Cleveland's plurality being 192,854, and Hill's 196,781. He presided with great ability, dignity and impartiality over the senate, the majority of which was republican.
When Grover Cleveland was inaugurated president of the United States Mr. Hill succeeded him as governor of the state of New York. He discharged the duties of this office with such general acceptability to his party that he was nominated for governor by the democratic state convention, which met in September, 1885. After a memorable and exciting contest, he was elected over Ira Davenport, the republican candidate, by a plurality of 11, 134.
In the autumn of 1888, Governor Hill was renominated for governor, his opponent being the Hon. Warner Miller. Every inch of ground was hotly contested for in that cam- paign, both candidates delivering public addresses night and day through the state in advocacy of the special claims of their party. The result was the reelection of Governor Hill by a plurality of 19,171, while President Harrison car- ried the state by 14,373.
While striving to administer the affairs of the state gov- ernment on strictly democratic principles, Governor Hill has delivered several addresses set forth in strong, vigorous language, and containing passages of more than ordinary eloquence. One of these was on the occasion of the cen- tennial banquet at the Metropolitan opera house, New York, on the 30th of April, 1889, commemorative of the in- auguration of George Washington as the first president of the United States and the establishment of the constitution of our country. In delivering the address of welcome Gov- ernor Hill happily said : "As the governor of the state, within whose borders were heard the acclaims which greeted
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the first president's oath of allegiance to the constitution, I extend a welcome to all here assembled. Welcome to you, President Harrison, latest of the line of those distinguished men who have given the same guarantee of obedience to the charter of our liberties and faithfulness to the rights of the people. Welcome to your honored cabinet, and to those chosen representatives of all the sister states, whose presence here speaks anew the grandeur and greatness of our United States. Welcome to all in authority - legis- lative, executive or judicial, civil and military - who, in their station, with honor and justice, are daily serving our common country. Welcome to all the ambassadors of other nations who participate with us in these festivities. Welcome, strong and brave men, sons of fathers who yielded life, who sacrificed fortune, who endured severest privation, that we might rejoice in liberty. Welcome, fair and true women, daughters of mothers who gave patriotic encourage- ment in days of darkest distress; who willingly devoted themselves to suffering that the infant republic might be sustained. Welcome those from whatever clime who have become part of our people, and who have contributed their share in maintaining the purposes and increasing the glory of our commonwealth. Welcome to all - citizens - strangers - friends.
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