USA > New York > Cortland County > Pioneer history; or, Cortland County and the border wars of New York, from the earliest period to the present time > Part 24
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On the 13th of May, 1846, an Act was passed by the Legislature of New York, for the encouragement of the formation of uniform companies, and to provide for the enrollment of the militia. In accordance with this Act, Gov. Wright, on the 21st of October of that year, directed Major General Hatheway to divide the Sixth Military Division into two brigade districts, accord- ing to representative population as ascertained by the State census of 1845, and as required by section 3d of that law.
The duty was promptly attended to. He divided the division into two brigade districts, as follows : the first he composed of the counties of Oneida and Oswego, and the towns of Sterling, Victory, Ira, Cato, and Con- quest, in the county of Cayuga, and the towns of Ly- sander, Van Buren, Clay, and Cicero, in the county of Onondaga ; and the second, of the counties of Cortland, Tompkins, and the remaining towns of the counties of Cayuga and Onondaga.
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The Report was fully approved by the Commander-in- Chief, and was regarded as an improvement on the original suggestion of the Adjutant-General, R. E. Temple.
Under the direction of Gov. Young, General Hathe- way divided the Sixth Division into four Brigade Dis- tricts, according to representative population.
Previous to the passage of the Act referred to, the State was composed of thirty-two divisions-two brig- ades in each. The new law reduced them to eight.
The Sixth Division was composed of the counties of Oneida, Oswego, Onondaga, Cayuga, Cortland, and- Tompkins.
General Hatheway, being the oldest Major General in the Sixth Division, was retained ; thus extending to him a compliment, not only for his venerated worth as a man, but for his zealous efforts as an officer.
During the entire period of a half century, General Hatheway has witnessed the gradual increase of the country from a wilderness to a populous and prosperous district ; and he has during the same period been inti- mately concerned with its business and its interests.
In the various civil and military capacities, he has been equally useful. His persevering energy rendered him valuable as a public officer, and prosperous in his private affairs. He has accumulated a very large prop- erty. His land consists of upwards of 3000 acres. The Home Farm between eleven and twelve hundred. His elegant residence was erected in 1844-5.
General Hatheway was married October, 1808, to Miss Sally Emerson, of Solon. She died April 28, 1832. Mrs. Hatheway was a lady of education and refinement,
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and possessed many eminent qualities. The inhabi- tants of the town where she passed her married life still speak of her many virtues, her genial kindness, and her untiring energy.
In November, 1848, Mr. Hatheway was again united in marriage to an educated and refined lady, in the person of Miss Catherine Saxton, of Groton.
General Hatheway is the father of eleven children- of the six sons, two only survive. Colonel S. G. Hathe- way, Jr., is a prominent attorney and politician, resid- ing at Elmira. Colonel C. L. Hatheway, his fourth son, is the active man of business at home. The accom- plished and so much lamented Major John S. Hatheway, of the United States Army, was the second son. George R., the third son, was just admitted to the bar, when his career of promise ended. Charles R., the fifth son, was still a student. The sixth son died in childhood. Of his five daughters, three are living.
And now General Hatheway, at the venerated age of seventy-eight years, exhibits a remarkable degree of health, energy and vivacity ;
" His age like a lusty winter, frosty, but kindly."
THURLOW WEED was born in Cairo, Green co., N. Y., Nov. 15, 1797, and at the age of eleven years removed with his parents to Cincinnatus. In his youth he failed to enjoy the advantages of a good education. The limited means of his father required the most laborious exertions to support his family with even a moderate degree of respectability. His educational privileges were therefore as ample as the circumstances of his parents would permit. He attended school "one quar-
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ter" in Catskill, "part of a winter term " in Cincin- natus, and "three months " in Onondaga Hollow, pay- ing for board and schooling, in the latter place, by . working in the garden, chopping wood, and doing chores, morning and evening, for Jasper Hopper. He possessed a healthy, vigorous physical constitution, and an inflexible, abiding determination to excel. Though he was for the brief period of his minority doomed to constant physical toil ; and though he might for a time be tossed about by the fickle breezes of external cir- cumstances, he would at least make efforts to take that elevated rank to which it was his right and his duty to aspire. He felt the pressure of poverty ; he knew the extent of his father's purse ; he possessed talents, genius, and self-confidence, and he resolved to accom- plish his purpose. He was never reckless, never an idler, and always conscious of his ability or self-reliant powers to advance. If he relinquished one enterprise, it was but to achieve another.
In the summer of 1806 he was employed in the capac- ity of cook and cabin boy on board the sloop Ranger, Captain Gager, of Catskill, and on board the sloop Jefferson, Captain Bogardus, in 1807. In the winter of 1808 his father removed to Cincinnatus, and our young aspirant found himself quartered in an ashery, where he learned the mystery of converting lye into black salts. During the winter of 1807 he first worked in the printing office of Macky Croswell, at Catskill, and was honored with the title of " Printer's Devil." In 1811 he was employed in the "Lynx " office, at Onondaga Hollow. The next year he was engaged as a half-way journeyman in the office of Thomas Walker, of Utica,
17*
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and worked on the " Columbian Gazette ;" and in 1813, for Colonel William L. Stone, on the " Herkimer Ameri- can." From this time until 1815, he was employed for short periods, at full pay, in offices at Auburn, Spring Mills, Sangersfield, Cazenovia, and Cooperstown ; ,and for longer terms in Utica and Herkimer, when he went to Albany, and New York, working as a journeyman until 1819. He then went to Norwich, Chenango co., and established a weekly newspaper entitled "The Agriculturist." In 1821 he removed to Manlius, Onon- daga co., and established the " Onondaga County Repub- ican." In 1822 he removed to Rochester, and was em- ployed in the office of Everard Peck, for whom he worked two years, when he purchased his paper, the " Roches- ter Telegraph." Mr. Weed took strong ground in favor of De Witt Clinton, who was elected Governor in the November election of 1824, and again in 1826. After the abduction of William Morgan, in 1827, he discon- tinued the " Telegraph," and commenced the publica- tion of the " Anti-Masonic Enquirer," which soon became the leading anti-masonic paper of the State. The " Tele- graph," under the supervision of Mr. Weed, had exerted a commanding and wide-spread influence. The control- ling power of the "Enquirer" was far greater. Over
the party of which it was the great head, its influence was almost unlimited. In 1830 he removed to Albany, and established the " Evening Journal," which for up- wards of a quarter of a century he has conducted with signal ability and success.
During the last clash at arms between Great Britain and the United States, Mr. Weed exhibited an inclina- tion for a more intimate association with the valorous
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spirits who warred for fame, glory and independence. In the winter of 1813 he volunteered, and served six weeks as a private in Capt. Ashbel Seward's company, then stationed at Adams, Jefferson county. Nothing of particular importance occurred, and he was discharged when the apprehensions of an attack from the British, a body of which were supposed to be preparing to cross on the ice, had subsided. He was a private three months in Lieut. Ellis' company of Artillery from Utica, and stationed at Brownville, in the same county. The regi- ment was commanded by Col. Metcalf, of Cooperstown. Mr. Weed also served at Sackett's Harbor as Quarter Master Sergeant in Col. Myer's regiment, of Herkimer, from August till October.
In 1824, and again in 1829, he was elected to the As- sembly from the County of Monroe. He made an active and influential member.
He was married to Miss CATHARINE OSTRANDER, of Cooperstown, in April, 1818.
In 1843 Mr. Weed took a tour to Europe, visiting England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France and Belgium. In 1852 he took a second tour, and extended his visit to Switzerland, Germany, Saxony, Austria, Sardinia and Italy. During his travels he furnished for the columns of the Evening Journal a series of exceedingly interest- ing and valuable letters, which were extensively copied throughout the State, and indeed throughout the Union. They exhibited a complete daguerreotype of the habits, customs and national characteristics of the people of those countries.
Mr. Weed possesses a strong, clear and well-balanced mind. His career thus far has been an eventful one.
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From the cook and cabin boy on board the sloops Ranger and Jefferson, he worked his way to a position the most worthy, dignified and appreciable. From the black salt manufacturer of Cincinnatus, or the young salt boiler of Salina, we see him gradually progressing in the scale of the ascending series, until he has reached the highest round in the ladder of political sagacity and editorial preferment. The chore-boy of Jasper Hopper becomes repeatedly a member of the Legislature, State printer, and unrivaled political editor of the Empire State. The youthful volunteer in the second struggle for free- dom escapes the maelstrom of voluptuous dissipation, and becomes a self-made great man ; great in intellect, and great in the achievement of an enviable reputation. Had he vacillated and yielded to the numerous discour- agements with which he was surrounded, he would never have taken his station in bright conspicuity in the an- nals of the world. His resolution and firmness of char -- acter saved him. He not only astonished his friends with the extent and variety of his attainments, but he astonished even himself. He did not look for superior mental manifestations without effort or active exertion, any more than he did for manifestations of physical power without constant exercise of the physical system. . The skill of the mariner is unknown to the world, and even to himself, until he finds occasion to spread his can vas to the fury of the tempest-until his vessel plunges amidst the foaming, boisterous billows-until he comes in fearful contact with the angry elements of the mighty deep. The same is true of all the numerous conflicts of the human mind ; and resolution and decision are the only sure guaranty of success and ultimate triumph.
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The illustrious intellects from Homer down-the giant minds who rise above their fellow-men, and stretch out their hands to each other across the interval of ages, transmitting to succeeding generations the torch of sci- ence, poetry and art, have achieved their greatness of character through the active propelling agency of these progressive elements. They have distributed the ener- gies of the soul through every fibre, shred and muscle of the human brain ; have given god-like energy to the human character ; filled the fair temples of fame, leveled forests, and converted the nations of the earth from savagism and barbarity to a higher state of moral and intellectual greatness. Resolution and decision are traits of character which we admire, and which we love to contemplate. We pay them homage in Xerxes and Alexander-in Hannibal, Scipio and Napoleon-in Nero and Caligula. Indeed, we can scarcely contemplate them even in a demon without doing it involuntary reverence. It is inconsistent with the nature of mind that it should rise to greatness and distinction without unceasing effort. Hannibal's name is immortal, because the . towering Alps, whose lofty peaks penetrated the clouds of heaven, could not successfully resist the en- ergies of his mind. He fearlessly marched with his invincible host over those rugged and dangerous steeps, where mortal foot had never trod before. Thurlow Weed, through a like unceasing effort, has braved the ills of poverty, voluptuous excitement, a thousand threatening disasters, and slowly carved his way to wealth and greatness.
JOHN L. BOYD was born in Charlton, Saratoga county, N. Y., October 16th, 1783. His educational advantages
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were limited to the common schools, where he acquired the rudiments of his education, and such scholarship as the transient opportunities of the country afforded. He had, however, early laid a good foundation for a prac- tical education, which in due time was honorably com- pleted.
At the age of thirteen he left the parental roof and the common pursuits of the youth of that time, and was for the succeeding four years in the employ of William S. Packer, an established hatter in Galway. Having closed his apprenticeship, he entered into the hatting business on his own account, but discontinued the en- terprise at the end of one year and a half. Soon after, he was employed by James Hamilton, and continued in his service in the capacity of bar-keeper for about two years, when he removed with his father to Irondequoit, Monroe county. Here he had hoped to secure perma- nent employment, but failing in the effort, he engaged with a Mr. Seymour, and spent two months in surveying the large tract of land lying between Rochester and Lake Ontario. He was subsequently employed in the store of Messrs. Tryon and Adams, where he remained two years, and then returned to Saratoga county, and was for a like period engaged in agricultural pursuits. We next find Mr. Boyd in Albany, employed in the for- warding house of Hugh and Hamilton Boyd. At this period (1808,) the embargo made a serious change in commercial affairs, and darkened for a time our politcal horizon. The restraining influence extended beyond the shipping interest, and, indeed, paralized almost every branch of industry. The forwarding business was in the main closed, or very greatly limited, and in conse-
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quence Mr. Boyd again returned to his agricultural labors -- an avocation in which he has since continued.
Mr. Boyd was married in 1809 to Miss Electa Bacon, of Williamstown, Mass., an early class-mate of Mrs. Col. Canfield in the Litchfield Academy. He removed to Solon in 1811 ; purchased 119 acres on lot 98. He subsequently added 251 acres to his farm, and at pres- ent retains 225.
In 1812 he was elected Lieutenant in a company of Infantry, commanded by Capt. Hedges, of Truxton. He afterwards rose to the rank of Colonel.
Previous to 1821 he received two commissions of ap- pointment to the office of Justice of the Peace, but de- clined the honors. After the revision of the State Con- stitution, he was repeatedly elected to the same office, as also various other responsible positions in the gift of the people.
In 1827 Col. Boyd was elected to the New York Leg- islature, and made an active and efficient member. His first vote was cast for Thomas Jefferson at his second election in 1804.
In 1823 he united with the Union Congregational Society of Cincinnatus and Solon, and has since filled numerous prominent positions in the church, serving for many years in the capacity of deacon. He was a zeal- ous pioneer in the early temperance reformation, and, indeed, an active participant in most of the social re- forms of the day ; and has successfully discharged the duties of Sabbath school superintendent for upwards of twenty-eight years.
He has reared an intelligent family of nine children. Louise M. is the wife of James Thompson, Esq., Cashier
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of the Camden, White Creek Valley Bank. John W. is an honored member of the Wisconsin State Senate- now serving a second term.
Colonel Boyd is emphatically a self-made man. Stout- hearted and sanguine, he felt that if blessed with health and the ordinary advantages common to the pioneer period in which he was reared, he could succeed in life and ultimately carve out for himself a respectable com- petency. His early reverses and embarrassments, in- stead of impairing his youthful energy, served but to stimulate him to greater activity. And when he had accumulated by honest industry and untiring energy a small fund, with his young and interesting wife he sought this wild region of country, and became an occu- pant of a log cabin. Here they spent many years of primitive happiness-though, strictly speaking, they were years of unremitting toil and privation. Sur- rounded by the deep, dark forests ; undismayed by the howl of the wolf, or the panther's scream, he grasped
" The axe, that wondrous instrument That, like the talisman, transforms Deserts to fields and cities,"
and with a strong arm and a resolute will he went forth to war with the stern old monarchs of the forest. His Utopian dream has been realized ; his enterprise fully rewarded ; and now, at the age of seventy-five, we find him surrounded with broad and productive fields, in the full enjoyment of all the conveniences and comforts of life, an honored pioneer of an iron age ; still living upon the ground where his primitive cabin was reared, and still cultivating the soil over which, previ-
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ous to his early adventure the footprints of civilization had scarce traversed the trail of the red man ;
" Where nothing dwelt but beasts of prey, Or men as wild and fierce as they."
JOSEPH REYNOLDS was born in Easton, Washington co., N. Y., September 14, 1785. Some years after, his father removed to Galway, Saratoga co., from which place Mr. Reynolds migrated to Virgil, in 1809. He was eight days on the road. With his wallet of bread and cheese on his shoulder, he left his home for the promised land of the Tioughnioga valley. He drove in two cows; and, as yet having no land, or provision made for their keeping, he gave the milk of one for the keeping of both. Having made the necessary arrangements for his young family, he engaged himself in clearing land for his neighbors, at the rate of seventy-five cents per day.
In the spring of 1810 Mr. Reynolds purchased a small farm, mostly on credit ; and, with a determination to prosper through the means of honest labor, commenced felling the forest trees, that the virgin soil might yield to the hand of productive toil. Success followed his industrious and economical pursuits.
In 1814 he was elected to the office of constable. Soon after, a company of riflemen was organized, and he was made Captain. The company proposed entering into the service of the country in opposition to the encroach- ments of Great Britain. Having been reported to the proper quarter as being fully equipped and ready to march, they were in turn directed to remain as "minute men," lest a sally might be made on Salt Point by way
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of Oswego. Peace was however declared before the fierce war-spirits were crowned with laurels. The organ- ization was discontinued. In 1817 he was appointed Major ; in 1818, Colonel ; and in 1823 he was chosen Brigadier General. This post he held with much credit for seven years.
In 1815 he was appointed Justice of the Peace in the town of Virgil, by the Old Council of Appointment, and held the office for about twenty-three years. After the Council of Appointment was abolished, he was elected by the Democratic party, to which he has ever been attached.
In 1818 he was elected to the Assembly without op- position : such an election has not happened in the county since. He was present when the division of parties took place ; a portion of the Democrats or Re- publicans went over to the Clintonian party. The parties stood divided-fifty-one Clintonians, headed by Obadiah Germain ; forty-four Bucktails, headed by Wm. Thompson ; and twenty-eight Federalists, headed by Wm. A. Duer. After two days balloting the Clintoni- ans and Federals fused, and elected Mr. Germain, Speaker.
In 1821 he was appointed Judge of Cortland county, which office he filled for nearly eighteen years-five of which he occupied the honorable position of first Judge.
In 1825 he was elected Supervisor, and continued to discharge its duties until 1835.
In 1832 he was elected a Presidential Elector, and cast his vote for the Democratic candidate.
In 1834 he was elected to the 24th Congress of the
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United States, from the counties of Tioga, Tompkins and Cortland.
In 1839 he came to Cortland Village, and erected the splendid residence which he now occupies.
Judge Reynolds is emphatically a self-made man-a man of character and influence. There are but few who have made greater exertions in early life-who have labored harder, or who, through self-exertion, have carved their way to fortune, honor, and just respect- ability.
WILLIAM RANDALL was born in the year 1782. His brother, General ROSWELL RANDALL, was born in 1786. Their father, Robert Randall, was a native of Stonington, Connecticut. William was reared to farming pursuits. Roswell obtained a superior education, and studied law with Stephen O. Ranegan, of Oxford. He was admitted to the bar, but never practised. The brothers engaged in merchandise together in Madison county, but re- moved to Cortland Village about the year 1812, where they continued the business. Their store was on the site now occupied by that of James S. Squires. They were highly successful in trade, which continued for a num-
ber of years. They at length dissolved their partner- ship, and William erected a store, which is now the Randall Bank. Roswell built the Eagle Store, now un occupied. When they finally discontinued the mercan- tile trade, the former engaged in banking and farming, and the latter in cultivating his farm. William Randall was emphatically a man of mark in his day. He pos- sessed a clear, strong, and vigorous intellect, a firm and resolute mind, a warm and generous heart, and was, in short, a valued citizen. He died December 23, 1850.
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Roswell Randall was an early Post-master of Cort- land Village, and has honorably filled various other positions. His military rank of Brigadier-General was attained through the several gradations, commencing with fourth Corporal. He was much admired as a mili- tary officer. And now, at the age of seventy-two, with his physical and mental constitution unimpaired, has but partially retired from the active duties of life.
William and Roswell Randall were energetic business men. The monuments of their memory may be seen in the elegant residences, erected at their expense, which adorn and beautify the village.
GEORGE W. BRADFORD was born in Cooperstown, Otsego county, N. Y., May 9, 1796. He is of English descent, and of the sixth generation from Governor William Bradford, one of the Pilgrim Fathers who, in 1620, on board of the May Flower, braved the waves of the stormy ocean, preferring to seek an asylum in the rude wilds of America rather than endure the persecution of religious fanatics and political tyrants in the land of his birth, and who for twenty years was the great head or ruling spirit of the Plymouth Colony. The ancestors of Dr. Bradford were of families of distinction in the early annals of Massachusetts.
His father was an agriculturist and manufacturer, and gave his son the advantages of a common school education. He early impressed upon his mind the actual necessity of self-reliance ; and this has ever been an element in his character.
In 1812, at the age of sixteen years, he was sent to the academy of Woodstock, Ct., and placed under the charge of the principal, the venerable Rinaldo Burleigh, father
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of Wm. H. and C. C. Burleigh, whose literary achieve- ments have made them ornaments to the age in which they live.
In 1814 he entered a classical school at Clinton, N. Y., and became a classmate of the Hon. Gerrit Smith. He pursued his classical studies until failing health required a relaxation from his studies. He abandoned for a time the study of Cæsar, Virgil, Livy, Sallust and Cicero, and made a general tour through the States and the Canadas, occupying about one year of time. Hav- ing regained his health, in 1816 he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Thomas Fuller, of Cooperstown, and completed his professional studies in 1820. In the same year he was licensed to practice medicine by the Medical Association of Otsego county, and soon after located in Homer, where he united with the Cortland Medical Association, and commenced the practice of his profession. He soon acquired a varied and extensive practice, and devoted all his energies exclusively to it.
In 1846 he was elected a permanent member of the State Medical Society, and received the degree of M. D. in the same year. In 1847 he was made a member of the American Medical Association. In 1856 he was elected an honorary member of the Wisconsin State Historical Society, and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1856.
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