USA > New York > Chautauqua County > Ellicott > The early history of the town of Ellicott, Chautauqua County, N.Y. > Part 22
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Judge Burnell's house for many years was a home for the preachers and the place for holding religious services. The Judge himself was a Methodist preach- er of signal ability. Madison became much interested
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in religious reading and in discussions among and with the preachers, and in their religious teachings, and listened as attentively and with as much interest as in court proceedings. As long as he lived at home he cherished this portion of his early education as highly as any other, and a short time before his death spoke of it with much feeling. When but 17 years of age he taught most successfully an unruly country school, one most difficult to manage; his force of mind was far more successful than the brute force which had previously governed. He also in his 17th year delivered a Fourth of July oration of great originality and overflowing with eloquence and patriotism. A brilliant career was prophesied for him.
At the age of twenty he finished his preliminary education by spending a short time in a high school, and a term in Fredonia Academy. Although diligent, using to his best these advantages, his real and his re- markable education was obtained at home in his father's house. We have stated that Mr. Burnell's father was a man of superior abilities-his mother was as remarkable for her mental power and ability to train the son as was the father, and the superior abil- ity of each, which ran in quite different channels was fully inherited by their son Madison. He inherited his father's quickness, brilliancy and comprehensive- ness, his mother's intuitions-her closely analytical, logical, deeply penetrative mind. Her insight into the character she was dealing with was a marvel and a mystery to all who ever knew her, and this marvel- lous insight was one of the greatest characteristics of her gifted son.
About the time he reached his majority he was summoned to Jamestown as a witness in an impor-
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tant suit, and there as an attorney in the case, he first met Richard P. Marvin, " a young man of splendid presence. and the most popular and brilliant lawyer in Western New York. Although Madison watched the progress of the suit as if he were judge and jury and lawyer on both sides-yet his beau ideal of all earthly greatness and splendor was the young lawyer Marvin, and that feeling he carried with him to the day of his death,-and it is not strange that Marvin was as fully captivated with the simplicity, humility and ability of the young man he had examined as a witness. The moment Mr. Marvin was released from the suit, he in- troduced himself to young Burnell and proposed that he enter his office as a student at law. With this pro- position the young man was as much delighted, as sur- prised, and without delay, all the arrangements were quickly made for his entry to the office of Marvin & Warren in the village of Jamestown. The industry of young Burnell was great, and his progress in legal lore was a marvel even to his sharp-minded friend and preceptor Marvin, who paid especial attention to his young charge. He seemed to drink in law by intui- tion, and in a short time became distinguished as an advocate in justice courts. He became greatly inter- ested in the study of the decisions in the higher courts, as in them were brought into the clear light the foun- dation of law in truth and in common sense.
He made no haste to seek admission to the bar, for he had placed his standard high, and he sought to qualify himself for any position in the higher courts,
We assure the venerable Judge we are not writing the history of the present, either as to facts or opinions. What we have written above i- in the precise words of one of the family as given to us and at that early day was true, or we should say the true opinion of the sim- ple people of those days.
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when the seal was placed upon his acquirements. When the day came when Madison Burnell sought ad- mission to the bar,-his ability and qualifications caused him to stand forth as a jury lawyer without a peer. It is said of the great French anatomist Cuvier, that by seeing a tooth, or a few bones of a foot, of one of the extinct animals, he could in a few moments draw its profile and describe its habits. Comparative anatomy and physiology had given him this faculty; and such was Madison Burnell's insight into human nature, and the ways of the world, that from a simple fact in a case he would at times readily predict its ante- cedents and consequents, and thus unearth the whole matter with accompanying proof. This remarkable talent in Madison Burnell, depending for its existence on the intuitive in his nature, constitutes that portion of his heredity derived from his gifted mother.
Mr. Burnell approached the trial of an important case with a feeling of strange timidity. This grew out of the fact that he was always self forgetting; self con- sciousness was lacking, to a most remarkable degree in his organization. He fully estimated the difficulties of the case, and gave the largest credit to the strength and ability of the opposing counsel, and not the least to his own great legal power. Hle often, in the higher courts, in Buffalo and Albany, met the ablest lawyers in the state, and though in the conflict he experienced no sense of humiliation, yet to the last he was the same timid man. As soon as the case opened and his own powers began to work, the lion that was in him came out of its lair, shook himself, and stood in all the proud majesty of his legal strength, filled with all the inspiration which his cause if just could give, and in all cases his legal lore and ability put to flight the
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arts of chicane with which some of his competitors in- dulged.
To Burnell the study of law was not only a busi- ness but a pleasure, and his rapid acquirement of knowledge was an astonishment to all. He spent sev- eral years in Marvin & Warren's office, and notwith- standing he learned so rapidly, made haste slowly to gain admittance to the bar. He was admitted in 1838 and at the same time into company with Mr. Marvin, Mr. Warren retiring and becoming the partner of Ab- ner Hazeltine. Mr. Burnell became noted immediately, not only as a sound lawyer but as an advocate. When Mr. Marvin was elevated to the bench of the supreme court, Burnell continued the business of the office, and became noted as an advocate, and as such, having but few superiors in the state.
His power over a jury became so overwhelming, that Judge Mullett spoke of it in open court. The Judge remarked that the influence of Madison Burnell had become dangerously great. "There is no lawyer at the bar who can cope with him, and the facility with which he makes himself to believe that his cause is just, he practices on the sympathies of juries ;- it is our duty to prevent what may become a perversion of justice."
Mr. Burnell was never more fully himself than when defending the rights of the weak and oppressed. Rev. Dr. Moore, his brother-in-law, writing us on this subject, says : "We never knew him to refer to any suit with more feeling and satisfaction than to one he managed for a widow, that had fallen into the hands of two villains who had plotted to rob her through the forms of law, of the small property left her for the sup- port of herself and children by her husband. About four o'clock on Thursday he got hold of a clue to the
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case. Messengers rode and he worked the most of the night on the case, and the next day he was ready for trial. In summing up, his powers of in vective, sarcasm and scorn, rose to their highest pitch,-and that is say- ing much,-and vial after vial of honest wrath was poured on the heads of those men. The impression made was overwhelming. A friend of one of them went to him in open court and said in the hearing of all-'M-, d-m you, kill Burnell or leave the country, the sooner the better!' Without leaving their seats, the jury granted him a verdict." In the presence of real sorrow and suffering he would shed tears like a woman. He was one of the most sympathetic of men. This sym- pathy was not a part of the lawyer, but was a part of the man. He sympathized deeply with those bowed down with sorrow-filled with grief, pain or distress. We never knew a person who was so sincerely and so deeply distressed over the sorrows and misfortunes of others as Madison Burnell.
Madison Burnell was at all times and upon all oc- casions, no matter where or how placed, " the noblest. work of God," an honest man. He despised all the ar- tifices of chicane, all deception, all trickery. He was too straightforward in all his methods to make a good politician. We have before us a number of pages showing, very correctly the influences which prevented the fulfillment of the feeble political aspirations he at times may have had. These words cover all-he was no politician. He was too rigidly true to his own convictions of right; so much so that he would not yield when there was no dishonesty in doing so. The pages spoken of amount only to this :- that he placed implicit confidence in Weed and others-believing that their rule of what was right and wrong was as
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rigid as his own, and in the end found that their rule bent into those fantastic shapes their political needs required. As a politician, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, he was a complete failure. He would not himself, or permit his friends, to stoop to what he con- sidered trickery or deceit to secure nomination to office. For several terms he might have had the nomination for congress-and nomination was equivalent to elec- tion-by yielding a little to the methods in vogue in caucuses. There was a way that appeared to him right and another wrong; and he would not yield prin- ciple for office.
Burnell excelled as a criminal lawyer. He had a deep insight into human nature, and it seemed as if there was any crime in a man, he would detect it by looking at him. It used to be said of him, break a chain in fragments, retaining but a singlelink, and he would soon again build up the whole chain, without a single fault. He had great influence with the court, and his sway over a jury was almost supreme. He was twice elected to the assembly, in 1846 and 1847. This was at the time of the adoption of the new constitution, and as a member of the Judiciary committe, he was of great service in adjusting the statutes of the state to it.
The weak points in Mr. Burnell's character were first, his timidity ; he was an extremely modest man, and probably his timidity had its origin in this. We have been somewhat reluctant to place this character- istic in the list of his weaknesses; for it is certainly true, that there were times, when its effects on others, caused it to prove a source of true and valuable strength, and it cannot be denied that it was the foun- dation of much we admire in his character. His weak-
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ness as a politician, founded as it were on the best trait in human character we cannot commiserate, for it is far better to be an honest man than a good politician. He may have been mistaken as to what it truly con- sists, but of this we may be assured-that according to his method of thought he could not be both, and he chose the best. The writer is inclined to think a third weak point lay in the humble deference he always paid to the opinion of his preceptor and friend, Rich- ard P. Marvin. The Judge was his hero and he wor- shipped him with a devotion seldom accorded even by the most devoted hero worshipper.
The following is a portion of a conversation held with Mr. Burnell in November 1847 of which we made a memorandum at the time. Weintroduce it because he speaks of things and gives us his opinions on subjects not ordinarily reached. We had been urging him to furnish a lecture for our home course, at the Jamestown Academy. After declining in the most decided manner he said, "I love learning, but have not had the advantages of a liberal education. You learned fellows up there quote Latin as if it were your mother tongue, and I am disgusted, for the per- son who indulges most in that artifice, to my positive knowledge, never studied the Latin or any other ancient language for over six months. I have gained a small knowledge. of Latin but know nothing of Greek. I look upon this as a marked defect in my education, and lament it as a real misfortune. It is a great mortification to me that I am unable to read such works as Cæsar and Cicero-which should, judg- ing from translations, rank prominent among the works of human intellect-in the language in which they were written. I do hate shams and pretense in
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all things, and I have been led to think there is full as much sham in education as in anything else. I met a lawyer the other day, a pretended college graduate; he had been making a great spread in the court room. I at once detected him as a sham, and wrote on a scrap of paper a simple sentence of seven words taken by re- membrance from the first page of the Latin reader and desired him to translate it for me, remarking that I was not a Latin scholar. He viewed it and looked up at the wall, and looked in every way the pretensive fool he was would naturally look, and finally handed it back to me, saying it was one of those difficult law phrases he had seen, but just then he could not quite give the true meaning of it. I try to compensate my ignorance of the languages, by reading the best Eng- glish works and translations, but I often stumble on Latin words and phrases and sentences, and longer extracts from old authors which I suppose to contain some jewel too precious to be exposed to vulgar view, and locked in a casket of which I have not the key. Perhaps I do not judge correctly in these matters, as I profess myself no scholar, but I believe I can at once see the difference between pretended and true knowl- edge. Doctor, your selection of lecturers in the main is good, but you have on your list more than one sham, persons of pretense, nothing else. You invited them to lecture because they exerted influence in some spec- ial direction or else you was willing to feed us on trash. I won't mix in your lecture course. When Sammy, (S. A. Brown) Uncle Abner and others I might mention lecture I will go as a listener. By the way, I think your Charcoal Sketches was good, healthy, solid, home-made fun. Your sketches although bor- dering on caricature, were true to the life and hurt the
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conceit of more than one of your number and I en- joyed it. Whatever we do, whether trivial or impor- tant, we should do honestly, thoroughly and to the best of our ability. No man can be true to himself without he is just and true to others, nor can he be true to himself or to any one else if the principles which actuate him are not founded in the just and the true. If a man is not honest he is of but little value in this world. And I have lived long enough to learn that there is but little honesty in any class of society. It is every man's duty to be honest; a duty he owes to society and to the country. Look at our politicians, how long will the country last under such fellows. Ability and honesty are not looked for, but will he help our party-yes, help our party to steal, or any- thing else, vile, wrong and unpatriotic. I would rather be Shakespeare's dog and bay the moon."
In 1840 Mr. Burnell married Sarah Spurr. To them were born three children. The only son, Mel- verton died in 1864. Valissa married J. S. Cook and now resides in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Ella was mar- ried to Dr. Charles S. Hazeltine in 1867 and died in Grand Rapids, Mich., in 1873, leaving two children, Eliza Irene and Madison Burnell.
Mr. Burnell was returning from Fredonia in poor health. He stopped at his mother's in Charlotte over night. Next day he took dinner with his sister (wife of Rev. H. H. Moore) in Sinclairville. On the even- ing of that day he took tea in his own house, com- plaining no more than usual. Having important bus- iness to transact at his office he arose from the table and went out the front door. Half an hour later Mad- ison Burnell was found on the ground a few feet from the door, dead. The writer was soon there but the body
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was cold. He must have fallen and died immediately after leaving the house. Thus passed into eternity one of the most remarkable men that ever lived in our midst, on the evening of December 8, 1865.
The writer has condensed his material much more than his own inclinations dictate. The few remain- ing that knew Madison Burnell living will soon with him find places in our city of the dead. We could not have written less and give even a shadowy pic- ture of this eminent man. If there is ever written the biographies of the most eminent lawyers of the Empire state, he will receive prominent and honora- ble mention, and not until the city of Jamestown shall be obliterated from the map of the state, should its in- habitants cease to venerate the memory of Madison Burnell as one of her greatest and most deserving of citizens.
CHAPTER XII.
ORGANIZATION OF THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH- QUARREL AND DIVISION-FORMATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH - FATHER SPENCER - FATHER EDDY-E. J. GILLETT-HISTORY OF THE METHODIST CHURCH-QUARREL AND DIVISION- THE WESLEYAN CHURCH - EDWARD WORK - FATHER CRANE-ALONZO KENT-MAN A RELIG- IOUS BEING-MORMONS IN JAMESTOWN-THE BAP- TIST CHURCH-DEACON JOHN C. BREED-THE FIRST SUNDAY SCHOOL IN JAMESTOWN-ORIGIN OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
In the realm of human thought and knowledge, how conflicting are the ideas and opinions of mankind! What one has been led to embrace as true, by his neigh- bor, equally candid and as able to form a judgment, is considered false, and the third of equal reasoning pow- ers, discredits the opinions advanced by each. It is impossible to make an assertion however grave or even trifling-and to all appearance founded on most undis- puted truth-which your neighbor will not immedi- ately undertake to show is false, and that you are igno- rant of the principles involved, and that your assertion is based in the most apparent falsehood. If you have
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become convinced of the truth of a doctrine seemingly based in intuitive certainty, you will not have far to go to find a man who will deny the doctrine you have espoused and pronounce in the most positive manner, that what to you is intuitively true is to him intuitive- ly false. In a case of plainly vast importance as, for instance, the formation and promulgation of men's opinions regarding religion, it would seem as if all passions and prejudices should be laid aside in the hearty desire to find the truth, yet we find the same clashing of opinions as to what is reasonable and un- reasonable, of what is true and false. No matter what the dogma or belief may be, you speedily find that an- other deems it untrue and not worthy of belief. And if you strive to impress upon him the importance of unity of belief, he will argue that safety and true ad- vancement is to be found in dissonance and variety of opinions. Some evils of this state of things are very apparent. These conflicting opinions cannot all be true. A large portion of mankind, and indeed, all persons, to some extent, are holding opinions in oppo- sition to one another, and, on some one subject, at least, erroneous ones. This leads to disturbance and time-consuming controversy. The cause of truth suf- fers from that want of union in effort which comes from the division of good men into sects and schools. Could these men see eye to eye and at the same time truly, it would givean unprecedented impulse to the best in- terests of society. A year would hold up in its exult- ant hands such fruitage as centuries of separate and conflicting action have not been able to ripen. The compact army, marching as one man, gains victories impossible to many times its number of undisciplined soldiers, whatever their individual zeal and strength.
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And yet, it is the teaching of all history, that this conflict of opinion will continue as long as man con- tinues to inhabit this earth. The civil as well as the religious power combined, aided by vast armies, have not been able to enforce unity of belief or to overcome the conflict of human opinions. It was an attempt to produce this uniformity which expelled our New Eng- land forefathers from their English homes; and it was by an act of uniformity that they afterwards expelled from their wilderness homes, for opinions sake, their dissenting neighbors. Conflict of opinions as of old, continues to exist, and ever will, as old differences die out new ones are continually coming to life. And es- pecially in matters of religion, if now there is more agreement as to fundamental doctrines, we are more widely divergent on points of minor consequence, and the points of divergence are far more numerous. In- creased knowledge and greater intellectual culture have widened our habits of thought and given us new subjects for speculative views. The conflicts of opinion in the present age are not the rude and material ones of the ages that are past, but those dependent on our superior light and knowledge, and it is but reasonable to think they will continue as long as invention and discovery and advancement in knowledge of nature's plans and actions are within the reach of the grasping mind of man.
In writing up this part of our task we intend as plainly and mildly as possible to tell the truth, if not the whole truth. It is said that offences will come. By that we suppose misunderstandings, bickerings, differences of opinions and quarrels are meant. We have ob- served, and so must have all, that the members of our
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churches and doctors-the two most important and necessary classes in a civilized and well-to-do commu- nity-have more quarrels and differences than any other classes of society. And what is more strange than all, religious societies are more anxious to cover up these faults and their quarrels than any other class and are most unreasonably offended if any one men- tions them. Whatever appears in this chapter relating to the Congregational church and society is largely in the words of Hon. Abner Hazeltine, given in a Histor- ical Address at the 50th Anniversary of the Congrega- tional church in 1866.
HISTORY AND DIVISION OF THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
In order to appreciate the feebleness when the first organized band of worshippers set up a standard in this wilderness, it is necessary to look into the state of the country on the 16th of June, 1816, when a few profess- ing Christians here entered into convenant obligations with each other and with God, and were organized as a church of Christ. Our goodly village was then a mere hamlet in the midst of a forest. Its inhabitants were few in number, most of whom were engaged in the manufacture of lumber, and the only spires we then had, were lofty pines which over-shadowed this spot, and occupied most of the space where dwellings, stores, churches, and other structures raised by men are now so abundant. The idea of a village at this place, to become at some future period a center of bus- iness for the surrounding country was just started, and a few enterprising men were commencing the experi- ment, when Mr. West commenced preaching (in 1814.) Then there were only three professors of relig- ion in the place, viz., Captain Joseph Dix, and Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Fenton, all Congregationalists .. It is
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proper that we should say a few words of Mr. West; for although he remained in the county several years, there are very few among us who have ever heard his name. How just is the remark, 'Man being in honor., abideth not!' When we first knew Mr. West he was about forty years of age, and a bachelor. Having lived long in the new settlements, he was careless of his personal appearance, and was at home in any log cabin whose latch-string was on the outside.
"The first sermon I heard here was in 1815, short- ly after my arrival. Information was given to me one Saturday that there was a minister at Mr. Fenton's who would preach there the next day. I soon called and was introduced to the Rev. John Spencer, a mis- sionary in the service of the Connecticut Missionary society. I found him a plain, old gentleman, nearly sixty years of age. He said his business was to look up Christ's sheep, scattered here and there in this wil- derness to strengthen them what he could, and organ- ize them into churches, whenever a sufficient number could be found in any neighborhood to warrant such
a proceeding. He spoke of the prospect, that this lit- tle settlement would become a place of business, and he hoped soon to be able to form a church here; but said he could not learn that there were professors enough here then. He enjoined it on me to ascertain how many there were in the vicinity and to do what I could in the furtherance of the object. The next day he preached two sermons to a small but attentive con- gregation. The singing was conducted by General Horace Allen and Jesse Smith, * now of Panama, then
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