The growth of a century: as illustrated in the history of Jefferson county, New York, from 1793-1894, Part 156

Author: Haddock, John A., b. 1823-
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Albany, N. Y., Weed-Parsons printing company
Number of Pages: 1098

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We can do no better in preparing a sketch of Mr. Lansing's life, than to copy the re- marks made before the Jefferson County Bar by Watson M. Rogers, his law partner. Among other things, he said :

"The death of Frederick Lansing comes close home to me. For more than 15 years my relations with him were of the most inti-

mate and confidential character. Each shared the labor of the other, and its results. Each rejoiced in the other's successes, and de- plored his failures. We never exchanged an unpleasant word. My affection for him could hardly be less, nor my grief for his loss more, if united by a kindred tie. No words at iny command can adequately express my estimate of his character and worth.

"As a lawyer, he was perhaps more of the ideal than the practical sort. He loved jus- tice, and the science through which it is sought. He was well grounded in legal principles, and had a great familiarity with cases in the courts of our own State. It was rarely that one of importance could be men- tioned with which he was not familiar, and he always seemed able to add a new light to any legal proposition submitted for his con- sideration. While he made no claim to pre- eminence in the argument of causes before court or jury, he nevertheless stated his rea- sons clearly and forcibly, interspersing them with sallies of wit or sarcasm that always secured the close attention of the hearer. He had little taste for the dry details and drudg- ery of a law office, and a detestation of the methods by which results are sometimes reached He never fomented strife, but dis- couraged litigation. He would have nothing to do with a cause, in the honesty of which he did not thoroughly believe, nor would he argue in favor of a legal proposition, how- ever plausibly it might be done, which was not in accord with his own notion of the law.

WATERTOWN.

737

HON. FREDERICK LANSING.

"I remember well a trial at the circuit, when the evidence disclosed conduct on the part of his client that he could not approve, that he deliberately withdrew, leaving the case in the hands of his associate, and at the mercy of the court and jury. When, how- ever, satisfied that his cause was just, he espoused it with his whole soul, and from thenceforth made it his own. In this he was no respector of persons. The washerwoman's case was cared for with the same fidelity as the banker's.

"He leaves behind him no client whose fortune was wrecked by rashness or want of prudent management ; who has not received all the fruits of the employment ; or smarts under the recollection of an extortionate charge for his services. On the other hand, there are many who have received from him the labor of both lawyer and friend, without money or price. Their benedictions will fol- low him to his long home.

"He was elected State senator two terms, and served one term in Congress. His ser- vices in the Senate began without previous legislative experience, but from the first he took a prominent position, and during his second term was chairman of the Finance Committee, and became a leader in the party. He bore an important part in much of the legislation of those two terms. Among the measures he inaugurated was one of special interest to this locality-the preseveration of the Adirondack forests, which finally re-

sulted in the creation of the forestry com- mission, forestry wardens, &c., as they now exist.

" Mr. Lansing was in no sense a common man. His individuality was so marked that he was unlike any other. He imitated no one, was not a follower, was always respect- ful; yet I doubt if any man of his acquaint- ance was of sufficient lofty station to com- mand of him any other consideration than could be accorded the humblest. He con- sidered himself the equal of any man, and, though of a prominent family, conscious of his surroundings and what he was, he con- sidered every other man the equal of himself. He was thoroughly democratic. He hated sham, hypocrisy and falsehood in every form ; was absolutely honest, utterly unselfish and charitable to a fault, and he appreciated these qualities in others. His services to his coun- try were heroic, his reward scanty, though in that respect his case is not exceptional.

Mr. Lansing's near relatives are his widow, a daughter of the late George C. Sherman ; his children, Louis G. and Miss Marguerite Lan- sing ; his brother, Dr. E. S. Lansing, of Bur- lington, N. J .; two sisters, Mrs. Robert H. Boyd, of Newburg, N. Y., and Mrs. Milton A. Fuller, of East Bloomfield, N. Y .; his nep- hews, A. T. E. Lansing, Stewart D. Lansing, Charles S. Lansing, George C. Sherman and Frank A. Sherman and C. M. Sherman, of this city ; and his cousins, Mr. John Lansing and Miss C. M. Lansing, of this city.

738

THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

THEODORE BUTTERFIELD.

MR. BUTTERFIELD comes into the transportation system of Northern New York by what may be called "natural inheritance." His grandfather, the Hon- orable John Butterfield, of Utica, was the originator of the American Express Company, which was started under the firm of Wells, Butterfield & Com- pany. He also raised the money and built the first Western Union Telegraph Line, which was called the Morse Line Telegraph at that time, and was a director in the New York Central in its early stages, and one of the promoters and capitalists who built the Utica & Black River road, which started in opposition to the Rome & Watertown road, because they could not agree on a starting point, as the capitalists of Northern New York wanted to start from Herkimer; the Utica people would not hear to that, and were bound to start from Utica; so the other people started from Rome, and the Utica people, not to be outdone, started their road from Útica, which was built up to Boonville, and finally extended to Ogdens- burg, Clayton and Sackets Harbor. John Butterfield also started and owned the famous Pony Express or Overland Mail, which was the precursor of the Pacific l'ailroads.

Theodore Butterfield's uncle, Major-General Daniel Butterfield, was the first general superintendent of the American Express Company, and also was chief of staff of the various commanders of the Army of the Potomac, and gave the celebrated order, hy direc-

tion of General Meade, to the corps commanders to fight Lee at Gettysburg, the battle that nearly broke the back of the Confederacy.

Mr. Butterfield has been connected with the rail- roads of Northern New York for 20 years. He began as chief clerk in the accounting department of the old Utica & Black River railroad. at Utica, and was soon after made general ticket agent, and then gen- eral passenger agent of that road; and as the road grew, he was made general freight and passenger agent. He remained in that position until the con- solidation with the Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg railroad, when he was appointed general passenger agent of the R. W. & O. R. R., and has held that position under the consolidation of that system with the New York Central & Hudson River R. R's. When first appointed he was the youngest general ticket agent in the United States. His experience as assist- ant to the general superintendent, and in the oper- ating department of the Utica & Black River railroad, made him familiar with all departments of railroad- ing, and that is the secret of his success in the passenger business, as he thoroughly understands the details of raftroading, and has in addition rare ex- ecutive ability. He is the originator of the long-dis- tance excursions, such as the New York, Washington and Chicago excursious; and the idea of attaching sleeping-cars and drawing-room cars to excursion trains, now generally adopted, originated with him.

739

WATERTOWN.

JOHN ADAM D. SNELL.

MR. SNELL having been president of the Jefferson County Agricultural Society (sea- son of 1894), may surely be classed as one of the representative farmers of the county, and his biography may be printed among others whose reputation reaches beyond a single town. By his success in whatever he has undertaken, Mr. Snell has shown himself a man of broad intellect, thorough knowledge of all the details of his business, enterprising in reaching out for new and profitahle depart- ments of farming, and ever experimenting to ascertain what is the best method and what

is the most money producing. With these qualifications and attainments it is not re- markable that his life has been extremely prosperous, and that he stands shoulder to shoulder with the most progressive agricul- turists of the day, while the productions of his stock-farm have done much to add to the horse breeder's fame of the fertile valley of Jefferson county. In recognition of these talents Mr. Snell was unanimously elected president of the great Jefferson County Agricultural Society.

He is a man of fine business sagacity,

740

THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

bright, yet honorable in every transaction, enterprising in business, and charitable to all fellow-men, yet most frugal and accurate in all transactions; no man can point the finger of suspicion on any act of his life, and the progressive ideas he has inculcated have won for him the admiration and esteem of every loyal tiller of the soil in Jefferson county. He was born in Little Falls, Herki- mer county, October 1, 1835, his father being David F. Snell, a well-to-do farmer of that locality. At two years of age he moved with his father to Theresa, where the family remained for three years, removing thence to Watertown, two miles south of Watertown Centre, in 1840, remaining there until he reached young manhood, receiving an excel- lent education in the common schools of that town, and in nearby educational institutions. In 1859 he wedded Mary, daughter of Wm. Fuller, and a sister of Hon. Harrison Fuller, of Adams Centre, and after a short residence of five years at Dry Hill, they settled upon the farm at Adams Centre, which has since been their home. They have two children, William D. Snell, an extensive lumber dealer in Worth; and Mrs. Mattie K. Heath, of Adams Centre.

Mr. Snell has been engaged in general

farming up to a few years ago, when he established the magnificent Home farm as a stock-raising farm. The fine breed of horses he has raised there are worthy of all the pride Mr. Snell feels in their records and in their prospects. He has heavy landed inter- ests to occupy his time, and even in the por- trait will be noticed that genial twinkle of the eye that characterizes the companionable jollity always recognizable in his pleasant face. During his presidency of the Agri- cultural Society its financial success has been marked.

Mr. Snell, in addition to the other honors conferred upon him, has been for years a director in the Farmers' National Bank of Adams. The election, for the second time, to the presidency of the Agricultural Society was tendered to Mr. Snell, but he respect- fully declined, being willing and anxious that such honors should be passed around among his brother farmers, as he recognizes them as sharers in all the honor and credit that belongs to Jefferson county as having the best land, and the most of it in propor- tion to area, the prettiest women, the finest horses, the most superior cheese and butter, and last, but not least, the ablest farming community in the United States.

JAMES A. BELL

WAS born February 8, 1814. His parents, George and Margaret Bell, emigrated from Belfast, in the North of Ireland, in 1812, and settled in the town of Hebron, Washington county, N. Y. In 1824 they removed to Jefferson county, and located on a farm in the town of Brownville, where the subject of this sketch spent his youth and early manhood, working on the farm summers and attending school winters. The educa- tion which he obtained in the common schools and in the old Watertown Academy, under the instruction of Joseph Mullin, qualified him for teaching, which pursuit he followed several years.

In 1836 he engaged with Dr. James K. Bates in the drug and grocery business, in the village of Brownville. The next year he divided the stock of merchandise with Dr. Bates, and took his own share to Dexter, where extensive improvements were being made in the building of mills and factories, and the United States government was en- gaged in improving navigation at the mouth of Black River. To meet the demands of an increasing trade, and provide transportation facilities, he formed a co-partnership with Major Edmund Kirby, under the firm name of J. A. Bell & Co., enlarging the business, built a steamer and two sailing vessels, which they employed for several years, chiefly in shipping the products of the sur- rounding country to Eastern markets, by the way of Oswego and the canals, and bringing back merchandise and other freight.

Upon the death of Major Kirby, and after the settlement of the business of the firm, Mr. Bell built a new brick store in a more central location, and devoted himself for many years more exclusively to the business of merchandising.

Mr. Bell was twice married. His first wife was Persis, daughter of James Wood, who died of pneumonia on the 18th day after their marriage. On December 15, 1841, he married Rachel P., the youngest daughter of Joseph and Hannah Smith, a fine Quaker family, who came from Pennsylvania to Brownville in 1820. This family is most worthily represented by her two brothers, Levi and Hugh Smith, the former of whom was for many years postmaster at Water- town, and the latter a member of the New York Legislature in 1872.

By the latter marriage they had two sons, James Edmund Bell, who died in his 18th year, and Howard Parry Bell, a graduate of Yale College and of the Columbian College Law School, an attorney and counsellor, and now in active business at Arlington, N. J.

Mr. Bell's business enterprise at Dexter was successful, but incapable of any con- siderable extension, and he turned his atten- tion to the growing West. He purchased several thousand acres of government land in Northwestern Minnesota, and in 1867, in connection with Joseph Gaylord Smith (son of Levi Smith), established a bank at St Cloud, Minn.

The rapid development of the West made

HON. JAMES A. BELL.

741

WATERTOWN.

a profitable demand for land in this choice section (the Park Region of Minnesota), and also justified the increase from time to time in banking capital. The first National Bank of St. Cloud, of which James J. Bell is presi- dent, and J. G. Smith, cashier, now has a capital of $100,000, and a substantial bank building of great artistic beauty, second to none outside the three great cities of Minne- sota.

In public Mr. Bell has been an active and intelligent participant in village, town, county and State affairs. For several terms he held the offices of school commissioner and supervisor of the town of Brownville. In 1859, by an unexpected majority over his Democratic opponent, he was elected to represent his district (then the 18th, com- posed of Jefferson and Lewis), in the State Senate, wherein he served his constituents and the entire State with such distinguished ability and popular satisfaction, that he was returned for a second and a third time. Mr. Bell was about 46 years old on entering his Senatorial career, and the best 12 years of his life were given to the State. For this purpose he divided a profitable business with others, inviting J. G. Smith and O. M. Wood into a partnership, known as Bell, Smith & Wood, at Dexter.

Even in his first term, Senator Bell was honored by his associates, in being chosen President pro tem. of the Senate, and by his just decisions and impartial rulings he secured the confidence and esteem of all the members of that body. He was a member of the Committee on Insurance and on Canals (and later in his official life became the head of the canal system of the State); hut his great work was as chairman of the Finance Committee-always a committee of first importance, but pre-eminently so in the Legislature of 1860-65, when issues of un- exampled magnitude, including the floating of great loans and supplying New York's quotas for the war, were pressing for wise determination,

From the firing on Sumter to the surren- der, Senator Bell was indefatigahle in well- directed efforts to preserve the integrity of the Union. No man in the State, except Governor Morgan, did more to facilitate the enlistment of troops, and for their care and comfort in the camp and field. It was the high prerogative and duty of the Empire State to march at the head of the column in support of the National Government, and on the election of Governor Horatio Seymour (Democrat), to succeed the patriotic Morgan, it practically devolved upon Senator Bell, as leader of the war legislation, to keep New York at the front. The honor of the State in supporting the war, is the best brief com- mentary on our Senator's efficiency and suc- cess. His prominence in the Senate, and his favorable acquaintance with President Lin- coln, with great War Secretary Stanton and General Grant, who was stationed at Sackets Harbor in early days, led to his frequently

visiting Washington as the representative of the State of New York in its directed deal- ings with the United States, and enabled him to adjust and compose many serious complications. This extra Senatorial ser- vice grew in importance under the governor- ship of Seymour, whose hostility to the ad- ministration was so marked that he could not he induced to visit Washington, even upon special invitation from President Lin- coln, borne by the Senator.

Touching general statutory legislation, many of the reforms which he originated and secured the enactment of, were models of improvement, which have been adopted by many other States,. For instance, the act allowing State prisoners commutation of terms of sentence for good behavior; the act requiring the counties of the State to pro- vide suitable institutions for the care aud in- struction of orphans and the children of in- digent parents, outside of the poor-house; the act requiring insurance companies to de- posit certain securities with the State Insur- ance Department for the protection of policy holders.

At the close of the war and of his Senatorial career, Mr. Bell had no taste for merchan- dising at Dexter, and Smith & Wood suc- ceeded to the business. This step closed his business career at his old home, though he spent a portion of succeeding years there, and gave attention to business interests in the West and South. In Alabama, near Huntsville, he purchased a cotton plantation and cultivated it under the supervision of Mr. Samuel Gillingham, until prudence he- came the better part of valor- in Ku Klux days.

Senator Bell was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1867, his col- league being Hon Marcus Bickford. His thorough knowledge of State affairs was of great value, and highly appreciated by the members of that body, which included such men as William M. Evarts, Sanford E. Church, William A. Wheeler, Samuel J. Tilden and Horace Greeley.

In 1868 Mr. Bell relinquished his candi- dacy for Congress, and, at the earnest solicit- ation of Governor Fenton and many Sena- tors, accepted the appointment of Auditor of the Canal Department. The Governor and the Senate had gotten into a dead-lock, and two of the Governor's previous nominations had heen rejected hy the Senate. Mr. Bell was assured that his nomination would com- pose these differences, and in fact the Senate confirmed the same without reference or leaving their seats.

On entering the Canal Department, Auditor Bell found the canals in a deplorable con- dition physically ; the revenues running down every quarter, and the personnel of the service demoralized. There was need for a strong hand and a capable head, and Auditor Bell received unstinted commen- dation, especially from commercial people, for the rapidity with which he put the canals

742

THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

in good navigable condition, from which in- creased use and business promptly resulted, with gratifying increase in revenues.

Not a dollar of the many millions that passed through the Auditor's hands was lost or misapplied. Mr. Bell proved to be the right man in the right place in preventing any misappropriation of canal funds, at a time when the Hoffman-Weed regime came into power at the Capital. In fact the Auditor was the only Republican head of a department at the Capital at a time as criti- cal to the State as any in our generation. In 1874 Senator Bell became interested with others in a large number of building lots at Arlington, N. J., (a suburb of New York), and engaged in the erection of houses and buildings thereon, in part from a surplus stock of lumber cut from timber-lands which his company owned in Sullivan county, N. Y. This necessitated his removal to Arlington.

In politics Mr. Bell was a Republican of the Henry Clay school. He was one of the first to sign a call for the organization of the Republican party of Northern New York.

In church matters he embraced the faith of his parents, and united with the Presby- terian church in his 16th year, being ordained a ruling elder at 25.

Special mention should be made of the abiding interest Mr. Bell has taken in the welfare of young people. He has ever been ready to assist worthy young men to fit themselves for usefulness in life, and with means to engage in business. Many a young lady has been qualified for teaching and to secure other remunerative employment

through his timely assistance and counsel The cause of religion has received his con- stant attention and support. In addition to assisting several churches on our northwest- ern frontier to provide houses of worship, he built, almost entirely from his own means, a substantial brick church, capable of seating 300 people, at Dexter, and a stone church of like capacity at Arlington, N. J.

There are few men in Northern New York who have ever stood as high as James A. Bell. He was not a man who sought office, though he was an ardent partisan, for he believed in his party, and it trusted him. His reputation for truthfulness and ability made him an unusually desirable man to aid the country in the great struggle it was destined to pass through from 1860 to 1865- the years when he was at the height of his physical and mental powers, and he "fought a good fight." He was ever the friend of the soldiers, sympathizing in the sufferings of those in the field, whose condition he knew of by personal observation. Viewed in almost any light, as the sound and pro- gressive business man; as the grand, good citizen, alive to every good work or cause; or as the legislator who came very near being a statesman -- as the loving parent, the faithful husband, no man could have stood higher than Mr. Bell. It was well-nigh a public calamity when he left our county- but he sought a wider field, and he filled it surpassingly well-earning the same meed of praise abroad as was bestowed upon him in the county where he spent his youth and mature manhood. J. A. H.

ANDREW JACKSON FAIRBANKS

Is TIIE eighth generation from the founder of the name in America, dating from his ar- rival in this country in 1633, and is a lineal descendant, upon both father and mother's side, of the first settlers of Watertown, his mother being a Massey. Mr. Fairbanks has made himself familiar with the early and con- tinuous progress of events and biographies of persons by collections of documentary his- tory, and also by interviews with old resi- dents, many of whom have passed away, so that with a retentive memory and in the preservation of records, he now has a library both extensive and valuable. He has also accumulated a musuem of relics and mementos of past generations, curious and instructive. He has contributed to this History several interesting sketches relating to the past, and has furnished data regarding many important events. For his personal history we refer to page 228. His motive, aside from self infor- mation, in making these collections, is eventu- ally to donate the most important and rare of his very valuable collection to the Jefferson County Historical Society for preservation and for publication. This transfer will be made just as soon as the Historical Society

can obtain suitable secure quarters of their own.

Mr. Fairbanks is a veritable historian, pos- sessed of the rare peculiarities of that distin- guished "genus homo." He is surprisingly , accurate in his descriptions, and as he was very early the companion of his distinguished father upon his journeyings up and down the county and into Canada, his fund of reminis- cences are remarkable and interesting. Mr. Fairbanks, with his three brothers, was edu- cated at the Montreal Catholic College, an institution of learning with a reputation ex- tending beyond the confines of America.

Referring to our previous remarks upon genealogical records, we still regard them as essential for the correct compilation of any history. Although only a century has elapsed since the first settlement of this Black River country, yet very few records have been secured relative to the pioneers and first settlers, of their ancestry or of their succes- sors. It is lamentable that such important in- formation has been lost to posterity With the exception of a few entries in old family Bibles, the record of those who have lived and passed away is a blank. In England,

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The growth of a century: as illustrated in the history of Jefferson county, New York, from 1793-1894, Part 156

Author: Haddock, John A., b. 1823- Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Albany, N. Y., Weed-Parsons printing company Number of Pages: 1098

Author: Haddock, John A., b. 1823-
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Albany, N. Y., Weed-Parsons printing company
Number of Pages: 1098