USA > New York > Westchester County > Westchester county in history; manual and civil list, past and present. County history: towns, hamlets, villages and cities, Volume II > Part 10
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34
Clarkson N. Potter, Democrat, of New Rochelle, followed Robertson and served as Representative in Congress three terms,
104
MANUAL AND CIVIL LIST.
when he decided to retire, to, as he said, give some one else a chance to serve the district. N. Holmes Odell, Democrat, of Tarrytown, who was ending his third term as County Treas- urer, was nominated to succeed Mr. Potter, and Mr. Potter suc- ceeded Mr. Odell. The special fitness of Mr. Potter for the office was generally acknowledged and he was usually elected with but little opposition. Mr. Potter in 1879 was the Democratic candi- date for Lieut .- Governor, but was defeated in a close campaign, in which it was at first believed he was elected.
When Mr. Odell ran he had as his Republican oppo- nent ex-Assemblyman Amherst Wight, Jr., of Port Chester. Mr. Wight had taken a prominent part during several sessions of the Legislature and had proven himself a man of marked ability ; he had, he thought, got all the honor there was in being an Assemblyman, and being ambitious, he sought the Republi- can nomination for Congress. He was permitted to be nomi- nated, but -. The rumors afloat at the time implied that he did not receive the party support, for the reason that it was feared he aspired to be a party leader when the then recognized party leaders did not want their number increased. After this sad defeat, Mr. Wight, Jr., retired from active politics.
The election of Alexander Smith, Republican, of Yonkers, in 1879, over Malcolm Cobb, Democrat, of Ossining, was the second break into the Democratic Congressional line. Mr. Smith had at the time gained wide reputation as a carpet manu- facturer employing several hundred, if not thousands, of people ; and this, added to his high personal character, rendered him particularly popular; and, notwithstanding he ran against a most estimable gentleman and a leading member of the West- chester County bar, he was elected. But the excitement of campaigning, though personally moderate, proved too much for his health, which of late had not been robust. At nine o'clock in the evening, on the day of election, just after word announc- ing his success had been brought to him, he died. The vacancy caused by his death was not filled until after the next general election, at which Waldo Hutchins, Democrat, of Kings- bridge (formerly of Yonkers now in the annexed district), was chosen.
Mr. Hutchins served in Congress two terms. He had, when he first ran, for his Republican opponent Alexander Taylor, of Rye, a representative of the young element in politics. Taylor proved to be a hustler and ever kept the friends of his opponent
.
105
MANUAL AND CIVIL LIST.
guessing as to the length his ability as a vote-getter would take him. It was believed at first that Taylor had carried the Demo- cratic County of Westchester; but the official vote gave the county to Hutchins by 549; the strong Democratic vote in "the annexed district " added to Hutchins' majority. When the latter ran again he had as his Republican opponent a gentleman who proved to be gentleness itself. Mr. Hutchins was re-elected.
Mr. Hutchins then tried for the nomination for Governor, but was defeated in the Convention by Grover Cleveland secur- ing the nomination.
The year 1894, when William Ryan was a candidate for re-election, proved a bad one for the Democrats. In that year the Tariff issue was raised, and as a result the Republican-Pro- tectionists swept the country, and known Democratic Congres- sional Districts were carried by the Republicans, as they never were before; this, the 16th, was influenced the same way, and a Republican succeeded Mr. Ryan. Changes of this kind are liable to occur at any time; the enactment of a new high Tariff law, in 1910, when the people were clamoring for " a revise downward," caused Republican districts to elect Democrats and gave a majority in the House of Representatives to the Demo- crats in 1911.
The Republican victory in 1896 was attributed to the Bryan 16 to 1 issue; in that year Bryan ran as the Democratic can- didate for President, and it was a sure thing for any one run- ning on the opposition ticket in this locality.
To oppose Ryan, in 1894, the Republicans made a strong nomi- nation in naming Ben L. Fairchild of the town of Pelham. Mr. Fairchild conducted a clever canvass in his determination to overcome a formidable adverse majority, and proved himself to be a " hustling vote-getter," as was promised he would do at the time his friends asked for his nomination. In Congress Mr. Fairchild's vote was recorded on the right side of every proposition, and the record made by him as our district's rep- resentative will bear minute inspection; it proved creditable to his constituents as well as to himself. As was his due, under the accepted rule that " one good term deserves another," Mr. Fairchild received the regular nomination from the Republican party for re-election in 1896, at a convention, regularly called by the Republican Congressional Committee, and held in the city of Yonkers. Unfortunately for harmonious action, the Republican party within the Congressional district was at this
106
MANUAL AND CIVIL LIST.
period in a " state of upheaval," as a result of a faction fight growing out of a spirited rivalry for the local party leadership. One faction headed by Judge William H. Robertson and Wil- liam L. Ward opposed the faction friendly to Congressman Fairchild, and for this reason opposed the latter and refused him an endorsement. The Robertson-Ward faction held a Republican convention in White Plains on the same day the Republican convention in Yonkers renominated Congressman Fairchild.
The first action taken by the leaders in White Plains was to agree that the nominee of their convention was to "stand pat," and continue as a candidate for Representative in Con- gress to the closing of the polls on election day; maintaining, in season and out of season, that he, and he only, was the " regular nominee " of the Republican party in this district. William L. Ward was finally persuaded to take the nomination from the White Plains convention on conditions specified. Mr. Ward simultaneously secured an independent nomination by petition. Both alleged Republican " regular " candidates being men of " grit," the strife for the masterhand was soon under way, to the full satisfaction of all who enjoy being onlookers viewing the skillful playing of the political game. The oppos- ing forces were equally expert as well as resourceful, and in the end honors were about equally divided.
The certificate of Mr. Fairchild's nomination by the Repub- lican convention was filed with the Secretary of State at Albany, as the law requires; Mr. Ward caused a separate certificate of his nomination by the White Plains convention to be also filed with the Secretary of State. Both Fairchild and Ward claimed to be the "regular nominee " of the Republican party for Representative in Congress from this district. The Secretary of State decided that the convention nominating Mr. Fairchild was the regular Republican convention, authorized to make such nomination. To this Mr. Ward and friends objected and forthwith appealed, from the Secretary of State's decision, to Mr. Justice Edwards, sitting in Hudson, N. Y. Justice Edwards, on this application, issued an order overruling the Secretary of State, and directing Mr. Ward's name to be printed in the Republican column on the official ballot in place of the name of Mr. Fairchild. An appeal from Justice Edwards' order was taken to the Court of Appeals, but it was too late for the appeal to be heard before election day, with the result
107
MANUAL AND CIVIL LIST.
that Mr. Ward's name on election day was printed in the Republican column, giving him the Republican vote and the election on the face of the returns. Subsequent to the election the Court of Appeals unanimously reversed Justice Edwards' with an opinion (151 New York, page 359) which held on the merits that Mr. Fairchild was the regular Republican nominee and that his name should have been printed in the Republi- can column on the official ballot, and also held that Justice Edwards, through whose order Mr. Ward's name was printed in the Republican column on the official ballot, had no juris- diction to make such order.
But this decision of " the higher court " came too late to 1 benefit Mr. Fairchild, though it doubtless afforded him satis- faction to a great degree, even if it did not restore to him his just due. Mr. Ward was comfortably seated in Congress, realizing that possession is many points in law; his associates decided not to disturb him, and he was permitted to serve out the two years' term, at the end of which Mr. Ward declined a renomination, stating that his vast business interests demanded his undivided attention.
Mr. Fairchild loyally served the district in Congress, and by so doing earned a re-election. Mr. Ward ably and faith- fully succeeded him, and their constituency in this county profited by the services of each.
LENGTH OF SERVICE.
A study of the length of service of Senators and Represen- tatives in Congress, is, at least, an interesting one. Numerous members of Congress have been retained by constituents many years, some as long as they would consent to remain in the service of the people. Their inducement being patriotic motives, more than from a desire for pecuniary compensation, as the salary attached to the office of Senator or Representative is shamefully small and inadequate.
Service has been longer in the Senate than in the House, on account of the term being longer. In the early period men who were not so absorbed in business and in chasing the almighty dollar, were willing to serve their country longer in the halls of Congress, and their constituents were anxious that they should. It would not be fair to say that men were more patriotic, self-sacrificing and abler in the earlier days of the Republic than men are now.
108
MANUAL AND CIVIL LIST.
It has been found that long service is helpful to the State and gives the member leadership in committee appointments which is of great value to his district.
Philip Van Cortlandt, who represented this county in the first Congress as Representative, served twelve years, from 1789. Aaron Ward, another of our Representatives, served one year longer, from 1825 to 1844, but not continuously. These men were residents of this county. Of the later day, Clarkson N. Potter, of New Rochelle, served the longest time, four terms, eight years. As a usual custom, local Representatives were retained only for one term, two years; occasionally there was an exception. The present Representative, John E. Andrus, of Yonkers, is serving his fourth term, or seventh year.
In the United States Senate, Chauncey M. Depew, of Peeks- kill, served twelve years. His last term ending March 4, 1911.
Many able men have preferred to be in the House rather than in the Senate. Henry Clay liked the turbulence of the lower chamber better than the solemn stillness of the other branch. He began his real political career there in 1811, although he was in the Senate as early as 1806. Clay's service in national office extended to his death in 1852, while a member of the Senate. It covered a period of 46 years in all, though part of the time he was in private life.
There were men with long public careers earlier than Clay. Nathaniel Macon, of North Carolina, entered the House of Representatives in 1791, and was there until 1815, when he went to the Senate and served until 1828, thus being in Congress 37 years continuously. Thomas Newton, of Virginia, was in the House from 1801 to 1831, continuously. He was the only man who served 30 years in the House until William S. Holman, of Indiana, in more recent days, slightly exceeded that record.
Senator Benton, one of the ablest men ever seated in Congress, represented his State in the United States Senate for 30 years, continuously. No one equalled this length of service until the time of Senator Sherman, of Ohio, and Senator Morrill, of Maine, in later years, save Senator William R. King, of Ala- bama, who was in the Senate in the aggregate about 30 years. King and John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, began their public service in 1811, when both were members of the House over which Speaker Clay presided, and each was in national office at the time of his death, Calhoun dying in 1850 and King in 1853. Both were in each branch of Congress and in
109
MANUAL AND CIVIL LIST.
the Vice-Presidency. Calhoun being Vice-President from 1825 to 1829; Calhoun was also Secretary of War in President Monroe's Cabinet, in 1817. King was Vice-President in 1853, but died one month and fourteen days after taking office; office remained vacant balance of term.
Henry Clay, besides serving many terms in Congress, was Secretary of State during the administration of President John Quincy Adams, serving from 1825 to 1829.
The public service of Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, began in 1813, two years later than that of Calhoun and King, and included membership in each branch of Congress. He died 39 years later, while Secretary of State under President Fil- more, in 1852. Previous to entering Filmore's Cabinet, he had served as Secretary of State in the Cabinets of President Harrison and Tyler, from 1841 to 1843. (His widow lived and died in New Rochelle in this county.)
After retiring from the office of President of the United States, John Quincy Adams, known as " the old man eloquent," was elected as a Representative in Congress, and held that office at the time of his death. In 1836 his colleagues in the House were James K. Polk and Franklin Pierce, who were later to be Presidents of the United States.
In 1848, when Polk was President, Abraham Lincoln, who was serving his first term, and Andrew Johnson, who later was Lincoln's associate on a Presidential ticket, was serving his third term, were members of the House; Lincoln a Whig, and Johnson a Democrat. In this Congress, the thirtieth, Horace Greeley, two years later a resident of Westchester County, was a member, representing a New York city district, elected to serve three months to fill a vacancy.
Jefferson Davis, a United States Senator, and later President of the Southern Confederacy, in 1848 declined to support, or even vote for, his father-in-law, Gen. Zachary Taylor for the office of President of the United States, on political grounds. Gen. Taylor was the successful Whig candidate.
Mr. Davis was a colleague in Congress of Jared V. Peck, Representative from this county, and they were intimate friends.
Thomas Corwin, of Ohio, had been a member of Congress prior to 1850, when he entered President Filmore's Cabinet as Secretary of the Treasury; from 1850 to 1853 he served as a Cabinet officer, and in 1859 was sent back to Congress. When
110
MANUAL AND CIVIL LIST.
he looked about him and saw many new faces, and missed many old ones, he exclaimed, " The Gods, are all dead?" referring to Clay, Calhoun, Webster, Benton, King, John Quincy Adams and the rest of the distinguished men with whom he served many years earlier, his first appearance in Con- gress being in 1831. His career in public life lasted until 1864.
James Monroe's career as a public official, which began with his election to the Continental Congress in 1783, ended forty- two years after, when he retired from the highest office in the gift of the people, the position of President of the United States. Besides serving in both houses of Congress, Mr. Monroe was Secretary of State under his close friend President Madison, and held various responsible positions representing this Nation in foreign countries. He abandoned the practice of law when a young man, and was afterward, and until his election as President, always holding public office, his special fitness making him in constant demand.
Lewis Cass, of Ohio, and John J. Crittendon, of Kentucky, both of whom held portfolios in the Cabinets of two Presidents, served long terms in Congress.
Coming down to more recent periods we come upon several long records of service in public life. The length of service of some members of Congress who died recently are notable. John Sherman, Senator from Ohio, and Justin S. Morrill, of Maine, who were in Congress shortly after the Missouri Compromise, entered the House in 1856, and Morrill remained there con- tinuously until 1867, and in the Senate from that time until his death in 1898, or 43 years, 9 months and 24 days, which is the longest career in Congress continuously or absolutely in American annals. His service in the Senate was little less than 32 years. Sherman was in the Senate almost 32 years and in the House six years. Sherman was a member of President Hayes' Cabinet, as Secretary of the Treasury, from 1877 to 1881, and a member of President Mckinley's Cabinet, as Sec- retary of State, for a short period.
Senator Allison, of Iowa, served in the United States Senate for 35 years and a few months, and was one of its most influ- ential members.
Senator Aldrich, of Rhode Island, came from a little State, but he was until recently the big man in the Senate, the leader of the majority, conspicuous in the formation of tariff laws and other laws relative to the finances of the Nation. He entered
111
MANUAL AND CIVIL LIST.
the Senate 29 years ago, and in 1910 declined a re-election. He retired with 30 years of service to his credit.
The venerable Senator Hale, of Maine, the Nestor of the Senate, had been a member seven months longer than Aldrich, when he retired from the Senate in 1910. He would have had to retain his place in the Senate until his eightieth year to pass Aldrich's record.
Senator Benjamin Ryan Tillman, of South Carolina, is serv- ing his eighteenth year in the Senate.
Senators Cockrill, of Missouri, Hoar, of Massachusetts, Mor- gan, of Alabama, Frye, of Maine (who died in 1911), Jones, of Nevada, and Representative Grow, of Pennsylvania, are others who gave many of their best years to long service of their country, in the halls of national legislation.
- Representative Cannon, of Illinois, Speaker of the House, is serving his eighteenth term in Congress. Sereno E. Payne, of New York, late Republican leader on the floor of the House, and father of the present Payne tariff bill, is in his thirteenth term of service, and is likely, if his life be spared, to serve many more years.
Representative Samuel Randall, of Pennsylvania, made a long record for service and was active in public life up to the hour of his death. Mr. Randall, who had relatives here, was well known in this county.
Of the members of the House of Representatives, thirty- seven in number, from the State of New York serving in the present Sixty-second Congress, one will, at the finishing of this term, have served thirteen terms, one eight terms, two seven terms, three six terms, six five terms, three four terms, nine three terms, six two terms, and six are in their first term of service.
William Sulzer, of New York city, is serving his eighth term; D. S. Alexander, of Buffalo, and George N. Southwick, of Albany, retired in 1911 after serving their seventh term.
The oldest member of the present Senate, in the Sixty-first Congress, in years, is Isaac Stephenson, of Wisconsin, aged 80; the youngest Senator is Mr. Gore, of Oklahoma, 39 years of age. The oldest member of the House of Representatives, N. D. Sperry, of Connecticut, 83 years of age, retired in 1911; and the youngest Representative is Charles Gordon Edwards, of Georgia, aged 32 years.
112
MANUAL AND CIVIL LIST.
As we scan the roster of the United States Senate and note the birthplaces of Senators, we are impressed with the fact that the State of Mississippi has gained the distinction in the Sixty-first Congress of being the " Mother of United States Senators." There are at present seven members of the upper house of the National Legislature who first saw the light of day in that State. No other State can boast of so large a number. Each has achieved a high degree of success in political affairs. Their names are Hernando D. Money and Anselm J. McLaurin (both died recently), who represented Mississippi in the Senate, Joseph W. Bailey, of Texas, Francis G. Newlands, of Nevada, James P. Clarke, of Arkansas, Thomas P. Gore, of Oklahoma, and George E. Chamberlain, of Oregon. Each of these Mis- sissippians won fame before coming to the Senate. By many, Senator Money was regarded as the most accomplished scholar in the Senate; he was a conspicuous member of the House before his election to the Senate, where he served his third term, of six years each. Senator McLaurin was twice Governor of his native State before he became Senator. Senator Bailey was a political factor in Mississippi three years before he attained his majority, and was a Presidential elector at the age of twenty-one. Senator Newlands left his native State to go West in search of fortune; he became private secretary to the late Senator Sharon, of Nevada, afterwards the manager of a large mining estate, and finally married Sharon's daughter. He served ten years in the House and was father of the irrigation law by which millions of acres of arid lands of the West have been brought to fertility.
Senator Gore, the blind statesman, and the youngest Senator, being only 39 years old, for years has been recognized as the greatest orator of the Southwest. Senator Clarke achieved distinction as Attorney-General and Governor of Arkansas. Senator Chamberlain was twice elected as the Democratic Gov- ernor of Oregon, a strong Republican State, and is largely responsible for the famous Oregon primary law which provides for the popular election of United States Senators. The law enabled him to come to the Senate, although the Republicans controlled the Legislature by a large majority.
Kentucky ranks next to Mississippi as the birthplace of United States Senators. Senator Cullen, of Illinois, Republi- can, Senator Bristow, of Kansas, Republican, Senator Stone, of Missouri, Democrat, Senator Piles, of Washington, Repub-
113
MANUAL AND CIVIL LIST.
lican, Senators Bradley and Paynter, of Kentucky, Democrats, were all born in the Blue Grass State.
The State of Maine has two Democratic Senators, caused by change of political views of its electors, for the first time in the State's history.
There are no " gentlemen " in the Senate. That is to say, there are none in a parliamentary sense. They are all gentle- men in polite society, but they must not be referred to as such during the Senate proceedings.
It is perfectly proper in the House of Representatives to refer to an associate on the floor as the " Gentleman from Mary- land or Maine or Florida," but to speak of a Senator as the " Gentleman from Tennessee or Virginia or Rhode Island " would be an unpardonable breach of Senatorial proprieties. The member of the upper branch must always be called or addressed as the " Senator from so-and-so."
Ever and anon Vice-President Sherman, who got his parlia- mentary training in the House, speaks from the chair to " the gentleman, etc." He generally catches himself in time to save himself a rebuke from some stickler for form.
Not long ago a new Senator, in making a speech, continued to refer to an associate as " the gentleman from New York." He was allowed to finish his speech, but when he had concluded Senator Gallinger rose and administered a gentle but effective rebuke to the new member.
" I do not wish to reflect upon the Senator from New York," said Senator Gallinger, " by suggesting that he is not the gentleman which he has been so frequently called during the late address, but we know that the practice in this body pro- hibits such usage."
The fact that two brothers, from different States and of different political faiths, served in the House of Representa- tives in 1910, attracted some attention. The cases of two brothers, elected specially to represent strong opposite views, like Representative George E. Foss, of Illinois, and Represen- tative Eugene N. Foss, of Massachusetts (in 1910), have been less rare than they are generally supposed to have been. In their instance, however, the striking circumstance is added that they belong to different parties, the Illinois Foss being a Repub- lican and the Massachusetts Foss a Democrat, though only newly fledged.
114
MANUAL AND CIVIL LIST.
In the Congress of 1847, which marked Lincoln's first appear- ance in Washington as a member of the House, there were three brothers from the same State. Maine was represented in the Senate by William Pitt Fessenden, who succeeded Salmon P. Chase in Lincoln's Cabinet as Secretary of the Treasury, and in the House by Samuel C. Fessenden and Thomas A. D. Fessen- den. In a previous Congress three Washburns had served, but they were from different States.
In 1849 Senator Dodge, of Wisconsin, and Senator Dodge, of Iowa, father and son, were members of the same body. The former was the first Territorial Governor of Wisconsin, holding office from 1836 to 1841, and from him Dodgeville, the county seat of Iowa County, Wis., takes its name.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.