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 11
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In the Fifty-ninth Congress Frederick Landis joined his brother Charles B. Landis for one term as a fellow-member from Indiana. A third brother at the time was Postmaster at San Juan, Porto Rico, and a fourth Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis of the United States District Court.
The Congressional perquisites are worthy of mention. Every Member of Congress has the free use of the Congressional baths and the barber-shops under the Capitol. He can take a nifty Turkish bath, a Russian bath, a Roman bath, a needle-shower, or the plain, old-fashioned Pike County style of bath, lying down in a tub with both faucets going, and it doesn't cost him a cent. As often as he pleases he may have a shave, a hair-cut, a facial massage and be manicured all around, as they say in parts of Iowa when shoeing a horse. Every other day he can have the back of his neck shaved, just as if he were going to some large social function back home. Uncle Sam pays for the attendants and provides the whole outfit.
We mustn't overlook the notion-counter at the Capitol, either. The members don't, so why should we? Especially as the said notion-counter is a gracious and enduring boon to statesmen, their wives, families, heirs and assigns. It contains everything you can think of that would properly come under the head of notions, and a great deal besides-all kinds of stationery, all kinds of typewriter and desk supplies, pocket-knives, scissors, fountain-pens, card-cases, purses, wrist-bags, visiting-cards, busi- ness cards, and -- sh-h-h !- even the kind of cards that run fifty- two to a set and may be used for playing old maid and other harmless games.
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COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.
Attempts of Members of Congress to advance their pay from time to time have raised a breeze that swept them from office. Prominent men believed to be guilty of attempts to raid the United States Treasury by the introduction of "grab bills," have been voted to remain at home, and the halls of Congress that knew them once know them no more. Even in the earliest days, Members of Congress were charged with defrauding the Government by presenting dishonest claims for mileage.
When the pay of Members of Congress was originally fixed, railroads and steamboats as yet were not; stage-coaches ran on a few, and but a few, great highways of travel; most of the members came part of the way on horseback, and some came all the way. It was therefore deemed just, in fixing their compensation at $6 per day, to stipulate that a like sum should be allowed as mileage, or the cost in time and money of journey- ing each twenty miles on the roads to and from Washington. Congress, in time, raised its own pay to $8 per day, and $8 for every twenty miles in coming to and returning from Washington. In 1816 the pay was changed to $1,500 per annum, the mileage remaining as before; but the people revolted at this, and swept out nearly every member who had voted for the salary raise. The next Congress had to repeal the Compensation Act, and the price per day went back to $8, mileage the same. In 1848 a war for " cut prices " as to mileage was made in Congress. It was not only charged that the rate allowed was outrageously high, but also that members were dishonest in their demand for pay; alleging that they traversed more miles than they really did or was necessary for them to do. Much bitterness was occasioned owing to open charges of dishonesty of members in this respect.
The introduction and rapid multiplication of steamboats, especially on our great trans-Alleghany network of rivers and lakes, rendered this mileage absurdly too high. A member now (in 1848) traversed a distance of two thousand miles about as quickly as, and at hardly more expense than, his predecessor by half a century must have incurred on a journey of two hun- dred miles, for which the latter was paid $80, and the former $800. Nor was this all. The steamboat routes, though much more swiftly and cheaply traversed, were nearly twice-some- times thrice-the length of the stage and horseback roads they superseded. And-as the law said at first, and continued to
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say, that they were to charge mileage " by the usually traveled route "-they then charged and received twice as much for traveling five days in a sumptuous cabin, replete with every luxury, as their fathers were paid for roughing it over the mountains in fifteen to twenty days, at a far greater cost.
It was protested that it was not right for a member residing in central Ohio, Indiana or Illinois to "swing around the circle," via Detroit, Buffalo, Albany, and New York, in traveling from home to Washington City; in fact, railroads are generally straightening and shortening the "usual" routes of traveling.
Next the pay of a Member of Congress was raised to $3,000 per annum, and an allowance of forty cents per mile, by " the usually travelled route." Later the salary was fixed at $5,000 per annum and the mileage fixed at twenty cents per mile.
The present salary of a Member of Congress, Senator and Representative, is $7,500 per annum, and mileage of twenty cents per mile for traveling to and from Washington.
The bill for the apportionment of Representatives in Con- gress under the thirteenth census, as adopted by the House, provides for a new House of 433 members on and after March 3, 1913. With Arizona and New Mexico admitted to Statehood, with one Representative each, the total will be 435. The present membership is 391.
Under the new reapportionment plan no State loses a mem- ber. The following States gain the number indicated : Ala- bama, 1; California, 3; Colorado, 1; Florida, 1; Georgia, 1; Idaho, 1; Illinois, 2; Louisiana, 1; Massachusetts, 2; Michigan, 1; Minnesota, 1; Montana, 1; New Jersey, 2; New York, 4; North Dakota, 1; Ohio, 1; Oklahoma, 3; Oregon, 1; Pennsyl- vania, 4; Rhode Island, 1; South Dakota, 1; Texas, 2; Utah, 1; Washington, 2; West Virginia, 1.
Under the new apportionment, of 1911, New York State will have forty-three Congressional districts.
The States are left free to redistrict themselves in their own way and to determine the qualifications of voters without Federal interference.
The Campaign Publicity Bill, passed by Congress in August, 1911, became a law on receiving the signature of President Taft, on August 19. This act provides that Congressmen may spend $5,000 and Senators only $10,000 to further their election. It provides also for the publication of expenditures both before and after election.
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NEW APPORTIONMENT
The State Legislature, on September 30, 1911, in passing a bill reapportioning the State into Congressional Districts, placed the County of Westchester into two districts, to be known as the Twenty-fourth and the Twenty-fifth Districts, and fixed the boundary lines of said new districts as follows :
TWENTY-FOURTH DISTRICT-Beginning at the Bronx River at the intersection of said river and the boundary line between the city of New York and the city of Yonkers, running west of said boundary line between the city of New York and the city of Yonkers, to the Hudson River, along the Hudson River north to the boundary lines of the city of Yonkers and the Town of Greenburg, east along said boundary line to the point where said boundary line meets the boundary lines between the towns of Greenburg, Scarsdale, Eastchester, thence southeast along the boundary line between the Towns of Scarsdale and East- chester southerly along the boundary line between the town of Eastchester and the city of New Rochelle, and along said bound- ary line to the point where the said boundary line meets the boundary line of the city of Mount Vernon and the Town of Pelham, and along the boundary line between the city of New Rochelle and the Town of Pelham and along Long Island Sound, to the East River to One Hundred and Forty-ninth Street, in the Borough of the Bronx, southwesterly to One Hundred and Forty-ninth Street, through Prospect Avenue, northerly to Prospect Avenue to Freeman Avenue, northerly on Freeman Avenue to Southern Boulevard, northerly through Southern Boulevard to Pelham Avenue, easterly on Pelham Avenue to the Bronx River to the intersecting boundary line of the city of New York and the city of Yonkers, to the point of beginning.
TWENTY-FIFTH DISTRICT-The county of Rockland and the County of Westchester, except that portion lying within the city of Yonkers, the city of Mount Vernon, the Town of East- chester and the Town of Pelham as at present constituted, shall comprise the Twenty-Fifth District.
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
WILLIAM NELSON.
William Nelson, late of the village of Peekskill, this county, able law- yer, District Attorney, Member of Assembly, State Senator, Justice of the Court for the Correction of Er- rors, Representative in Congress, etc., was born on June 29, 1784, in Clin- ton, near Hyde Park, N. Y., the eighth child and sixth son of Thomas and Sara Wright Nelson.
His ancestors were of English origin, and the first to settle in this country came over from England about the middle of the seventeenth century, and established himself on a farm in Mamaroneck, in this county. This farm, which was in the vicinity of the residence of the Heathcotes, DeLanceys and other prominent Colonial families, was kept in the Nelson family for many generations.
Thomas Nelson, the father of the subject of this sketch, at an early age married Miss Wright, the daugh- ter of a respected farmer who lived in Hanover, now Somers, in this county. After marriage he settled on a farm he had purchased on Crum Elbow Creek, in Dutchess county. His wife bore him ten children, of whom William was the tenth. The early years of William Nelson were spent as vere those of most farmers' sons-devoting the glorious summer time to raising crops and going to the district school in the winter.
Later he attended the academy in Poughkeepsie, near by; here he ac- quired a knowledge of some of the higher branches of English educa- tion, and pursued for a short time the study of Latin. He next became a law student in the office of Theron Rudd, of Poughkeepsie, then an at- torney of distinction and large prac- tice, and later a clerk of the District Court of the United States.
Mr. Nelson was admitted to the Bar in 1807, and his diploma was signed by James Kent, then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. He migrated on horseback to Buffalo, N. Y., where he contemplated establishing himself in the practice of his profes- sion. One of the first matters in his professional career took him to Peekskill, in this County, where he
contemplated staying for a few months. He became so involved in legal matters that he permanently established his office and residence in last named place.
His acquaintances in the legal fra- ternity included the most distin- guished which constituted the Bar of Dutchess county. Among them were Smith Thompson, Judge of the Su- preme Court of the United States; James Talmage, afterward Lieuten- ant-Governor of the State of New York; Thomas J. Oakley, afterward Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New York; Gilbert Livingston, James Emmett, Sr., who became Cor- cuit Court Judge; Nathaniel P. Tal- mage, later United States Senator; James Hooker, later Surrogate of Dutchess County, and many others.
William Nelson early identified himself with the county's best in- terests and soon became Peekskill's leading citizen. His law office had as students men who later became distinguished as lawyers with nation- wide reputations; United State Sena- tor Chauncey M. Depew, Supreme Court Justice Jackson O. Dykman, County Judge Robert S. Hart, Calvin Frost, J. Warren Tompkins, Francis Larkin, David Wiley Travis and others well known, were ever pleased to say that they once studied law un- der the guidance of William Nelson of Peekskill.
In 1815 Mr. Nelson was appointed District-Attorney for the district composed of the counties of West- chester, Rockland and Putnam, which office he held until, by act of the Legislature, in 1818, the districts were made coterminous with the counties. For more than twenty-five years he was District-Attorney of Westchester County, having been commissioned by Governors Daniel S. Tompkins and Dewitt Clinton, successively, and been continued in the office many years afterward by the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas of the county after they be- came empowered to make the ap- pointment.
He was elected a Member of As- sembly and served the upper district of the county in the years 1820 and 1821.
In 1823 he was elected State Sena-
WILLIAM NELSON
:
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tor and ably served the district from 1824 to 1827.
From 1824 to 1827 he also served as a Judge of the Court for the Cor- rection of Errors, then the highest Court of this State.
In 1823, shortly after the adop- tion of the new constitution, Gov. Yates tendered him the Circuit- Judgeship of the Second Circuit, but he declined the same and the ap- pointment was given to and accepted by Samuel R. Betts, later appointed United States District Court Judge.
In 1846, he was nominated to be a member of the convention to re- vise the State Constitution, but failed to be elected, by a small vote.
In the same year, 1846, Mr. Nel- son was nominated for Representa- tive in Congress for the district com- posed of the counties of Westchester and Rockland, and was elected by a handsome majority. He was re- elected in 1848, and served in Con- gress until 1851. He proved a use- ful member, whose popularity en- abled him to be of great service to his home district. In Congress one of his colleagues was Abraham Lin- coln, of Illinois, later President of the United States. Between these two men a strong friendship grew that lasted during the life of the lamented President. When on his way to Washington, in 1860, to be inaugurated as President, Mr. Lin- coln stopped at Peekskill to greet his old friend Nelson.
After retiring from Congress Mr. Nelson devoted his time to the prac- tice of law, and to the time of his death was the recognized head of the County bar.
Mr. Nelson had a singular com- bination of legal and business abil- ity. He was eminently sagacious and practical. He was very courte- ous in his manners, especially to the female sex. His habits were very simple and he was very faithful to his friends. He had great natural vigor and a magnetic personality that empowered him to exercise great in- fluence over his friends and neigh- bors all for their benefit and for the benefit of the community at large.
He was one of Peekskill's foremost citizens, insomuch that a great many of the institutions standing to-day are attributed to his conception or to his public-spiritedness to acqui-
esce with other initiators. The monu- ments standing to-day to his en- deavors are the Peekskill Military Academy and the Westchester County National Bank, of which institutions he was one of the original incorpora- tors.
On the 9th day of February, 1812, he was married by the Rev. Silas Constant to Cornelia Mandeville Hardman, the daughter of John and Dorinda Clark Hardman. To them were born thirteen children, eight sons and five daughters. The fourth child and third son, Thomas Nelson, became distinguished as a jurist; and the latter's son, Thomas Nelson, Jr., is at this writing the President of the Village of Peekskill, and the only survivor of this branch of the Nelson family.
Hon. William Nelson passed away on October 2, 1869, and his body lies buried in the Peekskill Cemetery.
He will ever be remembered as one of the strongest characters ever appearing in the public life of this county, a good specimen of the "old school." His influence was ever ex- erted for good, and the world in which he was known was made better by his having lived.
On the announcement of his death before the Supreme Court in West- chester County, and on proper mo- tion, a committee of members of the County Bar was named by the pre- siding Justice to prepare and pre- sent to the Court suitable resolutions referring to the great loss the Bar had sustained by his demise; this committee consisted of J. Warren Tompkins, ex-County Judge Robert S. Hart, District-Attorney Jackson O. Dykman, Edward R. Wells and Francis Larkin, most of whom had been students in Mr. Nelson's office. At a session of the Supreme Court, Justice Tappen presiding, held on November 22, 1869, the said commit- tee reported appropriate resolutions that were read by Chairman Tomp- kins, of the committee, and which were adopted by a rising vote, after District-Attorney Dykman, Judge Hart, Francis Larkin and Mr. Tomp- kins had made addresses pertinent to the occasion. Justice Tappen closed the proceedings by adjourning the Court for the day, out of respect to the memory of the deceased dis- tinguished member of the bar.
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WILLIAM H. ROBERTSON.
William H. Robertson, a former Congressman, etc., was born in the town of Bedford, on October 10, 1823, a son of Henry and Huldah (Fanton) Robertson. He was edu- cated in the Union (or Bedford) Academy in his native town. Studied law in the office of Judge Robert S. Hart (the first elected County Judge in this County), in Bedford village, and was admitted to the bar in 1847. In 1853 he formed a partnership with Odle Close, also of Bedford and who also studied with Judge Hart, under the firm name of Close & Robertson, and this partnership con- tinued until Mr. Close's death, on November 19, 1894. They opened an office in Mott Haven, Morrisania; where they remained until after the Civil War, when they removed to White Plains, where their office was ever after held.
His first vote was for Henry Clay for President in 1844. He took in- terest in politics when only seven- teen years of age.
His first office was Town Superin- tendent of Schools, to which he was elected in 1845; was a Member of Assembly in 1848-49; in 1853 was first elected a State Senator; in 1855 was elected County Judge and twice re-elected, serving twelve years; elected several times as Presidential Elector; elected to Congress in 1866; was State Senator many years, and as often as he desired; was appointed Collector of the Port of New York in 1881; in 1887 he was again elected State Senator, and re-elected, serving until 1892, when he retired. (See biography in volume 1, page 98.)
Mr. Robertson died at his home in Bedford in 1898.
BENJAMIN L. FAIRCHILD.
Benjamin Lewis Fairchild, a for- mer Representative in Congress, was born on January 5, 1863, in Sweden, Monroe County, N. Y., a son of Benjamin and Calista (Schaeffer) Fairchild, and is of Eng- lish and German descent. The Fair- childs originally settled in Connec- ticut at an early period, the family name spreading throughout the country from that point. The Ameri- can ancestor on the maternal side came over in Wolfe's army in Revo-
lutionary days, settled and married in New York, had one child, a son, who also had but one son, Jacob Schaeffer, the grandfather of Benja- min L. Fairchild. The latter's father at the outbreak of the Civil War, en- listed as a private and served through the entire war, at the close of which he had suffered the loss of both property and health. He was se- verely wounded during the campaign of the Wilderness. This change in circumstances at the close of the war necessitated the removal of the fam- ily to Washington, D. C., where Ben, then two years of age, the youngest of three children, was reared and educated. At the age of thirteen he had finished the course in the public schools. For nine years following until 1885 he was employed in Gov- ernment departments, during which period he completed a business col- lege course. After graduating from the business college, he entered the law department of Columbian Uni- versity, graduating in 1885 with the degree of LL. M., having pre- viously received the degree of LL. B .; he then resigned his position in the Treasury Department, and was admitted to the Washington Bar.
Desiring a broader field he re- moved to New York in 1885; after spending a year in the office of Henry C. Andrews, he was admitted to the New York State Bar, in May, 1886. Entering the law office of Ewing & Southard, he became a member of the firm in 1887, under the firm name of Ewing, Southard & Fairchild; General Thomas Ewing, and Hon. Milton I. Southard, the senior members of the firm, being former Representatives in Congress from Ohio; in 1893 Gen. Ewing re- tired and the firm name became Southard & Fairchild. Mr. South- ard having died, Mr. Fairchild is now alone in his law practice, with offices in New York city.
In 1893 he became a resident of Pelham, in this County, where he yet resides and where he owns a con- siderable quantity of land. To him more than to any other person, prob- ably, Pelham owes its present de- velopment into a delightful residen- tial section of the County. Under his immediate supervision home parks were laid out and paved and macada- mized streets were constructed, mak-
Eng bu E C.Williams & Bro. NY
Meham & Robertson
Peu Launched
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ing the town inviting to people seek- ing choice country homes near New York city.
In 1893 he was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for Delegate to the State Constitutional Conven- tion; he carried Westchester County, but the Democratic majority in the New York city annexed district was too great to be overcome.
In 1894 he was nominated by his party for Representative in Congress. Though the district was normally Democratic, he carried it as a Re- publican by fifty-five hundred major- ity over a popular opponent, who was elected two years previously by a majority of sixty-five hundred. His career in Congress reflected honor upon his constituents as well as upon himself, and it was generally re- gretted when he retired from public life to devote his time solely to his chosen profession.
In the chapter relating to "Mem- bers of Congress," commencing on page 94, 97-8-9, reference is made to Mr. Fairchild.
Mr. Fairchild's legal practice at present requires all his time, leav- ing him not even "spare moments" of relaxation to enjoy the game of politics. Recently the interests of clients called him to Europe, and fre- quently he is called to serve his cli- ents in all parts of the country.
He was married in February, 1893, to Miss Anna Crumbie, who died in 1902, daughter of the late James and Ann E. Crumbie, an old New York family, and has one child, a son, Franklin Crumbie Fairchild.
WILLIAM L. WARD.
William Lukens Ward, former Representative in Congress, a Re- publican elector, member of Repub- lican National Committee for State of New York, Chairman Westchester County Republican Committee.
Was born just over the New York State line in the borough of Green- wich, Conn., on September 2, 1856, a son of William E. and Tacy (Lukens) Ward. He was educated at the Friends' Seminary, New York city. He is a Quaker, a man of peace-and peace he will have even if he has to fight for it. His father was born in Camden, N. J.
After securing a good preliminary education, he entered Columbia Col- lege. As he was an athlete in his younger days, especially fond of. baseball, his abilities were recog- nized when he entered college. He played on football team during his four years at college.
His father, associated with the firm of Russell, Birdsall & Ward, was extensively engaged in the manu- facture of bolts, etc. The son en- tered his father's factory, and served his time as machinist.
Later in 1882, with the assistance of his father, young Ward, associ- ated with others who like himself had learned the trade in Ward, Sr's factory' started a similar factory in Port Chester. From the start the new factory proved a success and to- day is a leader in the trade. Mr. Ward has an enviable reputation of being a kind and generous employer ; men enter his employment when they are young and remain when they are gray, and until they can work no longer. He is considerate and just, and by being so has earned the high regard of his employes.
Having first demonstrated that he was a good business man, he was en- titled in the way of recreation, to turn his attention in another direc. tion. In the early eighties he be- gan taking an active interest in poli- tics. Heretofore he frequently looked at things political as did his father, who was a lifelong Demo- crat, who opened his residence for the holding of the first Democratic caucus ever held in that locality. The time was, not many years past, when it was quite fashionable to be a Democrat in the town of Rye, when the town gave a majority of three hundred or more to the Democratic party. That this custom has changed is owing greatly to the exertions of the present Mr. Ward.
Mr. Ward became the successor of Mr. Lounsbury and, his ability being recognized by his colleagues on the County Committee, he was rapidly advanced until in 1894 he was chosen to fill the position of chairman of the Westchester County Republican Committee, a place held by Judge- Senator Robertson for about thirty years.
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