USA > Pennsylvania > Bradford County > Annual of the Bradford County Historical Society, 1906 > Part 4
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5-Andrew was a Methodist preacher for 40 years. He married, and both he and his wife died at their home
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near Saratoga, N. Y., he at the age of 90 years. His children were : James, Samuel, Ruth and Julia. James settled in the West ; was a colonel in the Union army, member of congress and judge. He died in Utah. Sam- uel became a Methodist preacher and is yet living. Ruth married a clergyman. Julia died a young lady, unmar- ried.
6-John was an associate judge of Bradford county for 28 years and a local Methodist preacher. He died at Burlington in 1855, in his 75th year. He married Polly Minier of Ulster, and had ten children : Sally, Andrew, Madison, Jane, Elias, Harrison, Scott, Daniel, Hiram and Samuel. Andrew, Elias, Scott, Daniel, Sally and Jane removed to Stillwater, Minn. Madison also settled in the West. Hiram and Samuel located at Painted Post, N. Y., and Harrison lived at Lawrenceville, Pa. Only Elias and Harrison ever married.
7-Robert married Martha, daughter of Noah Wilson, a Revolutionary soldier, who was the first settler at Alba. He settled in Burlington and died on his farm there. The children of Robert and Martha Mckean were : Al- len, Thomas J., Noah W., Lemira, Andrew J., James S., Robert and Jane. Allen married Eliza A. Merry, who is still living, a bright and most interesting lady in her 99th year. He was a political host many years and served four successive terms as prothonotary of the coun- ty. The other children married as follows: Thomas J., to Sarah Gray ; Noah W., to Margaret McCloskey ; Lemira, to John Lilley ; Andrew J., to first Abiah Day, second Phoebe Bailey ; James S., to Sarah, daughter of John Blackwell ; Robert died unmarried ; Jane, to Ed- ward Kemp.
8-Samuel-(See end of sketch.)
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9-Benjamin settled in Columbia township and was elected the sixth sheriff of Bradford county. He married first Lucy Calkins of Burlington and had three children : James C., Lauraet and Charles S. His second wife was Elizabeth Mathewson of Athens, who bore him Henry B. and Helen E. For his third wife he married Laura LeBarron, widow of Dr. LeBarron, who was a daughter of Nathaniel Allen of Troy. By this marriage he had one child, Alma. The children of Benjamin Mckean married as follows : James C., to Nancy Brace of Spring- field ; Charles S. to Hannah Budd of Columbia : Col. Henry B., first to Mary E. Cox, second to a Washington widow ; Helen E., to Dudley Long of Troy ; Alma, to Hezekiah Lament of Troy. The first wife of Mr. Mc- Kean and daughter, Lauraet, died in Towanda while he was sheriff and their remains repose in Riverside ceme- tery.
10-Jane married John Calkins, son of Deacon Moses Calkins of Burlington. They settled in Columbia town . ship and died there. They had two children-Benjamin and Newberry.
GENERAL SAMUEL MCKEAN.
The most noted man in the early political history of Bradford county was Gen. Samuel Mckean. Indeed, he was the " Young Hickory " of Northern Pennsylvania. He was a remarkable man and had a notable career. He was the seventh son of James and Jane (Scott) Mc- Kean and was born April 7, 1787, in Huntingdon county, Pa., coming north with his parents while of tender years. His opportunities for an education were meagre until he was sixteen years of age, at which time he went to the State of Maryland on a visit to his matenal uncle, who was a man of learning and striet Quaker habits. He
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GEN. SAMUEL MCKEAN.
took the lad under his care and tuition, who, being very ambitions, made rapid progress in his studies, and also in good business habits. He was taught to learn one thing at a time and to learn that well, from which re- sulted his future success. His tutor made it his especial care to teach his pupil the principles of government, knowing that intelligence is the life of liberty. The house of his uncle furnished young Mckean a home until
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the death of its master, upon which, the estate of the latter was settled by Samuel, in accordance with the pro- visions of the will left by the deceased.
A portion was left for the nephew, with which he pur- chased a stock of goods and established himself in trade and made a handsome sum of money during the latter part of the war of 1812. In those days trade was gener- ally carried on by barter. The articles received in ex- change for his goods were sent to Philadelphia via the Susquehanna. The port of entry was Meansville (now Towanda); the vessels were Durham boats, carrying forty tons down and from one-half to two-thirds as much back.
They were wholly managed by setting-poles and a small rudder. We mention this fact to show more par- ticularly how it came, being situated in a great wilder- ness, that Mr. Mckean formed an acquaintance and in- fluence with men that was essential to his political success.
" All who knew General Mckean," wrote one who knew him well, "agree that he had on all occasions evinced an extraordinary capacity for judging correctly of men and the motives of human action. At the age of 21 years he gave the clearest evidence of extraordinary penetration of mind, sound judgment, boldness and de- cision of character as auditor of public accounts by de- tecting, exposing and thoroughly correcting a system of frauds and peculations which had gradually crept into the administration of public concerns of the township in which he was raised. These traits of character so clearly evinced on that occasion, as the unaided native qualities of his own mind, strongly attracted public attention and rallied around him active and sincere friends. Young as he was, he was nevertheless looked up to and support- ed by the Democratic-Republican party, as a leader, and
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acknowledged and opposed as such by the Federal party, which then had the ascendancy in the county of Brad- ford. Very soon, however, Mr. MeKean and his political friends gained the ascendancy which they maintained for twenty-five years."
Upon the organization of the county, in 1812, Mr. Mckean was the Democratic-Republican candidate for sheriff. He was beaten, however, by Abner C. Rockwell, the Federal candidate by 77 votes. In 1814 he was ap- pointed county commissioner in the place of Clement Paine, who resigned that office, and served one year. In 1815 he was elected from the Bradford-Tioga district to the Lower House of the State Legislature. He was re- elected from the same district in 1816, '17 and '18.
His biographer says : " Soon after he took his seat in the Legislature he was regarded by both parties as a leader, and such was his character. He had always such confidence in his own plans, opinions, purposes and de- cisions and reliance on himself, maintaining a dignified position, that wherever he was, he naturally assumed the lead. Firmness, decision, determination, unbending perseverance, holding on to his purposes until accom- plished, were strong points in his character, which con- tributed greatly to his uncommon success in public life. He had one trait in his character seldom found in public men, calculated to render him a safe and useful public functionary, and exalt him in the estimation of all patri- otic and good men. His opinions and conduct were never subject to the constantly varying and fluctuating breezes of public opinion. When public opinion run in the right channel, he was a bold and efficient agent in carrying it out, but when misled by circumstances, like the rock of Gibraltar he was unmoved by the raging
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waves." While in the Legislature he secured large ap- propriations for public improvements in the northern part of the State. He was the leading and efficient agent in carrying out the measures of Governor Findlay's ad- ministration, and enjoyed the entire confidence of the Governor and his leading friends.
From the State Legislature he was sent to represent the people in national councils. He was elected to the 18th Congress from the 9th district, comprising the coun- ties of Union, Northumberland, Columbia, Luzerne, Sus- quehanna, Lycoming, Bradford, Tioga, Potter and Mc- Kean, in 1822, and re-elected from the same district to the 19th Congress in 1824 and to the 20th Congress in 1826. It was through his agency here that a branch of the U. S. District Court was established at Williamsport, which added greatly to the convenience of the northern and middle counties. Among others, he was chairman of the postoffice committee.
In 1829 he was elected to the State Senate from the district comprising the counties of Bradford, Susquehanna and Tioga. But in December following his election he resigned the senatorship to become Secretary of the Com- monwealth under Governor Wolf and served for three years. " He was generally regarded all over the State as the life and soul of Governor Wolf's administration. During his service there he made an able report on the subject of common schools which was sufficient of itself to place him among the order of our best statesmen."
In 1832 he headed the Democratic electoral ticket, which was elected by a large majority, and when the electors met, he was unanimously chosen president of the electoral college, which gave their votes for Andrew Jackson for president and William Wilkins for vice-
The Me Keon Family.
president. He was. re-appointed Secretary of Common- wealth in 1832, and in December, 1833, was elected by the Legislature a member of the United States Senate for a term of six years. "He was strongly attached to Gen. Jackson, but became the subject of many acrimonious attacks on account of his opposition to what is known as the " Expunging Resolution." His course on that sub- ject arose from a conscientious disposition to discharge his duty, but it gave an occasion for many misrepresen- tations of his political feelings. These found their way into the Legislature, which passed severe resolutions on the subject, addressed to him, his reply to which was a masterly and conclusive defence of his own conduct."
In 1810 Mr. Mckean was elected major of militia and two years later colonel of the regiment. In 1816 he was elected brigadier-general and in 1818 appointed an aid- de-camp to Governor Findlay. He was elected major- general of militia in 1828. In 1819 he was appointed postmaster for Burlington.
It will be seen that General MeKean was in public life twenty-five years without interruption. At the close of his term as U. S. Senator, being in feeble health, he was treated for a severe neuralgia trouble in the head, with opium, and using it incautiously himself, he was thrown into delirium, and in one of these paroxysms of the dis- ease cut his throat with a razor. He did not, however, die of this wound, yet he never recovered his soundness of mind and died Dec. 14, 1841, of softening of the brain. In mentioning the close of this eventful life Editor Good- rich of the Bradford Porter says : " General Mckean was the most distinguished and extraordinary man which Northern Pennsylvania has produced. We may add, that for sagacity, boldness of enterprise, untiring
The Me Kean Family.
industry, fidelity to friends, quick and correct judgment of men and of the operations of the human mind, and for all those mental characteristics which pre-eminently distinguished some men above their fellow-men, some ages will probably pass before Northern Pennsylvania will produce his equal."
General Mckean married Julia McDowell, who sur- vived him many years. Their children were Addison, Findlay, Samuel, Ruth, Jane and Julia Ann.
Addison for many years was engaged in the mercantile and hotel business at Burlington He was elected pro- thonotary in 1845 and State Representative in 1851. He has been dead many years.
Findlay occupied the homestead and followed farming and stock raising. He met his death by a horse running away with him.
Samuel was a justice of the peace at Burlington for several years. He removed to Williamsport and served as chief of police ; finally came to Granville Center to reside with his daughter, Mrs. Clarence Blackwell, where he died about 1895.
Ruth married Holden Taylor of Smithfield, who sub- sequently removed to Williamsport, where both died.
Jane married Thomas Blackwell of West Burlington and died near her old home.
Julia Ann married Lorenzo Dow Taylor, brother of Holden, and removed to Wellsboro, Pa. We believe both are dead.
Both General McKean and his wife are buried in the old cemetery at West Burlington. The Mckean farm, which embraced the land taken up by Wm. Dobbins and Nathaniel Ballard, is now owned by the Bradford County Poor District and contains the alms house. The house
The Mckean Family .- David Wilmot. 59
in which General Mckean spent his last days forms a wing on the insane department. Gen. Mckean's store, which was patronized by all the early settlers of the Sugar Creek valley, stood on the upper side of the road near the east line of his farm. The building was subse- quently used as a schoolhouse and later as a dwelling. This old landmark was removed long since.
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DAVID WILMOT.
ADDRESS BY HON. E. REED MYER.
DAVID WILMOT was born January 20, 1814, at Beth- any, Wayne county, Pa. He was the eldest child of Randall and Mary Wilmot. His father, a native of New Haven, Conn., removed to Wayne county in 1812 where he married Mary Grant. Randall Wilmot kept a tavern at Bethany and the house in which David was born is still standing. David was educated in the schools of his native town, and the Aurora N. Y. Academy. Of his boyhood, one who knew him well, writes : " David was not a bad boy and he had no vices, but he was the very spirit of mischief incarnate. Bright, active and alert mentally, he abominated the very name of work, and if freedom from that constituted happiness, then he was surely happy." At the age of 18 he went to Wilkes- Barre and read in the law office of George W. Woodward. Two years later he was admitted to the Luzerne County
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Bar. Soon after his admission he decided to locate at Towanda, and the records show that he was admitted to practice in the several courts of Bradford County Sept. 8th, 1834, when he was yet under age.
He very soon attraeted attention as a debator on polit- ieal questions. During the campaigns of 1836 and 1840 he supported Mr. Van Buren, the presidential candidate of the Democratic party, with so much ability that the leaders of his party in 1844 nominated him and he was elected to Congress from the District composed of the counties of Bradford, Susquehanna and Tioga. It was during this Congress he brought himself into prominence in this State and country by voting for the tariff law of 1846, being the only member of that body from this State who voted for that measure. He was openly and fiercely denounced in many parts of the State by tariff Democratie papers as an enemy of its best interests, and mercilessly attacked by the Whig papers throughout the State for his course on this question, that brought him into general notice in the country and he early became a man of national fame.
But this wrong to the manufacturing interests of the State was soon forgotten by his introduction of his famous Proviso on the 8th of August, 1846. I will state the in- formation I got from Mr. Wilmot himself in regard to the origin of this famous proviso. When the bill came before the House authorzing the President to negotiate a peace with Mexico, the Members of Congress from the North took the grounds that as the territory to be ac- quired was then free, slavery should not be introduced, and a number of Democratic members of the House held a meeting to confer in regard to the best course to pur- sue, and several propositions to exclude the introduction
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of slavery, very similar in form, was suggested by differ- ent members ; all intended to accomplish the same pur- , pose. Finally one was agreed upon and the members present each took a copy, and the understanding was that the first one that could obtain recognition by the Speaker was to offer the amendment. Mr. Wilmot first obtained the floor and offered the following amendment to the bill, placing $2,000,000 at the disposal of the President to negotiate a treaty with Mexico :
" Provided that as an express and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any territory from the Re- public of Mexico by the United States by virtue of any treaty which may be negotiated between them and to the use by the executive, of the moneys herein appropriated, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory, except for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly convicted."
An angry discussion followed in which the author dis- played great force and ability as a debater and drew upon himself great praise from all parts of the country, opposed to further introduction of slavery into territory then free from its curse, and was condemned with great bitterness by the pro-slavery advocates. The Proviso was adopted by the House by a vote of 94 to 78, only two Northern men, Messrs. Douglas and McClernand of Illinois, voting against it. It was brought up in the Senate the follow- ing Monday (Aug. 10th), and was under debate in that body when the hour arrived previously fixed for the adjournment of the session. At the next session Mr. Wilmot again introduced it and as fierce and angry con- test commenced as when first introduced. The House remained firm in favor of the amendment and it was passed by a decisive majority but not acted upon by the
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Senate, Mr. Wilmot had been re-elected to Congress in 1846.
It was said at the time, and I believe truly, that it was his vote in favor of the tariff of 1846 that enabled him to get the floor to offer his Proviso ; because he was in great- er favor with the Speaker of the House, a Southern man in sympathy with the administration, than any other member from the North who had an amendment to offer to the bill. This Proviso excluding slavery from terri- tory acquired from Mexico was not entirely original with any one of the Members of Congress composing the conference held by a number of Northern Democrats. That Mr. Wilmot had as much to do in shaping the amendment to be offered as any one of the conference there can be no doubt. They took the position that it had been the policy of the Government from the begin- ning up to the present time, as it was applied to the Northwestern territory, ceded to the United States by the State of Virginia with a proviso introduced by Thos. Jefferson in 1787, excluding slavery from said territory. The proviso is a copy of the Jefferson ordinance as far as it was applicable to the territory to be acquired from Mexico. Years after the proviso had become crystalized in history as the " Wilmot Proviso," the friends of Mr. Brinkerhoff of Ohio claimed that the proviso offered by Mr. Wilmot was in Brinkerhoff's hand-writing, and they went so far as to search the files of Congress and found the original proviso was in Wilmot's handwriting. Mr.
Brinkerhoff was a strong, able man, and probably had as much to do in shaping the amendment as any other member present, but that he was the sole originator and author of the amendment introduced by Mr. Wilmot cannot be conceded by his friends.
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Mr. Wilmot was violently assailed by the pro-slavery leaders of his party, but the growing anti-slavery feeling of the North, which culminated in an open breach of the par- ty against the election of Lewis Cass for President by Van- Buren accepting the bolting Free Soil Democratic nomina- tion for President, brought Wilmot prominently into the contest, in which he exhibited great power as a debater and the equal of any of our great statesmen. He was a man of fine imagination, and in presenting his views on any question to the people his clear and logical presen- tation of them was powerful and convincing. His great speeches in the campaign aroused his constituents to most aggressive action, and they carried the Democratic primaries and nominated him for a third term in Con- gress ; but the Pro-Slavery Democrats openly bolted and nominated Josiah Brewster against him. The Whigs taking advantage of the split in the Democratic party, nominated Henry W. Tracy, and he entered the contest confident of success. But Wilmot broke all party lines by his appeal to the people and the result was his re- election by 8597 votes to 4795 for Tracy and 922 for Brewster. He at the same time advocated the election of Van Buren and thereby gave General Taylor, the Whig candidate for President, a majority over General Cass, the Democratic candidate for President. This con- test by Wilmot for re-election in 1848, attracted the at- tention of the nation and did much to strengthen the anti-slavery sentiment in the country.
" Wilmot's great strength was in his readiness to main- tain his convictions. He never faltered when the slavery question was foremost, and he became very generally appreciated and one of the great leaders in the anti- slavery movement in the nation. He never practiced
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the arts of the demagogue, strictly honest, and more than able to maintain his position against all comers. During his last term in Congress he was one of the most consist- ent and earnest, and certainly one of the ablest of the brave men who lined up to resist slavery aggression. But the South then furnished the great leaders of the Demo- cratic party ; with them statesmanship and politics were a profession and their ablest men were trained in public service.
Opposition to the Wilmot Proviso was finally made a cardinal doctrine of the party, and the anti-slavery Dem- ocrats were ruthlessly proscribed. When Wilmot came up for re-election in 1850, he carried the Democratic primaries and was nominated, but newspapers had been started in every county in his district to oppose him, and his defeat was regarded as one of the first duties of those who desired the success of the Democracy of the nation. Another Democratic candidate was nominated in Tioga County against him and the increased strength of the organization against him and abundant resources of his Democratic opponent," he evidently had some fears of his election. His fears were groundless, and had he re- mained in the field he would have been triumphantly elected. The pro-slavery leaders realized this fact after following him in the campaign and witnessing his large and enthusiastic meetings, and finally hit upon the plan of inducing Mr. Grow to accept the nomination to Con- gress if Mr. Wilmot and his opponent would retire from the contest. Both of them withdrew as candidates for Congress, and Mr. Grow was placed in the field about ten days before election, and the country lost one its ablest and purest statesment.
Wilmot retired from Congress in 1851. At the time
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the new constitution making judges elective was adopted he was nominated for President Judge of the Judicial District of Bradford and Susquehanna counties and was elected by a large majority. He brought to the discharge of his judicial duties the same honest devotion to duty that he exhibited at all times in his public career. In 1852 he supported General Pierce for the presidency. It will be remembered by the older people who took an in- terest in political affairs, that both parties in this contest adopted pro-slavery platforms. But when the slavery question was up, he was always ready to defend the right, " and when the Missouri Compromise was repealed in 1854, he was aroused to most active opposition. It called out all his stubbornly aggressive qualities, and he swept the Northern counties from their party and largely aided in the election of Governor Pollock, the Whig can- didate for governor." He was a delegate-at-large in the the National Republican Convention which met in Phila- delphia in 1856, that nominated General Fremont for President, and himself received a number of votes for the Vice Presidential nomination. He was chairman of the committee which drew up the platform and took a prominent part in the canvass that followed.
In 1857 a Governor and other State officers were to be elected, and many leading men in the State thought it was time to have a complete Republican organization in the State, and if possible to bring together all the politi- cal elements opposed to the Democratic party. With this object in view, the leading men of the State began to look around for the most suitable candidate to lead in the contest, and the people, as well as the leaders, naturally turned toward the most distinguished anti-slavery leader in the State-David Wilmot. When the time arrived
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for holding the convention, it became evident that unless Wilmot positively refused to be the standard bearer, he would be made the candidate for the party. Wilmot sent his trusted friend, Judge Laporte, to Harrisburg with a letter declining the nomination if it was thought best that some other person should be named as the can- didate ; he also sent a declaration of principles on which he would make the contest if nominated. On Judge La- porte's arrival at Harrisburg, he called on me and we went over the situation, and after consulting with several leaders of the party from different parts of the State, con- cluded that Wilmot would be nominated whether he wanted it or not. When the delegates began to arrive they were united in favor of him and he was given a unanimous nomination. Upon receiving notice, he re- signed and canvassed the State. The battle was hope- less from the start. The Know Nothing organization made Isaac Hazelhurst of Philadelphia their candidate ; he received more than 28,000 votes. If Wilmot had received these votes and the earnest support of the lead- ers, there would have been a reasonable chance of suc-
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