The Champlain tercentenary

by New York . Lake Champlain Tercentenary Commission; Henry Wayland Hill

IV. REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF THE CHAMPLAIN REGION

Out from that valley have come a host of statesmen: Stephen A. Douglas, Samuel Prentice, Solomon Foote, Silas Wright, Samuel S. Phelps, Jacob Collamer, Robert S. Hale, William A. Wheeler, Chester A. Arthur, George F. Edmunds, John M. Thurston, born at Montpelier, August 21, 1847, and U. S. Senator from Nebraska, 1895 to 1901; Matthew H. Carpenter, born at Moretown, December 22, 1824, U. S. Senator from Wisconsin, 1869 to 1875, and from 1879 to February 25, 1881; Jacob M. Howard, born at Shaftsbury, July 10, 1805, representative in Congress from Michigan from 1841 to 1843 and U. S. Senator from 1862 to 1871; William Pitt Kellogg, born at Orwell, December 8, 1831, U. S. Senator from Louisiana, 1868 to 1874; Leslie M. Shaw, born at Morristown, Vt., November 2, 1848, Governor of Iowa in 1898 to 1902, and became Secretary of U. S. Treasury on February 1, 1902, under President Theodore Roosevelt; Alexander W. Buel, born in Rutland in 1813, representative from Michigan in Congress from 1849 to 1850; Selucius Garfielde, born at Shoreham, December 8, 1822, and representative from Washington Territory in the 41st and 42d Congresses; Josiah B. Grinnell, born at New Haven, December 22, 1821, and representative from Iowa in the 38th Congress; Joseph Ketchum Edgerton, born in Vergennes, February 16, 1818, and representative from Indiana in the 38th Congress; J. Allen Barber, born at Georgia, Vt., member of the first Constitutional Convention of Wisconsin and representative from Wisconsin in the 42d and 43d Congresses; Lucien B. Caswell, born at Swanton, Vt., representative from Wisconsin in the 44th-47th Congresses; Joel Turrel, born at Shoreham, Vt., February 22, 1794, and representative from New York in Congress from 1833 to 1837; John Fassett Follett, born in Franklin County, Vt., and representative from Ohio in 48th Congress; Stephen C. Millard, born at Stamford, January 14, 1841, representative from New York in the 48th and 49th Congresses; John M. Parker, born at Granville, N. Y., June 14, 1805, and representative in Congress from 1855-9; Aaron F. Perry, born at Leicester, Vt., January 1, 1815, representative from Ohio in 42d Congress; Ossian Ray, born at Hinesburgh, Vt., December 13, 1815, and representative from New Hampshire in the 46th and 47th Congresses; Almon H. Read, born at Shelburne, Vt., June 12, 1790, representative from Pennsylvania in Congress from 1842-1844; John Gilbert Sawyer, born at Brandon, Vt., June 5, 1825, and a representative from New York in the 49th and 50th Congresses; Philetus Sawyer, who spent his youth in the Adirondacks, was a representative from Wisconsin in the 39th and ten succeeding Congresses, and in 1881 elected to the United States Senate and re-elected in 1887, where he served with great distinction; George Willard, born at Bolton, Vt., March 20, 1824, and a representative from Michigan in 43d and 44th Congresses; Joseph W. Babcock, born at Swanton, Vt., March 6, 1850, and representative from Wisconsin in the 53d to the 60th Congresses; Martin J. Wade, born at Burlington, Vt., October 20, 1861, and representative from Iowa in the 58th Congress; George Edmund Foss, born at Berkshire, Vt., July 2, 1863, a representative from Illinois in the 54th to 62d Congresses; Eugene N. Foss, born at West Berkshire, Vt., September 24, 1858, representative from Massachusetts in Congress in 1910, and Governor of Massachusetts since 1910, and such diplomats as John A. Kasson, George P. Marsh, Levi P. Morton, Edward J. Phelps, and such journalists as James R. Spalding, founder of the New York World, Jeremiah Evarts, father of William M. Evarts, and scores of others. Some of these, however, were not born in the valley, but they received their early impressions from conditions existing there, while attending college or spending their youth in that invigorating atmosphere. Among such was Henry J. Raymond, who took his course at the University of Vermont, and became founder of the New York Times and representative in Congress during the Lincoln administration.

In the Congressional representation of the Champlain valley occur the names of many distinguished citizens: Peter Sailly of Plattsburgh, representative in Congress in 1804, who enjoyed the confidence of President Thomas Jefferson and who appealed to the Secretary of the Treasury in August, 1813, to prevent the further destruction of property on the west side of the lake, where, he said, “there is not a military post nor a soldier to be seen”; Hon. Reuben H. Walworth of Plattsburgh, representative in Congress in 1821-1823 and Chancellor for the State from 1828 to 1848; General Henry H. Ross of Essex, representative in the 19th Congress and on General Macomb’s staff at the battle of Plattsburgh; Hon. Augustus C. Hand of Elizabethtown, representative in Congress in 1839-1840; Hon. William Slade of Middlebury, representative in Congress from 1831 to 1843; Hon. Lemuel Stetson of Plattsburgh, representative in the 28th Congress and later County Judge of Clinton County; Hon. Orlando Kellogg of Elizabethtown, a representative in the 30th, 38th and 39th Congresses, and an intimate friend of President Lincoln; George R. Andrews of Ticonderoga, representative in Congress, 1849-1850, and later Justice of the Supreme Court; George A. Simmons of Keeseville, one of the most eminent lawyers in the State at that time and representative in Congress in 1853-1855; Hon. Frederick E. Woodbridge of Vergennes, representative in Congress for several terms; Hon. Robert S. Hale of Elizabethtown, N. Y., representative in Congress in 1865; Hon. George W. Palmer of Plattsburgh, representative in the 35th and 36th Congresses; Judge Homer E. Royce of St. Albans, Vt., representative in Congress and later Chief Judge of the Supreme Court of Vermont; Hon. John W. Stewart of Middlebury, Vt., representative in Congress and United States Senator; Hon. Henry G. Burleigh, representative in the 48th and 49th Congresses; Judge Horace Henry Powers of Morrisville, Vt., Chief Judge of the Supreme Court of Vermont and representative in Congress from 1890 to 1900; John H. Moffit of Plattsburgh, representative in the 50th and 51st Congresses; Hon. John M. Wever of Plattsburgh, representative in the 52d and 53d Congresses; Hon. Wallace T. Foote, Jr. of Port Henry, representative in the 54th and 55th Congresses; Richard Keese, representative in the 20th Congress; Orange Ferris, representative in the 40th Congress; John Rogers, representative in the 42d Congress; John Hammond, representative in the 46th and 47th Congresses; Roswell G. Horr, representative in the 46th, 47th and 48th Congresses; and others.

Honorable Azariah C. Flagg of Plattsburgh was Secretary of State in 1826, and State Comptroller in 1834, and Hon. John F. O’Brien of Plattsburgh was Secretary of State from 1903 to 1907.

Hon. St. John B. L. Skinner of Clinton County was Postmaster-General under Andrew Johnson.

Among the early settlers, who located in Plattsburgh, were Judge Zephaniah Platt, formerly of Poughkeepsie, member of the first Provincial Congress of New York and a member of the Convention called to consider the Federal Constitution and the advisability of its adoption; Judge Melancton Smith, a native of Queens County, member of the First Provincial Congress of New York from Dutchess County and an opponent of Hamilton and Livingston in the Convention called to consider the advisability of the ratification of the Federal Constitution; and Judge Thomas Treadwell, a member of the First Provincial Congress of New York and of the Convention called to formulate the First State Constitution, who was also a member of the Convention called to consider the Federal Constitution and the advisability of its adoption.

In a later period, it will be remembered that Hon. Matthew Hale, Hon. Francis Lynde Stetson, Hon. John I. Gilbert, Hon. Richard L. Hand, and others were natives of the Champlain valley.

Many judges have been natives of the Champlain valley. Some of them have served in the courts of Vermont and New York, but more have become residents of other states, and there filled judicial positions in the state and Federal Courts. It would be interesting to record the names of all such judges who had their birth in the Champlain valley, if space permitted. We must content ourselves, however, with giving the names of a few. The first of these to occur to one is Samuel Nelson, born at Hebron, N. Y., November 10, 1792, who was a member of the State Constitutional Conventions of 1821 and 1846, a Justice of the Supreme Court of New York from 1831 to 1845, and a Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1845 to 1872, one of the longest judicial tenures ever held by a judge in this country.

The following may also be mentioned: Chancellor Reuben H. Walworth, Samuel Hand, Judge of the Court of Appeals, Judges, John C. Churchill, William Sweetland, John Lynde, Charles Henry Phelps, Aldace F. Walker, Wheelock G. Veazey, William P. Kellogg, Henry Chipman, Pliny Moore, John M. Parker, George Martin, Mark Skinner, Charles L. Benedict, John Alexander Jameson, Melville A. Sheldon, Eugene E. Sheldon, Walter C. Dunton, Perry G. Ellsworth, Joseph Potter, S. Alonzo Kellogg, Chester B. McLaughlin, Winslow C. Watson, Albert C. Barnes, Henry T. Kellogg, Jesse Walker, Thomas H. Noonan, John H. Booth, and John B. Riley.

Only a few of the lawyers, who were natives of the Champlain valley, can be mentioned out of the great number that have gone forth to take up their residences elsewhere. Many of them have located in New York and other Atlantic states, although a goodly number have located in the Central and Western states, and are among the persons heretofore mentioned as holding, or who have held official positions.

In addition to such, however, may also be mentioned George L. Clarke, Hon. Smith M. Weed, Hon. George M. Beckwith, Hon. Robert D. Benedict, Hon. Thomas F. Conway, Elroy N. Clark, Charles W. Waterman, George Murray Wright, John C. Clark, Hon. John J. Allen, James M. Gifford, William L. G. Smith, Hon. Benjamin E. Hall, Charles E. Shaw, James B. Ross, Hon. Henry W. Hill, member of the New York Constitutional Convention of 1894 and State Senator from 1901 to 1911, Julius H. Seymour, George W. Alger, Adelbert W. Boynton, Hon. Daniel Roberts, Charles C. Farnham, Samuel B. Botsford, Harold J. Adams, Hon. Lucian L. Shedden, Oliver D. Barrett, Rome G. Brown and Charles F. Blair.

Among the natives of the Champlain valley who entered the Army and Navy during the Civil War and since that time were Gen’l Wm. F. Smith, Gen’l George J. Stannard, Gen’l William Wells, Col. Frank Palmer, Col. George F. Nichols, Lieut. Matthew M. Standish, Gen’l Stephen Moffitt, Col. John Hammond, Rear-Admiral John W. Moore, Commodore A. V. Wadhams, Admiral George Dewey, and many others, who maintained the high standards of efficiency and bravery exhibited by those who a century earlier participated in the engagements at Ticonderoga, Bennington and Saratoga, and in the naval engagements of Valcour and Plattsburgh Bay.

In addition to those already named, there have come from the Champlain valley many to fill positions of responsibility in the state and nation, of whom only the following few need be mentioned, viz., Loyal L. Smith the philanthropist, Hon. John H. Converse, President of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, Thomas Waterman Wood, President of the National Academy of Design in 1891, Hon. Stephen A. Walker, at one time Commissioner of the Board of Education of the State of New York, Hon. Darwin P. Kingsley, President of the New York Life Insurance Company, the late Dr. Abel Mix Phelps, the orthopedic surgeon, Henry H. Vail, publisher of school books, Samuel Sheldon, expert in electric science, Charles F. Longworth, expert in food products, Augustus Torrey, chief engineer of M. C. R. R., Rt. Rev. Bishop Edgar P. Wadhams of Ogdensburg, Rev. Byron Sunderland of Washington, D. C., the late Rev. Constans Liberty Goodell, D. D. of St. Louis, Mo., Rev. George F. Herrick, D. D., author of many Biblical works, located in Constantinople, Rev. George F. Hunting, D. D., President of Alma College, author of many papers and poems, Rev. George B. Spalding, President William Nelson Ferrin of Pacific University, Prof. Warren H. Landon, the late Prof. Walter E. Howard, Prof. John Dewey of Columbia University, Prof. Davis R. Dewey of Boston, Prof. Frank E. Woodruff of Bowdoin College, the Hon. Edwin Ferry Johnson, civil engineer and educator, James R. Chapman, General Manager of the Metropolitan District Electric Traction Company of London, England, Charles A. Catlin, expert in chemistry, and others.

Among the prominent educators of the Champlain valley have been Presidents James Marsh, Joseph Torrey and Matthew H. Buckham, all of the University of Vermont; Presidents Benjamin Larabee, Ezra Brainerd and John M. Thomas, all of Middlebury College, Captain John Alden Patridge, and Presidents Allen Danvers Brown and Charles Horace Spooner, all of Norwich University. These were and are representatives of the higher culture of its educational institutions.

There have also been many noted and learned professors, filling their respective chairs in these educational institutions since their foundation, with distinction. These institutions have maintained educational standards so high that they have exerted a marked influence on the culture and refinement of people residing in and outside of the valley. Other educational institutions have also made their influence felt on students coming from the Champlain valley, as well as on their graduates returning to it, thereby contributing materially to the intellectual uplift of the people of the territory. All this is evidenced by the large number of liberally educated men and women who have gone forth to fill civic, technical, professional, political and other positions with marked ability, in various parts of the country.

Representatives of the Champlain valley are found in the Army, the Navy and in all departments of the national Government, as well as in the various state governments. They will also be found in the learned professions, in commercial, technical, engineering, mechanical and electrical pursuits, and are thus spreading abroad the professional, technical and general information, which they have received in the institutions of the Champlain valley and in the institutions outside of the Champlain valley, which they attended.

If space permitted, it might be of interest to submit a bibliography of the works of the authors, who have at various times lived in the Champlain valley. A few only need be cited to show their character and scope.

In addition to his services as a civilian and a Major-General of the State Militia, Ira Allen wrote the “National and Political History of the State of Vermont,” and many state papers, wherein were treated matters in controversy between the State of New York and the people under the New Hampshire grants.

The state papers of Governor George Clinton of New York, and Governor Thomas Chittenden of Vermont, in relation to matters in dispute between New York and Vermont, and the correspondence between Nathaniel Chipman and Alexander Hamilton in relation to the boundary dispute, and the speech of Alexander Hamilton before a committee of the Assembly in relation to the same matter, and the controversy as to the boundary line between the two states, and other matters of interest to both commonwealths, form a most important chapter in the early history of the two states, and are contained in the Documentary History of New York and the publications of the Vermont Historical Society.

As an evidence of the intellectual and moral culture of the people of the Champlain valley, attention is called to the writings of James Marsh, President of the University of Vermont, including his Preliminary Essay to Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Aids to Reflection.”

Dr. Joseph Torrey, President of the University of Vermont, read an important paper on “The Discovery and Occupation of Lake Champlain,” before the Vermont Historical Society, on October 16, 1860, and he also wrote a work, which had an extensive sale, known as “A Theory of Fine Art,” but he is widely known as the translator of Neander’s “General History of the Christian Religion and Church.”

The works of George P. Marsh, for many years United States Minister to Turkey and Italy, include “Lectures on the English Language,” published in 1861, “The Origin and History of the English Language,” published in 1862, “The Earth as Modified by Human Action,” published in 1874, some of which were standard treatises.

Judge Edmund Hatch Bennett was the author of an edition of the works of Judge Joseph Story and also of an hundred volumes of law reports.

Rev. William G. T. Shedd, lecturer at the University of Vermont, was a prolific writer on historical, philosophical and literary subjects, and his works became standard authorities on the subjects treated.

Thomas Jefferson Conant of Middlebury, born at Brandon, Vt., and a graduate of Middlebury College, was the author of various Biblical works, and a member of the American Bible Revision Committee.

Rev. John B. Wentworth, D. D., was the author of “The Logic of Introspection,” and “The Philosophy of Methodism.”

Rev. George N. Boardman, graduate of Middlebury College, was the author of the “History of New England Theology.”

Samuel Ward Boardman, of Middlebury College, was the author of “Arbitration” and other works.

Rev. Charles Marsh Mead, a graduate of Middlebury College, was the author of several works, and a member of the American Bible Revision Committee.

Prof. John E. Goodrich, D. D., of the University of Vermont, is the author of several historical papers, including a volume entitled “Vermont Revolutionary Rolls,” and parts of the Standard Dictionary and other publications.

Col. George Grenville Benedict of Burlington, President of the Vermont Historical Society, was the author of “Vermont in the Civil War” in two volumes, and “Vermont at Gettysburg,” and “Army Life in Virginia.”

Prof. George H. Perkins of the University of Vermont is the author of several works and reports on the Geology of Vermont and the archaeology of the Lake Champlain region.

Prof. Brainard Kellogg, formerly of Middlebury College, is the author of several school and college text books.

A recent work is “Three Centuries in Champlain Valley,” by Mrs. George Fuller Tuttle of Plattsburgh, Regent of Saranac Chapter, Daughters of American Revolution.

Several works have heretofore been cited in this report relating to the history of Lake Champlain, by persons residing in the valley and deeply interested in its history. All these will be carefully examined by students and writers of the events occurring in the Champlain valley.

Among the poets of the valley is John G. Saxe, born at Highgate, Vt., June 2, 1816, a graduate of Middlebury College in 1839. It has been said of him that he was second only to Dr. Holmes as a humorist.

Lucretia Maria Davidson of Plattsburgh, a promising poetess, died at an early age, in 1825.

For many years Julia Ward Howe, born in New York, resided in Rutland county, and wrote poetry. Her principal poem is the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

Rev. Orville G. Wheeler, born at Charlotte, Vt., resided in Grand Isle county, and wrote poems occasionally, the principal one of which is his Semi-Centennial Poem of the University of Vermont, read in 1854.

Daniel L. Cady, L.H.D., a graduate of the University of Vermont in the class of 1886, was the poet at the Tercentenary Exercises at Plattsburgh, and his poem entitled “Champlain and Lake Champlain” is an Epic of the Champlain valley.

Prof. Davis R. Dewey is the author of a work and several papers on Economics and kindred subjects, and has done much in that field of political science.

Prof. John Dewey is the author of one or more works on Psychology, and is one of the leading authorities in this country on philosophical subjects.

Rev. George F. Wright, D. D., born in Whitehall, is the author of many works, including the annual publications known as “Records of the Past.” He is also the author of “Logic of Christian Evidences,” and works on geological and archæological subjects.

Rev. Joseph Cook, born at Ticonderoga in 1838, after pursuing his studies in American and German universities, delivered several courses of lectures in Boston, New York and elsewhere, on current topics and on such subjects as “Transcendentalism,” “Orthodoxy,” etc., with such clearness and force as to arouse deep interest in them, notwithstanding their abstruseness. His lectures were published in book form and widely read. His noted “Centennial Address” at Ticonderoga on July 25, 1864, is a valuable contribution to the history of Lake Champlain, in which he took a deep interest. In some respects he was one of the best informed living writers on the subject at the time of his death.

The Hon. Lucius E. Chittenden, born in Williston, Vt., May 24, 1824, who became Register of the United States Treasury under President Lincoln, collected a valuable library relating to the history of Lake Champlain, and delivered the annual address before the Vermont Historical Society on October 8, 1872, on the “Capture of Ticonderoga.” He is also the author of “Recollections of President Lincoln and his Administration,” and other works.

Henry W. Hill, President of the Buffalo Historical Society, a native of Isle La Motte, Vt., one of the first points visited by Samuel Champlain in the valley, is the author of “Waterways and Canal Construction in New York State,” of “The Development of Constitutional Law in the State of New York,” the framer of several constitutional provisions of New York, a contributor to the Bibliophile edition of the works of Horace, the author of several articles in encyclopaedias and the compiler and editor of the Reports of the New York Lake Champlain Tercentenary Commission.

Hon. Robert Roberts of Burlington, Vermont, is the author of the valuable Digest of the Vermont Reports.

Charles W. Baker is the author of “Monopolies and the People” and editor of the Engineering News, New York City.

Moses Nelson Baker is the author of books, papers and numerous articles on engineering, sanitation, and economic subjects, and associate editor of the Engineering News, New York City.

Kirby Flower Smith, Ph.D., a native of Rutland county, Vermont, a graduate of the University of Vermont in 1884, is the Dean of the Latin Faculty of Johns Hopkins University and is the author of several articles, books and papers on various phases of the Latin language and the literature of the Romans. He is one of the leading authorities of America in this domain of classical literature.

Henry Norman Hudson of Cornwall, Vt., a graduate of Middlebury college, was one of the principal Shakspearian scholars in the United States at the time of his death in 1886.

One of the more recent contributors to the literature of the Champlain region was the late Robert O. Bascom of Fort Edward. A bibliography of his papers may be found in the New York State Historical Association Publications, vol. 10, p. 301.

Frederick B. Richards, Secretary of the New York State Historical Association, Hon. James A. Holden, State Historian, Victor Hugo Paltsits, former State Historian, Dr. George F. Bixby, Dr. William A. E. Cummings, President of the Ticonderoga Historical Society, and others, have contributed valuable papers in recent years on different phases of the History of Lake Champlain, some of which have been included in the publications of the New York State Historical Association.

James Buckham, son of President Matthew H. Buckham, the essayist and poet, whose writings possess a charm and purity of diction not unlike those of Matthew Arnold.

Prof. James R. Wheeler, Ph.D., of Columbia University, one of the leading authorities in this country on the Greek language, archæology and art.

Bert Hodge Hill, Ph.D., of Bristol, Vt., is Director of American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Greece.

Rev. Earl M. Wilbur, a graduate of the University of Vermont, is Dean of the Pacific Unitarian School at Berkeley, Cal.

These are a few of the native authors and writers of the Champlain valley, and the list might be extended, if space permitted.

Others might be cited, but the foregoing will suffice to show the trend of thought in the Champlain valley and that it has been quite as productive of men of noble culture as any other part of the country. This may have been lost sight of in the attention given to its more spectacular and thrilling military and naval history. But for a century past, the amenities of peace and the fruition of high ideals have accelerated its intellectual and moral uplift and contributed to that general culture which has long prevailed in the Champlain valley.

Its residents are for the most part well-trained, thoughtful, cultured people. They thoroughly appreciated the Tercentenary exercises, as well as the dedicatory ceremonies. The social as well as the atmospheric conditions there are wholesome and invigorating, consequently it is fast becoming the resort during the summer months of the people from the metropolis and other cities, seeking rest and recreation under conditions that are healthful and inspiring. The Tercentenary celebration brought its advantages to the attention of a large portion of our population, who may find in the Champlain valley such resorts as they need for health and pleasure.

NEW YORK COMMISSIONERS
HENRY W. HILL WALTER C. WITHERBEE
H. WALLACE KNAPP
JAMES J. FRAWLEYJAMES A. FOLEY

NEW YORK COMMISSIONERS
JOHN B. RILEY LOUIS C. LAFONTAINE
HOWLAND PELL
JOHN H. BOOTH
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