Life and speeches of Hamilton Ward. 1829-1898.

Preface

For the better part of three years the preparation of my father's biography has occupied my spare moments and I feel myself viewing its completion with regret because the task has been a pleasant companion from whom I am loath to part.

Much pleasanter, indeed, would it have been could we have ransacked attic and scrap-book, newspaper file and public document together in this work as I had hoped ; then the dry and disjointed array of facts which I have gathered would have glowed with his vigor, sparkled with his humor and told a story which would have described more correctly his active and eventful life.

Nevertheless, as that was not to be, I have endeavored to set down from such scattered and in many cases unsatisfactory sources as I could command the following narrative which is written, not for wide publicity or in response to any public demand, but for the family and for the few old and dear friends who would take pleisaie ia recalling, through these pages, once farhiliar occiire-nees.' ■ '- - - '

And above all else it is written for the purpose of preserving in permanent form the record of a life whose every event and circumstance I love to remember.

He was devoted to his home and village and much local history has crept in because it was so closely associated with him.

I have set forth his speeches at much length for they were typical of him and grew with his growth; and the episodes of his congressional career will deepen with interest as the passing years teach us the true importance of that great period toward which the future will turn for precedent and inspiration.

The Hendryx case is set out in full as it illustrates his industry and mastery of detail and the summing-up is, I believe, a good example of forensic eloquence ; and I have gone at some length into the history of the Manhattan litigation as that was the greatest trial that ever befell my father and the test of a man is the way he meets adversity.

I have not endeavored in the following pages to do much more than to set out his work and that, I fear, has been done imperfectly, as the personal knowledge possessed by myself and my brother, whose assistance in this matter has been of great value to me, extended over only the last ten years of his life; before that we were too young to know more than that he was our best friend and companion ; that he was always just and absolutely without deceit or pretence.

He counciled us in our boyish troubles, shared our secrets, furthered our plans, -taught, us bur sports and as we grew older we were ev^nc'loserto him; he entered with keen zest into oar studies. and rearrly .professional struggles and told us of his own pkn^ and efforts.-' He'was more than a parent, he was our inspiration, our advisor, our best friend, whose pleasure and approval were our highest aims, and upon whose judgment we implicitly relied.

Genial, keen and vigorous his death seemed most untimely; but he died at work with his natural powers unabated and perhaps he would have had it so.

He sleeps on the brow of a little hill to the west of the village of Belmont which for half a century was loyal to his fortunes and to whose every inhabitant he was a friend.

HAMILTON WARD, JR.

April 14, 1902.

CHAPTER I. Family History

CHAPTER H.

Boyhood 1829-1849.

School days, page 7.

CHAPTER HI.

The Low Student.

Description of Admission to the Bar, pages 13 to 17. Removal to Phillipsville, page IS.

CHAPTER IV.

TKe Yoxing' Lawyer.

Encounter with Martin Grover, page 19. Letters from Phillipsville, pages 20 to 32. Journey to Tennessee, with sequel, pages 34 to 36. Incorporation of Village of Belmont, page 37. Marriage, page 38. Fourth of July Speech, pages 38 to 48. Town of Ward created, page 48. Election as District Attorney, page 48. Removal of County Seat from Angelica, page 49. Member of Military Committee, page 50. First Congressional Nomination, page 53. Burning of the Racine, page 55.

CHAPTER V.

In Congress.

Fellow Members, page 58. First Resolutions, page 59. First Speech, page 60. Speech on Reconstruction, page 64. Relief of Ishmael Day, page 76. Appointment of E. W. Hatch to Anapolis, page 83. Elmira Speech, page 86. Thurlow Weed Episode, page 90. Second Congressional Nomination, page 102. Speech on Negro Suffrage, page 104. Resolution of Thanks of the People of Baltimore, page 118. Speech on Impeachment, page 123. Second Speech on Reconstruction, page 134. Articles of Impeachment, page 142. Speech on Articles, page 153. Episode with Stanton, page 157. Letter on Result of Impeachment, page 166. Stebbins' Letter, page 171. Third Nomination to Congress, page 173. Beecher Episode, page 176. Proposed Amendment to the Constitution, page 185. Estimate of Blaine and Garfield, page 190. Agricultural Speech, page 191. Speech on Re-admisssion of Virginia, page 193. Speech on Polygamy, page 195. Speech on Income Tax, page 197. Speech on Naturalization, page 199, Withdraws from Contest for Fourth Nomination, page 201.

CHAPTER VI.

Civil Life 1871-1879.

Syracuse Convention, page 206. Position as to Greeley, page 207. A Candidate for Justice to the Supreme Court, page 212. Hendrick's Case, page 214. Mackin Case, page 257. State Convention of '79, page 259. Nominated as Attorney General — Platform, page 260. Rome Speech, page 265. Incident of a Grateful Soldier, page 268.

CHAPTER VH.

Attorney-General.

Appointees, page 271. Hughes Case, page 272. Dennison Case, page 275. Hudson River Bridge Episode, page 281. Investigation Cost of State Capitol, page 281. Resignation of Conkling and Piatt, page 283. Cornell's Ingratitude to Conkling, page 291. Defeated for Renomination, page 294. Assassination of Garfield, page 298. Manhattan Railway Litigation, page 299. Roosevelt Resolution, page 314. Hearing before Judicial Committee, page 321. Vindication, page 324.

CHAPTER VHI.

Law and Politics 1882-1890.

Torpedo Cases, page 328. Again a Candidate for Justice, page 331. Speech on Blaine, page 333. Bath Decoration Day Speech, page 336. Baldwin-Fassett Campaign, page 337. Harrison-Platt Episode, page 338. Whitney Case, page 340. Judicial Contest, page 347. Constitutional Commission, page 348. Congressional Contest, 1890, page 355. Old Friends, page 357. Reynolds on Law Practice, page 359. Davis Personal Reminiscence, page 361. Appointment as Justice of the Supreme Court, page 363. Action of the Senate on Confirmation, page 369.

CPIAPTER IX.

On tKe BencK.

First Courts, page 372. Judicial Nomination, page 375. Pass Episode, page 381. Decisions at Circuit and Special Term, page 386. Charge to the Grand Jury, page 387. Anecdotes, page 392. Appointment to the General Term, page 394. Appointment to the Appellate Division, page 397. Letter from D. B. Hill, page 399. Speech at Almond Centennial, page 400. Kerr Case, page 402. Wadsworth Case, page 405. Allen Case, page 405. Mahany Letter, page 407.

CHAPTER X.

His DeatK.

Newspaper Comment, page 412. Remarks by Judge Norton, page 414. Remarks by Elba Reynolds, page 416. Comments by St. Clair Mc- Kelway, page 418. Funeral Services, page 422. Bar Association Resolutions, page 425. Resolution of Appellate Division, page 427. Resolution of Rochester Bar, page 429.

CHAPTER I.

Family History.

In the year 1879, Hamilton Ward was "stumping" the State of New York as a candidate for Attorney-General, and on the 9th day of October, of that year, was in Boonville, Oneida County, N. Y., where he delivered an address. After the speech he was asked by a young man present to go to call on James Ward, who the young man said, desired to see him. He did as requested, and found an old man over ninety years of age, who mformed him that he was his great uncle, and from his lips he took down the history of the family in America, which is as follows :

"My grandfather's given name was Peter. He was born near the line that divides England and Scotland, on the Scottish side. He was part Scotch and part Irish. He came to this country before the Revolution, and settled in what was called Long Pond, N. J., about thirty miles from New York City. He was a farmer. His son, my father's given name was also Peter. He was bound out to a tanner. He was a large man with black hair and dark blue eyes. He was a very active man. He was born at Long Pond, now Ringwood. He was all through the Revolutionary War. He entered as a private and was promoted to captain for merit. He died in 181 2, aged fifty-seven. He settled in Camp Gaw, N. J., right after the Revolutionary War. He was a great politician and a Federalist. He was a member of the Senate and Assembly of New Jersey for twenty years — most of the time in the Senate. He had a good farm.

My mother's maiden name was Nancy Mead. She was born in Holland. Her father's name was John Mead, who emigrated from Holland before his daughter's marriage, and settled in Camp Gaw. My parents had five sons. Peter, the oldest, John, Thomas, James (myself) and William, and three daughters, Jane, Catherine and Mary.

Peter was born at Camp Gaw, When he was married he settled there. He had a farm of a hundred acres and a distillery, and was doing a good business. He was three months in the war of 1812. He was brigade major of the militia, and was stationed at the Narrows. In the flush times, during the war, he bought property at high prices, and it ruined him. He made an assignment of his property to his brother, and moved to this place (Boonville). Losses and troubles made him deranged and he wandered off, his family knows not where, and died on Long Island. He was a very smart man. Short in stature with black hair and eyes. He was a great politician and like his father a Federalist.

My sister married Isaac Bogart of Camp Gaw.

Catherine married Stephen Sloat of Sloatsburg, N. Y.

Mary married Abram Dater of Rockland County, N. Y,

Nothing- is known of the family prior to its emigration. The records of the State of New Jersey show that Captain Peter Ward was appointed a recruiting officer for Bergen County in 1781, and was captain in the State Militia during the Revolutionary War. That he was a Captain of Light Horse in Major Hayes' Batallion of State Troops is set forth in a book entitled "Oflicers and Men of New Jersey in Revolutionary War," compiled by William Styker. He was born in 1755 at Ringwood, N. J., and died at Camp Gaw% March 15th, 181 2. His wife, Nancy Mead, was born in Holland in 1763, and died at Camp Gaw, May i6th, 1806.

Concerning the history of the other children no information is at hand, and this chapter will concern itself principally with the immediate stock of Hamilton Ward.

Peter Ward, the eldest son referred to in the statement of Tames Ward, was born at Camp Gaw, in 1781, and married Maria Colfax in the year 1802. She was the daughter of Robert Colfax, and niece of George William Colfax and second cousin of Vice-President Schuyler Colfax. Major Peter Ward served under General William Colfax in the war of 181 2, and was stationed at Bergen Heights and Sandy Hook.

Peter Ward and Maria Colfax had twelve children, of v.^hich the oldest was Robert Colfax Avery, born in 1803,

FAMILY HISTORY. 3

and the second, Peter Hamilton, born at Camp Gaw, N. J., Sept. 24tli, 1804, the middle name being given contrary to the family custom in honor of Alexander Hamilton, of whom the father and grandfather had been warm admirers, and family tradition says, although there is no documentary proof, that Major Peter Ward was present at the famous duel between Hamilton and Burr. There w'as one other son, John Jacob, and nine daughters, Sarah Ann, Harriett Colfax, Jane, Mary, Catherine SI oat, Lucy Prince, Peyrna, Maria Colfax and Elizabeth Salter. Neither Robert nor John left sons.

Peter Plamilton Ward had an only son, Hamilton, who is the subject of this book.

Owing to the reverses of Major Peter Ward, referred to in the statement of James Ward, the family removed to Oneida County, N. Y., in 1819, then almost a wilderness, and took up the battle of life as pioneers.

In 1828 Peter Plamilton Ward married at Saulsbury, Herkimer County, New York, Eliza Cleveland, who was the daughter of Daniel Cleveland, and was born Nov. 27, 1811, and on July 3rd, 1829, their first child, Hamilton Ward, was born, at Saulsbury, on the farm where Peter Hamilton Ward then resided.

When Hamilton Ward was five years of age the family removed to Green Spring Plantation, near old Jamestown, in James City County, in the State of Virginia. This plantation was owned by Robert and John Ward, who had become men of some property, and who also owned a line of schooners which ran from the plantation and other ports in Virginia to New York City; it was sold by Robert in 1886. There w^as also a considerable number of slaves owned by the brothers.

Green Spring was a historic spot. It had been the home of Sir William Berkely, the bloody royal Governor of Virginia, and of a number of his successors. Famous men of the Colonial period were buried there, and the great brick house had seen many a gay concourse and grave assembly of men and women who made the early history of this people. Old Jamestown was but four miles distant, and Williamsburg but eight miles. It was one of the first and best plantations of the colony and contained three thousand acres. The irony of fate has recently located upon the site of old Sir William's house a postoffice called Bacon, after the man who so successfully resisted the Governor's authority and conducted the famous Bacon Rebellion.

The silent and historic places, the solemn forests, the great lonely river left an indelible impression on the boy's youthful fancy. He learned, too, to love the sea and often sailed to and from New York on his uncle's schooners, and he gathered from the negroes around him the songs of the South, which he always remembered.

Four years later the family removed to the County of Chemung, in the State of New York, where Peter Hamilton purchased a farm about a mile west of the village of Horseheads, and remained there until 1849, when he returned to Virginia, and again took up his residence on the Green Spring Plantation. His wife, Eliza Cleveland, died on the 5th day of December, 1849, and was buried on the Powhatten Plantation, in a private burying ground in James City County, near old Jamestown. She left one other child besides Hamilton, a daughter, Harriett Elizabeth, born January 23rd, 1838.

Eliza Cleveland's grave is marked with a marble head and foot stone, upon which her name is inscribed. The plantation on which it is located is about seven miles southwest of Williamsburg, and was formerly owned by Dr. Martin.

It is now the property of Charles E. Dean, of Williamsburg. An iron fence has recently been erected about the grave.

Eliza Cleveland was a woman of most sweet and lovable disposition. The early papers and journals of Hamilton W^ard are full of tender remembrances of her.

Peter Hamilton sold his Horseheads farm in 1853 and removed to Belmont, N. Y.. in 1859. There he purchased a farm about two miles outside of the village, and remained there with his son in the village until 1867 when, having sold his farm, he removed to a farm owned by Mary Adelia Chamberlain, the wife of Hamilton Ward, in Waterloo, N. Y. He worked this farm until his death, which occurred

FAMILY HISTORY. 5

on May 4th, 1880. He is buried in the "New Cemetery" in Waterloo, N. Y., and his grave is marked with a headstone. His daughter, Harriett Elizabeth, never married. She resided with him up to the time of his death, and then went to live in New York City with a niece of her mother's, Mrs. Eliza Angevine, where she still is.

Peter Hamilton Ward was a careful, industrious and extremely conscientious man. He was a member of the Episcopal Church, and a Whig in politics. When the Whig party went to pieces he became a Democrat, and remained such until the time of his death. So strong were his party convictions that on one occasion when his son was a candidate for Congress, he accompanied him to the polls, and cast his vote for his adversary.

He was known for his fair dealings and honest, kindly heart, and all those who recall him do so with pleasure. He never accumulated much property nor does it appear that he ever cared for it. After his wife's death he was for a time shattered in health, but his later years found him active and useful.

The deepest affection always existed between him and his son, as is shown by the letters which they exchanged and the references to him in his son's journal.

He was opposed to his son's course in actively participating in politics, and when his son informed him that he intended to leave the farm and study law he replied that "he had hoped that his only son would be an honest man." To do right and be just was his highest ambition and as near as possible he attained to it.

CHAPTER 11.

Hamilton Ward was born in Saulsbury, N. Y., on the 3rd day of July, 1829,

His mother was a woman of intelligence and force of character, and he received from her most of his early education.

When he was five years of age the family removed to Green Spring Plantation, on the James River, near old Jamestown, in Virginia, and remained there four years.

While in Virginia he attended a private school, where he boarded ; however most of the recollections he had of that period of his life were of negroes on the plantation, their songs and customs, and of the schooners which his uncles owned, and which conveyed to New York wood cut by the slaves. On these schooners the boy often sailed, and in the heat of the summer the family sometimes returned on them to Camp Gaw, N. J., where relatives resided.

In 1838 the family removed to Horseheads, in Chemung County, and there Hamilton Ward attended the public schools of the village of Horseheads, near the city of Elmira. Most of the old schoolmates and friends are dead, and but little data remains which will throw light on his boyhood.

Benjamin Marriott, now of Corning, N. Y., lived on the next farm. He says that Hamilton and himself attended school at Horseheads during the winter months until his father, mother and sister removed to Virginia again, when he went to school for one winter in New York City. Marriott says:

"As a pupil Hamilton was always at the head of his class. He was fond of debating, and was regarded as one of the best in the school. In his youth he was an ardent Whig, and at the age of nineteen years he was engaged by the Whig County Committee to deliver political speeches at points within the county during the Presidential Campaign. Many dark and stormy nights 1 have gone with him to some little school house wliere he would deliver a political speech, and we would arrive home during the small hours of the morning. He always gave satisfaction to the Committee and to his party, who listened to him, and acquitted himself with credit. He was firm in his convictions, and always stood by what seemed to him to be right."

JMarriott further says that when the old Whig party broke up, and Hamilton became a Republican, it was in opposition to his father's wishes, who sympathized with the Democratic party on account of his pro-slavery views, owning as he did at that time, in connection with his brothers John and Robert, many negroes on the Green Spring Plantation, and that many arguments occurred between father and son on the subject of slavery.

In the Blossburg Industrial Register, under date of July 31st, 1879. appears an article on the class of 1847-48, which met in Old Masonic Hall in Horseheads, under Prof. W. S. Minier, who later became a Circuit Court Judge in the State of Oregon ; in which the name of Hamilton Ward appears as a member of the class. There was also a teacher in rhetoric to whom Hamilton paid much attention and whom he 'frequently recalled — an absent minded old gentleman whose head was filled with declamations, which he constantly repeated. It was his custom to call every Sunday night on a certain maiden lady and tie his horse to a post in front of the house. On coming out he always walked home leading his horse, reciting aloud. To test his absent mindedness on one occasion Plamilton and other boys of the school removed the horse, and as the tale goes, the old man dragged the bridle home unconscious of the fact that the horse vras not attached to it.

Hamilton's first attempts to make public speeches were opposed by his father, who was a quiet man and cared little for such things, and he has often spoken of a certain occasion upon which he was invited to address a Whig meetin.';]:

in the then flourishing village of Elmira. He was called for by the Committee of Citizens in a carriage. They inquired for Mr. W^ard, and his father went out to meet them. They said they wanted the Mr. Ward who was going to make a speech that night, and the old gentleman replied that there was no such person, and that his boy, who was the only other one of the name in the neighborhood, was in bed. The carriage drove off, but Hamilton dodged his father, caught up with it, and attended the meeting.

He had a full beard at nineteen, and was several times sent as a delegate to conventions before he was of age.

It does not appear that he traveled much, except that he made several journeys to and from Virginia and to and from the city of New York and points in New Jersey, where his relatives were living. He attended school in the city of New York the winter of 1847-48, and boarded with his aunt, Elizabeth Lydecker — the study which most interested him being rhetoric. As a boy he was very fond of poetry and history and there is still in existence his much thumbed and marked copy of Lord Byron's poems. He often went into the woods to deliver speeches, and the neighbors' boys used to follow him and listen, and when discovered a fight would immediately pursue.

The haymow w^as his favorite study, and there he kept some of his books. The barn on his father's farm was an old fashioned one, with doors opening on both sides through which the wagon loads of grain and hay could be driven. It is said that on one occasion wdien he was driving a load of grain into the barn to be unloaded he became so interested in a discourse which he was delivering to an imaginary audience, that he drove through the barn and back into the fields again with his full load, where his more prosaic father promptly recalled him to his duty. He was an intense lover of nature, a trait which he always retained, and the daily phenomena of heaven and earth seemed to him an endless source of wonder and beauty.

He was subject at times to depression, and, especially after his mother's death, he would wander in the fields and woods, seeking comfort and consolation from their solitude.

CHAPTER III. TKe La-w Student

In the spring of 1849 Peter Hamilton removed with his family to Virginia, leaving young Hamilton alone on the farm, which he worked during that summer and fall.

In the fall he resolved to carry out his cherished ambition, and entered the law office of Aaron & W. P. Konkle of Elmira, N. Y., as a student, boarding in the city and maintaining himself chiefly from the proceeds of the farm.

Here he was elected Secretary of the Lyceum, or debating society and frequently spoke in public on temperance, and other subjects, discussed at that time.

The law students of the city, of whom there seems to have been a considerable number, formed a class wdiere all assembled almost daily and studied and discussed some particular legal question.

In March, 1850, Hamilton began to keep a journal, and from this many interesting facts are drawn.

A typical day is as follows :

March 26th, Tuesday.

I arose at seven. Breakfast at eight. Shaved. Went to the recitation room at nine. Spent two hours w4th the class. Had some warm discusisons in the class upon law topics. Went to the office at eleven. Read some portions of last evening's Tribune in reference to the trial of Dr. Webster for murder. Returned to my boarding place at twelve. Read thirteen pages of the law. Dinner at half past one. Started for the office. Arrived there at 2 P. M. Read thirty pages of Greenleaf on Evidence, referring to the best of evidence and hearsay evidence. Conversed some with a Mr, Lawrence upon the respective merits of a protective and revenue tariff. Conversed some with W, P. Konkle. Esq., upon the effects of certain kinds of diet upon the system. Came to the conclusion that the taking of animal food into the system of an individual that exercises but little is injurious. Conversed with G. A. Burk about the political aspect of the Union. Disagreed with him somewhat in opinion. Returned to my boarding place at six in the evening, returned to my studies ; supped at seven. Read fifteen pages of the Common Law of England relative to the injuries to personal and real property. Settled up an account between myself and G. R. Posts. Read a number of pages in Gibbons' Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Felt very much fatigued during the evening. Retired at ii o'clock."

To his fresh, strong mind everything was new and interesting, and each event made its impression, and above everything else, the high ambition to improve himself is constantly manifested.

On March 30th he writes of a conversation with a friend ''about the evil effects of mingling too much in the society of the gay,'' and on March 22nd he says "spent the day without much study or improvement, which I very much regret."

He took long walks in the fields, and by the river, and on April 3rd, in speaking of a walk on Charles Island in the Chemung River, says: "I made to the age-marked trees and rushing waters a speech upon the influence of natural scenery upon the mind."

Of high hope and lively imagination, he experienced frequent depressions of spirit, and on April 7th he writes: ''The world looks dark and ominous, the waters of my destiny seemed to be fouled, the starlight of hope died away in my soul. The prospect before me was a bleak and cheerless void. I felt friendless and alone. I knew that no kind hearts were beating for me, but the troubled one of my father, and that of my dark eyed sister, and they were far away. I tried to read but could not. The thrill of misanthrophy curdled my blood, dark disgust for men was paramount in my breast. I threw me on my couch at 12 o'clock ; in dreams I visited the grave of my mother and poured my troubles upon that lonely consecrated spot."

Frequent tender references are found to his mother, whose memory comforted him when depressed.

On May nth it appears that a circus visited Elmira,

THE LAW STUDENT. 11

which he attended both afternoon and evening, returning home "with the bitter conviction of having misspent the day."

He occasionally wrote verses but they have not been preserved.

The authors most frequently mentioned which he studied were Byron and Shakespeare.

On June 14th he resolved upon the following system: "To arise in the morning at least by 6 o'clock, to read during the day, besides my writing and other business, at least 40 pages of the elementary law. To note down the principal facts contained in my reading lesson. To read at least ten pages of law in the evening and take notes of the same, and to transcribe the substance of the notes upon my commonplace book and not retire until midnight or after. To abstain from the use of cigars, and to eat but little animal food."

Elmira was not a large place, but even at this time contained the germs of that activity which has since made it the "home of statesmen." One of the newspapers was called the Republican, and on Aug. 26th it is recorded that Hamilton Ward wrote an article for this paper, entitled: "The star of Empire westward takes its way."

In August and September, Peter Hamilton returned •from the South, and during those months w^as engaged with his son in gathering the crops from the farm at Horseheads.

On Sept. 17th a momentous event was recorded — The first client appeared, charged by the trustees of the village with selling liquor. He w^as defended by the young law student — with what result is not known. After this there wms an occasional client.

On Sept. 21, 1850, he was a candidate for delegate to the State Convention at the County Convention held at the village of Horseheads. He w^as defeated but was elected a delegate to the Congressional Convention. On the day before this he w'as evidently engaged "in fixing his fences." and remarks in the journal that "he spent the afternoon in running around and looking at folks as big fools as myself."