Chapter 26 – History of Wyoming County

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE HISTORY OF POLITICAL OPINION AND PARTY FORTUNES IN WYOMING COUNTY

AT the commencement of the settlement of this county two great political parties existed- the Federal and the Republican. The opposition of the Federalists to the war of 181 2 rendered them so exceedingly unpopular that their name was dropped, and the members of the party in this State sought other affiliations. The Republicans had, by their opponents, been termed in the way of reproach or derision Democrats, a name which they came gradually ‘ to adopt. They were also nicknamed “Bucktails,” because a club or society of their party adopted as a badge the caudal appendage of a deer. Their opponents were called “Clintonians,” after their leader, De Witt Clinton. They were afterward termed National Republicans, which name distinguished them from the Democratic Republicans, or Democrats, as the old Republican party was afterward called.

In 1826 arose the famous Morgan excitement, which had its origin in Batavia. Of this it is only necessary briefly to say that one William Morgan had written for publication a book, purporting to disclose the secrets of free masonry. It was alleged that for this he was- abducted and probably murdered by the masons. This gave origin to the Anti-Masonic party, which became fully organized in 1828, and which at once became overwhelmingly strong in western New York, and especially in Genesee county. In 1832 a coalition was formed between the Anti-Masonic and National Republican parties in this State, the objects of which were to elect the Anti-Masonic State ticket and carry the State for Henry Clay, the National Republican candidate for President; but neither was successful. The existence of the Anti-Masonic party terminated with this coalition, which took the name of Whig, and retained it till the present Republican party was formed.

The systematic agitation of the slavery question commenced in the year 1833, during which the American AntiSlavery Society was formed; and that question has exerted a most potent influence on political affairs, national and local. From time to time the Legislature enacted laws concerning slavery down to the year 181 9. A law passed in 1799 provided for the gradual extinction of slavery in the State. “In 181 7 a further act was passed, decreeing that there should be no slavery in the State after the 4th of July, 1827. Ten thousand slaves were set free by this act. M

In the latter part of 1835, at Utica, “a meeting, convened to form a State anti-slavery society, was broken up by a most respectable committee appointed by a large meeting of citizens. * * * The abolitionists, at Gerrit Smith’s invitation, adjourned to his home at Peterboro, Madison county, and there completed their organization.” It was afterward learned that a mob had been organized to follow and break up the convention at Peterboro, but desisted from its purpose on learning that the convention had adjourned.

To that convention Dr. Augustus Frank, F. C. D. McKay, Samuel Fisher (and), William Buxton and Rev. Abraham Ennis from this county were delegates.

A county anti-slavery society was formed in Genesee county. It held a meeting at Batavia March 16th, 1836. General John D. Landon, of Castile, and William Patterson, of Warsaw, were members of a committee appointed on this occasion to answer an address from the pro-slavery people of Batavia, who threatened to and finally did break up the meeting. The meeting adjourned to reconvene at Warsaw a week later.

“Pursuant to adjournment the Genesee County AntiSlavery Society met at Warsaw March 23d, 1836. A series of resolutions and an address were adopted, together with a declaration of sentiment, expressing in brief form the principles of the abolitionists for the information of any who might never have seen a -statement of them. Measures were also taken for establishing a free press, and $1,000 was pledged for its support the first year. Such a paper was accordingly established at Warsaw [the American Citizen removed in a year to Perry, and afterward to Rochester].

“A meeting of the Western New York Anti-Slavery Society was held at Warsaw, in the Presbyterian church, November 13th, 1839. The extreme badness of the roads prevented a general attendance. There were present about fifty persons as members, nearly all of them from the southern town: of the county, then Genesee. A proposition was made to nominate candidates for President and Vice-President It was opposed by a large portion of the members, but its advocates, among whom were Myron Holley and William L. Chaplin, able and eloquent men, who had come for this special purpose, succeeded, after a two days’ discussion, in carrying the measure by a small majority. James G. Birney, formerly a slaveholder in Alabama, who had emancipated his slaves and removed to the north, was nominated for President, and Francis J. Lemoyne, of Pennsylvania, for Vice-President.

“The result of this measure was to divide the abolitionists. A large majority in this State and other States refused to join the new party, and continued their connection with the old parties, voting generally, however, for candidates for Congress who were in favor of a respectful reception of anti-slavery petitions, and for abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia, and opposed to its extension into free territory, by which party soever they had been nominated.”

The supporters of Birney were called the Liberty party. They generally cast from 300 to 500 votes in this county, and about 15,000 in the State. In 1848 they joined the Free-Soil party.

Party organizations in this State and in this county were greatly disturbed by the Free-Soil movement of 1848. For some years previous to that time a division had existed in the Democratic party, one faction being known as “Hunkers” and the other as “Barnburners,” the latter faction being opposed to slavery extension, especially into the territory that had then recently been acquired from Mexico. This schism became an open rupture in 1848. The Barnburners held a convention at Utica, in which they nominated Martin Van Buren for President, and afterward another at Buffalo, which was participated in by delegates from other States, and over which the late Chief Justice Chase presided. At that convention, which adopted what has ever since been known as the Buffalo Platform – the distinctive features of which were the abolition of slavery wherever it existed in territories under the jurisdiction of Congress, and its nonextension into territory under such jurisdiction – the county of Wyoming was fully represented. A State convention was afterward called by this, which was known as the Free-Soil party, and a State ticket nominated, on which John A. Dix was the candidate for governor, and Seth M. Gates, a citizen of this county, for lieutenant-governor. Among the active leaders in this party in the county of Wyoming were: Seth M. Gates, F. C. D. McKay, L. W. Thayer, J. R. Doolittle, W. Riley Smith and A. W. Young, of Warsaw; James H. Loomis and John B. Skinner, 2nd, of Attica; James C. Ferris, of Wyoming; D. L. Gil man and L. A. Haywood, of Perry; E. O. Shepard, of Arcade; A. P. Sherrill, of Pike, and William Bristol, of Gainesville. The Free-Soil vote at the ensuing election was drawn from both the Whig and Democratic parties, and of course embraced that of the Liberty party, which was then merged in it.

The Free-Soil party maintained its organization till 1849, but in 1850 the Barnburners and Hunkers united and nominated Horatio Seymour for Governor. About that time a schism came to exist in the Hunker wing of the Democratic party. Those who opposed union with the Barnburners were termed “Hard Shells,” or “Hards,” and those who favored such union “Softs.” About the same time, or during the administration of President Fillmore, the Whig party became divided into the Conservatives, or “Silver Grays,” the supporters of the administration, and the Radicals, or “Wooly- Heads,” under the leadership of William H. Seward. In Wyoming county the Radicals of the Whig party and the

Softs among the Democrats were largely in the majority in their respective parties.

In 1852 the Whig party suffered such an overwhelming defeat that it was practically annihilated, and from its ruins sprang the present Republican party, which embraced many who had belonged to the Barnburner wing of the Democratic party.

About the year 1853, or soon after the defeat of the Whig party, the American party suddenly sprang into existence. The deliberations of the members of this party were conducted in secret, and when questioned concerning things pertaining to the party, its members professed to know nothing of them; hence they acquired the name of the KnowNothing party. Opposition to the influence of foreigners who had not acquired a sufficient knowledge of the institutions of this country to vote intelligently was the basic idea in the political faith which this party professed; and such a modification of the naturalization laws as would extend the term of probation of immigrants from other countries was the principal measure which was advocated by this party. It was believed that in the unsettled condition of parties at that time, and the weakness of party ties consequent upon that condition, many were induced to become members of that party from curiosity, or a love of novelty, or from a desire to enjoy the sport which arose out of the discomfiture, disappointment and wrath of old party leaders when they found their plans thwarted and their calculations upset by a secret agency, of which they knew nothing. The party had only a brief existence.

The Republican party was organized in 1855. The advocates of slavery had long seen that in the rapid growth of this country their “peculiar institution ” would, if left to itself, become impotent, or, in other words, the ” balance of power ” between the free and slave States would be lost to them in the ” irrepressible conflict ” between freedom and slavery. They therefore endeavored to extend their institution into the territories of the United States, and in order to accomplish their purpose they sought to remove the barriers that had been established by the compromises previously made, a history of which cannot be given here. Had slavery never assumed this aggressive character, the Republican party would have had no existence; for it was established on the issue of slavery extension. In 1856 were freely uttered by political leaders threats of secession in case of the election of John C. Fremont, the Republican candidate for President. In 1860 the Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln, was elected. A portion of the slave States enacted ordinances of secession, and the late civil war, with the extinction of slavery, was the result. During the fourteen years that have elapsed since the termination of this war the Republican and Democratic parties have continued to oppose each other on minor and comparatively insignificant issues; and on the approach of each election the old question and its answer seem quite apropos.

“What it all this wondrous fun, this war of words, about?
The outs are trying to get in, the ins to keep them out.”

Excepting the anti-slavery sentiment there has been nothing peculiar in the relations of political parties here. Party lines have been distinctly drawn, and party feeling has run high. A few years since it was related by the late John A. McElwain, in an article published in the Western New Yorker, that at an election in Warsaw in 1820, when the Clintonians and the Bucktails were the opposing parties, very forcible arguments were used; and in the rough and tumble work of the election some had their clothes torn from their backs, and it was found necessary to invoke the aid of the sheriff of Genesee county and a corps of deputies to prevent serious disorder.

At the time of the organization of Wyoming county the Whig and Democratic parties were the chief opponents. Among the active members of the former party at that time are remembered Harvey Putnam, James G. Hoyt and W. Riley Smith, of Attica; John B. Halsted and Alonzo B. Rose, Castile; John A. McErwain, Dr. Augustus Frank, John Wilder, Andrew W. Young and Roswell Goald. Warsaw; Peter Patterson, Calvin P. Bailey, Isaac N. Stoddard and Robert Patterson, Perry; Eleazer Baldwin and Arden Woodruff. Sheldon; James Sprague, Covington; John W. Brownson, Gainesville; John Head, Truman Lewis and Lyman Babbit, Orangeville; William R. Groger and Abel Webster, Wethersfield; Nelson Wolcott, Java, and others. Of Democrats there are remembered Alden S. Stevens, Attica; John B. Skinner, Middlebury; Nyrum Reynolds, Gainesville; Samuel Smith, Java; Joel S. Smith and James R. Doolittle, Wethersfield; Rufus H. Smith, William Mitchell, Mosely Stoddard and Linus W. Thayer, Perry: Benjamin F. Folsom, Bennington, and others.

The following statement of the number of votes cast for principal candidates at important elections since the organization of the county shows the relative strength of the parties during that time:

At the special election in June, 1841, William R. Groger, the Whig candidate for sheriff, received 1,632 votes; John D. Landon, Democrat, 1,335.

In 1842 Luther Bradish, Whig candidate for governor, received 2,063; William C. Bouck, Democrat, 1,889; Alvan Stewart, Liberty, 335. Subsequent votes, in brief, have been as follows:

In 1844: For governor- Millard Fillmore, Whig, 2,787 Silas Wright, Democrat, 2,110; Alvan Stewart, Liberty, 408. For President- Henry Clay, Whig, 2,754; James K. Polk, 2,102; James G. Birney, Liberty, 442.

In 1846: For governor- John Young, Whig, 2475; Silas Wright, Democrat, 1,702; Harvey Bradley, Liberty, 885.

In 1848: For governor- Hamilton Fish, Whig, 22,554; Reuben H. Walworth, Democrat. 1,381; John A. Dix. Free Soil, 1 478. For President- Zachary Taylor. Whig, 231; Lewis Cass, Democrat, 1337; Martin Van Boron, Free Soil, 1,680

In 1850: For governor-Washington Hunt, Whig, 2,788; Horatio Seymour, Democrat, 2,411.

In 1852: For governor- Washington Hunt, Whig, 8400; Horatio Seymour, Democrat, 2600; Minthorne Tompkins, Liberty, 510. For President- Winfield Scott, Whig, 3,005; Franklin Pierce, Democrat, 2,471: John P. Hale, Liberty, 727.

In 1854: For governor- Myron H. Clark, Whig, 2400; Horatio Seymour. Democrat, 1242; Daniel Ulman, American, 981: Greene C. Bronson, “Hard,” 546.

In 1858: For governor- John R. King, Republican, 3942; Amam J. Parker, Democrat, 1960; Erastus Brooks, American, 642. For President- John C. Fremont, Republican, 4,088; James Buchanan, Democrat, 1911; Millard Fillmore. American, 571.

In 1858: For governor- Edwin D. Morgan, Republican, 3204; Aman J. Parker, Democrat, 1,862; Lorenso Burrows, American,3850.

In 1860: For governor- Edwin D. Morgan, Republican, 4,488; William Kelly, Democrat, 4488. For President – Abraham Lincoln, Republican. 4,408; Stephen A. Douglas, Democrat, 2384.

In 1862: For governor- James Wadsworth, Republican, 3677 ; Horatio Seymour. Democrat, 2,807.

In 1864: For governor- Reuben K. Fenton, Republican, 4448; Horatio Seymour. Democrat, 2388. For President- Abraham Lincoln, Republican, 4126 George B. McClellan, Democrat, 2509.

In 1866: For governor- Reuben E. Fenton, Republican, 4405; John T. Hoffman, Democrat, 2386.

In 1868: For governor- John A. Griswold, Republican, 4405; John T. Hoffman, Democrat, 2620. For President- U. S.. Grant, Republican, 4488; Horatio Seymour, Democrat, 2401.

In 1870: For governor- Stewart L. Woodford, Republican, 3484; John T. Hoffman, Democrat, 2409.

In 1872 For governor- John A. Dix, Republican, 8445: Francis Kernan, Democrat. 2483. For President- U.S. Grant, Republican, 8400; Horace Greeley, Democrat and Liberal Republican, 2401.

In 1874: For governor- John A. Dix, Republican, 8,488; Samuel J. Tilden, Democrat, 2,418.

In 1876: For governor- Edwin D. Morgan. Republican, 4404; Lucius Robinson, Democrat, 8,277. For President- R. B. Hayes, Republican, 4428; Samuel J. Tilden, Democrat, 8488.

In 1870: For governor- A. B. Cornell, Republican, 8421; Lucius Robinson, .2404.

SOURCE:  History of Wyoming County, N.Y., with Illustrations, Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Some Pioneers and Prominent Residents; F. W. Beers & Co.; 1860