Albany, at which resolutions were
adopted declaring that "The movements
of the abolitionists are incendiary and
threaten to disturb the peace of the
country." In 1836 Governor Marcy was
nominated for a third term and was
elected. His administration this third
term was made notable by his pushing
the enlargement of the Erie canal. In
1838 Mr. Marcy, when a candidate for a
fourth term was defeated by William H. | Albany and died July 4, 1857.

Seward, the candidate of the Whigs, the
issues being National rather than State.
He then retired into private life, only to be
summoned from it in 1845 to become a
member of President Polk's cabinet as
Secretary of War. It was his splendid man-
agement of the War Department which
largely brought about the success of the
war with Mexico. At the close of the admin.
istration of President Polk he returned to

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD was born in | After one year had passed of his adminis.

Florida, Orange county, New York, on May 16, 1801, and was educated at the schools of Goshen and in Union College, where he was graduated in 1820. He then studied law in New York and was admitted to practice at the bar in 1822. He began the practice of law at Auburn in 1823. As a lawyer he rapidly rose to eminence at the bar. He early entered political life and began his official career by being elected a State Senator in 1830 from the Cayuga Senate district as an anti-masonic candidate. He was four years a member of the State Senate and during these years supported the bills abolishing imprisonment for debt, ameli. orating prison discipline and establishing a separate penitentiary for female convicts. He became so prominent as a member of the Legislature that in 1834 he was nominated for Governor as the candidate of the Whig Party against Governor Marcy, the Democratic candidate. Mr. Seward was defeated but he was not discouraged, and running again for Governor in 1838 he was elected over Governor Marcy by a majority of 10,400. In his first message he recommended the creation of a board of public works and of improvements in the judiciary and educational system of the State. He also heartily urged the enlargement of the Erie canal, the completion of the Black River and Seneca Valley canals; and the giving of aid to railroad enterprises.

tration, however, he urgently urged retrenchment in the State's expenditures and gave the opinion that the policy of internal improvements had been too vigorously pushed, since it had increased the canal debt to $20,000,000. In his second message he also recommended "that the common school law should be so amended as to permit adopted citizens to have their children educated by teachers speaking their own language and professing the same faith with them and to share in an equal proportion in the public moneys appropriated by the State for school purposes."

In 1840 he was renominated and reelected; the opposing candidate being William C. Bouck. In his second mes. sage Mr. Seward recommended the im. provements of the common school system, the completion of public works and the abolition of capital punishments. In his last annual message, in 1842, he congratulated the State upon the increasing busi. ness of the canals.

Retiring from the governorship Mr. Seward remained in private life until 1849 when he was elected United States Senator to succeed John A. Dix. One of his first acts as Senator was to introduce a bill abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia upon the condition, however, that just and ample compensation should be made to the owners of the slaves. Me took a most prominent position in the throughout the period of the war of the Rebellion, successfully preventing by his diplomacy the recognition of the Southern Confederacy. He remained Secre tary of State during the adminis upon this subject: "A debt for the pur. poses of internal improvement should not be extended beyond the ability of those improvements to meet the interest and ultimately redeem the principal." In his annual message to the Legislature of 1844 he recommended that some con. stitutional checks be adopted against the creation of a debt, that the Legislature should be deprived of the power to make loans to corporations and that every appropriation of the public money should require a vote of two-thirds of the members of the Legislature. He also advised that a law be passed directing the locks of the canals to be closed on Sunday. Upon retiring from the Governorship he returned to his farm but in 1846 he wasa member of the Constitutional Convention, and the same year he was appointed Assistant Treasurer of New York. He was removed from that office in 1849 by President Taylor. Then he returned once more to his "island farm" in Schoharie county, and died there on

Senate on the slavery question and became such a national figure that in 1860 he would be nominated for President as the candidate of the Republican party. In the National Republican Convention, however, Mr. Seward was de- | trations of President Lincoln and

a

feated by Abraham Lincoln. President ( President Johnson. Then he made Lincoln appointed Mr. Seward his Secretary of State on March 5, 1861. Mr. Seward magnificently conducted the foreign affairs of the United States

tour of the world and returning to Auburn lived there a few years, and his death occurred October 10, 1872.

WILLIAM C. BOUCK.

WILLIAM C. BOUCK was the first "farmer | appointed Colonel of the Eighteenth Regi.

ment of infantry. Then came another political advancement by his election as Senator, in 1820, from the middle district of the State. He showed a great interest as a legislator in the development of the canals of the State and therefore it was

Governor" of the State of New York. He was born at Fulton, Schoharie county, on January 7, 1786. He was educated in the public schools of his native village and then went to work as superintendent of his father's large farm. When only 21 years old, in 1807, he was elected clerk | but natural that he should be appointed

the Chemung and the Chenango canals.
All these canals were constructed under
his supervision and superintendence. As
early as 1833 he became convinced that
the Erie canal was not large enough to do
the work mapped out for it in transport-
ing the products of the west and suggested
its enlargement. For nineteen years he
was a Canal Commissioner and during
that period faithfully expended and
accounted for over $8,000,000. Mr. Bouck
so distinguished himself by this work
that in 1840 he was nominated for Gover-
nor by the Democratic party. He ran
4,000 votes "ahead of his party" but was,
nevertheless, defeated by Mr. Seward by
5,000 majority. In 1842 Mr. Bouck was
again the candidate of the Democratic
party for Governor and this time he was
elected by a majority of 22,000 votes. In
his first annual message he recommended
internal improvements by roads and
canals but cautioned the Legislature
againstincreasing the State debt unwisely
or authorizing extravagant expenditures
or ill-advised undertakings. He said | April 19, 1859.

SILAS WRIGHT.

SILAS WRIGHT was born at Amherst, | electors on a general ticket. At an

Massachusetts, on May 24, 1795. His father was a farmer, and he had the practical education of a farmer's boy on the farm. He had an excellent education at Middlebury College, Vermont, where he was graduated in 1815. Upon graduating he began the study of law with Henry C. Martindale, at Sandy Hill, N. Y., and was admitted to practice at the bar in 1819. He began the practice of the law at Canton, in St. Lawrence county. He became prominent in politics of St. Lawrence county at an early age, and was appointed its Surrogate by the Governor's Council in 1821. He was then appointed Postmaster of Canton, and held that office for several years. In 1824 he entered into State politics, being elected a State Senator. As Senator he favored the election of Presidential

of

a

extra session of the Legislature called by Governor Yates, he voted in favor resolution declaring that the people ought to have the privilege of choosing Presidential electors. At the session of the Legislature in 1826 Mr. Wright voted for an amendment of the Constitution to extend the right of suffrage. He gained great prominence in the Bucktail or Republican party by his course in the Legislature and was further promoted in 1826 by being elected a Congressman from a district composed of the counties of Jefferson, Lewis, Oswego and St. Lawrence. In Congress he drew up the tariff law of 1828, a moderate tariff measure. While in Congress he was elected in January, 1829, as Comptroller of the State. As a member of the Canal Board he opposed