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Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Clinton, de Witt 1769-1828 (search)
Clinton, de Witt 1769-1828 Statesman; born in Little Britain, Orange co., N. Y., March 2, 1769; graduated at Columbia De Witt Clinton. College in 1786; studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1788, but practised very little. He was private secretary to his uncle George, governor of New York, in 1790-95, in favor of whose administration he wrote much in the newspapers. He was in the Assembly of his State in 1797, and from 1798 to 1802 was a Democratic leader in the State Senate. He was mayor of New York City in 1803-7, 1809-10, and 1811-14. He was an earnest promoter of the establishment of the New York Historical Society and the American Academy of Fine Arts. Opposed to the War of 1812-15, he was the Peace candidate for the Presidency in 1812, but was defeated by James Madison. Mr. Clinton was one of the founders and first president of the Literary and Philosophical Society in New York, and was one of the most efficient promoters of the construction of the Erie Canal
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Colden, Cadwallader 1688- (search)
rn in Dunse, Scotland, Feb. 17, 1688; graduated at the University of Edinburgh in 1705, and became a physician and Cadwallader Colden. mathematician. In 1708 he emigrated to Pennsylvania, and returned to his native country in 1712. He came again to America in 1716, and in 1718 made his abode in New York, where he was made first surveyor-general of the colony, became a master in chancery, and, in 1720, obtained a seat in Governor Burnet's council. He received a patent for lands in Orange county, N. Y., about 10 miles from Newburg, and there he went to reside in 1755. Becoming president of the council, he administered the government in 1760, and was made lieutenantgovernor in 1761, which station he held until his death, being repeatedly placed at the head of affairs by the absence or death of governors. During the Stamp Act excitement the populace burned his coach. After the return of Governor Tryon in 1775, he retired to his seat on Long Island. Dr. Colden wrote a History of th
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Fanning, Edmund -1818 (search)
Fanning, Edmund -1818 Jurist; born on Long Island, N. Y., in 1737; graduated at Yale College in 1757, and settled as a lawyer in Hillsboro, N. C., where he became popular, and was made colonel of Orange county (1763) and clerk of the Supreme Court (1765). He was also a member of the legislature, and married the daughter of Governor Tryon. He became rapacious, and by his exorbitant legal fees made himself very obnoxious to the people. Their hatred was increased by his energetic exertions in suppressing the Regulator movement (see Regulators). He fled to New York with Governor Tryon to avoid the consequences of popular indignation. He was appointed surveyor-general of North Carolina in 1774. In 1776 he raised and led a force called the King's American Regiment of Foot. After the Revolution he went to Nova Scotia, where he became a councillor and lieutenant-governor in September, Edmund Fanning. 1783, and from 1786 to 1805 was governor of Prince Edward's Island. He rose to
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Kingston, burning of (search)
he forts, Oct. 7, 1777, the boom and chain were severed, and a flying squadron of light armed vessels under Sir James Wallace, bearing the whole of Sir Henry's land force, went up the river to devastate its shores. Sir Henry wrote a despatch to Burgoyne on a piece of tissue-paper, saying, We are here, and nothing between us and Gates, and enclosing it in a small, hollow bullet, elliptical in form, gave it to a messenger to convey to the despairing general. The messenger was arrested in Orange county as a spy. He swallowed the bullet, which an emetic compelled him to disgorge. The message was found and the spy was hanged. The marauding force, meanwhile, spread havoc and consternation along the shores. The legislature of the newly organized State of New York were then in session at Kingston. The marauders went thither and burned the village, Oct. 7, the legislature having escaped with their papers. Then they crossed over to the village of Rhinebeck Flats, and after destroying muc
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Life-guard, Washington's (search)
Life-guard, Washington's A corps, varying at different times from sixty to 250 men, was formed in the spring of 1776. The men, not less than 5 feet 9 inches nor more than 5 feet 10 inches in height, were selected from the Continental army for moral and personal perfections, to protect the person, baggage, and papers of the commander-in-chief. The last survivor, Uzal Knapp, of Orange county, N. Y., died in January, 1856, and was buried at the foot of the flag-staff in front of Washington's headquarters at Newburg, on the Hudson. See fac-simile signatures on pages 392 and 393.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Minisink, desolation of (search)
Minisink, desolation of On the night of July 19, 1779, Joseph Brant, the Mohawk chief, at the head of sixty Indians and twenty-seven Tories disguised as savages, stole upon the little town of Minisink, Orange co., N. Y., which was wholly unprotected, and, before the people were aroused from their slumbers, set on fire several houses. The inhabitants fled to the mountains. Their small stockade fort, mill, and twelve houses and barns were burned; their orchards and plantations were laid wa The event made thirty-three widows in the congregation of the Presbyterian church at Goshen. It gave firmness to Sullivan's men, who, a few weeks afterwards, desolated the beautiful land of the Cayugas and Senecas. In 1822 the citizens of Orange county collected the bones of the slain, and caused them to be buried near the centre of the green at the foot of the main street of the village of Goshen. There was a great multitude of citizens present. Over their remains a new marble monument w
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Palatines. (search)
any of the fugitives. In the spring of 1708, on the petition of Joshua Koekerthal, evangelical minister of a body of Lutherans, for himself and thirty-nine others to be transported to America, an order was issued by the Queen in Council for such transportation and their naturalization before leaving England. The Queen provided for them at her own expense. This first company of Palatines was first landed on Governor's Island, New York, and afterwards settled near the site of Newburg, Orange co., N. Y., in the spring of 1709. In 1710 a larger emigration of Palatines to America occurred, under the guidance of Robert Hunter, governor of New York. These, about 3,000 in number, went farther up the Hudson. Some settled on Livingston's Manor, at Germantown, where a tract of 6,000 acres was bought from Livingston by the British government for their use. Some soon afterwards crossed the Hudson into Greene county and settled at West Camp; others went far up the Mohawk and settled the distr
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Ruttenber, Edward Manning 1825- (search)
Ruttenber, Edward Manning 1825- Author; born in Bennington, Vt., July 17, 1825; connected with the bureau of military records, 1863-65; editor Newburg Telegraph, Goshen Republican, etc. He is the author of a History of Newburg, N. Y.; History of Orange county, N. Y.; The Indian tribes on the Hudson River, etc.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Seward, William Henry 1801-1872 (search)
Seward, William Henry 1801-1872 Statesman; born in Florida, Orange co., N. Y., May 16. 1801; graduated at Union College in 1820; became a lawyer; began practice at Auburn in 1823; and soon acquired a high reputation, especially in criminal practice. He first appeared conspicuously in politics as president of a State convention of young men who favored the reelection of John Quincy Adams to the Presidency. In 1830-34 he was a member of the State Senate, and became a leader of the Whig party, opposed to the administration of Jackson. In 1838 and 1840 he was elected governor of New York; : in 1842 resumed the practice of his profession, and gained an extensive business, chiefly in United States courts; and was United States Senator from 1849 till 1861, when he was called to the cabinet of President Lincoln as Secretary of State. As early as March, 1861, when it was known that emissaries from the South had been sent abroad to seek recognition and aid for their cause, Mr. Seward
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Wisner, Henry 1725-1790 (search)
Wisner, Henry 1725-1790 Patriot; born in Goshen, N. Y., about 1725; was an assistant justice of the court of common pleas in 1768; representative from Orange county in the New York General Assembly in 1759-69; member of the Continental Congress in 1774, and of the Congress which adopted the Declaration of Independence. He studied powder-making and erected three powder-mills in Orange county, from which a great part of the powder used in the Revolutionary War was supplied. He also aided the patriot cause at the time of the war by having spears and gun-flints made, by repairing the roads in Orange county; and by erecting works and mounting cannon on the Hudson River. He was one of the committee that framed the first constitution of New York in 1777; was State Senator in 1777-82; and a member of the State convention of 1788, which ratified the national Constitution. He died in Goshen, N. Y., in 1790.
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