The History of Political Parties in the State of New-York

APPENDIX.

745

LIFE OF
OF SILAS WRIGHT.

CHAPTER I.

Introduction-Birth and Childhood of Silas Wright-Academical and Collegiate Education-Remarks on School-keeping by Students of the New England Colleges-He studies Law at Sandy Hill-Is admitted an Attorney of the Supreme Court-His Journey through Western New York-Locates himself in Canton, St. Lawrence County-The first Public Offices which he held-His services in the Militia of St. Lawrence County.

WHEN an individual of obscure birth, without the aid of influential relations, without wealth, and without that glory which is sometimes gained by the daring and brilliant achievements of the soldier of fortune, rises to an eminent rank in society, and acquires the esteem and admiration of a great country, the attention of the philosopher as well as the curiosity of the lover of history, is naturally directed to an inquiry into the causes which have produced such auspicious results.

In despotic governments it not unfrequently happens that men in the lowest ranks of life are suddenly elevated to the highest by the fiat of the sovereign of the country: thus a Hebrew slave spends the night in a loathsome dungeon, an inmate with the vilest felons, and the next morning becomes second only in wealth and power to a great monarch; and in one short hour the slave in Turkey is elevated to the station and authority of prime min

ister of a mighty empire. The cause of events like these is found in the partiality and freaks of passion of a single individual-the reigning despot. His favorites have "greatness cast upon them." Not so with the poor and obscure child who is born and grows up to manhood in the United States of America. He can only rise to influence, he can only acquire power, by gaining the good opinion, the esteem and confidence of hundreds of thousands, who at their option withhold or bestow that esteem and confidence. Hence the means by which he gains the preference of his fellow-citizens becomes an interesting subject of inquiry, not only for the gratification of the curiosity of the student of history, but as furnishing a demonstration of the value of our free institutions in encouraging, fostering, and rewarding merit, talent, and virtue, however humble their origin, and as affording to our youth the highest inducement to persevering industry, to the practice of all the public and private virtues, to the acquisition of useful knowledge, and of an elevated, enlarged, and ardent patriotism. With this view the attention of the reader is invited to the History of the Life of SILAS WRIGHT.

Mr. Wright was born in the town of Amherst, in the county of Hampshire, and state of Massachusetts, on the 24th day of May, in the year 1795. His father's Christian name was Silas, and therefore the subject of these memoirs was for a long time known in this state* as Silas Wright, Jr. The ancestors of Mr. Wright belonged to the Pilgrims of New England, and were among the earliest emigrants who fled from England to the bleak

* Until the death of his father, which happened within a few years past.

and barren shores of Massachusetts, for the sake of enjoying civil and religious liberty. They must have emigrated in the first part of the seventeenth century. It appears that Mr. Samuel Wright, from whom Mr. Silas Wright traced a direct lineal descent, died at Northampton, in Massachusetts, of which place he had for some time been an inhabitant, in the year 1665.

The father of Mr. Wright, though for a son of the old Pilgrim State he was much restricted in his education even as respects the common branches of learning, is described as a man who possessed a clear and discerning mind, and an excellent judgment. He was bred a mechanic, but in afterlife purchased a farm, and became and continued to be a practical farmer till his death.*

Mr. Wright's mother was better educated than most of the young women in the country where she resided. She is described as having possessed more than ordinary intellectual power; and she undoubtedly had a great and paramount influence in giving an early direction to the infant mind of Silas, who was soon distinguished as a lad of great promise, and seems to have been so regarded by both his parents; for, from a family consisting of seven children, four sons and three daughters, he was selected as the only one on whom should be bestowed the benefit of a collegiate education.

In February, 1796, when Silas was less than a year old, his father removed from Amherst, his native town, to Weybridge, in Vermont, where he purchased a farm, and where he continued to reside till his death. Thus, although the distinguished individual of whose life we are

In Vermont he was several times elected a member of the legislature of that state.

now attempting to give a sketch, was not a native of Vermont, having received his education there, and lived there from the time he was nine months old until he commenced the study of his profession, he may be regarded as a son of the Green Mountain State.

Mr. Wright, until he was fourteen years old, lived in his father's family; and, in accordance with a custom almost universally prevalent in Vermont, as soon as he had acquired sufficient age and strength to labor at all, worked daily on the farm in summer, and attended the district school in the winter.

At about the age of fourteen he entered as a student in the academy at Middlebury, in Vermont, and was so successful in the prosecution of his academical studies, that in August, 1811, he was admitted as a member of the Freshman Class at Middlebury College, at which institution he was graduated in the year 1815.

In order to aid young men of limited pecuniary means in defraying their expenses while at college, it is usual in most of the eastern colleges to permit the students to be absent during the winter, provided they desire to employ that portion of their time in teaching, and provided their diligence and success in prosecuting their studies during their actual attendance at college, have been such as to warrant the expectation that at the end of the collegiate year they will be able to pass such an examination as will merit the approbation of the faculty of the institution. Mr. Wright availed himself of this custom, and taught a common district school one winter, at Provost's Corners, in Addison county, and two winters at the town of Orville, in Rutland county, in the state of Vermont.

We admire this custom, which has long prevailed in the colleges in New England. We wish the practice

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