CHAPTER VII 



SENATOKSHIP AT ALBANY 1805-1867 



DURING- my second year in the State Senate, 1865, 

 came the struggle for the charter of Cornell Uni 

 versity, the details of which will be given in another 

 chapter. 



Two things during this session are forever stamped into 

 my memory. The first was the news of Lee s surrender 

 on April 9, 1865: though it had been daily expected, it 

 came as a vast relief. 



It was succeeded by a great sorrow. On the morning 

 of April 15, 1865, coming down from my rooms in the 

 Delavan House at Albany, I met on the stairway a very 

 dear old friend, the late Charles Sedgwick, of Syracuse, 

 one of the earliest and most devoted of Republicans, who 

 had served with distinction in the House of Representa 

 tives, and had more than once been widely spoken of 

 for the United States Senate. Coming toward me with 

 tears in his eyes and voice, hardly able to speak, he 

 grasped me by the hand and gasped the words, &quot; Lincoln 

 is murdered.&quot; I could hardly believe myself awake: the 

 thing seemed impossible ; too wicked, too monstrous, too 

 cruel to be true ; but alas ! confirmation of the news came 

 speedily and the Presidency was in the hands of Andrew 

 Johnson. 



Shortly afterward the body of the murdered President, 

 borne homeward to Illinois, rested overnight in the State 

 Capitol, and preparations were made for its reception. I 

 was one of the bearers chosen by the Senate and was also 



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