672 



RICHMOND, DEAN. 



Barnard, Vermont, where the subject of this 

 sketch was born. He was named Elkanah 

 Dean, after his grandfather, but it was not a 

 convenient appellation, and he was never 

 known by any other than that by which he 

 became famous throughout the country Dean 

 Kichmond. Elkanah Dean was a noted man 

 in tbe neighborhood of his home, and his 

 grandson occasionally spoke of the uncommon 

 endowments of his progenitor with pride and 

 satisfaction. The stature of Mr. Dean was 

 almost gigantic, while his clear, sagacious, and 

 penetrating intellect and iron will gave him a 

 commanding influence among his fellows. He 

 was a Democrat of the Jeffersonian school, 

 and his earnest and persistent inculcations 

 seem to have produced a lasting impression on 

 the tender mind of his grandson. Mr. Rich- 

 mond always spoke of the sound judgment, 

 unbending integrity, and deep convictions of 

 his grandparent with equal respect and admi- 

 ration. 



In 1812 the mother of young Richmond re- 

 moved with her child from Vermont to Salina, 

 now a part of the city of Syracuse, in the State 

 of New York, where his father had been engaged 

 in business for several years. In his youth his 

 educational advantages were limited, and his de- 

 ficiency in early culture was often the subject of 

 regret and chagrin to him in his after-life. But 

 he surmounted the difficulties resulting there- 

 from with amazing facility. The reteutiveness 

 of his memory was something prodigious, and he 

 mastered every question that engaged his at- 

 tention, with a degree of readiness and ease 

 that few men, however accomplished, ever at- 

 tain. Superficial observers are accustomed to 

 suppose that men of his mould, self-made and 

 self-contained, are not to be improved by edu- 

 cation that thorough culture and training 

 would not have made Dean Richmond a more 

 effective man, or increased the power he 

 wielded in public affairs. No such fallacy had 

 a place in his mind. He appreciated the ad- 

 vantages of extensive knowledge, and always 

 lamented that his opportunities for its acqui- 

 sition in early life had been so circumscribed. 

 In fact, it may be doubted whether he did not 

 over-estimate his deficiencies in this respect. 

 He had read a great deal, particularly of his- 

 tory and biography, and what he read he never 

 forgot. His political information was exten- 

 sive, general, and precise. With the personal 

 politics of the country few men had a more 

 thorough acquaintance, and no one gauged 

 with greater precision the calibre of those who 

 are popularly supposed to exercise the largest 

 influence on tbe conduct of the government. 

 Early in life he took an active part in poli- 

 tics, and while yet a boy he enjoyed the 

 confidence of the Democratic leaders who 

 constituted the Albany Regency. In all the 

 primary assemblages of Onondaga he was a 

 leading spirit, and his word was law with the 

 young Democrats of the county. lie was al- 

 ways a leader among his fellows; but, while 



he aided in the bestowment of official distinc- 

 tions and other gratifications, he would never 

 accept office or public honors of any kind. He 

 was a man of decided convictions, and while 

 he regarded the maintenance of Democratic 

 principles as essential to the well-being of the 

 country, his restless temperament and love of 

 excitement had a strong influence in leading 

 him to take part in all political contests. The 

 power he exercised in public affairs was to be re- 

 ferred in large measure to his refusal of all party 

 honors and advantages. Then he contributed 

 liberally of his ample means for political pur- 

 poses, and his counsels were wise and judicious. 

 He was thrown upon his own resources at an 

 early day, his father dying when he was about 

 fourteen years old, and his mother two years 

 afterward. Mr. Richmond, senior, was an 

 energetic, capable business man, but having 

 met with reverses in trade at Salina, he col- 

 lected his means and went South to better his 

 fortunes. He died at Mobile, being then about 

 forty -five years of age. 



Dean Richmond, meantime, had turned his at- 

 tention to business with that sagacity, energy, and 

 perseverance which marked his career in after 

 life. At the early age of fifteen he commenced 

 the manufacture of salt at Salina, having no other 

 capital than a legacy of debt bequeathed him 

 by his father. He found a market for his salt 

 in the North and East, transporting it in boats 

 down the Oswego River to Lake Ontario, and 

 down the Mohawk to Schenectady. He was 

 eminently prosperous in his undertakings, and 

 the intelligent enterprise with which he con- 

 ducted his affairs, with his high sense of integ- 

 rity and personal honor, won him the confidence 

 and regard of all with whom he was brought in 

 contact. Having amassed an amount of money 

 adequate to the necessities of the business, he 

 removed to Buffalo in 1842, and engaged in the 

 purchase and transportation of the prodiicts of 

 the west. He was almost invariably successful 

 in his enterprises, and in the course of a few 

 years became one of the wealthiest business 

 men in the lake country. 



His interest in politics, meantime, never 

 diminished or flagged. He was still as busy 

 and active in elections and the preliminary 

 canvass, as when he led the hardy young Dem- 

 ocrats of Onond;iga to victory. His residence 

 was in the village of Attica, in the strong 

 "Whig county of Wyoming, and his influence 

 was seen in the steadily increasing Democratic 

 vote of that region. He was a leading director 

 in the Attica and Buffalo Railroad ; and when 

 the direct line to Batavia was built he removed 

 to that town, where his family still reside. 



When the Erie Railroad was finished to 

 Lake Erie, and the Pennsylvania Central had 

 completed its track, it was apparent that the 

 several companies which now compose the 

 New York Central could not successfully com- 

 pete with those great lines unless they were 

 consolidated and operated by one controlling 

 mind. Here were seven distinct corporations, 



