SEYMOUR, HORATIO. 



799 



pointment, and second Mayor of Utica, of 

 which place he became a resident about 1821. 

 Horatio Seymour attended school in his native 

 village until he was ten years of age, when 

 he was sent to Oxford Academy. In the spring 

 of 1824 he entered Geneva Academy (now Ho- 

 bart College), and remained there a year, going 

 thence to Partridge's Military School at Mid- 

 dletown, Conn. He studied law with Greene C. 

 Bronson and Samuel Beardsley, and was ad- 

 mitted to the bar in 1832; though he never 

 practiced his profession, the care of the prop- 

 erty he had inherited taking up much of his 

 time. In 183C he became military secretary 

 of Gov. Marcy, and held the place until 1839. 

 On May 31, 1835, he married Mary Bleecker, 

 of Albany. 



In 1841 he was elected to the State Assem- 

 bly as a Democrat; and in 1842 was elected 

 Mayor of Utica by a majority of 130 over 

 Spencer Kellogg, the Whig candidate. In 1843 

 he was renominated, and was beaten by Fred- 

 erick Hollister, by the narrow majority of 16 

 votes; but in the autumn of the same year he 

 was again elected to the Assembly, and, in the 

 session that began in 1844 he distinguished 

 himself among men like John A. Dix, San- 

 ford E. Church, and Michael Hoffman. He 

 was chairman of the Committee on Canals, 

 and presented an elaborate report, which was 

 the basis of the canal policy of the State for 

 many years. He advocated the employment 

 of the surplus revenue to enlarge the locks of 

 the Erie and proceed with the construction of 

 the Black River and Genesee Valley Canals, 

 and showed thorough confidence in the devel- 

 opment of trade with the West. He was again 

 elected to the Assembly in the autumn of 1844, 

 and was chosen Speaker in the Legislature of 

 1845. In the bitter quarrel of Democratic fac- 

 tions that followed, Seymour, though known 

 as a " Hunker " and opposed to the u Barn- 

 burner" revolt of 1847, was anxious for the 

 harmony of the party. It was as a man ac- 

 ceptable to all factions that he became the 

 candidate of the Democratic party for Gov- 

 ernor in 1850 ; but he was defeated by the W T hig 

 candidate, Washington Hunt, by a majority of 

 262, while Sanford E. Church, his associate on 

 the Democratic ticket, was elected Lieutenant- 

 Governor. In 1852 he was a delegate to the 

 Democratic National Convention at Baltimore, 

 and did all in his power to have the vote of 

 New York cast solidly for William L. Marcy, 

 but failed. The same year he was again nom- 

 inated as the Democratic candidate for Gov- 

 ernor, and was elected by a majority of 22,596 

 over his former competitor, Washington Hunt. 

 During his term there was a strong temperance 

 movement on foot in the State, and the Legis- 

 lature passed a prohibition law, which Gov. 

 Seymour vetoed. He was opposed to sump- 

 tuary legislation in a general way, and to that 

 measure in particular, as unconstitutional. This 

 veto was one of the most unpopular acts ever 

 done by a public man, and provoked intensely 



bitter criticism. In 1854 Mr. Seymour was 

 renominated for the governorship, and received 

 156,495 votes to 156,804 cast for Myron II. 

 Clark, the temperance candidate, 122,282 for 

 Daniel Ullrnan, the "Know-Nothing" candi- 

 date, and 33,550 for Greene C. Bronson, the 

 candidate of the "Hard-shell Democrats. The 

 vetoed law was again passed by the Legisla- 

 ture, was approved by the Governor, and was 

 finally declared unconstitutional by fche Court 

 of Appeals. In 1856 he was a delegate to the 

 National Democratic Convention at Cincinnati, 

 which nominated Buchanan and Breckinridge, 

 and he supported the ticket actively in the 

 canvass of that year. 



He opposed the policy of the " Know-Noth- 

 ing " party strongly, and without denying the 

 right of the people of this country to regulate 

 immigration, or even forbid it altogether, 



HORATIO SEYMOUR. 



which he asserted many years afterward in 

 regard to the Chinese importation, he pleaded 

 for a liberal policy toward immigrants. 



He presented facts showing that the growth 

 of the North was much more rapid than the 

 growth of the South, and declared that the 

 political power of the country had passed into 

 the hands of the free States. He added : ' It 

 will now be seen if the North will use its 

 power fairly. If it does not, the South has 

 the ability, and I hope the spirit, to resist in- 

 justice. If it does not do so, it will be untrue 

 to itself, to us, and to the whole country." 



In 1857 Mr. Seymour received from Presi- 

 dent Buchanan the offer of a first-class foreign 

 mission, but declined it ; and he took no promi- 

 nent part in politics until the secession move- 

 ment began and threatened serious conse- 

 quences. He was a member of the committee 

 on resolutions at the convention held at Twed- 

 dle Hall, Albany, Jan. 31, 1861, after the seces- 

 sion of six States, to consider the feasibility 

 of compromise measures; and he delivered a 



