802 



SEYMOUK, HORATIO. 



SMITH, ERMINNIE ADELLE. 



other candidates, and it became one of the 

 weakest points of attack in the presidential 

 canvass. It has been said that the New York 

 delegation passed a resolution in favor of trans- 

 ferring the vote of the State from Sanford E. 

 Church to Salmon P. Chase; but it was left 

 to Samuel J. Tilden to choose the time for 

 making the change, and he delayed too long. 

 Mr. Seymour took up the burden of the can- 

 vass manfully and made sixty speeches in dif- 

 ferent States, pointing out the dangers of the 

 reconstruction policy, and criticising the whole 

 course of Republican administration. He was 

 none the less bold and eloquent, though be- 

 lieving his defeat to be a foregone conclusion, 

 as his candidacy had put any Republican re- 

 volt out of the question. On Nov. 3, 1868, he 

 carried Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Louis- 

 iana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and 

 Oregon. Mississippi, Virginia, and Texas did 

 not vote, and the rest of the States were car- 

 ried by Gen. Grant. It was claimed by the 

 Republicans that New York State had only 

 been carried for Mr. Seymour by fraudulent 

 counting in the city of New York. The elec- 

 toral vote stood 214 for Grant, and 80 for Sey- 

 mour ; the popular vote, 3,015,071 for Grant, 

 and 2,709,213 for Seymour. This defeat vir- 

 tually closed Mr. Seymour's political career; 

 for, though mentioned in connection with the 

 presidency regularly every four years, offered 

 the senatorship, and nominated for the gov- 

 ernorship, he refused steadily to have anything 

 to do with public office. 



In many departments outside of politics he 

 was active. He loved farming, and was post- 

 master of the town of Deerfield, where he 

 made his home in 1864, and he often delivered 

 addresses at agricultural gatherings on the im- 

 provement of methods of culture or on the 

 development of facilities for marketing prod- 

 ucts. He was a member of the Episcopal 

 Church, and frequently took part in its con- 

 ventions as a lay delegate. He was a member 

 of the commission for the State survey, and 

 was in an especial way the champion of the 

 canal system of the State; and never, to the 

 close of his career, ceased to urge its impor- 

 tance to the commercial supremacy of the State 

 and give counsel for the furtherance of its in- 

 terests. He was master of everything con- 

 nected with the history, topography, and insti- 

 tutions of New York. He occasionally con- 

 tributed a paper to the magazines. 



The remote origin of his last illness was a 

 sunstroke, which he suffered in 1876 while 

 overseeing the repairing of roads in Deerfield. 

 He died at the residence of his sister, Mrs. 

 Roscoe Conkling, in Utica, where he had gone 

 with Mrs. Seymour, who had become serious- 

 ly ill in the beginning of the winter, and who 

 survived him only twenty days. They had no 

 children. 



It is safe to say that the Democratic party 

 of New York never had a leader who was so 

 close to the heart of its masses as Horatio Sey- 



mour; and though bitterly hated as well as 

 fervently loved, and recklessly abused as well as 

 unsparingly praised, he lived long enough to 

 see all old animosities soften into respect and 

 confidence, while no old affection failed. He 

 was of fair stature, lithely and gracefully built, 

 and had a refined and delicate face, lighted by 

 dark, glowing eyes. In social intercourse he 

 was simple in manner and considerate in spirit, 

 with abundant resources for the entertainment 

 and instruction of those that sought him. As 

 an orator he was easy, agreeable, and yet 

 powerful, plausible and candid in ordinary ar- 

 gument, and yet rising often into true elo- 

 quence. His beautiful home in Deerfield, 

 about three miles from Utica, was an old-fash- 

 ioned farm-house on a slope fianked with 

 woods, and facing the gently rolling hills and 

 valleys of Oneida, which could be seen lying 

 for miles in shadow or in shine. 



SMITH, ERMIMIE ADELLE, an American sci- 

 entist, born in Marcellus, N. Y., April 26, 1836 ; 

 died in Jersey City, N. J., June 9, 1886. Her 

 maiden name was Platt. She was educated at 

 Mrs. Willard's seminary in Troy, N. Y., and in 

 1855 married Simeon II. Smith, of Jersey City, 

 N. J., which place was thenceforth her home. 

 From childhood she devoted herself to the 





ERMINNIE ADELLE SMITH. 



study. of geology, both theoretically and prac- 

 tically, and as a result of her work had made 

 one of the largest private collections in the 

 country. She spent four years in Europe with 

 her sons, studying science and language, during 

 which period she was graduated at the School 

 of Mines, Freiberg, Saxony, and after her re- 

 turn gave frequent courses of lectures in par- 

 lors, and for charitable objects, on scientific 

 and other subjects. She also organized and 

 became President of the ^Esthetic Society of 

 Jersey City, whose monthly receptions, from 



