CALVERT COMSTOCK

HON. CALVERT COMSTOCK was born in the town of Western, Oneida county, July 2, 1812, and died in Rome, N Y., October 10, 1877. He was early dependent upon his own resources for both a livelihood and an education, and at the age of sixteen began teaching school. In the intervals of this occupation and farm labor he prepared himself for college and in 1831 entered Hamilton College, where he spent two years. There he was one of the founders of the Alpha Delta Phi Society. Compelled by circumstances to relinquish collegiate life he began the study of law with his cousin, Ichabod C. Baker, in Whitesboro, and in 1835 was admitted to the bar. He then formed a co-partnership with Mr. Baker, which continued until 1838, when he removed to Rome to fill a vacancy in the firm of Foster & Stryker, occasioned by the removal of Hon. Charles Tracy to Utica. The firm became Foster, Stryker & Comstock and so continued until January 1, 1841, when Judge Henry A. Foster retired upon a re-election to the State Senate. The firm of Stryker & Comstock continued till July 7, 1816, when Bloomfield J. Beach became a member. In August, 1847, Mr. Stryker retired and Comstock & Beach continued until January 1, 1855, when Mr. Comstock retired permanently from the law, and at the earnest solicitation of his friends in the Democratic party removed to Albany to take charge of the Albany Argus, then the State organ of the Hunker wing of the Democrats.

As a lawyer Mr. Comstock distinguished himself in his profession, and during his twenty years of active practice won a high reputation among both associates and clients. He was eminently successful—a man of honor, candor, courtesy, ability, and integrity, of discriminating judgment, sound common sense, and great love of justice. In 1845 he was appointed district attorney and by election held that office until 1850, when his extensive law business compelled him to resign. He was a member of assembly in 1845, and in connection with the State Constitution of 1846 won a state-wide reputation. He was chairman of the select committee on that subject, and took the ground that under the constitution of 1821 the Legislature had no right to submit to the people the question of calling a constitutional convention. On this point he made an elaborate report, the law and facts of which stood unchallenged. He framed such amendments to the constitution as in his judgment were demanded, and urged their adoption by the Legislature and subsequent submission to the people, but he was beaten by a combination of Barnburners and Whigs. In the end his judgment was vindicated, for lawyers and statesmen conceded that the constitution of 1846 was inferior, as a whole, to that of 1821.
Mr. Comstock had a large journalistic experience. From 1838 until the close of the campaign of 1840 he had charge as editor of the Rome Sentinel. In 1847 he became a partner in the firm of A. J. Rowley & Co., in its proprietorship, the editor being his brother Elon. In July, 1852, Calvert and Elon Comstock purchased the plant and established the Rome Daily Sentinel, which they successfully conducted until 1855, when they sold it to D. E. Wager and D. C. Rowley. Calvert Comstock then went to Albany and succeeded Edwin Croswell as editor of the Argus. The Atlas, then edited by William Cassidy, represented the other wing of the Democratic party. Shortly afterward the uniting of the two factions brought about the consolidation of the two papers and Messrs. Comstock and Cassidy continued in partnership until the former was compelled in 1866 to retire, his constitution having suddenly and completely broken down under the strain of constant labor. He returned to Rome and spent the remainder of his life.
Mr. Comstock always manifested a lively interest in the advancement and prosperity of Rome. He was influential in the construction of the various plank roads which in 1848 were built from the city in several directions. He was largely interested in the building of the Rome, Watertown and Cape Vincent railroad and for twenty years was a director of the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad Company. He was president of the Boston, Rome and Oswego Railroad Company, a projected railroad intended to take advantage of the completion of the Hoosac tunnel, and personally superintended the entire survey of the line. About 1849 he purchased, in connection with Hon. Edward Huntington, a large tract of land in Rome from George Clarke and brought it into market as building lots. He was chiefly influential in securing the charter for the city of Rome and in 1870 was elected the first mayor. He also served for many years as president of the Board of Education.
April 27, 1836, Mr. Comstock married Miss Eliza Mann SILL, eldest daughter of Gen. Theodore Sill, of Whitesboro, the law partner of Thomas R. Gold. Mrs. Comstock died in 1868, leaving four daughters and three sons, all of whom survived their father.


EDWARD COMSTOCK

HON. EDWARD COMSTOCK, son of Hon. Calvert and Eliza Mann (SILL) Comstock, was born in Rome, N. Y., April 30, 1842. He first decided upon a legal career and read law, but abandoned this to become lieutenant and adjutant in the 146th N. Y. Vols. in the war of the Rebellion. He was with the 146th N. Y. Vols. in the battle of Fredericksburg and Gettysburg. Afterward he was on General Ganard's staff, commanding division of cavalry attached to General Sherman's army in the advance from Chattanooga to Atlanta. Returning to his home in Rome he engaged in business with his father as a lumber manufacturer. In 1876 he established himself in the wholesale and retail lumber trade, with which he has since been identified.
Mr. Comstock is a prominent and influential factor in the Democratic party, and like his respected father, has always taken a keen interest in the welfare and prosperity of the city of Rome. He was twice elected mayor, and is now a member of the Board of Education.

 

EDWARD HUNTINGTON

The first American ancestor of this branch of the Huntington family of which there is any authentic record was Simon, who , spent his youth in Windsor, Conn., but removed to Norwich in 1660, where he passed the remainder of his life. Benjamin Huntington, one of his descendants and the grandfather of the subject of this memoir, was born in Norwich, Conn., April 19, 1736, graduated from Yale in 1761, and soon became a prominent lawyer in his native town. He was a member of the Continental Congress in 1780-84 and 1787-88 and in 1789 was chosen from Connecticut to the first Congress of the United States. From 1781 to 1790 and from 1791 to 1793 he was a member of the Upper House of the Connecticut Legislature; in 1784 he became the first mayor of the city of Norwich, an office he held till he resigned in 1796. In 1793 he was appointed judge of the Superior Court and served in that capacity until 1798. During the Revolutionary war he rendered valuable service to the State and was a member of the convention held at New Haven for the regulation of the army. On one occasion, in the absence from home of Judge Huntington, his patriotic wife, in response to a pressing call on the part of the army, sent all their bedding and available clothing to the heroic soldiers, supplying their place on the bed by blankets cut from carpets on the floor.
His son, George Huntington, was born June 5, 1770, and was married May 21, 1794, to Hannah THOMAS, of Norwich, Conn. He came to Whitestown, Oneida county, in 1792, and in 1793 removed to Rome (then Fort Stanwix), where in partnership with a brother, Henry, he established the first store at Fort Stanwix, now Rome, opening their goods for sale in the tavern of John Barnard, which stood just northeast of the present court house. Both were natives of Connecticut. In 1794 George Huntington built a frame store and dwelling on Dominick street and the firm continued mercantile business till about 1816. He was the first supervisor of the town of Rome in 1796, and held that office also in 1804, 1814, and 1817.
In 1798 he was appointed one of the first side judges of the Common Pleas for the new county of Oneida, and was reappointed in 1801 and 1804. In 1810 he was elected to the Assembly and in 1813 defeated for the office of lieutenant. governor on the Federal ticket. In 1815 and again in 1822 he ran for State senator, but was defeated. He was elected to the assembly in 1818, 1819, 1820, and 1821, and from 1797 to 1819 officiated as collector for the Western Inland Canal. He was trustee of Rome village in 1820, 1821, 1822, 1826, and 1827, and died, universally respected and esteemed September 23, 1841.
He reared a family of eight children, of whom Edward was the youngest.

Hon. Edward Huntington was born in Rome, June 23, 1817, and died here April 17, 1881. He prepared for college at Oliver C. Grosvenor's school, but failing health compelled him to abandon the idea of a collegiate training and turn his attention to civil engineering for the sake of outdoor exercise. In this occupation he found an ample field for the development of his talents and the congenial employment of his native energy. He afterward spent some time in Cuba, where, with Benjamin H. Wright, he was engaged on railroad surveys. Returning to Rome he became one of the engineers on the Utica and Schenectady Railroad and in 1839 was made chief of a corps of engineers employed on the enlargement of the Erie Canal, with headquarters at Fort Plain. Upon the death of his father in 1841 he resigned this position and returned to Rome to look after the large lauded and other property comprising the estate, which with his own interests commanded his attention ever afterward. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1846 and rendered valuable service in that important body. He was also for several years president of the village of Rome.
In 1855 Mr. Huntington was elected president of the Rome Savings Bank to succeed the late Hervey Brayton and held that position until he resigned in 1878. Upon the death of Robert B. Doxtater in 1863 he was made president of the Rome Exchange (now the First National) Bank and officiated in that capacity until his decease. He was one of the prime movers in organizing the Rome Iron Works Company in 1866 and served as its president till his death. He was also largely instrumental in forming the Merchants Iron Mill, of which he was continuously a valued trustee. In all benevolent and charitable enterprises Mr. Huntington was ever a foremost participant and in every movement which promised benefit to the community his name was conspicuous. He was one of the moving spirits in founding the Central New York Institution for Deaf Mutes in Rome in 1875 and was a member of its board of trustees from the organization until his death. He was also a trustee of the Rome Cemetery Association, a director in the Rome & Clinton Railroad Company, and for many years a director and vice-president of the First National Bank of Utica.

Mr. Huntington always manifested a deep interest in educational matters and was especially prominent in establishing the Rome Academy, of which he was long a trustee. He was also influential in organizing the Rome free school system and became a member of the first Board of Education, a position he filled with singular ability and universal satisfaction. He was a faithful friend of and identified with the Young Men's Christian Association from its inception, being its first president and a member of its board of directors until his death. Throughout life he was a prominent member of the Presbyterian church.
Edward Huntington was first a Whig and later a Republican, a man of quiet and retiring disposition, and neither sought nor desired public office, yet he never shirked responsibility. He discharged every duty with an impartiality and fearlessness born of love of right and justice. He was a man of strict integrity, unswerving fidelity, and of great uprightness of character. A devout Christian, a life-long friend of popular education, a staunch supporter of the moral and public welfare, he was ever a generous promoter of all projects which promised advancement to the community. He had the best interests of Rome at heart, and contributed of both time and means toward building up the city and furthering its prosperity. He was widely respected and esteemed, and retained the confidence of all with whom he came into contact. Being heavily interested in real estate and numerous business enterprises he was one of the largest taxpayers, and in every capacity his counsel and advice carried the prestige of conviction.

September 4, 1844, Mr. Huntington was married to Miss Antoinette RANDALL, daughter of William Randall, of Cortland, N. Y., who survives him, as do also a son and four daughters.

 

W. J. P. KINGSLEY, M.D.

WILLEY J. P. KINGSLEY, M. D., mayor of the city of Rome, N. Y., a son of Obediah and Lovina (TUCKER) Kingsley, and was born on a farm in Frankfort, Herkimer county, four miles east of Utica, on July 9, 1824. His grandfather, Jedediah Kingsley, came from Rhode Island to Utica when that city contained but one frame building; he soon moved to Herkimer county and died there.
Dr. Kingsley obtained his education by his own efforts. Reared on a farm amid the deprivations of the pioneer life of those early days his advantages at district schools were necessarily limited, but by continued exertion he was enabled to attend Whitestown Seminary, from which he was graduated. He read medicine with Drs. Charles B. Coventry and D. G. Thomas, of Utica, and took a two years' course at the Geneva Medical College. In March, 1855, he was graduated with the degree of M. D. from the New York Medical College and the same year began the practice of his profession in Utica.
In the spring of 1856 he came to Rome, where he has ever since resided. For many years he was engaged in a large general surgical practice, having at one time a more extensive professional business than any other physician in the city. Finally cancer cases presented themselves in such constantly increasing numbers that he was obliged to devote most of his time to their treatment, and eventually abandoned his family practice altogether. He now confines his attention exclusively to the treatment of cancer, chronic diseases, and to surgery, having specially equipped hospitals for the purpose. He has treated over 40.000 cancer cases, and enjoys almost a world wide reputation for skill and success.
Dr. Kingsley has been president of the Farmers' National Bank since its organization, and was president of its predecessor, the Bank of Rome, which was incorporated as a State bank in 1865. He was one of the incorporators of the Central New York Institution for Deaf Mutes in Rome in 1875 and served as its vice-president until 1895, when he was elected president. He was president of the old Rome Iron Works and is now vice-president of the Rome Brass and Copper Company, the Rome Cemetery Association, and the Jervis Literary Association. He was one of the directors of the locomotive works, and is heavily interested in many other business enterprises. He is the largest individual tax payer in the city. In charitable and benevolent movements he is always a prominent factor, and no project promising benefit to the community fails to receive his substantial aid and encouragement. Public spirited, enterprising, liberal, and kind hearted, he is widely respected as a citizen as well as a successful physician. The Y. M. C. A., the City Hospital, and numerous other similar objects, as well as nearly every important commercial or manufacturing enterprise, have felt the impulse of his aid and benevolence. In politics he has always been a staunch Republican, but has never sought office or public preferment. At the charter election in March, 1895, he was elected mayor of the city of Rome, though a Democratic stronghold, by a handsome majority, and his service in that capacity has been characterized by fidelity, impartiality, and general satisfaction.

December 4, 1860, Dr. Kingsley was married to Miss Georgeanna M. VOGEL, daughter of Henry C. Vogel, D.D., for many years pastor of the Baptist church at Rome. They have had three sons :
Burt A., who died aged two years, three months, and thirteen days ;
George L., who was graduated from Yale College in 1886 and from Harvard Medical College in 1890, appointed house surgeon to the Massachusetts General Hospital, and died there September 25, 1890;
and Willey L., also a graduate of Yale College, class of 1886, and of Harvard Medical College in 1890, who, after receiving his diploma as M. D., formed a partnership with his father under the style of W J. P. Kingsley & Son, which still continues.
In 1891 Dr. and Mrs. Kingsley erected in the Rome Cemetery a handsome memorial chapel, and in the same year equipped the new gymnasium of Yale University at New Haven, Conn., both in memory of their deceased son, Dr. George L.