Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1850-07-20
Willard Fillmore.

This gentleman has taken the oath of office
and entered upon the discharge OF his duties
as President of the United States. He is a
northern man with national principles; and al
though a Wing in every sentiment and feeling,
his past acts prove him to be anything but an
ultraist-one who clings to old WORKOUT prin-
ciples regardless Of the change which time and
progress create. 1t is stated, in a te!egraphic
despatch to the Picayune of Wednesday, that
before his death Gen. Taylor had prepared a
message to Congress, in which he took strong
ground against the claim Of Texas to Sante Re,
but that Mr.. Fillmore withholds the document.
We consider this act alone as demonstrating
his wisdom, observation-disclosures, and friendship
for the South; for we are sorry to say, that
we believe such a message at such 4 time,
would be highly impolitic, to say the least.
But the best guarantee that the people
have of Mr.. Fillmore's patriotism and nation
altv, is the fact, that through his individual ex-
e%rtions, struggling through poverty, he arose
to that eminent position, from which, through
an act Of Providence, he has stepped into the
Presidential chair.
It cannot be denied that Mr. Fillmore takes
hold of the reins Of Government at a critical
period, and his very first acts or recommends
tons, upon subjects which will demand his i'm
mediate attention, will either ensure him vast
popularity or sink him deeply in the estimation
| of his countrymen. The act alluded to above,
regarding the message of his predecessor rela-
tive to Texas and Sante Fe, may be regarded
as his first, and is a good omen Of the wisdom
that will guide him in the future. The qnes-
ton of the prisoners in Havana is the next that
he is expected to take under consideration. If
Com. Morris returns to Washington from his
embassy to Cuba with the intelligence that the
prisoners cannot be released until the stormal-
itie," have been got through with, Mr.. Fillmore
may depend upon it that the people will expect
nothing else from him but an imperative de-
mand forthwith. No other ground can be Ia
ken, we conceive And, upon the slavery ques-
ton, we feel assured, (as Mr.. Clay has been
proclaimed the champion Of the new admins
tration,) that the President will adopt the CON-
promise principle Of this distinguished Senator,
which would accord with the sentiment Of the
South.
In the Picayune of Tuesday we find the fol-
lowing short sketch of Mr.. Fillmore's life, not
inappropriate to be inserted here, and which is
particularly interesting at this time. 1t is writ
ten by a gentleman well acquainted with Mr..
Fillmore and his family:
Willard Fillmore's father, Francis Fillmore,
together with his brother, were among the first
settlers in the western part OF the State OF
New York, locating themselves in the town
ship of Aurora, Erie county. Here the family
continued to reside, to my knowledge, as late
as the wear 1880, Mr.. Fillmore, the father Of
Willard, at the time occupying a very respecta-
BILE position in society, being one OF the leading
men in that section of country, and, though not
%opulent, was still one of that independent class
of men called farmers, who think that a good
common school education is quite sufficient for
their children, which was all that young Fill
more received, until he subsequently gave him
self a finished education, after he left his ia
theirs roof.
Willard Fillmore, being the oldest son of a
large family of children, when he reached the
age of eighteen, proposed to bis father that he
should try his fortune single-handed, at some
other location, to which his parents and family
consented. He accordingly left his parental
home and went to Penn Yam, a small village in
the interior of New York, where he obtained
employment as clerk in a retail store. He con-
tinued in this capacity for some time, but, not
being content with the mercantile business, he
abandonedit and commenced preparing himself
for the study of the Law. He followed up this
plan most zealously. occasionally employing
himself in teaching school for his own support,
until 1924, when he returned to his native town
| and was admitted to the bar of the Court of
| Common Pleas for the county of Erie. He
| remained there until 1928, when he removed to
Buffalo, where he soon became one of the most
prominent members of the bar, and his contin-
ued domicil has been there up to the present
time. -z