New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-11-25
THE LATE SENATOR FERRY.
HIS POLITICAL CAREER.

TRR DIAoS, AND FERRf-IHk bA"LAS Dull
or 1872.
trsox A srAyF CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRiBUNEl
Nxw-fiAvEN, Nov. 20.-The death of Soma
Tor O,ri. 4 Ferry nj his home, i'm Norwalk on sun
day. although mt By any means unexpected, the
condition OF his health having been such for the past
three or four years that hs death at any time would
Lave occasioaod surprise, came Notwithstanding
with something Of o shock to the community he had
40 long represented in his various oiolal eapacts'
The death of any one sets people renemDerIhs'
When even the most incolspcuous OF your neigh
bors falls out of the ranks, you invoiuntariy go
back In memory 20 the time when first you met hin'
and recall the things, small and unImportaht
tboncb tbay may De, in which he acted and OF
which lao was in some sense part. Wnen man
in public life who had been mixed in, and part Of
qroat affairs in the State the nation, you usen-
siblyparenthesze him in the period in which he
acted. gather up with him the things he did. the
great aiur, he touched and was part Of remember
at elauc, the high points in his career, and IN re-
memboTing him aud them clasp and bind mp JUST
IN much OF history. There's much In the shear you
gather ;at is part OF the time rather than tine man.
muel, that will drop ont IN a moment and perhaps
Won will live 70 see that nothing OF 1t was worm
tbe saving but a name. Bat ago is gaTulous ana
delights to think that the little things IL mas
monopoly Of remembering are valuable, because the
knowIedge of them is confined to few who are
constantly growing fewer, just as the Ion6ihe
shares increase in value as the " nominees dle gu
rhe death OF senator Ferry recalls the story OF the
oariod of little over twenty years IN ConnectCut
politics in which he figured largely; and few
reminiscnDccs of the same may not he amiss.
In 1854 Orrs s. Perry was practic;ng law in FAR
field County-ten years out of college eight nj the
bar; had been Judge Of Probate; had taken come
interest in the State militia and boone Lleuteh-
ant Colonel but was not active nor conspicuous IN
po;tics. fsg which he lad sho far neither taste
nor aptitude. IA 1871 tho State was revoru0nized
politically under the stress Of the Prohibition cru
sade, just then becoming popular and the ehec' Of
Ito KsnsasN ebraSka bill. and public sentiment OH
boil, questions was eulbalmed III the legislation
which followed; the temperance sentiment in the
prohibitory law passed that year, ard the anti
Nebraska or more properly antl-saverS, feeling IN
the massage OF the FIRST Personal Liberty BILL en-
soted in the North in nuifcation of the odons
feainres of the Fugitive Slave law, the latter being
the work of the Hon. Henry Il. Harrison. then q
Senator The Wings, Free Sellers, and Siaine-Law
men elected Gov button and had majority IN
tbe Icoisiaturc Truman Smith, with few
months left of his Senatorial term, had resigned,
leaving VACANCY 10 be filled and his successor for
foil term was 10 DC chosen. James Dixon was III
tho state senate and La Fayettc < Foster Speaker
Ut the House. both candidates for the iul term ana
Dixon very confdentOf succe>s Among roster sIloS'
energetic friends Augustus Brandegee Oh New
London. 70 him. perhaps. more than to any other
single person Foster owed his success. Twelve
years afierwarl Brandegoe was Memoer OF Con-
gre.. and Foster a candidate for his second TO
election Bsandcgce was again on hand; he came
from WASH agt0n - assist in the election, AMI thls
time Foster owed 30 him tdal any other single
person hs defoat. Among DixOns most Jealous Olr
ponents was Henry Hammond VI hiliingiy, an Old
tmo AhOtionist, who represented the Free SOueI'
In the Senatorship negotiations. Ills shrewdi"Ss
and tact ia this affair impressed Dixon that De
made friends with him ut tho earliest opportunity
and had his support Whenever atseT"aTd he was a
candidate. have heard q great deal OF hard tax
about "Old Hammond" on account of it TOO.
There aro strange shifts in this business of politics.
II one only TomemJers them. There werc enough
Free Soilers N the LcGi,lature-p ominont among
whom was Fosters colleague, Noses Pierce oi
Noryicl-to demand tie short tenn for their OV "a
msn, and the result tho election Of Francis Gil
lets for The short and La Fayetto :. Foster Iof the
long term. Dixon -orely disappointed but went
homo end cot ready b. take Isaac IOace place two
years later. The ne4t year The continuation oil
what had bocome WITHIN = few months the absorb
ing mystory of politics-the Know-Ncthing move
o,e,t ln the carly spring oftbat year Il $50 some
OF the 0aierS or bitt M II GRO Ann
Senatorial District casting about for canadate for
tho state senate Gxoj upon O. 5. Ferry. lie was a
yonnc man who hal not been in politics enough to
be ooen 30 the objoctiol that WAS then fatal TO the
old and experienced politicians, Of being wire
puIefs lle had exhibited political ambition, al
though he was recognizes a. a m91 of brilliant tai
eots witch ho was allowing 20 run 70 waste.
When tho KnOw-Nothng leaders waited upon
Forty and Informed hin in tho mysterious manner
sith which they med, thcir communications that
they wanted to nominate him for state Senator, he
was taken 10y surprise What me - he SAID.
Ruo rae for ScnatoTl You can't be III earnest,
gentlemen" Convinced of theif seriousness. at
Iength he decided to accept the nomination, and
with that deoisiou he formed resolution regarding
his futtrc. which. though unsnuo1nced, be never
sfterward forgot OF faitered in, and from which no
foundation ever swerved him. The Know
NoEIings carried the State by an Overwhelming
majority. The Legislature, strange to say, con-
tanned some Of the brightest mind, in the State. and
among them Ferry became speedily a recognized
laador diviling with Edmund Perkins, member 81
the House from Norwich the honors Of leadership of
Che Legislature and oi the party. These two, aided
by Elihn Spencer of Middleton. a young lawyer OF
tine abilities and conservative temper, who
died the following year, held the rampant majority
IN check. and compelled the doing of some very
wise sud sensible things, while they prevented
great deal of reckless dong and undo
ing for Which the hot-headed new mon in politics
vere eager. In that session Ferry exhibited the
same independence of judgment and stubbornness
of conviction which were 80 characteristic of HIS
subsequent career. He was always impetuous and
earnest at times he seemed headstrong and self
willed but he never lacked a well defined purpose,
and was never timid in svowing it. never slow or
hesfafine in the pursuit of II. In 1853 he