Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1885-01-07
The POstOffice.

The Rev. DIR. Ashbel Ct. Vermilye
read paper of usual interest at the
stated meeting of the New York histori-
cal society last evening, says the New
York Tribune. Beginning with spicy
description of the Importance of the
postal service, and of early efforts in the
transmission of letters, he gave special
attention to the history of the New York
postofice in colonial and revolutionary
times, of its first postmaster and his
achievements. The following are ex-
tracts from the address:
The New York postoffice was estab
Hshed in ITS. It was not the first by
any means either in this city or the
country. Ripper tells us what excite
ment it made, January 1, 1878, when
the first monthly postman between
New York and Boston drew up at the
tavern with his @portmantels q corrup-
ton of portmanteaux crammed with
letters and small portable goods" This
service was undertaken by the colonial
government of New York. In 1892 one
person, Thomas Neale, received letters
patent in England to take charge of the
whole postal business of the colonies.
Then in 1704, new arrangement was
made-a general Office in London, IN
der postmaster general, with colonial
deputy postmaster general at New
York. For fifty years, however,
things went poorly under British
management. The service did not
pay till, in 1853, when Benjamin
Franklin came into Office as deputy
postmaster general for the colonies
Then began system. He established
the penny post, made newspapers pay
which hitherto had been perquisities of
the postmasters and advertised
letters, reduced rates, and quickened
up riders and everything else. The re-
suit of Franklin's energy was that in
1774 there was clear annual revenue
to Great Britain of $4,000. In
that year. for political reasons, he was
dismissed, and the whole service practi-
caliy collapsed, only again to reach like
success under our two postmasters and
postmasters general, Ebenezer Hazard
and Thomas L. James.
On July 26, ITS, the New York pro-
vincial congress recommended my
grandfather, Ebenezer Hazard, to the
continental congress as fit person for
postmaster, and on October 5, 1775, he
was duly appointed by that body the
first postmaster of New York-nine
months before the Declaration of indie
pendence. Mr.. Hazard was a mer-
chant of this city, and his mother,
Catherine Clarkson, was daughter
of Matthew Clarkson aud Cornelia De
Peyster, of New York. :. Washing
ton retreated from Long Island during
the night of August %, 1776. The
next day the committee on safety or
dered Mr.. Hazard to Dobbs Ferry
For several months the post-office, at
least the postmaster, was not in clover.
Ostensibly it was kept at Hercules
Cronk's, next door to Mayor Abraham
Storms, mile above the ferry. In
fact, it was peripatetic, and might easily
have been mistaken for peddler or a
tramp. It had to be near the provincial
congress, then at Fishkill, and at the
same time near Washington and his
movable headquarters, as most of the
letters were army letters.
On November %, 1763-three days
after the evacuation-the post office
turns up alive and well at 38 Smith Street,
William Bedlow, postmaster. Mr..
Hazards first difficulties we're with the
nti-federalist newspapers which he
was accused of suppressing from the
mails. But by law they were not mail
matter. They made their own arrange
ments with the riders. Then contract
ors of stages introduced in 1889 at
tackled him, since he would not pay
their exorbitant prices. Mr.. Hazard
was able to say to the president that with
1900 miles of road under his care, on a
salary of $3.50, without clerk hire,
which he could not afford, and without
the aid of the treasury, he had made
the Office pay its way-which it did not
do afterward.