The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-12-22
srxrY-oNE YEARS IN OFFICE.
Pen Pictures of the Oldest Postmes-
ter in the Country.
n,ov. the Ne,O York Press.

miles. and about ten miles from this city,
is situated the village Of North Lansing.
Hardly more than hamlet in size. it has,
nevertheless, ranked fourth in Importance
among the stations along an abandoned
arm OF the Midland road. Here for many
wears the farmers Of the surrounding coun-
try have been accustomed to ship their
varied produce to distant markets; and
owing to the ease With which these markets
have been rea he'd, there has been devel-
oped in and about the little village de-
gree of bust ess activity that is evident to
the most casual observer. But aside from
these evidences of general welfare the place
is as barren of interest TO stranger as such
places usually re.
There is one man living there, however,
who is an object OF considerable interest.
Not thai, as a man, be possesses any unusual
gift Of mind or body, but that, as the
second postmaster the village ever had, he
has withstood the vicissitudes of fourteen
changes of administrati n. and has REFINED
the favor of nineteen successive Presidents.
For sixty-four years Mr. Roswell Beardsley
has distributed their mail to his neighbors,
and is now the oldest postmaster, in point
of;service, in the United States.
Mr. Beardsley is thoroughbred yankee.
Both his father John Beardsley, and his
mother, Alice Booth, were born and reared
in that good old New England state of
wooden nutmeg fame. Early in the spring
of 1909 his father moved from Connecticut
into Cayuga county, this state. and began a
mercantile business in what Is now the
town of Venice. Here, on July q, Roswell,
the eldest of five sons was born bis
father was pr sperous in business and was
active In the politics OF his dav. In 1882 he
was elected to the assembly from Cayuga
county, which at that time sent four men,
5ers instead of two as now. He was re-
elected for the session of 1888, and In 1886
he entered the ate Senate. in which body
he served four consecutive terms The
Cayuga district, now In the Twenty-sixth
district with Seneca, Tompkins and Tioga,
was at that time in district numbered
seven, which sent four senators to the lsgis-
nature. John B ardsey was contemp0ra-
neous in politics with the early DAYS of
William h. Seward and with Gov. Enos
Throop, both of whom were Cayuga county
men.
In 1920 he removed to North Lansing, and
continued his mercantile business by pur-
chasing the store and stock Of one Joseph
Bishop where the n rth Lansing hotel nov
stands. Subsequently he purchased q
corner lot and built upon it the store which
still stands there, aud III one corner Of
which is the N,rth Lansing postoffice
During the first few years here Roswell
worked at various things, chiefly among the
neighboring farmers. His health was poor,
however and at the age of 10 he entered
the store with his father took trips to New
York city to purchase goods, and, on coming
of age, he took the entire man cement of
his fathers business. Ia 1897 he married
daughter of Jacob Conrad, who represented
Tompklns county in the assembly in 1923.
An the years that have followed he has, by
h devotion to business thai has distinguished
him, accumulated a large amount of prop
erty, most of 1t in farm lands, on parts of
which his six children are now living. He
was stockhoider of the Tompkins County
Bank, of which he was direc or for thirty
years. He also nolds stock of the Cayuga
County Bank, of which his older brother,
Nelson Beardsley, is president Two other
brothers, w. Q. and A. g. Beardsley, now
live in Auburn. The fourth brother, John
i. Beardsley, is dead.
MIR, Beardsley's first entrance into the
postal service was in June. 1923, as deputy
TO Joseph Bishop. The first postmaster Of
the village. Nelson Be irdsley was at this
time law partner with William H. Seward,
and In the course of a conversation one day
concerning Nelson's younger brother. Ros-
well, it was suggested that it might be of
use to him to 10 postmaster OF the place
where he was living. mr. Seward immeli-
ately interested himself in the matter, and
on July IA following Roswell was appointed
postmaster by President John Quincy
Adams. A few days later Mr.. Bea-dsley
received his commission, signed by the then
Postmaster General, John Mclean: and
this was the first knowledge he had that
anything OF the sort wa on foot The
commission still hangs in his office. and is
the only one he has ever had. He entered,
at the age OF 10, upon the duties OF the
Office, and has continued to execute the n
with Little assistance beside that of his wife
and one son, till the present day. He has
made out every quarterly return and signed
1t, without single exception, for the last
s'xty-four years During this time
ne has given bonds but seven times,
tarily offered Mr.. Cleveland to substitute
democrats for the republicans who were
then his bondsmen. The matter of bonds
men. however, appears tn have become of
so little consequence that he has lost clear
recollection of them. In one or two cases
gentlemen VINO were casual callers at the
store and heard the matter of bondsmeu
mentioned offered themselves as such. bu
the old gentleman knows neither their
names nor the dates of the instruments.
His accounts with the department are
always right and he does not appear to
have had any annoyance from that quar-
ter.
Mr.. Beardsley holds the office by no ef-
fort OF his own. He has repeatedly offered
TO give way for the preference Of any half
dozen OF his neighbors; but he remains in
undlsturbed possession. There are but 500
individuals who receive their mail through
this Office, representing about I25 families.
Ihey do not seem to consider his partisan
ship" as at all t the Offensive type. He
Is professedly democrat, but of late years
mas, like many others, been unable to
see the difference between the two main
parties sufficient to prevent him from
voting for preferred men in all parties.
since he came OF age he has voted at every
presidential election save that of 1856.
when, believing Buchanan to be too
strongly In sympathy with southern feeling.
he refrained from voting. His first decided
break from the democrats was in 1863
when he voted for Ezra Cornell for state
senator
Mr. Beardsley, as a strong admirer of Mr..
Clevela I'd, voted for lin both times for
President The tariff utterance, in the first
message of this imam of fortune" strongly
impressed him. When asked to state his
views of this question he said:
u think there should be a reimbursement
OF the tariff, particularly on those COM
xnodities which enter largely int } the d .ily
sustenance OF the poorer classes. am not
particular about the wearers of diamonds
and other similar luxuries being relieved of
Hha NNNnx. 80