The morning call., 1891-01-01

tary matters. In 1888 he was appointed one
OF the Commissioners for building the State
Lunatlc Asylum at Utica. The next year he
became cashier of the Mohawk Valley
Bank. He continued to be connected with
that institution, part of the time as its
PRESIDENT, for twenty years. In 1915 be was
appointed Auditor and Deputy Naval Officer
OF the Port Of New York, an office he held
four years. He was elected to Congress in
1854 or the Democratic ticket. At the next
election he was reelected ON the Republican
ticket, and again in 1858. His appointment
as Treasurer of the United States was made
In March, 1861. He has held no public posi-
ton since his retirement from that office.
L.. l.. Merry, writing of General Spinner,
says; If L should be asked to give my earli-
est recollection of General Spinner think
It would be something like this: A man,
TAI, erect, with full beard. For many it
Will be difficult to picture the General with
1ull beard, since for years he has worn
only muStache. once dark and heavy, but
now streaked with silver. The era of the
Iuli beard Is now long way in the past
slXty-hve years it must be- l was then an
uIcnin ABOUT the streets OF Herkimer, n. Y,
Mnere the General was then living. AS |
grew Older [ came to know General Spinner
peter and l have been associated with him
II! III ways which have given me opportunities
" .o!h an accurate estimate of his character
"a tralt which distinguishes General Spin
Hel - an answering fidelity to his friends.
"oo oNCl lOO dEuuOuS-uO personal
inconvenience too great, when friend was
10 De helped. l recall an instance of this
loyalty. More than forty years ago Charles
,. Benton, lawyer, who came from Little
Falls, n. T., to Mohawk, the Generals
home at that time, ran for Congress in our
| district, his nomination having been secured
mainly through the Generals efforts. The
day before the convention was held the Cen
eral heard that one of the delegates living in
West Schuyler, twelve miles from Mohawk.
txsoc nuHn A nd n O ha oh
What did the General do2 Walked the en-
tire distance to the home of the vacillatng
delegate. whose promise to vote for Benton
he obtained, and walked every step of the
way back.
General Spinner was eminently a man for
an emergency. One day, not long after lie
had become cashier of the bank at Mohawk,
a Wall-street broker came up from New
York, with the banks n0ts for about $4,000
for collection. This note had been given, if
l remember rightly, Ill consequence of losses
caused by the purchase of Western bonds
purchase made before the General became
identified with the bank. The bank was
| unable to retire the note, but the General
was not diSmayed. He persuaded the Wall
street man to accept another note Endorsed
by each of the thirteen directors, with Rufus
County, y. Y, as "header." This note
was promptly paid at maturity.
In referring TO the bank, am reminded of
WUdL nave dlN dS 5 leSdIucl do Jllt Dcl6Edl >
remarkable adaptablity. When called to the
cashiership of the Mohawk Valley Bank,
he had had practically Ono experience in
banking, his knowledge OF the business hav-
ing been gained by a two-weeks' examination
of the methods of the Oneida Bank, at
Utica, n. Y.
In his administration of the affairs of tile
bank. he was not only accurate TO a nicely,
but he wished the Directors to know that he
was. He would periodically call upon some
of them to count the assets of the bank.
was once one of those selected for this duty.
was to count the cash, while my associate
counted the bonds and notes. On the table
back of the counter were thirty or forty
packages of bills, marked $50 $780, $500,
$500, $1,000 each. l began by counting these
! packages, setting down the amount marked
on each. The General happened to see me
taking his word for it, in this way, and
straightway walked over to the table and
| said:
"No, sir, that will never do. You must not
count the cash of this bank in that way.
Open each package and count the bills" and
l had to do so. 1t is needless TO say that
the count came OUT to cent. The Gen
eral would never leave the bank until the
cash had been counted for the day aud found
| correct.