The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-11-03
.BuEEALO,S HISTORIC MANSION.
The Famous Home of Fillmore.

S~~~~~-o~->-o-~~--~~-~~0-
AS people we Americans do not man
ifest a lasting appreciation of our great
man. One popular favorite soon gives
place to another We do not remember
even the names of majority of our pres
idents. This is due in part to their short
terms of service-for with a single ex-
eeption, no man has held the presidential
Office for two consecutive terms since the
ancient days of Jackson 1t is only the
few who find a place in folklore that live
in the hearts of the people. Lincoln and
jackson are of the number of these.
The others live only in the cold pages Of
history.
Up to twenty years ago New York had
given to the nation but two presidents.
These were both fitting types of the ele-
CANT society of the Empire state. Van
Buren, and Fillmore were, in fact, So
ciety's darings. Their luxurious sur
roundings and generous style of home life
and their polished manners were matters
of pride to their fellow citizens, and aided
materially in their elevation to political
ascendancy. The two men were finely
matched. Van Buren, was a Democrat,
Fillmore a Wing. Van Buren, was from
the extreme east of the state, and Fill
more from the western shore. Like
Arthur, Who succeeded to the presidency
twenty years ago, they served IN trying
times; and like him they failed to secure
the coveted nomination for a further
term. Fillmol signed the fugitive slave
law in 1850 AM thus brought down upon
his head the fuy of the indignant North.
And then as If to make certain OF
obloquy for all future time, he became
~the candidate of the 'Knownothings In
1856. Looking backward from our present
standpoint, both acts seem to have been
acts of incredible folly. And yet 1t was
impossible to ascertain their effects in
advance Nothing could have been more
absurd in itself than the nomination OF
the aged, childish, and unsophisticated
Harrison in 1910; yet it was ratified by the
people in an astonishing manner Many
weighty considerations of public policy
seemed to favor the course that Fillmore
followed: and there is no doubt that he
acted from. sincere convictions of duty.
When at Buffalo, last week, l had the
pleasure of visiting the stored home OF
the once famous statesman. 1t faces
Niagara square, on the corner of Dela-
ware avenue, being only a very short
distance from Main street, for it was
built when Buffalo was but a small city,
and when the most aristecratic residences
were near to the business center. SO
web constructed was it that centuries
Will touch it gently. To-day 1T appears
exactly as when its great master was
borne away from tin 1S74-except for the
extensive additions which have been
made TO the side and rear. These are in
such harmony with the original struc-
tllYe as to give the impression that the
entire edifice as it stands today was
erected at one time. The purpose of the
extension has been to transform the
place into one of the most aristocratc
and unique hotels in the world-the Gas
tie Inn
Yet IN this transformation no violence
has been done to the associations of the
place The chambers of the old mansion
retain their rich and beautiful furnish
ipgs Of old days, as these We're gathered
from remote quarters of the world, ana
the added apartments are equally 1uXu-
rieus in their appointments. The homc
OF Fillmore, like the famous mansion OF
Iarrabee at "Rosabower," in Indiana,
was the artistic combination of double
ana triple windows, double chimneys,
and fancy gables, suggestive of old Eng
lish manor houses. Its principal door
way was fanked by two tall but narrow
towers. The additions terminate on
either street III broad towers crowned
With battlements, the whole resembling
a palace of dUcal CT even prircely dig
nifty.
Fillmore must have been man of re-
rsarkable personality to draw to him and
TO hold the devotion of the social coterle
which had its center in this mansion. In
iafeat as well as in success, and through
The years which followed his political total
eclipse. his friends worshiped at the
same shrine. In 1852 when Francis Gran
ger, the old Wing leader, failed in the
supreme effort of his life to secure the
nomination OF Fillmore for president, he
walked out Of the national convention as
egle who had lost all interest in the POI
10
mayed hearers that he had no further
desire than to be remembered with the
Silver Grays.'' Silver gray was the hair
bf the venerable statesman, and it formed
beautiful crown for his massive head.
Silver gray We're the heads of many of
his old co-workers in the ranks of the
wings, who were never to witness an
other success of their party. Silver gray
became the memories of the Wing strug-
glas and triumphs as they faded into the
Infinite azure of the past.
IilmoreS chamber contains the ma
hogany bed on which he died, his arm
chair, his chiffonier and a small cabinet.
Ia the latter is the last remaining bottle
C wine of the cases which Commodore
Perry brought to him from the Madeiras,
fer it must be remembered that the mar
Vicious expedition to Japan was sent out
by the silver gray president, though its
results were reported to his successor,
Franklin Pierce. The wine, which was
Intended for use in the White house to
celebrate his vindication at the polls, was
never needed for that purpose. But the
great commodore brought it to Buffalo,
and there it was quaffed by silver grays,
who could not conceive of a greater man
than their host, or a greater honor than
he conferred upon them.
q | was also reminded of Fillmore at the
: Fan-American exposition, not merely by
his portrait in the art building, but also
by the tiny railway which wound about
the grounds. For among the presents
which he sent to amaze the Mikado of
Japan was a little railway train, with
tiny rails of real iron, and this the engi-
neers of the expedition operated before
the eyes of that bewildered potentate.
The dining room of the Fillmore man
sion, il which the service is all of solid
silver and of Dresden china, is modern
liz most Of its furnishings; but the draw
ing room retains the great old mirrors.
the carved furniture of rich woods, and
in fact all its furnishings as in the DAYS
of old. From a niche in the stairway of
the hall a superb marble bust of the
president, with its strong face surmount-
e. by an aureole of silver hair, looks
down upon the visitors as the years go
by There is no trace of disappointed am
bition upon those impassive features.
The marble head still presides over the
sacred shrine of the Silver Grays and
that means more than to be president.
saw the window where Fillmore was ac-
customed to read the morning papers
and to nod at his worshipers who passed
by; the desk at which he wrote letters to