History of Staten Island, (Richmond County) New York United States of America

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Biographies:

Andrew Ellicott Kennedy Benham, naval officer, was born on Staten Island. N.Y., April 10, 1832. He was warranted midshipman in the U.S. navy, Nov. 24, 1847. His earliest service on board the Plymouth and the Dolphin in the East Indies. He was at home in 1852, attached to the Saranac, and in 1853 attended the naval academy, Annapolis. He was promoted past-midshipman June 10, 1853; lieutenant, Sept. 16, 1855, and serving on the St. Mary's in the Pacific squadron until 1857. He served on the coast survey and Paraguay expedition, 1858-'59, and in 1860 was attached to the Crusader of the home squadron. He took part in the battle of Port Royal, November, 1861, on the Bienville, and in 1862 was promoted lieutenant-commander. July 16, 1862, he commanded the gunboat Penobscot in the Western Gulf blockading squadron. After duty at the Brooklyn navy yard he was detailed to the Susquehanna in 1867, was promoted commander June 9, 1867, and did duty as lighthouse inspector, as commander of the monitor Canonicus, and afterward of the Saugus. In 1878 he became captain, and was placed in command of the Richmond, on the Asiatic station, and then was assigned to duty at the Portsmouth navy yard, and later to the command of the lighthouse district of New York. In 1885 he was made and commanded the Mare Island navy yard, California, Upon his promotion as rear-admiral, in 1890, he was assigned to the command of the East India squadron, and in 1894 of the South Atlantic station, but the special duty of towing the Columbus caravels from Spain to Havana prevented him from reaching his station, and Admiral Stanton had charge in Brazilian waters until he made the mistake of saluting Admiral Mello's flag in the harbor of Rio de Janeiro. Admiral Benham, then in command of the North Atlantic squadron, was sent to take command at that port where his course in protecting American interests was approved. He was retired, April 10, 1894, and on the outbreak of war with Spain in 1898 he was prize commissioner for the state of Georgia.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Aaron Burr, vice-president of the United States, was born at Newark, N. J., Feb. 6, 1756; son of Aaron and Esther (Edwards) Burr. His father came of a distinguished stock and was president of the College of New Jersey. His mother was a daughter of Jonathan Edwards. Both of his parents died while he was still an infant, and from them he inherited a considerable estate, of which his uncle acted as guardian during his minority. He was graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1772, and he was about to commence the study of law when the revolutionary war broke out. In July, 1775, he rode to Cambridge, Mass., and enlisted as a private in the Continental army, and for the next five years he was a successful soldier. He accompanied Benedict Arnold to Canada, and in the storming of Quebec displayed so much dash and brilliancy that he was made a major and given a place in General Washington's military family. Owing to disagreements with Washington, however, he was soon transferred to the staff of General Putnam, whom he assisted in the defence of New York. In 1777 he was promoted lieutenant-colonel, and distinguished himself at Hackensack and at Monmouth. For a portion of the winter of 1778-79 he was in command at West Point, and in January of the latter year he was put in charge of Westchester county, at that time the most exposed district in New York state. Although but twenty-three years of age, he displayed in this difficult position such skill and valor that he won the admiration both of his soldiers and of the people of the state. But in March, 1779, ill-health forced him to withdraw from the army and he sent in his resignation to Washington, who in accepting it remarked that "he not only regretted the loss of a good officer, but the cause which rendered his resignation necessary." Three years later he was admitted to the bar at Albany, N. Y., and his success as a lawyer was as brilliant and rapid as his success as a soldier. At this time he married a Mrs. Prevost, who is described as a very charming and highly cultivated woman, the widow of an English officer. She was ten years older than Burr, and had two sons, but neither of these facts detracted from the felicity of the marriage, in the first year of which Burr's only child, Theodosia, was born. The following ten years witnessed the climacteric of his happiness and prosperity. He was at the head of his profession, a leader in political life, happy in his domestic relations at Richmond Hill, his beautiful mansion, the scene of a luxurious hospitality, which had for its guests, besides the distinguished personages of the republic, Louis Philippe, Volney and Talleyrand. In 1788 he was appointed attorney-general of the state. In 1791, when he was elected United States senator by a Federal legislature, having in the meantime served as a Republican representative to the assembly, he had but one rival as a lawyer in New York, Alexander Hamilton. He was a skilful and adroit political manager, who understood how to hold and use the balance of power in his own party (the Republican) by keeping in the favor of both the Schuyler and Clinton factions, without swearing entire allegiance to either, and at the same time to maintain friendly relations with his opponents, the Federalists. In 1794 Mrs. Burr died, and thenceforth Aaron Burr centred the whole affection of his passionate nature upon his daughter, then eleven years old. He personally superintended her education, and made her his companion, a devotion which was repaid in full measure in later years. In the presidential election of 1800 he secured the vote of New York state to the Republicans, and therefore the national election?Jefferson and himself both receiving seventy-three votes, Adams sixty-five and Pinckney sixty-four?being at this time "the chosen head of northern Democracy, idol of the ward of New York city, and aspirant to the highest offices he could reach by means legal or beyond law." After an exciting contest in the house of representatives, in which the Federalists attempted to elect Burr to the presidency, and in which Burr himself has been accused of intriguing with them to elect himself, Jefferson was made President and Burr became vice-president. For his alleged treachery, Burr was deserted by his party. In 1804 he was the candidate of the Federalists for governor of New York, and would probably have been elected but for the opposition of Alexander Hamilton, who had also been instrumental in keeping him out of the presidency. This opposition, aggravated by certain uncomplimentary epithets, which Hamilton is alleged to have applied to Burr, gave rise to quarrel between them, which culminated in a duel at Weehawken-on-the-Hudson, July 7, 1804, Burr being the challenging party. Hamilton was killed. As the news spread, it carried a wave of emotion over the states and roused everywhere sensations strangely mixed. In New York the Clinton interest, guided by James Cheetham, editor of the American Citizen, seized the moment to destroy Burr's influence forever. Cheetham affected to think the duel a murder, and procured Burr's indictment, which drove him from the state. Charges were invented to support this theory and were even accepted as history. In the south and west, on the other hand, the duel was considered a simple affair of honor, in which Burr appeared to better advantage than his opponent. Burr spent some time with his daughter, who was happily and prosperously married to Mr. Joseph Allston, and was living at her husband's estate in South Carolina, but later he returned to Washington and resumed his duties as vice-president. His resolution and fortitude stood him in good stead; the loss of his prestige and popularity did not affect him as it would have done a weaker man, and his active mind had already formulated new courses of action. Failing in his effort to procure from the administration an office suitable to his talents, at the expiration of his presidential term in 1805, he made a journey through the southwest, in the course of which he developed what seems to have been a scheme of empire dependent partly on conquest and partly on the secession of the southwest from the Union. Just before setting out on this journey, he wrote to his son-in-law: "In New York I am to be disfranchised, and in New Jersey hanged. Having substantial objections to both, I shall not for the present hazard either, but shall seek another country." With forty thousand dollars, which Blennerhassett put into his hands for that purpose, he bought four hundred thousand acres of Red River land, with a somewhat doubtful title, as a rendezvous and base of operations, and then proceeded to secure co-operators. He did this so successfully that many men of prominence at Washington, as well as in the southwest, became implicated in the enterprise to a greater or less extent. As nearly as can be judged in the lack of positive knowledge, this was the scheme: Burr was to become ruler of Louisiana under British protection, in which capacity he would give validity to the disputed land title; the western states were to secede from the Union, and join the new government; Spanish possessions to the southward were to be conquered; then the enfeebled Union of the seabeard states would fall to pieces. Burr would get an empire, and Blennerhassett fabulous wealth in return for his forty thousand dollar investment. But before this elaborate programme could be carried out, the American people became so suspicious and alarmed that President Jefferson ordered Burr's arrest. He was indicted for high treason. His trial, which lasted from March 27 to Sept. 7, 1806, is one of the most remarkable events in American history. Chief Justice Marshall presided. Wirt, Rodney and Hay took part in the prosecution, and Luther Martin and Edmund Randolph in the defence. The presence and devotion of his daughter, then in the full height of her beauty and intellectual power, awakened much sympathy and interest, and doubtless had an influence in procuring his release. The jury brought in the following carefully worded verdict: "We of the jury say that Aaron Burr is not proved to be guilty under the indictment by any evidence submitted to us. We, therefore, find him not guilty." Later Burr and the principal conspirators were tried for misdemeanor in fitting out an expedition against Mexico, but were acquitted on technical grounds. Burr went to Europe in 1808, hoping to obtain there the means of making an attack upon Mexico. It was a bootless mission, however, and after four years of disappointment and privation he returned to New York, disguised and poverty-stricken, to meet the severest blow fortune had yet dealt to him. A few faithful friends had scarcely welcomed him to their midst, when the death of Theodosia's only child was announced to him; the faithful and grief-stricken daughter hastening to greet her idolized father perished a few months later in a storm off Cape Hatteras. Burr, who attained only moderate success in his practice in New York, after twenty-three years married, in his seventy-eighth year, Madame Jumel, a French woman, a widow of means, but later he separated from her. Burr was the most fascinating and brilliant man of his time. Perhaps no better summary of his character has been made than that of Thomas Jefferson, who called him "a great man in little things, a small man in great things." He is remembered chiefly for his adventures and misfortunes. (See Life and Times of Aaron Burr, by James Parton; Life of Burr by M. L. Davis; Burr's European Diary and The Report of the Trial for Treason) He died at Staten Island, N. Y., Sep. 14, l836.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

James Clair Flood, capitalist, was born on Staten Island, N.Y., Oct. 25, 1826. He was an irregular attendant at the public schools of New York city, worked in a shipyard, and in 1849 went to California. In the mining camp at Yerba he accumulated $3000 in gold and returned to New York city. He then removed with his parents to Illinois, where he purchased them a farm and again went to California. With William S. O'Brien, a fellow-traveller on his first trip, he set up a liquor Saloon in San Francisco in 1856, which became the headquarters for miners and dealers in mining claims. This led the partners to speculate in mining claims and they soon established a regular brokerage office. In 1862 they invested heavily in mining stocks of the Comstock lode which proved exceedingly profitable, and they joined J. M. Walker, James G. Fair and John W. Mackay, forming what became known as the Bonanza firm, in purchasing all the mines and claims in the Comstock lode for a sum reported to have Been $75,000. They at once placed $5,000,000 of stock of the Consolidated Virginia and the California mines On the market, developed the mines and in 1875 announced an astonishing discovery of silver. In six years the two properties yielded in gold and silver $172,275,270, and the stock paid in dividends between 1875 and 1879, $75,000,000. Speculation ran the price of shares up to $800 and the partners were reported to have divided $100,000,000 in profits. Walker having sold out his interest to Mackay, this division gave Flood, Fair and O'Brien $20,000,000 each and J. W. Mackay $40,000,000. The production of the mines then fell off and the price of shares declined to $8. The partners then organized the Nevada bank in San Francisco with Mr. Flood as president, as a rival to the Bank of California, of which W. C. Ralston was president. The latter bank was forced to suspend Aug. 26, 1875; this calamity brought down with it two other San Francisco banks and caused the suicide of Mr. Ralston. Mr. Flood owned a house on Nob Hill worth $1,500,000, and an estate in San Matco. He died at Heidelberg, Germany, Feb. 21, 1889.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor