History of Fowler, (Saint Lawrence County) New York United States of America

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Willard Glazier, author, was born in Fowler, St. Lawrence county, N.Y., Aug. 22, 1841; son of Ward and Mehitable Glazier, grandson of Jabez Glazier; and great grandson of Oliver Glazier, who fought at the battle of Bunker Hill. He attended the district school in Fowler during the winters and in the summers worked on the farm. When fifteen years old he went into the woods as a trapper to earn money to enable him to procure a higher education. Subsequently he attended Gouverneur Wesleyan seminary two years, teaching during vacations, and the Normal college, Albany, N.Y. From the latter he enlisted in August, 1861, in the 2d New York cavalry. Army of the Potomac, with which he served till his capture by the Confederates, Oct. 19, 1863. He was confined in Libby and other southern prisons, from which he twice escaped and was recaptured, but finally made his way to the Federal lines near Savannah, Ga., Dec. 23, 1863. He was then commissioned 1st lieutenant in the 26th New York cavalry, and served through the war, receiving the brevet rank of captain. After the war he wrote a number of volumes on military subjects, in which he depicted his own experiences. On May 9, 1876, he started from Boston, Mass., travelled on horseback across the continent to study the habits and customs of the people, and lectured in the larger cities on "Echoes from the Revolution." In Wyoming he was captured by the Indians, but escaped on one of their mustangs and reached San Francisco, Cal., December 26. In 1881, accompanied by his brother and a representative of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, he penetrated to a lake south of Lake Itasca in Minnesota, which he believed to be the true source of the Mississippi river. With his party he descended the Mississippi in canoes to the sea in one hundred and seventeen days. The lake which he discovered was named in his honor, Glazier lake, and his claim regarding the source of the Mississippi was substantiated in 1891 by a party of scientists. Among his published works are: Capture, Prison-Pen and Escape (1865); Three Years in the Federal Cavalry (1871); Battles for the Union (1874); Heroes of Three Wars (1878); Peculiarities of American Cities (1883); Down the Great River (1887); Headwaters of the Mississippi (1892); Ocean to Ocean on Horseback (1894), and contributions to periodicals.

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

History of Fowler, (Saint Lawrence County) New York

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