Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The Honorable Elijah Leonard: A Memoir
My mother, Polly Stone, was - born March 25th, 1793, and I know but little more than that she met my father in that locality, and they were married October 3lst, 1811, and shortly afterwards came to live in the vicinity of Syra cuse, N. Y., where he purchased a farm. My eldest brother Lewis, myself and Lyman were born on this farm, Septem ber 2nd, 1813, September loth, 1814, and March loth, 1816 respectively. But farming did not suit my father's views, and we removed to a place called Taburg, north of Syra cuse, and he was engaged in an iron furnace at that place, My sisters, Sarah Ann and Maria, were born here. Our' next move was to Constantia, N. Y., where father purchased a furnace from a New York firm, and carried on a large business; but getting into a dispute with the owners un fortunately went to law. His case was partially successful, . But it was so expensive that he failed soon afterwards, and went back to his farm near Syracuse. When in Constantia, . My brother Delos was born. We remained on the farm about five years. What little schooling I got was when we lived here, and that during the winter. My brother Lewis. And. I had a little colt which we hitched to a home-made sleigh, and drove to and from school. Among my early recollections of Syracuse was the Opening of the Erie canal, as it was a holiday the entire length from Albany to Buffalo. The citizens had cannons placed at intervals, and announced the meeting of the waters of Lake Erie withthose of the Hudson River by the booming of the big guns from point to point. This was a wonderful feat. The canal was a small affair then to what it is now, as the State enlarged it from time to time when its usefulness became apparent. The boats at that time carried about forty tons, and were only about nine feet wide, and proportionately long. I once took a trip with my uncle Draper in his canal boat to Albany, assisting him in its management and doing my share of the driving and steering.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
