Democratic Sentinel, Volume 6, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 December 1882 — THURLOW WEED. [ARTICLE]

THURLOW WEED.

The Distinguished Journalist and Politician Passes Away. Review of a Career of Unexampled Activity. Thurlow Weed died at New York on the morning of Nov 22, at the age of 85 years. He was conscious to the last, and expired •unrounded by weeping relatives and friends. No death struggle was apparent Mr. Weed was possessed of a remarkably strong and vigorous constitution, and to this can bi attributed the long years of his life. His physicians say that old age was his only infirmity, and the one that carried him off. Since 1877 Mr. Weed’s eyesight has een fa ling, and latterly he had been almost blind. Last August he was prostrated by a shill, and has since been declining. Mr. Weed leaves a considerable fortune invested in New York real estate, and in the stock of the Albmy Evening Journal. He had three daughters—Mrs. Barnes, of Albany;. Miss Harriett Weed, who was his c nstant companion and housekeeper since th j death of his wife, many years ago, and Mrs. Alden, of Morrisania. It is a curious Incident that some weeks before his death, although then in good health Mr. Weed had a presentiment that he was near his end. About four years ago a beautiful white clove flew into the window of h s chamber, and was adopted by him as a pet. It has been his constant companion, roosting upon the arm of his chair by day and upon the foot of his bed by night. He fed it with his own hands, and the gentle biid curiously enough would accept food from no one else. Some weeks ago he accidentally sat upon it, crushing out its innocent life, : nd his sorro w was as genuine as if he had lost an only child. The death of the bird affected him seriously, and he spoke* to his fr ends of a presentiment that he sho ild soon die, and mentioned his belie r ' in the poetical theory of trie ancients that the spiiitsof doves surrounded t e death-beds of the just. Thurlow Weed was bom in Cairo, N. Y., on the 15th day of November, 1797, and was the first-bom of paren's in lowly circumstances, and at an early -age he was compelled to work to aid himself and his family. At the age of 9 he worked for a blacksmith at ( at kill, N. Y , from whom he received a shilling a day and his board. He subsequent y worked in a tavern and sailed on a sloop as cook. At about this time young Weed’s father removed his family to Onondaga, where the bov found work with the Postmaster, who enabled him to receive six months’ shooling, the only tuition he ever enjoyed. In 1811 a paper, the Lynx, was started in Onondaga, to the fortunes of which he attached himself as a printer’s apprentice, at which business he served a year and a half, when his employer left the city. Weed continued to run the paper for several weeks. In 1812 he volunteered for service in the war as a private under Col. Petrie, and was ordered to Sackett’s Harbor. Before reaching that point he received a Quartermaster’s comm ssion, for which he ever after cberis'ied the kindliest feelings toward Col. Petrie, and when the latter met with reverses Mr. We'ed aided him materially. He served during three campaigns in the war and during the intervals worked at his trade in Utica and other cities of New York. After the war he was employed in Seymour’s printing office, New York city, where he became intimate with James, the eldest of the Harper brothers. Returning to the country he was married, and then embarked in the extremely-uncertain pursuit of publishing a country p per. The difficulties he encountered were numerous, but his industry and ability had their effect. His paper was called the AntiMasonic Enquirer. At that time there was great excitement over the opposition to Masonic institutions. In 1824 he was again found doing the work bf a journeyman printer in Albany. Political excitement was running high, and Martin Van Buren, DeWitt Clinto\ and others equally farm us in the politics of the State were there. Thurlow Weed here virtually began his career. His wonderful powers of management were first noted. In this campaign tie did the lion’s share of the work which resulted in the election of John Quincy Adams to the Presidency. Mr. Weed next removed to Rochester, where, while he sustained many reverses, his reputation as an editor steadily grew. Twice he was elected to the Assembly as an anti-Masonic representative, and his political influence was so widely felt that he soon came to be recognized as a lea 1 er, and to him was accorded the honor of the v.ctory which placed DeWitt Clinton in the gubernatorial chair of New York. In 1830 he was chosen to lead the Whigs against the Democratic party, which then controlled the affairs of the State, audit was through his efforts that the Democrats suffered iheir first defeat. He went to Albany and assumed editorial man igement of the Evening Journal, which soon gained a national reputation and influence. The political history of the State for forty years shows how he used his opportunities. He was prominent in secur rig the nomination of candidates Harrison, Taylor, Scott, Fremont and Linco n. When the Republican party was organized, Mr. Weed joined the young party, and early in tfie civil war he was sent to England, where he was instrumental in preventing that country and France from uniting in favor of the Confederacy. Mr. Weed acted in unity with the Republican party until the close of the war, when he sided with President Johnson in his reconstruction views, but his influence has always been thrown toward the advancement of Republican principles, and has b sen felt in every great political movement for the last half century.