Bouton-Boughton Family

BouTON-BouGHTON Familt. 189 Wright against the interposition of the doctor's friends who were in large numbers in the city and demanding his release. The people demanded that the pledge of the sheriff and district attorney, with regard to his release, be redeemed and offered bail to any amount that should be required, but without avail, and early in the morning 500 troops arrived, sent by Gk)v. Wright from Albany, with six pieces of artillery loaded with grape with which all the approaches to the jail were guarded, and all communi- cation denied to the doctor, and he was placed in close confinement without the privilege of counsel. At length friends prevailed and obtamed counsel, and a writ of habeas corpus was procured from a Supreme Court commissioner, but through the influence of the aristocracy its service was arrested by Gov. Wright, who removed the judge and appointed a tool of his own. On a motion of his counsel, Ambrose L. Jordan, the cause was adjourned until the March term, pending which counsel Jordan was notified, that as the doctor was unlaw- fully imprisoned, if he would consent, a force of three or four thousand men were ready to march to his rescue, and would release him in spite of the State troops ; but consid- ering that bloodshed must result from such a course, he declined the offer, and the trial came on. Three weeks were consumed in the trial of the case, the juij being ^1 but one for acquittal, and he a miller for the Livingstons. The iury was discharged, court adjourned, and the doctor was left in irons in an unhealthy cell. This aroused the indignation of the people, and a large deputation waited on the governor and demanded his release on bail, which, if deni^, would be followed by a resort to force. He was then removed to the common jail, where the accommoda- tions were better. A complete arrangement was made for his escape, secretly, but he, regarding such a' course as a tacit acknowledgment of guilt, declined to avail himself of it, determined to proceed according to law. So pro- nounced had public opinion become, the governor ordered bail to be received, and he was released until the next term of the court, some four months. During this period an attempt by the sheriff to sell some cattle in Delaware county, to satisfy a iud^ment for rent, caused a conflict between the deputy shenffs and the disguised men, result- ing in two deputies being shot. This caused a great sensa- tion and a general insurrection was feared. The governor claimed that Dr. Boughton, being the leader of this revolt, should be made an example of at this juncture. As the 190 BOCTON-BOUGHTON FAMILY. trial was coming on such eminent coimsel as William H. Seward, Joshua Spencer and many others offered their ser- vices without fee, Hon. Wm. H. Seward, on his way to court had his leg fractured by the upsetting of the stage, and thus the doctor was deprived or his services. There being no judge in that vicinity willing to try the case, Judge Edmonds of New York city was procured. The indictment was for highway robbery and stopping the sheriff and his posse by an armed force and taking certain official papers from him and burning them in his presence. The testimony of the prosecution was contradictory, and the counsel for the defense had no doubt of success, not knowing that large sums of money had been employed and the decision decided upon before the trial. The charge of the judge was partial and severe, and the jury returned a verdict of guilty. The sentence iniposed was State prison for life at hard labor. This was in October, 1845. The sheriff told Dr. Boughton's wife that he would not be removed to the State prison for several days, as the excitement was intense and fears were entertained that he would be forcibly taken from the sheriff ; but that same night he was hurried on board a steamboat, guarded by sixty soldiei's, and taken to his destination. There a large assembly awaited his arrival and again offered to set him at liberty in spite of the soldiers sent to guard him from escape ; but unwilling to cause bloodshed he yielded to the demands of the officers of the law. The power conferred by the State constitution upon the governor, to remove judges in case they did not obey his bidding, the people now saw required to be limited, as the i governor had so manifestly identified himself with the land- ord aristocracy, and exercised that power against the rights of a large proportion of the people of the State. On arriving iat the State prison Dr. Boughton was put in charge of the hospital of the prison, which aJttowed him many advantages not enjoyed by other prisoners, and an address was prepared by him and sent to the people, advising them to consolidate as a political party, irrespective of other party affiliations, and vote for a change of the constitution and for a candidate for governor who should prove faithful to their cause. This was done, and as a result 47,000 votes were cast by the friends of the oppressed tenants, and John Young, Esq., was elected the governor of the State of New Yori:, witn the assurance that the sixteen prisonei*s imder the sentences of the judges controlled by the late BOUTON-BOUGHTON FAMILY. 191 fovemor, in the interest of the feudal landlords, were to e released. Within one month of Gov. Young taking his seat he sent special messages to the prisons, and the said prisoners were triumphantly conveyed through the country to their homes amid great rejoicings and ovations on the way. This was in February,' 1847. Arriving at his home the doctor settled down to his practice to retrieve his exhausted fortune and enjoy his well earned tranquility, realizing most fully the old raaxium, "that the man who attempts to revolutionize and overthrow the evils of a government, must not expect to reap any personal advantages, but find all his reward in the consciousness that his efforts and sacrifices have resulted to the advantage of others." And in this case some 10,000 of these oppressed tenantry had by the enactments of law been released from the entailed exactions in their leases, and they were allowed to purchase and hold their estates in fee simple. After the lapse of forty years of return to civil life, the respected Dr. A. S. Boughton, and the companion of his youth and the faithful sharer of his trying vicissitudes and sufferings, still live, Januarv, 1887, at Alps, Rensselaer Co. , N. Y., where his home has been since 1839. Child of Smith Azer and Mary E. Bailey Bongrhton, 4»f Alps, Benggelaer conntj, N. Y. 1762 1,814 i. Artemus B. Boughton, b. Alps, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., Nov. 16, 1843, m. Fort Plain, N. T., Jan. 5, 1862, Lorilla J. Reno, b. Lodi, Otsego Co., N. Y., May 18, 1841, dau. of Peter and Susan Reno, of Lodi, N. 1.; they settled in Schenectady, N. Y., where he engaged in the manufacturing of ladies' novelties, and were living in Schenectady, 1887. Children of Artenms B. and Lorilla J. Beno Bonghtony of 8cheneetad7, N. T. 1,816 i. Willis B. Boughton, b. Alps, N. Y., Jan. 19, 1863, d. July 2, 1865. 1.816 ii. WiLUS F. Boughton, b. Alps, N. Y., March 8, 1865. 1.817 iii. Abigail E. Boughton, b. Alps, N. Y., August 17, 1867. 1.818 iv. George W. Boughton, b. Alps, N. Y., Oct. 27, 1870. 1.819 V. Mamie E. Boughton, b. April, 9, 1873. 1.820 vi. Charles D. Boughton, d. Schnectady, N. Y., June 19, 1883. 192 BouTON-BoucfflTON Family. Children of Joseph mnd Ljdlm (dan. of Jonathan and Abigail Nlehols Bougrhton) Bough ton Tonng, of Nassau^ N. T. 1744 1.821 Polly Young, b. , m. Robert Weir, of Cam- bridge, N. Y. 1.822 Sally Young, b. , m. Nathan Monroe, of Fort Edward, N. Y. No children. Children of Robert and Pollj Yonng Wler, of ICambrldgre^ N. T. 1.823 i. Edwin Week, b. , d. 1.824 ii. WiSLEY Wier, b. , d. . 1.825 iii. JuDSON Weer, b. , lived in Cambridge, 1880. 1.826 iv. Fletcher Weer, b. , lived Cambridge, 1880. (vi.) Simeon Boughton (son of Jonathan and Abi- gail Bough ton), b. Simsburv, Conn., 1764, m. Polly Curtis and settled in Hillsdale, Col. Co., N. Y. Children of Simeon and Polly CnrtlB Bongrhton, of HllU- dale, N. Y. 1746 1.826 i. Curtis S. Boughton, b. Hillsdale, Col. Co., N. Y., Sept. 6, 1793, m. Maiy Bagley, b. Sept. 23, 1796, of Hillsdale, N. Y., where they settled, and afterward moved to New York city. Children of Curtis and Mary (PoUj) Bagley Bonghton^ of Hillsdale, N. Y. 1.827 i. Eliza A. Boughton, b. Hillsdale, N. Y., June 80, 1821, m, first, April 19, 18*6, William Messenger; second, John T. Pratt ; died. 1.828 ii. Mary C. Boughton, b. New York city, Nov. 12, 1823 ; unmarried, d. New York city, 1889. 1.829 iii. Stephen E. Boughton, b. New York city, Jan. 25, 1826, m. New York city, May 30, 1849, Mary Foot ; res. Elizabeth, N. J., 1888. • 1.830 iv. JuLLA. A. Boughton, b. New York city, Feb. 4, 1830, died in infancy at Hillsdale, N. Y., March 24, 1831. 1.831 V. Fanny C. Boughton, b. New York city, Oct. 5, 1837, m. Elizabeth, N. J., May 22, 1862, Oliver R. Ogden, res. Elizabeth, N. J., 1888. No children Child of William and Ellsa A. Bongrhton Messenger, of New York elty. 1.832 i. WiLUAM H. Messenger, b. New York city, June 27, 1841, m. Louise . Child of WllUam H. and Lonise Mewenflrer, III. 1.833 i. Louise B. Messenger, b. . k % BouTON-BouGHTON Familt. 193 Child of John T. and Eliza A. Booffhton (widow of William Mesgenger) Pratts of Brooklyn, N. Y. 1.834 ii. Frances K. Pratt, b. Brooklyn, N. Y., Jan. 6, 1847, m. Stanley G. Mason. Child of Stanley G. and Frances K. Pratt Mason, of Elizabeth, N. J. 1.835 i. Florence Stanley Mason, b. Elizabeth, N. J., September 30, 1875, lives with her mother at Eliza- beth, N. J. Children of Stephen E. and Mary Foot Bongrhton^ of New Tori city and Elizabeth, N. J. 1829 1.836 i. James Curtis Boughton, b. New York city, May 1, 1850, d. unmarried, Elizabeth, N. J., Sept. 4, 1879. 1.837 ii. Edward P. Boughton, b. New York city, Sep- tember 19, 1852, d. Elizabeth, N. J., unmarried. May 26, 1876. 1.838 iii. Mary Florence Boughton, b. New York city, July 16, 1858, d. Elizabeth, N. J., Feb. 10, 1860.