became one of the earliest settlers
and wealthiest men in Western New York. He was, also, the most
public-spirited citizen. He believed in normal schools and in district
school libraries, and he may properly be called one of the founders of
the educational system of the State. But he never cared for political
office. It was said of him that his refusal to accept public place was
as inflexible as his determination to fight Oliver Kane, a well-known
merchant of New York City, after trouble had occurred at the card
table. The story, told at the time, was that the two, after separating
in anger, met before sunrise the next morning, without seconds or
surgeons, under a tall pine tree on a bluff, and after politely
measuring the distance and taking their places, continued shooting at
each other until Kane, slightly wounded, declared he had enough.[489]

[Footnote 489: Thurlow Weed Barnes, _Life of Thurlow Weed_, Vol. 1, p.
153.]

James S. Wadsworth discovered none of his father's aversion to holding
office. He, also, graduated at Yale and studied law in the office of
Daniel Webster, but he preferred politics and agriculture to the
troubles of clients, and, although never successful in getting office,
all admitted his fitness for it. He was brave, far-sighted, and formed
to please. He had a handsome face and stately presence. Many people
who never saw him were strongly attracted to him by sympathy of
political opinions and by gratitude for important services rendered
the country. There was to come a time, in 1862, when these radical
friends, looking upon him as the Lord's Anointed, and indifferent to
the wishes of Thurlow Weed and the more conservative leaders, forced
his nomination for governor by acclamation; but, in 1856, John A. King
had the weightiest influence, and, on the second ballot, he took the
strength of Draper, Clark, and Harris, receiving 158 votes to 73 for
Wadsworth. It was not soon forgotten, however, that in the memorable
stampede for King, Wadsworth more than held his own.

John Alsop King was the eldest son of Rufus King. While the father was
minister to the court of St. James, the son attended the famous school
at Harrow, had as classmates Lord Byron and Sir Robert Peel, and went
the usual rounds of continental travel. For nearly four decades he had
been conspicuous in public life as assemblyman, senator, congressman,
and in the diplomatic service. Starting as a Federalist and an early
advocate of ant