THE CONKLING AND CONTROVERSY, IN 1866. THE OUTBREAK OF THE LIFE-LONG FEUD BETWEEN THE John Watts de Peyster, LL.D. LITT. D. Doctor of Letters or Literature (Degree conveying highest collegiate distinction, superior to LL.D.), Franklin and Marshall College, (cornerstone laid by Benjamin Franklin, 1787; reorganized 1853). (Oldest institution under Reformed (German) Church), Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1892. Master of Arts, Columbia College of New York, 1872.-Hon. Mem. Clarendon Hist. Soc., Edinburgh, Scotland; of the New Brunswick Hist. Soc., St. John, Canada: of the Hist. Soc. of Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey; of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the U. S., &c.; of the N. Y. Burns Club, &c.; Cor. Mem. of the Quebec Lit. and Hist. Soc, Canada, &c.; Life Mem. Royal Hist. Soc. of Great Britain, London, Eng.; Mem. Maatschappij Nederlandsche Letterkunde, Leyden, Holland.-First Hon. Mem. Third Army Corps (A. of the P.) Union; Hon. Mem. Third Army Corps Gettysburg Battlefield Reunion and Mem. of the Honorary Committee; Mem. Amer. Hist. Association, U. S. A.; of the Holland Society, N. Y.; Associate Mem. Military Institution of the U. S., &c., &c.; Member, Life, Honorary and Corresponding Member of over forty State and Local Historical, Scientific and Literary Societies and Associations, &c., at home and abroad.-Colonel N. Y. S. I., 1846, assigned for "meritorious conduct" to command of 22d Regimental District, M. F. S. N. Y., 1849; Brig.-General for “important service "[first appointment in N. Y. State to that rank, hitherto elective], 1851, M. F. S. N. Y.; Military Agent S. N. Y. in Europe, 1851-53, authorized and endorsed by U. S. A., 1851-3; assisted in organization of present Police, N. Y., and first reported in favor of Paid Fire Department with Fire Escapes and Steam Engines, 1852-3; Adjutant-General S. N. Y., 1855; Brevet Major-General S. N. Y. for" meritorious services," by "Special Act or "Concurrent Resolution," N. Y. State Legislature, April, 1866, [first and only General officer receiving such an honor (the highest) from S. N. Y., and the only officer thus brevetted (Major-General) in the United States]. As long as the Republicans continued in power or exercised executive influence, General De Peyster was carried on the State Military Roster as Fifth MajorGeneral, N. G. S. N. Y., " without command" designated, i. e., unattached-that remark being the only difference between the mention of him and of the other four Major-Generals (See Legislative Manual, 1885, and previous years, p. 546). St. Nicholas Club (Resigned); Union League Club (Resigned), before 1887.-Honorary Life Member of the Toledo Soldiers' Memorial Association, Toledo, Ohio, 1888; First Honorary Member of Philosophian Society, Cowan, Pennsylvania, 1890; Honorary Member of West Virginia Historical and Antiquarian Society, Charleston, Kanawha Co., W. Va., 1890-1; Life Member of the Ohio State Archæological and Historical Society, Columbus, Ohio, 1889; Life Member of the Palestine Exploration Fund, 1890. Recipient of Legislative and Executive Votes of Thanks from the States of New Jersey and of Pennsylvania, 1891; of the Mayor and Corporation of the City of Kearney, Nebraska, 1892; and of the N. Y. Historical Society of New York, 1892, for a "unique and most valuable Gift of the ancient historical manuscripts, documents, maps and deeds so long in the possession of this distinguished New York family, of which he is a well-known representative," going back even to the term of Governor Stuyvesant. Corresponding Member of the Virginia Historical Society, 1893. Honorary Fellow (or Member) of the Society of Science, Letters, and Art, London, England, 1893. |