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I was born in Farmington, Ontario County, New York, and prepared for college at
Canandaigua Academy, where both my father and my uncle, United States Senator E. G.
Lapham, and my son, William G. Lapham, received their preliminary education. My father
was William G. Lapham, civil engineer by profession, who graduated at Troy Polytechnic
Institute, and was an instructor in mathematics in that institution. He was a civil engineer
in the construction of the New York Central Railroad from Syracuse to Rochester, and
subsequently was superintendent of the New York Central. He was also superintendent of
the Canandaigua and Elmira, and the Canandaigua and Niagara Falls railroads, and was
constructing engineer of the Cayuga and Ithaca Railroad. He died in 1873.
My grandfather was judge John Lapham, of Ontario County, who was cousin of
Governor Briggs, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
My uncle was Elbridge G. Lapham, who succeeded Roscoe Conkling as United States
Senator from New York.
After graduating from Williams, I entered the law office of Judge Daniel Pratt,
attorney-general of the State of New York, as a law student, having decided to adopt the
profession of the law. My health gave out, however, and as I was advised to be in the open
air as much as possible, I entered the employ of the New York Central Railroad, and had
charge of a construction train, which kept me out of doors all the time.
On December 27, 1864, I married Emma Jerome Jackson, of Syracuse, where I had
that year taken up my residence. My wife was a daughter of William Jackson, one of the
pioneer business men of the city of Syracuse, and a niece of Prof. Isaac Jackson, of Union
College, and a cousin of Prof. Frank Jackson, of the University of Pennsylvania. She was
also a cousin of Governor David Jerome, of Michigan, and a cousin of Lady Randolph
Churchill, and, on her father's side, a cousin of Bradley Martin.
My first child, a son, was born January 11, 1866, and would have taken the Class cup
for the first son born to a member of the Class of '63 had he not died at the age of eight
months.
In the fall of 1866, I removed to the city of New York, and entered the service of the
Central National Bank of that city, located at 320 Broadway, corner of Pearl Street, of which
bank William A. Wheelock was then president. My position in the bank was that of
clearing-house clerk. I remained in the bank until the fall of 1867, when I returned to
Syracuse, and on October 1st of that year joined the editorial staff of the Syracuse Daily
Courier as associate editor. In 1870, I purchased an interest in that paper, and for thirty-five
consecutive years, or up to the present, I have been associate editor, managing editor, and
editor of the paper, and of its successor, the Syracuse Evening Telegram. In fact, about all
my life work has been centered in the promotion of the interests of these two papers, the
only Democratic daily newspapers in Syracuse. The offices of these papers have been
located in the same building during my long association with them, and I have sat for more
than thirty years at my desk in one and the same room. I am quite confident that few, if
any, of my classmates can surpass me in this record, however much they may excel me in
other achievements.
Early in life I was impressed by the adage, "that a rolling stone gathers no moss," and
although invited to assume editorial positions in the metropolis, Syracuse has always been
good enough for me.
On April 15, 1868, I was severely injured in a railway accident, which occurred at
Carr's Rock on the Erie Railway, near Port Jervis, New York. I was on my way to New
York City to attend a meeting of the Associated Press and to attend a dinner tendered to
Charles Dickens, the novelist, by the Press of New York City. In this accident, then the
most terrible on record, twenty-three persons were killed outright, and seventy were severely
injured. I was seriously hurt about the head and neck, and carry to this day the scars
resulting from my injuries.
In addition to my editorial labor, I have found time occasionally to do some outside
work. Have served as a teacher of elocution in Syracuse University, and as secretary of the
Civil Service Commission, and have lectured on the "Heroes and Heroines of Shakespeare,:
and other topics. I have also been a contributor to the New York Press, and a special writer
for Syracuse publications.
On my completion, on October 3, 1897, of the period of thirty years in journalism,
I was tendered a complimentary banquet by the Press of Syracuse. I have found time to
travel about the world quite a little, having been pretty much all over Europe; and in 1892,
while a member of the executive committee of the International League of Press Clubs,
made a journey across the continent to attend the convention of that body in San Francisco.
My children now living are: Mrs. Walter Snowdon Smith, whose husband is a
graduate of Yale University, Class of 1877, and who resides in Syracuse; and William Gray
Lapham, a practicing attorney in this city, who graduated at Hobart College, and who, of
course, is a "Sigma Phi." My son won the first prize, a silver pitcher, in the Interstate
Collegiate Tennis Tournament, at Albany, and also won the first prize, a silver loving cup,
at the Onondaga Golf Tournament. He also stood at the head of his class in his examination for membership of the bar of Syracuse, and took the first prize in oratory in
college. His wife is the daughter of Hon. Beverly Ward, of New York, and granddaughter
of the late Hugh Hastings, the noted editor of the New York Commercial Advertiser. Mr.
and Mrs. Lapham have one son, a year old, named William Gray Lapham. My daughter has
three sons, Walter Snowdon Smith, Jr., Gurney Lapham Smith, and Nelson Jerome Smith,
aged respectively thirteen, ten, and four years.
I have enjoyed reasonably good health during my active life, and I am still in the
harness. I have had a reasonably good share of the enjoyments and blessings of life, and
am sure I have very much to be thankful for.
My wife, my children, and my grandchildren are my jewels, and to me are pearls of
richest price. Four generations of my family live in one street, James Street, Syracuse,
within a short distance of each other, and thus my family circle is practically bound together
in ties the tenderest and strongest of human nature.
Source:
Class of Sixty-Three Williams College Fortieth Year Report, by
the Class Historian, Thomas Todd Printer, Boston, 1903
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