#johnsoutherland

[yatescountyhistorycenter]

Who was Cousin John anyway?

By Jonathan Monfiletto

As I have mentioned before on this blog, the Yates County History Center has in its archival collection two letters written from George Crozier – the Benton man who was arrested, convicted, and imprisoned for murdering his wife, Fannie, by arsenic poisoning in the summer of 1875 – to a man identified by George only as Cousin John. Whether these are the only two letters George wrote to Cousin John while in prison is unclear – based on the dates of the letters, it appears George was in the Yates County Jail awaiting his execution following his conviction in March 1876 at the time he wrote the letters – but we have two of his letters in our collection.

The first letter, at least in the order I first discovered them, starts with a simple salutation, “Dear Cousin John,” and contains George’s pleas for mercy as he expresses his love for Fannie and his innocence in her death. The second letter, again in the order I first found then, includes the original envelope, addressed to “Hon. John Southerland, Member of Assembly,” in Albany, New York. Naturally, these events cause two questions to arise: Was John Southerland actually George Crozier’s cousin? Was John Southerland actually an Assemblyman?

Indeed, the answer to both of those questions is yes. The answer to the first question is an easy one, so let’s start there. It is actually George Crozier’s mother, Amy, who is first cousins with John Southerland. Amy Crozier was the second child – and second daughter – of Joseph Southerland and Hannah Bassett. John Southerland was the eldest child of Alexander Southerland and Mariah VanDuser. Joseph and Alexander were brothers, the third child/first son and fifth child/third son, respectively, of David Southerland and Lucretia Smith. All of that to say this: Amy Crozier and John Southerland were first cousins, so George Crozier and John Southerland were first cousins once removed. Or, when you have a large family spread over a close geographical distance, George and John were just cousins. And they may have addressed each other as such and been familiar with each other.

The answer to the second question is not at all complicated; it just takes a longer explanation. Indeed, John Southerland was the Assemblyman for Yates County, at a time when Assembly terms apparently lasted only a single year and Assembly districts consisted solely of individual counties. He served a one-year term, conveniently for George, during the 1876 calendar year. Southerland served just the one term, losing in his re-election bid, but his involvement in Yates County politics went on long before that year and long after that single term. Southerland appears to have been a lifelong Democrat, at a time when Yates County was largely Republican (some things never change) and when being a Democrat meant different things than it does today.

According to our digitized newspaper collection, Cousin John sought for – and sometimes attained – several offices in the town of Potter (where the Southerland family settled and where John Southerland lived with each of his wives) as well as at the county and state levels. He was also involved in several political and civic organizations throughout his long lifetime and career as a statesmen Despite being a Democrat, in the minority of Yates County political leanings at the time, Southerland appears to have been well respected by his contemporaries – supporters and opponents alike. This commentary from the Yates County Chronicle on September 21, 1876 – amid Southerland’s re-election campaign for Assembly – might tell it best: “We see our neighbor and worthy citizen, Hon. John Southerland, is on the Democratic ticket again for Assembly. Well if a Democrat go (?) we had as soon have him, and rather than any other we know.” Of course, detractors – of Southerland and of Democrats – made their voices heard as well, questioning his allegiance to the Union during the Civil War and associating him with the notoriously corrupt Tammany Hall during his first run for Assembly. And, naturally, mud was slung back and forth through the newspapers, including at least once by Cousin John himself.

According to his 1903 obituary (Southerland was born June 11, 1813 and died October 1, 1903 at age 90), Southerland held three political offices during his lifetime – a single term each as Potter Town Supervisor (which also gained him a seat on the Yates County Board of Supervisors) and New York State Assemblyman for Yates County and several terms as Justice of the Peace. However, even this obituary, which hails Southerland as “for many years a prominent and influential citizen of this town … a man of sterling integrity, good, practical, common sense, true in every relation, and highly respected,” does not tell the full story of Southerland’s political ventures. Yes, he was elected Potter Town Supervisor in 1872, but that victory came after at least three other attempts in 1857, 1867, and 1870. In 1873, he apparently lost his re-election bid when the vote resulted in a tie and the town board members, all Republicans, were called on to appoint a supervisor. He ran – and lost – again in 1874, and then of course he was elected Assemblyman and served for 1876.

Along with his involvement in the Democratic County Convention (and representation of the party at the state and congressional district levels), Southerland also ran for County Sheriff, County Clerk, and two judicial positions he was elected to – Justice of Sessions and Justice of the Peace. He was also involved in the Yates County Agricultural Society, the First National Bank of Penn Yan, and the Canandaigua and Bath Railroad as well as the Young Men’s Union Club and the People’s Union County Convention. A community-minded man, he hosted picnics for local district schools on his property in Potter and joined a committee to plan a celebration for the United States of America’s centennial in 1876.

Throughout his life and career, Southerland certainly had his opponents and detractors, especially as a Democrat amid a sea of Republicans, but seems to have been generally respected and beloved, even as a Democrat amid a sea of Republicans. He was married twice, having outlived Elmira Bates, whom he married February 18, 1836 and who died February 27, 1850, and then Martha Furguson, whom he subsequently married and who died in 1890. He had three children – daughters Jane (Warner) Cole and Eliza (John) Clark and son Oren, whom he also outlived. And, of course, he had his cousin George Crozier.