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 TER WILDER. 
 
MEMORIAL 
 
 OF 
 
 A. CARTER WILDER. 
 
 With the Coinplime: 
 
 
 Denver, Col.. December. 1878. 
 
 ROCHESTER 
 
MEMORIAL 
 
 OF 
 
 A. CARTER WILDER. 
 

A. CARTER WILDER. 
 
 [Rochester Evening Express, Dec. 2j, 187J.] 
 
 The sad news, not altogether unanticipated, of the death 
 of our gifted and honored townsman, Hon. A. Carter Wilder, 
 was received this morning by his brother, Samuel Wilder, in a 
 dispatch from San Francisco. His death took place last evening, 
 December 22, 1875. 
 
 His many friends have noticed with great sorrow the 
 gradual decline of his health during the past few years — the fact 
 that his disease was making sure progress to a fatal result being 
 too evident to all who observed his condition. A trip to Europe 
 two years ago did little to check the malady, and a resort to our 
 Southern climate, last year, was as ineffectual. The journey to 
 California was undertaken in November last, with a view to test 
 the healing effects of a more genial and equable temperature, but 
 this has not stayed the inevitable result. 
 
 Mr. Wilder resided in Rochester some twenty-five years 
 ago, and was engaged with his brothers in mercantile business. 
 When attention began to be drawn to the desirable character of 
 the Indian Territory, now embraced in the State of Kansas, he 
 was among the first to visit and settle in that Territory, engaging 
 with all his native zeal and enthusiasm in the efforts to forestall 
 the inroad of slaveholders, who hoped to blight that virgin soil by 
 planting slavery thereon. A man of fine presence, with the 
 noble gift of eloquence and readiness of speech, he was one of 
 
4 MEMORIAL. 
 
 the most prominent of the protectors of that soil from the curse 
 with which it was threatened. He remained on the ground until 
 the conflict between the friends of freedom and the " Border 
 Ruffians," advocates of slavery, was waged to a successful issue in 
 behalf of free institutions. His services in that behalf were recog- 
 nized by the noble men, who risked property and lives in that strug- 
 gle for a great principle, and he was elected to represent Kansas in 
 Congress. He was a member of that body during the most inter- 
 esting period of its history, and was ranked among the able and 
 influential members. He returned to. Leavenworth, where he had 
 valuable interests, and continued there until 1865, when he 
 returned to Rochester, purchased the " Tallman Block" property, 
 (now the Evening Express Building,) and soon after engaged with 
 his brother, D. W. Wilder, and others, in the publication of the 
 Morning and Evening Express. This he continued until 1868, 
 when his brother returned to Kansas, and he sold his interest to 
 his partners, and retired altogether from active pursuits. In 1872 
 he was elected Mayor of Rochester for a two years' term. His 
 health becoming more precarious, he resigned in 1873 and made a 
 trip to Europe, remaining abroad nearly a year. This is a brief 
 history of his career. We cannot do full justice to it, or his 
 personal merits, in a brief article. Had he been favored with a 
 physical constitution equal to his mental endowments, he would 
 have occupied a large place in public life. He used all of his 
 native capital and kept nothing in reserve. He was accompanied 
 to California by his wife, Mrs. Frank Little and Miss Fanny 
 Wilder. The remains will be brought here for interment. 
 
 The following brief record of Mr. Wilder' s personal history 
 was taken from the Dictionary of Congress : 
 
 Wilder, A. Carter. — He was born in Mendon, Worcester 
 County, Mass., March 18, 1828; in 1850 removed to Rochester, 
 
MEMORIAL. 5 
 
 N. Y., and in 1857 to Kansas, where he was engaged in mercan- 
 tile pursuits ; was a delegate to the Chicago National Convention 
 in i860, and in 1862 he was elected a Representative from Kansas 
 to the Thirty-eighth Congress, serving on the Committee on 
 Indian Affairs. He was a delegate to the Baltimore Republican 
 Convention of 1864, and to the National Republican Conventions 
 of 1868 and 1872. 
 
 yFrom the Rochester Union and Advertiser, Dec 23, iSyj.~\ 
 THE DEATH OF EX-MAYOR A. CARTER WILDER. 
 
 It will be with irrepressible sadness, though not with great 
 surprise, that the many friends of Hon. A. Carter Wilder will 
 learn that the menace of a fatal termination to his long illness has 
 been fulfilled. He died in San Francisco at 9 o'clock last 
 evening. 
 
 Mr. Wilder had been afflicted for some two years with 
 what New York physicians had pronounced catarrhal consump- 
 tion. He has twice been in Europe, the last time with the hope of 
 benefiting his health, and last winter he resided in Florida. It 
 was designed to spend the present inclement season in the genial 
 climate of California, and for that purpose he left New York for 
 San Francisco on the 5th of November. After stopping at 
 various points he arrived at the latter city on the 6th of this 
 month, and has since continued to decline. He was accompanied 
 by his wife, by Mrs. Frank Little, and by a young niece of his. 
 
 Mr. Wilder was forty-seven years of age. Samuel Wilder 
 of this city and D. W. Wilder of Leavenworth, Kansas, are 
 brothers. He was born in Mendon, Worcester County, Mass., 
 and first settled in Rochester in 1850. In 1857 he removed to 
 
6 MEMORIAL. 
 
 Kansas, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits and interested 
 himself in political affairs. He was a delegate to the Chicago 
 Republican Convention in i860, where Lincoln was first nom- 
 inated for the Presidency. In 1863-4 he represented the entire 
 State of Kansas in Congress, the State at that time being entitled 
 to but one member. He was elected over Marcus J. Parrott. 
 At one time he occupied the position of paymaster or quarter- 
 master in the army,* and subsequently came to Rochester to reside, 
 where he has since made it his home. In 1872 he was elected 
 Mayor of the city for a term of two years, but resigned before the 
 expiration of the term to go to Europe. 
 
 Mr. Wilder was a man of free hearted, generous impulses, 
 genial disposition and liberal culture. He never made an enemy 
 where it was possible to keep a friend. His fund of general 
 information, treasured up in a retentive memory, made him a 
 very interesting conversationalist. His death will be deeply 
 regretted in the community. 
 
 [Rochester De?nocrat and Chronicle, Dec. 23, j8?j>.~\ 
 THE DEATH OF HON. A. CARTER WILDER 
 
 Took place in San Francisco on the evening of the 22d inst. 
 The sad intelligence was not unexpected, as Mr. Wilder's health 
 has been failing for some time. Consumption had attacked him, 
 and though he had been able, by careful attention to the laws of 
 health and the advice of the most skilled in medicine, to ward off 
 
 * He was appointed Brigade Commissary by President Lincoln, August 7, 1S61 — one of 
 the first military appointments made by Mr. Lincoln in Kansas. His headquarters were at 
 Fort Scott. The leading hotel in that city was named for him and is still called the Wilder 
 House. The town, Wilder, in Johnson county, Kan., was named for his brother. 
 
MEMORIAL. 7 
 
 death for a long time, he has, at last, been called home. In the 
 hope of regaining his health he visited Europe in 1873, anfi 
 passed the winter of 1874-5 in Florida. It was the same mission 
 that called him to California. He started from New York on the 
 5th of November, and was accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Francis 
 Little and his niece, Miss Fanny Wilder. After stopping to visit 
 friends along the route, he arrived in San Francisco on the 6th 
 inst. His health steadily failed, notwithstanding the assiduous 
 attention of his friends and the best medical skill, and he died as 
 above stated. 
 
 Mr. Wilder was born in Mendon, Worcester County, 
 Mass., March 18, 1828. In 1850 he removed to this city. After 
 seven years of active business life here he removed to Kansas. 
 There he took a prominent position, not only in business affairs 
 but in political life, and became well known in connection with 
 Western politics ; was elected a delegate to the Chicago Conven- 
 tion of i860, by which Lincoln was nominated for the Presidency, 
 and was sent in 1862 as a Representative to the Thirty-eighth 
 Congress. In 1864 he attended the Baltimore Convention as a 
 delegate. He was at one time a paymaster in the army. In 1865 
 he left Leavenworth and returned to this city, where he became 
 engaged as a publisher of The Evening Express. In 1872 he was 
 elected Mayor of the city of Rochester, but resigned before the 
 end of his official term on account of failing health. Since then 
 his health has been precarious, and he traveled extensively in the 
 hope of improving it. 
 
 Mr. Wilder was a man of much ability, a free hearted, 
 kind and cultured gentleman, whose foes were few and whose 
 friends were many. His death will be deeply felt among the 
 large circle of friends and acquaintances in this city. Samuel 
 Wilder of this city and George and D. W. Wilder are his brothers. 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 {From the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, March j, 1876.] 
 MEETING OF THE EX-MAYORS OF ROCHESTER. 
 
 The remains of the honored ex-Mayor, A. Carter Wilder, 
 were committed to their last resting place yesterday afternoon, a 
 large number of his former associates, city officials and the 
 ex-Mayors of the city being present. 
 
 The remains, which were deposited in the vault at Mount 
 Hope some time since, were taken thence and placed in the 
 family vault. 
 
 Previous to attending the services the ex-Mayors of the 
 city met in the Mayor's office and adopted the following official 
 record : 
 
 " The announcement of the burial of another of our 
 associates has convened us. The youngest member and latest 
 accession to our number, A. Carter Wilder, died at San Francisco 
 on Wednesday, the 2 2d day of December, 1875, and his remains 
 are to be this day interred at Mount Hope Cemetery. 
 
 " The first of the Chief Magistrates of our city who was 
 chosen for the prolonged term of two years, he was, in the fall 
 of 1873, compelled, by the incipiency of the disease which term- 
 inated his life, to resign the trust confided to him by his 
 constituency. 
 
 " We mourn his early decease, as both a loss personal to 
 ourselves and to this beloved city of his adoption. 
 
 "Recalling his transparent integrity of purpose, his 
 unselfish devotion to all the trusts, public or private, which 
 devolved upon him, his tolerance of all opinions, however adverse 
 to his own ardently held convictions, the conspicuous courtesy 
 of his manner which made for him attached triends out of all 
 with whom he came into near relations, his free-hearted, open- 
 handed generosity of nature, and the shrewd common sense 
 
MEMORIAL. 9 
 
 of his perceptions, we desire to record our sense of his many 
 excellencies, and to convey to his family the assurance that we 
 are mourners with them." 
 
 GEORGE G. CLARKSON, President. 
 James Brackett, Secretary. 
 Rochester, N. Y., March 2d, 1S76. 
 
 ACTION TAKEN BY THE TRUSTEES OF THE MECHANICS SAVINGS BANK. 
 
 At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Mechanics 
 Savings Bank of Rochester, held on Monday, January 3d, 1876. 
 the following entry was, by a unanimous vote, directed to be 
 made on the minutes. 
 
 Another of the trustees of this bank has entered into rest. 
 
 This Board has received the saddening intelligence of the death 
 
 of A. Carter Wilder, at the city of San Francisco, on Wednesday, 
 
 the 22d day of December, 1875, one °f the original incorporators 
 
 of this institution. He gave to its early management efficient 
 
 supervision and labor. Finding that his many and protracted 
 
 absences from the city prevented him from bestowing upon its 
 
 counsels that constant attention which he deemed to be due to a 
 
 fiduciary position, he some years since resigned his trust. He 
 
 yet retained, however, all of his original interest in the prosperity 
 
 and usefulness of this corporation, and was to the last its ardent 
 
 friend and, while at home, in almost daily contact with its 
 
 working. A shrewd sagacity was the prominent characteristic 
 
 of his mind, as was the sharp, incisive mother-wit of his speech. 
 
 A gentleman in every fibre, his impulses were of the noblest, and 
 
 ever penetrated by a catholic humanitarianism. To a generosity 
 
 of disposition which was limitless he united a remarkable suavity 
 
 3 
 
IO MEMORIAL. 
 
 and magnetism of manner — the index of a womanly warmth of 
 heart — which made personal attachment the sure result of com- 
 panionship, and the multitude of his friends who are now stricken 
 as at a brother's loss is at once the. highest attestation to his 
 virtues and his most appropriate and effective eulogy. 
 
 The Trustees deeply sympathize with his bereaved family 
 in this great affliction, and with the purpose of in some manner 
 indicating their sense of personal loss in the early decease of their 
 late associate, do hereby order this memorandum to be entered in 
 their book of records, and that a copy be transmitted to Mrs. 
 Wilder. 
 
 [From the Tiiusville {Pa.) Herald, Dec. 28, /S/j.] 
 THE LATE CARTER WILDER. 
 
 It is a melancholy duty to record the death of Hon. A. 
 Carter Wilder, of Rochester, N. Y., which occurred at San Fran- 
 cisco a few days since. He had gone thither in quest of health, 
 but fell a victim to that most inexorable and insidious of Death's 
 messengers, consumption. Mr. Wilder was a Massachusetts boy, 
 but came to Rochester in early manhood, and engaged in the 
 mercantile business in what was then, as now, the leading dry 
 goods house there, Wilder & Gorton's, later A. S. Mann's. At 
 that era national events were of thrilling interest, and out of the 
 exigencies of Freedom arose the Republican party, which said to 
 Slavery, when the Missouri Compromise line was beaten down, 
 " Hitherto hast thou come, but no further." It was Boston that 
 was the prolific nursery of Anti-Slavery ideas, and the armory 
 whence the brightest blades flashed forth to guard the tree of 
 Liberty. Parker, Sumner and Phillips, Starr King and their 
 
MEMORIAL. 1 1 
 
 compeers, were wont at that period to electrify the country, and 
 nowhere did they find a more congenial response than in 
 Rochester. There were the old prophets of the Anti-Slavery 
 faith, Lindley Murray Moore, Fred. Douglass, S. D. Porter, and. 
 others " who have entered into rest," but there were younger disci- 
 ples, too, apt, ardent and devoted, who drank in the spirit of '* the 
 irrepressible conflict," and among the noble band was Carter 
 Wilder. We well remember him then. Aristocratic in his tastes 
 and associations, but Democratic in his feelings and manners, he 
 made it fashionable in his circle to be radical and outspoken, to 
 despise ecclesiastical timidity, and to rebuke the cowardice of 
 party, over which the fell spirit of Slavery then glowered and 
 domineered. He drew his sentiments from Whittier, Lowell, 
 Emerson, and the worthies of the early Atlantic. He was well 
 read in that literature that still sheds the glory of Athens around 
 Boston and at that time transfigured Faneuil Hall into a Mars 
 Hill. He went to Kansas to help make her a Free State, and 
 became soon one of her leading spirits. He had the honor of 
 representing that virgin State in Congress in 1862-4, a memorable 
 and exciting period. No Territory ever went through such throes 
 and convulsions as Kansas, and no State ever had such a baptism 
 of flood and fire. With the inspiration of Liberty was alloyed the 
 passion for official distinction and power. Every citizen was 
 ready to fight and administer an office. Statesmen, politicians 
 and shysters, principle, intrigue and corruption ruled the hour. 
 Such orators as Marc. Parrott and Jim Lane could only have 
 been cradled in "Bleeding Kansas;" such terribly earnest men 
 as old John Brown could only have got their "mission " there 
 gazing on the smoking ruins of homes and the graves of children 
 massacred. Such editors, shooting at sight, could only have 
 lived or died on the confines of civilization, meeting with an 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 irruption of barbarism. It was out of these factious elements, 
 these bitter strifes, that Mr. Wilder issued a representative, and a 
 faithful and honorable career he led at the beleaguered capital. 
 The art of speaking must be acquired early, or not at all, in a 
 distinguished form, and Mr. Wilder did not seek much eminence, 
 and he was perhaps too critical and knew too much to attain the 
 abandon of a public speaker, who is lost if he stops to think, and 
 can only control others when he seems to lose himself. But 
 socially he was strong, his manners sincere and unaffected, and 
 his principles and his fidelity gave him influence and bound 
 friends to him with " hooks of steel." His reading was wide and 
 cultivated, his memory retentive, his judgment sound and discrim- 
 inating, his colloquial gifts delightful. His health was not equal 
 to the contentions of the most contentious of States. He returned 
 to Rochester, and the Republican party took him up, and he 
 became Mayor of that most princely of cities by a vote that 
 attested the cordial attachment he was capable of inspiring, while 
 disarming envy and enmity by a disposition that never asserted 
 itself in disparaging comparisons with other men's talents or 
 humbler fortunes. He had bought in and sold out an interest in 
 the Rochester Express, one of the brightest and most vigorous of 
 the daily press of Western New York, but this was only an 
 episode.- He had not the physical strength for an active career, 
 and had soon to put aside the duties and burdens of life. It was 
 only a few months since that we saw him in Rochester. He was one 
 whom you would step out of your way to meet, and he had just 
 returned from Italy, and had closed the eyes of one of his party, 
 a relative, on that foreign shore. We saw with misgiving how 
 attenuated he had become and worn to a shadow, and had a 
 painful presentiment that this might be the last time for a friendly 
 greeting and good-bye to Carter Wilder. We have said this much 
 
MEMORIAL. 13 
 
 as a posthumous tribute, to one who has spoken to many younger 
 and struggling men, less favored, words of kindness and 
 encouragement, and of one who deserved to bear " the grand old 
 name of Gentleman." 
 
 [From the Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Cot.'] 
 DEATH OF AN EX-CONGRESSMAN. 
 
 The remains of Hon. A. C. Wilder passed through 
 Cheyenne, a few days since, en route from San Francisco to 
 Rochester, N. Y., for interment. Mr. Wilder came to Denver 
 some weeks ago. He arrived here in a most delicate state of 
 health, and his friends advised against any attempt to go further 
 west. But, while pleased with Colorado,, his reliance for restora- 
 tion to health was wholly set upon California, and thither he 
 went, only to grow worse and die shortly after arrival. A native 
 of Massachusetts, but a resident for many years of Rochester, 
 N. Y., Mr. Wilder removed to Kansas at an early day, taking an 
 active and honorable part in the historic struggle of that common- 
 wealth. In appreciation of his manly services the people there 
 sent him to Congress, and at the expiration of his term he 
 returned to Rochester, of which city he was afterward elected 
 Mayor. He sought to arrest his failing health by travel and 
 residence in Florida and the sanitariums beyond the sea. Mr. 
 Wilder was a man of most pleasing address, varied abilities and 
 splendid attainments, and among his admirers are some of the 
 most prominent families of Denver. 
 
14 MEMORIAL. 
 
 [From the Los Angeles (Cat.) Daily Herald, Dec. 29, /c?7J.] 
 
 Hon. A. C. Wilder, of the Rochester Express, who died 
 at the Palace Hotel last week, has had an eventful history. 
 Many years ago he was a leading merchant of Leavenworth, 
 Kansas, and represented the State in Congress from 1863 to 1865. 
 He afterward returned to Rochester, N. Y., and was elected 
 Mayor. Subsequently he went to Europe for his health, but was 
 not benefited, and died in San Francisco last week. His brother, 
 D. W. Wilder, is Auditor of the State of Kansas and the most 
 brilliant editor in the Missouri valley. 
 
 [From the Lawrence [Kan.) Standard, Dec. 24, i8jj.~\ 
 DEATH OF HON. A. C. WILDER. 
 
 Very many of our readers will learn with deep and sincere 
 regret of the death of Hon. A. C. Wilder, which occurred at 
 San Francisco night before last. He passed through Kansas but 
 a short time ago on his way to the Pacific coast, going there for 
 the benefit of his health, which had not been good for some 
 years. Mr. Wilder was well known in Kansas, having lived here 
 many years. He was Representative in Congress from this State 
 from 1863 to 1865. He was a man of good ability, active, 
 energetic and public spirited, and has here many warm, devoted 
 personal friends. Mr. Wilder was a brother of Hon. D. W. 
 Wilder, State Auditor. 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 15 
 
 [ Topeka (A'an ) Commonwealth, Dec. jj, r8?j.] 
 
 DEATH OF A. C. WILDER. 
 
 A dispatch was received here yesterday announcing the 
 death of A. Carter Wilder in San Francisco on the evening of the 
 22d inst. Mr. Wilder had been ill with consumption about three 
 years, and said when he passed through here last month that he 
 was taking his last journey. 
 
 He was born in Worcester County, Mass. , and was forty- 
 seven years of age. He first came to Kansas in 1857, took up 
 his residence in Leavenworth and remained there until October, 
 1865. He took an active part in politics ; was secretary and 
 chairman of the first Republican committees, and was elected to 
 Congress in 1862. After returning to Rochester, N. Y., he was 
 elected Mayor, and once lacked only three votes of a nomination 
 to Congress in that district. 
 
 As a Republican he was a radical, and a sincere believer in 
 principles. He was an unusually good judge of character and of 
 the course of public sentiment and events. His good humor, 
 keen wit and kind heart made him very attractive and popular, 
 and his death will be sincerely mourned wherever he was known. 
 
 [From the Lawrence (Kan.) Republican- Journal, Dec. 2j, /Syj.] 
 DEATH OF A. C. WILDER. 
 
 The death of Hon. A. C. Wilder, which was mentioned in 
 our telegraphic dispatches yesterday morning, will cause a feeling 
 of regret in the breasts of thousands of old Kansans, by whom 
 he is well remembered. 
 
 Mr. Wilder was a brother of Hon. D. W. Wilder, Auditor 
 of State. He settled in Leavenworth in March, 1857, and during 
 
1 6 MEMORIAL. 
 
 the Free State struggle, up to the admission of the State, was one 
 of our most ardent and trusted workers. It was largely through 
 his efforts, combined with those of D. R. Anthony, the Vaughans, 
 Nelson McCracken, Henry J. Adams, and a few others, that 
 Leavenworth was rescued in 1857 from the Pro-Slavery party. 
 
 In 1862 he was nominated and elected by the Republicans 
 of Kansas to succeed Martin F. Conway in Congress. Mr. 
 Wilder filled the office to the acceptance of his constituents, and 
 ought to have been returned in 1864. 
 
 As a man he was of an unusually genial temperament, har- 
 monious, bright and pungent in conversation, saying good things 
 himself and appreciating them in others. 
 
 He removed to Rochester, N. Y., in 1865, and has since 
 resided there, holding at one time the office of Mayor of the city. 
 
 A few weeks since he visited his brother in Topeka, on his 
 way to California for his health, and at that time expressed the 
 premonition that he was making his last journey. He died of 
 consumption. 
 
 [From the Atchison {Kan.) Daily Champion, Dec. 23, /S?j.] 
 A. CARTER WILDER. 
 
 The telegraph brought intelligence, on Thursday night, of 
 the death of Hon. A. Carter Wilder, which occurred at San 
 Francisco, Cal., on the evening of the 226. inst. 
 
 Mr. Wilder was an old citizen of Kansas, and was elected 
 to represent this State in Congress in 1862. He was born in 
 Worcester County, Mass., and was forty-seven years of age. He 
 came to Kansas in 1857 from Rochester, N. Y., locating in 
 Leavenworth, where he continued to reside until October, 1865. 
 
MEMORIAL. 17 
 
 He then returned to Rochester, where he married, and engaged 
 in business pursuits. He was subsequently elected Mayor of that 
 city, and later he only lacked three votes of receiving the nom- 
 ination for Congress from that district. 
 
 Mr. Wilder was an earnest Republican, and for many 
 years was either secretary or chairman of the Republican State 
 Central Committee in this State. He was a delegate to the 
 Republican National Convention held at Chicago in i860, and 
 to that held at Baltimore four years later. 
 
 He was a man of great energy, thoroughly in earnest in 
 everything he said or did, and very firm in his friendships. When 
 enlisted in behalf either of a principle or a friend, he never tired 
 in his work, and his unfailing good humor, his generosity, and 
 his fidelity to his principles and convictions, secured for him the 
 esteem of all who knew him, and made him a powerful advocate. 
 He was one of the most entertaining companions we ever knew. 
 His crisp, pungent speech, full alike of humor, sincerity and 
 kindliness, was always thoroughly enjoyable ; his knowledge 
 of men and estimate of character was rarely at fault ; and his 
 earnestness and enthusiasm, whether called into play in behalf 
 of his convictions or his friends, never failed to command respect, 
 if not success. 
 
 He had been ill with consumption for about three years 
 past, and had gone to California seeking a restoration to health. 
 He passed through Kansas last month, stopping for a few days at 
 Topeka to see his brother, State Auditor Wilder. His death will 
 be sincerely mourned by a large circle of friends, not only in 
 Kansas, but in many other States of the Union. 
 
1 8 MEMORIAL. 
 
 [From the Kansas Annual Register, for 1864.} 
 SKETCH OF A. C. WILDER. 
 
 Abel Carter Wilder was born in Mendon (now Blackstone), 
 Worcester County, Mass., March 18th, 1828. He is the sixth 
 son of the late Dr. Abel Wilder, and a lineal descendant of 
 Thomas Wilder, who was buried in Lancaster, Mass., in 1667. 
 He has been in business as a merchant since he was eighteen 
 years of age — at first in his native town, afterward with his 
 brothers in Rochester, N. Y., and now in Leavenworth. 
 
 He went to Rochester in 1850. As chairman of the 
 Lecture Committee he first invited to that city such radical men 
 as Charles Sumner, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Wendell Phillips, and 
 others. When George Thompson, the English Abolitionist, went 
 there to speak, Mr. Wilder defended him in the liberal press 
 against the pro-slavery rabble who attempted to mob him. In 
 that city he began to take an active part in political affairs, acting 
 with the Whigs and Free Soilers until the organization of the 
 Republican party. Early in 1857 Mr. Wilder came to Kansas 
 and settled in Leavenworth. He very soon found himself actively 
 engaged in supporting with his time and means the Free State 
 party, which was then in the minority in that city and county. 
 None worked more diligently for that cause and few more 
 effectively, for he was never a candidate for office, and his most 
 bitter opponents never questioned his sincerity. For the past 
 seven years he has been an earnest advocate of the party of 
 Freedom and equal rights in this State. 
 
 At the organization of the Republican party at Osawatomie 
 in 1859, he was made secretary of the State Central Committee, 
 and at each of the two subsequent State Conventions he was made 
 chairman of that Committee. In this position he did much 
 
MEMORIAL. 19 
 
 toward perfecting the organization under which Kansas became 
 a Free State. 
 
 In i860, he was chairman of the Kansas delegation in the 
 National Republican Convention at Chicago, and voted for 
 William H. Seward for President, and John Hickman, of Penn- 
 sylvania, for Vice President. In the autumn of that year, when 
 Mr. Seward visited Kansas, Mr.. Wilder made the following 
 welcoming address at Leavenworth : 
 
 " Senator Seward : — I am charged with the very honorable 
 and grateful duty of expressing to you the profound regard and 
 affectionate esteem of my fellow citizens assembled before you, 
 and to extend to you a most cordial welcome to this metropolis 
 of Kansas. We have watched, with pride and gratification, the 
 demonstrations of respect and kindness which have attended 
 every step of your journey from Auburn to Leavenworth. 
 
 " Such sincere homage is due to your character and illus- 
 trious public services, and no people have more reason to 
 manifest their gratitude for your fidelity and friendship than the 
 free people of Kansas. 
 
 "Though holding a seat in the United States Senate from 
 the State of New York, Kansas and the Pacific claim you as their 
 Senator and statesman ; for when you retire, as perhaps you will 
 do on the fourth of March next, from a place to which the Empire 
 State deputed you as her Senator, and when one ,who reads the 
 record of your speeches and your votes is asked — what State did 
 the occupant of that vacant chair represent ? — he will be forced to 
 answer, I cannot tell ! 
 
 "Judging from your acts, it would seem that, whosoever 
 were meek and lowly, whosoever brought peril and reproach upon 
 their advocate, whosoever could do nothing in return for counte- 
 nance and support rendered, they were the persons whom you put 
 
20 MEMORIAL. 
 
 yourself forward to represent and defend. You took upon 
 yourself the burdens which others rejected, and braved the 
 unpopularity by which others were dismayed. 
 
 "And thus the heart of the American people is with the 
 man who was always in advance of their opinions, always seeing 
 clearly at the hour the truth which was to dawn upon their visions 
 after it had been derided for many days ; always combating for 
 the right, which had not yet become respected and acknowledged," 
 
 In August, 1 86 1, he was made a Captain in the Kansas 
 Brigade, served in the field and at Fort Scott, and remained in 
 the service a year. 
 
 On the 28th of August, 1862, on the invitation of the 
 Republican party, Mr. Wilder delivered an address in Turner 
 Hall, which concluded as follows : 
 
 "The duty of Kansas in this fierce conflict — a conflict 
 which can be repressed only by the triumph of Freedom — is not 
 doubtful or uncertain. To us belongs the high honor of bearing 
 the flag and leading the van. We are leaders. In virtue of 
 having made the first stand against the barbaric hordes of Slavery, 
 in virtue of having rallied to the defense of the Union with 
 greater unanimity than the people of any other State, and in 
 virtue of always having held steadfast to the great principles 
 which animate the contest, the name of Kansas stands emblazoned 
 as first in the royal roll of loyal States. 
 
 " Even while I speak the brave sons of Kansas are once 
 more coming forward in answer to the call of their country. 
 They come with confidence and enthusiastic ardor. They do not 
 and cannot despair of the Republic. And the blood of these 
 freemen will be freely given in defense of that cause for which we 
 have pledged our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor." 
 
MEMORIAL. 21 
 
 In the fall of 1862 Mr. Wilder was elected to represent 
 Kansas in Congress by a majority of over five thousand. 
 
 Few men in the State are better known or more generally 
 respected. He is a tireless worker, is gifted with a keen sagacity, 
 and his integrity of character was never doubted by friend or foe. 
 These manly traits have given him warm friends in every part 
 of the State, and have secured him an influence at Washington 
 such as is rarely accorded to a new member. 
 
GENEALOGY. 
 
 " The first Wilder known in history was Nicholas, a military chieftain in 
 the army of the Earl of Richmond, at the battle of Bosworth, in 1485. The 
 fact that it is a German name, and that it is quite common in some parts of 
 Germany at the present time, would indicate that he was one of those who 
 came with the Earl from France, and landed at Milford Haven. * * * On 
 the 15th of April, 1497, (being the twelfth of the reign of Henry VII.,) he gave 
 to his friend, as a token of his favor, a landed estate, with a coat of arms. That 
 estate is still held by his heirs." — From the "Book of the Wilders" by Rev. 
 Moses H. Wilder. 
 
 Shiplake was the family residence; it is situated on the west bank of the 
 Thames, three miles from Henley. 
 
 The names of the heads of families for four generations are: (1) 
 Nicholas, (2) John, (3) John, and (4) Thomas. This Thomas died at Shiplake 
 in 1634. Martha, his widow, left Shiplake in May, 1638, for the Colonies, in 
 the ship Confidence, from Southampton, and settled in Hingham, Mass. It is 
 believed that Thomas, of Charlestown, Mass., was her son. From him are 
 descended all the Lancaster (Mass.) Wilders ; the Hingham branch comes 
 from Edward, a brother of Thomas. 
 
 I. Thomas was received into the Charlestown Church March 30, 1640, 
 married Anna Eames the same year, and was admitted freeman June 2, 1641. 
 It is believed that he was born in 1618. He removed to Lancaster July 1, 
 1659, and was a leading citizen and public officer until his death, Oct. 23, 1667. 
 The following is his oath as a freeman, or voter. Only members of the 
 church could be voters : 
 
 I, Thomas Wilder, being, by God's providence, an inhabitant and 
 freeman within the jurisdiction of this Commonwealth, do freely acknowledge 
 myself to be subject to the government thereof, and therefore do here swear, by ' 
 the great and dreadful name of the ever-living God, that I will be true and 
 faithful to the same, and will accordingly yield assistance and support thereunto 
 
24 MEMORIAL. 
 
 with my person and estate, as in equity I am bound, and will also truly 
 endeavor to maintain and preserve all the liberties and privileges thereof, sub- 
 mitting myself to the wholesome laws and orders made and established by the 
 same; and, further, that I will not plot nor practice any evil against it, nor 
 consent to any that shall do so, but will timely discover and reveal the same to 
 lawful authority now here established, for the speedy preventing thereof. 
 Moreover, I do solemnly bin dmyself, in the sight of God, that, when I shall be 
 called to give my voice touching any such matter of this State, wherein freemen 
 are to deal, I will give my vote and suffrage as I shall judge in mine own, 
 conscience may conduce and tend to the public weal of the body, without 
 respect of persons or favor of any man. So help me God, in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 We get a picture of our Thomas and his love of fair play in the Baptist 
 histories of Backus and Benedict. The first Baptist Church in Boston was 
 founded first in Charlestown by Thomas Gould, but our Puritan ancestors 
 tolerated no church but their own, the Congregational, of which nearly all the 
 early Wilders were members. Thomas Gould related the manner in which he 
 came to embrace Baptist sentiments and the treatment he received from the 
 church in Charlestown. (See Benedict's History, Vol. I., pp. 385-6. Pub 
 lished 1813.) In 1655 he had a child born. He had scruples against having 
 it baptized ; the Elders of the church sent a note asking him to meet them at 
 the Elder's house, and to send word what time of that day he would come. 
 He did not go. On a Sunday, two months afterward, one of the Elders told 
 him he must stop, for the church would speak with him. Master Sims (the 
 minister) told the church in the meeting that Gould had lied, " for they sent to 
 me to appoint the day. I replied again that there was no such thing in the 
 letter. He replied again that they did not set down a time, and not a day, 
 therefore he told me it was a lie. * * I still replied that there was no such 
 thing in the letter, and thought I could produce the letter. They bid me let 
 them see the letter, or they would proceed against me for a lie. Brother Thomas 
 Wilder, sitting before me, stood up and told them that it was so in the letter as 
 I said, for he read it when it came to me. But, they answered, it was not so, 
 and bid him produce the letter or they would proceed with me. He said, I 
 think I can produce the letter, and forthwith took it out of his pocket, which I 
 wondered at, and I desired him to give it to Mr. Russell to read, and so he did, 
 and he read it very faithfully, and it was just as I had said, that I must send 
 them word what time of that day I would come down ; so that their mouths 
 were stopped, and Master Sims put it off and said he was mistaken, for he 
 thought he had read it otherwise ; ' but,' the Elder said, ' this is nothing ; let 
 us proceed with him for his judgment.' " 
 
 This picture ought to go into the next edition of the Wilder Book. 
 The children of Thomas and Anna were: 
 
 II. Mary, born June 30, 1642; Thomas, b. Sept. 14, 1644; John 
 1646; Elizabeth, 1648, and Nathaniel, 1650. 
 
MEMORIAL. 25 
 
 Thomas married Mary Houghton, June 17, 1678. Their children were: 
 
 III. James, born 1680; Joseph, born July 5, 1683; Sarah, b. 1685; 
 Elizabeth, b. 1687: Anna, 1689, and Mary, b. 1691. 
 
 Joseph married Lucy Gardner in 1702. He was a member of the 
 Legislature, Judge in the Courts in the province of Maine, Judge of Probate of 
 Worcester County, and Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. He died 
 May 26, 1757. His children were: 
 
 IV. Thomas, born in 1704; Andrew, b. 1706; Joseph, b. 1708, and 
 Caleb, born in 1710. 
 
 Caleb was a Colonel in the Indian wars.* He and his brother Joseph 
 were engaged extensively and successfully in the manufacture of pot and pearl 
 ashes. He was married to Abigail Carter Feb. 23, 1736, by Joseph Wilder, 
 Esq. He was a deacon in the Congregational Church. He died in Lancaster 
 in 1776, aged sixty-six, and his wife in 1802, at ninety-two years of age. 
 Their children, all born in Lancaster, were: 
 
 V. Caleb, born and died in 1737; Samuel, born May 7, 1739; Caleb, 
 July 1, 1741 ; Nahum, Aug. 18, 1743; Abigail, April 21, 1746; Levi, April 23, 
 1750, Sarah, Aug. 6, 1752, and Anna, July 10, 1755. 
 
 Samuel removed from Lancaster to Ashburnham, and became one of its 
 most prominent citizens. He was a deacon in the church, a Justice of the Peace, 
 was a member of the Legislature nearly a quarter of a century. He died 
 May 9, 1798, aged 59. He married Dorothy Carter, of Lancaster, Feb. 18, 1768. 
 They had twelve children. She died July 28, 1790, aged 40. One of her 
 grandsons has a copy of two sermons delivered in her memory by Rev. John 
 Cushing, A. M., and printed by Isaiah Thomas, at Worcester. Here are a few 
 sentences copied from Mr. Cushing: 
 
 " And she was esteemed and beloved by all who were acquainted with 
 her; and I am persuaded you will not charge me with partiality or flattery in 
 anything I shall say concerning her. I cannot think I shall do justice if I pass 
 her over without holding up to view something of her character. 
 
 " She was one of the first persons I saw upon coming to this town ; and 
 you are not to wonder if, by a two years' residence in the house with her, my 
 acquaintance was more intimate than with others in town, and that I am most 
 sensibly penetrated' with grief for the loss of a friend whom I have ever found 
 affectionate, sincere and faithful. 
 
 * Hon. Joseph Willard, in his History of Lancaster, says that fifteen Wilders from that 
 town were soldiers in the Revolutionary army, and that the first person in the town who 
 enlisted in the patriot army was a Wilder. 
 
 The histories of half a dozen towns in the vicinity of Lancaster show that their first 
 settlers and pioneers were Wilders. No quotations from these histories are made in the 
 valuable " Book of the Wilders " recently written and published by Rev. Moses H. Wilder. 
 
 4 
 
2 6 MEiMORIAL. 
 
 " Without disparagement to others, it must be allowed that she was a 
 person of large powers and abilities of mind, improved much by reading and 
 conversation — all who knew her readily acknowledge it. She had a comely, 
 open countenance, which was the index of a kind, benevolent heart, a heart 
 which wished well to all, and which excited her to do good to all, especially 
 such as were in want — she was liberal beyond her ability — such as went to 
 her in straits were not turned away if she could help them. I doubt not there 
 are those present who can witness to this. 
 
 " She was free and easy of access, and could make herself agreeable to 
 the various sorts of persons into whose company she fell, was free from all 
 haughtiness of behavior, so that her company was desired and sought after. 
 ' She opened her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue was the law of kind- 
 ness.' She was faithful in friendship, and her soul delighted in peace. She 
 endeavored to obtain the character of a peacemaker, and so blameless was her 
 life, that I know not that she had a personal enemy. ' Her children arise up 
 and call her blessed-; her husband also, and he praiseth her.' 
 
 " But to crown all, she was a Christian, and not one of a low form neither, 
 in the school of Christ. 'She feared God above many.' From my first 
 acquaintance (which was in the year 1768,) she appeared to have a sense of 
 religion, and to feel the power of divine truths, and early devoted herself to 
 God, and made a profession of religion which she held fast. She was diligent 
 in the use of the means of grace, and was a growing Christian, not only in 
 knowledge but in practice and experience. By improving her talents she 
 gained more. She loved the Bible, and searched it, and acquired a good 
 understanding of gospel truths and doctrines— she was certainly judicious and 
 free from bigotry ; her charity could embrace all who appeared to love the Lord 
 Jesus, though they might differ from her in sentiments about non-essentials." 
 
 Their children were: 
 
 VI. Samuel, born October 18, 1769; Caleb, born August 26 and died 
 August 28, 1771 ; Caleb, b. March 22, 1773; Nahum, March 1, 1775; Doro- 
 thy, March 14, 1777; Beulah, April 6, 1779; Ephraim, January 26, 1781, and 
 died the 30th; Ephraim, June 7, 1782; Sarah, June II, 1784; Abel, on Satur- 
 day, June 24, 1786; Thomas, July 7, 1788; Milton, June 30, 1790. 
 
 After the death of his wife, Dorothy, Dea. Samuel Wilder married her 
 sister, the widow Abigail Carter Fairbanks, of Sterling, March 9, 1791. There 
 were no children by the second marriage, and the new mother was a true mother 
 to her sister's children. 
 
 She died November 20, 1S15, aged 74. 
 
 Of the children, above named, Sarah died May 28, 1801 ; Samuel, at 
 Lincoln, Mass., in 1822; Caleb at Ashburnham in 1834. [His son, Silas 
 Whitney Wilder, was a well-known printer and publisher in Woonsocket, R. I„ 
 Dedham, Mass., Boston, and Toledo, Ohio.] Dorothy, the widow of Joseph 
 Stone, died in January, 1847. Beulah died at Boston May 13, 1847. Her 
 whole life was devoted to religious and missionary work, and the accumulations 
 of her industry were given to charitable societies. Thomas was long a city 
 missionary in Boston, and died while attending a religious meeting in Tremont 
 Temple, May 31, 1866. 
 
MEMORIAL. 27 
 
 Abel, on the death of his parents, was placed under the guardianship of 
 Capt. David Cushing, a brother of Rev. Dr. John Cushing. His boyhood was 
 a sad and hard one, but he secured a good education without any assistance 
 from others. When very young he earned enough by teaching school to enable 
 him to attend the New Salem Academy, to study medicine, and to attend med- 
 ical lectures at Dartmouth College. 
 
 He married Fanny Richardson of Winchendon, September 10,1812. 
 She was born in that town, November 13, 1788. 
 
 VII. David Smith, born in Winchendon, August 2, 1813. He now 
 lives in Toledo, Ohio. Sarah, at Fitzwilliam, N. H., Jan. 7, 1815. A son 
 born at the same time died at birth. She is now Mrs. Elijah Smith, and lives 
 at Detroit, Mich. Charles, at Swanzey, N. H., May 30, 1817. He was a 
 leading merchant in Rochester, N. Y., and died in 1857. 
 
 Caleb was born October 16, 1818, at Swanzey. He was a merchant in 
 Rochester and a captain in the Ninth New York Regiment in Gen. Taylor's 
 Division of the American Army in Mexico. He died in Rochester in 1852. 
 
 George was born at Walpole, Mass., Dec. 29, 1820. He has been a 
 manufacturer in Massachusetts and a merchant in Toledo, Ohio, and in New 
 York City. He now lives in Denver, Colorado. 
 
 Samuel was born October 21, 1824. Since 1843 ne nas been a merchant 
 and banker in Rochester, N. Y., where he still lives. 
 
 Abigail Fairbanks was born October 13, 1826. She is now the widow of 
 Mr. Adam Elder, and lives in Detroit. 
 
 Abel Carter was born March 18, 1S2S. The foregoing pages oive some 
 account of his character and career. He married, October 28, 1863, Miss 
 Frances Hunter, only daughter of Mrs. Eliza Hunter, of Rochester, and that 
 city is her home. Mrs. Hunter was the widow of Robert Hunter, Esq. of 
 Albany, N. Y. 
 
 Maria Richardson was born April 8, 1830. She is now the widow of 
 Capt. Horatio A. DuPuy, and her home is in Detroit. 
 
 Daniel Webster was born July 15, 1832. He graduated at Harvard in 
 1856 ; is an editor, and the author of the "Annals of Kansas." 
 
 The five last named were born in Mendon, now Blackstone, Mass. 
 
 Dr. Abel Wilder, the father of these children, died in New York City 
 on February 6, 1864. Their mother died in Toledo, Dec. 22, 1874. 
 
 Both were persons of strong character and of the most tender affections. 
 The father practiced medicine over forty years. He was commissioned as a Jus- 
 tice of the Peace by Governors of Massachusetts more than forty years. The 
 civil and criminal trials of the town, and the Medical Society meetings, were 
 held at his office. The Anti-Slavery speakers, from 1835 down, stopped at his 
 house. He was the personal friend and fellow laborer of all that early band of 
 
28 MEMORIAL. 
 
 Abolitionists. In the cause of education he was equally in earnest. No word 
 describes his character and life so well as the one now much abused, Reformer. 
 Here are the heads of families for six generations, the first born in Eng- 
 land, and the rest in Massachusetts : 
 
 I. Thomas, born 1618, died 1667 ; forty-nine years. 
 II. Thomas, born 1644, died 1717 ; seventy-three years. 
 III. Joseph, born 1683, died 1757; seventy-four years. 
 IV. Caleb, born 1710, died 1776; sixty-six years. 
 V. Samuel, born 1739, died 1798; fifty-nine years. 
 VI. Abel, born 1786, died 1864; seventy-eight years. 
 Queen Elizabeth did not die till 1603, and Charles I. was not bom till 
 1600. These few lives extend almost from the assassination of Henry III., in 
 1589, to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, in 1865. 
 
 Printed by St. Joseph Steam Printing Co. 
 
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