SETH CAPRON
Dr. Seth Capron, eldest son of Elisha, was born in Attleboro, Mass., September 23, 1762. Banfield Capron, his great-grandfather was the first of the name in America. In the year 1674 he and three boy
schoolmates, about fourteen years of age, agreed among themselves to leave their home and friends in England and seek their fortune in the New World. Finding a vessel about to sail they concealed
themselves in the hold, with food enough for a few days. On the fourth day out they were discovered, but allowed to continue the voyage. They landed in Boston, Banfield Capron died in Attleboro,
Mass., August 20, 1752, aged ninety-two years. Of his twelve children Jonathan, father of Elisha and grandfather of Dr. Seth, was the sixth.
Dr. Seth Capron was too young when the Revolutionary war broke out to be drafted and too short in stature to pass inspection. At the time of the country's greatest peril, it is known that in order to pass at muster, he managed to elevate himself on his toes, and so enlisted in defense of his country at the age of nineteen. Shortly afterward he was at the siege of Newport, attached to General La Fayette's corps of light infantry. It was there he first heard the music of artillery and where a cannon ball aimed at the general grazed the top of his head. Dr. Capron took part in the battle of White Plains and was then transferred to headquarters at West Point, N. Y., as a non-commissioned officer under Washington. There he served during the remainder of the war, commanding the barge that conveyed the " Father of his country " to Elizabethtown Point, and was the last man to receive the general's benediction.
Immediately after returning home he began the study of medicine with Dr. Bezaleel Mann, an eminent physician of his day, and whose daughter, Eunice Mann, he afterwards married. In due time he entered upon his profession, first at Cumberland, R. I. In 1806 he removed with his wife and four sons to Oneida County, N. Y., and located at Whitesboro, at that time a small village three miles west of Utica. He traveled across the country in his own conveyance, then an almost unbroken wilderness of 500 miles with here and there a settlement. Whitestown was at that time the Gem of the West, being composed for the most part of families of rare culture and refinement. There by diligent attention to his profession he acquired a competency. At the same time he took great interest in the establishment of manufactories on a permanent basis, considering it indispensable to the prosperity of the nation. The formation of the first company and the building of the first factory met with much opposition. It was branded as visionary and ruinous, and would have discouraged most men, but he was endowed with remarkable foresight and indomitable energy and perseverance. To these qualities must be ascribed the successful effort of building the first cotton and woolen factories in the State of New York.
In 1823 Dr. Capron removed to Walden, Orange County, N. Y., and built up the cotton and woolen interests in that now flourishing town. He was the originator of the scheme which resulted in the building of the cotton and woolen mills there, and was for some time the superintendent and manager.
Dr. Capron died in Walden, N. Y., on Friday, September 4, 18:35, age seventy-four. The following lines on his death were written by Mrs. Sophia Cooke:
" Dust unto dust," and to his God,
Winning the tempted from his bowl
Earth has resigned the trust He gave;
Back to himself-his home-his God.
Yet memory shrines the burial sod,
Yet with such simplicity
And marks it at the good man's grave.
of heart, was action bound the while,
And mourn we o'er that buried one;
That children fondly climb his knee
Oh! take the gathering clouds of care,
To meet a welcome and a smile.
And fling them round life's setting sun,
And when they heard his voice no more,
And lose them in the glory there.
In little bands I've seen them come Glory,
that needs no storied pen
And point the stranger to his door
For one who never asked for fame,
And whisper, "That was once his home."
Yet winning from his fellow men
He lived till age had crowned with snows
The glory of an honest name.
His brow, yet like the Syrian hill
Go learn it at the cottage hearth,
Amid the waste of life he rose,
And in the peace that hovers there;
And verdure clasped his bosom still.
And when night lifts the thoughts from earth,
He died as died the forest tree,
'Tis breathed in blessing and in prayer.
Round which the deathless ivy twined,
For one who sought the erring soul,
Scathed by the stroke, Mortality,
And led it from guilt's darkened road,
Yet foliaged with immortal mind.
The following is from a periodical of that day: "The name of Dr: Seth Capron will be identified with the history of cotton and woolen manufacturers in the State of New York. He was a man of great integrity and moral worth, and uncommon ardor, enterprise, and industry. His open, manly, and conciliating and determined conduct enabled him to triumph over obstacles that would have discouraged most men. Indefatigable in promoting sound morals among his fellow citizens he was a leader in the temperance cause, the first to banish brandy and wine from his sideboard. His mild persuasive manners and the honesty and goodness of his purposes were manifest in all his conduct, and the uniform correctness of his example gave him a wonderful influence over the villagers. Obedience followed his will as if he had been invested with absolute power, and the village of Walden will long mourn for him as for a father."
Dr. Capron's wife was Miss Eunice Mann, a sister of Newton Mann, esq., whose portrait and biographical sketch appear in this volume. Their sons were Newton, John, Dr. Seth, jr., and Gen. Horace Capron. The latter was at one time United States commissioner of agriculture, and was afterwards employed by the Japanese government in the same capacity, where he served for five years. All are dead. One daughter survives, Mrs. Louise Kirwan Capron Thiers, of Milwaukee, Wis., and who is one of the twelve daughters of soldiers of the Revolution who are members of the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Pages 136-137