Craft Masonry in Oneida County, New York - Onondaga and ...

In 1830 the condition of his health induced him to retire to a farm in Clinton County, where he died, very suddenly, February 22 nd ,
1834.
His son, before mentioned, removed to Michigan and became Attorney General of the State and later settled in South Carolina,
where he was appointed judge of one of the courts.
Judge Platt, General Kirkland, Thomas R. Gold and Erastus Clark with other members of the bar united in the movement to found
Hamilton College and served on its board of trustees.
Families of Olde Whitesborough 1784-1824 p. 33
Jonas Platt was born on June 30, 1769 at Poughkeepsie, NY the son of Zephaniah and Hannah (Saxon) Platt (his first wife). He was
6 th in the line of descent from his immigrant ancestor, Richard and Mary Platt, who were from Rickmansworth, England to New
Haven in 1638, their son, Capt. Epenetus, settling in Huntington, Long Island, NY.
Jonas Platt was not in the Revolutionary War but his father, grandfather and brother (all named Zephaniah) were. His father,
Zephaniah, Jr., served as a Colonel, a Delegate to the Provincial Congress, member of the Dutchess County Committee, and of the
Associated Exempts from the State of New York. His grandfather served as a P.S. from New York.
Jonas Platt received his education in a French Academy in Montreal, Canada. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in
1790. He practiced his profession in Poughkeepsie, NY for a very short time and was in Whitesboro in 1791. He was County Clerk
of Herkimer County from 1791 to 1798.
When Oneida County was created he assumed the same post there, where he served until 1802. During this period he also served
in the New York State Assembly in 1796.
On April 1, 1793 he was on a Committee of Resolutions in the formation of The Untied Presbyterian Societies of Whitestown and
Old Fort Schuyler. On March 23, 1799 he became one of the original members of the Aqueduct Association of the Village of
Whitesboro. He also became one of the Trustees of the Presbyterian Church. He was one of the pioneer lawyers in the state of New
York west of Johnstown.
His political preference was that of the Federalist Party and he served as a Federalist in the 6 th Congress March 4, 1799 – March 3,
1801. He then resumed the practice of law and entered into a partnership with Arthur Breese (q.v.). He was the first Congressman
who resided in what is now Oneida County.
He was appointed an associate judge of the Supreme Court in February of 1814 and during his term of office he presided over 250
cases – 101 of which were jury trials. He held this office until 1821 when the new State Constitution legislated the office out of
existence. He was a member of the Convention in 1821 which framed the new constitution.
He was elected by the Federalists in 1809 to the New York State Senate where he served until 1813, during which time he was very
active in promoting legislation to look into the construction of the Erie Canal.
In 1810 Jonas Platt was the Federal Party’s candidate for Governor, but he was defeated by Daniel D. Tompkins. In the year 1811
he became associated with many prominent men, among whom were Seth Capron, Thomas R. Gold, Newton Mann, Theodore Sill
and William G. Tracy in the manufacturing of woolen goods. On January 12, 1813 he was appointed a member of the Council of
Appointments.
He had a length career in the New York State Militia. Following the erection of Herkimer County, the Governor formed a militia of
Herkimer County into a brigade. Jonas Platt was made Captain of a trip of horse in this brigade, which position he held until the
formation of Oneida County in 1798, when he assumed a similar position in the Oneida County Militia.
In 1800 he was appointed Brigadier General of the 2 nd Cavalry Brigade. He held this position until 1811 when he resigned.
His first home was a log cabin which he erected on the corner of Mohawk and Main Streets.
Evidently at some time during his service in the State Legislature he moved temporarily to Albany, as the records of the
Presbyterian Church, Whitesboro, state thusly: Sept. 19, 1817, Jonas Platt and his wife, formerly members of this church, were
received again by letter from the First Presbyterian Church in Albany.
Jonas Platt married Helen Livingston in 1790. She was the daughter of Henry and Susan (Conklin) Livingston. Jonas and Helen had
eight children, two sons and six daughters.
The wife and daughter of Jonas Platt were evidently civic minded, as wife Helen, and daughters Susan, and Cornelia are listed as
members of the Female Charitable Society of Whitestown.
Upon leaving Oneida County area Jonas went first to New York City where he practiced law for a short time. He later moved to
Clinton County where he died in Peru, NY, Feb. 22, 1834 and was interred in the Riverside Cemetery, Plattsburg, NY. This is the
city his father, Zephaniah Platt, founded.
http://books.google.com/books?id=WtwTAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA319&lpg=PA319&dq=%22General+Joseph+Kirkland+%22&source=we
b&ots=wuhn_XioiH&sig=RZ9N2uehc4uCyAVhPaOCMB864AM&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA320,M1
page 319.
General Joseph Kirkland was born in Norwich, Connecticut, January 18 th , 1770, and studied law with Judge Swift of Wind- ham in
that state, his preceptor later becoming Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State and the author of Swift’s Evidence. Mr.
Kirkland was a nephew of the Rev. Samuel Kirkland, (Princeton 1765), the celebrated missionary to the Oneidas and the founder of
Hamilton-Oneida Academy, which subsequently became Hamilton College. General Kirkland first settled at New Hartford and later
removed to Utica, practicing in the courts of Herkimer County until the new County of Oneida was formed. He was an ardent
Federalist, and in 1801 ran as a candidate for delegate to the State Constitutional Convention against Henry Huntington, of Rome,
but on a tie vote the seat was awarded to the latter. In 1801 he was elected to the State Assembly. For three years from February
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