A Short Biographical History Of Nearly 70 Years Of The Life Of N. B. Beers, Written By Himself, January 1st, 1886

Ia regard to President Jackson's adwinistration I, with many of the oidor demócrata, have taken pleasure in saylnft I uin a Jackson man. I was elected a member of the legislature of the State of New York and it was my wisli to bc ou the ground before the legislatura convened that I might have a better opportunity to work on the minds of tlie members in regard to the lien law. Tlie bill was to bu framed and I was pledged to get it in shape tobecome a law ut the coming sessionof tlie legi.-l:iture. I lost no time in coiiiinencing a bill, called upon two of the best legal advisers in the city that I wae acqnniiiteü with, to assist me to make suro that it sliould contain nothing objectionable, and after we' liad perfectcd the bill the eominittec, by request, got 1.000 copies printed for our uso. I went to Albany one week before the meeting of the legislatura and by sodoing liad a good opportunity to soe the memIxrs as thi-y camp, and present each our with a prinled bill, so that every member could examine it for hiinself and not have to wait for tlie bill ordered to bc printed by the House. We did the same by the Senatc, ani! matters were in a good shape for ííclting it through nuich sooner by so doing. ün the (!th of Derember both hSMH en atüaê to order and after the usual pielimiiiaries and all the dlffeent coiiunittees were made up and were ready to begin the business of the sesiion I availed myself of the flrst opportunity to present my bil! and by permission was allowed tlie house on its merits, its objects and its benefits. I took time to go over tbc whole "round, and my friend, a member by the side of me, arose and called the attention of the speaker and moved that the bill be read the flrst time and printed and then go before the proper eommittee, tliis placed it In the way of a speed y passage. The eommittee reported favorably, ree onimcuded its passage, and assoon as pos sible it was called up.read a tliird time and passed without a dlssentfü voico. It was then sent to the governor and became a law in the short sp ice of two weeks afier beliifi presented. It was considered one of the greatest measures ever gotton op tof the safety of the mechanic, the artlsan and the laboren lts benelits were so quickly seen and feit by the peoplc of the state Of New York, that other states soon fbltowed thë eximple, and the law has beoome general throughout the country. 1 soon found it uecessary to obtaiu leuve of absence to go to New Jlaven to meet with the building commissloners who had the ehwga of the new state capítol building. Two or three year9 before, the legislulure of Connecticut had passed an act to luiild a newcapltol,andinyuncle, Thomas Cornwell and two others by the name of Walker were a[)poiuted building commissioners. The contract was first taken by a man by the name of Townsend, who after - - - - - - - - - - - - - v - - -w v ¦ x ¦ 1 ¦ ¦ BB B í h& B gctting a large amount of material on tlie ground and most of tlic foundation laid bad to give it up. Tlien my uncle sent for me to come to New Haven and take it. Now the time liad come for a settlement partainlng to this and I must meet with the commissioncrs to arrange for the pnyincnt of several thous.ind dollars worth of extra work. Tlie building of the capitol at New Haven.and a court house of stone at Fairfield, Connccticut, and the Bowery theatre which was built for M. Hamblin thegreat theatre man of New York, had boen n source of profit to us. These had not been aftVcted by the panie and the money due us u sufficient to eiiiible us to pay our debts and save a small amount for ourselves. After re turuiiiir to Albany and remalnlng in tlie legislatura until soine bilis tliat I had promised to asist in getting through were poued, I obtalned leave of absence the balance of the seasou, as time for suivcying was again eoming,and there was some extra work to bc done in the office as we had to prepare two sets of papers, one for the outgoing and one for the kneomlngadministration. Tlie survey this season was alonj: the southern coast, and duiing the seasoü the offiooH and meu expressed a wisli to have thelr next vacation in Cuba and vrlahad DM to take them there. I obtained perniission with the provisión that the arrangement sliould be such as would in no way interfere with the duties of tlie service. After raturolog from the last trip of thesenson Imadeit known to them, and the olllcers and crew were all so much pleased thcy decided to m.ike a demonstration by gettlng up a dlnner tor me on my birthday. Among the invlted guests were some leading men, James Gordon Bennett, Robert ,. Stephen?, Mr. Oibbs, and editors of dilFerent papen. It was at the North American hotel, and though gotten up on short notice was a very enjoyable allair. This beiug over uiy clerks and all feit likegoingto work with a will in order to Qnish up the oflicn uoik preparatory to taking their pleasure trip which would be about the lOlli of Jauuary. At the uppointetl time we were reudy U) go. I had ciUaiucd Uu papers neecssary, with a lette t Ol iiiLrcKluctk! stating our busineBa, rank, etc, to show to tlm QoTernor-Geoeral of Cuba. Thí wcatliLT was very cold whcn ve siiilcil but 11 iibout teu days we weroenJoying an atmotpbere ttast wu ileliglitful wilh Oowen lo full bloom. One of our clerks wa9 n higtily educntcil Sl)al)ll gentleman, o wt Deeded no otlior Ínter pretor. Haring learneU our object in visltlng the island they seemed desirous to contribute to our enjoyment as mucli aa possiblo. We found them very pleasant and ready to honor us, and show us evcry attention possible, inviting us to dinners and dancing partios, and In return we gave outertalninents on our ship. All our party reinained well and happy durlng our stay on the island, and returned well Mtlsöed, nrriving ia New York, March 28th. The vessel was in good order and we niiidc up our miuds to start as soon as posaible and not wait until the 15th of April, the usual time of starting on the first trip of the seaaon, for I desired to get through Jbefore very hot weather would strike us, our work being on the southern coast. We pushed the survey as fust as possible and recordad our last notes June lOtli. We were about twelve days coming from Florida to New York. This boing the last trip that I was to inake,]for the term of my special office had nearly expired, the veasel was taken to the navy yard and all the hands were discharged, but most of the officers were retained until the office work wascompleted, then thcclerks were iliscliargcd. I retained my first assistant and secretary and recoinmended them to the department as suitable men to take charge of the ofllce, and I went to Washington to close up my a(l';urs, and notify the secretary that I was about to retire. My commission had been changed from a Unled special oue to au unlimited one, with pennission to retire after the survey was tinislied, if I should choose to do so, but I was to hold inyself in readinesa to respond wlien called on. This change was very satisfactory to me, I was beginning to feel the eflects of sonie of the hardshps that I had experienced and was glad to have a chance to rest.