Azariah Cutting Flagg was an American newspaper printer, editor of the "Plattsburgh Republican" and politician.
Background
Azariah C. Flagg was born on November 28, 1790, at Orwell, Vermont, the second son of Ebenezer Flagg and Elizabeth Cutting Flagg.
He traced his ancestry from Thomas Flegg, a member of an old Norfolk family, who, leaving Scratby, England, in 1637, settled at Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1641, and whose descendants apparently about 1700 changed their name to Flagg.
Education
When eleven years old Flagg was apprenticed to a cousin of his father’s, a printer in Burlington, Vermont, with whom he spent five years.
Career
In 1806, Flagg entered the employ of a firm of publishers, where he found opportunities to remedy the deficiencies of his early education.
In 1811 he moved to Plattsburg, New York, and on the outbreak of the War of 1812 was commissioned lieutenant and quartermaster in the 36th Regiment, New York militia. He was engaged in the defense of Plattsburg, being present at a number of engagements, and was rewarded by Congress for gallant service.
In 1813 he joined the staff of the Plattsburg Republican, became its editor, and continued as such till 1825. Entering with ardor into the political field where DeWitt Clinton and Van Buren were the leading New York figures, he developed a capacity for vigorous writing and trenchant speaking which soon brought him to the front.
In 1823 Flagg was elected to represent Clinton County in the New York Assembly and subsequently was admitted to the inner circle of the "Albany regency. "
In 1826 Govener DeWitt Clinton appointed him secretary of state, an office which he held for seven years. He was elected by the legislature state comptroller under Govener Marcy in 1834, serving till 1839.
In 1842 Flagg was reelected and continued in the position until the state constitution of 1846 came into operation. During his nine years’ tenure of this office he established himself as "an able, methodical, keen and sagacious financier", though his views regarding public improvements have been stigmatized as short-sighted.
In 1842 the legislature adopted the "stop and tax policy" of suspending all public works and imposing a direct tax, pledging a portion of the Erie Canal revenues to provide a sinking fund for the extinguishment of the public debt. Flagg was not, as has been mistakenly asserted, the originator of the scheme, but he was active in its support. He was a strong opponent of the Bank of the United States.
In 1846 Flagg removed to New York City where he took an active part in the organization of the Barnburners’ faction of the Democratic party, becoming one of its most prominent leaders.
In 1832, after the reunion of the Democratic party, he was elected comptroller of the city of New York, and, being reelected in 1855, held office till 1859, when he retired from public life. His political career was distinguished for his unassailable integrity, consistent adherence to principles, and an unwavering support of Van Buren throughout all the latter’s vicissitudes. A believer in "Free speech, Free labor, and Free men, " he vehemently combated the pro-slavery sentiment within his party.
For fourteen years prior to his death he was totally blind, but this affliction did not affect his naturally high spirits and he continued to the end to take a keen interest in political events.
He continued to publish in newspapers on political and economical issues, including finances and transportation. Azariah C. Flagg died on November 24, 1873, in his home in New York City and was buried at the Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn.
Achievements
Politics
During his long political career, Azariah C. Flagg began as a member of the Bucktails faction of the Democratic-Republican Party, then became a Jacksonian, a Democrat and Barnburner, then joined the Free Soilers in the late 1840s, and finally the nascent Republican Party in the mid-1850s.
Flagg was one of the leading members of the Albany Regency, who exercised a great deal of control over New York's Republican Party, along with Van Buren, Silas Wright, and William L. Marcy.
Views
Azariah C. Flagg opposed any form of federal banks and advocated reform of the New York state banking system.
Connections
On October 20, 1814, Azariah C. Flagg married Phoebe Maria Coe. The couple had several children.