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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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foot right down and said, “No. Not over my dead body.” To this day I don't know what Lieutenant Governor Corning did or didn't do. I have raved about Erastus Corning, who is now Mayor of Albany, and in the Corning tradition. Somebody who knew the family way back said, “Well, Erastus is a promising man, but unfortunately he came under the influence of Edwin Corning, his father.” His uncle, Erastus, picked this boy out and said, “This is the good boy of our family. We must educate him to be a doctor because doctoring runs along in the family as well as politics.” Erastus was picked to be the doctor, but somehow or other his father's influence prevailed and he decided to go into politics. This person said to me, “You can't trust Erastus Corning.” I wouldn't even tell this record who told me that, but they were two people who knew them, have lived in Albany and knew that outfit very well indeed. All right, I'll tell who it is. It's Ethel Van Benthuysen. She's a five generation resident of Albany, knew everybody and everything. She's a good Democrat and a leading thinker. She's old now, but she has been the head of everything important in Albany.

She recalled to my mind, and I did remember, that Smith put his foot down on Corning. Ethel Van Benthuysen knows what Corning did. I think she mentioned it to me the day she spoke of this - a few months ago (1952). I've forgotten





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